High loading FeS2 nanoparticles anchored on biomass-derived carbon tube as low cost and long cycle anode for sodium-ion batteries

In recent years, the sodium storage mechanism and performance optimization of FeS2 have been studied intensively. However, before the commercial application of FeS2, preconditions of low-cost, simple craft and scale production of nanoscale FeS2 are also essential. Based on above challenges, mesh-like FeS2/carbon tube/FeS2 composites are prepared simply from green, low-cost and renewable natural herb in this work. With the assistance of protogenetic interconnected carbon tube network(only 5.3 wt%), FeS2/carbon tube/FeS2 composites show high capacity(542.2 mA h g^-1), good stability(< 0.005% per cycle over 1000 cycles), and excellent rate performance(426.2 mA h g^-1 at 2 A g^-1).The outstanding electrochemical performance of FeS2/carbon tube/FeS2 composites may be attributed to the unique interconnected reticular structure, meaning that FeS2 nanoparticles are effectively immobilized by carbon tube network via physical encapsulation and chemical bonding.More importantly, this work may provide green and low cost preparation method for specially structured metal sulfides/carbon composites,which promotes their commercial utilization in environmentally friendly energy storage system.

Design and Implementation of a Novel HomePlug-Based Solution for Low Cost and High Performance Smart Home Networking

As the smart home is the end-point power consumer, it is the major part to be controlled in a smart micro grid. There are so many challenges for implementing a smart home system in which the most important ones are the cost and simplicity of the implementation method. It is clear that the major share of the total cost is referred to the internal controlling system network; although there are too many methods proposed but still there is not any satisfying method at the consumers＇ point of view. In this paper, a novel solution for this demand is proposed, which not only minimizes the implementation cost, but also provides a high level of reliability and simplicity of operation; feasibility, extendibility, and flexibility are other leading properties of the design.

Thermal Stability of Low Cost Nd-Fe-B Magnets

1.IntroductionSince the Nd-Fe-B magnets appearedin 1983,researchers,producers and users ofthe permanent magnetic materials have paidgreat attention to them.Because the mag-nets have low Curie temperature Tc andbad thermal stability as well as easeoxidation,their applications are limited insome fields.The researchers are greatly in-terested in increase energy product

Low cost, high performance supercapacitor electrode using coconut wastes: eco-friendly approach

Low cost, high performance supercapacitor electrodes were fabricated using coconut waste as precursor. Simple one step pyrolysis is adopted to get the spherical shaped particle where lignocellulosic nature of carbon converts into porous carbon nanospheres. Three types of coconut wastes, namely, coconut fiber(CF), coconut leaves(CL) and coconut stick(CS) have been studied and compared for their application in supercapacitors. Uniform spherical shape with particle size ranging from 30 to 60 nm for leaves and sticks and20 nm for fibers was obtained. The electrochemical properties of the porous carbon nanospheres were studied using cyclic voltammetry(CV), chronopotentiometry(CP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS). The porous carbon nanospheres derived from all the three biowaste samples show good electrochemical performance for supercapacitor application. Porous carbon nanospheres derived from coconut fiber exhibited maximum specific capacitance of 236 F/g followed by coconut stick and coconut leaves with 208 and 116 F/g respectively at a scan rate of 2 m V/s. Further impedance studies showed a charge transfer resistance of 4.9 for the porous carbon nanospheres derived from coconut fiber, while those from coconut leaves and coconut stick exhibited a slightly higher resistance of 6 and14.2, respectively. The simple eco-friendly approach we have demonstrated for synthesizing coconut waste based carbon nanospheres makes them excellent candidates for future, low-cost, energy storage devices.

China's Seawater Desalination Plants Produce Megatons Freshwater For Low Cost

China, as many other parts of the world, has a serious shortage of water resources. In China, there is a total amount of 2.8×10^12 m3 of freshwater, but that is only 2000 m3 per capita, which is about one quarter of the world average. Thereforc, seawater desalination engineering is of great significance to the nation.

Structural Design of Asphalt Pavement for Low Cost Rural Roads

On the basis of the equivalent axle load action frequency, the traffic classifications of rural roads as well as their corresponding types are classified. The asphalt pavement structure, road surface types and thickness of the rural roads are suggested for the various action frequency of the equivalent axle load. Furthermore, the roadbase thickness graphs are provided according to different equivalent axle load action frequency with different roadbed modulus and road surface modulus taken into account.

