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Sample records for enhanced wellbore stabilization

  1. Wellbore stability in shales considering chemo-poroelastic effects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Araujo, Ewerton M.P.; Pastor, Jorge A.S.C.; Fontoura, Sergio A.B.; Rabe, Claudio [Pontificia Univ. Catolica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), RJ (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Civil. Grupo de Tecnologia e Engenharia de Petroleo

    2004-07-01

    Under compaction and low geothermal gradients are deep water characteristics. Both under compaction and low geothermal gradients generate considerable thickness of smectite-rich shales. These rocks are the major source of wellbore stability problems, because they are susceptible to adverse physico-chemical reactions when in contact with inadequate drilling fluids. Due shales are low permeability rocks diffusion processes dominate the changes of pore pressure around wellbore. Diffusion of fluids, ions and temperature occurs in shales during drilling and demand a fully coupled modelling taking account these factors. Despite temperature importance, in this paper wellbore stability in shales is analyzed through a model that considers only the coupling between poroelastic and physico-chemical effects. The coupled equations are solved analytically and have been implemented in a computational simulator with user-friendly interface. Time-dependent simulations of wellbore stability in shales are presented for a typical deep water scenario. The results show that physico-chemical effects change pore pressure around wellbore and have high impact on the wellbore stability. (author)

  2. A coupled conductive-convective thermo-poroelastic solution and implications for wellbore stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Yarlong [Petro-Geotech Inc., Suite no.300, 840-6th Avenue, S.W., Calgary, AB (Canada) T2P 3E5; Dusseault, Maurice B. [Porous Media Research Institute, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON (Canada) N2L 361

    2003-06-01

    Steam injection is widely used in heavy oil reservoirs to enhance oil recovery; elevated temperatures increase fluid mobility in several ways, but can also generate damage through shearing, crushing of weak grains, and casing impairment by shear, collapse, or buckling. Disposal of cold produced water by injection can generate thermally induced extensional fracturing, increasing the effective wellbore radius. Drilling with long open-hole sections can lead to rock temperature changes as large as 30-40 C at the casing shoe through mud heating at depth and upward mud circulation, dramatically impacting wellbore stability. Clearly, thermal stress analysis of open and cased boreholes is of primary interest for drilling and completion planning, as bottom-hole temperature changes can have as large an impact as bottom-hole pressure changes. Local wellbore stresses are the sum of far-field, pore pressure and thermally induced stresses; they may be highly inhomogeneous because of different rock properties and heat transport processes. These stresses, combined with thermal weakening and pore pressure changes, may lead to phenomena such as formation damage, sand production, shale shrinkage, and various modes of instability (shearing, spalling, fracturing, etc.). Previous studies of thermally induced stresses were primarily based on assumptions of low permeability and heat conduction only; this is inadequate when high-permeability formations are encountered. To analyze induced stresses and formation damage, a geomechanics model that is fully coupled to diffusive transport processes is employed. By assuming a constant wellbore pressure and temperature boundary condition, a closed-form solution including heat conduction and convection is obtained for the stresses near a cylindrical wellbore. The stability of an open-hole subject to non-isothermal, non-hydrostatic in situ loading and various conditions is then investigated. Our studies indicate that maximum tangential stresses are

  3. WELLBORE INSTABILITY: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Borivoje Pašić

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Wellbore instability is one of the main problems that engineers meet during drilling. The causes of wellbore instability are often classified into either mechanical (for example, failure of the rock around the hole because of high stresses, low rock strength, or inappropriate drilling practice or chemical effects which arise from damaging interaction between the rock, generally shale, and the drilling fluid. Often, field instances of instability are a result of a combination of both chemical and mechanical. This problem might cause serious complication in well and in some case can lead to expensive operational problems. The increasing demand for wellbore stability analyses during the planning stage of a field arise from economic considerations and the increasing use of deviated, extended reach and horizontal wells. This paper presents causes, indicators and diagnosing of wellbore instability as well as the wellbore stresses model.

  4. Wellbore Seal Repair Using Nanocomposite Materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stormont, John [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2016-08-31

    Nanocomposite wellbore repair materials have been developed, tested, and modeled through an integrated program of laboratory testing and numerical modeling. Numerous polymer-cement nanocomposites were synthesized as candidate wellbore repair materials using various combinations of base polymers and nanoparticles. Based on tests of bond strength to steel and cement, ductility, stability, flowability, and penetrability in opening of 50 microns and less, we identified Novolac epoxy reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes and/or alumina nanoparticles to be a superior wellbore seal material compared to conventional microfine cements. A system was developed for testing damaged and repaired wellbore specimens comprised of a cement sheath cast on a steel casing. The system allows independent application of confining pressures and casing pressures while gas flow is measured through the specimens along the wellbore axis. Repair with the nanocomposite epoxy base material was successful in dramatically reducing the flow through flaws of various sizes and types, and restoring the specimen comparable to an intact condition. In contrast, repair of damaged specimens with microfine cement was less effective, and the repair degraded with application of stress. Post-test observations confirm the complete penetration and sealing of flaws using the nanocomposite epoxy base material. A number of modeling efforts have supported the material development and testing efforts. We have modeled the steel-repair material interface behavior in detail during slant shear tests, which we used to characterize bond strength of candidate repair materials. A numerical model of the laboratory testing of damaged wellbore specimens was developed. This investigation found that microannulus permeability can satisfactorily be described by a joint model. Finally, a wellbore model has been developed that can be used to evaluate the response of the wellbore system (casing, cement, and microannulus

  5. Wellbore stability analysis and its application in the Fergana basin, central Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chuanliang, Yan; Jingen, Deng; Baohua, Yu; Hailong, Liu; Fucheng, Deng; Zijian, Chen; Lianbo, Hu; Haiyan, Zhu; Qin, Han

    2014-02-01

    Wellbore instability is one of the major problems hampering the drilling speed in the Fergana basin. Comprehensive analysis of the geological and engineering data in this area indicates that the Fergana basin is characterized by high in situ stress and plenty of natural fractures, especially in the formations which are rich in bedding structure and have several high-pressure systems. Complex accidents such as wellbore collapse, sticking, well kick and lost circulation happen frequently. Tests and theoretical analysis reveals that the wellbore instability in the Fergana basin was influenced by multiple interactive mechanisms dominated by the instability of the bedding shale. Selecting a proper drilling fluid density and improving the sealing characteristic of the applied drilling fluid is the key to preventing wellbore instability in the Fergana basin. The mechanical mechanism of wellbore instability in the Fergana basin was analysed and a method to determine the proper drilling fluid density was proposed. The research results were successfully used to guide the drilling work of the Jida-4 well; compared with the Jida-3 well, the drilling cycle of the Jida-4 well was reduced by 32%.

  6. Wellbore Integrity Network

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carey, James W. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Bachu, Stefan [Alberta Innovates

    2012-06-21

    In this presentation, we review the current state of knowledge on wellbore integrity as developed in the IEA Greenhouse Gas Programme's Wellbore Integrity Network. Wells are one of the primary risks to the successful implementation of CO{sub 2} storage programs. Experimental studies show that wellbore materials react with CO{sub 2} (carbonation of cement and corrosion of steel) but the impact on zonal isolation is unclear. Field studies of wells in CO{sub 2}-bearing fields show that CO{sub 2} does migrate external to casing. However, rates and amounts of CO{sub 2} have not been quantified. At the decade time scale, wellbore integrity is driven by construction quality and geomechanical processes. Over longer time-scales (> 100 years), chemical processes (cement degradation and corrosion) become more important, but competing geomechanical processes may preserve wellbore integrity.

  7. The successful use of transverse hydraulic fractures from horizontal wellbores

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crosby, D. G.; Yang, Z.; Rahman, S. S. [New South Wales Univ., NSW (Australia)

    1998-12-31

    Since a significant proportion of the world`s recoverable hydrocarbon resources exist in reservoirs possessing permeabilities of less than one milli-Darcy (mD), some form of permeability enhancement or stimulation is necessary if the hydrocarbons are to be exploited economically. Multi-stage, transversely fractured horizontal wellbores are shown to have the potential to greatly increase production from low permeability formations. To overcome the problems caused by near-wellbore tortuosity, common to wells with multiple fracturing from the same perforated interval, a criterion was devised which predicts the wellbore pressures to initiate secondary multiple transverse hydraulic fractures in close proximity to primary fractures. The criterion, confirmed by laboratory experiments, demonstrates that transversely fractured horizontal wellbores have limited capacities to resist the initiation of multiple fractures from adjacent perforations. This characteristic can be used in designing hydraulic fracture treatments to establish injection pressure limits or threshold pressures, above which additional multiple fractures will initiate and propagate from the wellbore. 23 refs., 1 tab., 10 figs.

  8. A Transient Analytical Model for Predicting Wellbore/Reservoir Temperature and Stresses during Drilling with Fluid Circulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bisheng Wu

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Accurate characterization of heat transfer in a wellbore during drilling, which includes fluid circulation, is important for wellbore stability analysis. In this work, a pseudo-3D model is developed to simultaneously calculate the heat exchange between the flowing fluid and the surrounding media (drill pipe and rock formation and the in-plane thermoelastic stresses. The cold drilling fluid descends through the drill pipe at constant injection rates and returns to the ground surface via the annulus. The fluid circulation will decrease the wellbore bottom temperature and reduce the near-wellbore high compressive stress, potentially leading to tensile fracturing of the well. The governing equations for the coupled heat transfer stress problem are formulated to ensure that the most important parameters are taken into account. The wellbore is subject to a non-hydrostatic in situ far-field stress field. In modeling heat exchange between fluid and surrounding media, the heat transfer coefficients are dependent on fluid properties and flow behavior. Analytical solutions in the Laplace space are obtained for the temperatures of the fluid in both the drill pipe and annulus and for the temperature and stress changes in the formation. The numerical results in the time domain are obtained by using an efficient inversion approach. In particular, the near-well stresses are compared for the cases with fixed and time-dependent cooling wellbore conditions. This comparison indicates that the using a fixed temperature wellbore conditions may over-estimate or under-estimate the bottom-hole stress change, potentially leading to wellbore stability problems.

  9. Self-healing polymer cement composites for geothermal wellbore applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rod, K. A.; Fernandez, C.; Childers, I.; Koech, P.; Um, W.; Roosendaal, T.; Nguyen, M.; Huerta, N. J.; Chun, J.; Glezakou, V. A.

    2017-12-01

    Cement is vital for controlling leaks from wellbores employed in oil, gas, and geothermal operations by sealing the annulus between the wellbore casing and geologic formation. Wellbore cement failure due to physical and chemical stresses is common and can result in significant environmental consequences and ultimately significant financial costs due to remediation efforts. To date numerous alternative cement blends have been proposed for the oil and gas industry. Most of these possess poor mechanical properties, or are not designed to work in high temperature environments. This research investigates novel polymer-cement composites which could function at most geothermal temperatures. Thermal stability and mechanical strength of the polymer is attributed to the formation of a number of chemical interactions between the polymer and cement matrix including covalent bonds, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals interactions. It has been demonstrated that the bonding between cement and casing is more predictable when polymer is added to cement and can even improve healing of adhesion break when subjected to stresses such as thermal shock. Fractures have also been healed, effectively reducing permeability with fractures up to 0.3-0.5mm apertures, which is two orders of magnitude larger than typical wellbore fractures. Additionally, tomography analysis was used to determine internal structure of the cement polymer composite and imaging reveals that polymers fill fractures in the cement and between the cement and casing. By plugging fractures that occur in wellbore cement, reducing permeability of fractures, both environmental safety and economics of subsurface operations will be improved for geothermal energy and oil and gas production.

