4,864 research outputs found
Development of single-cell protectors for sealed silver-zinc cells
Three design approaches to cell-level protection were developed, fabricated, and tested. These systems are referred to as the single-cell protector (SCP), multiplexed-cell protector(MCP). To evaluate the systems 18-cell battery packs without cell level control were subjected to cycle life test. A total of five batteries were subjected to simulate synchronous orbit cycling at 40% depth of discharge at 22C. Batteries without cell-level protection failed between 345 and 255 cycles. Cell failure in the cell level protected batteries occurred between 412 and 540. It was determined that the cell-level monitoring and protection is necessary to attain the long cycle life of a AgZn battery. The best method of providing control and protection of the AgZn cells depends on the specific application and capability of the user
Development of single cell protectors for sealed silver-zinc cells, phase 1
A single cell protector (SCP) assembly capable of protecting a single silver-zinc (Ag Zn) battery cell was designed, fabricated, and tested. The SCP provides cell-level protection against overcharge and overdischarge by a bypass circuit. The bypass circuit consists of a magnetic-latching relay that is controlled by the high and low-voltage limit comparators. Although designed specifically for secondary Ag-Zn cells, the SCP is flexible enough to be adapted to other rechargeable cells. Eighteen SCPs were used in life testing of an 18-cell battery. The cells were sealed Ag-Zn system with inorganic separators. For comparison, another 18-cell battery was subjected to identical life test conditions, but with battery-level protection rather than cell-level. An alternative approach to the SCP design in the form of a microprocessor-based system was conceptually designed. The comparison of SCP and microprocessor approaches is also presented and a preferred approach for Ag-Zn battery protection is discussed
Supergiant Barocaloric Effects in Acetoxy Silicone Rubber over a Wide Temperature Range: Great Potential for Solid-state Cooling
Solid-state cooling based on caloric effects is considered a viable
alternative to replace the conventional vapor-compression refrigeration
systems. Regarding barocaloric materials, recent results show that elastomers
are promising candidates for cooling applications around room-temperature. In
the present paper, we report supergiant barocaloric effects observed in acetoxy
silicone rubber - a very popular, low-cost and environmentally friendly
elastomer. Huge values of adiabatic temperature change and reversible
isothermal entropy change were obtained upon moderate applied pressures and
relatively low strains. These huge barocaloric changes are associated both to
the polymer chains rearrangements induced by confined compression and to the
first-order structural transition. The results are comparable to the best
barocaloric materials reported so far, opening encouraging prospects for the
application of elastomers in near future solid-state cooling devices.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 2 table
Bioaccumulation surveillance in Milford Haven Waterway
Biomonitoring of contaminants (metals, organotins, PAHs, PCBs) was
carried out along the Milford Haven Waterway (MHW) and at a reference site in the
Tywi Estuary during 2007-2008. The species used as bioindicators encompass a
variety of uptake routes - Fucus vesiculosus (dissolved contaminants); Littorina
littorea (grazer); Mytilus edulis and Cerastoderma edule (suspension feeders); and
Nereis diversicolor (omnivore which often reflects contaminants in sediment).
Differences in feeding strategy and habitat preference have subtle implications for
bioaccumulation trends though, with few exceptions, contaminant body burdens in
Milford Haven (MH) were higher than those at the Tywi reference site, reflecting
inputs.
Elevated concentrations of metals were occasionally observed at individual MH sites,
whilst As and Se (molluscs and seaweed) were, for much of MHW, consistently at the
higher end of the UK range. However, for the majority of metals, distributions in MH
biota were not exceptional by UK standards. Several metal-species combinations
indicated increases in bioavailability at upstream sites, which may reflect the
influence of geogenic or other land-based sources – perhaps enhanced by lower
salinity (greater proportions of more bioavailable forms).
TBT levels in MH mussels were below OSPAR toxicity thresholds and in the Tywi
were close to zero. Phenyltins were not accumulated appreciably in Mytilus, whereas
some Nereis populations may have been subjected to localized (historical) sources.
