Synthesis and slurry spray coating of barium strontium alumino silicate on SiC substrate

Barium strontium alumino silicate (BSAS); (Ba_0.6Sr_0.4Al₂Si₂O₈) was synthesized through solid state reaction between BaCO₃, SrCO₃, Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ subjected to wet milling in isopropanol for about 24 h. The sequence of the solid state reaction was studied by subjecting to DG/DTG from room temperature to 1550 °C. The crystallographic phase evolution was confirmed by X-ray diffraction of the powders calcined in the range 1000 to 1300 °C for 2 h. The monoclinic celsian phase obtained at 1300 °C, pelletized through uniaxial pressing was sinterable to 67 to 78% density in the temperature range of 1300 to 1500 °C. The density improved to 75 to 94% after ball milling for 76 h, while ZrO₂ addition further improved the density by 2%. The celcian phase of BSAS was dispersed in isopropyl alcohol, milled for about 24 h and spray coated on to plain SiC and mullite precoated SiC substrates. Sintering of coated samples and characterization for weight gain/loss, microstructure, scratch test prove that mullite + BSAS coating is more effective than single layer coating of BSAS on SiC substrates.     

High performance H2 sensor based on rGO-wrapped SnO2–Pd porous hollow spheres

Hydrogen (H₂) sensors based on metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) are promising for many applications such as a rocket propellant, industrial gas and the safety of storage. However, poor selectivity at low analyte concentrations, and independent response on high humidity limit the practical applications. Herein, we designed rGO-wrapped SnO₂–Pd porous hollow spheres composite (SnO₂–Pd@rGO) for high performance H₂ sensor. The porous hollow structure was from the carbon sphere template. The rGO wrapping was via self-assembly of GO on SnO₂-based spheres with subsequent thermal reduction in H₂ ambient. This sensor exhibited excellently selective H₂ sensing performances at 390 °C, linear response over a broad concentration range (0.1–1000 ppm) with recovery time of only 3 s, a high response of ～8 to 0.1 ppm H₂ in a minute, and acceptable stability under high humidity conditions (e. g. 80%). The calculated detection limit of 16.5 ppb opened up the possibility of trace H₂ monitoring. Furthermore, this sensor demonstrated certain response to H₂ at the minimum concentration of 50 ppm at 130 °C. These performances mainly benefited from the special hollow porous structure with abundant heterojunctions, the catalysis of the doped-PdO_x, the relative hydrophobic surface from rGO, and the deoxygenation after H₂ reduction.     

Facile synthesis of black phosphorus directly grown on carbon paper as an efficient OER Electrocatalyst: Role of Interfacial charge transfer and induced local charge distribution

Black phosphorus (BP), as a new 2D material, is normally synthesized by a high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) method from white and red phosphorus, which severely hinders the further development of BP for any potential applications and leads to search for other potential applications of BP with big challenge. Herein, we develop a facile and efficient Thermal-Vaporization-Transformation (TVT) approach to prepare a highly active BP directly grown on carbon paper as the electrode for Oxygen evolution reaction (OER), showing a low onset potential of 1.45 V versus RHE. Simultaneously, the current density of BP-CP illustrates the excellent electro-catalysis stability only decreases by 3.4% after continuous operation for 10000 s. Meanwhile, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations further illustrates the P-doped carbon layer in the upper side of BP layer is actually responsible for its enhanced OER property, and the adjacent carbon atoms of the embedded P atoms are actually the active sites due to the induced local change distribution by intramolecular change transfer. Considering the facile, but efficient and scalable, TVT approach can directly synthesize BP-CP with excellent OER performance, which is promising for BP electrocatalysts used for OER in metal-air batteries, fuel cells, water-splitting devices, even other key renewable energy.     

Validation of qPCR method for enterococci quantification at Toronto beaches: Application for rapid recreational water monitoring

Rapid quantitative PCR-based methods for enterococci monitoring can allow public health authorities to make more timely beach posting decisions. However, qPCR methods must be assessed for proposed sites as locale-specific factors may affect DNA recovery or qPCR inhibition. We assessed the feasibility of the USEPA 1609.1 qPCR-based (Enterococcus) method at two urban Toronto beaches and three recreational areas at nearby river mouths in parallel with culture-based methods on the same water samples. A strong positive correlation was observed between the Enterococcus qPCR method and culturing-based quantification methods for E. coli and enterococci at both beaches and two river mouth areas. One river, known to be highly sewage-impacted, did not yield DNA suitable for qPCR analyses. qPCR results from biological replicates were strongly correlated and showed coefficients of variation as low as or lower than culture-based methods. With respect to Beach Action Value exceedances, the USEPA 1609.1 qPCR method provided an 80–90% level of agreement with E. coli enumeration results and >90% with enterococci enumeration. Results indicated that if recreational water locations and sampling conditions met the requirements of the USEPA 1609.1 qPCR method, the method can meet or exceed all quality control requirements and provide water quality results within 3.5 h for diverse recreational water settings around the City of Toronto.     

