On “Over-Sized” High-Gain Practical Observers for Nonlinear Systems

In this paper,it is shown that the performances of a class of high-gain practical observers can be improved by estimating the time derivatives of the output up to an order that is greater than the dimension of the system, which is assumed to be in observability form and, possibly, time-varying. Such an improvement is achieved without increasing the gain of the observers, thus allowing their use in a wide variety of control and identification applications.

Chemical composition and physical properties of filter fly ashes from eight grate-fired biomass combustion plants

For the handling, treatment and utilization of fly ash from biomass combustion its chemical composition and physical properties are important. In this study eight filter fly ashes from different grate-fired biomass combustion plants were investigated. In fly ash from straw combustion high concentrations of（K） were found, whereas in the fly ash from wood combustion the concentrations of Ca and Mg were higher. The average concentration of PO3-4was similar in both types of fly ashes. In all wood fly ashes some measured heavy metal concentrations were above the limits for utilization. The straw fly ashes were much less contaminated and can be utilized. For wood fly ash most parameters showed little variation, except from one fly ash where the dust pre-separator is in poor condition. The average values were： mass median diameter 4.3 ± 0.8 μm, spread of particle size distribution19 ± 11, particle density 2620 ± 80 kg/m^3 and angle of repose 50°± 1°. The density of the straw fly ashes is lower（2260 ± 80 kg/m^3） and the spread of the size distribution is higher（72 ± 24）.For one straw combustion fly ash the values of the mass median diameter and the angle of repose were similar to the values of wood combustion fly ash, for the other straw fly ash the values differed considerably. While the particle size of this fly ash was much smaller,surprisingly the angle of repose was also lower. This can be attributed to the formation of small agglomerates in this fly ash, which were not disintegrated without a certain stress.

Filter paper-templated preparation of ZnO thin films and examination of their gas-sensing properties

ZnO thin films prepared by using quantitative filter paper as a template and Zn（CH3CO2）2.2H2O ethanol precursor solution were characterized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. The effects of sample calcination temperature, precursor concentration and filter paper types were studied, and the growth process was investigated by infra-red （IR） spectroscopy and thermogravimettic analysis/differential thermal analysis （TGA/DTA）. The results show that samples soaked in a 1.5 mol/L Zn（CH3 CO2）2.2H2O ethanol solution and calcined at 600 ℃ yield ZnO films of uniform particle size, approximately 30, 40 and 50 nm. for fast-, medium- and slow-speed filter papers, respectively. The formaldehyde gas sensing properties of the ZnO nanoparticles were tested, showing that the material prepared from fast-speed filter paper has a higher response to 120-205 ppm formaldehyde at 400 ℃ than that prepared from medium- or slow-sneed paper, which depends on the narticle size.