Low cost development strategy for oilfields in China under low oil prices

By reviewing the challenges in the development of oilfields in China under low oil prices,this study analyzes the root causes of cost rising,put forwards the low cost oilfield development strategy and specific paths to realize the strategy,and predicts the development potential and prospect of oilfields in China.In addition to the low grade of the reservoir and high development maturation,the fundamental reasons of development full cost rising of oilfields in China are as follows:(1)Facing the problem of resources turning poorer in quality,we have built production capacity at a pace too fast before making enough technical and experimental preparation;(2)technical engineering service model leads to high service cost;(3)team of oil development expertise and matched engineering system cannot satisfy the technical requirements of stabilizing oil production,controlling water cut and fine development.To realize development at low cost,the core is to increase economic recoverable reserves.The concrete paths include:(1)to explore the"Daqing oilfield development culture",improve the ability of leaders in charge of development,and inspire potential of staff;(2)to improve the ability of reservoir dynamics control,and implement precise development by following scientific principles;(3)to speed up integration of water flooding and enhanced oil recovery(EOR)and technological upgrading in order to enhance oil recovery;(4)to innovate key techniques in gas flooding and accelerate the industrial popularization of gas flooding;(5)to break the related transaction barriers and create new management models;and(6)to collaboratively optimize strategic layout and cultivate key oil bases.Although oilfield development in China faces huge challenges in cost,the low-cost development strategy will succeed as long as strategic development of mature and new oil fields is well planned.The cores to lower cost are to control decline rate and enhance oil recovery in mature oil fields,and increase single well productivity through technical innovation and improve engineering service efficiency through management innovation in new oil fields.

Design, Control and Analysis of Low Cost Archetype Dual Rotor Helicopter for Educational Institution

This paper presents the design and development of low cost archetype dual rotor helicopter (LCADRH) for academic research in an educational institution. The LCADRH is installed with optical pitch encoder and yaw encoder which measure elevation and side to side motion of helicopter. The objective of the project is to design and integrate the helicopter with data acquisition board and sensors to provide hardware features, software support capability for its rapid real time measurement and control. The low cost designed LCADRH facilitates the academic research for students in the institution and is able to provide hands on training to understand the concept of nonlinearity, system modelled and unmodelled dynamics and uncertainty, modelling, simulation and control by doing practical experiments. The mathematical model of the LCADRH is derived using grey box modelling method. The control of LCADRH is challenging due to its nonlinearity and effect of strong coupling between aerodynamic forces and torques generated by the both pitch and yaw actuators. In closed loop position control of LCADRH, pitch and yaw axis motion is regulated using linear quadratic controller (LQR). Encouraging results are obtained both in simulation and hardware.

Low Cost and Reusability of Launch Vehicle

This paper analyzes the launch price of the launch vehicles, domestic and abroad, studies the status and trend of the low cost launch vehicles, and introduces two measures to reduce the cost by means of evolved and disruptive technologies, utilizing the concept of low cost manufacturing and operating modes as well. This paper also analyzes the launch strategies for small satellites such as piggyback, networking launch, and single launch with a small launch vehicle(SLV). Finally, the development trend of reusable launch vehicles is discussed as well as the development prospects for China's reusable launch vehicle.

Prospects of Low Cost Housing in India

The paper presents work on low-cost and sustainable alternative building materials having advantages on areas such as India where concrete or steel housing is expensive. The project addresses the challenges and stereotypes of using these materials as a structural component for low-cost housing and their same capacity for adaptation to the broad spectrum of factors—physical, ecological, social, economic and technical—through different products developed which can dictate the production of the construction environment.

Bamboo Trusses with Low Cost and High Ductility Joints

Innovative solutions of joints for bamboo trusses are presented. Experimental tests show the performances and the high level of ductility of the proposed technique, joined with simplicity in the concept of the joints, low level of technology and low cost of all used materials. It can permit a proper dissemination and a sustainable maintenance in developing countries.

