• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.561-566
• /
• 2012

PtRuW/C catalysts were prepared with the different molar ratios of Pt : Ru : W and their compositions were analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The uniform distribution of particles was observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). An average crystalline size of 3.5~5.5 nm was calculated based on x-ray diffraction (XRD) data. The electrochemical properties such as electrochemically active surface areas, current densities, specific activities and poisoning rates, were analyzed via CO stripping, linear sweep voltammetry and chronoamperometry. From the analysis, we observed that ternary alloy catalysts, except $PtRu_2W_2/C$, have higher current densities, specific activities and stabilities than those of commercial binary catalysts. Among all in-house catalysts, Pt5Ru4W/C showed the highest specific activity of $121.05mA{\cdot}m^{-2}$ and the lowest poisoning rate of $0.01%{\cdot}s^{-1}$.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.5
• /
• pp.925-936
• /
• 2020

To ascertain the characteristics of pool sloshing behavior that might be encountered during a core disruptive accident of sodium-cooled fast reactors, in our earlier work several series of experiments were conducted under various scenarios including the condition with mono-sized solid particles. It is found that under the particle-bed condition, three typical flow regimes (namely the bubble-impulsion dominant regime, the transitional regime and the bed-inertia dominant regime) could be identified and a flow-regime model (base model) has been even successfully established to estimate the regime transition. In this study, aimed to further understand this behavior at more realistic particle-bed conditions, a series of simulated experiments is newly carried out using mixed-size particles. Through analyses, it is verified that for present scenario, by applying the area mean diameter, our previously-developed base model can provide the most appropriate predictive results among the various effective diameters. To predict the regime transition with a form of extension scheme, a correction factor which is based on the volume-mean diameter and the degree of convergence in particle-size distribution is suggested and validated. The conducted analyses in this work also indicate that under certain conditions, the potential separation between different particle components might exist during the sloshing process.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.175-184
• /
• 2015

In this study GC and PAS were used to calculate $N_2O$ concentration of exhaust gas from Wood Chip combustion system. Fuel supplied to the incinerator was collected and analyzed and then the analysis result was used to calculate $N_2O$ emissions. Tier 3 and Tier 4 Method were used to calculate the $N_2O$ emissions. Plant's Specific emission factor of $N_2O$ by Tier 3 Method was 0.35 kg/TJ, while default emission factor of Wood?Wood Waste proposed by 2006 IPCC G/L was 4 kg/TJ. So the $N_2O$ emission factor of this study was 3.65 kg/TJ lower compared to the IPCC G/L. The total emissions calculated by Plant's specific emission factor was 4.22 kg during the measuring period, but by Tier 4 Method it was 7.88 kg. This difference in emissions was caused by the difference of continuous measuring and intermittent sampling. It would be necessary to apply continuous measuring to calculate emissions of $Non-CO_2$ gas whose the density distribution is relatively high. However currently, according to the target management guideline of greenhouse gas and energy, the continuous measuring method to calculate greenhouse gas emission is applied only to $CO_2$. Therefore for reliable greenhouse gas emission calculation it would be necessary to apply continuous measuring to calculate $Non-CO_2$ gas emission.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.50-59
• /
• 2019

Experimental and numerical studies on the fire characteristics according to the distance between the fire source and sidewall under the over-ventilated fire conditions. A 1/3 reduced ISO 9705 room was constructed and spruce wood cribs were used as fuel. Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) was used for fire simulations to understand the phenomenon inside the compartment. As a result, the mass loss rate and heat release rate were increased due to the thermal feedback effect of the wall in the compartment fire compared to the open fire. As the distance between the fire source and sidewall was reduced, the major fire characteristics, such as maximum mass loss rate, heat release rate, fire growth rate, temperature, and heat flux, were increased despite the limitations of air entrainment into the flame. In particular, a significant change in these physical quantities was observed for the case of a fire source against the sidewall. In addition, the vertical distribution of temperature was changed considerably due to a change in the flow structure inside the compartment according to the distance between the fire source and sidewall.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.7
• /
• pp.1138-1147
• /
• 2018