  10. Steam injection for heavy oil recovery: Modeling of wellbore heat efficiency and analysis of steam injection performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gu, Hao; Cheng, Linsong; Huang, Shijun; Li, Bokai; Shen, Fei; Fang, Wenchao; Hu, Changhao

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A comprehensive mathematical model was established to estimate wellbore heat efficiency of steam injection wells. • A simplified approach of predicting steam pressure in wellbores was proposed. • High wellhead injection rate and wellhead steam quality can improve wellbore heat efficiency. • High wellbore heat efficiency does not necessarily mean good performance of heavy oil recovery. • Using excellent insulation materials is a good way to save water and fuels. - Abstract: The aims of this work are to present a comprehensive mathematical model for estimating wellbore heat efficiency and to analyze performance of steam injection for heavy oil recovery. In this paper, we firstly introduce steam injection process briefly. Secondly, a simplified approach of predicting steam pressure in wellbores is presented and a complete expression for steam quality is derived. More importantly, both direct and indirect methods are adopted to determine the wellbore heat efficiency. Then, the mathematical model is solved using an iterative technique. After the model is validated with measured field data, we study the effects of wellhead injection rate and wellhead steam quality on steam injection performance reflected in wellbores. Next, taking cyclic steam stimulation as an example, we analyze steam injection performance reflected in reservoirs with numerical reservoir simulation method. Finally, the significant role of improving wellbore heat efficiency in saving water and fuels is discussed in detail. The results indicate that we can improve the wellbore heat efficiency by enhancing wellhead injection rate or steam quality. However, high wellbore heat efficiency does not necessarily mean satisfactory steam injection performance reflected in reservoirs or good performance of heavy oil recovery. Moreover, the paper shows that using excellent insulation materials is a good way to save water and fuels due to enhancement of wellbore heat efficiency

  11. Heating production fluids in a wellbore

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orrego, Yamila; Jankowski, Todd A.

    2016-07-12

    A method for heating a production fluid in a wellbore. The method can include heating, using a packer fluid, a working fluid flowing through a first medium disposed in a first section of the wellbore, where the first medium transfers heat from the packer fluid to the working fluid. The method can also include circulating the working fluid into a second section of the wellbore through a second medium, where the second medium transfers heat from the working fluid to the production fluid. The method can further include returning the working fluid to the first section of the wellbore through the first medium.

  12. Polymer-cement interactions towards improved wellbore cement fracture sealants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beckingham, B. S.; Iloejesi, C.; Minkler, M. J.; Schindler, A. K.; Beckingham, L. E.

    2017-12-01

    Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in deep geologic formations is a promising means of reducing point source emissions of CO2. In these systems, CO2 is captured at the source and then injected to be utilized (eg. in enhanced oil recovery or as a working fluid in enhanced geothermal energy plants) or stored in geologic formations such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers. While CCUS in subsurface systems could aid in reducing atmospheric CO2 emissions, the potential for CO2 leakage from these systems to overlying formations remains a major limitation and poses a significant risk to the security of injected CO2. Thus, improved materials for both initial wellbore isolation and repairing leakage pathways that develop over time are sought. One approach for the repair of cement fractures in wellbore (and other) systems is the injection of polymer materials into the fracture with a subsequent environmentally dependent (temperature, pressure, pH, etc.) densification or solidification. Here, we aim to investigate novel polymer materials for use to repair leaking wellbores in the context of CCUS. We synthesize and fully characterize a series of novel polymer materials and utilize a suite of analysis techniques to examine polymer-cement interactions at a range of conditions (namely temperature, pressure and pH). Initial findings will be leveraged to design novel polymer materials for further evaluation in polymer-cement composite cores, cement fracture healing, and the aging behavior of healed cements.

  13. Numerical analysis of wellbore instability in gas hydrate formation during deep-water drilling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Huaiwen; Cheng, Yuanfang; Li, Qingchao; Yan, Chuanliang; Han, Xiuting

    2018-02-01

    Gas hydrate formation may be encountered during deep-water drilling because of the large amount and wide distribution of gas hydrates under the shallow seabed of the South China Sea. Hydrates are extremely sensitive to temperature and pressure changes, and drilling through gas hydrate formation may cause dissociation of hydrates, accompanied by changes in wellbore temperatures, pore pressures, and stress states, thereby leading to wellbore plastic yield and wellbore instability. Considering the coupling effect of seepage of drilling fluid into gas hydrate formation, heat conduction between drilling fluid and formation, hydrate dissociation, and transformation of the formation framework, this study established a multi-field coupling mathematical model of the wellbore in the hydrate formation. Furthermore, the influences of drilling fluid temperatures, densities, and soaking time on the instability of hydrate formation were calculated and analyzed. Results show that the greater the temperature difference between the drilling fluid and hydrate formation is, the faster the hydrate dissociates, the wider the plastic dissociation range is, and the greater the failure width becomes. When the temperature difference is greater than 7°C, the maximum rate of plastic deformation around the wellbore is more than 10%, which is along the direction of the minimum horizontal in-situ stress and associated with instability and damage on the surrounding rock. The hydrate dissociation is insensitive to the variation of drilling fluid density, thereby implying that the change of the density of drilling fluids has a minimal effect on the hydrate dissociation. Drilling fluids that are absorbed into the hydrate formation result in fast dissociation at the initial stage. As time elapses, the hydrate dissociation slows down, but the risk of wellbore instability is aggravated due to the prolonged submersion in drilling fluids. For the sake of the stability of the wellbore in deep

  14. Drilling subsurface wellbores with cutting structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansure, Arthur James; Guimerans, Rosalvina Ramona

    2010-11-30

    A system for forming a wellbore includes a drill tubular. A drill bit is coupled to the drill tubular. One or more cutting structures are coupled to the drill tubular above the drill bit. The cutting structures remove at least a portion of formation that extends into the wellbore formed by the drill bit.

  15. Wellbore Microannulus Characterization and Modeling.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matteo, Edward N; Sobolik, Steven R.; Stormont, John C.; Taha, Mahmoud Reda; Gomez, Steven Paul

    2016-05-01

    Subsurface geologic formations used for extracting resources such as oil and gas can subsequently be used as a storage reservoir for the common greenhouse gas CO2, a concept known as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Pre-existing wellbores penetrate the reservoirs where supercritical CO2 is to be injected. These wellbores can potentially be a pathway for contamination if CO2 leaks through wellbore flaws to an overlying aquifer or the atmosphere. Characterizing wellbore integrity and providing zonal isolation by repairing these wellbore flaws is of critical importance to the long-term isolation of CO2 and success of CCS. This research aims to characterize the microannulus region of the cement sheath-steel casing interface in terms of its compressibility and permeability. A mock-up of a wellbore system was used for lab-scale testing. Specimens, consisting of a cement sheath cast on a steel casing with microannuli, were subjected to confining pressures and casing pressures in a pressure vessel that allows simultaneous measurement of gas flow along the axis of the specimen. The flow was interpreted as the hydraulic aperture of the microannuli. Numerical models are used to analyze stress and displacement conditions along the casing-cement interface. These numerical results provide good agreement with closed-form elastic solutions. Numerical models incorporating flaws of varying dimensions along the casing-cement interface were then developed to describe the microannulus region. A joint model is used to describe the hydraulic aperture of the microannulus region, whose mechanical stiffness is altered in response to the imposed stress state across the joint interface. The aperture-stress behavior is based upon laboratory measurements of hydraulic aperture as a function of imposed stress conditions. This investigation found that microannulus permeability can satisfactorily be described by a joint model and that the constitutive

  16. Cementing a wellbore using cementing material encapsulated in a shell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aines, Roger D.; Bourcier, William L.; Duoss, Eric B.; Spadaccini, Christopher M.; Cowan, Kenneth Michael

    2016-08-16

    A system for cementing a wellbore penetrating an earth formation into which a pipe extends. A cement material is positioned in the space between the wellbore and the pipe by circulated capsules containing the cement material through the pipe into the space between the wellbore and the pipe. The capsules contain the cementing material encapsulated in a shell. The capsules are added to a fluid and the fluid with capsules is circulated through the pipe into the space between the wellbore and the pipe. The shell is breached once the capsules contain the cementing material are in position in the space between the wellbore and the pipe.

  17. Cementing a wellbore using cementing material encapsulated in a shell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aines, Roger D.; Bourcier, William L.; Duoss, Eric B.; Floyd, III, William C.; Spadaccini, Christopher M.; Vericella, John J.; Cowan, Kenneth Michael

    2017-03-14

    A system for cementing a wellbore penetrating an earth formation into which a pipe extends. A cement material is positioned in the space between the wellbore and the pipe by circulated capsules containing the cement material through the pipe into the space between the wellbore and the pipe. The capsules contain the cementing material encapsulated in a shell. The capsules are added to a fluid and the fluid with capsules is circulated through the pipe into the space between the wellbore and the pipe. The shell is breached once the capsules contain the cementing material are in position in the space between the wellbore and the pipe.

  18. Geomechanical Modeling of CO2 Injection Site to Predict Wellbore Stresses and Strains for the Design of Wellbore Seal Repair Materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sobolik, S. R.; Gomez, S. P.; Matteo, E. N.; Stormont, J.

    2015-12-01

    This paper will present the results of large-scale three-dimensional calculations simulating the hydrological-mechanical behavior of a CO2injection reservoir and the resulting effects on wellbore casings and sealant repair materials. A critical aspect of designing effective wellbore seal repair materials is predicting thermo-mechanical perturbations in local stress that can compromise seal integrity. The DOE-NETL project "Wellbore Seal Repair Using Nanocomposite Materials," is interested in the stress-strain history of abandoned wells, as well as changes in local pressure, stress, and temperature conditions that accompany carbon dioxide injection or brine extraction. Two distinct computational models comprise the current modeling effort. The first is a field scale model that uses the stratigraphy, material properties, and injection history from a pilot CO2injection operation in Cranfield, MS to develop a stress-strain history for wellbore locations from 100 to 400 meters from an injection well. The results from the field scale model are used as input to a more detailed model of a wellbore casing. The 3D wellbore model examines the impacts of various loading scenarios on a casing structure. This model has been developed in conjunction with bench-top experiments of an integrated seal system in an idealized scaled wellbore mock-up being used to test candidate seal repair materials. The results from these models will be used to estimate the necessary mechanical properties needed for a successful repair material. This material is based upon work supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) under Grant Number DE-FE0009562. This project is managed and administered by the Storage Division of the NETL and funded by DOE/NETL and cost-sharing partners. This work was funded in part by the Center for Frontiers of Subsurface Energy Security, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science

  19. Pulse testing in the presence of wellbore storage and skin effects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ogbe, D.O.; Brigham, W.E.

    1984-08-01

    A pulse test is conducted by creating a series of short-time pressure transients in an active (pulsing) well and recording the observed pressure response at an observation (responding) well. Using the pressure response and flow rate data, the transmissivity and storativity of the tested formation can be determined. Like any other pressure transient data, the pulse-test response is significantly influenced by wellbore storage and skin effects. The purpose of this research is to examine the influence of wellbore storage and skin effects on interference testing in general and on pulse-testing in particular, and to present the type curves and procedures for designing and analyzing pulse-test data when wellbore storage and skin effects are active at either the responding well or the pulsing well. A mathematical model for interference testing was developed by solving the diffusivity equation for radial flow of a single-phase, slightly compressible fluid in an infinitely large, homogeneous reservoir. When wellbore storage and skin effects are present in a pulse test, the observed response amplitude is attenuated and the time lag is inflated. Consequently, neglecting wellbore storage and skin effects in a pulse test causes the calculated storativity to be over-estimated and the transmissivity to be under-estimated. The error can be as high as 30%. New correlations and procedures are developed for correcting the pulse response amplitude and time lag for wellbore storage effects. Using these correlations, it is possible to correct the wellbore storage-dominated response amplitude and time lag to within 3% of their expected values without wellbore storage, and in turn to calculate the corresponding transmissivity and storativity. Worked examples are presented to illustrate how to use the new correction techniques. 45 references.