An Ad-Hoc Low Cost Wireless Sensor Network for Smart Gas Metering

The monitoring of power consumption has become of a great interest in recent years as well as the innovative technologies available to realize Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have experienced a great growth. While smart metering technologies for electric energy are already established, as sensors power supply comes directly from power lines, WSN nodes for gas metering should necessarily be equipped with long life batteries. The presented work describes a new prototypal low cost WSN designed ad hoc for gas smart metering. The network has a star topology: each sensor node can be completely integrated with standard reed relay gas meter, and it is capable to measure the gas consumption. The information is sent to the central node (the Access Point, AP) through an RF links. The sensor nodes have been designed with custom electronics and a proprietary firmware, in order to work with a common 3.6 V lithium battery which is able to ensure a life period of about 10 years for each node. Only the AP must be connected directly to electric power. The AP is connected through the RS-232 interface to a control embedded PC equipped with a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) framework: it stores all the information coming from each node in a coherent database and allows authorized users to check the network status using a web interface. The WSN is self-learning and it is capable to detect new nodes joining the network without altering the normal operative flow. Moreover e-mail and SMS alerts can be activated to alert if a node is disconnected from the network or some problems occur. A first prototype of the WSN has been already tested achieving good results.

Technology and Market Prospect Analysis of Low Cost Small-lift Launch Vehicles for Small Satellites

The technological development status of new generation low cost small-lift launch vehicles applied to small satellite launch is investigated in this paper. The development trends are summarized, including low cost and rapid response capability, utilization of mature rocket and missile technology, the development of mobile launch technology adopting air-based platforms and use of innovative technology. Moreover, the external power and internal demand of the small-lift launch vehicle are analyzed and the market prospect is forecasted. Finally, proposals for the development of small-lift launch vehicles are put forward, including exploration of the potential of existing rocket and missile technology, development of multi-platform mobile launch technology and further application of innovative technology and ideas.

Efficient utilization of glass fiber separator for low-cost sodium-ion batteries

The separator is a key component of sodium-ion battery,which greatly affects the electrochemical performances and safety characteristics of the battery.Conventional glass fiber separator cannot meet the requirements of large-scale application because of high cost and poor mechanical properties.Herein,the novel composite separators are prepared by a simple slurry sieving process using glass fiber separator scraps and ordinary qualitative filter paper as raw materials.As the composite mass ratio is 1:1,the composite separator has excellent comprehensive properties,including tensile strength of 15.8 MPa,porosity of 74.3%,ionic conductivity of 1.57×10^(-3)S·cm^(-1)and thermal stability at 210℃.The assembled sodium-ion battery shows superior cycling performance(capacity retention of 94.1%after 500 cycles at 1C)and rate capacity(retention rate of 87.3%at 10C),and it maintains fine interface stability.The above results provide some new ideas for the separator design of high-performance and low-cost sodium-ion batteries.

Process reconfiguration and intensification:An emerging opportunity enabling efficient carbon capture and low-cost blue hydrogen production

Low-carbon hydrogen can play a significant role in decarbonizing the world. Hydrogen is currently mainly produced from fossil sources,requiring additional CO_(2)capture to decarbonize, which energy intense and costly. In a recent Green Energy & Environment paper, Cheng and Di et al. proposed a novel integration process referred to as SECLR_(HC) to generate high-purity H_(2) by in-situ separation of H_(2)and CO without using any additional separation unit. Theoretically, the proposed process can essentially achieve the separation of C and H in gaseous fuel via a reconfigured reaction process, and thus attaining high-purity hydrogen of ~99%, as well as good carbon and hydrogen utilization rates and economic feasibility. It displays an optimistic prospect that industrial decarbonization is not necessarily expensive, as long as a suitable CCS measure can be integrated into the industrial manufacturing process.

Mesoporous TS-1 Nanocrystals as Low Cost and High Perfor-mance Catalysts for Epoxidation of Styrene

Mesoporous TS-1 nanocrystals were facilely synthesized without involving additional templates. The usage of inorganic silicon source, less structure-directing agent and high yields of nearly 100% made this template-free strategy suitable for large-scale synthesis with low cost. Furthermore, the as synthesized TS-1 exhibited comparable epoxidation performance than those obtained by other methods.

Low cost, practical, all-digital open-loop fiber-optic gyroscope

A novel all-digital scheme for open-loop fiber-optic gyroscope (POG), where only two key points of output wave were digitized directly, has been proposed. A control equation, with which the modulation depth of PZT modulator is stable when setting the modulation depth as 4.35 and a calculation equation, with which the Sagnac phase can be worked out, are derived. A modulation depth control and an automatic correlation sampling and a gain control technology were induced. A photo-type FOG was made and tested. The good performance was achieved.