Preparation and characterization of LiAlxCoyNi1-x-yO2 particles

Lithium-aluminum-cobalt-nickel oxide (LiAlxCoyNi1-x-yO2) particles, generally used as cathode of lithium battery, were prepared by chemical coprecipitation from an aqueous solution of LiOH, AI(NO3)3, Co(NO3)2 and Ni(NO3)2 with NH4OH. XRD, SEM and FTIR were used to examine the effect of nickel content on the product. FHR patterns showed that increase in nickel content decreased the absorption strength of the peak of spinel structure of the product, attributed to the occupation by nickel in the aluminum sites. Particle size and electrical properties of the lithium-aluminum-cobalt-nickel oxide (abbreviated as LACNO) particles were also determined.     

Electrorheological response of SnO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and Y<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> nanoparticles in silicon oil

The electrorheological properties (ER) of some fluids containing particles change extensively under the external electrical field. This phenomenon is applicable in many industries and equipments, such as clutches and motor driven rotor, which would transfer the spin to a drive shaft through a thin layer of electrorheological fluid. In this investigation, the effects of external electrical field on ER properties of non-Newtonian fluids (silicon oil) with the addition of SnO₂ and Y₂O₃ nanoparticles were studied. The ER properties were measured for a wide range of SnO₂ and Y₂O₃ nanoparticle concentrations and DC electrical voltages using concentric cylinder rotary rheometer. Based on the results, ER properties of nanofluids, e.g., apparent viscosity, shear stress, and yield stress, were enhanced by applying electrical field and increasing SnO₂ and Y₂O₃ concentrations.

Numerical study of conjugate heat transfer in rectangular microchannel heat sink with Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>/H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O nanofluid

In the present paper, conjugate heat transfer approach has been used to numerically study laminar forced convective heat transfer characteristics of Al₂O₃/H₂O nanofluid flowing in a silicon microchannel heat sink (MCHS) of rectangular cross-section using thermal dispersion model. Results are presented in terms of thermal resistance that characterizes MCHS performance. It is observed that use of nanofluid improves MCHS performance by reducing fin (conductive) thermal resistance.     

Properties of an Al/(Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>+TiB<Subscript>2</Subscript>+ZrB<Subscript>2</Subscript>) hybrid composite manufactured by powder metallurgy and hot pressing

The properties and microstructure of an Al/(Al₂O₃ + TiB₂ + ZrB₂) hybrid composite made by using hot pressing of aluminum combined with different amounts of TiB₂, ZrB₂, and Al₂O₃ powders are studied. The mechanical properties of the composites are investigated on the basis of microhardness and compression tests. The results show that the microstructure of the composites is uniform and the particles are well distributed in the matrix.     

Numerical investigation of natural convection of Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> nanofluid in vertical annuli

This paper presents the numerical study of internal free convection of Al₂O₃ water nanofluid in vertical annuli. Vertical walls are maintained at constant temperatures and horizontal walls are adiabatic. Results are validated by experimental data. Effect of nanofluids on natural convection is investigated as a function of geometrical and physical parameters and particle fractions for aspect ratio of 1 ≤ H/L ≤ 5, Grashof number of 10³ ≤ Gr ≤ 10⁵ and concentration of 0 ≤ ϕ ≤ 0.06. More than 330 different numerical cases are investigated to develop a new correlation for the Nusselt number. This correlation is presented as a function of Nusselt number of base fluid and particle fraction which is a linear decreasing function of particle fraction. The developed correlation for annuli is also valid for the natural convection of Al₂O₃ water nanofluid in a square cavity. Furthermore, the effect of the viscosity and conductivity models on the Nusselt number of nanofluids in cylindrical cavities are discussed.     

CFD studies on natural convection heat transfer of Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>-water nanofluids

This work is focused on numerical simulations of natural convection heat transfer in Al₂O₃-water nanofluids using computational fluid dynamics approach. Fluent v6.3 is used to simulate water based nanofluid considering it as a single phase. Thermo-physical properties of the nanofluids are considered in terms of volume fraction and size of nanoparticles, size of base fluid molecule and temperature. The numerical values of effective thermal conductivity have also been compared with the experimental values available in the literature. The numerical result simulated shows decrease in heat transfer with increase in particle volume fraction. Computed result shows similar trend in increase of Nusselt number with Relayigh number as depicted by experimental results. Streamlines and temperature profiles are plotted to demonstrate the effect.     

Non-isobaric Marangoni boundary layer flow for Cu,Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> and TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles in a water based fluid

In this paper, a non-isobaric Marangoni boundary layer flow that can be formed along the interface of immiscible nanofluids in surface driven flows due to an imposed temperature gradient, is considered. The solution is determined using a similarity solution for both the momentum and energy equations and assuming developing boundary layer flow along the interface of the immiscible nanofluids. The resulting system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations is solved numerically using the shooting method along with the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method. Numerical results are obtained for the interface velocity, the surface temperature gradient as well as the velocity and temperature profiles for some values of the governing parameters, namely the nanoparticle volume fraction φ (0≤φ≤0.2) and the constant exponent β. Three different types of nanoparticles, namely Cu, Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ are considered by using water-based fluid with Prandtl number Pr =6.2. It was found that nanoparticles with low thermal conductivity, TiO₂, have better enhancement on heat transfer compared to Al₂O₃ and Cu. The results also indicate that dual solutions exist when β<0.5. The paper complements also the work by Golia and Viviani (Meccanica 21:200–204, 1986) concerning the dual solutions in the case of adverse pressure gradient.     

Simulation of oxygen atom adsorption on an Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> surface by the density functional method

Several cluster models of oxygen atom adsorption on an Al₂O₃ surface are constructed on the basis of the density functional method. The performed quantum mechanical computations allow one to reveal a number of important features of the potential energy surface to describe the heterogeneous catalytic processes with the use of molecular dynamics methods. The heterogeneous recombination of oxygen atoms is simulated according to the Eley-Rideal mechanism. It is shown that the potential energy surface should be used with consideration of the internal relaxation of surface monolayers to correctly describe the process under study.     

Effect of Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> phases on the enhancement of thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids in engine oil

Thermal conductivity of α-Al₂O₃ was measured using hot wire method. α-Al₂O₃ (20 nm in size) was synthesized by microwave method for which, the results were compared with commercially available γ-Al₂O₃. Thermal conductivity of nanofluids was investigated considering, it is dependency on Al₂O₃ phase. It was observed that by adding 3 wt% of nano γ-Al₂O₃ and α-Al₂O₃ to the engine oil, thermal conductivity increases by 37 and 31%, respectively. The corresponding viscosity increase for the same amount of nano γ-Al₂O₃ and α-Al₂O₃ were 36 and 38%, respectively. It was concluded that the differences in thermal conductivity originate from higher specific surface area of γ-Al₂O₃ compared to the α-Al₂O₃ which is the result of porosity difference, obtained during the synthesis process.     

Degradation of nylon-6/clay nanocomposites in NO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>

Nylon-6 is an important engineering polymer that, in its fully spherulitic (bulk) form, has many applications in gears, rollers, and other long life cycle components. In 1993, Toyota commercialized a nylon-6/clay nanocomposite out of which it produced the timing belt cover for the Camry. Although these hybrid nanocomposites show significant improvements in their mechanical response characteristics, including yield strength and heat distortion temperature, little is known about the degradation of these properties due to environmental pollutants like NO _x . Nylon-6 fibers are severely degraded by interaction with NO _x and other pollutants, showing a strong synergy between applied load and environmental degradation. While the nanocomposites show a significant reduction in permeability of gases and water due to the incorporation of lamellar clay, their susceptibility to nondiffusional mechano-chemical degradation is unknown. The fracture toughness of these nylon-6/clay nanocomposites increases, not as a function of clay content, but as a function of the volume of nylon-6 polymer chains influenced by the clay lamellae surfaces. Both the clay and the constrained volume offer the nanocomposites some protection from the deleterious effects of NO _x . The time-to-failure at a given stress intensity factor as a function of clay content and constrained volume is discussed along with fracture toughness of the materials.     

