Comparison of Two Types of Control Structures for Benzene Chlorine Reactive Distillation Systems

The ＂neat＂ operation of the two-reactant reactive distillation column has Oetter steady-state economics, while It presents a challenge for design, optimization, and control of the process. Based on the optimal economic design, the dual-composition control structure and dual-temperature control structure are designed respectively for the benzene chlorine consecutive reactive distillation process. The effectiveness and robustness are analyzed comparably for the disturbance resistance in terms of changes of production rate and feed composition. Results show that dual-temperature control with propose selection of tray temperatures and the optimal profile of the set point can provide better transient process performance than the composition control structure.

Structural Controls Analysis and Its Correlation with Geothermal Occurrence at Barrier Volcanic Complex (BVC), Turkana, Kenya

Geothermal is a clean energy source that is freely available in the subsurface. The exploitation of this vital resource needs intensive exploration in order to identify and quantify its occurrence. The three parameters considered when assessing the viability of a geothermal system include;heat source, fractures and fluids. Geological structures are important in transportation of fluids to and from the heat source aiding in recharge of the geothermal system and enhancing productivity. Remote sensing method was applied in mapping the structures at Barrier Volcanic Complex (BVC) by using hill shading technique which utilized four illumination angles of the sun (azimuth) i.e. 45°, 90°, 150°, and 315°, constant elevation of 45° and exaggeration of 10. The data used was Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) Satellite Imagery. ArcGIS Software was used for lineaments delineation and density mapping, PCI Geomatica was used to generate major faults, while Georose and Rockworks 17 were used to generate the rose diagrams. Geological structural analysis was done by delineating lineaments, determining the density distribution of lineaments and finally determining the structural trends of lineaments. The generated major faults in the area and the location of the occurrence of surface manifestations were compared with the generated lineaments. A total of 260 lineaments were generated whereby at 45° there was a total of 60 lineaments, at 90° 95 lineaments, at 150° 61 lineaments, and at 315° 44 lineaments. The results of structural analysis in the area as shown by the rose diagrams indicate an NNE-SSW and N-S trending of structures. In conclusion, the study area is highly fractured as indicated by the presence of numerous lineaments. These lineaments provide good recharge to the geothermal system and enhance the geothermal reservoir in the area.

Ultimate Government Control Structures and Firm Value:Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

We show that 70% of Chinese listed companies are ultimately controlled by government agencies, thereby indicating that state ownership remains widespread in China's stock markets. Three questions are considered that are related to government control structures and their impact on firm value:(1) how do government agencies maintain their control of listed companies;(2) what are the impacts of different government control structures on firm value; and(3) are these impacts different in local government and central government-controlled firms? We find that the Chinese government controls listed companies directly or indirectly through solely state-owned enterprises(SSOEs). Taking into account the trade-off between political and agency costs, we show that firm value increases when some control rights are decentralized from the government to state-owned enterprises(SOEs). Moreover, decentralization improves significantly the performance of local government- controlled, but not central government-controlled firms.

Non-probabilistic reliability method and reliability-based optimal LQR design for vibration control of structures with uncertain-but-bounded parameters

Uncertainty is inherent and unavoidable in almost all engineering systems. It is of essential significance to deal with uncertainties by means of reliability approach and to achieve a reasonable balance between reliability against uncertainties and system performance in the control design of uncertain systems. Nevertheless, reliability methods which can be used directly for analysis and synthesis of active control of structures in the presence of uncertainties remain to be developed, especially in non-probabilistic uncertainty situations. In the present paper, the issue of vibration con- trol of uncertain structures using linear quadratic regulator （LQR） approach is studied from the viewpoint of reliabil- ity. An efficient non-probabilistic robust reliability method for LQR-based static output feedback robust control of un- certain structures is presented by treating bounded uncertain parameters as interval variables. The optimal vibration con- troller design for uncertain structures is carried out by solv- ing a robust reliability-based optimization problem with the objective to minimize the quadratic performance index. The controller obtained may possess optimum performance un- der the condition that the controlled structure is robustly re- liable with respect to admissible uncertainties. The proposed method provides an essential basis for achieving a balance between robustness and performance in controller design ot uncertain structures. The presented formulations are in the framework of linear matrix inequality and can be carried out conveniently. Two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the present method.

Robust H_∞ control for aseismic structures with uncertainties in model parameters

This paper presents a robust H∞ output feedback control approach for structural systems with uncertainties in model parameters by using available acceleration measurements and proposes conditions for the existence of such a robust output feedback controller. The uncertainties of structural stiffness, damping and mass parameters are assumed to be norm-bounded. The proposed control approach is formulated within the framework of linear matrix inequalities, for which existing convex optimization techniques, such as the LM1 toolbox in MATLAB, can be used effectively and conveniently. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed robust H∞ strategy, a six-story building was subjected both to the 1940 E1 Centro earthquake record and to a suddenly applied Kanai-Tajimi filtered white noise random excitation. The results show that the proposed robust H∞ controller provides satisfactory results with or without variation of the structural stiffness, damping and mass parameters.

