2,635 research outputs found
Gibbs Energy Minimization Using Simulated Annealing for Two-phase Equilibrium Calculations in Reactive Systems
Phase equilibrium calculations in systems subject to chemical reactions are involved in the design, synthesis and optimization of reactive separation processes. Until now, several methods have been developed to perform simultaneously physical and chemical equilibrium calculations. However, published methods may face numerical difficulties such as variable initialization dependence, divergence and convergence to trivial solutions or unstable equilibrium states. Besides, these methods generally use conventional composition variables and reactions extents as unknowns which directly affect the numerical implementation, reliability and efficiency of solving strategies. The objective of this work is to introduce and test an alternative approach to perform Gibbs energy minimization in phase equilibrium problems for reactive systems. Specifically, we have employed the transformed composition variables of Ung and Doherty and the stochastic optimization method Simulated Annealing for two-phase equilibrium calculations in reacting systems. Performance of this strategy has been tested using several benchmark problems and results show that proposed approach is generally suitable for the global minimization of transformed Gibbs energy in reactive systems with two-phase equilibrium
Inherently Safer Design and Optimization of Intensified Separation Processes for Furfural Production
Currently
furfural production has been the subject of increased
interest because it is a biobased chemical able to compete with fossil-based
chemicals. Furfural is characterized by flammability, explosion, and
toxicity properties. Improper handling and process design can lead
to catastrophic accidents. Hence it is of most importance to use inherent
safety concepts during the design stage. This work is the first to
present several new downstream separation processes for furfural purification,
which are designed using an optimization approach that simultaneously
considers safety criteria in addition to the total annual cost and
the eco-indicator 99. The proposed schemes include thermally coupled
configuration, thermodynamic equivalent configuration, dividing-wall
column, and a heat integrated configuration. These are compared with
the traditional separation process of furfural known as the Quaker
Oats Process. The results show that because of a large amount of water
present in the feed, similar values are obtained for total annual
cost and eco-indicator 99 in all cases. Moreover, the topology of
the processes has an important role in the safety criteria. The thermodynamic
equivalent configuration resulted as the safest alternative with a
40% reduction of the inherent risk with respect to the Quaker Oats
Process, and thus it is the safest option to purify furfural
U B V R I Photometry of Stellar Structures throughout the Disk of the Barred Galaxy NGC 3367
We report new detailed surface U, B, V, R, and I photometry of 81 stellar
structures in the disk of the barred galaxy NGC 3367. The images show many
different structures indicating that star formation is going on in the most
part of the disk. NGC 3367 is known to have a very high concentration of
molecular gas distribution in the central regions of the galaxy and bipolar
synchrotron emission from the nucleus with two lobes (at 6 kpc) forming a
triple structure similar to a radio galaxy. We have determined the U, B, V, R,
and I magnitudes and U - B, B - V, U - V, and V - I colors for the central
region (nucleus), a region which includes supernovae 2003 AA, and 79 star
associations throughout NGC 3367. Estimation of ages of star associations is
very difficult due to several factors, among them: filling factor, metallicity,
spatial distribution of each structure and the fact that we estimated the
magnitudes with a circular aperture of 16 pixels in diameter, equivalent to
kpc. However, if the colors derived for NGC 3367 were similar to
the colors expected of star clusters with theoretical evolutionary star tracks
developed for the LMC and had a similar metallicity, NGC 3367 show 51 percent
of the observed structures with age type SWB I (few tens of Myrs), with seven
sources outside the bright surface brightness visible disk of NGC 3367.Comment: Accepted for publication (abr 2007) in The Astronomical Journal (July
2007 issue
Fragility Curves for Thin-Walled Cold-Formed Steel Wall Frames Affected by Ground Settlements Due to Land Subsidence
Land subsidence phenomenon due to ground water withdrawal is a current problem in many places around the world, particularly in the shallows of Mexico. This causes ground differential settlements that affect structures, mainly dwellings and buildings based on reinforced concrete and masonry. Eventually, these structural materials do not exhibit an adequate performance beyond a certain level of angular distortion. This work presents the results about a study regarding the performance of thin-walled cold-formed steel wall frames with different sheathing systems affected by angular distortions simulating ground differential settlements due to land subsidence. The wall frames are composed by vertical (studs) and horizontal elements (tracks), with different sheathing systems: polystyrene, OSB, gypsum and calcium silicate. By means of experimental testing of wall frames subjected to monotonic lateral loads, the rotational stiffness was obtained for the wall frames with polystyrene. Likewise the rotational stiffness of the other wall frame systems was calculated based on the data provided by other author’s publications. On the other hand, by means of numerical simulation, all the wall frame systems were modeled in structural analysis software, calibrating them based on the rotational stiffness. Also, the moment-rotation curves were calculated for the studs and tracks based on the direct strength method. A non-linear static pull down analysis was performed producing several degrees of angular distortion simulating ground settlements for all the wall frames sheathing systems. With the data acquired fragility curves were calculated according three levels of damage for the wall frames with different sheathing system
Unexplored outflows in nearby low luminosity AGNs: the case of NGC 1052
Outflows play a central role in galaxy evolution shaping the properties of
galaxies. Understanding outflows and their effects in low luminosity AGNs, such
as LINERs, is essential (e.g. they are a numerous AGN population in the local
Universe). We obtained VLT/MUSE and GTC/MEGARA optical IFS-data for NGC1052,
the prototypical LINER. The stars are distributed in a dynamically hot disc,
with a centrally peaked velocity dispersion map and large observed velocity
amplitudes. The ionised gas, probed by the primary component is detected up to
30arcsec (3.3 kpc) mostly in the polar direction with blue and red
velocities (V250 km/s). The velocity dispersion map shows a
notable enhancement (90 km/s) crossing the galaxy along the major
axis of rotation in the central 10arcsec. The secondary component has a bipolar
morphology, velocity dispersion larger than 150 km/s and velocities up to 660
km/s. A third component is detected but not spatially resolved. The maps of the
NaD absorption indicate optically thick neutral gas with a velocity field
consistent with a slow rotating disc (V = 7712 km/s) but the
velocity dispersion map is off-centred without any counterpart in the flux map.
We found evidence of an ionised gas outflow with mass of 1.60.6
10 Msun, and mass rate of 0.40.2 Msun/yr. The outflow is propagating
in a cocoon of gas with enhanced turbulence and might be triggering the onset
of kpc-scale buoyant bubbles (polar emission). Taking into account the energy
and kinetic power of the outflow (1.30.9 10 erg and
8.83.5 10 erg/s, respectively) as well as its alignment
with both the jet and the cocoon, and that the gas is collisionally ionised, we
consider that the outflow is jet-powered, although some contribution from the
AGN is possible.Comment: A&A accepted 04/04/2022, 31 pages, 12 figures and 3 appendixe
Efficient dual-wavelength excitation of Tb3+ emission in rare-earth doped KYF4 cubic nanocrystals dispersed in silica sol-gel matrix
Energy transfer from Ce3+ to Tb3+ ions under UV excitation, giving rise to visible emissions, is investigated in sol–gel derived transparent nano-glass–ceramics containing cubic KYF4 nanocrystals, for different doping concentrations of rare-earth ions. Moreover, visible emissions of Tb3+ are also obtained under near-infrared excitation through energy transfer from Yb3+ ions by means of cooperative up-conversion processes. Thus, Ce3+–Tb3+–Yb3+ doped nano-glass–ceramics can be activated in a dual-wavelength mode yielding efficient blue–green emissions of particular interest in photovoltaic silicon solar cells and white-light emitting diodes
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