Application of BU4N+HSO4 − as an Ionic Liquid and Acid Catalyst for Thioacetalization of Aldehydes and Ketones

A variety of carbonyl containing compounds have been successfully reacted with 1,2-ethanedithiol in a thioacetylization reaction using tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulfate as a mild and efficient catalyst. Aldehydes and ketones react with good to excellent yields under mild conditions.     

Determination of complex modes in photonic crystal waveguides using the phase variation in characteristic coefficients

An efficient frequency-domain method, the phase variation monitoring (PVM) method, is proposed to determine the electromagnetic eigenmodes in two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides. The proposed method is based on monitoring the reflection and transmission coefficients of incident plane waves. It is successfully applied to an illustrative line-defect photonic crystal waveguide and proved to be capable of calculating the in-plane leakage through the finite-size photonic crystal surrounding the line-defect. Calculation of the leakage loss is not only important for proper understanding of wave propagation within the defect but also for its significant role in applications of photonic structures.     

Least‐squares spectral method for velocity‐vorticity‐pressure form of the Stokes equations

The aim of this article is to present and analyze first‐order system least‐squares spectral method for the Stokes equations in two‐dimensional spaces. The Stokes equations are transformed into a first‐order system of equations by introducing vorticity as a new variable. The least‐squares functional is then defined by summing up the ‐ and ‐norms of the residual equations. The ‐norm in the least‐squares functional is replaced by suitable operator. Continuous and discrete homogeneous least‐squares functionals are shown to be equivalent to ‐norm of velocity and ‐norm of vorticity and pressure for spectral Galerkin and pseudospectral method. The spectral convergence of the proposed methods are given and the theory is validated by numerical experiment. Mass conservation is also briefly investigated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 661–680, 2016     

Profit-maximization generation maintenance scheduling through bi-level programming

This paper addresses the generation maintenance scheduling (GMS) dilemma in a deregulated power system. At first, under a centralized cost minimization framework, a GMS is formulated and set as the benchmark (cost-minimization GMS). Then, the cost-minimization is changed into a profit-maximization problem of generation companies (GENCOs) and the GMS is developed as a bi-level optimization. Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions are applied to transform the bi-level into a single-level mixed-integer linear problem and subsequently, Nash equilibrium is obtained as the final solution for the GMS under a deregulated market (profit-maximization GMS). Moreover, to incorporate reliability and economic regulatory constraints, two rescheduling signals (incentive and penalty) are considered as coordination processes among GENCOs and independent system operators. These signals are based on energy-not-supplied and operation cost, and ensure that the result of profit-maximization GMS is in the given reliability and social cost limits, respectively. These limits are obtained from the cost-minimization GMS. Lastly, the model is evaluated on a test system. The results demonstrate applicability and challenges in GMS problems.     

Vapor–liquid equilibria of asymmetrical systems using UNIFAC-NRF group contribution activity coefficient model

The UNIFAC-NRF group contribution activity coefficient model is used for the calculation of vapor–liquid equilibria of binary systems of the heavy alkanes and light gases such as CH₄, C₂H₆, CO₂ and N₂. The linear combination mixing rule, LCVM, of the Huron–Vidal and Michelsen, Chen et al. modification of PSRK and Universal Group Contribution Equation of State of Ahlers and Gmehling are combined with the UNIFAC-NRF group activity coefficient model to correlation of the vapor–liquid equilibrium of both light and heavy hydrocarbons. The results show that the LCVM mixing rule combing with UNIFAC-NRF group contribution model correlate the asymmetric systems better than the LCVM-UNIFAC and the other EOS/G^E models. Also the group contribution model is used for the prediction of the phase envelope of the synthetic fluid with accurate results.     

Performance analysis and multi-objective optimization of an organic Rankine cycle with binary zeotropic working fluid employing modified artificial bee colony algorithm

From a thermal point of view, zeotropic mixtures are likely to be more efficient than azeotropic fluids in low-temperature power cycles for reduction in exergy destruction occurring during heat absorption/rejection processes due to their suitable boiling characteristics. In this study, comprehensive energetic and exergetic analyses are mathematically performed for an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system employing a potential binary zeotropic working fluid, namely R717/water. For this purpose, initially mass, energy, and exergy balance equations are derived. With regard to the similarity in molar mass of R717 (17.03 g mol^?1) and water (18.01 g mol^?1), there is no need to alter the size of the ORC components such as turbine and pump. In order to achieve the optimal thermal and exergy efficiencies of the ORC system, modified version a powerful and relatively new optimization algorithm called artificial bee colony (ABC) is used taking into account different effective constraints. The main motivation behind using ABC lies on its robustness, reliability, and convergence rate speed in dealing with complicated constrained multi-objective problems. Convergence rates of the algorithm for optimal calculation of the efficiencies are presented. Subsequently, due to the importance of exergy concept in ORC systems, exergy destructions occurring in the components are computed. Finally, the impacts of pressure, temperature, mass fraction, and mass flow rate on the ORC thermal and exergy efficiencies are discussed.

     

Aqueous flow in the presence of a perforated iris-fixated intraocular lens

The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of the aqueous humour flow in the anterior chamber of the eye in the presence of a perforated, phakic, iris-fixated intraocular lens (pIOL). Such pIOLs are implanted in the anterior chamber in front of the iris and therefore they interfere with aqueous motion. The aim of this work is to investigate whether a perforation in the body of the pIOL can improve its fluid dynamics performance. Numerical simulations are conducted using the free computational fluid dynamics program OpenFOAM. The aqueous humour is modelled as a Newtonian incompressible fluid and, when temperature effects are considered, the Navier–Stokes equations are coupled to the energy equation, using Boussinesq’s approach to account for fluid density changes associated temperature variations. The pressure drop across the anterior chamber is calculated considering perforations in the pIOL of various sizes and also studying the extreme case in which the passage between the iris and the pIOL gets plugged, thus leaving the hole in the pIOL as the only possible pathway for aqueous flow. The study shows that the presence of a hole in the pIOL can only have a significant role on the pressure in the eye if the normal aqueous flow in the region between the pIOL and the iris gets blocked and has a negligible effect on the wall shear stress on the cornea.     

Integrated fuzzy AHP and fuzzy VIKOR model for supplier selection in an agile and modular virtual enterprise

In this ever-changing world, organizations need to outsource parts of their processes for having agile response to market’s needs and varying demands. Because of temporal nature of virtual enterprises (VE’s), the situation of outsourcing process in this kind of organizations is a vital situation. The main idea of this paper aims to present a decision-making framework for specific area that is appropriated for complex states. Its contribution is developing a fuzzy VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method and combining it with fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP). This extension suitable for decision-making situations which is faced with mixture appraisement that simultaneously regarded to both “group utility” or majority and “individual regret” of the opponent. The Integrated and developed model suits to inconsistent conditions that we face to collection of criteria and subcriteria that should satisfy some of them collectively and simultaneously and in other attainment of some individual criteria is desirable. This framework then extended to a case study with varied criteria for outsourcing process.     

The Schur multiplier of p-groups with large derived subgroup

For any given p-group of order p ⁿ (n ≥ 4) with derived subgroup of order p ^n-2 we will show that the order of its Schur multiplier is less than |G ^'|/2 when p = 2 and |G ^'| in the other cases.