Rapid prediction of flow and concentration fields in solid-liquid suspensions of slurry electrolysis tanks

Slurry electrolysis(SE),as a hydrometallurgical process,has the characteristic of a multitank series connection,which leads to various stirring conditions and a complex solid suspension state.The computational fluid dynamics(CFD),which requires high computing resources,and a combination with machine learning was proposed to construct a rapid prediction model for the liquid flow and solid concentration fields in a SE tank.Through scientific selection of calculation samples via orthogonal experiments,a comprehensive dataset covering a wide range of conditions was established while effectively reducing the number of simulations and providing reasonable weights for each factor.Then,a prediction model of the SE tank was constructed using the K-nearest neighbor algorithm.The results show that with the increase in levels of orthogonal experiments,the prediction accuracy of the model improved remarkably.The model established with four factors and nine levels can accurately predict the flow and concentration fields,and the regression coefficients of average velocity and solid concentration were 0.926 and 0.937,respectively.Compared with traditional CFD,the response time of field information prediction in this model was reduced from 75 h to 20 s,which solves the problem of serious lag in CFD applied alone to actual production and meets real-time production control requirements.

Unraveling the Rheology of Nanocellulose Aqueous Suspensions:A Comprehensive Study on Biomass-Derived Nanofibrillated Cellulose

The rheological properties of nanocellulose aqueous suspensions play a critical role in the development of nanocellulose-based bulk materials.High-crystalline,high-aspect ratio,and slender nanofibrillated cellulose(NFC)were extracted from four biomass resources.The cellulose nanofibrils and nanofibril bundles formed inter-connected networks in the NFC aqueous suspensions.The storage moduli of the suspensions with different concentrations were higher than their corresponding loss moduli.As the concentration increased,the storage and loss modulus of NFC dispersion increased.When the shear rate increased to a certain value,there were differences in the changing trend of the rheological behavior of NFC aqueous suspensions derived from different biomass resources and the suspensions with different solid concentrations.NFC dispersion’s storage and loss modulus increased when the temperature rose to nearly 80℃.We hope this study can deepen the understanding of the rheological properties of NFC colloids derived from different biomass resources.

Analytical model for power dissipation in cell membranes in suspensions exposed to electric fields

Due to interaction among cells, it is too complex to build an exactanalytical model for the power dissipation within the cell membrane in suspensions exposed toexternal fields. An approximate equivalence method is proposed to resolve this problem. Based on theeffective medium theory, the transmembrane voltage on cells in suspensions was investigated by theequivalence principle. Then the electric field in the cell membrane was determined. Finally,analytical solutions for the power dissipation within the cell membrane in suspensions exposed toexternal fields were derived according to the Joule principle. The equations show that theconductive power dissipation is predominant within the cell membrane in suspensions exposed todirect current or lower frequencies, and dielectric power dissipation prevails at high frequenciesexceeding the relaxation frequency of the exposed membrane.

Fuzzy Hybrid Control of Vibration Attitude of Full Car via Magneto-rheological Suspensions

A magneto-rheological（MR） semi-active suspension system with the controllable damping forces has received more attention in reducing the vibration of a vehicle. However, many control strategies only discussed one or two vibration states of the vehicle based on a quarter-car model or a half vehicle model via MR suspensions. They cannot provide a satisfying whole-vehicle performance on a road test. Hence, a full car vibration model via an MR suspension system is proposed. To reduce the heave, pitch and roll motion of the vehicle body and the vertical vibration of four wheels, a fuzzy hybrid controller for vibration attitude of full car via MR suspensions is proposed. First, a skyhook-fuzzy control scheme is designed to reduce the heave, roll and pitch motion of the vehicle body. Second, a revised ground hook control strategy is adopted to decrease the vertical vibration of the wheels. Finally, a hybrid control scheme based on a fuzzy reasoning method is proposed to tune the hybrid damping parameter, which is suitable for coordination the attitude of the vehicle body and the wheels. A test and control system for the vibration attitude of full car is set up. It is implemented on a car equipped with four MR suspensions. The results on random highway and rough road indicate that the fuzzy hybrid controller can decrease the vibration accelerations of the vehicle body and the wheels to 65%-80% and 80%-90%, respectively. It reduces the automotive vibrations of heave, roll and pitch more effectively than a passive suspension and an MR suspension with a traditional hybrid control scheme so that it achieves better ride comfort and road holding concurrently. This paper proposes a new fuzzy hybrid control（FHC） method for reducing vibration attitude of full car via MR suspensions and develops a road test to evaluate the FHC.

