Fast model predictive control for hydrogen outflow regulation in ethanol steam reformers

© 20xx IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.In the recent years, the presence of alternative power sources, such as solar panels, wind farms, hydropumps and hydrogen-based devices, has significantly increased. The reasons of this trend are clear: contributing to a reduction of gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. Hydrogen-based devices are of particular interest due to their significant efficiency and reliability. Reforming technologies are among the most economic and efficient ways of producing hydrogen. In this paper we consider the regulation of hydrogen outflow in an ethanol steam reformer (ESR). In particular, a fast model predictive control approach based on a finite step response model of the process is proposed. Simulations performed using a more realistic non-linear model show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in driving the ESR to different operating conditions while fulfilling input and output constraints.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Economic and Human Features for Energy and Environmental Indicators: A Tool to Assess Countries’ Progress towards Sustainability

Energy and environmental data represent fundamental information for the analysis of sustainable development. On the other hand, these aspects should be associated with economic and human dimensions in order to obtain a more holistic vision. From this perspective, some indicators are discussed and analyzed in this paper in order to assess the performance of a country. As regards the energetic aspects, the data of total primary energy supply and exergy losses were considered. The environmental aspects were taken into account by considering the greenhouse gas emissions and the particulate matter emissions. These energy and environmental data were put in relation to the GDP (gross domestic product) and HDI (human development index, a multidimensional index proposed by United Nations), respectively. So, two sets of indicators were introduced—the set E for economic properties and the set H for human aspects. A case study was conducted by analyzing a group of countries that meet two criteria: the same macro-geographical area and comparable numbers of citizens. The European area—in particular, its six most populous countries—was chosen. From the results obtained, it is possible to point out that some countries present different rankings depending on whether set E or set H is considered. Another important aspect discussed is the temporal evolution of the indicators (the interval from 1990 to 2017 was considered). Political decision-makers can be supported by the use of the indicators of set H in order to evaluate well-being related to their choices on actions related to the energy and environment. These indicators can be used both to analyze the trends of a country and to compare them with the performance of some other similar countries

Mixed Neural-Conventional Processing to Differentiate Airway Diseases by Means of Functional Noninvasive Tests

This paper describes a processing technique that can be used to combine information from different medical analyze to discriminate between different pathologies that have similar symptoms. The paper is focused on the differentiation between asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema, using only functional noninvasives tests, but the proposed technique can be easily applied to other similar situations where different tests have to be used to identify a pathology. The technique is based on mixed neural-and-conventional processing that not only suggests the pathology, but also estimates the reliability of this suggestion

Grape VOCs response to postharvest short-term ozone treatments

Ozone has been recently recognized as an efficient sanitizing agent in wine industry because of its powerful oxidizing properties. Furthermore, postharvest treatments of grapes with ozone can stimulate defense responses by synthetizing secondary metabolites against oxidative stress. In this study, the effect of postharvest short-term ozone treatments was assessed for the first time on free and glycosylated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of winegrapes. Two different ozone concentrations (30 and 60 μL/L) and exposure times (24 and 48 h) were investigated just after treatment (fresh grapes) and after partial dehydration up to 20% weight loss (withered grapes). The study was carried out on Moscato bianco winegrapes (Vitis vinifera L.) due to the importance of terpenes in white aromatic cultivars to produce high quality wines. The results obtained showed that short-term ozone treatment caused a significant decrease in total contents of free VOCs in fresh grapes, mainly due to terpenes. Among them, linalool, geraniol, and nerol are the major aromatic markers of Moscato bianco grapes. Ozone entailed a significant decrease of free linalool contents in fresh grapes, the less stressful ozone treatment showing the smaller linalool degradation. However, the stronger and longer ozone treatment induced the synthesis of this compound probably in response to higher abiotic stress. Instead, significant changes were not observed in geraniol and nerol contents in fresh grapes. This last ozone treatment also reduced the loss of free linalool by water loss in withered grapes even though total VOCs and terpenes remained relatively stable. Furthermore, ozone seems to promote the synthesis of free (+)-4-carene and 4-terpineol in withered grapes under certain treatment conditions. Regarding glycosylated compounds, total VOCs and terpenes were less sensitive to ozone. Our findings highlight that ozone can be used as sanitizing agent in aromatic grape varieties prior to winemaking without affecting sharply the aromatic profile of fresh grapes and even improving it in withered grapes

LIONSIMBA: A Matlab Framework Based on a Finite Volume Model Suitable for Li-Ion Battery Design, Simulation, and Control

Consumer electronics, wearable and personal health devices, power networks, microgrids, and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are some of the many applications of lithium-ion batteries. Their optimal design and management are important for safe and profitable operations. The use of accurate mathematical models can help in achieving the best performance. This article provides a detailed description of a finite volume method (FVM) for a pseudo-two-dimensional (P2D) Li-ion battery model suitable for the development of model-based advanced battery management systems. The objectives of this work are to provide: (i) a detailed description of the model formulation, (ii) a parametrizable Matlab framework for battery design, simulation, and control of Li-ion cells or battery packs, (iii) a validation of the proposed numerical implementation with respect to the COMSOL MultiPhysics commercial software and the Newman’s DUALFOIL code, and (iv) some demonstrative simulations involving thermal dynamics, a hybrid charge-discharge cycle emulating the throttle of an HEV, a model predictive control of state of charge, and a battery pack simulatio

Composite cellulose fibre for affinity chromatography application

Affinity chromatographic supports is nowadays one of the most used and expensive consumable material for protein purification at the laboratory and industrial scale. The introduction of cost-effective materials is an important issue to address to spread the usefulness of this technology. Cotton fibres are a highly available natural material with excellent mechanical and structural properties which can be used for this propose. Nevertheless, fibre insolubility and low chemical reactivity are the major drawbacks to use this material for protein chromatography.In this work, a composite material prepared from polymethacrylate/cellulose fibres were used for the preparation of chromatographic materials containing immobilised proteins as adsorptive ligands. A green fluorescent protein and a protein A simil ligand containing cysteine in the terminal tags were immobilised onto the fibres by the epoxy-thiol chemistry. Buffer salt, pH, reaction time and pre-swelling procedure were optimised. Materials were characterised by fluorescence and electron microscopes, in addition to the binding capacity of the adsorbent materials.Fil: Carbajal, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB | Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB | Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB; ArgentinaFil: Kikot, Pamela Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB | Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB | Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB; ArgentinaFil: Torchio, Gabriela María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB | Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB | Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez Lahore, M.. Universitat Bremen. School of Enigineerring and Science Jacobs; AlemaniaFil: Grasselli, Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB | Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB | Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Grupo Vinculado al IMBICE - Grupo de Biología Estructural y Biotecnología - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes - GBEyB; Argentin

Plasmon-Mediated Drilling in Thin Metallic Nanostructures

Tetrahedral nanopyramids made of silver and gold over ITO/glass surfaces are fabricated. Our protocol is based on nanosphere lithography (NSL) with the deposition of thicker metal layers. After removing the microspheres used in the NSL process, an array of metallic tetrahedral nanostructures of ~350-400 nm height is formed. The reported procedure avoids the use of any stabilizing surfactant molecules that are generally necessary to segregate the individual particles onto surfaces. We focus here on the optical and the physical properties of these plasmonic surfaces using near-field spectroscopy in conjunction with finite difference time domain (FDTD) modeling of the electric field. Remarkably, FDTD shows that the localized surface plasmon resonance is confined in the plane formed by the edges of two facing pyramids that is parallel to the polarization of the impinging excitation laser. The variable gap between the edges of two adjacent pyramids shows a broader localized surface plasmon and larger specific surface as opposed to the usual nanotriangle array. Localized enhancement of the electric field is experimentally investigated by coating the plasmonic surface with a thin film of photosensitive azopolymer onto the surface of the nanopyramids. The reported deformation upon radiation of the surface topography is visualized by atomic force microscopy and suggests the potentiality of these 3D nanopyramids for near-field enhancement. This last feature is clearly confirmed by surface-enhanced Raman scattering measurement with 4-nitrothiophenol molecules deposited on the pyramid platforms. The potentiality of such 3D nanostructures in plasmonics and surface spectroscopy is thus clearly demonstrated

post hoc analysis of clarinet phase iii study to investigate the influence of diabetic status on progression free survival pfs of patients with neuroendocrine tumours nets treated with lanreotide lan or placebo pbo

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Ventilation heterogeneity in obesity.

Obesity is associated with important decrements in lung volumes. Despite this, ventilation remains normally or near normally distributed at least for moderate decrements in functional residual capacity (FRC). We tested the hypothesis that this is because maximum flow increases presumably as a result of an increased lung elastic recoil. Forced expiratory flows corrected for thoracic gas compression volume, lung volumes, and forced oscillation technique at 5-11-19 Hz were measured in 133 healthy subjects with a body mass index (BMI) ranging from 18 to 50 kg/m(2). Short-term temporal variability of ventilation heterogeneity was estimated from the interquartile range of the frequency distribution of the difference in inspiratory resistance between 5 and 19 Hz (R5-19_IQR). FRC \% predicted negatively correlated with BMI (r = -0.72, P < 0.001) and with an increase in slope of either maximal (r = -0.34, P < 0.01) or partial flow-volume curves (r = -0.30, P < 0.01). Together with a slight decrease in residual volume, this suggests an increased lung elastic recoil. Regression analysis of R5-19_IQR against FRC \% predicted and expiratory reserve volume (ERV) yielded significantly higher correlation coefficients by nonlinear than linear fitting models (r(2) = 0.40 vs. 0.30 for FRC \% predicted and r(2) = 0.28 vs. 0.19 for ERV). In conclusion, temporal variability of ventilation heterogeneities increases in obesity only when FRC falls approximately below 65\% of predicted or ERV below 0.6 liters. Above these thresholds distribution is quite well preserved presumably as a result of an increase in lung recoil