Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) Engines: A Review

The homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion is considered to be the principally promising future IC engine concepts. HCCI is a concept of hybrid combustion, between the Otto engine and Diesel engine. HCCI is however not a modern finding. Already in the early twentieth century hot bulb engines operated with an HCCI-like combustion. They were superior in terms of brake efficiency compared with the contemporary gasoline engines and at the same level as the diesel engines. High engine efficiencies and ultra low NO emissions and low particulates are the benefits of HCCI engines. Volumetric auto ignited combustion of the compressed lean air–fuel mixture is attributed to these benefits. There are few drawbacks also were there in HCCI engines like, low specific output, narrow operating range, lack control over the ignition process, long start up time and high emissions like CO and UHC emissions. The CO and UHC emissions can be after treated using catalytic converters. In this study a literature review on HCCI engine has been performed and the parameters affecting the HCCI combustion phasing, performance and emissions were discussed. Strategies to widen the peak load bearing capacity of HCCI engine, reducing the emissions like NOx, CO and UHC, easy auto-ignition were discussed in the present study.     

Reduced-order controller synthesis with regional pole constraint

A reduced order output feedback controller is designed for a linear time invariant system, which guarantees that the closed-loop poles are placed within some pre-specified stability region in the complex plane. A convex approximation of the non-convex constraints is used to pose a sequence of semi-definite programs, which provide the lowest order proper controller satisfying the approximate constraints. The proposed method is demonstrated on two practical controller design applications.     

Effects of meat pH and the initial numbers of spores of Clostridium estertheticum on the development of blown pack spoilage of vacuum‐packaged beef

To understand how the initial numbers of Clostridium estertheticum spores on, and the concentration of glucose in meat affect the development of blown pack spoilage, beef of pH ≤5.6 and of pH ≥5.8 was inoculated with the spores at various numbers, vacuum‐packaged and stored at 2 °C. For beef of pH ≤5.6, the volumes of packs inoculated with ≤10 spores did not change; and packs inoculated with ≥30 spores started swelling after 35 days, and the rate of volume increase increased with increasing number of inoculated spores. For beef of pH ≥5.8, packs inoculated 0, three or ten spores slackened, and packs inoculated with ≥30 spores became swollen at the end of storage, but to a much lesser degree than the corresponding packs of beef of pH ≤5.6. Glucose was reduced by 21 mm and depleted in the rinse fluids from swollen packs of beef of pH ≤5.6 and of pH ≥5.8, respectively.     

A hybrid model for weekday replacements with infant mortality failures

A hybrid availability model of a repairable system with infant mortality failures is proposed. The hybrid model can efficiently represent different types of state transitions by the use of a hierarchy of models: (1) a time-discretized component submodel, which provides a piecewise-linear failure rate during an operating interval; (2) a phased-mission model, which transforms the state probability vector according to repair activity; and (3) a combinatorial model, which is used to predict the number of working units among a collection of identical components. The modeling approach is illustrated by predicting the expected number of working components for a multiple-component system where replacement components are ordered at the end of business hours each weekday end. Replacement occurs on the next weekday morning.     

In vivo modification of 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate and sulfate by infusion of sodium sulfate, cysteine, and methionine

The importance of tissue sulfate concentrations in regulating 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS) synthesis is not known. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the influence of increased availability of inorganic sulfate on steady-state PAPS concentrations in various tissues. To increase tissue sulfate concentrations, 2-16 mmol/kg of sodium sulfate and sulfur-containing amino acids (cysteine or methionine) were infused intravenously for 2 hr into pentobarbital-anesthetized rats. Serial blood samples were taken during the infusion and analyzed for sulfate concentrations. After 2 hr of infusion, liver, kidney, and brain were removed for quantification of tissue PAPS and sulfate concentrations. Infusion of sodium sulfate, cysteine, and methionine increased serum and tissue sulfate concentrations in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Serum sulfate concentrations increased from 0.8 to 14 mM during the infusion of sodium sulfate, whereas infusions of cysteine and methionine increased serum sulfate concentrations to 4.8 and 2.0 mM, respectively. Tissue sulfate concentrations also increased during sulfate infusion. Liver sulfate concentration increased from 0.8 to 4.8 mM, kidney concentration increased from 0.6 to 31 mM, and brain concentration increased from 0.1 to 0.6 mM. Similar to the serum sulfate concentrations, sulfate infusion was the most effective in increasing tissue sulfate concentrations, cysteine was intermediate, and methionine the least effective. Although sulfate concentrations in liver, kidney, and brain increased 6-, 50-, and 6-fold by infusing sulfate, respectively; tissue PAPS levels were not altered markedly. Hepatic PAPS concentrations increased significantly (30-35%) only when infused with the higher doses (8 or 16 mmol/kg/2 hr) of sodium sulfate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The measurement of electrostriction coefficients of some XH2PO4/H3BO3 binaries by interferometric technique

A new optical interferometric technique to measure the electrostrictive coefficients of XH₂PO₄/H₃BO₃ binaries (where X=Na, K and NH₄) is reported. This direct method is found to be advantageous in measuring the positive as well as the negative sign of the electrostrictive coefficients. Design of the apparatus and its merits are discussed. In XH₂PO₄/H₃BO₃ binaries the addition of boric acid is found to decrease the value of binary electrostriction coefficient in comparison to their pure samples.     

Characterisation of Se implanted layers for GaAs FETs

Results on doping profile, uniformity of doping and mobility for Se implanted LEC grown semi-insulating GaAs substrates are presented as a function of Se ion energy and annealing temperature. SiO₂, RF sputtered Si₃N₄ and Ga₂O₃+Al are used as encapsulating layers. Surface effects (stress and damage) on doping efficiency of implanted Se ions are also included.     

Advances in materials process and separation mechanism of the membrane towards hydrogen separation

The increased demand for a reliable and sustainable renewable energy source encourages the hydrogen-based economy. For the same, membrane separation approaches were reviewed as an advantageous process over contemporary techniques due to the environmentally friendly nature, economically viable pathway, and easily adaptable technology. A comprehensive assessment for the advancements in the type of membranes namely, polymeric and mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) has been delineated in the present article with the fabrication methodologies and associated mechanism for hydrogen separation. In hydrogen separation mechanism of the membrane, depends on the morphology of the membrane (dense or porous). The existence of pores in membranes offers various gas transport mechanisms such as Knudsen diffusion, surface diffusion, capillary condensation, molecular sieving mechanisms were observed, depending on the pore size of membranes and in dense membrane gas transport through the solution-diffusion mechanism. In polymer membrane, hydrogen separation occurs mainly due to solubility and diffusivity of gases. The hydrogen separation mechanism in MMMs is very complex due to the combining effect of polymer and inorganic fillers. So, the gas separation performance of MMMs was evaluated using the modified Maxwell model. Moreover, adequate polymeric material and inorganic fillers have been summarised for MMMs synthesis and highlighting the mechanism for gas transport phenomena in the process. Several types of materials implemented with polymeric matrix examined in the literature, amongst these functionally aligned CNTs with Pd-nanoparticles dispersed in polymer matrix were observed to reveal the best outcome for the hydrogen separation membrane due to the uniform distribution of inorganic material in the matrix. Henceforth, the agglomeration gets reduced promoting hydrogen separation.     

Multibeam WDM-FSO System: An Optimum Solution for Clear and Hazy Weather Conditions

Free space optics has revolutionized the telecom industry through its exquisite data transfer capability and cost effectiveness. It proves out to be an excellent solution to the last mile problem and arduous digging of grounds for laying fiber optic cables. But atmospheric turbulences and obscure weather conditions limit the extensive use of this technology. This paper analyses the use of multibeam technology in enduring the effect of hazy weather on the FSO link by comparing it with the single beam technology. The results obtained from the multibeam system for clear and hazy weather conditions have been validated by using MATLAB codes.