PAHs in Nereis tended to be evenly distributed across most sites, but with somewhat
higher values at Dale for acenaphthene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene and
chrysene; naphthalenes tended to be enriched further upstream in the mid-upper
Haven (a pattern seen in mussels for most PAHs). Whilst concentrations in MH
mussels were mostly above reference site and OSPAR backgrounds, it is unlikely that
ecotoxicological guidelines would be exceeded.
PCBs in mussels were between upper and lower OSPAR guidelines and were unusual
in their distribution in that highest levels occurred at the mouth of MH.
Condition indices (CI) of bivalves (mussels and cockles) were highest at the Tywi
reference site and at the seaward end of MH, decreasing upstream along the
Waterway. There were a number of significant (negative) relationships between CI
and body burdens and multivariate analysis indicated that a combination of
contaminants could influence the pattern in condition (and sub-lethal responses such
as MT and TOSC) across sites. Cause and effect needs to be tested more rigorously in
future assessments
Ricci-flat deformation of orbifolds and localized tachyonic modes
We study Ricci-flat deformations of orbifolds in type II theory. We obtain a
simple formula for mass corrections to the twisted modes due to the
deformations, and apply it to originally tachyonic and massless states in
several examples. In the case of supersymmetric orbifolds, we find that
tachyonic states appear when the deformation breaks all the supersymmetries. We
also study nonsupersymmetric orbifolds C^2/Z_{2N(2N+1)}, which is T-dual to N
type 0 NS5-branes. For N>=2, we compute mass corrections for states, which have
string scale tachyonic masses. We find that the corrected masses coincide to
ones obtained by solving the wave equation for the tachyon field in the smeared
type 0 NS5-brane background geometry. For N=1, we show that the unstable mode
representing the bubble creation is the unique tachyonic mode.Comment: 20 pages, minor collection
Difference in radiocarbon ages of carbonized material from the inner and outer surfaces of pottery from a wetland archaeological site
AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) radiocarbon dates for eight potsherds from a single piece of pottery from a wetland archaeological site indicated that charred material from the inner pottery surfaces (5052 ± 12 BP; N = 5) is about 90 14C years older than that from the outer surfaces (4961 ± 22 BP; N = 7). We considered three possible causes of this difference: the old wood effect, reservoir effects, and diagenesis. We concluded that differences in the radiocarbon ages between materials from the inner and outer surfaces of the same pot were caused either by the freshwater reservoir effect or by diagenesis. Moreover, we found that the radiocarbon ages of carbonized material on outer surfaces (soot) of pottery from other wetland archaeological sites were the same as the ages of material on inner surfaces (charred food) of the same pot within error, suggesting absence of freshwater reservoir effect or diagenesis
Vertically coupled double quantum dots in magnetic fields
Ground-state and excited-state properties of vertically coupled double
quantum dots are studied by exact diagonalization. Magic-number total angular
momenta that minimize the total energy are found to reflect a crossover between
electron configurations dominated by intra-layer correlation and ones dominated
by inter-layer correlation. The position of the crossover is governed by the
strength of the inter-layer electron tunneling and magnetic field. The magic
numbers should have an observable effect on the far infra-red optical
absorption spectrum, since Kohn's theorem does not hold when the confinement
potential is different for two dots. This is indeed confirmed here from a
numerical calculation that includes Landau level mixing. Our results take full
account of the effect of spin degrees of freedom. A key feature is that the
total spin, , of the system and the magic-number angular momentum are
intimately linked because of strong electron correlation. Thus jumps hand
in hand with the total angular momentum as the magnetic field is varied. One
important consequence of this is that the spin blockade (an inhibition of
single-electron tunneling) should occur in some magnetic field regions because
of a spin selection rule. Owing to the flexibility arising from the presence of
both intra-layer and inter-layer correlations, the spin blockade is easier to
realize in double dots than in single dots.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev. B1
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