Catalytic Cracking and Heat Sink Capacity of Aviation Kerosene Under Supercritical Conditions

Catalytic cracking of China no. 3 aviation kerosene using a zeolite catalyst was investigated under supercritical conditions. A three-stage heating/cracking system was specially designed to be capable of heating 0.8 kg kerosene to a temperature of 1050 K and pressure of 7.0 MPa with maximum mass flow rate of 80 g/s. Sonic nozzles of different diameters were used to calibrate and monitor the mass flow rate of the cracked fuel mixture. With proper experiment arrangements, the mass flow rate per unit throat area of the cracked fuel mixture was found to well correlate with the extent of fuel conversion. The gaseous products obtained from fuel cracking under different conditions were also analyzed using gas chromatography. Composition analysis showed that the average molecular weight of the resulting gaseous products and the fuel mass conversion percentage were a strong function of the fuel temperature and were only slightly affected by the fuel pressure. The fuel conversion was also shown to depend on the fuel residence time in the reactor, as expected. Furthermore, the heat sink levels due to sensible heating and endothermic cracking were determined and compared at varying test conditions. It was found that at a fuel temperature of similar to 1050 K, the total heat sink reached similar to 3.4 MJ/kg, in which chemical heat sink accounted for similar to 1.5 MJ/kg.

Vertical Bearing Capacity of a Partially-Embedded Pipeline on Tresca Soils

Slip-line field solutions are presented for the ultimate load of submarine pipelines on a purely cohesive soil obeying Tresca yield criterion, taking into account of pipe embedment and pipe-soil contact friction. The derived bearing capacity factors for a smooth pipeline degenerate into those for the traditional strip-line footing when the embedment approaches zero. Parametric studies demonstrate that the bearing capacity factors for pipeline foundations are significantly influenced by the pipeline embedment and the pipe-soil frictional coefficient. With the increase of pipeline embedment, the bearing capacity factor Nc decreases gradually, and finally reaches the minimum value (4.0) when the embedment equals to pipeline radius. As such, if the pipeline is directly treated as a traditional strip footing, the bearing capacity factor Nc would be over evaluated. The ultimate bearing loads increase with increasing pipeline embedment and pipe-soil frictional coefficient.

On the Bearing Capacity of Suction Bucket Foundations in Saturated Sand

Abstract: The static bearing capacity of suction caisson with single-and four-caissons in saturated sand foundation is studied by experiments. The characteristics of bearing capacity under vertical and horizontal loadings are obtained ex- perimentally. The effects of loading direction on the bearing capacity of four-caissons are studied under horizontal load- ing. The comparison of the bearing capacity of single-caisson and four-caisson foundation, the sealed condition of cais- son’s top and loading rate are analyzed.

Study on the Capacity Degradation of Bucket Foundation in Liquefied Sand Layer under Cyclic Loads

The capacity degradation of bucket foundation in liquefied sand layer under cyclic loads such as equivalent dynamic ice-induced loads is studied. A simplified numerical model of liquefied sand layer has been presented based on the dynamic centrifuge experiment results. The ice-induced dynamic loads are modeled as equivalent sine cyclic loads, the liquefaction degree in different position of sand layer and effects of main factors are investigated. Subsequently, the sand resistance is represented by uncoupled, non-linear sand springs which describe the sub-failure behavior of the local sand resistance as well as the peak capacity of bucket foundation under some failure criterion. The capacity of bucket foundation is determined in liquefied sand layer and the rule of capacity degradation is analyzed. The capacity degradation in liquefied sand layer is analyzed comparing with that in non-liquefied sand layer. The results show that the liquefaction degree is 0.9 at the top and is only 0.06 at the bottom of liquefied sand layer. The numerical results are agreement well with the centrifugal experimental results. The value of the degradation of bucket capacity is 12% in numerical simulating whereas it is 17% in centrifugal experiments.

Effects of rainfall infiltration on deep slope failure

With the finite element method and the limit equilibrium method, a numerical model has been estab-lished for examining the effects of rainfall infiltration on the stability of slopes. This model is able to reflect the variations in pore water pressure field in slopes, dead weight of the soil, and soil softening caused by rainfall infiltration. As a case study, an actual landslide located at the Nongji Jixiao in Chongqing was studied to analyze the effects of rainfall infiltration on the seepage field and slope sta-bility. The simulated results showed that a deep slope failure is prone to occur when rainfall infiltration leads to a remarkable variation in the seepage field, especially when the pore water pressure in slopes increases in a large range.

