Kinetic analysis and modeling of maize straw hydrochar combustion using a multi-Gaussian-distributed activation energy model

Combustion kinetics of the hydrochar was investigated using a multi-Gaussian-distributed activation energy model(DAEM)to ex-pand the knowledge on the combustion mechanisms.The results demonstrated that the kinetic parameters calculated by the multi-Gaussian-DAEM accurately represented the experimental conversion rate curves.Overall,the feedstock combustion could be divided into four stages:the decomposition of hemicellulose,cellulose,lignin,and char combustion.The hydrochar combustion could in turn be divided into three stages:the combustion of cellulose,lignin,and char.The mean activation energy ranges obtained for the cellulose,lignin,and char were 273.7-292.8,315.1-334.5,and 354.4-370 kJ/mol,respectively,with the standard deviations of 2.1-23.1,9.5-27.4,and 12.1-22.9 kJ/mol,re-spectively.The cellulose and lignin contents first increased and then decreased with increasing hydrothermal carbonization(HTC)temperature,while the mass fraction of char gradually increased.

Accounting for Heterogeneity in Stop Frequency Models of Work Tours Using Latent Class Poisson Models

Stop frequency models, as one of the elements of activity based models, represent an important part of travel behavior. Unobserved heterogeneity across the travelers should be taken into consideration to prevent biasedness and inconsistency in the estimated parameters in the stop frequency models. Additionally, previous studies on the stop frequency have mostly been done in larger metropolitan areas and less attention has been paid to the areas with less population. This study addresses these gaps by using 2012 travel data from a medium sized U.S. urban area using the work tour for the case study. Stop in the work tour were classified into three groups of outbound leg, work based subtour, and inbound leg of the commutes. Latent Class Poisson Regression Models were used to analyze the data. The results indicate the presence of heterogeneity across the commuters. Using latent class models significantly improves the predictive power of the models compared to regular one class Poisson regression models. In contrast to one class Poisson models, gender becomes insignificant in predicting the number of tours when unobserved heterogeneity is accounted for. The commuters are associated with increased stops on their work based subtour when the employment density of service-related occupations increases in their work zone, but employment density of retail employment does not significantly contribute to the stop making likelihood of the commuters. Additionally, an increase in the number of work tours was associated with fewer stops on the inbound leg of the commute. The results of this study suggest the consideration of unobserved heterogeneity in the stop frequency models and help transportation agencies and policy makers make better inferences from such models.

Promoting sustainable consumption and circular economy:the intention of Vietnamese youth consumers to purchase products made from recycled plastics

Recycling is viewed as a key component in a circular economy and serves as an ideal solution for promoting sustainability.During the global plastic crisis,plastic recycling practices have been adopted worldwide,leading to the production of various products made from recycled plastics(PRP).Nevertheless,a gap persists between consumption and demand for such products,which is primarily attributed to a lack of comprehension from the consumer perspective.Given the pivotal role consumers play in the adoption of these products,this study explores consumers’intentions to purchase PRP.This is particularly significant in Vietnam,which is an emerging economy aspiring to achieve the objectives of a circular economy and sustainable development.Utilizing an integrated cognitive-emotional framework comprising the Valence Theory and the Norm Activation Model,data from 564 Vietnamese students were gathered and analyzed using structural equation modeling.The results show that awareness of consequences is a major driver of consumer purchase intentions,followed by perceived ease of application and monetary incentives.The results also indicate that health concerns have the strongest effect on purchase intention and in the negative side,meaning that the health-related risk is the primary concern for consumers during the decision-making process.This research holds substantial value for academics and managers,as it aids in the theoretical exploration and the formulation of strategies to improve consumer acceptance of PRP.

Congregated electron phase and Wagner model applied in titanium distribution behavior in low-titanium slag

For studying the carbon thermal reduction rules of titanium in hot metal and providing a theoretical basis for the blast furnace（BF） hearth protection, the distribution behavior of titanium between low-titanium slag system of CaO-SiO2-MgO-Al2O3-TiO2 and hot metal was studied using analytical reagents in a temperature range from 1350 °C to 1600 °C. Through high temperature melting, rapid quenching, chemical analysis and thermodynamic model calculating, the results showed that the increase of reaction temperature, which improved the titanium distribution L（Ti） and lowered the system activity coefficient γsys, leads to the rise of equilibrium constant. Combined with Wagner and congregated electron phase models, the data obtained in distribution experiments were used to fit out the Gibbs free energy formula of titanium carbothermic reduction. Finally, the relations between the contents of Si and Ti in hot metal and the titanium load to reach the minimum w（Ti） for the formation of Ti C were given.

