Development of 400-μW cryogen-free dilution refrigerators for quantum experiments

We have successfully developed cryogen-free dilution refrigerators with medium cooling power that can be applied to quantum experiments. Breakthroughs have been made in some key technologies and components of heat switches and dilution units. Our prototype has been running continuously and stably for more than 100 hours below 10 m K, with a minimum temperature of 7.6 m K and a cooling power of 450 μW at 100 m K. At the same time, we have also made progress in the application of dilution refrigerators, such as quantum computing, low-temperature detector, and magnet integration. These indicators and test results indicate good prospects for application in physics, astronomy, and quantum information.

Determination of Fe,Ni,Cu,Zn,Cd and Pb in seawater by isotope dilution automatic solid-phase extraction—ICP-MS

A thorough understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of trace metals in the ocean is crucial because of the important role these elements play in regulating metabolism in marine biotas and thus,the climate.However,a precise and accurate analysis of trace metals in seawater is difficult because they are present at extremely low concentrations in a high salt matrix.In this study,we report an analytical method for the preconcentration and separation of six trace metals,Fe,Ni,Cu,Zn,Cd and Pb,in seawater using a sea FAST automatic solid-phase extraction device,analysis by a triple quadrupole collision/reaction technique with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS),and quantification by the isotope dilution technique.A small volume(10 m L)of seawater sample was mixed with a multi-element isotope spike and subjected to sea FAST procedures.The preconcentrate solution was then analyzed using the optimized collision/reaction cell mode of ICP-MS,with NH_(3)gas for Fe and Cd with a flow rate of 0.22 m L/min and He for Ni,Cu,Zn and Pb with a flow rate of 4.0 m L/min.The procedure blanks were 130 pmol/L,3.0 pmol/L,6.8 pmol/L,37 pmol/L,0.29 pmol/L and 0.42 pmol/L,for Fe,Ni,Cu,Zn,Cd and Pb,respectively.The method was validated using five reference materials(SLRs-6,SLEW-3,CASS-6,NASS-7 and GEOTRACE-GSC),and our results were consistent with the consensus values.The method was further validated by measuring full-water-column seawater samples from the subtropical Northwest Pacific Ocean,and our results demonstrated good oceanic consistency.

Preparation of Nano-sized Zirconium Carbide Powders through a Novel Active Dilution Self-propagating High Temperature Synthesis Method

High quality nano-sized zirconium carbide （ZrC） powders were successfully fabricated via a developed chemical active dilution self-propagating high-temperature synthesis （SHS） method assisted by ball milling pretreatment process using traditional cheap zirconium dioxide powder （ZrO2）, magnesium powder （Mg） and sucrose （C12H22Oll） as raw materials. FSEM, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, XRD, FTIR and Raman, ICP- AES, laser particle size analyzer, oxygen and nitrogen analyzer, carbon/sulfur determinator and TG-DSC were employed for the characterization of the morphology, structure, chemical composition and thermal stability of the as-synthesized ZrC samples. The as-synthesized samples demonstrated high purity, low oxygen content and evenly distributed ZrC nano-powders with an average particle size of 50nm. In addition, the effects of endothermic rate and the possible chemical reaction mechanism were also discussed.

Lysozyme refolding at high concentration by dilution and size—exclusion chromatography

This study of renaturation by dilution and size exclusion chromatogra phy (SEC) addition of urea to improve yield as well as the initial and final pro tein concentrations showed that although urea decreased the rate of lysozyme ref o lding, it could suppress protein aggregation to sustain the pathway of correct r efolding at high protein concentration; and that there existed an optimum urea c oncentration in renaturation buffer. Under the above conditions, lysozyme was su ccessfully refolded from initial concentration of up to 40 mg/mL by dilution and 100 mg/mL by SEC, with the yield of the former being more than 40% and that of the latter being 34.8%. Especially, under the condition of 30 min interval time, i.e. τ>2(t_R2 -t_R1 ), the efficiency was increased by 25% and the renaturation buffe r could be recycled for SEC refolding in continuous operation of downstream proc ess.