Essays in optimal resource allocation under uncertainty with capacity constraints

This thesis brings together four papers on optimal resource allocation under uncertainty with capacity constraints. The first is an extension of the Arrow-Debreu contingent claim model to a good subject to supply uncertainty for which delivery capacity has to be chosen before the uncertainty is resolved. The second compares an ex-ante contingent claims market to a dynamic market in which capacity is chosen ex-ante and output and consumption decisions are made ex-post. The third extends the analysis to a storable good subject to random supply. Finally, the fourth examines optimal allocation of water under an appropriative rights system.

The heat capacity of superfluid ^4He in the presence of a constant heat flux near Tλ

We present the first experimental evidence that the heat capacity of superfluid ⁴He, at temperatures very close to the lambda transition temperature, T_λ,is enhanced by a constant heat flux, Q. The heat capacity at constant Q, C_Q,is predicted to diverge at a temperature T_c(Q) < T_λ at which superflow becomes unstable. In agreement with previous measurements, we find that dissipation enters our cell at a temperature, T_DAS(Q),below the theoretical value, T_c(Q). Our measurements of C_Q were taken using the discrete pulse method at fourteen different heat flux values in the range 1µW/cm² ≤ Q≤ 4µW /cm². The excess heat capacity ∆C_Q we measure has the predicted scaling behavior as a function of T and Q:∆C_Q • t^α ∝ (Q/Q_c)², where Q_cT) ~ t^2ν is the critical heat current that results from the inversion of the equation for T_c(Q). We find that if the theoretical value of T_c( Q) is correct, then ∆C_Q is considerably larger than anticipated. On the other hand,if T_c(Q)≈ T_DAS(Q),then ∆C_Q is the same magnitude as the theoretically predicted enhancement.

Information-theoretic Studies and Capacity Bounds: Group Network Codes and Energy Harvesting Communication Systems

Network information theory and channels with memory are two important but difficult frontiers of information theory. In this two-parted dissertation, we study these two areas, each comprising one part. For the first area we study the so-called entropy vectors via finite group theory, and the network codes constructed from finite groups. In particular, we identify the smallest finite group that violates the Ingleton inequality, an inequality respected by all linear network codes, but not satisfied by all entropy vectors. Based on the analysis of this group we generalize it to several families of Ingleton-violating groups, which may be used to design good network codes. Regarding that aspect, we study the network codes constructed with finite groups, and especially show that linear network codes are embedded in the group network codes constructed with these Ingleton-violating families. Furthermore, such codes are strictly more powerful than linear network codes, as they are able to violate the Ingleton inequality while linear network codes cannot. For the second area, we study the impact of memory to the channel capacity through a novel communication system: the energy harvesting channel. Different from traditional communication systems, the transmitter of an energy harvesting channel is powered by an exogenous energy harvesting device and a finite-sized battery. As a consequence, each time the system can only transmit a symbol whose energy consumption is no more than the energy currently available. This new type of power supply introduces an unprecedented input constraint for the channel, which is random, instantaneous, and has memory. Furthermore, naturally, the energy harvesting process is observed causally at the transmitter, but no such information is provided to the receiver. Both of these features pose great challenges for the analysis of the channel capacity. In this work we use techniques from channels with side information, and finite state channels, to obtain lower and upper bounds of the energy harvesting channel. In particular, we study the stationarity and ergodicity conditions of a surrogate channel to compute and optimize the achievable rates for the original channel. In addition, for practical code design of the system we study the pairwise error probabilities of the input sequences.

The life capacity of copepod's eggs passed through the gut of Ladoga lake Coregonus [Translation from: Zool.Journal.Moscow 29-5, 476-477, 1950]

This short paper summarises findings of experiments that were carried out using copepod eggs taken from guts of Coregonus which breeds in various Ural lakes. The study showed that copepod eggs can pass through the gut of Coregonus unharmed.

Infiltration of fine and coarse sand into an open-work gravel bed

The siltation of an experimental gravel bed, with three grades of sand moving in suspension and as bedload, was examined. The rate of infiltration of sand into the void space of the gravel was determined under differing conditions of discharge, water depth, and velocity (jointly expressed as variation in the Froude Number) and suspended sediment concentration. The downstream reduction in siltation from the point source was also examined.

On a fiber grating sensor system with the capacity of cross-sensitivity discrimination

A novel fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor system based on an interrogating technique by two parallel matched gratings was designed and theoretically discussed. With an interrogation grating playing the role of temperature compensation grating simultaneously, the wavelength drifts induced by temperature and strain were discriminated. Additionally, the expressions of temperature and strain were deduced for our solution, and dual-value problem and cross sensitivity were solved synchronously through data processing. The influence of the FBG's parameters on the dynamic range and precision was discussed. Besides, the change of environment temperature cannot influence the dynamic range of the sensor system through temperature tuning. The system proposed in this paper will be of great significance to accelerate the real engineering applications of FBG sensing techniques. (c) 2007 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.