Heat and brine transport in porous media: the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation revisited

This paper discusses the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation for heat and solute transport in porous media. In this commonly used approximation all density variations are neglected except for the gravity term in Darcy’s law. However, in the limit of vanishing density differences this gravity term disappears as well. The main purpose of this paper is to give the correct limits in which the gravity term is retained, while other density effects can be neglected. We show that for isothermal brine transport, fluid volume changes can be neglected when a condition is fulfilled for a dimensionless number, which is independent of the density difference and specific discharge. For heat transfer an additional condition is required. One-dimensional examples of simultaneous heat and brine transport are given for which similarity solutions are constructed. These examples are included to elucidate the volume effects and the corresponding induced specific discharge variations. Finally, a two-dimensional example illustrates the relative effects of volume changes and gravity.     

PEPT study of particle motion for different riser exit geometries

Laboratory and industrial risers are equipped with exits of many different layouts, and numerous publications discuss the influence of riser exit geometry on local and overall solids hydrodynamics in the riser. The present paper reviews literature findings--mostly based upon indirect experimental techniques and often somewhat contradictory, Direct measurement of particle velocity and particle occupancy near and in the riser exit provide a better indication of the effect of riser exit geometry. Positron Emission Particle Tracking （PEPT） was used in this work for the first time to investigate the exit region of the riser, An abrupt or sharp exit causes particles to be knocked out of the gas flow, so forming a recirculation or reflux region in the upper part of the riser. This is much less pronounced with a curved or gradual exit.     

Passivity analysis of stochastic time-delay neural networks

Passivity analysis of stochastic neural networks with time-varying delays and parametric uncertainties is investigated in this paper. Passivity of stochastic neural networks is defined. Both delay-independent and delay-dependent stochastic passivity conditions are presented in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The results are established by using the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional method. In order to derive the delay-dependent passivity criterion, some free-weighting matrices are introduced. The effectiveness of the method is illustrated by numerical examples.     

Powder neutron diffraction of SrNbO2N at room temperature and 1.5 K

The structure of strontium niobium dioxygen nitride, SrNbO₂N, has been solved by powder neutron diffraction at room temperature and 1.5 K. SrNbO₂N crystallizes in the tetragonal space group I4/mcm, with a = 5.7056 (4) and c = 8.1002 (9) Å at room temperature, and a = 5.6938 (4) and c = 8.0974 (8) Å at 1.5 K. The crystal structure is derived from the cubic perovskite archetype by a slight rotation of the Nb(O,N)₆ octahedra with respect to the tetragonal axis. A partially ordered distribution of oxygen and nitrogen on the anionic sites was found.     

2‐Hydroxytorularhodin,a New Xanthophyll from the Red Yeast Sporobolomyces coprosmae

A new hydroxylated carotenoic acid was isolated from the red yeast Sporobolomyces coprosmae and unambiguously identified as 2‐hydroxytorularhodin ( 1 ), i.e., (all‐E)‐3′,4′‐didehydro‐2‐hydroxy‐β,ψ‐caroten‐16′‐oic acid, by application of extensive 1D and 2D NMR techniques (gCOSY, gHSQC, gHMBC, DQS, gTOCSY, and ROESY). Hydroxylation of carotenoids at C(2) is uncommon in nature, very rare in fungi, and unprecedented for torularhodin.