Geometric dilution of precision for GPS single-point positioning based on four satellites

To improve the positioning accuracy in GPS point positioning, the geometric dilution of precision （GDOP） including HDOP, VDOP, TDOP, PDOP is commonly considered. The properties of the DOP for the GPS satellite navigation system are studied and the coordinate system is improved in order to decrease the amount of variables. In the end, by simulation and discussing the results, the corresponding conclusions are presented.

Numerical Investigation of Fuel Dilution Effects on the Performance of the Conventional and the Highly Preheated and Diluted Air Combustion Furnaces

This numerical study investigates the effects of using a diluted fuel （50% natural gas and 50% N2） in an industrial furnace under several cases of conventional combustion （air with 21% O2 at 300 and 1273 K） and the highly preheated and diluted air （1273 K with 10% O2 and 90% N2） combustion （HPDAC） conditions using an in-house computer program. It was found that by applying a combined diluted fuel and oxidant instead of their uncombined and/or undiluted states, the best condition is obtained for the establishment of HPDAC＇s main unique features. These features are low mean and maximum gas temperature and high radiation/total heat transfer to gas and tubes; as well as more uniformity of theirs distributions which results in decrease in NOx pollutant formation and increase in furnace efficiency or energy saving. Moreover, a variety of chemical flame shape, the process fluid and tubes walls temperatures profiles, the required regenerator efficiency and finally the concentration and velocity patterns have been also qualitatively/quantitatively studied.

Effects of CO_2 Dilution on Methane Ignition in Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution(MILD) Combustion:A Numerical Study

Homogeneous mixtures of CH4/air under moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution（MILD） combustion conditions were numerically studied to clarify the fundamental effects of exhaust gas recirculation（EGR）,espe-cially CO2 in EGR gases,on ignition characteristics.Specifically,effects of CO2 addition on autoignition delay time were emphasized at temperature between 1200 K and 1600 K for a wide range of the lean-to-rich equivalence ratio（0.2~2）.The results showed that the ignition delay time increased with equivalence ratio or CO2 dilution ratio.Fur-thermore,ignition delay time was seen to be exponentially related with the reciprocal of initial temperature.Special concern was given to the chemical effects of CO2 on the ignition delay time.The enhancement of ignition delay time with CO2 addition can be mainly ascribed to the decrease of H,O and OH radicals.The predictions of tem-perature profiles and mole fractions of CO and CO2 were strongly related to the chemical effects of CO2.A single ignition time correlation was obtained in form of Arrhenius-type for the entire range of conditions as a function of temperature,CH4 mole fraction and O2 mole fraction.This correlation could successfully capture the complex be-haviors of ignition of CH4/air/CO2 mixture.The results can be applied to MILD combustion as ＂reference time＂,for example,to predict ignition delay time in turbulent reacting flow.

Investigation on the deposition rate and the dilution ratio of plasma surface welding

A new kind of plasma technology with both high deposition rate and low dilution ratio was developed under the calculation and analysis of the arc flame characteristics of plasma arc,the kinematics behavior of powder and powder's heating in the arc. Compared with normal plasma surfacing method, the idea using constricting nozzle with small orifice diameter, long plasma arc and increasing the distance from meeting point of the two beams of powder to workpiece, to achieve the goals of high deposition rate and low dilution ratio, was put forward here. In order to prove this idea, a set of experimental system was built up and obtained satisfied results including high deposition rate(more than 25 kg/h )and low dilution ratio(less than 5%). The success of this study offers a promising prospect for developing the powder plasma surface welding in China and may open a way to improve this technology further in efficiency and quality.

Effect of Welding Parameters on Dilution and Weld Bead Geometry in Cladding

The effect of pulsed gas metal arc welding （GMAW） variables on the dilution and weld bead geometry in cladding X65 pipeline steel with 316L stainless steel was studied. Using a full factorial method, a series of experiments were carried out to know the effect of wire feed rate, welding speed, distance between gas nozzle and plate, and the vertical angle of welding on dilution and weld bead geometry. The findings indicate that the dilution of weld metal and its dimension i.e. width, height and depth increase with the feed rate, but the contact angle of the bead decreases first and then increases. Meantime, welding speed has an opposite effect except for dilution. There is an interaction effect between welding parameters at the contact angle. The results also show forehand welding or decreasing electrode extension decrease the angle of contact. Finally, a mathematical model is contrived to highlight the relationship between welding variables with dilution and weld bead geometry.

