Performance and emissions testing of a small two stroke engine using mid-level ethanol blends

With the introduction of the mid-level ethanol blend gasoline fuel for commercial sale, the compatibility of different off-road engines is needed. This report details the test study of using one mid-level ethanol fuel in a two stroke hand held gasoline engine used to power line trimmers. The study sponsored by E3 is to test the effectiveness of an aftermarket spark plug from E3 Spark Plug when using a mid-level ethanol blend gasoline. A 15% ethanol by volume (E15) is the test mid-level ethanol used and the 10% ethanol by volume (E10) was used as the baseline fuel. The testing comprises running the engine at different load points and throttle positions to evaluate the cylinder head temperature, exhaust temperature and engine speed. Raw gas emissions were also measured to determine the impact of the performance spark plug. The low calorific value of the E15 fuel decreased the speed of the engine along with reduction in the fuel consumption and exhaust gas temperature. The HC emissions for E15 fuel and E3 spark plug increased when compared to the base line in most of the cases and NO formation was dependent on the cylinder head temperature. The E3 spark plug had a tendency to increase the temperature of the cylinder head irrespective of fuel type while reducing engine speed

Simulation and Analysis of Biogas operated Double Effect GAX Absorption Refrigeration System

A thermodynamic simulation of a double effect generator heat exchanger absorption refrigeration cycle using biogas as source of energy has been carried out. The binary mixture considered in the present investigation was NH3 – H2O (Ammonia - Water). This simulation was performed in order to investigate the effect of the temperature and pressure of the high temperature generator and the pressure of evaporator have over the Coefficient of Performance (COP) for a constant condenser and absorber temperatures. The basic parameters at various state points of the cycle was computed using standard correlations. The solution circulation rates and volume of biogas required for operation of the cycle are analysed for the variations in operating parameters at the high temperature generator and evaporator

Optimization of Loss Minimization Using FACTS in Deregulated Power Systems

Losses are an important parameter of consideration for mitigation and thereby enhancing the Available Transfer Capability of Power Systems. Loss mitigation is a two stage process the first stage is the Planning phase and the second stage is the Operational phase. The paper discusses briefly the Planning phase activities. The various methods of mitigating the losses in the Operational phase have been presented in the paper with emphasis on one technique the Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System devices. The Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System Devices are the latest power electronics devices by which losses can be reduced and transfer capability enhanced. Thyristor Control Series Compensator is used to reduce losses. The method is tested on IEEE 9 bus, 14 Bus and 30 bus systems and validated. Results have been presented and analyzed in this paper. Keywords: Available Transfer Capability, B- Loss Coefficients, Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems, Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator

A Genetic Search in Frequency Space for Stabilizing Atoms by High-Intensity Laser Fields

The goal of this paper is to explore the power of stochastic search methods, in particular genetic algorithms, to solve a challenging problem in experimental physics. The problem is to find an optimum frequency to stabilize atoms by high-intensity laser fields. The standard approach to search for optimal laser parameters has been by trial and error. This is the first known application of a genetic algorithm technique to model atomic stabilization. Genetic algorithms worked well for this problem as a way to automate the search in a time efficient manner. A parallel platform is used to perform the genetic search efficiently. Locating the best frequency to achieve a suppression of ionization, which is predicted to occur at high intensities, can help design a laboratory experiment and tune to that frequency in order to identify a stabilization effect. The genetic algorithms did successfully identify this optimum frequency. It is indeed possible to extend the number of unknown tunable laser parameters, beyond searching merely over frequency space. For instance, optimal pulse shape and pulse duration can also be included. While conducting such a search in multi-dimensional parameter space, parallel genetic algorithms can offer an advantage to the tedious trial and error procedures

EtanaViz: A Visual User Interface to Archaeological Digital Libraries

Analyzing and hypothesizing are important scientific processes involved in archaeological activity. In this paper, we describe a visual user interface closely coupled with services for archaeological digital libraries, to help archaeologists analyze data and test hypotheses. Our system, EtanaViz, employs a dynamic hyperbolic tree to display hierarchical relationships among excavation records, based on spatial, temporal, and artifact-related taxonomies. Also, EtanaViz provides stacked bar charts to indicate categories. More specifically, we show how EtanaViz can help users analyze data about animal bones excavated from two archaeological sites, Tell Nimrin and Tell al-'Umayri'. The fauna are associated with cultural phases. Comparisons of animal bones from Tell Nimrin across cultural phases provide insights into changing subsistence strategies during these time periods. Inter-site comparisons also show shifts in animal use as well as long-term adaptations to environmental changes

A two-base encoded DNA sequence alignment problem in computational biology

The recent introduction of instruments capable of producing millions of DNA sequence reads in a single run is rapidly changing the landscape of genetics. The primary objective of the "sequence alignment" problem is to search for a new algorithm that facilitates the use of two-base encoded data for large-scale re-sequencing projects. This algorithm should be able to perform local sequence alignment as well as error detection and correction in a reliable and systematic manner, enabling the direct comparison of encoded DNA sequence reads to a candidate reference DNA sequence. We will first briefly review two well-known sequence alignment approaches and provide a rudimentary improvement for implementation on parallel systems. Then, we carefully examin a unique sequencing technique known as the SOLiDTM System that can be implemented, and follow by the results from the global and local sequence alignment. In this report, the team presents an explanation of the algorithms for color space sequence data from the high-throughput re-sequencing technology and a theoretical parallel approach to the dynamic programming method for global and local alignment. The combination of the di-base approach and dynamic programming provides a possible viewpoint for large-scale re-sequencing projects. We anticipate the use of distributed computing to be the next-generation engine for large-scale problems like such

Schema Mapper: A Visualization Tool for DL Integration

Schema mapping is a challenging problem. It has come to the fore in recent years; there are important applications like database schema integration and, more recently, digital library merging of heterogeneous data. Previous studies have approached the schema mapping process either from algorithmic or visualization perspectives, with few integrating both. With Schema Mapper we demonstrate a semi-automatic tool for schema integration that combines a novel visual interface with an algorithm-based recommendation engine. Schemas are visualized as hyperbolic trees (see Fig. 1), thus allowing more schema nodes to be displayed at one time. Matches to selections are recommended to the user, which makes the mapping operation easier and faster

Locally compact abelian groups with symplectic self-duality

Is every locally compact abelian group which admits a symplectic self-duality isomorphic to the product of a locally compact abelian group and its Pontryagin dual? Several sufficient conditions, covering all the typical applications are found. Counterexamples are produced by studying a seemingly unrelated question about the structure of maximal isotropic subgroups of finite abelian groups with symplectic self-duality (where the original question always has an affirmative answer).Comment: 23 page