Desenho e Construção de um protótipo gerador de jato de plasma frio a pressão atmosférica para aplicações biomédicas

Research for better performance materials in biomedical applications are constants. Thus recent studies aimed at the development of new techniques for modification of surfaces. The low pressure plasma has been highlighted for its versatility and for being environmentally friendly, achieving good results in the modification of physic chemical properties of materials. However, it is requires an expensive vacuum system and cannot able to generate superficial changes in specific regions. Furthermore, it is limits their use in polymeric materials and sensitive terms due to high process temperatures. Therefore, new techniques capable of generating cold plasma at atmospheric pressure (APPJ) were created. In order to perform surface treatments on biomaterials in specific regions was built a prototype capable of generating a cold plasma jet. The prototype plasma generator consists of a high voltage source, a support arm, sample port and a nozzle through which the ionized argon. The device was formed to a dielectric tube and two electrodes. This work was varied some parameters such as position between electrodes, voltage and electrical frequency to verify the behavior of glow discharges. The disc of titanium was polished and there was a surface modification. The power consumed, length, intensity and surface modifications of titanium were analyzed. The energy consumed during the discharges was observed by the Lissajous figure method. To check the length of the jets was realized with Image Pro Plus software. The modifications of the titanium surfaces were observed by optical microscopy (OM ) and atomic force microscopy (AFM ). The study showed that variations of the parameters such as voltage, frequency and geometric position between the electrodes influence the formation of the plasma jet. It was concluded that the plasma jet near room temperature and atmospheric pressure was able to cause modifications in titanium surface

Time-series-based maximization of distributed wind power generation integration

Energy policies and technological progress in the development of wind turbines have made wind power the fastest growing renewable power source worldwide. The inherent variability of this resource requires special attention when analyzing the impacts of high penetration on the distribution network. A time-series steady-state analysis is proposed that assesses technical issues such as energy export, losses, and short-circuit levels. A multiobjective programming approach based on the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA) is applied in order to find configurations that maximize the integration of distributed wind power generation (DWPG) while satisfying voltage and thermal limits. The approach has been applied to a medium voltage distribution network considering hourly demand and wind profiles for part of the U.K. The Pareto optimal solutions obtained highlight the drawbacks of using a single demand and generation scenario, and indicate the importance of appropriate substation voltage settings for maximizing the connection of MPG.

Caracterização morfodinâmica do estuário do Rio Açu, Macau/RN

Estuaries are coastal environments ephemeral life in geological time, derived from the drowning of the shoreline as a function of elevation relative sea level. Such parallel systems is characterized by having two sources of sediment, the river and the sea. The study area comprises the Acu River estuary, located on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte State, in a region of intense economic activity, mainly focused on the exploration of oil onshore and offshore, likely to accidental spills. In the oil sector are developed for salt production, shrimp farming, agriculture, fisheries and tourism, which by interacting with sensitive ecosystems, such as estuaries, may alter the natural conditions, thus making it an area susceptible to contamination is essential in understanding the morphodynamic variables that occur in this environment to obtain an environmental license. Information about the submarine relief the estuaries are of great importance for the planning of the activity of environmental monitoring, development and coastal systems, among others, allowing an easy management of risk areas, and assist in the creation of thematic maps of the main aspects of landscape. Morphodynamic studies were performed in this estuary in different seasonal periods in 2009 to observe and quantify morphological changes that have occurred and relate these to the hydrodynamic forcing from the river and its interaction with the tides. Thus, efforts in this area is possible to know the bottom morphology through records of good quality equipment acquired by high resolution geophysical (side-scan sonar and profiler current by doppler effect). The combination of these data enabled the identification of different forms of bed for the winter and summer that were framed in a lower flow regime and later may have been destroyed or modified forms of generating fund scheme than the number according Froude, with different characteristics due mainly to the variation of the depth and type of sedimentary material they are made, and other hydrodynamic parameters. Thus, these features background regions are printed in the channel, sandy banks and muddy plains that border the entire area

Synchrotron microComputed tomography of the mature bovine dentinoenamel junction

The mature dentinoenamel junction (DEJ) is viewed by some investigators and the current authors, not as a fossilized, sharp transition between enamel and dentin, but as a relatively broad structural transition zone including the mantle dentin and the inner aprismatic enamel. In this study, the DEJ structure in bovine incisors was studied with synchrotron microComputed Tomography (microCT) using small cubes cut parallel to the tooth surface. The reconstructions revealed a zone of highly variable punctate contrast between bulk dentin and enamel; the mean linear attenuation coefficients and their standard deviations demonstrated that this zone averaged less mineral than dentin or enamel but had more highly variable structure than either. The region with the punctuate contrast is, therefore, the mantle dentin. The thickness of the mantle dentin seen in a typical data set was about 30 mu m, and the mantle dentin-enamel interface deviated +/- 15 mu m from the average plane over a distance of 520 mu m. In the highest resolution data (similar to 1.5 mu m isotropic voxels, volume elements), tubules in the dentin could be discerned in the vicinity of the DEJ. Contrast sensitivity was high enough to detect differences in mineral content between near-surface and near-DEJ volumes of the enamel. Reconstructions before and after two cubes were compressed to failure revealed cracks formed only in the enamel and did not propagate across the mantle dentin, regardless of whether loading was parallel to or perpendicular to the DEJ. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoeletrolytic system applied to remazol red brilliant degradation