Initial Dilution of A Vertical Round Non-Buoyant Jet in Wavy Cross-Flow Environment

The phenomenon of wastewater discharged into coastal waters can be simplified as a turbulent jet under the effect of waves and currents. Previous studies have been carried out to investigate the jet behaviors under the current only or the wave only environment. To obtain better understanding of the jet behaviors in a realistic situation, a series of physical experiments on the initial dilution of a vertical round jet in the wavy cross-flow environment are conducted. The diluted processes of the jet are recorded by a high-resolution camcorder and the concentration fields of the jet are measured with a peristaltic suction pumping system. When the jet is discharged into the wavy cross-flow environment, a distinctive phenomenon, namely ＂effluent clouds＂, is observed. According to the quantitative measurements, the jet width in the wavy cross-flow environment increases more significantly than that does in the cross-flow only environment, indicating that the waves impose a positive effect on the enhancement of jet initial dilution. In order to generalize the experimental findings, a comprehensive velocity scale ua and a characteristic length scale l are introduced. Through dimensional analysis, it is found that the dimensionless centerline concentration trajectories cy/l is in proportion to 1/3 power of the dimensionless downstream distance x/l, and the dimensionless centerline dilution 2c aS Q/（u l） is proportional to the square of the dimensionless centerline trajectory cy/l. Several empirical equations are then derived by using the Froude number of cross-flow Frc as a reference coefficient. This paper provides a better understanding and new estimations of the jet initial dilution under the combined effect of waves and cross-flow current.

Estimating total nitrogen deposition in agroecosystems in northern China during the wheat cropping season

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has been poorly documented in northern China, an intensive agricultural and industrial region with large emissions of NHx and NOy. To quantify N deposition, total airborne N deposition was determined at three agricultural sites using a manual integrated total nitrogen input (ITNI) system during growth of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) from September 2005 to May 2006. Total estimated N deposition averaged 54.9 and 43.2 kg N/hm2 across the three sites when wheat was grown to flowering and maturing, respectively. The average value was 50.2 kg N/hm2 when ryegrass was the indicator plant. Both indicator species gave similar total airborne N input results. The intermediate level of N supplied resulted in the highest N deposition, and the ratio of N acquired from deposition to total N content of the whole system decreased with increasing N supply to the roots. The contribution of atmospheric N to the total N content of the wheat and ryegrass sand culture systems ranged from 10% to 24%.

Critical behaviours and magnetic properties of three-dimensional bond and anisotropy dilution Blume-Capel model in the presence of an applied field

This paper studies the critical behaviours and magnetic properties of three-dimensional bond and anisotropy dilution Blume-Capel model （BCM） in the presence of an applied field within the effective field theory. The trajectory of tricritical point, reentrant transitions and degenerate patterns of anisotropy are obtained both for the bond and the anisotropy dilutions. The global phase diagrams demonstrate unusually reentrant phenomena. The temperature dependences of magnetization curves undergo remarkable spin glass behaviour at low temperatures, and transform from ferromagnetism to paramagnetism at high temperature in applied fields. Temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility curve is in qualitative agreement with experimental result.

Grazing impact of microzooplankton on phytoplankton in the Xiamen Bay using pigment-specific dilution technique

Phytoplankton group-specific growth and microzooplankton grazing were determined seasonally using the dilution technique with high-performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） in the Xiamen Bay, a subtropical bay in southeast China, between May 2003 and February 2004. The results showed that growth rates of phytoplankton ranged from 0.71 to 2.2 d^-1 with the highest value occurred in the inner bay in May. Mierozooplankton grazing rates ranged from 0.5 to 3.1 d^-1 with the highest value occurred in the inner bay in August. Microzooplankton grazing impact ranged from 39% to 95% on total phytoplankton Chl a biomass, and 65% to 181% on primary production. The growth and grazing rates of each phytoplankton group varied, the highest growth rate （up to 3.3 d^-1 ） was recorded for diatoms in August, while the maximum grazing rate （ up to 2.1 d ^-1 ） was recorded for chlorophytes in February in the inner bay. Among main phytoplankton groups, grazing pressure of microzooplankton ranged from 10% to 83% on Chl a biomass, and from 14% to 151% on primary production. The highest grazing pressure on biomass was observed for cryptophytes （83%） in August, while the maximum grazing pressure on primary production was observed for eyanobacteria （up to 151% ） in December in the inner bay. Net growth rates of larger phytoplanktons （diatoms and dinoflagellates） were higher than those of smaller groups （ prasinophytes, chlorophytes and cyanobacteria）. Relative preference index showed that microzooplankton grazed preferentially on prasinophytes and avoided to harvest diatoms in cold seasons （December and February）.