On the thermal buckling of simply supported rectangular plates made of a sigmoid functionally graded Al/Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> based material

We study the thermal buckling of a simply supported sigmoid functionally graded (SFGM) rectangular plate using first-order shear deformation theory. The S-FGM system consists of ceramic (Al₂O₃) and metal (Al) phases varying across the plate thickness according to a law described by two power-law functions. The effective properties of the composite are determined by the rule of mixtures, whose implementation is simpler than that of methods of micromechanics. The thermal heating is characterized by a uniform, linear, or sinusoidal temperature distribution across the plate thickness. The effects of the plate aspect ratio, the relative thickness, the gradient index, and the transverse shear on the buckling temperature difference are studied.     

Nonequilibrium molecular radiation behind the front of a strong shock wave in the CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-N<Subscript>2</Subscript>-O<Subscript>2</Subscript> mixture

Models of population of some radiating electron-vibrational states of CO, CN, and C₂ molecules are developed. The characteristics of radiation in a chemically nonequilibrium flow behind the front of a strong shock wave in a mixture of gases constituting the Martian atmosphere are calculated. The numerical data are compared with experimental results.Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 13–22, March–April, 2005     

Analysis of thermally activated formation and breakdown of Kear-Wilsdorf barriers in Ni<Subscript>3</Subscript>Ge single crystals of various orientations

The orientation dependence of the yield stress in Ni₃Ge single crystals has been examined both theoretically and experimentally. The positive temperature dependence of the yield stress in the low temperature region is attributed to formation of Kear-Wilsdorf barriers. The forces driving the formation and breakdown of barriers are calculated within the framework of the Hirsch scheme. A distinctive feature of the model proposed is that the barrier is considered on the screw component of the a/2[ 01](111) superdislocation in the primary octahedral plane. The major role in barrier formation belongs to anisotropy of elastic moduli, energy of antiphase boundaries in the octahedral plane, shear stresses in the cubic and octahedral planes, and friction-induced stress in the cubic plane. A comparison of predicted values of the driving force of barrier formation and breakdown with experimental values reveals their good agreement. An analysis of the orientation dependence of the driving force of barrier formation in the temperature range T = 77–293 K shows that the dependence (T) has an extremum for crystals deformed along the [ 39] crystallographic direction, which is confirmed experimentally.Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 116–125, January–February, 2005.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">1</Emphasis></Superscript> Stability of Multi-Dimensional Discrete-Velocity Boltzmann Equations

We study the L ¹ stability of multi-dimensional discrete-velocity Boltzmann equations. Under suitable smallness assumption on initial data, we show that bounded mild solutions are L ¹ stable. For a stability estimate, we employ Bonys multi-dimensional analysis for total interactions over characteristic planes.     

Effects of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Compressibility on CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Storage in Deep Saline Aquifers

The injection of supercritical CO₂ in deep saline aquifers leads to the formation of a CO₂ plume that tends to float above the formation brine. As pressure builds up, CO₂ properties, i.e. density and viscosity, can vary significantly. Current analytical solutions do not account for CO₂ compressibility. In this article, we investigate numerically and analytically the effect of this variability on the position of the interface between the CO₂-rich phase and the formation brine. We introduce a correction to account for CO₂ compressibility (density variations) and viscosity variations in current analytical solutions. We find that the error in the interface position caused by neglecting CO₂ compressibility is relatively small when viscous forces dominate. However, it can become significant when gravity forces dominate, which is likely to occur at late times of injection.     

Three solutions to inequalities of Dirichlet problem driven by p（x）-Laplacian

A class of nonlinear elliptic problems driven by p（x）-Laplacian with a nonsmooth locally Lipschitz potential is considered.By applying the version of the nonsmooth three-critical-point theorem,the existence of three solutions to the problems is proved.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Superscript>2</Superscript> Formulation of Multidimensional Scalar Conservation Laws

We show that Kruzhkov’s theory of entropy solutions to multidimensional scalar conservation laws (Kruzhkov in Mat Sb (N.S.), 81(123), 228–255, 1970) can be entirely recast in L ² and fits into the general theory of maximal monotone operators in Hilbert spaces. Our approach is based on a combination of level-set, kinetic and transport-collapse approximations, in the spirit of previous works by Brenier (in C R Acad Sci Paris Ser I Math, 292, 563–566, 1981; in J Diff Equ, 50, 375–390, 1983; in SIAM J Numer Anal, 21, 1013–1037; in Methods Appl Anal, 11, 515–532, 2004), Giga and Miyakawa (in Duke Math J, 50, 505–515, 1983), and Tsai et al. (in Math Comp, 72, 159–181, 2003).     

