Development of a thermal reclamation system for spent blasting abrasive

Abrasive blasting is the most economical method for paint removal from large surface areas such as the hulls and tanks of oceangoing vessels. Tens of thousands of tons of spent abrasive are generated annually by blasting operations in private and US Navy shipyards. Some of this material is classified as hazardous waste, and nearly all of it is currently being either stockpiled or disposed in landfills. The rapid decline in available landfill space and corresponding rise in landfill tipping fees pose a severe problem for shipyard operators throughout the US. This paper discusses the results of a research and development program initiated by the Institute of Gas Technology and supported by the US Navy to develop and test a fluidized-bed thermal reclamation system for spent abrasive waste minimization. Bench- and pilot-scale reclaimer tests and reclaimed abrasive performance tests are described along with the current status of a program to build and test a 5-ton/hour prototype reclaimer at a US Navy shipyard

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

High-pressure gasification of Montana subbituminous coal

A data base for the fluidized-bed gasification of different coals at elevated pressures has been developed at the Institute of Gas Technology (IGT) with different ranks of coal at pressures up to 450 psig and at temperatures dictated by the individual coals. Adequate data have been obtained to characterize the effect of pressure on the gasification of Montana Rosebud subbituminous coal and North Dakota lignite. The results obtained with Montana Rosebud subbituminous coal are presented here. This program was funded by the Gas Research Institute. 9 refs., 10 figs., 3 tabs

Flight Characteristics of Flapping Wing Miniature Air Vehicles with Figure-8 Spherical Motion

Hummingbirds and some insects exhibit “Figure-8” flapping motion that allows them to go through a variety of maneuvers including hovering. Understanding the flight characteristics of Figure-8 flapping motion can potentially yield the foundation of flapping wing UAVs that can experience similar maneuverability. In this paper, a mathematical model of the dynamic and aerodynamic forces associated with Figure-8 motion generated by a spherical four bar mechanism is developed. For validation, a FWMAV prototype with the wing attached to a coupler point and driven by a DC servo motor is created for experimental testing. Wind tunnel testing is conducted to determine the coefficients of flight and the effects of dynamic stall. The wing is driven at speeds up to 12.25 Hz with results compared to that of the model. The results indicate good correlation between mathematical model and experimental prototype

A cross-layer green information-centric networking design toward the energy internet

Abstract To address the energy-efficiency issue in Information-Centric Networking (ICN), this article proposes a novel Green ICN design, which adapts the power consumption of network nodes to the optimized utilization level proportionally. By learning over the consumers’ interactive data traffic pattern/behavior, we introduce a new concept of cross-layer power adaption conducted through dynamically adjusting link rate corresponding to content popularity to reduce the wasteful power consumption of Content Routers (CRs). We also develop a controlling policy for each content provider to map its status to the most suitable operating mode to diminish power consumption. Moreover, we propose a smart Selective Caching Scheme (SCS) so that the caching portion in a CR’s cache memory is adjusted according to content popularity and available spaces of two customized content cache spaces, namely hot and cold caching queues, for storing popular and unpopular content objects. This scheme can further decrease the power from caching since it is diminished when the traffic load is reduced via the proposed CRs’ adaptive mechanism. The evaluation results with practical insights in several distinct scenarios show that the proposal can provide considerably higher energy efficiency and network performance at the same time, typically achieving at least 20% power-saving with a higher hop reduction ratio, compared to existing Internet designs with relevant state-of-the-art caching strategies