Use of pyrogenic silicas for petroleum oil polar fraction characterisation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and microelectrophoresis studies

In the power transformer, the presence of polar or charged species in the insulating oil can cause failure and electric discharges. Solid substrates such as silica can be used to extract the polar species and to refine the oil in order to prevent future failure in the power transformer. However, the use of silica for petroleum oil separation and refining will depend on the silica characteristics such as surface charge, surface composition, specific surface area and particle size.Various pyrogenic silicas having various specific surface areas (49-200 m² g⁻¹) and particle sizes (207-500 nm) were used to extract the polar fractions from the neat transformer insulating oils (a new, NO, and used, UO2, oils). The oil covered silica samples were investigated by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy in the range 4000-600 cm⁻¹. The bare silica surfaces present two main hydroxyl components, a sharper peak at 3745 cm⁻¹, I₃₇₄₅, due to isolated silanols and a second broad, which spreads over 3745-3000 cm⁻¹, I_3745-3000, due to H-bonded silanols. The relative intensities of the two components, I₃₇₄₅/I_3745-3000, varied for the bare and the oil covered silicas depending on the solid surface characteristics. The adsorption of the NO polar fraction onto silica leads to strong reduction in intensity of the sharper peak in favour of the broad one. However, the adsorption of the UO2 polar fraction onto silica leads in all cases to the decrease in the intensity of the both silica OH components. Further, the UO2 adsorption on the silica leads to the apparition of a broad peak at low frequency in the region 3250-3300 cm⁻¹ which, is due to the associated phenolic groups of UO2 oil polar fraction. The analysis of the DRIFT spectra for various samples indicates that the oil polar fraction resembles to asphaltenes compounds.The microelectrophoresis method used to investigate the surface charge at the water/oil polar fraction covered silica interface, indicates negatively charged particles. Further, the negative charge increased with the pH, as resulting from the increase of the ionisation and/or the amount of the oil polar carboxylic and phenolic groups. The oil polar fraction, i.e. the asphaltene components, in contact with both the silica surface and water at high pH values rearrange, due to their amphiphilic character.Finally, the use of the silica substrates seems to be suited to extract and analyse polar species present in petroleum oil. A correlation is found between the nature of the oil, its functionalities, and the magnitude of its zeta potential value at the water/oil covered silica interface.     

Electrochemical and analytical study of corrosion inhibition on carbon steel in HCl medium by 1,12-bis(1,2,4-triazolyl)dodecane

1,12-bis(1,2,4-triazolyl)dodecane (dTC12) is an excellent corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in deaerated 1 M HCl solution. In this work electrochemical and analytical techniques were used to study the inhibition of corrosion on carbon steel in acidic medium. The carbon steel corrosion inhibition of dTC12 was attributed to the synergistic effect between chloride anion and quaternary ammonium ion. The protective efficiency of the film was higher than 90%, indicating that corrosion of carbon steel in 1 M HCl is reduced by dTC12.The effect of dissolved oxygen on the inhibition efficiency was also investigated. The results show that the inhibition efficiency increases in early stage and decreases for a long immersion time.     

A robust estimation approach for uncertain systems with perturbed measurements

This paper deals with state estimation problem for uncertain continuous‐time systems. A numerical treatment is proposed for designing interval observers that ensures guaranteed upper and lower bounds on the estimated states. In order to take into account possible perturbations on the system and its outputs, a new type of interval observers is introduced. Such interval observers consist of two coupled general Luenberger‐type observers that involve dilatation functions. In addition, we provide an optimality criterion in order to find optimal interval observers that lead to tight interval error estimation. The proposed existence and optimality conditions are expressed in terms of linear programming. Also, some illustrative examples are given. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Abstract Reachability Approach by Combining HOL Induction and Multiway Decision Graphs

In this paper, we provide a necessary infrastructure to define an abstract state exploration in the HOL theorem prover. Our infrastructure is based on a deep embedding of the Multiway Decision Graphs (MDGs) theory in HOL. MDGs generalize Reduced Ordered Binary Decision Diagrams (ROBDDs) to represent and manipulate a subset of first-order logic formulae. The MDGs embedding is based on the logical formulation of an MDG as Directed Formulae (DF). Then, the MDGs operations are defined and the correctness pro...     

Effect of thickness stretching and porosity on mechanical response of a functionally graded beams resting on elastic foundations

The novelty of this paper is the use of an efficient beam theory for bending, free vibration and buckling analysis of functionally graded material (FGM) beams on two-parameter elastic foundation. The present theory accounts for both shear deformation and thickness stretching effects by a parabolic variation of all displacements across the thickness, and satisfies the stress-free boundary conditions on the upper and lower surfaces of the beam without requiring any shear correction factor. Due to porosities, possibly occurring inside FGMs during fabrication, it is therefore necessary to consider the vibration, bending and buckling behaviors of beams having porosities in this work. The equation of motion for FGM beams is obtained through Hamilton’s principle. The closed form solutions are obtained by using Navier technique, and then fundamental frequencies are found by solving the results of eigenvalue problems. The validity of the present theory is investigated by comparing some of the present in literature. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and simple in solving the bending, free vibration and buckling behaviors of FGM sandwich beams.     

Toward a wider use of formal methods for aerospace systems design and verification

Nowadays, it is well accepted that the development of critical systems involves the use of formal methods. One of the major fields where these methods made a lot of progress are the avionics, aerospace and more generally transport areas. Several methods, tools and techniques have been applied for the development of such systems in different parts of the world, and they have been actually put into practice during the development of specific aircraft programs. The aim of this introductory article and of this STTT special issue is to propose a brief overview of the state-of-the-art of current researches in formal methods applied to the development of avionics and aerospace systems and more broadly to take stock of the integration of formal methods in the aerospace industry.     

Numerical and experimental investigations of mixing in T-shaped and cross-shaped micromixers

Mass transfer within the T-shaped and cross-shaped micromixers has been studied using CFD and confocal laser scanning microscopy methods. The concentration profiles, based on flow regimes, were used to compare the T- and cross-geometries. The cross-shaped micromixer tends to intensify the mixing and this is occurring for lower flow rates in comparison to the T shape. The improvement made by the cross geometry is attributed to the stronger vortex stretching and high shear rate, which reduces the liquid transfer length. The presence of a single outlet in the T-shaped micromixer induces a smaller degree of freedom for the fluid. A higher pressure drop is calculated in T-shaped micromixer than in cross-shaped micromixer.     

Using Fuzzy Cost‐Based FMEA,GRA and Profitability Theory for Minimizing Failures at a Healthcare Diagnosis Service

This paper proposes an integrated approach to identify, evaluate and improve the potential failures in a service setting. This integrated approach combines Fuzzy cost‐based service‐specific FMEA (FCS‐FMEA), Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) and profitability theory for better prioritization of the service failures by considering cost as an important issue and using the profitability theory in a way that the corrective actions costs are taken into account. Considering profitability with FCS‐FMEA and GRA reduces the losses caused by failure occurrence. Besides, a maximization linear mathematical problem is used to select the best mix of failures to be repaired. We apply our approach to an academic example concerning the potential failures diagnosis of the Internal Medicine service of a hospital located in Seoul, Korea. We applied our approach and solved the associated maximization problem by a commercial solver, producing an optimal solution which indicates the most convenient mix of failures to be repaired by considering available budget. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.