The influence of stacks on flow patterns and stratification associated with natural ventilation

We investigate the steady state natural ventilation of an enclosed space in which vent A, located at height hA above the floor, is connected to a vertical stack with a termination at height H, while the second vent, B, at height hB above the floor, connects directly to the exterior. We first examine the flow regimes which develop with a distributed source of heating at the base of the space. If hBhB>hA, then two different flow regimes may develop. Either (i) there is inflow through vent B and outflow through vent A, or (ii) the flow reverses, with inflow down the stack into vent A and outflow through vent B. With inflow through vent A, the internal temperature and ventilation rate depend on the relative height of the two vents, A and B, while with inflow through vent B, they depend on the height of vent B relative to the height of the termination of the stack H. With a point source of heating, a similar transition occurs, with a unique flow regime when vent B is lower than vent A, and two possible regimes with vent B higher than vent A. In general, with a point source of buoyancy, each steady state is characterised by a two-layer density stratification. Depending on the relative heights of the two vents, in the case of outflow through vent A connected to the stack, the interface between these layers may lie above, at the same level as or below vent A, leading to discharge of either pure upper layer, a mixture of upper and lower layer, or pure lower layer fluid. In the case of inflow through vent A connected to the stack, the interface always lies below the outflow vent B. Also, in this case, if the inflow vent A lies above the interface, then the lower layer becomes of intermediate density between the upper layer and the external fluid, whereas if the interface lies above the inflow vent A, then the lower layer is composed purely of external fluid. We develop expressions to predict the transitions between these flow regimes, in terms of the heights and areas of the two vents and the stack, and we successfully test these with new laboratory experiments. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our results for real buildings.

Comparison of stabilised/solidified mixes of model drill cuttings based on the North Sea and Red Sea Areas

Following the global stringent legislations regulating the wastes generated from the drilling process of oil exploration and production activities, the management of hazardous drill cuttings has become one of the pressing needs confronting the petroleum industry. Most of the prevalent treatment techniques adopted by oil companies are extremely expensive and/or the treated product has to be landfilled without any potential end-use; thereby rendering these solutions unsustainable. The technique of stabilisation/solidification is being investigated in this research to treat drill cuttings prior to landfilling or for potential re-use in construction products. Two case studies were explored namely North Sea and Red Sea. Given the known difficulties with stabilising/solidifying oils and chlorides, this research made use of model drill cutting mixes based on typical drill cutting from the two case studies, which contained 4.2% and 10.95% average concentrations of hydrocarbons; and 2.03% and 2.13% of chlorides, by weight respectively. A number of different binders, including a range of conventional viz. Portland cement (PC) as well as less-conventional viz. zeolite, or waste binders viz. cement kiln dust (CKD), fly ash and compost were tested to assess their ability to treat the North Sea and Red Sea model drill cuttings. The dry binder content by weight was 10%, 20% and 30%. In addition, raw drill cuttings from one of the North Sea offshore rigs were stabilised/solidified using 30% PC. The characteristics of the final stabilised/solidified product were finally compared to those of thermally treated cuttings. The effectiveness of the treatment using the different binder systems was compared in the light of the aforementioned two contaminants only. A set of physical tests (unconfined compressive strength (UCS)), chemical tests (NRA leachability) and micro-structural examinations (using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD)) were used to evaluate the relative performance of the different binder mixes in treating the drill cuttings. The results showed that the observed UCS covered a wide range of values indicating various feasible end-use scenarios for the treated cuttings within the construction industry. The teachability results showed the reduction of the model drill cuttings to a stable non-reactive hazardous waste, compliant with the UK acceptance criteria for non-hazardous landfills: (a) by most of the 30% and 20% binders for chloride concentrations, and (b) by the 20% and 30% of compost-PC and CKD-PC binders for the Red Sea cuttings. The 20% and 30% compost-PC and CKD-PC binders successfully reduced the leached oil concentration of the North Sea cuttings to inert levels. Copyright 2007, Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Characterization of nano-composite M-2411/Y-123 thin films by electron backscatter diffraction and in-field critical current measurements

Thin films of nano-composite Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) superconductors containing nano-sized, non-superconducting particles of Y2Ba 4CuMOx (M-2411 with M = Ag and Nb) have been prepared by the PLD technique. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) has been used to analyze the crystallographic orientation of nano-particles embedded in the film microstructure. The superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 (Y-123) phase matrix is textured with a dominant (001) orientation for all samples, whereas the M-2411 phase exhibits a random orientation. Angular critical current measurements at various temperature (T) and applied magnetic field (B) have been performed on thin films containing different concentration of the M-2411 second phase. An increase in critical current density J c at T < 77 K and B < 6 T is observed for samples with low concentration of the second phase (2 mol % M-2411). Films containing 5 mol % Ag-2411 exhibit lower Jc than pure Y-123 thin films at all fields and temperatures. Samples with 5 mol % Nb-2411 show higher Jc(B) than phase pure Y-123 thin films for T < 77 K. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Deconvolution and elastography based on dimensional ultrasound