LOCALIZATION OF OBJECT (SPINE) IN MEDICAL IMAGE USING ACTIVE SHAPE MODELS

Active shape models (ASM), consisting of a shape model and a local gray-level appearance model, can be used to locate the objects in images. In original ASM scheme, the model of object′s gray-level variations is based on the assumption of one-dimensional sampling and searching method. In this work a new way to model the gray-level appearance of the objects is explored, using a two-dimensional sampling and searching technique in a rectangular area around each landmark of object shape. The ASM based on this improvement is compared with the original ASM on an identical medical image set for task of spine localization. Experiments demonstrate that the method produces significantly fast, effective, accurate results for spine localization in medical images.

Optimal shape space and searching in the active shape model

A novel idea,called the optimal shape subspace （OSS） is first proposed for optimizing active shape model （ASM） search.It is constructed from the principal shape subspace and the principal shape variance subspace.It allows the reconstructed shape to vary more than that reconstructed in the standard ASM shape space,hence it is more expressive in representing shapes in real life.Then a cost function is developed,based on a study on the search process.An optimal searching method using the feedback information provided by the evaluation cost is proposed to improve the performance of ASM alignment.Experimental results show that the proposed OSS can offer the maximum shape variation with reserving the principal information and a unique local optimal shape is acquired after optimal searching.The combination of OSS and optimal searching can improve the ASM performance greatly.

Activity model and its application in CaO-FeO-SiO_2-MoO_3 quarternary system

The activity model of CaO-FeO-SiO_2-MoO_3 quarternary system was establishedaccording to the coexistence theory of slag structure and the reduction thermodynamics of molybdenumoxide was discussed by applying this model. The activities of SiO_2 and MoO_3 decrease, while thatof CaO increases with increasing the basicity of slag. Among SiC, [C] and [Si] reactants, thereducing capability of SiC is the strongest, while that of [C] is the poorest at a high temperature(about 1873 K). It is advantageous to increase the yield of molybdenum by increasing the content of[Si] or [C]. Controlling of basicity of slag can prevent the oxidation loss of molybdenum.

ONLINE MODEL AND ACTUATOR FAULT TOLERANT CONTROL FOR AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOT

A novel fault-tolerant adaptive control methodology against the actuator faults is proposed. The actuator effectiveness factors （AEFs） are introduced to denote the healthy of actuator, and the unscented Kalman filter （UKF） is employed for online estimation of both the motion states and the AEFs of mobile robot. A square root version of the UKF is introduced to improve efficiency and numerical stability. Using the information from the UKF, the reconfigurable controller is designed automatically based on an enhancement inverse dynamic control （IDC） methodology. The experiment on a 3-DOF omni-directional mobile robot is performed, and the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated.

Anaerobic tapered fluidized bed reactor for starch wastewater treatment and modeling using multilayer perceptron neural network

treatability of synthetic sago wastewater was investigated in a laboratory anaerobic tapered fluidized bed reactor （ATFBR） with a mesoporous granular activated carbon （GAC） as a support material. The experimental protocol was defined to examine the effect of the maximum organic loading rate （OLR）, hydraulic retention time （HRT）, the efficiency of the reactor and to report on its steady- state performance. The reactor was subjected to a steady-state operation over a range of OLR up to 85.44 kg COD/（m^3·d）. The COD removal efficiency was found to be 92% in the reactor while the biogas produced in the digester reached 25.38 m^3/（m^3·d） of the reactor. With the increase of OLR from 83.7 kg COD/（m^3·d）, the COD removal efficiency decreased. Also an artificial neural network （ANN） model using multilayer perceptron （MLP） has been developed for a system of two input variable and five output dependent variables. For the training of the input-output data, the experimental values obtained have been used. The output parameters predicted have been found to be much closer to the corresponding experimental ones and the model was validated for 30% of the untrained data. The mean square error （MSE） was found to be only 0.0146.

Modeling of rough surfaces with given roughness parameters

Modeling of rough surfaces with given roughness parameters is studied,where surfaces with Gaussian height distribution and exponential auto-correlation function(ACF) are concerned.A large number of micro topography samples are randomly generated first using the rough surface simulation method with FFT.Then roughness parameters of the simulated roughness profiles are calculated according to parameter definition,and the relationship between roughness parameters and statistical distribution parameters is investigated.The effects of high-pass filtering with different cut-off lengths on the relationship are analyzed.Subsequently,computing formulae of roughness parameters based on standard deviation and correlation length are constructed with mathematical regression method.The constructed formulae are tested with measured data of actual topographies,and the influences of auto-correlation variations at different lag lengths on the change of roughness parameter are discussed.The constructed computing formulae provide an approach to active modeling of rough surfaces with given roughness parameters.

