Large-scale computer simulation of fully developed turbulent channel flow with heat transfer

Recently, with the advent of supercomputers, there has been considerable interest in the use of direct numerical simulation to obtain information about turbulent shear flow at low Reynolds number. This paper presents a pseudospectral technique to solve the full three-dimensional time-dependent Navier-Stokes and advection-diffusion equations without the use of subgrid-scale modelling. The technique has not been previously used for fully developed turbulent channel flow simulation and is based on methods applied in other contexts. The emphasis of this paper is to provide a reasonably detailed account of how the simulation is done rather than to present new calculations of turbulence. The details of an algorithm for turbulent channel flow simulation and the grid and time step sizes needed to integrate through transient behaviour to steady state turbulence have not been published before and are presented here. Results from a Cray-2 simulation of fully developed turbulent flow in a channel with heat transfer are presented along with a critical comparison between experiment and computation. The first- and second-order moments agree well with experimental measurements; the agreement is poor for higher-order moments such as the skewness and flatness near the walls of the channel. Detailed information given about the effects of spatial grid resolution on a computed results is important for estimating the size of the computation required to study various aspects of a turbulent flow.     

Chemiluminescence from the oxidation of urea and ammonia with hypobromite and N-bromosuccinimide

The spectral distribution for the chemiluminescent oxidation of ammonia with hypobromite is significantly different to that for the oxidation of ammonia with N-bromosuccinimide. Therefore, in contrast to the assumptions of several authors, the action of N-bromosuccinimide is not solely derived from the in situ formation of hypobromite. Neither the oxidation of urea with hypobromite nor the oxidation of urea with N-bromosuccinimide involves an initial hydrolysis of urea to ammonia in the alkaline solution. However, these two reactions lead to a common emitter. The addition of xanthene dyes, such as dichlorofluorescein, enhance the chemiluminescence intensity by energy transfer to the efficient fluorophore, but reaction between the sensitiser and hypobromite can result in a significant increase in the background signal. A list of potential interferences has been compiled; particular attention was paid to guanidino compounds, as the chemiluminescence accompanying the oxidation of this functional group has not been previously discussed.     

Synthesis and structural characterization of a new heterobimetallic coordination complex of barium and cobalt for use as a precursor for chemical vapor deposition

Ba(dmae)2 (dmaeH=N,N-dimethylaminoethanol, C4H11NO) reacts with Co(acac)2 (acac=2,4-pentanedionate) to produce the trinuclear coordination complex [Ba2Co(acac)4(dmae)3(dmaeH)] in an 85% yield. Spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments indicate that the complex possesses a structure in which two barium atoms and a cobalt atom are bridged by acac and dmae groups. The barium centers are eight and nine coordinate with BaO7N and BaO7N2 coordination spheres while the cobalt is a more regular CoO5N octahedron. This 2:1 heterobimetallic molecular complex was investigated as precursor for the deposition of thin film by AACVD. The film was characterized by SEM and XRD. TGA shows that the complex starts thermal decomposition upon heating in nitrogen atmosphere at 105 degrees C to produce barium cobalt oxide material of a Ba2CoO3 composition with an orthorhombic structure. The synthetic approach detailed here represents a unique route to the formation of a heterobimetallic barium cobalt coordination complex.     

Mild and practical method for the alpha-arylation of nitriles with heteroaryl halides

[reaction: see text] A mild and transition-metal-free method for the alpha-arylation of aliphatic nitriles with activated heteroaryl halides was developed using NaHMDS or KHMDS as base at ambient temperature. The key to the success of this method is generation of the nitrile anion in the presence of the heteroaryl halide. The method is applicable to both primary and secondary carbonitriles and a wide range of heteroaryl halides. Selective monoarylation was observed with primary carbonitriles. The operational simplicity and the mild reaction conditions add to the value of this method as a practical alternative to the preparation of alpha-heteroaryl carbonitriles.     

Viscosity for a dense fluid of square-well rough spheres

Shear viscosity is calculated for a dense fluid of square-well rough spheres. The results are compared with calculated shear viscosities for the familiar hard-sphere, square-well and rough-sphere models.     

Measurement of labile Cu in soil using stable isotope dilution and isotope ratio analysis by ICP-MS

Isotope dilution is a useful technique to measure the labile metal pool, which is the amount of metal in soil in rapid equilibrium (<7 days) with the soil solution. This is normally performed by equilibrating soil with a metal isotope, and sampling the labile metal pool by using an extraction (E value), or by growing plants (L value). For Cu, this procedure is problematic for E values, and impossible for L values, due to the short half-life of the ⁶⁴Cu radioisotope (12.4 h), which makes access and handling very difficult. We therefore developed a technique using enriched ⁶⁵Cu stable isotope and measurement of ⁶³Cu/⁶⁵Cu ratios by quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to measure labile pools of Cu in soils using E value techniques. Mass spectral interferences in detection of ⁶³Cu/⁶⁵Cu ratios in soil extracts were found to be minimal. Isotope ratios determined by quadrupole ICP-MS compared well to those determined by high-resolution (magnetic sector) ICP-MS. E values determined using the stable isotope technique compared well to those determined using the radioisotope for both uncontaminated and Cu-contaminated soils.     

Thin film platinum cuff electrodes for neurostimulation: in vitro approach of safe neurostimulation parameters

Thin film technology takes more and more importance in the development of biomedical devices dedicated to functional neurostimulation. Our research about the design of implant neurostimulating electrode is oriented toward thin film cuff electrodes based on a polyimide substrate covered by a chromium/gold/Pt film. The chromium/gold sputtered film serves as adhesion layer and current collector whereas platinum acts as an electrochemical actuator. The electrode surface has been designed to obey safe stimulation criteria (i.e. chemically inert noble metal, low electrode-electrolyte impedance, high electrochemical reversibility, high corrosion stability). The electrochemical behaviour of such platinum electrodes has been assessed and compared to a foil of platinum. Extensive in vitro characterisations of the both electrode types were carried out using AFM, SEM and electrochemical techniques. The role of enhanced surface roughness enabling high double layer capacitances to be achieved was clearly highlighted. The obtained results are discussed, with particular reference to thin film electrodes stability under in vitro electrical stimulation in NaCl 0.9% (physiological serum). Therefore, these thin film devices showed reversible PtOH formation and decomposition making them potentially attractive for the fabrication of implant stimulation cuff electrodes.