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Transient and d.c. analysis of the operation mechanism of light-emitting electrochemical cells

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Piezoresponse behavior of niobium doped bismuth ferrite thin films grown by chemical method

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Desenvolvimento de varistores à base de SnO2 para aplicação em redes de alta tensão

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Recent research developments in SnO2-based varistors

This paper discusses some advances in research conducted on SnO2-based electroceramics. The addition of different dopants, as well as several thermal treatments in oxidizing and inert atmospheres, were found to influence the microstructure and electrical properties of SnO2-based varistor ceramics. Measurements taken by impedance spectroscopy revealed variations in the height and width of the potential barrier resulting from the atmosphere in which thermal treatments were performed. High nonlinear coefficient values, which are characteristic of high-voltage and commercial ZnO varistors, were obtained for these SnO2-based systems. All the systems developed here have potentially promising varistor applications. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optical and electrical diagnostics of a spark-plug discharge in air

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Location of single line-to-ground faults on distribution feeders using voltage measurements

This paper proposes a dedicated algorithm for lation of single line-to-ground faults in distribution systems. The proposed algorithm uses voltage and current phasors measured at the substation level, voltage magnitudes measured at some buses of the feeder, a database containing electrical, operational and topological parameters of the distribution networks, and fault simulation. Voltage measurements can be obtained using power quality devices already installed on the feeders or using voltage measurement devices dedicated for fault location. Using the proposed algorithm, likely faulted points that are located on feeder laterals geographically far from the actual faulted point are excluded from the results. Assessment of the algorithm efficiency was carried out using a 238 buses real-life distribution feeder. The results show that the proposed algorithm is robust for performing fast and efficient fault location for sustained single line-to-ground faults requiring less than 5% of the feeder buses to be covered by voltage measurement devices. © 2006 IEEE.

Harmonic, reactive and unbalance compensation by means of CPT framework

This paper presents possible selective current compensation strategies based on the Conservative Power Theory (CPT). This recently proposed theory, introduces the concept of complex power conservation under non-sinusoidal conditions. Moreover, the related current decompositions results in several current terms, which are associated with a specific physical phenomena (power absorption P, energy storage Q, voltage and current distortion D). Such current components are used in this work for the definition of different current compensators, which can be selective in terms of minimizing particular disturbing effects. The choice of one or other current component for compensation directly affects the sizing and cost of active and/or passive devices and it will be demonstrated that it can be done to attend predefined limits for harmonic distortion, unbalances and/or power factor. Single and three-phase compensation strategies will be discussed by means of the CPT Framework. Simulation and experimental results will be demonstrated in order to validate their performance. © 2009 IEEE.

Selective current compensators based on the conservative power theory

This paper presents possible selective current compensation strategies based on the Conservative Power Theory (CPT). This recently proposed theory, introduces the concept of complex power conservation under non-sinusoidal conditions. Moreover, the related current decompositions results in several current terms, which are associated with a specific physical phenomena (power absorption P, energy storage Q, voltage and current distortion D). Such current components are used in this work for the definition of different current compensators, which can be selective in terms of minimizing particular disturbing effects. The choice of one or other current component for compensation directly affects the sizing and cost of active and/or passive devices and it will be demonstrated that it can be done to attend predefined limits for harmonic distortion, unbalances and/or power factor. Single-phase compensation strategies will be discussed by means of the CPT and simulation results will demonstrate their performance. © 2009 IEEE.

Contribution of distributed generators to the harmonic distortion in low voltage power network

In the last 20 years immense efforts have been made to utilize renewable energy sources for electric power generation. This paper investigates some aspects of integration of the distributed generators into the low voltage distribution network. An assessment of impact of the distributed generators on the voltage and current harmonic distortion in the low voltage network is performed. Results obtained from a case study, using real-life low voltage network, are presented and discussed.

Generalization of Wye and Delta auto-connections: Analysis of voltages and currents

Multipulse rectifier topologies based on autoconnections, or differential connections, are more and more applied as interface stages between the mains and power converters. These topologies mitigate many low-order current harmonics in the utility, reducing the THD (total harmonic distortion) and increasing the power factor. This paper presents a mathematical model based on phasor diagrams, that results in a single expression able to unify all differential topologies connections (Delta and Wye), for both step-up or step-down autotransformers, for 12 and 18-pulse AC-DC converters. The proposed family of converters can be designed for any relationship between the input voltage and the load voltage. An immediate application would be the retrofit, i.e. to replace a conventional rectifier with poor quality of the processed energy by the 12 or 18 pulses rectifier with Wye or Delta-differential connection. The design procedure, simple and fast, is developed and tested for a prototype rating 6 kW and 250 V on the DC load © 2010 IEEE.