  20. The model coupling fluid flow in reservoir with flow in horizontal wellbore

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Xiangping; Jiang, Zhixiang [RIPED-TEXACO Horizontal Well Technology Laboratory (United States)

    1998-12-31

    Three-dimensional pressure distributions of oil flow in a reservoir with horizontal well were derived, and a new formula to calculate pressure drop along the horizontal wellbore was developed based on the principle of conservation of matter and momentum. The formula considers the effect of influx into the horizontal wellbore from the reservoir on pressure drop in the wellbore. A mathematical model to couple fluid flow in the reservoir with flow in the horizontal wellbore is presented. Model results and experimental data showed good correspondence. Results showed the influence of pressure drop on well performance. 13 refs., 2 tabs., 7 figs.

  1. Final Research Performance Progress Report: Geothermal Resource Development with Zero Mass Withdrawal, Engineered Convection, and Wellbore Energy Conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hughes, Richard [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Tyagi, Mayank [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Radonjic, Mileva [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Dahi, Arash [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Wang, Fahui [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); John, Chacko [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Kaiser, Mark [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Snyder, Brian [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Sears, Stephen [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States)

    2017-07-07

    This project is intended to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility, and environmental and social attractiveness of a novel method of heat extraction from geothermal reservoirs. The emphasis is on assessing the potential for a heat extraction method that couples forced and free convection to maximize extraction efficiency. The heat extraction concept is enhanced by considering wellbore energy conversion, which may include only a boiler for a working fluid, or perhaps a complete boiler, turbine, and condenser cycle within the wellbore. The feasibility of this system depends on maintaining mechanical and hydraulic integrity of the wellbore, so the material properties of the casing-cement system are examined both experimentally and with well design calculations. The attractiveness depends on mitigation of seismic and subsidence risks, economic performance, environmental impact, and social impact – all of which are assessed as components of this study.

  2. A methodology to enlarge narrow stability windows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Araujo, Ewerton M.P.; Pastor, Jorge A.S.C.; Fontoura, Sergio A.B. [Pontificia Univ. Catolica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), RJ (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Civil. Grupo de Tecnologia e Engenharia de Petroleo

    2004-07-01

    The stability window in a wellbore design is defined by the difference between fracture pressure and collapse pressure. Deep water environments typically present narrow stability windows, because rocks have low strength due to under-compaction process. Often also, horizontal wells are drilled to obtain a better development of reservoirs placed in thin layers of sandstone. In this scenario, several challenges are faced when drilling in deep water. The traditional approach for predicting instabilities is to determine collapses and fractures at borehole wall. However, the initiation of rupture does not indicate that the borehole fails to perform its function as a wellbore. Thus, a methodology in which the stability window may be enlarged is desirable. This paper presents one practical analytical methodology that consists in allowing wellbore pressures smaller than the conventional collapse pressure, i.e., based upon failure on the borehole wall. This means that a collapse region (shear failure) will be developed around the borehole wall. This collapse region is pre-defined and to estimate its size is used a failure criterion. The aforementioned methodology is implemented in a user-friendly software, which can perform analyses of stress, pore pressure, formation failure, mud weight and mud salinity design for drilling in shale formations. Simulations of a wellbore drilling in a narrow stability window environment are performed to demonstrate the improvements of using the methodology. (author)

  3. Wellbore integrity analysis of a natural CO2 producer

    KAUST Repository

    Crow, Walter

    2010-03-01

    Long-term integrity of existing wells in a CO2-rich environment is essential for ensuring that geological sequestration of CO2 will be an effective technology for mitigating greenhouse gas-induced climate change. The potential for wellbore leakage depends in part on the quality of the original construction as well as geochemical and geomechanical stresses that occur over its life-cycle. Field data are essential for assessing the integrated effect of these factors and their impact on wellbore integrity, defined as the maintenance of isolation between subsurface intervals. In this report, we investigate a 30-year-old well from a natural CO2 production reservoir using a suite of downhole and laboratory tests to characterize isolation performance. These tests included mineralogical and hydrological characterization of 10 core samples of casing/cement/formation, wireline surveys to evaluate well conditions, fluid samples and an in situ permeability test. We find evidence for CO2 migration in the occurrence of carbonated cement and calculate that the effective permeability of an 11′-region of the wellbore barrier system was between 0.5 and 1 milliDarcy. Despite these observations, we find that the amount of fluid migration along the wellbore was probably small because of several factors: the amount of carbonation decreased with distance from the reservoir, cement permeability was low (0.3-30 microDarcy), the cement-casing and cement-formation interfaces were tight, the casing was not corroded, fluid samples lacked CO2, and the pressure gradient between reservoir and caprock was maintained. We conclude that the barrier system has ultimately performed well over the last 3 decades. These results will be used as part of a broader effort to develop a long-term predictive simulation tool to assess wellbore integrity performance in CO2 storage sites. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Geomechanical analyses to investigate wellbore/mine interactions in the Potash Enclave of Southeastern New Mexico.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ehgartner, Brian L.; Bean, James E. (Sandia Staffing Alliance, LLC, Albuquerque, NM); Arguello, Jose Guadalupe, Jr.; Stone, Charles Michael

    2010-04-01

    Geomechanical analyses have been performed to investigate potential mine interactions with wellbores that could occur in the Potash Enclave of Southeastern New Mexico. Two basic models were used in the study; (1) a global model that simulates the mechanics associated with mining and subsidence and (2) a wellbore model that examines the resulting interaction impacts on the wellbore casing. The first model is a 2D approximation of a potash mine using a plane strain idealization for mine depths of 304.8 m (1000 ft) and 609.6 m (2000 ft). A 3D wellbore model then considers the impact of bedding plane slippage across single and double cased wells cemented through the Salado formation. The wellbore model establishes allowable slippage to prevent casing yield.

  5. Geomechanics of fracture caging in wellbores

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weijermars, R.; Zhang, X.; Schultz-Ela, D.

    2013-01-01

    This study highlights the occurrence of so-called ‘fracture cages’ around underbalanced wellbores, where fractures cannot propagate outwards due to unfavourable principal stress orientations. The existence of such cages is demonstrated here by independent analytical and numerical methods. We explain

  6. Simulation of a SAGD well blowout using a reservoir-wellbore coupled simulator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walter, J.; Vanegas, P.; Cunha, L.B. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada); Worth, D.J. [C-FER Technologies, Edmonton, AB (Canada); Crepin, S. [Petrocedeno, Caracas (Venezuela)

    2008-10-15

    Single barrier completion systems are typically used in SAGD projects due to the lack of equipment suitable for high temperature SAGD downhole environments. This study used a wellbore and reservoir coupled thermal simulator tool to investigate the blowout behaviour of a steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) well pair when the safety barrier has failed. Fluid flow pressure drop through the wellbore and heat losses between the wellbore and the reservoir were modelled using a discretized wellbore option and a semi-analytical model. The fully coupled mechanistic model accounted for the simultaneous transient pressure and temperature variations along the wellbore and the reservoir. The simulations were used to predict flowing potential and fluid compositions of both wells in a SAGD well pair under various flowing conditions. Blowout scenarios were created for 3 different points in the well pair's life. Three flow paths during the blowout were evaluated for both the production and injection wells. Results of the study were used to conduct a comparative risk assessment between a double barrier and a single barrier completion. The modelling study confirmed that both the injection and production wells had the potential for blowouts lasting significant periods of time, with liquid rates over 50 times the normal production liquid rates. The model successfully predicted the blowout flow potential of the SAGD well pairs. 8 refs., 3 tabs., 18 figs.

  7. Adaptive forward-inverse modeling of reservoir fluids away from wellbores; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ziagos, J P; Gelinas, R J; Doss, S K; Nelson, R G

    1999-01-01

    This Final Report contains the deliverables of the DeepLook Phase I project entitled, ''Adaptive Forward-Inverse Modeling of Reservoir Fluids Away from Wellbores''. The deliverables are: (i) a description of 2-D test problem results, analyses, and technical descriptions of the techniques used, (ii) a listing of program setup commands that construct and execute the codes for selected test problems (these commands are in mathematical terminology, which reinforces technical descriptions in the text), and (iii) an evaluation and recommendation regarding continuance of this project, including considerations of possible extensions to 3-D codes, additional technical scope, and budget for the out-years. The far-market objective in this project is to develop advanced technologies that can help locate and enhance the recovery of oil from heterogeneous rock formations. The specific technical objective in Phase I was to develop proof-of-concept of new forward and inverse (F-I) modeling techniques[Gelinas et al, 1998] that seek to enhance estimates (images) of formation permeability distributions and fluid motion away from wellbore volumes. This goes to the heart of improving industry's ability to jointly image reservoir permeability and flow predictions of trapped and recovered oil versus time. The estimation of formation permeability away from borehole measurements is an ''inverse'' problem. It is an inseparable part of modeling fluid flows throughout the reservoir in efforts to increase the efficiency of oil recovery at minimum cost. Classic issues of non-uniqueness, mathematical instability, noise effects, and inadequate numerical solution techniques have historically impeded progress in reservoir parameter estimations. Because information pertaining to fluid and rock properties is always sampled sparsely by wellbore measurements, a successful method for interpolating permeability and fluid data between the measurements must be: (i) physics-based, (ii) conditioned by signal

  8. Optimization of SAGD wellbore completions : short production tubing string sensitivities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cokar, M.; Graham, J. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Petro-Canada, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    This study investigated the effects of changing the landing position of short production tubing strings near the heel of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) production wells. A homogenous discretized wellbore model was used to model the reservoir and wellbore simultaneously in order to study wellbore and reservoir interactions. The aim of the study was to develop a method of optimizing bitumen production and determining the most economical position for wellbore strings. Simulations were conducted to examine the effect of shortening the production tubing string and examine the impact of extending the tubing string beyond the heel of the well on bitumen bitumen production rates and the steam oil ratio (SOR). Results of the study showed that a shortened string decreased bitumen production rates, while the amounts of steam produced through the tubing string increased. When the tubing string was extended past the heel of the well, bitumen production rates remained the same, but steam injection rates and SOR decreased. A lower pressure differential between the injector and producer wells was also observed. The study showed that SAGD producers can re-position production tubing strings in order to determine ratios of liquid production. It was concluded that although placing the short production tubing string close to the heel increased oil production, a longer tubing string improved production rates while lowering operating costs. 3 refs., 3 tabs., 35 figs.

  9. Thermal effects on fluid flow and hydraulic fracturing from wellbores and cavities in low-permeability formations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yarlong Wang [Petro-Geotech Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada); Papamichos, Euripides [IKU Petroleum Research, Trondheim (Norway)

    1999-07-01

    The coupled heat-fluid-stress problem of circular wellbore or spherical cavity subjected to a constant temperature change and a constant fluid flow rate is considered. Transient analytical solutions for temperature, pore pressure and stress are developed by coupling conductive heat transfer with Darcy fluid flow in a poroelastic medium. They are applicable to lower permeability porous media suitable for liquid-waste disposal and also simulating reservoir for enhanced oil recovery, where conduction dominates the heat transfer process. A full range of solutions is presented showing separately the effects of temperature and fluid flow on pore pressure and stress development. It is shown that injection of warm fluid can be used to restrict fracture development around wellbores and cavities and generally to optimise a fluid injection operation. Both the limitations of the solutions and the convective flow effect are addressed. (Author)

  10. Parametric Sensitivity Study of Operating and Design Variables in Wellbore Heat Exchangers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nalla, G.; Shook, G.M.; Mines, G.L.; Bloomfield, K.K.

