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

The Fano-Rashba effect

We analyze the linear conductance of a semiconductor quantum wire containing a region where a local Rashba spin-orbit interaction is present. We show that Fano lineshapes appear in the conductance due to the formation of quasi bound states which interfere with the direct transmission along the wire, a mechanism that we term the Fano-Rashba effect. We obtain the numerical solution of the full Schr\"odinger equation using the quantum-transmitting-boundary method. The theoretical analysis is performed using the coupled-channel model, finding an analytical solution by ansatz. The complete numerical solution of the coupled-channel equations is also discussed, showing the validity of the ansatz approach.Comment: 5 pages, proceedings of ICN+T 2006 (Basel, Switzerland, 30/7-4/9), accepted, to appear in J. Phys.: Conf. Se

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Far-infrared edge modes in quantum dots

We have investigated edge modes of different multipolarity sustained by quantum dots submitted to external magnetic fields. We present a microscopic description based on a variational solution of the equation of motion for any axially symmetric confining potential and multipole mode. Numerical results for dots with different number of electrons whose ground-state is described within a local Current Density Functional Theory are discussed. Two sum rules, which are exact within this theory, are derived. In the limit of a large neutral dot at B=0, we have shown that the classical hydrodynamic dispersion law for edge waves \omega(q) \sim \sqrt{q \ln (q_0/q)} holds when quantum and finite size effects are taken into account.Comment: We have changed some figures as well as a part of the tex

Short-timescale Fluctuations in the Difference Light Curves of QSO 0957+561A,B: Microlensing or Noise?

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