Vehicle Active Steering Control Research Based on Two-DOF Robust Internal Model Control

Because of vehicle＇s external disturbances and model uncertainties,robust control algorithms have obtained popularity in vehicle stability control.The robust control usually gives up performance in order to guarantee the robustness of the control algorithm,therefore an improved robust internal model control（IMC） algorithm blending model tracking and internal model control is put forward for active steering system in order to reach high performance of yaw rate tracking with certain robustness.The proposed algorithm inherits the good model tracking ability of the IMC control and guarantees robustness to model uncertainties.In order to separate the design process of model tracking from the robustness design process,the improved 2 degree of freedom（DOF） robust internal model controller structure is given from the standard Youla parameterization.Simulations of double lane change maneuver and those of crosswind disturbances are conducted for evaluating the robust control algorithm,on the basis of a nonlinear vehicle simulation model with a magic tyre model.Results show that the established 2-DOF robust IMC method has better model tracking ability and a guaranteed level of robustness and robust performance,which can enhance the vehicle stability and handling,regardless of variations of the vehicle model parameters and the external crosswind interferences.Contradiction between performance and robustness of active steering control algorithm is solved and higher control performance with certain robustness to model uncertainties is obtained.

A distribution prior model for airplane segmentation without exact template

In many practical applications of image segmentation problems,employing prior information can greatly improve segmentation results.This paper continues to study one kind of prior information,called prior distribution.Within this research,there is no exact template of the object;instead only several samples are given.The proposed method,called the parametric distribution prior model,extends our previous model by adding the training procedure to learn the prior distribution of the objects.Then this paper establishes the energy function of the active contour model(ACM)with consideration of this parametric form of prior distribution.Therefore,during the process of segmenting,the template can update itself while the contour evolves.Experiments are performed on the airplane data set.Experimental results demonstrate the potential of the proposed method that with the information of prior distribution,the segmentation effect and speed can be both improved efficaciously.

Design of active disturbance rejection internal model control strategy for SISO system with time delay process

A novel control scheme of active disturbance rejection internal model control(ADRIMC) is proposed to improve the anti-interference ability and robustness for the dead-time process. The active anti-interference concept is introduced into the internal model control(IMC) by analyzing the relationship between IMC and disturbance observer control(DOB). Further, a design process of disturbance filter is presented to realize the active anti-interference ability for ADRIMC scheme. The disturbance filter is used to estimate an equivalent disturbance consisting of both external disturbances and internal disturbances caused by model mismatches.Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method possesses a good disturbance rejection performance, though losing some partial dynamic performance. In other words, the proposed method shows a tradeoff between the dynamic performance and the system robust.

A simplified adsorption model for water vapor adsorption on activated carbon

A simplified model was developed to describe the water vapor adsorption on activated carbon. The development of the simplified model was started from the original model proposed by DO and his co-workers. Two different kinds of carbon materials were prepared for water vapor adsorption, and the adsorption experiments were conducted at different temperatures(20-50 °C) and relative humidities(5%-99%) to test the model. It is shown that the amount of adsorbed water vapor in micropore decreases with the temperature increasing, and the water molecules form larger water clusters around the functional group as the temperature is up to a higher value. The simplified model describes reasonably well for all the experimental data. According to the fitted values, the parameters of simplified model were represented by the temperature and then the model was used to calculate the water vapor adsorption amount at 25 °C and 35 °C. The results show that the model can get relatively accurate values to calculate the water vapor adsorption on activated carbon.

Performance comparison of permafrost models in Wudaoliang Basin,Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of permafrost and the effects of climate on ground temperature are important for land use and infrastructure development on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP). Different permafrost models have been developed to simulate the ground temperature and active layer thickness(ALT). In this study, Temperature at Top of Permafrost(TTOP) model, Kudryavtsev model and modified Stefan solution were evaluated against detailed field measurements at four distinct field sites in the Wudaoliang Basin to better understand the applicability of permafrost models. Field data from 2012 to 2014 showed that there were notable differences in observed ground temperatures and ALTs within and among the sites. The TTOP model is relatively simple, however, when driven by averaged input values, it produced more accurate permafrost surface temperature(Tps) than the Kudryavtsev model. The modified Stefan solution resulted in a satisfactory accuracy of 90%, which was better than the Kudryavtsev model for estimating ALTs. The modified Stefan solution had the potential of being applied to climate-change studies in the future. Furthermore, additional field investigations over longer periods focusing on hydrology, which has significant influence on permafrost thaw, are necessary. These efforts should employ advanced measurement techniques to obtain adequate and extensive local parameters that will help improve model accuracy.