CONSTRUCTION OF POLYNOMIAL MATRIX USING BLOCK COEFFICIENT MATRIX REPRESENTATION AUTO-REGRESSIVE MOVING AVERAGE MODEL FOR ACTIVELY CONTROLLED STRUCTURES

The polynomial matrix using the block coefficient matrix representation auto-regressive moving average(referred to as the PM-ARMA)model is constructed in this paper for actively controlled multi-degree-of-freedom(MDOF)structures with time-delay through equivalently transforming the preliminary state space realization into the new state space realization.The PM-ARMA model is a more general formulation with respect to the polynomial using the coefficient representation auto-regressive moving average(ARMA)model due to its capability to cope with actively controlled structures with any given structural degrees of freedom and any chosen number of sensors and actuators.(The sensors and actuators are required to maintain the identical number.)under any dimensional stationary stochastic excitation.

Trust-region based instantaneous optimal semi-active control of long-span spatially extended structures with MRF-04K damper

In the field of civil engineering, magnetorheological fluid （MRF） damper-based semi-active control systems have received considerable attention for use in protecting structures from natural hazards such as strong earthquakes and high winds. In this paper, the MRF damper-based semi-active control system is applied to a long-span spatially extended structure and its feasibility is discussed. Meanwhile, a _trust-region method based instantaneous optimal semi-active control algorithm （TIOC） is proposed to improve the performance of the semi-active control system in a multiple damper situation. The proposed TIOC describes the control process as a bounded constraint optimization problem, in which an optimal semi- active control force vector is solved by the trust-region method in every control step to minimize the structural responses. A numerical example of a railway station roof structure installed with MRF-04K dampers is presented. First, a modified Bouc- Wen model is utilized to describe the behavior of the selected MRF-04K damper. Then, two semi-active control systems, including the well-known clipped-optimal controller and the proposed TIOC controller, are considered. Based on the characteristics of the long-span spatially extended structure, the performance of the control system is evaluated under uniform earthquake excitation and travelling-wave excitation with different apparent velocities. The simulation results indicate that the MR fluid damper-based semi-active control systems have the potential to mitigate the responses of full-scale long-span spatially extended structures under earthquake hazards. The superiority of the proposed TIOC controller is demonstrated by comparing its control effectiveness with the clipped-optimal controller for several different cases.

Unraveling Iterative Control Structures from Business Processes

Iterative control structures allow the repeated execution of tasks,activities or sub-processes according to the given conditions in a process model.Iterative control structures can significantly increase the risk of triggering temporal exceptions since activities within the scope of these control structures could be repeatedly executed until a predefined condition is met.In this paper,we propose two approaches to unravel iterative control structures from process models.The first approach unravels loops based on zero-one principle.The second approach unravels loops based on branching probabilities assigned at split gateways.The proposed methods can be used to unfold structured loops,nested loops and crossing loops.Since the unfolded model does not contain any iterative control structures,it can be used for further analysis by process designers during the modeling phase.The proposed methods are implemented based on workflow graphs,and therefore they are compatible with modeling languages such as Business Process Modelling Notation(BPMN).In the experiments,the execution behavior of unfolded process models is compared against the original models based on the concept of runs.Experimental results reveal that runs generated from the original models can be correctly executed in the unfolded BPMN models that do not contain any loops.

Input Structure Design for Structural Controllability of Complex Networks

This paper addresses the problem of the input design of large-scale complex networks.Two types of network components,redundant inaccessible strongly connected component(RISCC)and intermittent inaccessible strongly connected component(IISCC)are defined,and a subnetwork called a driver network is developed.Based on these,an efficient method is proposed to find the minimum number of controlled nodes to achieve structural complete controllability of a network,in the case that each input can act on multiple state nodes.The range of the number of input nodes to achieve minimal control,and the configuration method(the connection between the input nodes and the controlled nodes)are presented.All possible input solutions can be obtained by this method.Moreover,we give an example and some experiments on real-world networks to illustrate the effectiveness of the method.

REDUCTION APPROACHES FOR VIBRATION CONTROL OF REPETITIVE STRUCTURES

The reduction approaches are presented for vibration control of symmetric, cyclic periodic and linking structures. The condensation of generalized coordinates, the locations of sensors and actuators, and the relation between system inputs and control forces are assumed to be set in a symmetric way so that the control system posses the same repetition as the structure considered. By employing proper transformations of condensed generalized coordinates and the system inputs, the vibration control of an entire system can be implemented by carrying out the control of a number of sub-structures, and thus the dimension of the control problem can be significantly reduced.

