Modeling study to compare the flow and heat transfer characteristics of low-power hydrogen, nitrogen and argon arc-heated thrusters

A modelling study is performed to compare the plasma °ow and heat transfer char- acteristics of low-power arc-heated thrusters (arcjets) for three di®erent propellants: hydrogen, nitrogen and argon. The all-speed SIMPLE algorithm is employed to solve the governing equa- tions, which take into account the e®ects of compressibility, Lorentz force and Joule heating, as well as the temperature- and pressure-dependence of the gas properties. The temperature, veloc- ity and Mach number distributions calculated within the thruster nozzle obtained with di®erent propellant gases are compared for the same thruster structure, dimensions, inlet-gas stagnant pressure and arc currents. The temperature distributions in the solid region of the anode-nozzle wall are also given. It is found that the °ow and energy conversion processes in the thruster nozzle show many similar features for all three propellants. For example, the propellant is heated mainly in the near-cathode and constrictor region, with the highest plasma temperature appear- ing near the cathode tip; the °ow transition from the subsonic to supersonic regime occurs within the constrictor region; the highest axial velocity appears inside the nozzle; and most of the input propellant °ows towards the thruster exit through the cooler gas region near the anode-nozzle wall. However, since the properties of hydrogen, nitrogen and argon, especially their molecular weights, speci¯c enthalpies and thermal conductivities, are di®erent, there are appreciable di®er- ences in arcjet performance. For example, compared to the other two propellants, the hydrogen arcjet thruster shows a higher plasma temperature in the arc region, and higher axial velocity but lower temperature at the thruster exit. Correspondingly, the hydrogen arcjet thruster has the highest speci¯c impulse and arc voltage for the same inlet stagnant pressure and arc current. The predictions of the modelling are compared favourably with available experimental results.

