Alternating-direction implicit (ADI) formulation of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method: algorithm and material dispersion implementation

The alternating-direction implicit finite-difference time-domain (ADI-FDTD) technique is an unconditionally stable time-domain numerical scheme, allowing the /spl Delta/t time step to be increased beyond the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy limit. Execution time of a simulation is inversely proportional to /spl Delta/t, and as such, increasing /spl Delta/t results in a decrease of execution time. The ADI-FDTD technique greatly increases the utility of the FDTD technique for electromagnetic compatibility problems. Once the basics of the ADI-FDTD technique are presented and the differences of the relative accuracy of ADI-FDTD and standard FDTD are discussed, the problems that benefit greatly from ADI-FDTD are described. A discussion is given on the true time savings of applying the ADI-FDTD technique. The feasibility of using higher order spatial and temporal techniques with ADI-FDTD is presented. The incorporation of frequency dependent material properties (material dispersion) into ADI-FDTD is also presented. The material dispersion scheme is implemented into a one-dimensional and three-dimensional problem space. The scheme is shown to be both accurate and unconditionally stable.     

Hydroliquefaction of Australian coals with recycled slurry oil in a 1 kg h−1 continuous reactor

Coals from major Australian fields considered as suitable hydroliquefaction feedstocks were hydrogenated in a 1 kg h^?1 continuous reactor unit at reaction conditions 415–435 °C and 21 MPa using a stirred flow reactor with retention time of about 2 h. The effect of coal rank and the catalytic effects of disposable iron-based (red mud plus sulphur) catalysts were studied. The system was operated continuously with process-derived recycle solvent for up to 236 h. The time for a single pass of recycle solvent was estimated to be 20 h. Distillate oil yields in the range 35–53% on daf coal were obtained under catalytic operation. The heavier product oils were shown to contain predominantly aromatics, hydroaromatics and phenolics. This indicates that fairly severe hydro-treatment would be required to produce specification diesel and aviation turbine fuels. Recycle solvent composition was observed to stabilize in 2–4 passes after making a process change. These data compare favourably with those obtained on the same coals in larger pilot plants showing that this unit is capable of producing useful yield data.     

Neutron diffraction texture study of deformed uranium plates

The texture of two depleted uranium (DU) samples, labelled DUWR and DUWR2, were studied by neutron diffraction. DUWR was prepared by warm rolling of a cast ingot, and DUWR2 was prepared by adding 20% tensile strain to the warm-rolled DUWR. Complete three-dimensional orientation distribution functions were determined using four neutron pole figures for the DUWR, and using six neutron pole figures for the DUWR2 sample, by the WIMV method of the program popLA. The textures of the two samples were essentially identical to each other. They could be described by a twisted helical density tube spiralling continuously along the -axis of the Euler space. The projection of the backbone of the density tube along the -axis cast a linear shadow running parallel to the diagonal of the - plane, which could be defined by a =+90° (and =+270°) relation. The helical tube was confined within narrow -angle limits, from 14° to 30° with the peak orientation at (103) 0 10. The diffraction patterns of the DUWR2 sample were measured from the normal direction to the rolling surface of the sample, up to the scattering angle of 108° using a 0.15 nm neutron beam. The Rietveld profile refinement using the textured diffraction pattern was quite satisfactory when the texture effect to the entire diffraction profile was corrected for by the corresponding pole density from the inverse pole figure.     

Singlet methylene removal by saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons

The technique of laser flash phyotolysis/laser absorption has been used to obtain absolute removal rate constants for singlet methylene, ¹CH₂ (ã¹A₁), with various saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons. The removal rate constants for CH₄, C₂H₆, C₃H₈, C₂H₄, C₃H₆, C₂H₂, CH₂CCH₂, and C₆H₆ were found to be in excellent agreement with previously reported results. Removal rate constants were also measured for n-C₄H₁₀, i-C₄H₁₀, n-C₅H₁₂, c-C₃H₆, c-C₆H₁₂, 1-C₄H₈, cis-2-C₄H₈, trans-2-C₄H₈, and 1-C₄H₆, and determined to be (3.17 ± 0.15), (2.53 ± 0.11), (3.35 ± 0.24), (1.63 ± 0.08), (3.77 ± 0.21), (3.80 ± 0.20), (3.67 ± 0.16), (3.43 ± 0.16) and (4.05 ± 0.18) × 10⁻¹⁰ cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively. This series of hydrocarbons forms the basis of a larger series of compounds containing a wide variety of organic functional groups. The removal rate constants are reported here, both as a series within its own right, and as a reference point for future work.