Seismic response of controlled structures with active multiple tuned mass dampers

Active multiple tuned mass dampers （referred to as AMTMD）, which consist of several active tuned mass dampers （ATMDs） with identical stiffness and damping coefficients but varying mass and control force, have recently been proposed to suppress undesirable oscillations of structures under ground acceleration. It has been shown that the AMTMD can remarkably improve the performance of multiple tuned mass dampers （MTMDs） and is also more effective in reducing structure oscillation than single ATMDs. Notwithstanding this, good performance of AMTMD （including a single ATMD illustrated from frequency-domain analysis） may not necessarily translate into a good seismic reduction behavior in the time-domain. To investigate these phenomena, a three-story steel structure model controlled by AMTMD with three ATMDs was implemented in SIMULINK and subjected to several historical earthquakes. Likewise, the structure under consideration was assumed to have uncertainty of stiffness, such as 4-15% of its initial stiffness, in the numerical simulations. The optimum design parameters of the AMTMD were obtained in the frequency-domain by implementing the minimization of the minimum values of the maximum dynamic magnification factors （DMF） of general structures with AMTMD. For comparison purposes, response analysis of the same structure with a single ATMD was also performed. The numerical analysis and comparison show that the AMTMD generally renders better effectiveness when compared with a single ATMD for structures subjected to historical earthquakes. In particular, the AMTMD can improve the effectiveness of a single ATMD for a structure with an uncertainty of stiffness of 4-15% of its initial stiffness.

An off-and-towards-equilibrium strategy for vibrational control of structures

Traditional control strategies have difficulty handling nonlinear behavior of structures, time variable features and parameter uncertainties of structural control systems under seismic excitation. An off-and-towardsequilibrium （OTE） strategy combined with fuzzy control is presented in this paper to overcome these difficulties. According to the OTE strategy, the control force is designed from the viewpoint of a mechanical relationship between the motions of the structure, the exciting force and the control force. The advantage of the OTE strategy is that it can be used for a variety of control systems. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed strategy, the seismic performance of a three-story shear building with an Active Tendon System （ATS） using a Fuzzy Logic Controller （FLC） is studied. The main advantage of the fuzzy controller is its inherent robustness and ability to handle any nonlinear behavior of structures. However, there are no design guidelines to set up the corresponding control rule table for a FLC. Based on the proposed strategy for the FLC, a control rule table associated with the building under study is developed, which then allows formation of a detailed algorithm. The results obtained in this study show that the proposed strategy performs slightly better than the linear quadratic regulator （LQR） strategy, while possessing several advantages over the LQR controller. Consequently, the feasibility and validity of the proposed strategy are verified.

A bionic controllable strain membrane for cell stretching at air–liquid interface inspired by papercutting

Lung diseases associated with alveoli,such as acute respiratory distress syndrome,have posed a long-term threat to human health.However,an in vitro model capable of simulating different deformations of the alveoli and a suitable material for mimicking basement membrane are currently lacking.Here,we present an innovative biomimetic controllable strain membrane(BCSM)at an air–liquid interface(ALI)to reconstruct alveolar respiration.The BCSM consists of a high-precision three-dimensional printing melt-electrowritten polycaprolactone(PCL)mesh,coated with a hydrogel substrate—to simulate the important functions(such as stiffness,porosity,wettability,and ALI)of alveolar microenvironments,and seeded pulmonary epithelial cells and vascular endothelial cells on either side,respectively.Inspired by papercutting,the BCSM was fabricated in the plane while it operated in three dimensions.A series of the topological structure of the BCSM was designed to control various local-area strain,mimicking alveolar varied deformation.Lopinavir/ritonavir could reduce Lamin A expression under over-stretch condition,which might be effective in preventing ventilator-induced lung injury.The biomimetic lung-unit model with BCSM has broader application prospects in alveoli-related research in the future,such as in drug toxicology and metabolism.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON ELASTIC－PLASTIC CONTROLLING DESIGN FOR BOX STEEL STRUCTURES

The principle of increasing structural loading abillity by the using of elastic-plastic con- trolling design, which can make steel reach a highcr yield slrength through controlling undue strains produced in loaded box steel structures and no damager to the static mechanical properties of the used materials, is dealt with under the guarantee of strength, rigidity, and stability. A new idea of elastic--plastic controlling design, which is mainly based on the elastic-plastic theory and experi- mental results and is different from the current design which is mainly based handbooks and design- er' s experience, is established. That is: the loading time and its effect on loaded structures are con- sidered, and the potential strength in used matcrials is fully utilized through the controlling of struc- tural strains in design. By the using of this design method, the weight and cost of box structures will be reduced in large amount.