贡嘎山植物小枝功能性状在不同生活型和不同海拔间的比较研究

植物功能生态学研究不仅提供了植物生理生态学与生态系统生态学的连接，还为植物种群生活史对策研究提供了材料。Westoby 等 (2002) 提出了利用植物功能性状变量的主导维度来确定和量化植物生活史的生态适应策略。在他们所提出四个主导维度中，叶大小－小枝大小是研究相对较少的一维；其内部各组分的关系、对环境的响应，以及与其它重要维度的关系，目前的理解非常有限。 本研究以贡嘎山不同海拔不同功能群物种为研究对象，采用种间比较和系统发生独立性比较等研究方法，系统研究了植物的功能特征及其相关性在不同生境及不同功能群间的差异，旨在分析不同功能群物种的叶大小－小枝大小的成本和收益。其研究结果将有助于我们理解植物生活史对策的进化，进而理解物种共存和维持物种多样性的机制。主要研究结果如下： 1. 叶大小－小枝大小关系 小枝茎横截面积与单叶面积和总叶面积均呈异速生长关系，即总叶面积和单叶面积的增加比茎横截面积的增加速度快。但是，总叶面积和叶片干重的增加却基本上与小枝茎干重的增加等速。系统发生独立性比较研究的结果与此相一致。表明，在某一给定的茎投入时，至少大叶大枝物种不比小叶小枝物种在支撑叶面积和叶片干重方面具有优势。同时，在某一给定的小枝茎投入时，常绿阔叶物种比落叶阔叶物种支撑更少的叶面积。在茎干重与总叶面积的关系中，落叶复叶物种比落叶单叶物种具有更高的y轴截距，表明复叶物种比单叶物种在展叶面积方面更有效。复叶物种与单叶物种相比，通常具有较大的叶大小和小枝大小。 2. 叶大小－叶数量关系 叶大小与数量间在不同的叶片习性、不同的叶片形态以及不同的生境类型的物种间均存在稳定的负的等速生长关系，且这种关系在系统发生独立性比较时依然成立。然而，在某一给定的出叶强度 (单位小枝的叶数量) 时，常绿阔叶物种比落叶物种具有更小的叶面积。而在给定体积基础上的出叶强度时，落叶复叶物种的叶面积显著大于落叶单叶物种，且复叶物种比单叶物种具有更大的叶大小和更小的出叶强度。但是，叶大小与数量间的关系在不同的海拔间并没有显著的差异。 3. 小枝大小－总叶面积关系 在不同的生活型或不同的生境下，小枝上总叶面积与茎干重和小枝干重均呈正的异速生长关系，且斜率显著小于1.0，表明小枝上总叶面积的增加都不能赶上小枝及茎大小的增加。这种“收益递减”表明随着小枝干重的增加，光截取的收益递减。此外，叶面积比 (总叶面积与小枝干重的比值) 与单叶干重呈显著负相关关系，系统发生独立性比较的结果与此相一致。根据以上结果，可以推测，大叶的物种在质量较好的生境中出现，而群落内部小枝茎的寿命较长的物种可以拥有较大的叶片。 4. 叶片色素浓度－LMA关系 随着海拔的升高，阔叶木本植物和草本植物的叶片色素浓度减少，叶绿素a/b和类胡萝卜素/叶绿素比值以及比叶重 (LMA) 增加。然而，在草本植物中的色素浓度、色素比值和LMA的变化比阔叶木本植物的更明显。同时，LMA与叶片色素浓度呈负相关关系，但是在落叶物种中的LMA对色素浓度的影响比常绿阔叶物种更强烈。总之，草本植物的叶片特征对海拔梯度的变化似乎比木本植物更敏感，LMA对叶片色素的保护作用在落叶物种中比在常绿阔叶物种显得更重要。这些结果表明不同生活型物种可能采取不同的保护机制来降低叶绿体器官的损伤和增加他们的碳获取能力。 Studies on plant functional ecology not only bridge plant eco-physiology and ecosystem functioning, but also enrich plant population biology. As pointed out by Westoby et al (2002), plant life history strategies can be identified and quantified by four leading dimensions of variations in plant functional traits, i.e., seed size/output, leaf mass per area and leaf life span, plant height, and leaf size-twig size. Compared to the other dimensions, the cost/benefit of the leaf size-twig size spectrum has scarcely been analyzed in relation to environmental gradients and life form types, and the adaptive significance of this spectrum is not fully understood. In the present study, the relationships between functional traits of plant twigs are determined for the species with different life forms along an altitudinal gradient of Gongga Mountain with both cross-species analysis and evolutionary divergence analysis. The primary objective of this study is to examine the cost/benefit of leaf size-twig size in plants. The study results are supposed to provide insights into the understanding of the mechanism of species coexistences. The results are shown in the following. 1. The relationship between leaf size and twig size Twig cross-sectional area allometrically scaled with both individual leaf area and total leaf area supported by the twigs. However, the increase in total lamina mass/area was generally proportional to the increase in stem mass. These correlations between trait variations were significant in both interspecies analysis and phylogenetically independent comparison (PIC) analysis, which indicated that thick-twigged/large-leaved species, at least, do not have an advantage in supporting leaf/lamina area and lamina mass for the same twig stem investment than thin-twigged/ small-leaved species. Meanwhile, the evergreen broad-leaved species supported a smaller leaf area for the same twig stem investment in terms of both cross-sectional area and stem mass than the deciduous species. The deciduous compound-leaved species have a higher y-intercept in the scaling relationship of twig stem mass versus total leaf area than the deciduous simple-leaved species, indicating that compound-leaved species were more efficient in displaying leaf area. The compound-leaved species were larger in both leaf size and twig size than their counterpart in the present study. 2. The relationship between leaf size and leaf number Significantly negative and isometric scaling relationships between leaf size and leafing intensity (leaf number per twig mass or volume) were found to be consistently conserved across species independent of leaf habit, leaf form and habitat type. The negative correlations between leaf size and leafing intensity were also observed across correlated evolutionary divergences. However, leaf area was smaller in the evergreen broad-leaved species at a given leafing intensity than in the deciduous species. The deciduous compound-leaved deciduous species were higher in leaf area than deciduous simple-laved species at a given volume-based leafing intensity. Moreover, the compound-leaved deciduous species were larger in leaf size but smaller in leafing intensity than their simple counterparts. No significant difference was found in the scaling relationships between altitudes. 3. The relationship between twig size and total leaf area Leaf area was found to scale positively and allometrically with both stem and twig mass (stem mass plus leaf mass) with slopes significantly smaller than 1.0, independent of life form and habitat type, indicating that the increase in total leaf area fails to keep pace with increasing twig size and stem size. This ‘diminishing returns’ suggests that the benefit of light intercept decreased with increasing twig mass. Moreover, the leaf area ratio (the ratio of total leaf area to stem or twig mass) correlated negatively with individual leaf mass. The results of PIC were consistent with the correlations. According to the results, it is speculated that large-leaved species may be favored when habitat is good and when stem longevity are long within community. 4. The relationship between leaf pigment concentrations and leaf mass per area With increasing altitude, the concentrations of pigments decreased, but the ratios of chlorophyll a/b and carotenoid/chlorophyll, and LMA increased, in both the broad-leaved woody species and herbaceous species groups. However, the changes in the pigment concentrations, ratios and LMA were more profound in the herbaceous species than in the woody species. In addition, pigment concentrations were negatively correlated with LMA in each life form type and in the pooled dataset. However, the LMA effect on leaf pigment concentrations was more profound in the deciduous species than in the evergreen braode-leaved species. In general, herbaceous species seemed more sensitive to the increasing altitude compared to woody species, and LMA seemed to be a more important mechanism for protecting leaf pigments in deciduous species than in evergreen broad-leaved species. These results suggested that the species with different life forms may employ different protective mechanisms to decrease the chloroplast apparatus damage and increase their carbon gain.

Compound specific D/H ratios and molecular distributions of higher plant leaf waxes as novel pale oenvironmental indicators in the Chinese Loess Plateau

IEECAS SKLLQG

Dimensional crossover of heat conduction in low dimensions

The dimensional crossover phenomena of heat conduction is studied by a two-dimensional (2D) Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice. The 2D divergence law of the thermal conductivity is confirmed by the simulations results. The divergence law of the thermal conductivity will change from the 2D class to 1D class as delta=N-y/N-x decreases, here N-y is the size in transverse direction and N-x in longitude direction. The simulation's results suggest that the dimensional crossover happens in delta(*)-> 0 as N-x ->infinity.

Higher Moments of Net Proton Multiplicity Distributions at RHIC

200 GeV corresponding to baryon chemical potentials (mu(B)) between 200 and 20 MeV. Our measurements of the products kappa sigma(2) and S sigma, which can be related to theoretical calculations sensitive to baryon number susceptibilities and long-range correlations, are constant as functions of collision centrality. We compare these products with results from lattice QCD and various models without a critical point and study the root s(NN) dependence of kappa sigma(2). From the measurements at the three beam energies, we find no evidence for a critical point in the QCD phase diagram for mu(B) below 200 MeV.

Effects of zirconia phase on the synthesis of higher alcohols over zirconia and modified zirconia

The catalytic performances of ZrO2-based catalysts were evaluated for the synthesis of higher alcohols from synthesis gas. The crystal phase structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV Raman. The results indicated that ZrO2 and Pd modified ZrO2 catalysts were effective catalysts in the synthesis of ethanol or isobutanol, and their selectivities basically depended on the crystal phase of ZrO2 surface. The ZrO2 with surface tetragonal crystal phase exhibited a high activity to form ethanol, while the ZrO2 with surface monoclinic crystal phase exhibited a high activity to form isobutanol. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) experiment indicated that the high activity of isobutanol formation from synthesis gas over monoclinic zirconia was due probably to the strong Lewis acidity of Zr4+ cations and the strong Lewis basicity of O2- anions of coordinative unsaturated Zr4+-O2- pairs on the surface of monoclinic ZrO2. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.