425 research outputs found
Performance assessment and diagnosis of refinery control loops
This paper discusses the application of control loop performance assessment (Desborough and Harris, 1992) in a refinery setting. In a large process it is not feasible to tailor the parameters of the algorithm to every individual control loop. A procedure is illustrated for selecting default values which make it possible to implement the technology on a refinery-wide scale. For instance, it is shown that the prediction horizon perameter in the CLPA algorithm can be set so that the analysis is sensitive to the persistent signals that cause loss of performance. Default values are suggested for refinery applications.A frequent cause of loss of performance in a control loop is a persistent oscillation due to a valve nonlinearity or a tuning fault. The paper presents an operational signatures in the form of an estimate of the closed loop impulse response that suggest the causes of such oscillations
TASK Technical Report
This report reviews the development, piloting, and preliminary results from the large-scale field trial of the TASK Instrument (see cpre.org/task). In the first section, we review the need for an assessment of teachers’ capacity for learning trajectory-oriented instruction and the theoretical foundations that inform our work. We then describe the instrument and its development. Next, we detail the scoring process and the training of raters. The final section contains the analysis of the large-scale field trial conducted in 2012–13. We conclude with some directions for future work with this instrument
Generalized Green-Kubo formulas for fluids with impulsive, dissipative, stochastic and conservative interactions
We present a generalization of the Green-Kubo expressions for thermal
transport coefficients in complex fluids of the generic form, , i.e.
a sum of an instantaneous transport coefficient , and a time
integral over a time correlation function in a state of thermal equilibrium
between a current and a transformed current . The streaming
operator generates the trajectory of a dynamical variable
when used inside the thermal average . These
formulas are valid for conservative, impulsive (hard spheres), stochastic and
dissipative forces (Langevin fluids), provided the system approaches a thermal
equilibrium state. In general and ,
except for the case of conservative forces, where the equality signs apply. The
most important application in the present paper is the hard sphere fluid.Comment: 14 pages, no figures. Version 2: expanded Introduction and section II
specifying the classes of fluids covered by this theory. Some references
added and typos correcte
Swelling-collapse transition of self-attracting walks
We study the structural properties of self-attracting walks in d dimensions
using scaling arguments and Monte Carlo simulations. We find evidence for a
transition analogous to the \Theta transition of polymers. Above a critical
attractive interaction u_c, the walk collapses and the exponents \nu and k,
characterising the scaling with time t of the mean square end-to-end distance
~ t^{2 \nu} and the average number of visited sites ~ t^k, are
universal and given by \nu=1/(d+1) and k=d/(d+1). Below u_c, the walk swells
and the exponents are as with no interaction, i.e. \nu=1/2 for all d, k=1/2 for
d=1 and k=1 for d >= 2. At u_c, the exponents are found to be in a different
universality class.Comment: 6 pages, 5 postscript figure
K–Te photocathodes: A new electron source for photoinjectors
K–Te photocathodes deposited on a Mo substrate have been successfully used as an electron source in the free electron laser of University of Twente. Long lifetimes have been measured: after more than 20 h of operation in the accelerator a K–Te cathode with 4.75% initial quantum efficiency still displays a 1.1% quantum efficiency at 259 nm. Moreover, the quantum efficiency of this cathode versus operation time can be fitted by an exponential decay curve, which saturates asymptotically to a 1.03% value, suggesting that a quantum efficiency close to 1% could be sustained for very long operation times. Films degraded by use can be recovered to a quantum efficiency which is close to the initial value, by heating the substrate at temperatures between 100 and 330 °C. A new procedure to obtain K–Te cathodes with high (up to 11%) quantum efficiencies is described
Haemodynamic consequences of changing bicarbonate and calcium concentrations in haemodialysis fluids
Background. In a previous study we demonstrated that mild metabolic alkalosis resulting from standard bicarbonate haemodialysis induces hypotension. In this study, we have further investigated the changes in systemic haemodynamics induced by bicarbonate and calcium, using non-invasive procedures
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