An Experimental Study of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Exsolution and Relative Permeability Measurements During CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Saturated Water Depressurization

Dissolution of CO₂ into brine is an important and favorable trapping mechanism for geologic storage of CO₂. There are scenarios, however, where dissolved CO₂ may migrate out of the storage reservoir. Under these conditions, CO₂ will exsolve from solution during depressurization of the brine, leading to the formation of separate phase CO₂. For example, a CO₂ sequestration system with a brine-permeable caprock may be favored to allow for pressure relief in the sequestration reservoir. In this case, CO₂-rich brine may be transported upwards along a pressure gradient caused by CO₂ injection. Here we conduct an experimental study of CO₂ exsolution to observe the behavior of exsolved gas under a wide range of depressurization. Exsolution experiments in highly permeable Berea sandstones and low permeability Mount Simon sandstones are presented. Using X-ray CT scanning, the evolution of gas phase CO₂ and its spatial distribution is observed. In addition, we measure relative permeability for exsolved CO₂ and water in sandstone rocks based on mass balances and continuous observation of the pressure drop across the core from 12.41 to 2.76 MPa. The results show that the minimum CO₂ saturation at which the exsolved CO₂ phase mobilization occurs is from 11.7 to 15.5%. Exsolved CO₂ is distributed uniformly in homogeneous rock samples with no statistical correlation between porosity and CO₂ saturation observed. No gravitational redistribution of exsolved CO₂ was observed after depressurization, even in the high permeability core. Significant differences exist between the exsolved CO₂ and water relative permeabilities, compared to relative permeabilities derived from steady-state drainage relative permeability measurements in the same cores. Specifically, very low CO₂ and water relative permeabilities are measured in the exsolution experiments, even when the CO₂ saturation is as high as 40%. The large relative permeability reduction in both the water and CO₂ phases is hypothesized to result from the presence of disconnected gas bubbles in this two-phase flow system. This feature is also thought to be favorable for storage security after CO₂ injection.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Superscript>1</Superscript> Stability of the Boltzmann Equation for the Hard-Sphere Model

We study the L¹ stability of classical solutions to the Boltzmann equation for a hard-sphere model, when initial datum is a small perturbation of a vacuum, and tends to zero exponentially fast at infinity in the phase space. For this, we introduce nonlinear functionals measuring potential interactions between particles with different velocities and L¹ distance between classical solutions. We use pointwise estimates for a solution and the gain term of a collision operator to control the time-evolution of nonlinear functionals.Dedicated to Marshall Slemrod on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Enhanced CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Storage and Sequestration in Deep Saline Aquifers by Nanoparticles: Commingled Disposal of Depleted Uranium and CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

Geological storage of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions in deep saline aquifers has recently received tremendous attention in the scientific literature. Injected buoyant CO₂ accumulates at the top part of the aquifer under a sealing cap rock. Potential buoyant movement of CO₂ has caused some concern that the high-pressure CO₂ could breach the seal rock. However, CO₂ will diffuse into the brine underneath and generate a slightly denser fluid that may induce instability and convective mixing. Onset times of instability and convective mixing performance depend on the physical properties of the rock and fluids, such as permeability and density contrast. We present the novel idea of adding nanoparticles (NPs) to injected CO₂ to increase density contrast between the CO₂-rich brine and the underlying resident brine and, consequently, decrease onset time of instability and increase convective mixing. The analyses show that 0.001 volume fraction of NPs added to the CO₂ stream shortens onset time of mixing by approximately 80% and increases convective mixing by 50%. If it thus originally takes 5 years for the overlying CO₂ to start convective mixing, by adding NPs, onset time of mixing reduces to 1 year, and after initiation of convective mixing, mixing improves by 50%. A reduction of the CO₂ leakage risk ensues. In addition to other metallic NPs, use of processed depleted uranium oxide (DU) as the NPs is also proposed. DU-NPs are potentially stable and might be safely commingled with CO₂ to store in saline aquifers.