Comparison and application of different empirical correlations for estimating the hydrate safety margin of oil-based drilling fluids containing ethylene glycol

As the oil and gas industries continue to increase their activity in deep water, gas hydrate hazards will become more serious and challenging, both at present and in the future. Accurate predictions of the hydrate-free zone and the suitable addition of salts and/or alcohols in preparing drilling fluids are particularly important both in preventing hydrate problems and decreasing the cost of drilling operations. In this paper, we compared several empirical correlations commonly used to estimate the hydrate inhibition effect of aqueous organic and electrolyte solutions using experiments with ethylene glycol (EG) as a hydrate inhibitor. The results show that the Najibi et al. correlation (for single and mixed thermodynamic inhibitors) and the Ostergaard et al. empirical correlation (for single thermodynamic inhibitors) are suitable for estimating the hydrate safety margin of oil-based drilling fluids (OBDFs) in the presence of thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors. According to the two correlations, the OBDF, composed of 1.6 L vaporizing oil, 2% emulsifying agent, 1% organobentonite, 0.5% SP-1, 1% LP-1, 10% water and 40% EG, can be safely used at a water depth of up to 1900 m. However, for more accurate predictions for drilling fluids, the effects of the solid phase, especially bentonite, on hydrate inhibition need to be considered and included in the application of these two empirical correlations.     

Zero divisors and prime elements of bounded semirings

A semiring is an algebraic structure similar to a ring, but without the requirement that each element must have an additive inverse. A bounded semiring is a semiring equipped with a compatible bounded partial order. In this paper, properties of zero divisors and prime elements of a bounded semiring are studied. In particular, it is proved that under some mild assumption, the set Z（A） of nonzero zero divisors of A is A ／ {0, 1}, and each prime element of A is a maximal element. For a bounded semiring A with Z（A） = A ／ {0, 1}, it is proved that A has finitely many maximal elements if ACC holds either for elements of A or for principal annihilating ideals of A. As an application of prime elements, we show that the structure of a bounded semiring A is completely determined by the structure of integral bounded semirings if either ｜Z（A）｜ = 1 or ｜Z（A）｜ -- 2 and Z（A）2 ≠ 0. Applications to the ideal structure of commutative rings are also considered. In particular, when R has a finite number of ideals, it is shown that the chain complex of the poset I（R） is pure and shellable, where I（R） consists of all ideals of R.     

一类递归集的Hausdorff维数及Bouligand维数

本文给出递归集的Ｈａｕｓｄｏｒｆｆ维数的下界估计，并由此确定了一类递归集的维数，所获结果包含并推广了Ｂｅｄｆｏｒｄ，Ｄｅｋｋｉｎｇ及文志英、钟红柳等人的有关结果。     

无挠左（右）Artin环是拟Frobenius环

无挠左（右）Ａｒｔｉｎ环是拟Ｆｒｏｂｅｎｉｕｓ环乌成伟（吉林工学院基础部，长春１３００１２）关键词内积，左（右）内零化子，自内射环．分类号ＡＭＳ（１９９１）１６Ｄ５０／ＣＣＬＯ１５３．３设Ｒ为有１的左（右）Ａｒｔｉｎ环，如果对于任一整数洲与ｒ∈Ｒ，ｍ...     

Distributed subgradient method for multi‐agent optimization with quantized communication

This paper focuses on a distributed optimization problem associated with a time‐varying multi‐agent network with quantized communication, where each agent has local access to its convex objective function, and cooperatively minimizes a sum of convex objective functions of the agents over the network. Based on subgradient methods, we propose a distributed algorithm to solve this problem under the additional constraint that agents can only communicate quantized information through the network. We consider two kinds of quantizers and analyze the quantization effects on the convergence of the algorithm. Furthermore, we provide explicit error bounds on the convergence rates that highlight the dependence on the quantization levels. Finally, some simulation results on a l₁‐regression problem are presented to demonstrate the performance of the algorithm. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Note on Generalized Lagrangians of Non-uniform Hypergraphs