Fuzzy variable structure delay control algorithms and their applications to AQM

This paper analyzes the fuzzy variable structure control algorithms for delay systems and describes the compensation mechanism of the integral factor to the effect of the delay. Based on the linearized model of the congestion-avoidance flow-control mode of transmission control protocol (TCP), we present delay control algorithms for active queue management (AQM) and discuss the parameter tuning of the algorithms. The NS (network simulator) simulation results show that the proposed control scheme for the nonlinear TCP/AQM model has good performance and robustness with respect to the uncertainties of the round-trip time (RTT) and the number of active TCP sessions. Compared to other similar schemes, our algorithms perform better in terms of packet loss ratio, throughput and butter fluctuation.

An effective strategy of constructing multi-metallic oxides of ZnO/ CoNiO_(2)/CoO/C microflowers for improved supercapacitive performance

In this work,a new ZnO/CoNiO_(2)/CoO/C metal oxides composite is prepared by cost-effective hydrothermal method coupled with annealing process under N_(2) atmosphere.Notably,the oxidation-defect annealing environment is conducive to both morphology and component of the composite,which flower-like ZnO/CoNiO_(2)/CoO/C is obtained.Benefited from good chemical stability of ZnO,high energy capacity of CoNiO_(2) and CoO and good conductivity of C,the as-prepared sample shows promising electrochemical behavior,including the specific capacity of 1435 C·g^(-1) at 1 A·g^(-1),capacity retention of 87.3%at 20 A·g^(-1),and cycling stability of 90.5%for 3000 cycles at 5 A·g^(-1),respectively.Furthermore,the prepared ZnO/CoNiO_(2)/CoO/C/NF//AC aqueous hybrid supercapacitors device delivers the best specific energy of 55.9 W·h·kg^(-1) at 850 W·kg^(-1).The results reflect that the as-prepared ZnO/CoNiO_(2)/CoO/C microflowers are considered as high performance electrode materials for supercapacitor,and the strategy mentioned in this paper is benefit to prepare mixed metal oxides composite for energy conversion and storage.

Simulation Research on Structure Changing Control over the Follow Up System of the Smart Mine

By analyzing the target's motion pattern, in terms of the requirement for the performance indexes of the follow up system, the structure changing control and time optimal theory is proposed. The system's control scheme from three different aspects(the dynamic response simulation, compound control simulation and dynamic tracking simulation) is also studied. And all the results proved the feasibility of the synthetical utilization of the open loop control, speed decreased control and position closed loop control.

ROBUST STABILIZATING FOR A OLASS OF UNOERTAIN NONLINEAR INTEROONNECTED SYSTEMS USING VARIABLE STRUCTURE CONTROL

The robust stabilizating control problem for a class of uncertain nonlinear large-scale systems is discussed. Based on the theory of both input/output (I/O) linearization and decentralized variable structure control (VSC),two-level and decentralized variable structure control laws for this kind of systems are presented respectively,which achieve asymptotically stabilization despite the uncertainties and disturbances. At last,sirnulation of the disturbed two-pendulum system is given to illustrate the feasibility of proposed technique.

Design and analysis of dual-mode structure repetitive control based hybrid current regulation scheme for active power filters

An all-digital hybrid current regulation scheme for the single-phase shunt active power filter （APF） is presented. The proposed hybrid current control scheme integrates the deadbeat control and the dual-mode structure repetitive control （DMRC） so that it can offer superior steady-state performance and good transient features. Unlike the conventional schemes, the proposed scheme-based APF can compensate both the odd and the even order harmonics in grid. The detailed design criteria and the stability analysis of the proposed hybrid current controller are presented. Moreover, an improved structure which incorporates the proposed hybrid controller and the resonant controller for tracking specific order harmonics is given. The relationships between the resonant controller and different repetitive control schemes are discussed. Experimental results verify the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed hybrid control scheme.

Gully Erosion Study and Control： A Case Study of Queen Ede Gully in Benin City

This paper presents findings from studies carried out on the Queen Ede gully erosion site in Benin City, in the south-southern zone of Nigeria. The studies involved detailed topographical, geotechnical, meteorological and hydrological data acquisition. The data were processed and analyzed to determine catchment size, gully morphology, soil characteristics, rainfall pattern and hydrological pattern. These were then interpreted and used to determine the method of control to be adopted. The adopted control measures is a combination of structural and non-structural methods. The structural method involved the use of gully control structures to divert the runoff entering the gully from the head, while the non-structural method involved the use of boulders and vegetation to stabilize the gully walls around the head region.