Delayed hydride cracking (DHC) is an important failure mechanism for Zircaloy tubes in the demanding environment of nuclear reactors. The threshold stress intensity factor, $K_{IH}$, and critical hydride length, $l_C$, are important parameters to evaluate DHC. Theoretical models of them are developed for Zircaloy tubes undergoing non-homogenous temperature loading, with new stress distributions ahead of the crack tip and thermal stresses involved. A new stress distribution in the plastic zone ahead of the crack tip is proposed according to the fracture mechanics theory of second-order estimate of plastic zone size. The developed models with fewer fitting parameters are validated with the experimental results for $K_{IH}$ and $l_C$. The research results for radial cracking cases indicate that a better agreement for $K_{IH}$ can be achieved; the negative axial thermal stresses can lessen $K_{IH}$ and enlarge the critical hydride length, so its effect should be considered in the safety evaluation and constraint design for fuel rods; the critical hydride length $l_C$ changes slightly in a certain range of stress intensity factors, which interprets the phenomenon that the DHC velocity varies slowly in the steady crack growth stage. Besides, the sensitivity analysis of model parameters demonstrates that an increase in yield strength of zircaloy will result in a decrease in the critical hydride length $l_C$, and $K_{IH}$ will firstly decrease and then have a trend to increase with the yield strength of Zircaloy; higher fracture strength of hydrided zircaloy will lead to very high values of threshold stress intensity factor and critical hydride length at higher temperatures, which might be the main mechanism of crack arrest for some Zircaloy materials.

• New Physics: Sae Mulli
• /
• v.68 no.11
• /
• pp.1173-1182
• /
• 2018

Mesoporous silica allows proper hydration of an ion exchange membrane under low relative humidity due to its strong hydrophilicity and structural characteristic. A mesoporous silica and Nafion composite membrane shows good proton conductivity under low relative humidity. An understanding of ion-channel formation and proton transfer through an ion-channel network in mesoporous silica and Nafion composite membranes is essential for the development and the optimization of ion exchange membranes. In this study, a mesoporous cellular foam $SiO_2/Nafion$ composite membrane is fabricated, and its proton conductivity and performance are measured. Also, the ion-channel distribution is analyzed by using electrostatic force microscopy to measure the surface charge density of the mesoporous cellular foam $SiO_2/Nafion$ composite membrane. The research reveals a few remarkable results. First, the composite membrane shows excellent proton conductivity and performance under low relative humidity. Second, the composite membrane is observed to form ion-channel-rich and ion-channel-poor region locally.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.73-83
• /
• 2022

This paper is concerned with an analysis of a surface edge crack emanated from a sharp contact edge. For a geometrical model, a square wedge is in contact with a half plane whose materials are identical, and a surface perpendicular crack initiated from the contact edge exists in the half plane. To analyze this crack problem, it is necessary to evaluate the stress field on the crack line which are induced by the contact tractions and pseudo-dislocations that simulate the crack, using the Bueckner principle. In this Part I, the stress filed in the half plane due to the contact is re-summarized using an asymptotic analysis method, which has been published before by the author. Further focus is given to the stress field in the half plane due to a pseudo-edge dislocation, which will provide a stress solution due to a crack (i.e. a continuous distribution of edge dislocations) later, using the Burgers vector. Essential result of the present work is the corrective functions which modify the stress field of an infinite domain to apply for the present one which has free surfaces, and thus the infiniteness is no longer preserved. Numerical methods and coordinate normalization are used, which was developed for an edge crack problem, using the Gauss-Jacobi integration formula. The convergence of the corrective functions are investigated here. Features of the corrective functions and their application to a crack problem will be given in Part II.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.56 no.1
• /
• pp.75-85
• /
• 2023