Prediction of Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium Data from C—H Band Shift of IR Spectra in Some Binary Systems

Prediction of vapor-liquid equilibrium （VLE） is extremely necessary to separate liquid mixture in chemical production, especially when the required experimental data are difficult to measure, or the measurement is not economical. The infinite dilution activities can be used to predict VLE. However, it needs both the ends of the activities that are difficult to obtain for many systems. In the present study, a new model is proposed for correlating the frequency shift of C-H stretching band of IR spectra over the whole concentration. Investigated mixtures in- clude water/2-propanol, water/N, N-dimethylformamide （DMF）, water/methanol, water/ethanol, water/1, 4-dioxane, and water/dimethylsulfoxide （DMSO） systems. Simultaneous correlations of C--H frequency shift and VLE data are made. Furthermore, the VLE data were predicted with satisfactory results by the parameters obtained from IR spectra coupled with one ot the intinite chlution activity coefficients.

Effect of CO_(2) dilution on laminar burning velocities,combustion characteristics and NO_(x) emissions of CH_(4)/air mixtures

The laminar combustion characteristics of CH_(4)/air premixed flames with CO_(2) addition are systemically studied.Experimental measurements and numerical simulations of the laminar burning velocity(LBV)are performed in CH_(4)/CO_(2)/Air flames with various CO_(2) doping ratio under equivalence ratios of 1.0–1.4.GRI 3.0 mech and Aramco mech are employed for predicting LBV,adiabatic flame temperature(AFT),important intermediate radicals(CH_(3),H,OH,O)and NO_(x) emissions(NO,NO_(2),N2O),as well as the sensitivity analysis is also conducted.The detail analysis of experiment and simulation reveals that as the CO_(2) addition increases from 0%to 40%,the LBVs and AFTs decrease monotonously.Under the same CO_(2) doping ratio,the LBVs and AFTs increase first and then decrease with the increase of equivalence ratio,and the maximum of LBV is reached at equivalence ratio of 1.05.The mole fraction tendency of important intermediates and NO_(x) with equivalence ratio and CO_(2) doping ratio are similar to the LBVs and AFTs.Reaction H+O_(2)⇔O+OH is found to be responsible for the promotion of the generation of important intermediates and NO_(x) under the equivalence ratios and CO_(2) addition through sensitivity analysis.The sensitivity coefficients of elementary reactions that the increasing of CO_(2) doping ratio promotes or inhibits formation of intermediate radicals and NO_(x) decreases.

Prediction of Infinite Dilution Activity Coefficients of Halogenated Hydrocarbons in Water

Geometrical optimization and electrostatic potential calculations have been performed for a series of halogenated hydrocarbons at the HF/Gen-6d level. A number of electrostatic potentials and the statistically based structural descriptors derived from these electrostatic potentials have been obtained. Multiple linear regression analysis and artificial neural network are employed simultaneously in this paper. The result shows that the parameters derived from electrostatic 2 potentials σtot^2, V s and ∑ Vs^＋, together with the molecular volume （Vine） can be used to express the quantitative structure-infinite dilution activity coefficients （γ^∞） relationship of halogenated hydrocarbons in water. The result also demonstrates that the model obtained by using BFGS quasiNewton neural network method has much better predictive capability than that from multiple linear regression. The goodness of the model has been validated through exploring the predictive power for the external test set. The model obtained via neural network may be applied to predict γ^∞ of other halogenated hydrocarbons not present in the data set.

Prediction of Infinite Dilution Activity Coefficients of Alcohol and Ether Organic Compounds in Water

Based on QSPR of alcohol and ether organic compounds in water,geometrical optimization and electrostatic potential calculations were performed at the HF/6-31G＊ level for 73 alcohol and ether organic compounds.Linear relationships between infinite dilution activity coef-ficient（lnγ∞） of alcohols and ethers in water and theoretical descriptors of the molecular structure were established by multiple regression method.The result shows that the parameters derived from molecular electrostatic potential together with molecular surface area can be preferably used to express the quantitative structure-lnγ∞ relationship of alcohols and ethers in water.This reveals that this model has good predictive capabilities（RCV=0.969）.The molecular electrostatic potential has also been proved to have the general applicability in QSPR model of alcohol and ether organic compounds about γ∞ in water.The QSPR model established may provide a new powerful method for predicting γ∞ of organic compounds in aqueous systems.

Flow characterization and dilution effects of N_2 and CO_2 on premixed CH_4/air flames in a swirl-stabilized combustor

Numerically-aided experimental studies are conducted on a swirl-stabilized combustor to investigate the dilution effects on flame stability, flame structure, and pollutant emissions of premixed CH4/air flames. Our goal is to provide a systematic assessment on combustion characteristics in diluted regimes for its application to environmentally-friendly approaches such as biogas combustion and exhanst-gas recirculation technology. Two main diluting species, N2 and CO2, are tested at various dilution rates. The results obtained by means of optical diagnostics show that five main flame regimes can be observed for Nz-diluted flames by changing excess air and dilution rate. CO2-diluted flames follow the same pattern evolution except that all the domains are shifted to lower excess air. Both N2 and CO2 dilution affect the lean blow- out （LBO） limits negatively. This behavior can be counter-balanced by reactant preheating which is able to broaden the flammability domain of the diluted flames. Flame reactivity is degraded by increasing dilution rate. Meanwhile, flames are thickened in the presence of both diluting species. NOx emissions are significantly reduced with dilution and proved to be relevant to flame stability diagrams： slight augmentation in NOx emission profiles is related to transitional flame states where instability occurs. Although dilution results in increase in CO emissions at certain levels, optimal dilution rates can still be proposed to achieve an ideal compromise.

Dilution characteristics of dual buoyant jets in wavy cross-flow environment

Due to the difference in density between the discharge effluent and coastal water,partially treated wastewater is often discharged into the marine environment as a buoyant jet via submarine outfalls with multiport diffusers.The dilution characteristics of effluent discharge(dual buoyant jets)in a wavy cross-flow environment were studied in a laboratory.The planar laser-induced fluorescence technique was used to obtain the concentration data of the jets.The effects of different environmental variables on the diffusion and dilution characteristics of the jets were examined through physical experiments,dimensional analysis,and empirical formulations.It was found that the dilution process of the dual jets could be divided into two components:the original jet component and the effluent cloud component.The jet-to-current velocity ratio was the main parameter affecting the concentration levels of the effluent cloud.The merging of the two jets increased the jet concentration in the flow field.When the jets traveled further downstream,the axial dilution increased gradually and then increased significantly along the axis.Under the effects of strong waves,the concentration contours branched into two peaks,and the mean dilution became more significant than under the effects of weak waves.Therefore,the dilution of the effluent discharge was expected to be significant under strong wave effects because the hydrodynamic force increased.A dilution equation was derived to improve our understanding of the dilution process of buoyant jets in a wavy cross-flow environment.This equation was used to determine the influences of the jet-to-current velocity ratio,wave-to-current velocity ratio,and Strouhal number on the minimum jet dilution.It revealed that the wave and buoyancy effects in effluent discharges were significant.

Development of a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator

With thermal fluctuation strongly suppressed,low temperature environment is essential for studies of condensed matter physics and developments of quantum technologies.Ultra-low temperature below 20 m K has demonstrated its importance and significance in physical sciences and information techniques.Dilution refrigeration is by far the best feasible and reliable method to generate and keep lattice temperature in this range.With a potential shortage of helium supply,cryogen-free dilution refrigerator(CFDR),eliminating the necessity of regular helium refill,becomes the main facility for the purpose of creating ultralow temperature environments.Here we describe our successful construction of a CFDR which reached a base temperature of around 10.9 m K for continuous circulation and 8.6 m K for single-shot operation.We describe its operating mechanism and the designs of key components,especially some unique designs including heat switch and alumina thermal link.Possible improvements in the future are also discussed.