    2004-01-01

    This report documents the results of an extensive sensitivity study conducted by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. This study investigated the effects of various operating and design parameters on wellbore heat exchanger performance to determine conditions for optimal thermal energy extraction and evaluate the potential for using a wellbore heat exchanger model for power generation. Variables studied included operational parameters such as circulation rates, wellbore geometries and working fluid properties, and regional properties including basal heat flux and formation rock type. Energy extraction is strongly affected by fluid residence time, heat transfer contact area, and formation thermal properties. Water appears to be the most appropriate working fluid. Aside from minimal tubing insulation, tubing properties are second order effects. On the basis of the sensitivity study, a best case model was simulated and the results compared against existing low-temperature power generation plants. Even assuming ideal work conversion to electric power, a wellbore heat exchange model cannot generate 200 kW (682.4e+3 BTU/h) at the onset of pseudosteady state. Using realistic conversion efficiency, the method is unlikely to generate 50 kW (170.6e+3 BTU/h)

  11. Evolution of Cement-Casing Interface in Wellbore Microannuli under Stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matteo, E. N.; Gomez, S. P.; Sobolik, S. R.; Taha, M. R.; Stormont, J.

    2017-12-01

    Laboratory tests measured the compressibility and flow characteristics of wellbore microannuli. Specimens, consisting of a cement sheath cast on a steel casing with microannuli, were subjected to confining pressures and casing pressures in a pressure vessel that allows simultaneous measurement of gas flow along the axis of the specimen. The flow was interpreted as the hydraulic aperture of the microannuli. We found the hydraulic aperture decreases as confining stress is increased. The larger the initial hydraulic aperture, the more it decreases as confining stress increases. The changes in measured hydraulic aperture correspond to changes of many orders of magnitude in permeability of the wellbore system, suggesting that microannulus response to stress changes may have a significant impact on estimates of wellbore leakage. A finite element model of a wellbore system was developed that included elements representing the microannulus that incorporated the hyperbolic joint model. The thickness of the microannulus elements is equivalent to the hydraulic aperture. The calculated normal stress across the microannulus used in the numerical implementation was found to be similar to the applied confining pressure in the laboratory tests. The microannulus elements were found to reasonably reproduce laboratory behavior during loading from confining pressure increases. The calculated microannulus response to internal casing pressure changes was less stiff than measured, which may be due to hardening of the microannulus during testing. In particular, the microannulus model could be used to estimate CO2 leakage as a function of formation stress changes and/or displacements, or loading from casing expansion or contraction during wellbore operations. Recommendations for future work include an application of the joint model with a thermally active large-scale reservoir coupled with pore pressure caused by dynamic CO2 injection and subsequent microannulus region affects. Sandia

  12. Plugging wellbore fractures : limit equilibrium of a Bingham drilling mud cake in a tensile crack

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garagash, D.I. [Dalhousie Univ., Halifax, NS (Canada). Dept. of Civil and Resource Engineering

    2009-07-01

    The proper selection of drilling muds is important in order to successfully drill hydrocarbon wells in which wellbore mud pressure remains low enough to prevent circulation loss and high enough to support the uncased wellbore against the shear failure. This paper presented a mathematical model to study invasion of mud cake into a drilling-induced planar fracture at the edge of a wellbore perpendicular to the minimum in situ principal stress. The model assumed a planar edge-crack geometry loaded by the wellbore hoop stress, variable mud pressure along the invaded region adjacent to the wellbore, and uniform pore-fluid pressure along the rest of the crack. The invading mud was assumed to freely displaces the pore-fluid in the crack without mixing with it. The case corresponding to a sufficiently permeable formation was considered. This solution provides a means to evaluate whether or not the mud cake could effectively plug the fracture, thereby prevent fracture propagation and associated uncontrollable loss of wellbore drilling mud. The toughness or tensile strength is evaluated based on criterion for initiation of crack propagation, which may lead to uncontrollable loss of mud circulation in a well. The study provided information on the breakdown pressure as a function of the rock ambient stress, ambient pore pressure, pre-existing crack length, and mud cake properties. 12 refs., 6 figs.

  13. Geomechanical analysis to predict the oil leak at the wellbores in Big Hill Strategic Petroleum Reserve

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Byoung Yoon

    2014-02-01

    Oil leaks were found in wellbores of Caverns 105 and 109 at the Big Hill Strategic Petroleum Reserve site. According to the field observations, two instances of casing damage occurred at the depth of the interbed between the caprock bottom and salt top. A three dimensional finite element model, which contains wellbore element blocks and allows each cavern to be configured individually, is constructed to investigate the wellbore damage mechanism. The model also contains element blocks to represent interface between each lithology and a shear zone to examine the interbed behavior in a realistic manner. The causes of the damaged casing segments are a result of vertical and horizontal movements of the interbed between the caprock and salt dome. The salt top subsides because the volume of caverns below the salt top decrease with time due to salt creep closure, while the caprock subsides at a slower rate because the caprock is thick and stiffer. This discrepancy yields a deformation of the well. The deformed wellbore may fail at some time. An oil leak occurs when the wellbore fails. A possible oil leak date of each well is determined using the equivalent plastic strain failure criterion. A well grading system for a remediation plan is developed based on the predicted leak dates of each wellbore.

  14. In-situ Mechanical Manipulation of Wellbore Cements as a Solution to Leaky Wells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kupresan, D.; Radonjic, M.; Heathman, J.

    2013-12-01

    Wellbore cement provides casing support, zonal isolation, and casing protection from corrosive fluids, which are essential for wellbore integrity. Cements can undergo one or more forms of failure such as debonding at cement/formation and cement/casing interface, fracturing and defects within cement matrix. Failures and defects within cement will ultimately lead to fluids migration, resulting in inter-zonal fluid migration and premature well abandonment. There are over 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells only in The Gulf of Mexico (some of them dating from the late 1940s) with no gas leakage monitoring. Cement degradation linked with carbon sequestration can potentially lead to contamination of fresh water aquifers with CO2. Gas leaks can particularly be observed in deviated wells used for hydraulic fracking (60% leakage rate as they age) as high pressure fracturing increases the potential for migration pathways. Experimental method utilized in this study enables formation of impermeable seals at interfaces present in a wellbore by mechanically manipulating wellbore cement. Preliminary measurements obtained in bench scale experiments demonstrate that an impermeable cement/formation and cement/casing interface can be obtained. In post-modified cement, nitrogen gas flow-through experiments showed complete zonal isolation and no permeability in samples with pre-engineered microannulus. Material characterization experiments of modified cement revealed altered microstructural properties of cement as well as changes in mineralogical composition. Calcium-silicate-hydrate (CSH), the dominant mineral in hydrated cement which provides low permeability of cement, was modified as a result of cement pore water displacement, resulting in more dense structures. Calcium hydroxide (CH), which is associated with low resistance of cement to acidic fluids and therefore detrimental in most wellbore cements, was almost completely displaced and/or integrated in CSH as a result of

  15. A 3-D wellbore simulator (WELLTHER-SIM) to determine the thermal diffusivity of rock-formations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong-Loya, J. A.; Santoyo, E.; Andaverde, J.

    2017-06-01

    Acquiring thermophysical properties of rock-formations in geothermal systems is an essential task required for the well drilling and completion. Wellbore thermal simulators require such properties for predicting the thermal behavior of a wellbore and the formation under drilling and shut-in conditions. The estimation of static formation temperatures also needs the use of these properties for the wellbore and formation materials (drilling fluids and pipes, cements, casings, and rocks). A numerical simulator (WELLTHER-SIM) has been developed for modeling the drilling fluid circulation and shut-in processes of geothermal wellbores, and for the in-situ determination of thermal diffusivities of rocks. Bottomhole temperatures logged under shut-in conditions (BHTm), and thermophysical and transport properties of drilling fluids were used as main input data. To model the thermal disturbance and recovery processes in the wellbore and rock-formation, initial drilling fluid and static formation temperatures were used as initial and boundary conditions. WELLTHER-SIM uses these temperatures together with an initial thermal diffusivity for the rock-formation to solve the governing equations of the heat transfer model. WELLTHER-SIM was programmed using the finite volume technique to solve the heat conduction equations under 3-D and transient conditions. Thermal diffusivities of rock-formations were inversely computed by using an iterative and efficient numerical simulation, where simulated thermal recovery data sets (BHTs) were statistically compared with those temperature measurements (BHTm) logged in some geothermal wellbores. The simulator was validated using a well-documented case reported in the literature, where the thermophysical properties of the rock-formation are known with accuracy. The new numerical simulator has been successfully applied to two wellbores drilled in geothermal fields of Japan and Mexico. Details of the physical conceptual model, the numerical

  16. Experimental determination of wellbore diameter and shape (4D imaging of wellbore) by using ultrasonic caliper within different fluids for real-time drilling application

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elahifar, Behzad; Esmaeili, Abdolali; Thonhauser, Gerhard [Montanuniversitaet Leoben (Austria); Fruhwirth, Rudolf K. [TDE Thonhauser Data Engineering GmbH, Leoben (Austria)

    2013-03-15

    Drilling programs continue to push into new and more complicated environments. As a result, accurate measurement, interpretation and analysis of drilling data in real time are becoming more critical. One of the key measurement devices for drilling, cementing and formation evaluation is the borehole caliper. An ultrasonic sensor caliper tool is thereby a key measurement device for determining the borehole diameter in MWD or LWD tools. Another use of ultrasonic caliper tools is to offer a method for calculating borehole volumes. Real-time application of ultrasonic caliper tools can also support the early detection of borehole instability. This paper describes the experiments related to the accuracy of the ultrasonic sensor for measuring wellbore diameter by performing the tests in different fluids, comparing the results and determining the weak points of the sensor for detecting echoes. In addition the wellbore profiles were simulated and the simulated results were compared with the recorded data. Different tests related to the position of the caliper tool inside the wellbore were performed as well as the evaluation of the accuracy of the ultrasonic sensor by simulating dog-legs and latches. (orig.)

  17. Numerical Simulation on Open Wellbore Shrinkage and Casing Equivalent Stress in Bedded Salt Rock Stratum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianjun Liu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Most salt rock has interbed of mudstone in China. Owing to the enormous difference of mechanical properties between the mudstone interbed and salt rock, the stress-strain and creep behaviors of salt rock are significantly influenced by neighboring mudstone interbed. In order to identify the rules of wellbore shrinkage and casings equivalent stress in bedded salt rock stratum, three-dimensional finite difference models were established. The effects of thickness and elasticity modulus of mudstone interbed on the open wellbore shrinkage and equivalent stress of casing after cementing operation were studied, respectively. The results indicate that the shrinkage of open wellbore and equivalent stress of casings decreases with the increase of mudstone interbed thickness. The increasing of elasticity modulus will reduce the shrinkage of open wellbore and casing equivalent stress. Research results can provide the scientific basis for the design of mud density and casing strength.