Realizing fragment spawning and fragment growth in the parallelized Discrete Element Method (DEM) during modelling of comminution

The particle based Discrete Element Method (DEM) can be applied to examine comminution processes. In this study, a DEM framework has been extended to model particle breakage without mass loss. After a breakage event occurs, spherical particles, as often considered in the DEM, are replaced by size reduced spherical fragments. During the following time steps, the fragments grow to their desired sizes, so that the mass loss can be counterbalanced. Previously defined overlaps with adjacent unbroken and broken particles (fragments) as well as walls are allowed. The breakage model has been realized in a parallelized DEM framework because comminution processes are often attributed to large numbers of particles and by parallelization the computational time can be reduced efficiently. An oedometer (one-dimensional compression in axial direction of a confined particle bed) has been modelled to investigate the parallelization efficiency and the influence of the permitted overlaps during the growth process on the growth duration. A simplified roller mill has been considered to examine the applicability of the breakage procedure considering parallelization. The results show that parallelization reduces computational time considerably. The breakage procedure is suitable to model comminution processes involving even densely packed particle systems and is superior to existing approaches.     

钻井机器人的连续油管钻压和钻速控制模型

连续油管钻井机器人利用机身内外的钻井液压力差作为动力源，可在牵引连续油管的同时加载钻压。以钻井机器人为基础，建立连续油管钻柱动力学模型，并推导出通过钻井液排量控制钻压和钻速的单参数控制数学模型；对钻井机器人引入调速回路，建立具有调速功能的钻柱动力学模型；在溢流阀调定压力大于机身内外压差时，推导出利用钻井液排量和节流阀流通面积两种参数控制钻压、钻速的数学模型，在溢流阀调定压力小于机身内外压差时，推导出利用钻井液排量、节流阀流通面积和溢流阀调定压力3种参数控制钻压、钻速的数学模型；以11.43 cm（4.5英寸）井眼为例，对上述3种数学模型进行了分析。分析结果表明：钻压、钻速随钻井液排量的增加基本呈线性增加，在钻井液排量大于0.005 m³/s时，钻井机器人能够向前爬行，在钻井液排量大于0.005 7 m³/s时，钻头能够正常钻进；调节节流阀流通面积和溢流阀调定压力，可以在一定范围内无级调钻压和钻速；3种控制方法相结合，可以实现小排量、大钻压，及大排量、小钻压等钻井参数的控制。以控制模型为基础，针对不同井下工况建立钻进工艺的专家数据库，以钻井机器人为"大脑"，结合井下随钻测量数据就能够实现闭环控制，自动钻进。     

基于多尺度高斯核的分布式正则化回归学习算法

针对工业、信息等领域出现的基于较大规模、非平稳变化复杂数据的回归问题,已有算法在计算成本及拟合效果方面无法同时满足要求.因此,文中提出基于多尺度高斯核的分布式正则化回归学习算法.算法中的假设空间为多个具有不同尺度的高斯核生成的再生核Hilbert空间的和空间.考虑到整个数据集划分的不同互斥子集波动程度不同,建立不同组合系数核函数逼近模型.利用最小二乘正则化方法同时独立求解各逼近模型.最后,通过对所得的各个局部估计子加权合成得到整体逼近模型.在2个模拟数据集和4个真实数据集上的实验表明,文中算法既能保证较优的拟合性能,又能降低运行时间.     

Compiler compatible 5.66 Mb/mm2 8T 1R1W register file in 14 nm FinFET technology

1-read/1-write (1R1W) register file (RF) is a popular memory configuration in modern feature rich SoCs requiring significant amount of embedded memory. A memory compiler is constructed using the 8T RF bitcell spanning a range of instances from 32 b to 72 Kb. An 8T low-leakage bitcell of 0.106 μm² is used in a 14 nm FinFET technology with a 70 nm contacted gate pitch for high-density (HD) two-port (TP) RF memory compiler which achieves 5.66 Mb/mm² array density for a 72 Kb array which is the highest reported density in 14 nm FinFET technology. The density improvement is achieved by using techniques such as leaf-cell optimization (eliminating transistors), better architectural planning, top level connectivity through leaf-cell abutment and minimizing the number of unique leaf-cells. These techniques are fully compatible with memory compiler usage over the required span. Leakage power is minimized by using power-switches without degrading the density mentioned above. Self-induced supply voltage collapse technique is applied for write and a four stack static keeper is used for read Vmin improvement. Fabricated test chips using 14 nm process have demonstrated 2.33 GHz performance at 1.1 V/25 °C operation. Overall V_min of 550 mV is achieved with this design at 25 °C. The inbuilt power-switch improves leakage power by 12x in simulation. Approximately 8% die area of a leading 14 nm SoC in commercialization is occupied by these compiled RF instances.     

A system for time-fluctuating flow rate measurements in a single-blade pump circuit

Commonly used flow rate measurement systems provide an accurate and stable output value of the quasi-stationary flow rate. In some pump types as e.g. single-blade pumps significant flow rate fluctuations may occur even in steady operation points due to rotor-stator interaction. For the analysis of the time-resolved flow rate a new measurement and evaluation method is presented based on an electromagnetic flow meter. Internal averaging of the flow meter is deactivated and the raw signal is evaluated directly with a sampling rate of 3 kHz. With ensemble-averaging in combination with an impeller position detection, interfering signals acting on the time-resolved measurement signal are filtered out. Accompanying numerical simulations of the pump flow circuit are carried out with a 1D method of characteristics and validated against well-established time-resolved pressure measurements of the pump flow. Experiment and simulation show a resembling trend of pressure as well as flow rate fluctuations over the entire operation range of the pump. Thus, by the combined utilisation of measurement and simulation technique, we assure the validity of the ensemble-averaged flow rate fluctuation results. We find that the flow rate fluctuations show a consistent phase shift to the pressure fluctuations that increases towards overload. The flow rate amplitude is an order of magnitude smaller than the amplitude of the pressure fluctuations.