Optical, Energetic and Exergetic Analyses of Parabolic Trough Collectors

Parabolic trough collectors generate thermal energy from solar energy. Especially, they are very convenient for applications in high temperature solar power systems. To determine the design parameters, parabolic trough collectors must be analysed with optical analysis. In addition, thermodynamics （energy and exergy） analysis in the development of an energy efficient system must be achieved. Solar radiation passes through Earth＇s atmosphere until it reaches on Earth＇s surface and is focused from the parabolic trough collector to the tube receiver with a transparent insulated envelope. A11 of them constitute a complex mechanism. We investigate the geometry of parabolic trough reflector and characteristics of solar radiation to the reflecting surface through Earth＇s atmosphere, and calculate the collecting totM energy in the receiver. The parabolic trough collector, of which design parameters are given, is analysed in regard to the energy and exergy analysis considering the meteorological specification in May, June, July and August in 1sparta/TUrkey, and the results are presented.     

Growth and characterization of c-plane AlGaN on γ-LiAlO2

This study demonstrates a pure c-plane AlGaN epilayer grown on a γ-LiAlO₂ (1 0 0) (LAO) substrate with an AlN nucleation layer grown at a relatively low temperature (LT-AlN) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The AlGaN film forms polycrystalline film with m- and c-plane when the nucleation layer grows at a temperature ranging from 660 to 680 °C. However, a pure c-plane AlGaN film with an Al content of approximately 20% can be obtained by increasing the LT-AlN nucleation layer growth temperature to 700 °C. This is because the nuclei density of AlN increases as the growth temperature increases, and a higher nuclei density of AlN deposited on LAO substrate helps prevent the deposition of m-plane AlGaN. Therefore, high-quality and crack-free AlGaN films can be obtained with a (0 0 0 2) ω-rocking curve FWHM of 547 arcsec and surface roughness of 0.79 nm (root-mean-square) using a 700-°C-grown LT-AlN nucleation layer.     

Self-Concordant Barriers for Convex Approximations of Structured Convex Sets

We show how to approximate the feasible region of structured convex optimization problems by a family of convex sets with explicitly given and efficient (if the accuracy of the approximation is moderate) self-concordant barriers. This approach extends the reach of the modern theory of interior-point methods, and lays the foundation for new ways to treat structured convex optimization problems with a very large number of constraints. Moreover, our approach provides a strong connection from the theory of self-concordant barriers to the combinatorial optimization literature on solving packing and covering problems.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel flavonoid-substituted phthalocyanines using (±)naringenin

In this study, novel unsymmetrical mono- and di-substituted metal free and metallo phthalocyanines containing peripheral naringeninoxy moieties have been prepared. The naringenin-substituted phthalonitrile was synthesized from 4-nitrophthalonitrile and (±)naringenin in dimethylsulfoxide. Preparation of unsymmetrical mono- and di-substituted phthalocyanines, 2-naringenin-7-O-phthalocyaninatozinc, 2,9-bis-naringenin-7-O-phthalocyaninatozinc, 2,9-bis-naringenin-7-O-phthalocyaninatocobalt and 2,9-bis-naringenin-7-O-phthalocyanine was performed at 120-140 °C using the corresponding phthalonitrile in the presence of N,N-dimethylethanolamine (DMAE), ZnCl₂, CoCl₂ and LiCl, respectively. Synthesized new phthalocyanine compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis and ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, FT-IR, MS and UV-vis spectroscopy. These are the first known examples of flavonoid-substituted phthalocyanines.     

The neural network and multivariate linear regression approach for observing phase transitions of polymers with the differential thermal analysis method

The aim of this study was to correlate the results of experimental data using DTA method and predictions of artificial neural network (ANN) and multivariate linear regression (MLR). Thermal decomposition of polymers was analyzed by simultaneous DTA method, and kinetic parameters (critical points, the change of enthalpy and entropy) of polymers were investigated. A computer model based on multilayer feed forwarding back propagation and multilayer linear regression model were used for the prediction of critical points, phase transitions of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and mid-density polyethylene. As a result of our study, we concluded that ANN model is more suitable than MLR about prediction of experimental data.     

Structured replacement policies for a Markov-modulated shock model

We establish the optimality of structured replacement policies for a periodically inspected system that fails silently whenever the cumulative number of shocks, or the magnitude of a single shock it has received, exceeds a corresponding threshold. Shocks arrive according to a Markov-modulated Poisson process which represents the (controllable or uncontrollable) environment.     

Supplier diversification under binomial yield

We consider supplier diversification in an EOQ type inventory setting with multiple suppliers and binomial yields. We characterize the optimal policy for the model and show that, in this case, it does not pay to diversify, in contrast to previous results in the random yield literature.     

Preparation and characterization of copper(II) tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine nanoparticles formed by laser ablation in poor solvents

Laser irradiation of copper(II) tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (CuTsPc) microcrystals in poor organic solvents such as methanol, 2-methyl-2-propanol, ethanol, tetrahydrofuran, and acetone has produced CuTsPc nanoparticles with 15–112 nm in diameter. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images have shown the formation of CuTsPc nanoparticles in poor organic solvents used in this work. The mean diameters of CuTsPc nanoparticles obtained from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images in methanol, 2-methyl-2-propanol, ethanol, tetrahydrofuran, and acetone were determined to be 26, 36, 35, 86, and 78 nm, respectively. A correlation between the size of CuTsPc nanoparticles and a solvent polarity could be found in this work.