The role of reward signal in deep reinforcement learning

The goal of the thesis is to study the role of the reward signal in deep reinforcement learning. The reward signal is a scalar quantity received by the agent, and it has a big impact on both the training process of a reinforcement learning algorithm and its resulting behaviour. Firstly, we study the behaviour of an agent that is learning with different reward signals in the same environment with the same learning algorithm. We introduce and measure agents’ happiness as a relation between agents’ actual reward obtained from the environment, as compared to the possible maximum and minimum rewards in a given setting. The experiments show that the rewards intended to result in a given behaviour during training do not result in the same behaviour when agents interact with each other. Secondly, we use these observations to investigate the role of the reward signal further. Namely, we explore the space of all possible reward signals in a given environment through an evolutionary algorithm. Through experiments, we demonstrate that it is possible to learn complex behaviours of winning, losing, and cooperating through reward signal evolution. Some of the solutions found by the algorithm are surprising, in the sense that they would probably not have been chosen by a person trying to hand-code a given behaviour through a specific reward signal. The results presented in the thesis indicate that the role of the reward signal in reinforcement learning is likely bigger than indicated by its current coverage in the literature and is worth investigating in greater detail. Not only can it lead to programmes with less overfitting, but it can also improve our understanding of what reinforcement learning algorithms are really learning. This in turn will give us more robust, explainable, and overall safer systems

Experimental investigation on straight and u-bend double tube heat exchanger with active and passive enhancement methods

Authors in this work want to demonstrate the possibility to increase the heat transfer efficiency by using simple wire coil inserts to create turbulent flow in the boundary layer as well as air blowing into the annulus of the pipe. In the study, Wilson plot approach was applied in order to estimate heat transfer coefficients for all heat exchanger (HX) configurations. The study focuses on experimental values of heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and pressure drops. The primary objectives of the work are to: I. Provide an experimental comprehensive database for HTC and pressure drops; II. Analysis effect of different flow conditions e.g. water mass flow rate, the void fraction on heat transfer and hydraulic performance of tested elements. III. Compare influences of both passive and active methods at the efficiency of simple heat exchangers constructions; IV. Validation experimental results with selected experimental models from the open literature

Experimental investigation on straight and u-bend double tube heat exchanger with active and passive enhancement methods

Authors in this work want to demonstrate the possibility to increase the heat transfer efficiency by using simple wire coil inserts to create turbulent flow in the boundary layer as well as air blowing into the annulus of the pipe. In the study, Wilson plot approach was applied in order to estimate heat transfer coefficients for all heat exchanger (HX) configurations. The study focuses on experimental values of heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and pressure drops. The primary objectives of the work are to: I. Provide an experimental comprehensive database for HTC and pressure drops; II. Analysis effect of different flow conditions e.g. water mass flow rate, the void fraction on heat transfer and hydraulic performance of tested elements. III. Compare influences of both passive and active methods at the efficiency of simple heat exchangers constructions; IV. Validation experimental results with selected experimental models from the open literature

Experimental validation of pressure drop models during flow boiling of R134a – effect of flow acceleration and entrainment

A crucial step to assure proficient work of power and process apparatus is their proper design. A wide array of those devices operates within boiling or condensation of the working fluid to benefit from high heat transfer rates. Two-phase flows are associated with high heat transfer coefficients because of the latent heat of evaporation and high turbulence level between the liquid and the solid surface. Predicting heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop is a challenging task, and has been pursued by researchers for decades. In the case of diabatic flows, the total pressure drop is due to the change in kinetic and potential energy. The article presents detailed boiling pressure drops data for R134a at a saturation temperature of 19.4°C. Study cases have been set for a mass flux varying from 300 to 500 kg/m2s. Presented data along with the data reduction procedure was used to obtain the momentum pressure drop values during flow boiling. The study focuses on experimental values of momentum pressure drop component and its prediction based on various void fraction models and entrainment effects

Experimental Investigations On The Momentum Pressure Drop During Flow Boiling Of R134a