The potential sources and spatial distribution of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in the leaf plants of Al-Zubair city. A total of 14 samples of conocarpus lancifolius plant leaf were collected and analyzed for their heavy metals and PAHs content using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and a 7890 Agilent capillary gas chromatograph (GC) respectively. Bioaccumulation factor calculation revealed the highest pollution of heavy metals , due to the activity of a petrochemical in the area. The diagnostic ratio of Ant/(Phe+Ant), BaA/BaA+Chr), In/(In+BghiP), Flu/Pyr, FlA/FlA+Pyr), FlA/FlA+Pyr), ∑LMW/∑HMW are commonly used for determining the origin and source of PAHs in various environmental media. The diagnostic ratio indicated the anthropogenic origin. PAHs with five-to-six membered rings were dominant in the plant leaf, which likely results from anthropogenic activities. The leaves of C. lancifolius have a preponderance of high molecular weight PAHs compared to low molecular weight PAHs, indicating a combustion origin (car exhaust, petroleum emissions, and fossil fuel). C. lancifolius leaves are a reliable indication of atmospheric PAHs absorption. The background level of heavy metals in the city (or the near environment) is in the order of Fe > Cu > Ni > Cr. On the other hand, the bioaccumulation in plant leaves showed greater tendencies as follows: Co>Cd>Zn=As>Cu>Mn>Ni>Pb>Cr>Fe. Cobalt showed high bioaccumulation, indicating strong uptake of Co by plant leaves. These findings point to human activity and car emissions as the primary sources of roadside vegetation pollution in Al-Zubair city.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.87 no.3
• /
• pp.221-229
• /
• 2023

Urbanization and industrialization have significantly increased the amount of solid waste produced in recent decades, posing considerable disposal problems and environmental burdens. The practice of waste utilization in concrete has gained popularity among construction practitioners and researchers for the efficient use of resources and the transition to the circular economy in construction. This study employed Lytag aggregate, an environmentally friendly pulverized fuel ash-based lightweight aggregate, as a substitute for natural coarse aggregate. At the same time, fly ash, an industrial by-product, was used as a partial substitute for cement. Concrete mix M20 was experimented with using fly ash and Lytag lightweight aggregate. The percentages of fly ash that make up the replacements were 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%. The Compressive Strength (CS), Split Tensile Strength (STS), and deflection were discovered at these percentages after 56 days of testing. The concrete cube, cylinder, and beam specimens were examined in the explorations, as mentioned earlier. The results indicate that a 10% substitution of cement with fly ash and a replacement of coarse aggregate with Lytag lightweight aggregate produced concrete that performed well in terms of mechanical properties and deflection. The cementitious composites have varying characteristics as the environment changes. Therefore, understanding their mechanical properties are crucial for safety reasons. CS, STS, and deflection are the essential property of concrete. Machine learning (ML) approaches have been necessary to predict the CS of concrete. The Artificial Fish Swarm Optimization (AFSO), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and Harmony Search (HS) algorithms were investigated for the prediction of outcomes. This work deftly explains the tremendous AFSO technique, which achieves the precise ideal values of the weights in the model to crown the mathematical modeling technique. This has been proved by the minimum, maximum, and sample median, and the first and third quartiles were used as the basis for a boxplot through the standardized method of showing the dataset. It graphically displays the quantitative value distribution of a field. The correlation matrix and confidence interval were represented graphically using the corrupt method.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.146-156
• /
• 2023

Background: Endemic species are important components in the flora of most world regions. Most of these species have become threatened and exposed to extinction within the last few years. The present study aims to evaluate the ecosystem services offered by the endemic plant taxa in Egypt and the threats that affect them. Twenty-five field visits were conducted during summer 2018 to spring 2022 to several locations all over Egypt. In each location, the main habitats, national distribution, abundance, goods and threats were recorded. Results: Egypt has 41 endemic taxa belonging to 36 genera and 20 families inhabiting 10 main habitats. Rocky surfaces and sandy formations have the highest number of endemic species. The relation between the number of endemic taxa and the abundance categories indicated that 2 taxa are rare (4.9% of the total taxa), while the remaining were very rare (95%). The most represented offered good was the medicinal uses (32 taxa = 78%), while fuel plants were only represented by 2 taxa (2 taxa = 4.9%). Besides, 14 taxa (34.1% of the total studied taxa) have at least 1 environmental service. Soil fertility (7 taxa = 50%) was the most represented, followed by sand accumulations (6 taxa out of 14 taxa = 43%), while shading plant was the least (1 taxon = 7.1%) (Rosa arabica). The most represented threat is over-cutting and over-collecting (38 taxa = 92.7%), while mining and quarrying is the least represented (4 taxa = 9.8%). Conclusions: The potential and actual goods, services and threats of the endemic taxa were assessed as follows; field observation, information collected from local inhabitants and herbalists, and a literature review. The present study recommended planning a strategy about the importance, threats and conservation of endemic taxa in Egypt that would help in the protection and rescue of these plants and increase awareness about the importance of these plants.