Experimental investigation on TBAB clathrate hydrate slurry flows in a horizontal tube: Forced convective heat transfer behaviors

Tetra-n-butyl-ammonium bromide (TBAB) clathrate hydrate slurry (CHS) is one kind of secondary refrigerants, which is promising to be applied into air-conditioning or latent-heat transportation systems as a thermal storage or cold carrying medium for energy saving. It is a solid-liquid two phase mixture which is easy to produce and has high latent heat and good fluidity. In this paper, the heat transfer characteristics of TBAB slurry were investigated in a horizontal stainless steel tube under different solid mass fractions and flow velocities with constant heat flux. One velocity region of weakened heat transfer was found. Moreover, TBAB CHS was treated as a kind of Bingham fluids, and the influences of the solid particles, flow velocity and types of flow on the forced convective heat transfer coefficients of TBAB CHS were investigated. At last, criterial correlations of Nusselt number for laminar and turbulent flows in the form of power function were summarized, and the error with experimental results was within 20%.

Kinetic Model Study on Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Cellulose Using Artificial Neural Networks

Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was highly complex because of the unclear enzymatic mechanism and many factors that affect the heterogeneous system. Therefore, it is difficult to build a theoretical model to study cellulose hydrolysis by cellulase. Artificial neural network (ANN) was used to simulate and predict this enzymatic reaction and compared with the response surface model (RSM). The independent variables were cellulase amount X-1, substrate concentration X-2, and reaction time X-3, and the response variables were reducing sugar concentration Y-1 and transformation rate of the raw material Y-2. The experimental results showed that ANN was much more suitable for studying the kinetics of the enzymatic hydrolysis than RSM. During the simulation process, relative errors produced by the ANN model were apparently smaller than that by RSM except one and the central experimental points. During the prediction process, values produced by the ANN model were much closer to the experimental values than that produced by RSM. These showed that ANN is a persuasive tool that can be used for studying the kinetics of cellulose hydrolysis catalyzed by cellulase.

Fabrication of a Silicon-Based Microprobe for Neural Interface Applications

A two-dimensional (2D) multi-channel silicon-based microelectrode array is developed for recording neural signals. Three photolithographic masks are utilized in the fabrication process. SEM images show that the microprobe is 1. 2mm long,100μm wide,and 30μm thick, with recording sites spaced 200μm apart for good signal isolation. For the individual recording sites, the characteristics of impedance versus frequency are shown by in vitro testing. The impedance declines from 14MΩ to 1.9kv as the frequency changes from 0 to 10MHz. A compatible PCB (print circuit board) aids in the less troublesome implantation and stabilization of the microprobe.

Simulation of a Monolithic Integrated CMOS Preamplifier for Neural Recordings

A monolithic integrated CMOS preamplifier is presented for neural recording applications. Two AC-coupied capacitors are used to eliminate the large and random DC offsets existing in the electrode-electrolyte interface. Diode-connected nMOS transistors with a negative voltage between the gate and source are candidates for the large resistors necessary for the preamplifier. A novel analysis is given to determine the noise power spectral density. Simulation results show that the two-stage CMOS preamplifier in a closed-loop capacitive feedback configuration provides an AC in-band gain of 38.8dB,a DC gain of 0,and an input-referred noise of 277nVmax, integrated from 0. 1Hz to 1kHz. The preamplifier can eliminate the DC offset voltage and has low input-referred noise by novel circuit configuration and theoretical analysis.

Architecture research and hardware implementation on simplified neural computing system for face identification

This paper describes a special-purpose neural computing system for face identification. The system architecture and hardware implementation are introduced in detail. An algorithm based on biomimetic pattern recognition has been embedded. For the total 1200 tests for face identification, the false rejection rate is 3.7% and the false acceptance rate is 0.7%.

Artificial neural networks expecting more advanced microelectronics technology

　

Global stability of Hopfield neural networks

This paper gives a condition for the global stability of a continuous-time hopfield neural network when its activation function maybe not monotonically increasing.

Influence of open-tube Ga diffusion on the characteristics for thyristor

Open-tube Ga diffusion into a SiO2/Si structure was used for fabrication of the high speed thyristor. The advantages of open-tube Ga diffusion are as follows; it is easier to operate and easier to control the profile of the Ga concentration during processing, a clean surface, which is free from alloy spots can be obtained, this technique ensures to improve the on-state characteristics and dynamic characteristics.