The stress-microstructure relationship in an evolving mixing layer of fiber suspensions

The equations for fiber suspensions in an evolving mixing layer were solved by the spectral method, and the trajectory and orientation of fibers were calculated based on the slender body theory. The calculated spatial and orientation distributions of fibers are consistent with the experimental ones that were performed in this paper. The relationship between the microstructure of fibers and additional stress was examined. The results show that the spatial and orientation distributions of fibers are heterogeneous because of the influence of coherent vortices in the flow, which leads to the heterogeneity of the additional stress. The degree of heterogeneity increases with the increasing of St number and fiber aspect ratio. The fibers in the flow make the momentum loss thickness of the mixing layer thicker and accelerate the vorticity dispersion.

Numerical prediction of fiber motion in a branching channel flow of fiber suspensions

Fiber orientation and dispersion in the dilute fiber suspension that flows through a T-shaped branching channel are simulated numerically based on the slender-body theory. The simulated results are consistent qualitatively with the experimental data available in the literature. The results show that the spatial distribution of fibers is dependent on the fiber aspect ratio, but has no relation with the volume fraction of fiber. The content ratio of fibers near the upper wall increases monotonically with an increasing Re number, and the situation is reverse for the region near the bottom wall. The orientation of fibers depends on Re number, however, the function of fiber volume fraction and aspect ratio is negligible. The fibers near the wall and in the central region of the channel align along the flow direction at all times, but the fibers in the other parts of the channel tend to align along the flow direction only in the downstream region.

Study on the optical limiting properties of the mixed liquid of carbon black suspensions and green tea solution by multi-pulse laser

The optical limiting properties of the mixed liquid of carbon black suspensions （CBS） and green tea solution were studied by using an 8 ns laser pulse at 532 nm. The optical limiting effects of the CBS and mixed liquid have been compared between 5 and 10 Hz repetition frequencies with nanosecond laser pulse. The experimental results indicate that the optical limiting threshold of the sample with the incidence laser at 10 Hz repetition frequency is lower than at 5 Hz repetition frequency. The possible reasons for the influence of the repetition frequency on the samples are discussed. And by observing the optical radiant distributions when the laser pulse passing through different samples, a possible mechanism for the observed effects is suggested. At the same time, the result shows that the optical limiting of CBS is the dominant factor to optical limiting of the mixed liquid.

Wien Effect in Suspensions of Electrodialyzed Soil Particles and Its Influencing Factors

The electrical conductivity of suspensions and their supernatants from theelectrodialyzed clay fractions of latosol, yellow-brown soil and black soil equilibrated withnitrate solutions were determined at different field strengths using a short high-voltage pulseapparatus to demonstrate the Wien effect in soil suspensions and to investigate factors affectingit. It was found that Wien effect was much stronger in suspensions with a clay content of 30 gkg^(-1) from the soils equilibrated with a 1 X 10^(-4) KNO_3 solution than in their supernatants.The threshold field strength (TFS), at which the relative conductivity is equal to 1.05, i.e., theWien effect begins to be obvious, of the yellow-brown soil suspensions (clay content of 30 gkg^(-1)) equilibrated with different nitrate solutions of a concentration of 1 X 10^(-4)/z molL^(-1), where z is the valence, varied with the type of nitrates, being lowest for NaNO_3 (47 kVcm^(-1)) and highest for Ca(NO_3)_2 (98 kV cm^(-1)). At high field strengths (larger than 130 kVcm^(-1)), the relative conductivities of yellow-brown soil suspensions containing different nitratesdiminished in the order: NaNO_3 > KNO_3 > Mg(NO_3)_2 > Zn(NO_3)_2 > Ca(NO_3)_2. The rates andintensities of the Wien effect in the suspensions of the three soils equilibrated with 5 X 10^(-5)mol L^(-1) Ca(NO_3)_2 solution were in the order of the yellow-brown soil > the latosol > the blacksoil. The results for the yellow-brown soil suspensions (clay concentration of 30 g kg )equilibrated with KNO_3 solutions of various concentrations clearly demonstrated that the moredilute the solution, the lower the TFS, and the larger the relative conductivity of the suspensionsat high field strengths. The results for yellow-brown soil suspensions with different clayconcentrations indicated that as the clay concentration increased, the low field electricalconductivity, EC_0, also increased, but the TFS decreased, and the Wien effect increased.