This paper is in two parts and addresses two of getting more information out of the RF signal from three-dimensional (3D) mechanically-swept medical ultrasound . The first topic is the use of non-blind deconvolution improve the clarity of the data, particularly in the direction to the individual B-scans. The second topic is imaging. We present a robust and efficient approach to estimation and display of axial strain information. deconvolution, we calculate an estimate of the point-spread at each depth in the image using Field II. This is used as of an Expectation Maximisation (EM) framework in which ultrasound scatterer field is modelled as the product of (a) a smooth function and (b) a fine-grain varying function. the E step, a Wiener filter is used to estimate the scatterer based on an assumed piecewise smooth component. In the M , wavelet de-noising is used to estimate the piecewise smooth from the scatterer field. strain imaging, we use a quasi-static approach with efficient based algorithms. Our contributions lie in robust and 3D displacement tracking, point-wise quality-weighted , and a stable display that shows not only strain but an indication of the quality of the data at each point in the . This enables clinicians to see where the strain estimate is and where it is mostly noise. deconvolution, we present in-vivo images and simulations quantitative performance measures. With the blurred 3D taken as OdB, we get an improvement in signal to noise ratio 4.6dB with a Wiener filter alone, 4.36dB with the ForWaRD and S.18dB with our EM algorithm. For strain imaging show images based on 2D and 3D data and describe how full D analysis can be performed in about 20 seconds on a typical . We will also present initial results of our clinical study to explore the applications of our system in our local hospital. © 2008 IEEE.

Spatial correlation of heat release rate and sound emission from turbulent premixed flames

The two-point spatial correlation of the rate of change of fluctuating heat release rate is central to the sound emission from open turbulent flames, and a few attempts have been made to address this correlation in recent studies. In this paper, the two-point correlation and its role in combustion noise are studied by analysing direct numerical simulation (DNS) data of statistically multi-dimensional turbulent premixed flames. The results suggest that this correlation function depends on the separation distance and direction but, not on the positions inside the flame brush. This correlation can be modelled using a combination of Hermite-Gaussian functions of zero and second order, i.e. functions of the form (1-Ax2)e-Bx2 for constants A and B, to include its possible negative values. The integral correlation volume obtained using this model is about 0.2δL3 with the length scale obtained from its cube root being about 0.6δ L, where δ L is the laminar flame thermal thickness. Both of the values are slightly larger than the values reported in an earlier study because of the anisotropy observed for the correlation. This model together with the turbulence-dependent parameter K, the ratio of the root-mean-square (RMS) value of the rate of change of reaction rate to the mean reaction rate, derived from the DNS data is applied to predict the far-field sound emitted from open flames. The calculated noise levels agree well with recently reported measurements and show a sensitivity to K values. © 2012 The Combustion Institute.

Effects of silicon addition on the electrical and magnetic properties of copper-doped (La,Ca)MnO3 compounds

In this paper we report about the electrical properties of La 0.7Ca0.3MnO3 compounds substituted by copper on the manganese site and/or deliberately contaminated by SiO2 in the reactant mixture. Several phenomena have been observed and discussed. SiO2 addition leads to the formation of an apatite-like secondary phase that affects the electrical conduction through the percolation of the charge carriers. On the other hand, depending on the relative amounts of copper and silicon, the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity can be noticeably modified: our results enable us to compare the effects of crystallographic vacancies on the A and B sites of the perovskite with the influence of the copper ions substituted on the manganese site. The most original result occurs for the compounds with a small ratio Si/Cu, which display double-peaked resistivity vs. temperature curves. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of film cooling hole angles and geometries on aerodynamic loss and net heat flux reduction

Turbine design engineers have to ensure that film cooling can provide sufficient protection to turbine blades from the hot mainstream gas, while keeping the losses low. Film cooling hole design parameters include inclination angle (a), compound angle (b), hole inlet geometry, and hole exit geometry. The influence of these parameters on aerodynamic loss and net heat flux reduction is investigated, with loss being the primary focus. Low-speed flat plate experiments have been conducted at momentum flux ratios of IR=0.16, 0.64, and 1.44. The film cooling aerodynamic mixing loss, generated by the mixing of mainstream and coolant, can be quantified using a three-dimensional analytical model that has been previously reported by the authors. The model suggests that for the same flow conditions, the aerodynamic mixing loss is the same for holes with different a and b but with the same angle between the mainstream and coolant flow directions (angle k). This relationship is assessed through experiments by testing two sets of cylindrical holes with different a and b: one set with k=35 deg, and another set with k=60 deg. The data confirm the stated relationship between α, β, k and the aerodynamic mixing loss. The results show that the designer should minimize k to obtain the lowest loss, but maximize b to achieve the best heat transfer performance. A suggestion on improving the loss model is also given. Five different hole geometries (α=35.0 deg, β=0 deg) were also tested: cylindrical hole, trenched hole, fan-shaped hole, D-Fan, and SD-Fan. The D-Fan and the SD-Fan have similar hole exits to the fan-shaped hole but their hole inlets are laterally expanded. The external mixing loss and the loss generated inside the hole are compared. It was found that the D-Fan and the SD-Fan have the lowest loss. This is attributed to their laterally expanded hole inlets, which lead to significant reduction in the loss generated inside the holes. As a result, the loss of these geometries is≈50% of the loss of the fan-shaped hole at IR=0.64 and 1.44. © 2013 by ASME.

Dopant compensation in HfO2 and other high K oxides

The theory of doping limits in semiconductors and insulators is applied to the case of wide gap oxides, crystalline, or amorphous, and used to explain that impurities do not in general give rise to gap states or a doping response. Instead, the system tends to form defect complexes or undergo symmetry-lowering reconstructions to expel gap states out of the band gap. The model is applied to impurities, such as trivalent metals, carbon, N, P, and B, in HfO2, the main gate dielectric used in field effect transistors. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.