The article presents experimental investigations of the pressure drop during two-phase flow. Experiments were performed for both adiabatic and heated flow of R134a. Obtained flow patterns were compared with the literature. Obtained data is used to validate momentum pressure drop predictions, a set of graphs showing comparisons, for a representative set of experimental conditions, of the two-phase frictional pressure gradients for the adiabatic and diabatic flow. The model proposed in the article allows to predict both values and peak pressure drop with very good accuracy. Verification of the momentum pressure drop predictions for two-phase adiabatic flow showed that all correlations have good agreement with experimental data

Investigations on mixture preparation for two phase adiabatic pressure drop of R134a flowing in 5 mm diameter channel

The article presents detailed two-phase adiabatic pressure drops data for refrigerant R134a. Study cases have been set for a mass flux varying from 200 to 400 kg/m2 s, at the saturation temperature of 19.4 ◦C. Obtained experimental data was compared with the available correlations from the literature for the frictional pressure drop during adiabatic flow. Influence of mixture preparation on pressure drop was investigated, for varying inlet subcooling temperature in the heated section. The flow patterns have also been obtained by means of a high-speed camera placed in the visualization section and compared with literature observations

Experimental validation of pressure drop models during flow boiling of R134a – effect of flow acceleration and entrainment

A crucial step to assure proficient work of power and process apparatus is their proper design. A wide array of those devices operates within boiling or condensation of the working fluid to benefit from high heat transfer rates. Two-phase flows are associated with high heat transfer coefficients because of the latent heat of evaporation and high turbulence level between the liquid and the solid surface. Predicting heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop is a challenging task, and has been pursued by researchers for decades. In the case of diabatic flows, the total pressure drop is due to the change in kinetic and potential energy. The article presents detailed boiling pressure drops data for R134a at a saturation temperature of 19.4°C. Study cases have been set for a mass flux varying from 300 to 500 kg/m2s. Presented data along with the data reduction procedure was used to obtain the momentum pressure drop values during flow boiling. The study focuses on experimental values of momentum pressure drop component and its prediction based on various void fraction models and entrainment effects.publishedVersion© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2018. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Experimental validation of pressure drop models during flow boiling of R134a – effect of flow acceleration and entrainment

A crucial step to assure proficient work of power and process apparatus is their proper design. A wide array of those devices operates within boiling or condensation of the working fluid to benefit from high heat transfer rates. Two-phase flows are associated with high heat transfer coefficients because of the latent heat of evaporation and high turbulence level between the liquid and the solid surface. Predicting heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop is a challenging task, and has been pursued by researchers for decades. In the case of diabatic flows, the total pressure drop is due to the change in kinetic and potential energy. The article presents detailed boiling pressure drops data for R134a at a saturation temperature of 19.4°C. Study cases have been set for a mass flux varying from 300 to 500 kg/m2s. Presented data along with the data reduction procedure was used to obtain the momentum pressure drop values during flow boiling. The study focuses on experimental values of momentum pressure drop component and its prediction based on various void fraction models and entrainment effects

Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of the silicone-based plate heat exchanger

The paper presents an experimental investigation of a silicone based heat exchanger, with passive heat transfer intensification by means of surface enhancement. The main objective of this paper was to experimentally investigate the performance of a heat exchanger module with the enhanced surface. Heat transfer in the test section has been examined and described with precise measurements of thermal and flow conditions. Reported tests were conducted under steady-state conditions for single-phase liquid cooling. Proposed surface modification increases heat flux by over 60%. Gathered data presented, along with analytical solutions and numerical simulation allow the rational design of heat transfer devices

Realizing persistent-spin-helix lasing in the regime of Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling in a dye-filled liquid-crystal optical microcavity

In the presence of Rashba-Dresselhaus coupling, strong spin-orbit interactions in liquid-crystal optical cavities result in a distinctive spin-split entangled dispersion. Spin coherence between such modes gives rise to an optically persistent spin helix. In this paper, we introduce optical gain in such a system, by dispersing a molecular dye in a liquid-crystal microcavity, and demonstrate an optically persistent spin-helix lasing in the Rashba-Dresselhaus regime.</p