Set \(A\subset {\mathbb N}\) is less than \(B\subset {\mathbb N}\) in the colex ordering if m a x(A△B)∈B. In 1980’s, Frankl and Füredi conjectured that the r-uniform graph with m edges consisting of the first m sets of \({\mathbb N}^{(r)}\) in the colex ordering has the largest Lagrangian among all r-uniform graphs with m edges. A result of Motzkin and Straus implies that this conjecture is true for r=2. This conjecture seems to be challenging even for r=3. For a hypergraph H=(V,E), the set T(H)={|e|:e∈E} is called the edge type of H. In this paper, we study non-uniform hypergraphs and define L(H) a generalized Lagrangian of a non-uniform hypergraph H in which edges of different types have different weights. We study the following two questions: 1. Let H be a hypergraph with m edges and edge type T. Let C _m,T denote the hypergraph with edge type T and m edges formed by taking the first m sets with cardinality in T in the colex ordering. Does L(H)≤L(C _m,T ) hold? If T={r}, then this question is the question by Frankl and Füredi. 2. Given a hypergraph H, find a minimum subhypergraph G of H such that L(G) = L(H). A result of Motzkin and Straus gave a complete answer to both questions if H is a graph. In this paper, we give a complete answer to both questions for {1,2}-hypergraphs. Regarding the first question, we give a result for {1,r ₁,r ₂,…,r _l }-hypergraph. We also show the connection between the generalized Lagrangian of {1,r ₁,r ₂,? ,r _l }-hypergraphs and {r ₁,r ₂,? ,r _l }-hypergraphs concerning the second question.     

Isotonicity of the metric projection with applications to variational inequalities and fixed point theory in Banach spaces

In this paper, we discuss isotonicity characterizations of the metric projection operator, including its necessary and sufficient conditions for isotonicity onto sublattices in Banach spaces. Then, we demonstrate their applications to variational inequalities and fixed point theory in Banach spaces. Our work generalizes many existing results obtained in earlier work.     

An efficient multi-objective PSO algorithm assisted by Kriging metamodel for expensive black-box problems

The huge computational overhead is the main challenge in the application of community based optimization methods, such as multi-objective particle swarm optimization and multi-objective genetic algorithm, to deal with the multi-objective optimization involving costly simulations. This paper proposes a Kriging metamodel assisted multi-objective particle swarm optimization method to solve this kind of expensively black-box multi-objective optimization problems. On the basis of crowding distance based multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm, the new proposed method constructs Kriging metamodel for each expensive objective function adaptively, and then the non-dominated solutions of the metamodels are utilized to guide the update of particle population. To reduce the computational cost, the generalized expected improvements of each particle predicted by metamodels are presented to determine which particles need to perform actual function evaluations. The suggested method is tested on 12 benchmark functions and compared with the original crowding distance based multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II algorithm. The test results show that the application of Kriging metamodel improves the search ability and reduces the number of evaluations. Additionally, the new proposed method is applied to the optimal design of a cycloid gear pump and achieves desirable results.     

Multiplicity of solutions for a class of Schrödinger–Maxwell systems

In this paper, we study existence and multiplicity of nontrivial solutions for a class of Schrödinger–Maxwell systems via variational methods. Some new existence results of nontrivial solutions are obtained.     

Complex dynamics of a discrete predator–prey model with the prey subject to the Allee effect

In this paper, complex dynamics of the discrete predator–prey model with the prey subject to the Allee effect are investigated in detail. Firstly, when the prey intrinsic growth rate is not large, the basins of attraction of the equilibrium points of the single population model are given. Secondly, rigorous results on the existence and stability of the equilibrium points of the model are derived, especially, by analyzing the higher order terms, we obtain that the non-hyperbolic extinction equilibrium point is locally asymptotically stable. The existences and bifurcation directions for the flip bifurcation, the Neimark–Sacker bifurcation and codimension-two bifurcations with 1:2 resonance are derived by using the center manifold theorem and the bifurcation theory. We derive that the model only exhibits a supercritical flip bifurcation and it is possible for the model to exhibit a supercritical or subcritical Neimark–Sacker bifurcation at the larger positive equilibrium point. Chaos in the sense of Marotto is proved by analytical methods. Finally, numerical simulations including bifurcation diagrams, phase portraits, sensitivity dependence on the initial values, Lyapunov exponents display new and rich dynamical behaviour. The analytic results and numerical simulations demonstrate that the Allee effect plays a very important role for dynamical behaviour.