Anodic process on Cu-Al alloy in KF-AlF3-Al2O3 melts and suspensions

Anodic processes on Cu-10 Al electrode in molten KF-AlF3-Al2O3(saturated) and suspensions were characterized using chronopotentiometric and cyclic voltammetric techniques. Effects of cryolite ratio(CR= x(KF)/x(AlF3)), temperature and particle volume fraction(φ) on the electrochemical behaviour of the anode were demonstrated. Initially, the anode was polarised in the galvanostatic mode in melt and suspensions(φ=0.12, 0.15) at 750 ℃ with 0.4 A/cm^2 current density. The anode potential in melt varied between 2.5 and 3.2 V and in suspensions(φ= 0.12) between 3.3 and 3.4 V. XRD analysis was conducted to study the oxide phases on the anode surface. Anode limiting current densities and mass transfer coefficients drastically decreased with the increase of φ in the suspension. The results suggest that the Cu-10 Al electrode works better in suspensions with CR of 1.4 and particle volume fraction of 0.09 at 800 ℃.

ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYANILINE/PUMICE COMPOSITE SUSPENSIONS

Electrorheological （ER） properties of polyaniline （PAni）, pumice and polyaniline/pumice composites （PAPC） were investigated. Polyaniline and PAni/pumice composite were prepared by oxidative polymerization. PAni/pumice particlesbased ER suspensions were prepared in silicone oil （SO）, and their ER behavior was investigated as a function of shear rate, electric field strength, concentration and temperature. Sedimentation stabilities of suspensions were determined. It has been found that ER activity of all the suspensions increases with increasing electric field strength, concentration and decreasing shear rate. It has shown that the suspensions have a typical shear thinning non-Newtonian viscoelastic behavior. Yield stress of composite suspensions increased linearly with increasing applied electric field strength and with concentrations of the particles. The effect of high temperature on ER activity of purrfice/silicone oil systems was also investigated.

Non-linear Viscoelastic Rheological Properties of PCC/PEG Suspensions

The shear thinning and shear thickening rheological properties of PCC/PEG suspension were investigated with the increase of oscillatory amplitude stress at different constant frequencies. The results show that the complex viscosity was initially independent of stress amplitude and obvious shear thinning occurred, then dramatic shear thickening took place after reaching the minimum viscosity. Typically, in a constant frequency of 5 rad/s, the elastic modulus, viscous modulus, and tanδ （δ is the out-of-phase angle） vs. the stress amplitude was investigated. It is found that the elastic modulus initially appeared to be independent of stress amplitude and then exhibited a rapid decrease, but the viscous modulus was independent of amplitude stress at lower amplitude stress. After reaching the minimum value the viscous modulus showed a rapid increase. On the other hand, tanδ increased from 0.6 to 92, which indicates that the transition from elastic to viscous had taken place and tanδ showed a steep increase when shear thickening occurred. Lissajous plots are shown for the dissipated energy vs. different maximum stress amplitude in the shear thinning and shear thickening regions. The relationship of dissipated energy vs. maximum stress amplitude was determined, which follows a power law. In the shear thinning region the exponent was 1.91, but it steeply increases to 3.97 in the shear thickening region.