  18. Effect of fluid penetration on tensile failure during fracturing of an open-hole wellbore

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Fanhui; Cheng, Xiaozhao; Guo, Jianchun; Chen, Zhangxin; Tao, Liang; Liu, Xiaohua; Jiang, Qifeng; Xiang, Jianhua

    2018-06-01

    It is widely accepted that a fracture can be induced at a wellbore surface when the fluid pressure overcomes the rock tensile strength. However, few models of this phenomenon account for the fluid penetration effect. A rock is a typical permeable, porous medium, and the transmission of pressure from a wellbore to the surrounding rock temporally and spatially perturbs the effective stresses. In addition, these induced stresses influence the fracture initiation pressure. To gain a better understanding of the penetration effect on the initiation pressure of a permeable formation, a comprehensive formula is presented to study the effects of the in situ stresses, rock mechanical properties, injection rate, rock permeability, fluid viscosity, fluid compressibility and wellbore size on the magnitude of the initiation pressure during fracturing of an open-hole wellbore. In this context, the penetration effect is treated as a consequence of the interaction among these parameters by using Darcy’s law of radial flow. A fully coupled analytical procedure is developed to show how the fracturing fluid infiltrates the rock around the wellbore and considerably reduces the magnitude of the initiation pressure. Moreover, the calculation results are validated by hydraulic fracturing experiments in hydrostone. An exhaustive sensitivity study is performed, indicating that the local fluid pressure induced from a seepage effect strongly influences the fracture evolution. For permeable reservoirs, a low injection rate and a low viscosity of the injected fluid have a significant impact on the fracture initiation pressure. In this case, the Hubbert and Haimson equations to predict the fracture initiation pressure are not valid. The open-hole fracture initiation pressure increases with the fracturing fluid viscosity and fluid compressibility, while it decreases as the rock permeability, injection rate and wellbore size increase.

  19. Quantifying drag on wellbore casings in moving salt sheets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weijermars, R.; Jackson, M. P. A.; Dooley, T. P.

    2014-08-01

    Frontier hydrocarbon development projects in the deepwater slopes of the Gulf of Mexico Basin, Santos Basin and Lower Congo Basin all require wells to cross ductile layers of autochthonous or allochthonous salt moving at peak rates of 100 mm yr-1. The Couette-Poiseuille number is introduced here to help pinpoint the depth of shear stress reversal in such salt layers. For any well-planned through salt, the probable range of creep forces of moving salt needs to be taken into account when designing safety margins and load-factor tolerance of the well casing. Drag forces increase with wellbore diameter, but more significantly with effective viscosity and speed of the creeping salt layer. The potential drag forces on cased wellbores in moving salt sheets are estimated analytically using a range of salt viscosities (1015-1019 Pa s) and creep rates (0-10 mm yr-1). Drag on perfectly rigid casing of infinite strength may reach up to 13 Giga Newton per meter wellbore length in salt having a viscosity of 1019 Pa s. Well designers may delay stress accumulations due to salt drag when flexible casing accommodates some of the early displacement and strain. However, all creeping salt could displace, fracture and disconnect well casing, eventually. The shear strength of typical heavy duty well casing (about 1000 MPa) can be reached due to drag by moving salt. Internal flow of salt will then fracture the casing near salt entry and exit points, but the structural damage is likely to remain unnoticed early in the well-life when the horizontal shift of the wellbore is still negligibly small (at less than 1 cm yr-1). Disruption of casing and production flow lines within the anticipated service lifetime of a well remains a significant risk factor within distinct zones of low-viscosity salt which may reach ultrafast creep rates of 100 mm yr-1.

  20. Determination of transient temperature distribution inside a wellbore considering drill string assembly and casing program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Mou; Zhao, Xiangyang; Meng, Yingfeng; Li, Gao; Zhang, Lin; Xu, Haiming; Tang, Daqian

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • The different wellbore conditions of heat transfer models were developed. • Drill string assembly and casing programs impact on down-hole temperatures. • The thermal performance in circulation and shut-in stages were deeply investigated. • Full-scale model coincided with the measured field data preferably. - Abstract: Heat exchange efficiency between each region of the wellbore and formation systems is influenced by the high thermal conductivity of the drill string and casing, which further affects temperature distribution of the wellbore. Based on the energy conservation principle, the Modified Raymond, Simplified and Full-scale models were developed, which were solved by the fully implicit finite difference method. The results indicated that wellbore and formation temperatures were significantly influenced at the connection points between the drill collar and drill pipe, as well as the casing shoe. Apart from the near surface, little change was observed in temperature distribution in the cement section. In the open-hole section, the temperature rapidly decreased in the circulation stage and gradually increased in the shut-in stage. Most important, the simulated result from the full-scale model coincided with the measured field data better than the other numerical models. These findings not only confirm the effect of the drill string assembly and casing programs on the wellbore and formation temperature distribution, but also contribute to resource exploration, drilling safety and reduced drilling costs.

  1. Micro Mechanics and Microstructures of Major Subsurface Hydraulic Barriers: Shale Caprock vs Wellbore Cement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radonjic, M.; Du, H.

    2015-12-01

    Shale caprocks and wellbore cements are two of the most common subsurface impermeable barriers in the oil and gas industry. More than 60% of effective seals for geologic hydrocarbon bearing formations as natural hydraulic barriers constitute of shale rocks. Wellbore cements provide zonal isolation as an engineered hydraulic barrier to ensure controlled fluid flow from the reservoir to the production facilities. Shale caprocks were deposited and formed by squeezing excess formation water and mineralogical transformations at different temperatures and pressures. In a similar process, wellbore cements are subjected to compression during expandable tubular operations, which lead to a rapid pore water propagation and secondary mineral precipitation within the cement. The focus of this research was to investigate the effect of wellbore cement compression on its microstructure and mechanical properties, as well as a preliminary comparison of shale caprocks and hydrated cement. The purpose of comparative evaluation of engineered vs natural hydraulic barrier materials is to further improve wellbore cement durability when in contact with geofluids. The micro-indentation was utilized to evaluate the change in cement mechanical properties caused by compression. Indentation experiments showed an overall increase in hardness and Young's modulus of compressed cement. Furthermore, SEM imaging and Electron Probe Microanalysis showed mineralogical alterations and decrease in porosity. These can be correlated with the cement rehydration caused by microstructure changes as a result of compression. The mechanical properties were also quantitatively compared to shale caprock samples in order to investigate the similarities of hydraulic barrier features that could help to improve the subsurface application of cement in zonal isolation. The comparison results showed that the poro-mechanical characteristics of wellbore cement appear to be improved when inherent pore sizes are shifted to

  2. Reduced-Order Model for Leakage Through an Open Wellbore from the Reservoir due to Carbon Dioxide Injection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pan, Lehua [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Oldenburg, Curtis M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2017-07-26

    Potential CO2 leakage through existing open wellbores is one of the most significant hazards that need to be addressed in geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) projects. In the framework of the National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) which requires fast computations for uncertainty analysis, rigorous simulation of the coupled wellbore-reservoir system is not practical. We have developed a 7,200-point look-up table reduced-order model (ROM) for estimating the potential leakage rate up open wellbores in response to CO2 injection nearby. The ROM is based on coupled simulations using T2Well/ECO2H which was run repeatedly for representative conditions relevant to NRAP to create a look-up table response-surface ROM. The ROM applies to a wellbore that fully penetrates a 20-m thick reservoir that is used for CO2 storage. The radially symmetric reservoir is assumed to have initially uniform pressure, temperature, gas saturation, and brine salinity, and it is assumed these conditions are held constant at the far-field boundary (100 m away from the wellbore). In such a system, the leakage can quickly reach quasi-steady state. The ROM table can be used to estimate both the free-phase CO2 and brine leakage rates through an open well as a function of wellbore and reservoir conditions. Results show that injection-induced pressure and reservoir gas saturation play important roles in controlling leakage. Caution must be used in the application of this ROM because well leakage is formally transient and the ROM lookup table was populated using quasi-steady simulation output after 1000 time steps which may correspond to different physical times for the various parameter combinations of the coupled wellbore-reservoir system.

  3. Wellbore enlargement investigation: Potential analogs to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant during inadvertent intrusion of the repository

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boak, D.M.; Dotson, L.; Aguilar, R.

    1997-01-01

    This study involved the evaluation and documentation of cases in which petroleum wellbores were enlarged beyond the nominal hole diameter as a consequence of erosion during exploratory drilling, particularly as a function of gas flow into the wellbore during blowout conditions. A primary objective was to identify analogs to potential wellbore enlargement at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) during inadvertent human intrusion. Secondary objectives were to identify drilling scenarios associated with enlargement, determine the physical extent of enlargement, and establish the physical properties of the formation in which the enlargement occurred. No analogs of sufficient quality to establish quantitative limits on wellbore enlargement at the WIPP disposal system were identified. However, some information was obtained regarding the frequency of petroleum well blowouts and the likelihood that such blowouts would bridge downhole, self-limiting the surface release of disposal-system material. Further work would be necessary, however, to determine the conditions under which bridging could occur and the extent to which the bridging might be applicable to WIPP. In addition, data on casing sizes of petroleum boreholes in the WIPP vicinity support the use of a 12-1/4 inch borehole size in WIPP performance assessment calculations. Finally, although data are limited, there was no evidence of significant wellbore enlargement in any of three blowouts that occur-red in wellbores in the Delaware Basin (South Culebra Bluff Unit No. 1, Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) 6, and WIPP 12)

  4. Reaction-driven casing expansion : potential for wellbore leakage mitigation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wolterbeek, Timotheus K. T.; van Noort, Reinier; Spiers, Christopher J.

    It is generally challenging to predict the post-abandonment behaviour and integrity of wellbores. Leakage is, moreover, difficult to mitigate, particularly between the steel casing and outer cement sheath. Radially expanding the casing with some form of internal plug, thereby closing annular voids

  5. Stick-slip and Torsional Friction Factors in Inclined Wellbores

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aarsnes Ulf Jakob F.

    2018-01-01

    The model is shown to have a good match with the surface and downhole behavior of two deviated wellbores for depths ranging from 1500 to 3000 meters. In particular, the model replicates the amplitude and period of the oscillations, in both the topside torque and the downhole RPM, as caused by the along-string stick slip. It is further shown that by using the surface behavior of the drill-string during rotational startup, an estimate of the static and dynamic friction factors along the wellbore can be obtained, even during stick-slip oscillations, if axial tension in the drillstring is considered. This presents a possible method to estimate friction factors in the field when off-bottom stick slip is encountered, and points in the direction of avoiding stick slip through the design of an appropriate torsional start-up procedure without the need of an explicit friction test.

  6. Optimum position for wells producing at constant wellbore pressure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Camacho-Velazquez, R.; Rodriguez de la Garza, F. [Univ. Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City (Mexico); Galindo-Nava, A. [Inst. Mexicanos del Petroleo, Mexico City (Mexico)]|[Univ. Nacional de Mexico, Mexico City (Mexico); Prats, M.

    1994-12-31

    This paper deals with the determination of the optimum position of several wells, producing at constant different wellbore pressures from a two-dimensional closed-boundary reservoirs, to maximize the cumulative production or the total flow rate. To achieve this objective they authors use an improved version of the analytical solution recently proposed by Rodriguez and Cinco-Ley and an optimization algorithm based on a quasi-Newton procedure with line search. At each iteration the algorithm approximates the negative of the objective function by a cuadratic relation derived from a Taylor series. The improvement of rodriguez and Cinco`s solution is attained in four ways. First, an approximation is obtained, which works better at earlier times (before the boundary dominated period starts) than the previous solution. Second, the infinite sums that are present in the solution are expressed in a condensed form, which is relevant for reducing the computer time when the optimization algorithm is used. Third, the solution is modified to take into account the possibility of having wells starting to produce at different times. This point allows them to deal with the problem of getting the optimum position for an infill drilling program. Last, the solution is extended to include the possibility of changing the value of wellbore pressure or being able to stimulate any of the wells at any time. When the wells are producing at different wellbore pressures it is found that the optimum position is a function of time, otherwise the optimum position is fixed.

