The Base Engine for Solar Stirling Power

A new concept in Stirling engine technology is embodied in the base engine now being developed at Stirling Thermal Motors, Inc. This is a versatile energy conversion unit suitable for many different applications and heat sources. The base engine, rated 40 kW at 2800 RPM, is a four-cylinder, double-acting variable displacement Stirling engine with pressurized crankcase and rotating shaft seal. Remote-heating technology is incorporated with a stacked-heat-exchanger configuration and a liquid metal heat pipe connected to a distinctly separate combustor or other heat source. High efficiency over a wide range of operating conditions, long life, low manufacturing cost and low material cost are specifically emphasized. The base engine, its design philosophy and approach, its projected performance, and some of its more attractive applications are described

Coexistence of bulk and surface states probed by Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in Bi2_2Se3_3 with high charge-carrier density

Topological insulators are ideally represented as having an insulating bulk with topologically protected, spin-textured surface states. However, it is increasingly becoming clear that these surface transport channels can be accompanied by a finite conducting bulk, as well as additional topologically trivial surface states. To investigate these parallel conduction transport channels, we studied Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in Bi$_2$Se$_3$ thin films, in high magnetic fields up to 30 T so as to access channels with a lower mobility. We identify a clear Zeeman-split bulk contribution to the oscillations from a comparison between the charge-carrier densities extracted from the magnetoresistance and the oscillations. Furthermore, our analyses indicate the presence of a two-dimensional state and signatures of additional states the origin of which cannot be conclusively determined. Our findings underpin the necessity of theoretical studies on the origin of and the interplay between these parallel conduction channels for a careful analysis of the material's performance.Comment: Manuscript including supplemental materia

Helicity Amplitudes for Charmonium Production in Hadron-Hadron and Photon-Hadron Collisions

We present the gluon-gluon and photon-gluon helicity amplitudes for color singlet and octet charmonium production in polarized and unpolarized hadron-hadron and photon-hadron collisions.Comment: 11 pages amstex no figure

Special branches: organic greenhouse production, bulbs, ornamentals and aquaculture

Organic production methods are gaining ground in Dutch specialised production branches. Interest is growing among greenhouse horticulturalists and growers of flower bulbs, ornamentals and mushrooms. In organic horticulture Dutch research is unique in the world in thinking up innovative concepts and pioneering solutions. Ultimately this will also inspire change in the conventional secto

An Experiment Concerning Partly Closed Cavities Behind a Surface-Piercing Rod

Thomsen in Ref. (1) emphasizes three different states of ventilation occurring at surface-piercing rods, as observed by Hay (2). Hay has towed cylindrical rods which intersect the water surface, at different speeds and at different depths of submergence. From his photographic records, the following observations have been made. At relatively low speeds, an air filled cavity is formed in the wake of the rod, which is open to atmosphere and which extends downwards to a point above the base of the rod. With increasing speed, this point moves downward towards the base of the rod. This form of cavity has been called the "Pre-Base Ventilation State". After the cavity has reached the base, the state was referred to as the "Base Ventilation State", which is found to persist with further increased speed. After the speed was increased over a certain level, the size of the cavity was observed to decrease again forming a cavity closed at the water surface. In this case the state was called the "Post-Base Ventilation State". Since this last phase in the development of the air-cavity has not been observed in the Free Surface Water Tunnel at the California Institute of Technology, it was thought desirable to perform some experiments in order to find the conditions under which this Post-Base Ventilation State can occur. The present results are to be regarded as preliminary. A full explanation of the ventilation phenomena described in the references above and the text of this report to follow is not yet available. Nevertheless, since the results of the present work are at variance with published work, it was thought worthwhile to present them now. Hopefully a more thorough understanding of the ventilation phenomena will be obtained in the not too distant future