Thermodynamic analysis of a dual-loop organic Rankine cycle (ORC) for waste heat recovery of a petrol engine

Huge amounts of low-grade heat energy are discharged to the environment by vehicular engines. Considering the large number of vehicles in the world, such waste energy has a great impact on our environment globally. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), which uses an organic fluid with a low boiling point as the working medium, is considered to be the most promising technology to recover energy from low-grade waste heat. In this study, a dual-loop ORC is presented to simultaneously recover energy from both the exhaust gases and the coolant of a petrol engine. A high-temperature (HT) ORC loop is used to recover heat from the exhaust gases, while a low-temperature (LT) ORC loop is used to recover heat from the coolant and the condensation heat of the HT loop. Figure 1 shows the schematic of the dual-loop ORC. Differing from previous research, two more environmentally friendly working fluids are used, and the corresponding optimisation is conducted. First, the system structure and operating principle are described. Then, a mathematical model of the designed dual-loop ORC is established. Next, the performance of the dual-loop cycle is analysed over the entire engine operating region. Furthermore, the states of each point along the cycle and the heat load of each component are compared with the results of previous research. The results show that the dual-loop ORC can effectively recover the waste heat from the petrol engine, and that the effective thermal efficiency can be improved by about 20 ~ 24%, 14~20%, and 30% in the high-speed, medium-speed, and low-speed operation regions, respectively. The designed dual-loop ORC can achieve a higher system efficiency than previous ORCs of this structure. Therefore, it is a good choice for waste heat recovery from vehicle engines

Accurate P-wave reflection and transmission coefficients for non-welded interface incorporating elasto-plastic deformation

P-wave reflection and transmission coefficients for non-welded interface play crucial roles in broad practical engineering productions, involving fracture properties prediction and seismic inversion. However, the existing reflection coefficient equations for non-welded interface in elasto-plastic media are seldom studied, although the elasto-plastic deformation is frequently encountered in the Earth’s subsurface due to artificial and tectonic activities. In this study, we proposed the accurate reflection and transmission coefficients equation for a non-welded interface embedded in an elasto-plastic deformed medium based on the elasto-plastic acoustoelastic and linear-slip theory. In detail, this paper uses elasto-plastic acoustoelastic theory to derive the reflection and transmission coefficients equation. The reflection and transmission coefficients matrix are solved using the linear-slip theory as the boundary condition. Moreover, we use the hardening parameter and plastic deformation to represent the plastic properties of the rock, which is a function of stress and plastic deformation. Through Numerical analysis, the deformation caused by static stress has significantly changed the amplitude and the slope of the reflection and transmission coefficients amplitude. As the stress increases, the rock’s velocity becomes higher, and all reflection and transmission coefficients (i.e., RPP, RPS, TPP, TPS) abruptly change at the critical angle. Furthermore, with the increase in plastic deformation, the critical angle of the incident P-wave and the hardening parameter becomes larger than the unstressed state. The non-welded interface exhibits a low-pass frequency filter for reflected SV-waves and a high-pass frequency filter for reflected P-waves and transmitted P and SV waves. In addition, we can observe that static vertical stress can weaken the anomalous reflections caused by non-welded formations, but the effect is insignificant. On the other hand, the effect of fracture normal compliance to reflection and transmission is detailly investigated. When N<2.5*10-10(MPa-1), The non-welded interface is close to the welded interface, while N>2.5*10-5(MPa-1), the non-welded interface is close to the solid-air interface

Impact Assessment of New Energy Characteristics on Regional Power Grid Considering Multiple Time Scales

[Introduction] With the development of new energy, the influence of new energy uncertainty and time characteristics on power grid is increasing day by day. Traditional new energy indexes are difficult to describe the interaction between power grid and new energy. It is necessary to establish evaluation system and index to quantify the impact of new energy on power grid. [Method] Construct the evaluation system from multi-dimensional and multi-scale and establish new energy output characteristic index, electric quantity characteristic index, peak regulation characteristic index and flexibility demand index to analyze the new energy output characteristics, the relationship between new energy output and electric quantity, the influence of new energy on peak regulation and the influence of new energy fluctuation on power grid at critical moments. Typical scene features were mined by applying indexes from different time scales such as year, season, month, day and hour. [Result] All kinds of indexes of the evaluation system has been calculated by taking the actual wind power, PV power and load in a certain area as an example. The results show quantitatively the influence of regional new energy on power grid and its distribution characteristics at different time scales. The engineering practicability of the proposed index system is verified. [Conclusion] The proposed index calculation method is quick and simple and the physical meaning of indexes is clear and intuitive and helpful to guide the planning and dispatching of new energy

Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking to Discuss the Mechanism of Antitussive and Expectorant Action of Ruanerli