On the structural features of fiber suspensions in converging channel flow

The structural features of fiber suspensions are dependent on the fiber alignment in the flows. In this work the orientation distribution function and orientation tensors for semi-concentrated fiber suspensions in converging channel flow were calculated, and the evolutions of the fiber alignment and the bulk effective vis-cosity were analyzed. The results showed that the bulk stress and the effective viscosity were functions of therate-of-strain tensor and the fiber orientation state ; and that the fiber suspensions evolved to steady alignment and tended to concentrate to some preferred directions close to but not same as the directions of local stream-lines. The bulk effective viscosity depended on the product of Reynolds number and time. The decrease of ef-fective viscosity near the boundary benefited the increase of the rate of flow. Finally when the fiber alignment went into steady state, the structural features of fiber suspensions were not dependent on the Reynolds numberbut on the converging channel angle.

STABILITY ANALYSIS IN SPATIAL MODE FOR CHANNEL FLOW OF FIBER SUSPENSIONS

Different from previous temporal evolution assumption, the spatially growing mode was employed to analyze the linear stability for the channel flow of fiber suspensions. The stability equation applicable to fiber suspensions was established and solutions for a wide range of Reynolds number and angular frequency were given numerically . The results show that, the flow instability is governed by a parameter H which represents a ratio between the axial stretching resistance of fiber and the inertial force of the fluid. An increase of H leads to a raise of the critical Reynolds number, a decrease of corresponding wave number, a slowdown of the decreasing of phase velocity , a growth of the spatial attenuation rate and a diminishment of the peak value of disturbance velocity. Although the unstable region is reduced on the whole, long wave disturbances are susceptible to fibers.

Numerical Research on the Fiber Suspensions in a Turbulent T-shaped Branching Channel Flow

The concentration and orientation of fiber in a turbulent T-shaped branching channel flow are investi-gated numerically. The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations together with the Reynolds stress turbulent model are solved for the mean flow field and the turbulent kinetic energy. The fluctuating velocities of the fluid are assumed as a random variable with Gaussian distribution whose variance is related to the turbulent kinetic energy. The slender-body theory is used to simulate the fiber motion based on the known mean and fluctuating velocities of the fluid. The results show that at low Reynolds number, fiber concentration is high in the flow separation regions, and fiber orientation throughout the channel is widely distributed with a slight preference of aligning along the horizontal axis. With increasing of Re, the high concentration region disappears, and fiber orientation becomes ho-mogeneous without any preferred direction. At high Reynolds number, fiber concentration increases gradually along the flow direction. The differences in the distribution of concentration and orientation between different fiber aspect ratio are evident only at low Re. Both Re and fiber aspect ratio have small effect on the variance of orientation angle.

CAPTURE EFFECT OF ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL SUSPENSIONS IN FLOW FIELD

According to the results of experiments and theoretical analysis, a phenomenon called ＂capture effect＂ is put forward, which could be used to describe the particles dynamic behavior of electrorheological （ER） suspensions. Then a ＂structure-force＂ mathematical model is established to explain this effect based on electrostatic energy density equation. The analysis results show that the dynamic coupling process of ER suspensions under an external electric filed is the function not only of the electric intensity, but also of the dielectric properties and the structure form.

EFFECTS OF TENSOR CLOSURE MODELS AND 3-D ORIENTATION ON THE STABILITY OF FIBER SUSPENSIONS IN A CHANNEL FLOW

Three different kinds of closure model of fiber orientation tensors were applied to simulate numerically the hydrodynamic stability of fiber suspensions in a channel flow. The effects of closure models and three_dimensional (3_D) orientation distribution of fibers on the results of stability analysis were examined. It is found that the relationship of the behavior in hydrodynamic stability and the parameter of the fiber given by all the three models are the same. However, the attenuation of flow instability is most distinct using 3_D hybrid model because the orientation of the fiber departures from the flow direction, and least apparent using its 2_D counterpart for that the fibers show a tendency towards alignment with the flow direction in this case.