  7. Coupling of the reservoir simulator TOUGH and the wellbore simulator WFSA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hadgu, T.; Zimmerman, R.W.; Bodvarsson [Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (United States)

    1995-03-01

    The reservoir simulator TOUGH and the wellbore simulator WFSA have been coupled, so as to allow simultaneous modeling of the flow of geothermal brine in the reservoir as well as in the wellbore. A new module, COUPLE, allows WFSA to be called as a subroutine by TOUGH. The mass flowrate computed by WFSA now serves as a source/sink term for the TOUGH wellblocks. Sample problems are given to illustrate the use of the coupled codes. One of these problems compares the results of the new simulation method to those obtained using the deliverability option in TOUGH. The coupled computing procedure is shown to simulate more accurately the behavior of a geothermal reservoir under exploitation.

  8. THE EFFECT OF WELL-BORE REVERSE FLOW OF FLUID ON ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ES Obe

    1980-03-01

    Mar 1, 1980 ... ABSTRACT. Well-bore storage may dominate the bottom-hole pressure profile of ... Type- curve matching is however only accurate when the storage factor .... numerical integration technique ... existence of a measure of well-.

  9. Regional-scale advective, diffusive, and eruptive dynamics of CO2 and brine leakage through faults and wellbores

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Na-Hyun; Han, Weon Shik; Han, Kyungdoe; Park, Eungyu

    2015-05-01

    Regional-scale advective, diffusive, and eruptive transport dynamics of CO2 and brine within a natural analogue in the northern Paradox Basin, Utah, were explored by integrating numerical simulations with soil CO2 flux measurements. Deeply sourced CO2 migrates through steeply dipping fault zones to the shallow aquifers predominantly as an aqueous phase. Dense CO2-rich brine mixes with regional groundwater, enhancing CO2 dissolution. Linear stability analysis reveals that CO2 could be dissolved completely within only 500 years. Assigning lower permeability to the fault zones induces fault-parallel movement, feeds up-gradient aquifers with more CO2, and impedes down-gradient fluid flow, developing anticlinal CO2 traps at shallow depths (<300 m). The regional fault permeability that best reproduces field spatial CO2 flux variation is estimated 1 × 10-17 ≤ kh < 1 × 10-16 m2 and 5 × 10-16 ≤ kv < 1 × 10-15 m2. The anticlinal trap serves as an essential fluid source for eruption at Crystal Geyser. Geyser-like discharge sensitively responds to varying well permeability, radius, and CO2 recharge rate. The cyclic behavior of wellbore CO2 leakage decreases with time.

  10. Numerical Investigation of the Influences of Wellbore Flow on Compressed Air Energy Storage in Aquifers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Li

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available With the blossoming of intermittent energy, compressed air energy storage (CAES has attracted much attention as a potential large-scale energy storage technology. Compared with caverns as storage vessels, compressed air energy storage in aquifers (CAESA has the advantages of wide availability and lower costs. The wellbore can play an important role as the energy transfer mechanism between the surroundings and the air in CAESA system. In this paper, we investigated the influences of the well screen length on CAESA system performance using an integrated wellbore-reservoir simulator (T2WELL/EOS3. The results showed that the well screen length can affect the distribution of the initial gas bubble and that a system with a fully penetrating wellbore can obtain acceptably stable pressurized air and better energy efficiencies. Subsequently, we investigated the impact of the energy storage scale and the target aquifer depth on the performance of a CAESA system using a fully penetrating wellbore. The simulation results demonstrated that larger energy storage scales exhibit better performances of CAESA systems. In addition, deeper target aquifer systems, which could decrease the energy loss by larger storage density and higher temperature in surrounding formation, can obtain better energy efficiencies.

  11. Novel Experimental Techniques to Investigate Wellbore Damage Mechanisms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choens, R. C., II; Ingraham, M. D.; Lee, M.; Dewers, T. A.

    2017-12-01

    A new experimental technique with unique geometry is presented investigating deformation of simulated boreholes using standard axisymmetric triaxial deformation equipment. The Sandia WEllbore SImulation, SWESI, geometry, uses right cylinders of rock 50mm in diameter and 75mm in length. A 11.3mm hole is drilled perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder in the center of the sample to simulate a borehole. The hole is covered with a solid metal cover, and sealed with polyurethane. The metal cover can be machined with a high-pressure port to introduce different fluid chemistries into the borehole at controlled pressures. Samples are deformed in a standard load frame under confinement, allowing for a broad range of possible stresses, load paths, and temperatures. Experiments in this study are loaded to the desired confining pressure, then deformed at a constant axial strain rate or 10-5 sec-1. Two different suites of experiments are conducted in this study on sedimentary and crystalline rock types. The first series of experiments are conducted on Mancos Shale, a finely laminated transversely isotropic rock. Samples are cored at three different orientations to the laminations. A second series of experiments is conducted on Sierra White granite with different fluid chemistries inside the borehole. Numerical modelling and experimental observations including CT-microtomography demonstrate that stresses are concentrated around the simulated wellbore and recreate wellbore deformation mechanisms. Borehole strength and damage development is dependent on anisotropy orientation and fluid chemistry. Observed failure geometries, particularly for Mancos shale, can be highly asymmetric. These results demonstrate uncertainties in in situ stresses measurements using commonly-applied borehole breakout techniques in complicated borehole physico-chemical environments. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering

  12. Gas and Oil Flow through Wellbore Flaws

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatambeigi, M.; Anwar, I.; Reda Taha, M.; Bettin, G.; Chojnicki, K. N.; Stormont, J.

    2017-12-01

    We have measured gas and oil flow through laboratory samples that represent two important potential flow paths in wellbores associated with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR): cement-steel interfaces (microannuli) and cement fractures. Cement fractures were created by tensile splitting of cement cores. Samples to represent microannuli were created by placing thin steel sheets within split cement cores so flow is channeled along the cement-steel interface. The test sequence included alternating gas and oil flow measurements. The test fluids were nitrogen and silicone oil with properties similar to a typical crude oil stored in the SPR. After correcting for non-linear (inertial) flow when necessary, flows were interpreted as effective permeability and hydraulic aperture using the cubic law. For both samples with cement fractures and those with cement-steel interfaces, initial gas and oil permeabilities were comparable. Once saturated with oil, a displacement pressure had to be overcome to establish gas flow through a sample, and the subsequent gas permeability were reduced by more than 50% compared to its initial value. Keywords: wellbore integrity, leakage, fracture, microannulus, SPR. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of NTESS/Honeywell, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. SAND2017-8168 A

  13. Numerical simulation in steam injection wellbores by mechanistic approach; Simulacao numerica do escoamento de vapor em pocos por uma abordagem mecanicista

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Souza Junior, J.C. de; Campos, W.; Lopes, D.; Moura, L.S.S. [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Thomas, A. Clecio F. [Universidade Estadual do Ceara (UECE), CE (Brazil)

    2008-07-01

    This work addresses to the development of a hydrodynamic and heat transfer mechanistic model for steam flow in injection wellbores. The problem of two-phase steam flow in wellbores has been solved recently by using available empirical correlations from petroleum industry (Lopes, 1986) and nuclear industry (Moura, 1991).The good performance achieved by mechanistic models developed by Ansari (1994), Hasan (1995), Gomez (2000) and Kaya (2001) supports the importance of the mechanistic approach for the steam flow problem in injection wellbores. In this study, the methodology to solve the problem consists in the application of a numerical method to the governing equations of steam flow and a marching algorithm to determine the distribution of the pressure and temperature along the wellbore. So, a computer code has been formulated to get numerical results, which provides a comparative study to the main models found in the literature. Finally, when compared to available field data, the mechanistic model for downward vertical steam flow in wellbores gave better results than the empirical correlations. (author)

  14. Numerical simulation on streaming potentials in a wellbore; Koseinai no ryudo den`i ni kansuru suchi simulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ikeda, N [Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Japan)

    1996-05-01

    This paper reports numerical computation of streaming potentials which are generated by transient pressure waves propagating the vicinity of wellbore wall immediately after a mud cake formed on the wellbore wall has been removed. One existing analysis solution on heat conduction was utilized upon changing the parameters in order to derive fluid pressure inside the ground bed. Calculations were carried out by using the existing three-dimensional finite difference method (partly re-written) based on the relationship constituted between the fluid pressure and the streaming potential. This paper presents results of calculating the streaming potentials in wellbores on models having wellbores filled with mud water in a cubic ground bed existing with ground bed water at saturation of 100%. The calculations have been conducted on the following cases: a case where permeability of the ground bed is small with the fluid under two conditions of low electric resistivity and high electric resistivity, a case where the permeability is large with the fluid under the above conditions, and a case where a small area of bore wall is covered with a rubber pad having high electric resistivity under a low electric resistivity condition. 8 refs., 5 figs.

  15. Predicting the stability of horizontal wells and multi-laterals - the role of in situ stress and rock properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moos, A.; Peska, P. [GeoMechanics International (United States); Zoback, M. D. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

    1998-12-31

    A new suite of software tools, developed to study wellbore stability in a wide variety of geologic environments is introduced as means by which to accurately predict optimally-stable wellbore trajectories from knowledge of the stress tensor. In step one of the process stress, is determined from observations of failure in existing wells; in step two, this knowledge is applied to predict the stability of proposed wells while drilling, as well as later during production. Three case studies are presented to illustrate use of this approach. The examples concentrate on issues related to the stability of highly inclined wells, but the approach can be used to determine the state of stress for other purposes as well. 21 refs., 8 figs.

  16. The Development of a Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Sensor Applicable to CBM Wellbore Annulus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Chuan; Wen, Guojun; Han, Lei; Wu, Xiaoming

    2016-11-18

    The measurement of wellbore annulus gas-liquid two-phase flow in CBM (coalbed methane) wells is of great significance for reasonably developing gas drainage and extraction processes, estimating CBM output, judging the operating conditions of CBM wells and analyzing stratum conditions. Hence, a specially designed sensor is urgently needed for real-time measurement of gas-liquid two-phase flow in CBM wellbore annulus. Existing flow sensors fail to meet the requirements of the operating conditions of CBM wellbore annulus due to such factors as an inapplicable measurement principle, larger size, poor sealability, high installation accuracy, and higher requirements for fluid media. Therefore, based on the principle of a target flowmeter, this paper designs a new two-phase flow sensor that can identify and automatically calibrate different flow patterns of two-phase flows. Upon the successful development of the new flow sensor, lab and field tests were carried out, and the results show that the newly designed sensor, with a measurement accuracy of ±2.5%, can adapt to the operating conditions of CBM wells and is reliable for long-term work.

  17. The Development of a Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow Sensor Applicable to CBM Wellbore Annulus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Chuan; Wen, Guojun; Han, Lei; Wu, Xiaoming

    2016-01-01

    The measurement of wellbore annulus gas–liquid two-phase flow in CBM (coalbed methane) wells is of great significance for reasonably developing gas drainage and extraction processes, estimating CBM output, judging the operating conditions of CBM wells and analyzing stratum conditions. Hence, a specially designed sensor is urgently needed for real-time measurement of gas–liquid two-phase flow in CBM wellbore annulus. Existing flow sensors fail to meet the requirements of the operating conditions of CBM wellbore annulus due to such factors as an inapplicable measurement principle, larger size, poor sealability, high installation accuracy, and higher requirements for fluid media. Therefore, based on the principle of a target flowmeter, this paper designs a new two-phase flow sensor that can identify and automatically calibrate different flow patterns of two-phase flows. Upon the successful development of the new flow sensor, lab and field tests were carried out, and the results show that the newly designed sensor, with a measurement accuracy of ±2.5%, can adapt to the operating conditions of CBM wells and is reliable for long-term work. PMID:27869708

  18. The Development of a Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow Sensor Applicable to CBM Wellbore Annulus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuan Wu

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The measurement of wellbore annulus gas–liquid two-phase flow in CBM (coalbed methane wells is of great significance for reasonably developing gas drainage and extraction processes, estimating CBM output, judging the operating conditions of CBM wells and analyzing stratum conditions. Hence, a specially designed sensor is urgently needed for real-time measurement of gas–liquid two-phase flow in CBM wellbore annulus. Existing flow sensors fail to meet the requirements of the operating conditions of CBM wellbore annulus due to such factors as an inapplicable measurement principle, larger size, poor sealability, high installation accuracy, and higher requirements for fluid media. Therefore, based on the principle of a target flowmeter, this paper designs a new two-phase flow sensor that can identify and automatically calibrate different flow patterns of two-phase flows. Upon the successful development of the new flow sensor, lab and field tests were carried out, and the results show that the newly designed sensor, with a measurement accuracy of ±2.5%, can adapt to the operating conditions of CBM wells and is reliable for long-term work.

