Parametric study of potential early commercial MHD power plants

Three different reference power plant configurations were considered with parametric variations of the various design parameters for each plant. Two of the reference plant designs were based on the use of high temperature regenerative air preheaters separately fired by a low Btu gas produced from a coal gasifier which was integrated with the power plant. The third reference plant design was based on the use of oxygen enriched combustion air preheated to a more moderate temperature in a tubular type metallic recuperative heat exchanger which is part of the bottoming plant heat recovery system. Comparative information was developed on plant performance and economics. The highest net plant efficiency of about 45 percent was attained by the reference plant design with the use of a high temperature air preheater separately fired with the advanced entrained bed gasifier. The use of oxygen enrichment of the combustion air yielded the lowest cost of generating electricity at a slightly lower plant efficiency. Both of these two reference plant designs are identified as potentially attractive for early MHD power plant applications

Conceptual design study of potential early commercial MHD powerplant. Report of task 2 results

The conceptual design of one of the potential early commercial MHD power plants was studied. The plant employs oxygen enrichment of the combustion air and preheating of this oxygen enriched air to an intermediate temperature of 1200 F attainable with a tubular type recuperative heat exchanger. Conceptual designs of plant componets and equipment with performance, operational characteristics, and costs are reported. Plant economics and overall performance including full and part load operation are reviewed. The projected performance and estimated cost of this early MHD plant are compared to conventional power plants, although it does not offer the same high efficiency and low costs as the mature MHD power plant. Environmental aspects and the methods incorporated in plant design for emission control of sulfur and nitrogen are reviewed

Parametric study of potential early commercial MHD power plants. Task 3: Parameter variation of plant size

Plants with a nominal output of 200 and 500 MWe and conforming to the same design configuration as the Task II plant were investigated. This information is intended to permit an assessment of the competitiveness of first generation MHD/steam plants with conventional steam plants over the range of 200 to 1000 MWe. The results show that net plant efficiency of the MHD plant is significantly higher than a conventional steam plant of corresponding size. The cost of electricity is also less for the MHD plant over the entire plant size range. As expected, the cost differential is higher for the larger plant and decreases with plant size. Even at the 200 MWe capacity, however, the differential in COE between the MHD plant and the conventional plant is sufficient attractive to warrant serious consideration. Escalating fuel costs will enhance the competitive position of MHD plants because they can utilize the fuel more efficiently than conventional steam plants

X-Ray Microanalysis of Dentin: A Review

The aim of this review was to present a condensed summary of the literature on X-ray microanalysis of dentin, including both energy-dispersive (EDS) and wavelength-dispersive (WDS) analysis. Estimations of concentrations by XMA of dentin should be regarded as semiquantitative values. The Ca level in rat odontoblasts was elevated in the secreting end of the cell body. In predentin Ca accumulated at a concentration of 2% that of mineralized dentin. In coronal dentin the peritubular areas were hypermineralized (Ca, P, Mg). Primary caries lesions showed a decrease of Ca, P, Mg and Cl, and usually an increase of S and Zn. The mineralized surface often present contained especially high concentrations of F and K. Considerable uptake of various ions in cavity walls exposed to filling materials was assessed: from silver amalgam, Zn and Sn, from silicate cement and glassionomer cement F, Al and Zn, and from zinc oxide-eugenol cement, Zn. The highest F concentrations following topical application were found with solutions of TiF4 and with the varnishes Duraphat® and FluorProtector®. Dentin wall lesions adjacent to amalgam fillings exhibited considerably reduced Ca and P values, but concomitantly considerable amounts of Zn and Sn, that explained the increased radiopacity seen in some microradiographs

Scattering Theory of Charge-Current Induced Magnetization Dynamics

In ferromagnets, charge currents can excite magnons via the spin-orbit coupling. We develop a novel and general scattering theory of charge current induced macrospin magnetization torques in normal metal$|$ferromagnet$|$normal metal layers. We apply the formalism to a dirty GaAs$|$(Ga,Mn)As$|$GaAs system. By computing the charge current induced magnetization torques and solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, we find magnetization switching for current densities as low as $5\times 10^{6}$~A/cm$^2$. Our results are in agreement with a recent experimental observation of charge-current induced magnetization switching in (Ga,Mn)As.Comment: Final version accepted by EP