Antitumor Activity of Diallyl Sulfide in Two-StageMouse Skin Model of Carcinogenesis

It has been reported that diallyl sulfide (DAS), a sulfur-containing volatile compound in garlic (Allium sativum ), exerts anticarcinogenic activity in various rodent tumor models. In the present study, the antitumor property of DAS was tested in Swiss albino mice in the two steqe initiation-promotion mouse skin carcinogenesis. Skin cancers were initiated topically with a single subcarcinOgenic dose (52μg) of 7, 12-dimethyl benz (a) anthracene (DMBA). Promotion was performed by twice weekly applications of 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) at a dose of 5μg/animal for 32 weeks. DAS was applied topically (250μg/animal) thrice weekly for 3 weeks for anti-initiating and 1 h prior to each promotion treatment for anti-promoting studies. The results showed that the treatment schedule of DAS can effectively delay the onset of tumorigenesis and reduce the cumulative number of tumors and the average number of tumors per mouse. In groups in which DAS applied prior to initiation or promotion, a significant population of the aniinals remained tumor-free till the termination of experiment. These findings suggest that DAS can effectively inhibit chemically induced mouse skincarcinogenesis.

Prediction of Henry's constant in polymer solutions using PCOR equation of state coupled with an activity coefficient model

In this paper,the polymer chain of rotator(PCOR) equation of state(EOS) was used together with an EOS/G^E mixing rule(MHV1) and the Wilson's equation as an excess-Gibbs-energy model in the proposed approach to extend the capability and improve the accuracy of the PCOR EOS for predicting the Henry's constant of solutions containing polymers.The results of the proposed method compared with two equation of state(van der Waals and GC-Flory) and three activity coefficient models(UNIFAC,UNIFAC-FV and Entropic-FV) indicated that the PCOR EOS/Wilson's equation provided more accurate results.The interaction parameters of Wilson's equation were fitted with Henry's constant experimental data and the property parameters of PCOR,a and b,were fitted with experimental volume data(Tait equation).As a result,the present work provided a simple and useful model for prediction of Henry's constant for polymer solutions.

Extended activated sludge model no. 1 (ASM1) for simulating biodegradation process using bacterial technology

Phosphorus is one of the most important nutrients required to support various kinds of biodegradation processes. As this particular nutrient is not included in the activated sludge model no. 1 （ASM1）, this study extended this model in order to determine the fate of phosphorus during the biodegradation processes. When some of the kinetics parameters are modified using observed data from the restoration project of the Xuxi River in Wuxi City, China, from August 25 to 31 in 2009, the extended model shows excellent results. In order to obtain optimum values of coefficients of nitrogen and phosphorus, the mass fraction method was used to ensure that the final results were reasonable and practically relevant. The temporal distribution of the data calculated with the extended ASM1 approximates that of the observed data.

Generalized Internal Model Robust Control for Active Front Steering Intervention

Because of the tire nonlinearity and vehicle＇s parameters＇uncertainties,robust control methods based on the worst cases,such as H_∞,μsynthesis,have been widely used in active front steering control,however,in order to guarantee the stability of active front steering system（AFS）controller,the robust control is at the cost of performance so that the robust controller is a little conservative and has low performance for AFS control.In this paper,a generalized internal model robust control（GIMC）that can overcome the contradiction between performance and stability is used in the AFS control.In GIMC,the Youla parameterization is used in an improved way.And GIMC controller includes two sections：a high performance controller designed for the nominal vehicle model and a robust controller compensating the vehicle parameters＇uncertainties and some external disturbances.Simulations of double lane change（DLC）maneuver and that of braking on split-μroad are conducted to compare the performance and stability of the GIMC control,the nominal performance PID controller and the H_∞controller.Simulation results show that the high nominal performance PID controller will be unstable under some extreme situations because of large vehicle＇s parameters variations,H_∞controller is conservative so that the performance is a little low,and only the GIMC controller overcomes the contradiction between performance and robustness,which can both ensure the stability of the AFS controller and guarantee the high performance of the AFS controller.Therefore,the GIMC method proposed for AFS can overcome some disadvantages of control methods used by current AFS system,that is,can solve the instability of PID or LQP control methods and the low performance of the standard H_∞controller.

Modified DIX model for ion-exchange equilibrium of L-phenylalanine on a strong cation-exchange resin

L-phenylalanine, one of the nine essential amino acids for the human body, is extensively used as an ingredient in food, pharmaceutical and nutrition industries. A suitable equilibrium model is required for purification of L-phenylalanine based on ion-exchange chromatography. In this work, the equilibrium uptake of L-phenylalanine on a strong acid-cation exchanger SH11 was investigated experimentally and theoretically. A modified Donnan ion-exchange （DIX） model, which takes the activiW into account, was established to predict the uptake of L-phenylalanine at various solution pH values. The model parameters including selectivity and mean activity coefficient in the resin phase are presented. The modified DIX model is in good agreement with the experimental data. The optimum operating pH value of 2.0, with the highest t-phenylalanine uptake on the resin, is predicted by the model. This basic information combined with the general mass transfer model will lay the foundation for the prediction of dynamic behavior of fixed bed separation process.