  19. Hydrophysical logging: A new wellbore technology for hydrogeologic and contaminant characterization of aquifers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pedler, W.H.; Williams, L.L.; Head, C.L.

    1992-01-01

    In the continuing search for improved groundwater characterization technologies, a new wellbore fluid logging method has recently been developed to provide accurate and cost effective hydrogeologic and contaminant characterization of bedrock aquifers. This new technique, termed hydrophysical logging, provides critical information for contaminated site characterization and water supply studies and, in addition, offers advantages compared to existing industry standards for aquifer characterization. Hydrophysical logging is based on measuring induced electrical conductivity changes in the fluid column of a wellbore by employing advanced downhole water quality instrumentation specifically developed for the dynamic borehole environment. Hydrophysical logging contemporaneously identifies the locations of water bearing intervals, the interval-specific inflow rate during pumping, and in-situ hydrochemistry of the formation waters associated with each producing interval. In addition, by employing a discrete point downhole fluid sampler during hydrophysical logging, this technique provides evaluation of contaminant concentrations and migration of contaminants vertically within the borehole. Recently, hydrophysical logging was applied in a deep bedrock wellbore at an industrial site in New Hampshire contaminated with dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). The results of the hydrophysical logging, conducted as part of a hydrogeologic site investigation and feasibility study, facilitated investigation of the site by providing information which indicated that the contamination had not penetrated into deeper bedrock fractures at concentrations of concern. This information was used to focus the pending Remedial Action Plan and to provide a more cost-effective remedial design

  20. Problems in the wellbore integrity of a shale gas horizontal well and corresponding countermeasures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhonglan Tian

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In the Changning–Weiyuan national shale gas demonstration area, SW Sichuan Basin, the wellbore integrity damage occurs in some shale gas wells and has direct effect on the gas production rate of single shale gas horizontal well. After statistics analysis was performed on the problems related with wellbore integrity, such as casing damage, casing running difficulty and cement sheath blow-by, the multi-factor coupling casing stress calculation and evaluation mode laws established. Then study was conducted on the influential mechanism of multi-factor coupling (temperature effect, casing bending and axial pressure on casing damage. The shale slip mechanism and its relationship with casing sheared formation were analyzed by using the Mohr–Coulomb criterion. Inversion analysis was performed on the main controlling factors of casing friction by using the developed casing hook load prediction and friction analysis software. And finally, based on the characteristics of shale gas horizontal wells, wellbore integrity control measures were proposed in terms of design and construction process, so as to improve the drilling quality (DQ. More specifically, shale gas well casing design calculation method and check standard were modified, well structure and full bore hole trajectory design were optimized, drilling quality was improved, cement properties were optimized and cement sealing integrity during fracturing process was checked. These research findings are significant in the design and management of future shale gas borehole integrity.

  1. Numerical studies of CO2 and brine leakage into a shallow aquifer through an open wellbore

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jingrui; Hu, Litang; Pan, Lehua; Zhang, Keni

    2018-03-01

    Industrial-scale geological storage of CO2 in saline aquifers may cause CO2 and brine leakage from abandoned wells into shallow fresh aquifers. This leakage problem involves the flow dynamics in both the wellbore and the storage reservoir. T2Well/ECO2N, a coupled wellbore-reservoir flow simulator, was used to analyze CO2 and brine leakage under different conditions with a hypothetical simulation model in water-CO2-brine systems. Parametric studies on CO2 and brine leakage, including the salinity, excess pore pressure (EPP) and initially dissolved CO2 mass fraction, are conducted to understand the mechanism of CO2 migration. The results show that brine leakage rates increase proportionally with EPP and inversely with the salinity when EPP varies from 0.5 to 1.5 MPa; however, there is no CO2 leakage into the shallow freshwater aquifer if EPP is less than 0.5 MPa. The dissolved CO2 mass fraction shows an important influence on the CO2 plume, as part of the dissolved CO2 becomes a free phase. Scenario simulation shows that the gas lifting effect will significantly increase the brine leakage rate into the shallow freshwater aquifer under the scenario of 3.89% dissolved CO2 mass fraction. The equivalent porous media (EPM) approach used to model the wellbore flow has been evaluated and results show that the EPM approach could either under- or over-estimate brine leakage rates under most scenarios. The discrepancies become more significant if a free CO2 phase evolves. Therefore, a model that can correctly describe the complex flow dynamics in the wellbore is necessary for investigating the leakage problems.

  2. Near Wellbore Hydraulic Fracture Propagation from Perforations in Tight Rocks: The Roles of Fracturing Fluid Viscosity and Injection Rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyed Hassan Fallahzadeh

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Hydraulic fracture initiation and near wellbore propagation is governed by complex failure mechanisms, especially in cased perforated wellbores. Various parameters affect such mechanisms, including fracturing fluid viscosity and injection rate. In this study, three different fracturing fluids with viscosities ranging from 20 to 600 Pa.s were used to investigate the effects of varying fracturing fluid viscosities and fluid injection rates on the fracturing mechanisms. Hydraulic fracturing tests were conducted in cased perforated boreholes made in tight 150 mm synthetic cubic samples. A true tri-axial stress cell was used to simulate real far field stress conditions. In addition, dimensional analyses were performed to correspond the results of lab experiments to field-scale operations. The results indicated that by increasing the fracturing fluid viscosity and injection rate, the fracturing energy increased, and consequently, higher fracturing pressures were observed. However, when the fracturing energy was transferred to a borehole at a faster rate, the fracture initiation angle also increased. This resulted in more curved fracture planes. Accordingly, a new parameter, called fracturing power, was introduced to relate fracture geometry to fluid viscosity and injection rate. Furthermore, it was observed that the presence of casing in the wellbore impacted the stress distribution around the casing in such a way that the fracture propagation deviated from the wellbore vicinity.

  3. Noise Enhanced Stability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spagnolo, B.; Agudov, N.V.; Dubkov, A.A.

    2004-01-01

    The noise can stabilize a fluctuating or a periodically driven metastable state in such a way that the system remains in this state for a longer time than in the absence of white noise. This is the noise enhanced stability phenomenon, observed experimentally and numerically in different physical systems. After shortly reviewing all the physical systems where the phenomenon was observed, the theoretical approaches used to explain the effect are presented. Specifically the conditions to observe the effect in systems: (a) with periodical driving force, and (b) with random dichotomous driving force, are discussed. In case (b) we review the analytical results concerning the mean first passage time and the nonlinear relaxation time as a function of the white noise intensity, the parameters of the potential barrier, and of the dichotomous noise. (author)

  4. Understanding chemical-potential-related transient pore-pressure response to improve real-time borehole (in)stability predictions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tare, U. A.; Mody, F. K.; Mese, A. I. [Haliburton Energy Services, TX (United States)

    2002-07-01

    In order to develop a real-time wellbore (in)stability modelling capability, experimental work was carried out to investigate the role of the chemical potential of drilling fluids on transient pore pressure and time-dependent rock property alterations of shale formations. Time-dependent alterations in the pore pressure, acoustic and rock properties of formations subjected to compressive tri-axial test were recorded during the experiments involving the Pore Pressure Transmission (PPT) test. Based on the transient pore pressure of shale exposed to the test fluid presented here, the 20 per cent calcium chloride showed a very low membrane efficiency of 4.45 per cent. The need for a thorough understanding of the drilling fluid/shale interaction prior to applying any chemical potential wellbore (in)stability model to real-time drilling operations was emphasized. 9 refs., 5 figs.

  5. AnalyzeHOLE: An Integrated Wellbore Flow Analysis Tool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keith J. Halford

    2009-10-01

    Conventional interpretation of flow logs assumes that hydraulic conductivity is directly proportional to flow change with depth. However, well construction can significantly alter the expected relation between changes in fluid velocity and hydraulic conductivity. Strong hydraulic conductivity contrasts between lithologic intervals can be masked in continuously screened wells. Alternating intervals of screen and blank casing also can greatly complicate the relation between flow and hydraulic properties. More permeable units are not necessarily associated with rapid fluid-velocity increases. Thin, highly permeable units can be misinterpreted as thick and less permeable intervals or not identified at all. These conditions compromise standard flow-log interpretation because vertical flow fields are induced near the wellbore. AnalyzeHOLE, an integrated wellbore analysis tool for simulating flow and transport in wells and aquifer systems, provides a better alternative for simulating and evaluating complex well-aquifer system interaction. A pumping well and adjacent aquifer system are simulated with an axisymmetric, radial geometry in a two-dimensional MODFLOW model. Hydraulic conductivities are distributed by depth and estimated with PEST by minimizing squared differences between simulated and measured flows and drawdowns. Hydraulic conductivity can vary within a lithology but variance is limited with regularization. Transmissivity of the simulated system also can be constrained to estimates from single-well, pumping tests. Water-quality changes in the pumping well are simulated with simple mixing models between zones of differing water quality. These zones are differentiated by backtracking thousands of particles from the well screens with MODPATH. An Excel spreadsheet is used to interface the various components of AnalyzeHOLE by (1) creating model input files, (2) executing MODFLOW, MODPATH, PEST, and supporting FORTRAN routines, and (3) importing and graphically

  6. Wellbore inertial navigation system (WINS) software development and test results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wardlaw, R. Jr.

    1982-09-01

    The structure and operation of the real-time software developed for the Wellbore Inertial Navigation System (WINS) application are described. The procedure and results of a field test held in a 7000-ft well in the Nevada Test Site are discussed. Calibration and instrumentation error compensation are outlined, as are design improvement areas requiring further test and development. Notes on Kalman filtering and complete program listings of the real-time software are included in the Appendices. Reference is made to a companion document which describes the downhole instrumentation package.

  7. Risks to Drinking Water from Oil and Gas Wellbore Construction and Integrity: Case Studies and Lessons Learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    This presentation examines various published reports from two drinking water contamination cases, and discuss the potential roles of wellbore construction and integrity and hydraulic fracturing in the resultant drinking water contamination.