The antitussive and expectorant effects of Ruanerli and its mechanism were investigated by methods of network pharmacology. The outcomes predicted were verified by molecular docking and animal experiments. The components and targets of Ruanerli were obtained by literature investigation and TCMSP database screen. Mapping with two groups of genes related to "cough" and "sputum" from GeneCards database, the target genes of antitussive and expectorant effects of Ruanerli were obtained. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of the target genes was performed by Metascape platform. The PPI network among the target genes was constructed through STRING data platform. Cytoscape plugin CytoHubba was used to screen the Top10 genes related to antitussive and expectorant effects of Ruanerli, and KEGG pathway enrichment was performed on the Top10 genes through Metascape data platform to predict the possible signal pathways involved in antitussive and expectorant effects of Ruanerli. Autodock Vina was used for molecular docking between the predicted Top10 gene proteins and the Top 3 active ingredients of Ruanerli. Finally, the predicted results were verified by ammonia induced cough test and phenol red excretion test. According to the analysis of multiple databases, 51 chemical components and 282 corresponding targets have been reported, eighty of them were related to the antitussive and expectorant effects of Ruanerli. The Top10 genes selected by Degree value were mainly concentrated in infection and immune-related pathways. Molecular docking test showed that the Top10 genes had strong binding activity with the Top3 chemical components (Caffeic acid, Rutin and Valeraldehyde) in PPI network. Animal experiments showed that the cough induced by ammonia was significantly inhibited when treated with Ruanerli in mice. The levels of IL-6 and IL-13 in serum were reduced and the excretion of phenol red in mice trachea was increased. PCR and WB detection showed that the mRNA levels and protein expressions of inflammatory genes IL6, IL1B, VEGFA, PTGS2 and MAPK3 were decreased, suggesting that the antitussive and expectorant effects of Ruanerli might be related to decreasing the expression of inflammatory genes and the release of inflammatory factors

Fine mapping and candidate gene analysis of proportion of four-seed pods by soybean CSSLs

Soybean yield, as one of the most important and consistent breeding goals, can be greatly affected by the proportion of four-seed pods (PoFSP). In this study, QTL mapping was performed by PoFSP data and BLUE (Best Linear Unbiased Estimator) value of the chromosome segment substitution line population (CSSLs) constructed previously by the laboratory from 2016 to 2018, and phenotype-based bulked segregant analysis (BSA) was performed using the plant lines with PoFSP extreme phenotype. Totally, 5 ICIM QTLs were repeatedly detected, and 6 BSA QTLs were identified in CSSLs. For QTL (qPoFSP13-1) repeated in ICIM and BSA results, the secondary segregation populations were constructed for fine mapping and the interval was reduced to 100Kb. The mapping results showed that the QTL had an additive effect of gain from wild parents. A total of 14 genes were annotated in the delimited interval by fine mapping. Sequence analysis showed that all 14 genes had genetic variation in promoter region or CDS region. The qRT−PCR results showed that a total of 5 candidate genes were differentially expressed between the plant lines having antagonistic extreme phenotype (High PoFSP > 35.92%, low PoFSP< 17.56%). The results of haplotype analysis showed that all five genes had two or more major haplotypes in the resource population. Significant analysis of phenotypic differences between major haplotypes showed all five candidate genes had haplotype differences. And the genotypes of the major haplotypes with relatively high PoFSP of each gene were similar to those of wild soybean. The results of this study were of great significance to the study of candidate genes affecting soybean PoFSP, and provided a basis for the study of molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding and four-seed pods domestication

A role for the IgH intronic enhancer Eμ in enforcing allelic exclusion

The intronic enhancer (Eμ) of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) locus is critical for V region gene assembly. To determine Eμ's subsequent functions, we created an Igh allele with assembled VH gene but with Eμ removed. In mice homozygous for this Eμ-deficient allele, B cell development was normal and indistinguishable from that of mice with the same VH knockin and Eμ intact. In mice heterozygous for the Eμ-deficient allele, however, allelic exclusion was severely compromised. Surprisingly, this was not a result of reduced suppression of V-DJ assembly on the second allele. Rather, the striking breakdown in allelic exclusion took place at the pre-B to immature B cell transition. These findings reveal both an important role for Eμ in influencing the fate of newly arising B cells and a second checkpoint for allelic exclusion

Nudel and FAK as Antagonizing Strength Modulators of Nascent Adhesions through Paxillin

Competition for binding to the cellular protein paxillin by the proteins Nudel and focal adhesion kinase is important for the proper regulation of cell adhesion and migration

Wind Field Modeling over Hilly Terrain: A Review of Methods, Challenges, Limitations, and Future Directions

Accurate wind field modeling over hilly terrain is critical for wind energy, infrastructure safety, and environmental assessment, yet its inherent complexity poses significant simulation challenges. This paper systematically reviews this field’s major advances by analyzing 610 key publications from 2015 to 2024, selected from core databases (e.g., Web of Science and Scopus) through targeted keyword searches (e.g., ‘wind flow’, ‘complex terrain’, ‘CFD’, ‘hilly’) and subsequent rigorous relevance screening. We critique four primary modeling paradigms—field measurements, wind tunnel experiments, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and data-driven methods—across three key application areas, filling a gap left by previous single-focus reviews. The analysis confirms CFD’s dominance (75% of studies), with a clear shift from idealized 2D to real 3D terrain. Key findings indicate that high-fidelity coupled models (e.g., LES), validated against benchmark field experiments such as Perdigão, can reduce mean wind speed prediction bias to below 0.1 m/s; and optimized engineering designs for mountainous infrastructure can mitigate local wind speed amplification effects by 15–20%. Data-driven surrogate models, represented by FuXi-CFD, show revolutionary potential, reducing the inference time for high-resolution wind fields from hours to seconds, though they currently lack standardized validation. Finally, this review summarizes persistent challenges and outlines future directions, advocating for physics-informed neural networks, high-fidelity multi-scale models, and the establishment of open-access benchmark datasets