Gilbert damping in noncollinear ferromagnets

The precession and damping of a collinear magnetization displaced from its equilibrium are described by the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation. For a noncollinear magnetization, it is not known how the damping should be described. We use first-principles scattering theory to investigate the damping in one-dimensional transverse domain walls (DWs) of the important ferromagnetic alloy Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$ and interpret the results in terms of phenomenological models. The damping is found to depend not only on the magnetization texture but also on the specific dynamic modes of Bloch and N\'eel DWs. Even in the highly disordered Ni$_{80}$Fe$_{20}$ alloy, the damping is found to be remarkably nonlocal.Comment: Final version accepted by Physical Review Letter

Magnetocaloritronic nanomachines

We introduce and study a magnetocaloritronic circuit element based on a domain wall that can move under applied voltage, magnetic field and temperature gradient. We draw analogies between the Carnot machines and possible devices employing such circuit element. We further point out the parallels between the operational principles of thermoelectric and magnetocaloritronic cooling and power generation and also introduce a magnetocaloritronic figure of merit. Even though the magnetocaloritronic figure of merit turns out to be very small for transition-metal based magnets, we speculate that larger numbers may be expected in ferromagnetic insulators.Comment: Submitted to "Special issue: Caloritronics" in Solid State Communication

Alginate Microencapsulation of Human Islets Does Not Increase Susceptibility to Acute Hypoxia

Islet transplantation in diabetes is hampered by the need of life-long immunosuppression. Encapsulation provides partial immunoprotection but could possibly limit oxygen supply, a factor that may enhance hypoxia-induced beta cell death in the early posttransplantation period. Here we tested susceptibility of alginate microencapsulated human islets to experimental hypoxia (0.1–0.3% O2 for 8 h, followed by reoxygenation) on viability and functional parameters. Hypoxia reduced viability as measured by MTT by 33.8±3.5% in encapsulated and 42.9±5.2% in nonencapsulated islets (P<0.2). Nonencapsulated islets released 37.7% (median) more HMGB1 compared to encapsulated islets after hypoxic culture conditions (P<0.001). Glucose-induced insulin release was marginally affected by hypoxia. Basal oxygen consumption was equally reduced in encapsulated and nonencapsulated islets, by 22.0±6.1% versus 24.8±5.7%. Among 27 tested cytokines/chemokines, hypoxia increased the secretion of IL-6 and IL-8/CXCL8 in both groups of islets, whereas an increase of MCP-1/CCL2 was seen only with nonencapsulated islets. Conclusion. Alginate microencapsulation of human islets does not increase susceptibility to acute hypoxia. This is a positive finding in relation to potential use of encapsulation for islet transplantation

Voltage-Controlled High-Bandwidth Terahertz Oscillators Based On Antiferromagnets

Producing compact voltage-controlled frequency generators and sensors operating in the terahertz (THz) regime represents a major technological challenge. Here, we show that noncollinear antiferromagnets (NCAFM) with kagome structure host gapless self-oscillations whose frequencies are tunable from 0 Hz to the THz regime via electrically induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs). The auto-oscillations' initiation, bandwidth, and amplitude are investigated by deriving an effective theory, which captures the reactive and dissipative SOTs. We find that the dynamics strongly depends on the ground state's chirality, with one chirality having gapped excitations, whereas the opposite chirality provides gapless self-oscillations. Our results reveal that NCAFMs offer unique THz functional components, which could play a significant role in filling the THz technology gap.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Spin Damping Monopole

We present theoretical evidence that a magnetic monopole emerges in dynamic magnetic systems in the presence of the spin-orbit interaction. The monopole field is expressed in terms of spin damping associated with magnetization dynamics. We demonstrate that the observation of this spin damping monopole is accomplished electrically using Ampere's law for monopole current. Our discovery suggests the integration of monopoles into electronics, namely, monopolotronics.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure