Estimation of Landfill Gas Generation Rate and Gas Permeability Field of Refuse Using Inverse Modeling

Landfill methane must be captured to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases; moreover it can be used as an alternative energy source. However, despite the widespread use of landfill gas (LFG) collection systems for over three decades, little information about their capture efficiency is available, because LFG generation rates usually remain unknown. Therefore, to assess the efficiency of greenhouse gas capture and to estimate the amount of fugitive emissions, LFG generation rates should be properly determined. In addition, to improve the capture efficiency of methane while minimizing air intrusion from the atmosphere, it is important to quantify gas flow patterns within landfills. In this study, a methodology to quantify methane generation rates and to estimate the gas permeability field was examined using inverse modeling. To account for the heterogeneous, but spatially correlated structure of refuse, the pilot point method involving geostatistical techniques and optimization algorithms was used. Synthetic observation data were generated from forward simulations for a pumping test and a baro-pneumatic test, and these data were used to test the inversion procedure. The inverse model was able to reproduce the spatial permeability distribution using the transient pressure changes in response to the withdrawal of LFG during the pumping test. The LFG generation rate was also successfully estimated using the data from the baro-pneumatic test with errors less than 2%. While this methodology was developed and successfully tested using synthetic data, it will be investigated in the future using field data from the bioreactor test cells at the Yolo County Central Landfill, CA.     

Effect of chemical structure on the crosslinking behavior of bismaleimides: Rheological study

The effect of molecular structure on the cure characteristics of bismaleimides (BMIs) was investigated by rheological measurements. BMI resins of different chemical structures were used, prepared from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A and N-(3-carboxy phenyl) maleimide or N-(4-carboxy phenyl) maleimide. Temperature dependence of the rheological data was correlated to the Arrhenius equation, from which the activation energy of crosslinking was calculated.Upon heating in dynamic curing, viscosity passed through a minimum then sharply increased due to increasing amount of the crosslinking reaction. The temperature at minimum viscosity increased as the chain length became longer. After passing the minimum point, viscosity increased much faster for meta BMIs (3BE1, 3BE2) than para BMIs, however, the difference in the chain length did not show any appreciable difference in the viscosity increase rate (dη^∗/dT). Nonetheless, the final viscosity was lower for longer chains, because their crosslinking density would be lower.In isothermal curing, the final crosslinking density was expected to increase with temperature, which was shown via the increase in the final viscosity. The gelation time decreased with temperature, and the activation energy of the crosslinking reaction was obtained. Using the reaction kinetics parameters obtained from dynamic scanning calorimeter and Arrhenius type equation, the viscosity change during the isothermal curing was simulated and compared with the measurements.     

Combinatorial integral approximation

We are interested in structures and efficient methods for mixed-integer nonlinear programs (MINLP) that arise from a first discretize, then optimize approach to time-dependent mixed-integer optimal control problems (MIOCPs). In this study we focus on combinatorial constraints, in particular on restrictions on the number of switches on a fixed time grid. We propose a novel approach that is based on a decomposition of the MINLP into a NLP and a MILP. We discuss the relation of the MILP solution to the MINLP solution and formulate bounds for the gap between the two, depending on Lipschitz constants and the control discretization grid size. The MILP solution can also be used for an efficient initialization of the MINLP solution process. The speedup of the solution of the MILP compared to the MINLP solution is considerable already for general purpose MILP solvers. We analyze the structure of the MILP that takes switching constraints into account and propose a tailored Branch and Bound strategy that outperforms cplex on a numerical case study and hence further improves efficiency of our novel method.     

Singular solutions of the Poisson equation at edges of three‐dimensional domains and their treatment with a predictor–corrector finite element method

Solutions of boundary value problems in three‐dimensional domains with edges may exhibit singularities which are known to influence both the accuracy of the finite element solutions and the rate of convergence in the error estimates. This paper considers boundary value problems for the Poisson equation on typical domains Ω ? ?³ with edge singularities and presents, on the one hand, explicit computational formulas for the flux intensity functions. On the other hand, it proposes and analyzes a nonconforming finite element method on regular meshes for the efficient treatment of the singularities. The novelty of the present method is the use of the explicit formulas for the flux intensity functions in defining a postprocessing procedure in the finite element approximation of the solution. A priori error estimates in H¹(Ω) show that the present algorithm exhibits the same rate of convergence as it is known for problems with regular solutions.     

Regulation of glutamatergic signalling by PACAP in the mammalian suprachiasmatic nucleus

Background  

Previous studies indicate that light information reaches the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) through a subpopulation of retinal ganglion cells that contain both glutamate and pituitary adenylyl cyclase activating peptide (PACAP). While the role of glutamate in this pathway has been well studied, the involvement of PACAP and its receptors are only beginning to be understood. Speculating that PACAP may function to modulate how neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus respond to glutamate, we used electrophysiological and calcium imaging tools to examine possible cellular interactions between these co-transmitters.     

Gas-phase and catalytic combustion in heat-recirculating burners

An experimental study of a spiral counterflow “Swiss roll” burner was conducted, with emphasis on the determination of extinction limits and comparison of results with and without bare-metal Pt catalyst. A wide range of Reynolds numbers (Re) were tested using propane–air mixtures. Both lean and rich extinction limits were extended with the catalyst, though rich limits were extended much further. With the catalyst, combustion could be sustained at Re as low as 1.2 with peak temperatures as low as 350 K. A heat transfer parameter characterizing the thermal performance of both gas-phase and catalytic combustion at all Re was identified. At low Re, the “lean” extinction limit was actually rich of stoichiometric, and rich-limit had equivalence ratios exceeded 40 in some cases. No corresponding behavior was observed without the catalyst. Gas-phase combustion, in general, occurred in a “flameless” mode near the burner center. With or without catalyst, for sufficiently robust conditions (high Re, near-stoichiometric) not requiring heat recirculation, a visible flame would propagate out of the center, but this flame could only be re-centered if the catalyst were present. Gas chromatography indicated that at low Re, even in extremely rich mixtures, CO and non-propane hydrocarbons did not form. For higher Re, where both gas-phase and catalytic combustion could occur, catalytic limits were slightly broader but had much lower limit temperatures. At sufficiently high Re, catalytic and gas-phase limits merged. It is concluded that combustion at low Re in heat-recirculating burners greatly benefits from catalytic combustion with the proper choice of mixtures that are different from those preferred for gas-phase combustion. In particular, the importance of providing a reducing environment for the catalyst to enhance O₂ desorption, especially at low Re where heat losses are severe thus peak temperatures are low, is noted.     

Long pulse generation technology of solid-state laser adopting a new real time multi-discharge method

In this study, a solid-state laser system adopting a new real time multi-discharge method in which three flashlamps are turned on consecutively was designed and fabricated to examine the pulse width and the pulse shape of the laser beams depending upon the changes in the lamp turn-on time. That is, this study shows a technology that makes it possible to make various pulse shapes by turning on three flashlamps consecutively on a real-time basis with the aid of a program integrated circuit one-chip microprocessor. With this technique, the lamp turn-on delay time can be varied more diversely from 0 to 10 ms and the real-time control is possible with an external keyboard, enabling various pulse shapes. In addition, longer pulses can be more widely used for industrial processing and many medical purposes.     

Issues on nanoimprint lithography with a single-layer resist structure

We summarize our key developments in nanoimprint lithography (NIL) that employs a single layer resist lift-off process: lowering of the imprint temperature (for thermal imprint) and pressure, achieving uniform resist thickness and low residual resist layer thickness in the trenches, and eliminating metal ‘rabbit ears’ for the single-layer lift-off. In thermal NIL, our requirements for lower operating temperature and pressure motivated us to develop an alternative resist that is a viscous fluid at room temperature and cures at a lower temperature of 70 °C than the operating temperature of the conventional thermal NIL (≈200 °C). For UV NIL, we devised a method to dispense the resist onto a hydrophobic mold and use the hydrophilic substrate surface to spread the resist via surface wetting to engineer a continuous and uniform film. We also explored the use of Si(110) substrates as molds to produce features with perfectly vertical side walls, and the use of aqua regia to directly etch away rabbit ears. PACS 86.65.+h; 81.16.Nd; 81.16.Rf