Direct observation and control of near-field radiative energy transfer in a natural hyperbolic material

Heat control is a key issue in nano-electronics, where new efficient energy transfer mechanisms are highly sought after. In this respect, there is indirect evidence that high-mobility hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)-encapsulated graphene exhibits hyperbolic out-of-plane radiative energy transfer when driven out-of-equilibrium. Here we directly observe radiative energy transfer due to the hyperbolic phonon polaritons modes of the hBN encapsulant in intrinsic graphene devices under large bias, using mid-infrared spectroscopy and pyrometry. By using different hBN crystals of varied crystalline quality, we engineer the energy transfer efficiency, a key asset for compact thermal management of electronic circuits.Comment: 21 pages including Supplementary Material (Main text: 10 pages, 4 figures

Comparison of superheated steam and air operated spray dryers using computational fluid dynamics

12 illus. 4 tables 3 graph.International audienceIn this paper a numerical simulation of a spray dryer using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code Fluent is described. This simulation is based on a discrete droplet model and solve the partial differential equations of momentum, heat and mass conservation for both gas and dispersed phase. The model is used to simulate the behaviour of a pilot scale spray dryer operated with two drying media : superheated steam and air. Considering that there is no risk of powder ignition in superheated steam, we chose a rather high inlet temperature (973K). For the simulation, drop size spectrum is represented by 6 discrete diameters, fitting to an experimental droplets size distribution and all droplets are injected at the same velocity, equal to the calculated velocity of the liquid sheet at the nozzle orifice. It is showed that the model can evaluate the most important features of a spray dryer : temperature distribution inside the chamber, velocity of gas, droplets trajectories as well as deposits on the walls. The model predicts a fast down flowing core jet surrounded by a large recirculation zone. Adding to the inherent interest in using superheated steam as a drying medium, the model predicts attractive behaviour for spray drying with superheated steam

Use of chemometric analyses to assess biological wastewater treatment plants by protozoa and metazoa monitoring

Protozoa and metazoa biota communities in biological wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are known to be dependent of both the plant type (oxidation ditch, trickling filter, conventional activated sludge, among others) and the working operational conditions (incoming effluent characteristics, toxics presence, organic load, aeration, hydraulic and sludge retention times, nitrification occurrence, etc.). Thus, for analogous WWTP operating in equivalent operating conditions, similar protozoa and metazoa communities can be found. Indeed, the protozoa and metazoa biota monitoring can be considered a quite useful tool for assessing the functioning of biological WWTP. Furthermore, the use of chemometric techniques in WWTP monitoring is becoming widespread to enlighten interrelationships within the plant, especially when a large collection of data can be obtained. In the current study, the protozoa and metazoa communities of three different types of WWTP, comprising one oxidation ditch, four trickling filters, and three conventional activated sludge plants, were monitored. For that purpose, metazoa, as well as the main protozoa groups (flagellates, free-swimming, crawling and sessile ciliates, and testate amoeba) were determined in terms of contents and relative abundance. The collected data was further processed by chemometric techniques, such as cross-correlation, principal components, multivariate ANOVA, and decision trees analyses, allowing to successfully identify, and characterize, the different studied WWTP, and thus, being able to help monitoring and diagnosing operational problems.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 — Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio