Improving the operational stability of perovskite solar cells with cesium-doped graphene oxide interlayer

Perovskite solar cells(PSCs)have made great advances in terms of power conversion efficiency(PCE),yet their subpar stability continues to hinder their commercialization.The interface between the perovskite layer and the charge-carrier transporting layers plays a crucial role in undermining the stability of PSCs.In this work,we propose a strategy to stabilize high-performance PSCs with PCE over 23%by introducing a cesium-doped graphene oxide(GO-Cs)as an interlayer between the perovskite and hole-transporting material.The GO-Cs treated PSCs exhibit excellent operational stability with a projected T80(the time where the device PCE reduces to 80%of its initial value)of 2143 h of operation at the maximum powering point under one sun illumination.

Cascade utilization of full spectrum solar energy for achieving simultaneous hydrogen production and all-day thermoelectric conversion

Solar-driven photocatalytic water/seawater splitting holds great potential for green hydrogen production.However,the practical application is hindered by the relatively low conversion efficiency resulting from the inadequate utilization of solar spectrum with significant waste in the form of heat.Moreover,current equipment struggles to maintain all-day operation subjected to the lack of light during nighttime.Herein,a novel hybrid system integrating photothermal catalytic(PTC)reactor,thermoelectric generator(TEG),and phase change materials(PCM)was proposed and designed(named as PTC-TEG-PCM)to address these challenges and enable simultaneous overall seawater splitting and 24-hour power generation.The PTC system effectively maintains in an optimal temperature range to maximize photothermal-assisted photocatalytic hydrogen production.The TEG component recycles the low-grade waste heat for power generation,complementing the shortcoming of photocatalytic conversion and achieving cascade utilization of full-spectrum solar energy.Furthermore,exceptional thermal storage capability of PCM allow for the conversion of released heat into electricity during nighttime,contributing significantly to the overall power output and enabling PTC-TEG-PCM to operate for more than 12 h under the actual condition.Compared to traditional PTC system,the overall energy conversion efficiency of the PTC-TEG-PCM system can be increased by∼500%,while maintaining the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency.The advancement of this novel system demonstrated that recycling waste heat from the PTC system and utilizing heat absorption/release capability of PCM for thermoelectric application are effective strategies to improve solar energy conversion.With flexible parameter designing,PTC-TEG-PCM can be applied in various scenarios,offering high efficiency,stability,and sustainability.

Influence of operation number on arc erosion behavior of Ag/Ni electrical contact materials

Arc erosion behavior of Ag/Ni materials with different operation numbers was investigated by OM,3DOP and SEM.The results indicated that the arc erosion of Ag/10Ni electrical contact material fabricated by sintering−extrusion technology was more and more serious with the operation numbers increasing from 1000 to 40000.With the same operation numbers,the arc erosion on anode was more serious than that on cathode.Besides,the pores preferred to emerge around the arc effect spot during the first 10000 operations.And the morphology of the molten silver on cathode and anode was different due to the action of gravity and arc erosion.Furthermore,the relationships among arc energy,arc time,welding force,electric resistivity,temperature and mass change on contacts were discussed,which indicated that the mass loss on cathode was mainly caused by the fracture of molten bridge.

Improvement and Application of Grain Size Distribution Characteristics Calculation of Bed Material

Grain size distribution of bed material is an important characteristic for studying evolution of natural river channel by means of experimental ways and numerical modeling of flow and sediment process.In this study,the fractal characteristic of sediment particle has been defined by means of fractal theory based on ana- lyzing the property of grain size distribution of bed material in the river channel.Furthennore,the fractal prop- erty of sediment particle has been applied to judge the process of armorin...

Oxidation Kinetics of Aluminum Powders in a Gas Fluidized Bed Reactor in the Potential Application of Surge Arresting Materials

In this technical paper, the oxidation mechanism and kinetics of aluminum powders are discussed in great details. The potential applications of spherical aluminum powders after oxidation to be part of the surging arresting materials are discussed. Theoretical calculations of oxidation of spherical aluminum powders in a typical gas fluidization bed are demonstrated. Computer software written by the author is used to carry out the basic calculations of important parameters of a gas fluidization bed at different temperatures. A mathematical model of the dynamic system in a gas fluidization bed is developed and the analytical solution is obtained. The mathematical model can be used to estimate aluminum oxide thickness at a defined temperature. The mathematical model created in this study is evaluated and confirmed consistently with the experimental results on a gas fluidization bed. Detail technical discussion of the oxidation mechanism of aluminum is carried out. The mathematical deviations of the mathematical modeling have demonstrated in great details. This mathematical model developed in this study and validated with experimental results can bring a great value for the quantitative analysis of a gas fluidization bed in general from a theoretical point of view. It can be applied for the oxidation not only for aluminum spherical powders, but also for other spherical metal powders. The mathematical model developed can further enhance the applications of gas fluidization technology. In addition to the development of mathematical modeling of a gas fluidization bed reactor, the formation of oxide film through diffusion on both planar and spherical aluminum surfaces is analyzed through a thorough mathematical deviation using diffusion theory and Laplace transformation. The dominant defects and their impact to oxidation of aluminum are also discussed in detail. The well-controlled oxidation film on spherical metal powders such as aluminum and other metal spherical powders can potentially become an important part of switch devices of surge arresting materials, in general.

Impact of train speed on the mechanical behaviours of track-bed materials

For the 30,000 km long French conventional railway lines(94% of the whole network),the train speed is currently limited to 220 km/h,whilst the speed is 320 km/h for the 1800 km long high-speed lines.Nowadays,there is a growing need to improve the services by increasing the speed limit for the conventional lines.This paper aims at studying the influence of train speed on the mechanical behaviours of track-bed materials based on field monitoring data.Emphasis is put on the behaviours of interlayer and subgrade soils.The selected experimental site is located in Vierzon,France.Several sensors including accelerometers and soil pressure gauges were installed at different depths.The vertical strains of different layers can be obtained by integrating the records of accelerometers installed at different trackbed depths.The experimentation was carried out using an intercity test train running at different speeds from 60 km/h to 200 km/h.This test train was composed of a locomotive(22.5 Mg/axle) and 7 'Corail'coaches(10.5 Mg/axle).It was observed that when the train speed was raised,the loadings transmitted to the track-bed increased.Moreover,the response of the track-bed materials was amplified by the speed rise at different depths:the vertical dynamic stress was increased by about 10% when the train speed was raised from 60 km/h to 200 km/h for the locomotive loading,and the vertical strains doubled their quasistatic values in the shallow layers.Moreover,the stressestrain paths were estimated using the vertical stress and strain for each train speed.These loading paths allowed the resilient modulus Mrto be determined.It was found that the resilient modulus(M_r) was decreased by about 10% when the train speed was increased from 100 km/h to 200 km/h.However,the damping ratio(D_r) kept stable in the range of speeds explored.

A new formula of recovery factor for non-equilibrium transport of graded suspended sediment in the Middle Yangtze River

Suspended sediment concentrations in the Middle Yangtze River(MYR)reduced greatly after the Three Gorges Project operation,causing the composition of bed material to coarsen continuously.However,little is known about the non-equilibrium transport of graded suspended sediment owing to different bed material compositions(BMCs)along the MYR,and it is necessary to determine the magnitude of recovery factor.Using the Markov stochastic process in conjunction with the hiding-exposure effect of non-uniform bed-material,a new formula is proposed for calculating the recovery factor including the effect of different BMCs,and it is incorporated into the non-equilibrium transport equation to simulate the recovery processes of suspended load in both sand-gravel bed and sand bed reaches of the MYR.The results show that:(i)the recovery rate of graded sediment concentrations at Zhicheng was slower than that at Shashi during the period 2003-2007;(ii)the mean recovery factors of the coarse,medium,and fine sediment fractions in the ZhichengShashi reach were 0.152,0.0012,and 0.0005,respectively,and the coarse sediment recovered up to the maximum sediment concentration of 0.138 kg/m3over a distance of 15 km;and(iii)the results of the new formula that can consider the effect of bed material composition are in general agreement with the field observations,and the spatial and temporal delay effects are inversely related to particle size and BMC.Consequently,the BMC effect on the nonequilibrium sediment transport in different reaches of the MYR needs to be considered for higher simulation accuracy.

Study on the emission characteristics of nitrogen oxides with coal combustion in pressurized fluidized bed

Nitrogen oxides are one of the most significant pollution sources during coal combustion. This experimental study was conducted in a 15 kWth lab-scale pressurized fluidized bed (inner diameter = 81-100 mm, H = 2100 mm) firing with bituminous coals. The effects of operating parameters, including bed temperature (800℃-900℃), operating pressure (0.1-0.4 MPa), excess air level (16%-30%) and flow pattern on NOX and N2O emissions were systematically studied during the tests. During each test the interaction effects of all the operating parameters were properly controlled. The results show that most operating parameters have an opposite effect on NOX and N2O emissions, and the N2O emissions mainly depend on the bed temperature. Increasing the operating pressure can significantly suppress the fuel-N conversion to NOX but enhance its conversion to N2O. With the rise of the excess air level and fluidization number, NOX emissions grow distinctly while N2O emissions remain almost unchanged. Total nitrogen oxide emissions increase with the bed temperature while decrease with the operating pressure.

Modeling on a Modified Feeding Mode of Simulated Moving Bed for Improving Productivity

A new feeding mode for a simulated moving bed(SMB) is proposed.The outlet stream from zone II is collected at regular intervals.The concentration of the solution is increased by dissolving raw materials and then fed to zone III as the feed stream during the next collection interval.In this feeding mode,the concentration of the stream fed to zone III is identical to that of original feed,while in a conventional SMB,the feed is diluted by mix-ing with the outlet stream of zone II before feeding to zone III.The new feeding mode increases the inlet concentra-tion of zone III.A modeling investigation shows that higher inlet concentration of zone III increases the height of concentration band in SMB,improving the separation performance significantly.In comparison with the traditonal feeding mode,the new feeding mode increases the productivity by 23.52%and decreases the solvent consumption by 22.56%,so as to increase the raffinate and extract concentrations by 53.17%and 20.38%,respectively.The col-lection interval for the outlet stream from zone II has no effect on the separation performance after reaching the steady state,so that the collection interval can be increased to make the operation more convenient.

Application of Intra-Particle Combustion Model for Iron Ore Sintering Bed

In order to quantitatively predict the behavior of the material in the packed bed, a single particle model is developed to describe the combustion and sintering process inside an individual particle composed of multiple solid material fines, including iron ore, coke and limestone, and is applied to the combustion modeling of an iron ore sintering. Byanalyzing three typical fuel distribution cases using the developed single particle combustion model, the effects of temperature and oxygen concentration gradient inside the particle on heat and mass transfer and the combustion behavior of the iron ore sintering process areinvestigated. Considering the various combustion rates which are highly dependent on the fuel distribution methods, correction factor for single particle model is also introduced and systematically analyzed. The aim of this research is to supplement particle technology to conventional approach and it is found that the oxygen concentration gradient inside the particle is significantly affected from the mixing method thereby changing the completion times of sintering process.

Combined treatment of dyeing wastewater by a new sequential bi-cycling biological fluidized bed

A new wastewater treatment equipment, the bi-external recycling biological fluidized bed (BRBFB), which is an effective equipment, was investigated. Anaerobic digestion, aerobic aeration and settlement processes with a fixed sequential procedure were compacted into this reactor. By five different treatment courses, the optimization of the combined operation procedure in the system was determined to be a 12-hour cycle including an inflow process, a 4 h anaerobic digestion process, a 4 h aerobic aeration process, a 2 h settlement process and a 2 h recess process including effluent discharge process. By utilizing BRBFB to treat a synthetic dyeing wastewater, 90% of COD_ Cr is removed for a higher-concentration water (COD_ Cr 1 000-1 200 mg/L), and 82% of COD_ Cr is removed for a lower-concentration water (COD_ Cr 400-600 mg/L). Near 100% color is removal and discharging standards for industry wastewater are achieved.

Generalized Rayleigh Wave Dispersion in a Covered Half-space Made of Viscoelastic Materials

Dispersion of the generalized Rayleigh waves propagating in a covered halfspace made of viscoelastic materials is investigated by utilizing the exact equations of the theory of linear viscoelasticity.The dispersion equation is obtained for an arbitrary type of hereditary operator of the materials of the constituents and a solution algorithm is developed for obtaining numerical results on the dispersion of the waves under consideration.Dispersion curves are presented for certain attenuation cases and the influence of the viscosity of the materials is studied through three rheological parameters of the viscoelastic materials which characterize the characteristic creep time,long-term values and the mechanical behaviour of the viscoelastic material around the initial state of the deformation.Numerical results are presented and discussed for the case where the viscoelasticity of the materials is described through fractional-exponential operators by Rabotnov.As the result of this discussion,in particular,how the rheological parameters influence the dispersion of the generalized Rayleigh waves propagating in the covered half-space under consideration is established.

Numerical simulations and comparative analysis of two- and three-dimensional circulating fluidized bed reactors for CO2 capture

Carbon dioxide(CO2),the main gas emitted from fossil burning,is the primary contributor to global warming.Circulating fluidized bed reactor(CFBR)is proved as an energy-efficient method for post-combustion CO2 capture.The numerical simulation by computational fluid dynamics(CFD)is believed as a promising tool to study CO2 adsorption process in CFBR.Although three-dimensional(3D)simulations were proved to have better predicting performance with the experimental results,two-dimensional(2D)simulations have been widely reported for qualitative and quantitative studies on gas-solid behavior in CFBR for its higher computational efficiency recently.However,the discrepancies between 2D and 3D simulations have rarely been evaluated by detailed study.Considering that the differences between the 2D and 3D simulations will vary substantially with the changes of independent operating conditions,it is beneficial to lower computational costs to clarify the effects of dimensionality on the numerical CO2 adsorption runs under various operating conditions.In this work,the comparative analysis for CO2 adsorption in 2D and 3D simulations was conducted to enlighten the effects of dimensionality on the hydrodynamics and reaction behaviors,in which the separation rate,species distribution and hydrodynamic characteristics were comparatively studied for both model frames.With both accuracy and computational costs considered,the viable suggestions were provided in selecting appropriate model frame for the studies on optimization of operating conditions,which directly affect the capture and energy efficiencies of cyclic CO2 capture process in CFBR.

Effects of Compound Microbial Inoculants on Fermentation Bed of Swine

[Objective] The aim was to study the effects of compound microbial inoculants on fermentation bed.[Method] With fermentation simulated in lab,analysis was conducted on changes of temperature,pH,nitrate nitrogen,ammonium nitrogen,urease activity and protease activity in fermentation by microorganism and natural fermentation respectively,to explore effects of compound microbial inoculants on fermentation bed of swine.[Result] Compared with control group,the added microbial inoculants in test group promoted temperature rising during fermentation and prolonged lasting period of high temperature,for example,high temperature at 60 ℃ maintained 10 d in the test.Furthermore,the inoculants reduced pH of packaging material environment,for example,pH finally was 7.05,lower than that of control group.Microbial inoculants accelerated transformation of ammonium nitrogen into nitrate nitrogen and reduced nitrogen loss.In addition,activities of urease and protease enhanced in packaging materials and excrements degraded rapidly.[Conclusion] The research provides technical references for strain development,selection and evaluation of fermentation bed of swine.

A review and a statistical analysis of porosity in metals additively manufactured by laser powder bed fusion

Additive manufacturing(AM), or 3D printing, is an emerging technology that “adds” materials up and constructs products through a layer-by-layer procedure. Laser powder bed fusion(LPBF) is a powder-bed-based AM technology that can fabricate a large variety of metallic materials with excellent quality and accuracy. However, various defects such as porosity,cracks, and incursions can be generated during the printing process. As the most universal and a near-inevitable defect,porosity plays a substantial role in determining the mechanical performance of as-printed products. This work presents a comprehensive review of literatures that focused on the porosity in LPBF printed metals. The formation mechanisms,evaluation methods, effects on mechanical performance with corresponding models, and controlling methods of porosity have been illustrated and discussed in-depth. Achievements in four representative metals, namely Ti-6Al-4V, 316L, Inconel 718, and Al Si10Mg, have been critically reviewed with a statistical analysis on the correlation between porosity fraction and tensile properties. Ductility has been determined as the most sensitive property to porosity among several key tensile properties. This review also provides potential directions and opportunities to address the current porosity-related challenges.

Study on performance of a packed bed latent heat thermal energy storage unit integrated with solar water heating system

In thermal systems such as solar thermal and waste heat recovery systems, the available energy supply does not usually coincide in time with the process demand. Hence some form of thermal energy storage (TES) is necessary for the most effective utilization of the energy source. This study deals with the experimental evaluation of thermal performance of a packed bed latent heat TES unit integrated with solar flat plate collector. The TES unit contains paraffin as phase change material (PCM) filled in spherical capsules, which are packed in an insulated cylindrical storage tank. The water used as heat transfer fluid (HTF) to transfer heat from the solar collector to the storage tank also acts as sensible heat storage material. Charging experiments were carried out at varying inlet fluid temperatures to examine the effects of porosity and HTF flow rate on the storage unit performance. The performance parameters such as instantaneous heat stored, cumulative heat stored, charging rate and system efficiency are studied. Discharging experiments were carried out by both continuous and batchwise processes to recover the stored heat, and the results are presented.

The Influence of Feeding Method on Fluidization Behavior of Fixed Fluidized Bed

An experimental installation of cold model simulation was set up to study the bed pressure drop in different regions of fixed fluidized bed reactor during top feeding and bottom feeding, respectively, at various gas velocities with the fluidization image of solid particles monitored at the same time. By comparing the changes in bed density and operating gas velocity in different regions of fixed fluidized bed reactor, the influence of top feeding and bottom feeding patterns on fluidization behavior could be investigated. The results showed that the bed density in top feeding reactor responded more stably to the change in gas velocity along with the advantage of working in a wider range of operating gas velocities. Based on this study, it is concluded that existing bottom feeding reactor configurations cannot meet the fluidization requirements; and optimization of bottom feeding reactor will be needed.

Countermeasures for dealing with the change of blast furnace raw materials

Following the dramatic increase of iron and steel output ,iron ore is increasingly in short supply ,and the quality of blast furnace （BF） raw materials is increasingly inferior. All these factors have a strong impact on the BF operation. According to the analysis of the raw material properties at Baosteel and the combination of the BF smelting mechanism and its operational practice, this study probes into the operational countermeasures for dealing with the change of raw materials and puts forward optimized BF control technology to ensure the operation of BFs is stable and smooth.

Advances in Application of New Catalytic Materials in Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals Production

This article introduces the solid acid catalyst for isobutene/butylenes alkylation, the HTS Ti/Si zeolite for ammonoxidation of cyclohexanone and the noncrystalline alloy catalyst and magnetically stabi- lized bed for hydrofining of caprolactam that were developed recently by SINOPEC Research Institute of Petroleum Processing (RIPP).

Model prediction of the operating behavior of a circulating fluidized bed boiler

An improved mathematical model for a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler based on the model developed earlier by the authors was applied to simulate the operation of a 12 MW CFB boiler. The influences of the excess air ratio, primary air ratio, coal particle size distribution, coal properties (ash content and volatile content) and Ca/S ratio on the boiler operation were analyzed. The results showed that the model simulation may be applied to the optimum design and economic operation of the CFB boiler.