Capacities of Clay Fraction of a Latosol to Retain Cations and Anions as Inferred from the Wien Effect in Soil Suspensions

Suspensions of a latosol with a clay concentration of 30 g kg^(-1) wereprepared from electrodialyzed clay fractions, less than 2 μm in diameter, five nitrate solutionswith a concentration of 1 X 10^(04)/z mol L^(-1), where z is the valence, and five sodium saltsolutions with a concentration of 3.3 X 10^(-5)/2 mol L^(-1). The direct current (DC) electricalconductivities (ECs) of the colloidal suspensions were measured at a constant temperature of 25 ℃,using a newly established method of measuring the Wien effect in soil suspensions at field strengthsranging from 13.5 to 150 kV cm^(-1), to determine their electrical conductivity-field strengthrelationships and to infer the order of the bonding strength (retaining force) between soilparticles and various ions. The measurements with the latosol suspensions in NaNO_3, KNO_3,Ca(NO_3)_2, Mg(NO_3)_2 and Zn(NO_3)_2 solutions resulted in increments of the suspension ECs, ΔECs,of 7.9, 5.0, 7.1, 7.0 and 5.8 μS cm^(-1), respectively, when the applied field strength increasedfrom 14.5 to 142 kV cm^(-1). As for the suspensions in NaNO_3, NaCl, Na_2SO_4, Na_3PO_4 andNa_3AsO_4 solutions, the ΔECs were 6.2, 5.3, 4.1, 4.0 and 3.7μS cm^(-1), respectively, when theapplied field strength increased from 13.5 to 90 kV cm^(-1). Thus, it can be deduced that theretaining forces of the clay fraction of the latosol for the cations were in the descending orderK^+ > Zn^(2+) > Mg^(2+) ≥ Ca^(2+) > Na^+, and for the anions in the descending order H_2AsO_4^- >H_2PO_4^-≥ SO_4^(2-) > Cl^- > NO_3~ -.

Modeling effective viscosity reduction behaviour of solid suspensions

Under a simple shearing flow, the effective viscosity of solid suspensions can be reduced by controlling the inclusion particle size or the number of inclusion particles in a unit volume. Based on the Stokes equation, the transformation field method is used to model the reduction behaviour of effective viscosity of solid suspensions theoretically by enlarging the particle size at a given high concentration of particles. With a lot of samples of random cubic particles in a unit cell, our statistical results show that at the same higher concentration, the effective viscosity of solid suspensions can be reduced by increasing the particle size or reducing the number of inclusion particles in a unit volume. This work discloses the viscosity reduction mechanism of increasing particle size, which is observed experimentally.

Research on Electric Impedance Spectroscopy of Living Cell Suspensions by a Chip with Microelectrodes

A microfabricated electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) chip with microelectrodes was developed.The substrate and the electrodes of the chip were made of glass and gold,respectively.The experimental results demonstrated that the EIS-chip could distinguish different solutions (physiological saline,culture medium,living cell suspension etc.) by scanning from 10Hz to 45kHz.A 6-element circuit model was used for fitting the real part and the imaginary part admittance curves of the living cell suspension.An actual circuit was also built and tested to verify the 6-element circuit model proposed.The micro-EIS chip has several advantages including the use of small sample volumes,high resolution and ease of operation.It shows good application prospects in the areas of cellular electrophysioiogy,drug screening and bio-sensors etc.

Influence of Particle Size Distribution on the Optical Properties of Fine-Dispersed Suspensions

Nanofluids have great potential for solar energy harvesting due to their suitable optical and thermophysical properties.One of the promising applications of nanofluids is utilization in solar collectors with the direct absorption of light(DASC).The design of a DASC requires detailed knowledge of the optical properties of nanofluids,which can be significantly affected by the particle size distribution.The paper presents the method to take into account the particle size distribution when calculating nanofluid extinction spectra.To validate the proposed model,the particle size distribution and spectral absorbance were measured for aqueous suspension with multi-walled graphite nanotubes;the minimum size of primary nanoparticles was 49 nm.The proposed model is compared with experiments demonstrating the concentration averaged and maximum discrepancies of 6.6%and 32.2%against 12.6%and 77.7%for a model assuming a monosized suspension.