  8. High-Resolution Wellbore Temperature Logging Combined with a Borehole-Scale Heat Budget: Conceptual and Analytical Approaches to Characterize Hydraulically Active Fractures and Groundwater Origin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guillaume Meyzonnat

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This work aims to provide an overview of the thermal processes that shape wellbore temperature profiles under static and dynamic conditions. Understanding of the respective influences of advection and conduction heat fluxes is improved through the use of a new heat budget at the borehole scale. Keeping in mind the thermal processes involved, a qualitative interpretation of the temperature profiles allows the occurrence, the position, and the origin of groundwater flowing into wellbores from hydraulically active fractures to be constrained. With the use of a heat budget developed at the borehole scale, temperature logging efficiency has been quantitatively enhanced and allows inflow temperatures to be calculated through the simultaneous use of a flowmeter. Under certain hydraulic or pumping conditions, both inflow intensities and associated temperatures can also be directly modelled from temperature data and the use of the heat budget. Theoretical and applied examples of the heat budget application are provided. Applied examples are shown using high-resolution temperature logging, spinner flow metering, and televiewing for three wells installed in fractured bedrock aquifers in the St-Lawrence Lowlands, Quebec, Canada. Through relatively rapid manipulations, thermal measurements in such cases can be used to detect the intervals or discrete positions of hydraulically active fractures in wellbores, as well as the existence of ambient flows with a high degree of sensitivity, even at very low flows. Heat budget calculations at the borehole scale during pumping indicate that heat advection fluxes rapidly dominate over heat conduction fluxes with the borehole wall. The full characterization of inflow intensities provides information about the distribution of hydraulic properties with depth. The full knowledge of inflow temperatures indicates horizons that are drained from within the aquifer, providing advantageous information on the depth from which

  9. Subnanometric stabilization of plasmon-enhanced optical microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yano, Taka-aki; Ichimura, Taro; Kuwahara, Shota; Verma, Prabhat; Kawata, Satoshi

    2012-01-01

    We have demonstrated subnanometric stabilization of tip-enhanced optical microscopy under ambient condition. Time-dependent thermal drift of a plasmonic metallic tip was optically sensed at subnanometer scale, and was compensated in real-time. In addition, mechanically induced displacement of the tip, which usually occurs when the amount of tip-applied force varies, was also compensated in situ. The stabilization of tip-enhanced optical microscopy enables us to perform long-time and robust measurement without any degradation of optical signal, resulting in true nanometric optical imaging with high reproducibility and high precision. The technique presented is applicable for AFM-based nanoindentation with subnanometric precision. (paper)

  10. Exploring the hole cleaning parameters of horizontal wellbore using two-phase Eulerian CFD approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satish K Dewangan

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The present investigation deals with the flow through concentric annulus with the inner cylinder in rotation. This work has got its importance in the petroleum industries in relation to the wellbore drilling. In wellbore drilling, the issue of the hole-cleaning is very serious problem especially in case of the horizontal drilling process. The effect of the various parameters like slurry flow velocity, inner cylinder rotational speed, inlet solid concentration which affect hole cleaning was discussed. Their effect on the pressure drop, wall shear stress, mixture turbulence kinetic energy, and solid-phase velocity and slip velocity were analyzed, which are responsible for solid-phase distribution. Flow was considered to be steady, incompressible and two-phase slurry flow with water as carrier fluid and silica sand as the secondary phase. Eulerian approach was used for modeling the slurry flow. Silica sand was considered of spherical shape with particle size of 180 µm. ANSYS FLUENT software was used for modeling and solution. Plotting was done using Tecplot software and Microsoft Office.

  11. Heat extraction and power production forecast of a prospective Enhanced Geothermal System site in Songliao Basin, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Xiaoxue; Zhu, Jialing; Niu, Chengke; Li, Jun; Hu, Xia; Jin, Xianpeng

    2014-01-01

    As a promising advanced technology, Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) utilizing deep geothermal energy has gained increasing attention. Production performance of a prospective EGS site in Songliao Basin was evaluated through mathematical modeling. Firstly, numerical simulation of heat extraction process in the fractured reservoir was carried out. To take account of the flow process in wellbores, reservoir-wellbore coupled simulation was undertaken through indirect coupling of TOUGH2 with the wellbore simulator HOLA, in which dynamic treatment of the wellbottom pressure was enabled. Power production performance was then investigated through thermodynamic modeling of an electricity generation system using the output from the reservoir-wellbore coupled simulation. The results suggest that the desirable thermal efficiency and gross power output could be obtained initially, whereas the decrease in production arising from thermal depletion of the reservoir is significant at later stages of operation. Meanwhile, the power consumption of the injection pump takes up an increasing amount of the generated power. It can be inferred from the comparison between simulations with and without coupling that a downhole pump could improve the hydraulic performance notably with little sacrifice of the thermal performance. - Highlights: • An Enhanced Geothermal System based on field data in Songliao Basin is modelled. • We apply reservoir-wellbore and thermodynamic modeling for production evaluation. • Commercial objective is attained at the early stages, and decreases heavily afterward. • Mass flow rate decreases due to wellbottom pressure variation as enthalpy decreases. • Hydraulic performance is improved under the constant wellbottom pressure

  12. New generation of membrane efficient water-based drilling fluids: pragmatic and cost-effective solutions to borehole stability problems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tare, U.A. [Haliburton, Calgary, AB (Canada); Mody, F.K. [Shell International E and P Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada); Tan, C.P. [CSIRO Petroleum, Kensington, WA (Australia)

    2002-06-01

    Drilling and completion operations in shales often suffer as a result of wellbore instability. Mechanical failure of the rock around a wellbore is the primary cause of shale instability. This process can be exacerbated by physico-chemical interactions between drilling fluids and shales. Water-based drilling fluids are used more and more due to environmental awareness that becomes more prevalent. Wellbore instability problems can however result from an improper application of water-based drilling fluids in those cases where drilling occurs in sensitive clay-rich formations. To meet the requirements of the petroleum industry, considerable collaborative efforts were expanded in the development of innovative environmentally acceptable water-based drilling fluids. In this paper, the authors describe the process that leads to the development of these drilling fluids. It is possible to achieve shale stability through an osmotic outflow of pore fluid and prevention/minimization of mud pressure penetration, as laboratory experiments on shale samples under realistic downhole conditions exposed to these drilling fluids prove. High membrane efficiencies, in excess of 80 per cent, were generated by this new generation of membrane efficient water-based drilling fluids. Drilling objectives resulting from an improved application of water-based drilling fluids are made possible by a fundamental understanding of the main drilling fluid-shale interaction mechanisms for shale stability and the application of experimental data to field conditions. The authors indicate that the achievement of trouble-free drilling of shales and notable reductions in non-productive time is accomplished by following the practical guidelines included in this paper for maintaining shale stability with the new generation of water-based drilling fluids. 8 refs., 2 tabs., 4 figs.

  13. Double polymer sheathed carbon nanotube supercapacitors show enhanced cycling stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Wenqi; Wang, Shanshan; Wang, Chunhui; Wu, Shiting; Xu, Wenjing; Zou, Mingchu; Ouyang, An; Cao, Anyuan; Li, Yibin

    2015-12-01

    Pseudo-materials are effective in boosting the specific capacitance of supercapacitors, but during service their degradation may also be very strong, causing reduced cycling stability. Here, we show that a carbon nanotube sponge grafted by two conventional pseudo-polymer layers in sequence can serve as a porous supercapacitor electrode with significantly enhanced cycling stability compared with single polymer grafting. Creating conformal polymer coatings on the nanotube surface and the resulting double-sheath configuration are important structural factors leading to the enhanced performance. Combining different polymers as double sheaths as reported here might be a potential route to circumvent the dilemma of pseudo-materials, and to simultaneously improve the capacitance and stability for various energy storage devices.Pseudo-materials are effective in boosting the specific capacitance of supercapacitors, but during service their degradation may also be very strong, causing reduced cycling stability. Here, we show that a carbon nanotube sponge grafted by two conventional pseudo-polymer layers in sequence can serve as a porous supercapacitor electrode with significantly enhanced cycling stability compared with single polymer grafting. Creating conformal polymer coatings on the nanotube surface and the resulting double-sheath configuration are important structural factors leading to the enhanced performance. Combining different polymers as double sheaths as reported here might be a potential route to circumvent the dilemma of pseudo-materials, and to simultaneously improve the capacitance and stability for various energy storage devices. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr05978j

  14. Measurement of flowing water salinity within or behind wellbore casing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arnold, D.M.

    1981-01-01

    Water flowing within or behind a wellbore casing is irradiated with 14 MeV neutrons from a source in a downhole sonde. Gamma radiation from the isotope nitrogen-16 induced from the O 16 (n,p)N 16 reaction and the products of either the Na 23 (n,α)F 20 or the Cl 37 (n,α)P 34 reactions is measured in intensity and energy with detectors in the sonde. From the gamma radiation measurements, the relative presence of oxygen to at least one of sodium or chlorine in the water is measured, and from the measurement the salinity of the water is to be determined. (author)

  15. Shale-Gas Experience as an Analog for Potential Wellbore Integrity Issues in CO2 Sequestration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carey, James W. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Simpson, Wendy S. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Ziock, Hans-Joachim [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2011-01-01

    Shale-gas development in Pennsylvania since 2003 has resulted in about 19 documented cases of methane migration from the deep subsurface (7,0000) to drinking water aquifers, soils, domestic water wells, and buildings, including one explosion. In all documented cases, the methane leakage was due to inadequate wellbore integrity, possibly aggravated by hydrofracking. The leakage of methane is instructive on the potential for CO{sub 2} leakage from sequestration operations. Although there are important differences between the two systems, both involve migrating, buoyant gas with wells being a primary leakage pathway. The shale-gas experience demonstrates that gas migration from faulty wells can be rapid and can have significant impacts on water quality and human health and safety. Approximately 1.4% of the 2,200 wells drilled into Pennsylvania's Marcellus Formation for shale gas have been implicated in methane leakage. These have resulted in damage to over 30 domestic water supplies and have required significant remediation via well repair and homeowner compensation. The majority of the wellbore integrity problems are a result of over-pressurization of the wells, meaning that high-pressure gas has migrated into an improperly protected wellbore annulus. The pressurized gas leaks from the wellbore into the shallow subsurface, contaminating drinking water or entering structures. The effects are localized to a few thousands of feet to perhaps two-three miles. The degree of mixing between the drinking water and methane is sufficient that significant chemical impacts are created in terms of elevated Fe and Mn and the formation of black precipitates (metal sulfides) as well as effervescing in tap water. Thus it appears likely that leaking CO{sub 2} could also result in deteriorated water quality by a similar mixing process. The problems in Pennsylvania highlight the critical importance of obtaining background data on water quality as well as on problems associated with

  16. Method for enhancing the thermal stability of ionic compounds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2013-01-01

    This invention relates to a method for enhancing the thermal stability of ionic compounds including ionic liquids, by immobilization on porous solid support materials having a pore diameter of between about 20-200 AA, wherein the solid support does not have a pore size of 90 AA.......This invention relates to a method for enhancing the thermal stability of ionic compounds including ionic liquids, by immobilization on porous solid support materials having a pore diameter of between about 20-200 AA, wherein the solid support does not have a pore size of 90 AA....

  17. Power system stability enhancement using facts controllers: a review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abido, M. A

    2009-01-01

    In recent years, power demand has increased substantially while the expansion of power generation and transmission has been severely limited due to limited resources and environmental restrictions. As a consequence, some transmission lines are heavily loaded and the system stability becomes a power transfer-limiting factor. Flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) controllers have been mainly used for solving various power system steady state control problems. However, recent studies reveal that FACTS controllers could be employed to enhance power system stability in addition to their main function of power flow control. The literature shows an increasing interest in this subject for the last two decades, where the enhancement of system stability using FACTS controllers has been extensively investigated. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the research and developments in the power system stability enhancement using FACTS damping controllers. Several technical issues related to FACTS installations have been highlighted and performance comparison of different FACTS controllers has been discussed. In addition, some of the utility experience, real-world installations, and semiconductor technology development have been reviewed and summarized. Applications of FACTS to other power system studies have also been discussed. About two hundred twenty seven research publications have been classified and appended for a quick reference. (author)

  18. Methodology to predict the initiation of multiple transverse fractures from horizontal wellbores

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crosby, D. G.; Yang, Z.; Rahman, S. S. [Univ. of New South Wales (Australia)

    2001-10-01

    The criterion based on Drucker and Prager which is designed to predict the pressure required to initiate secondary multiple transverse fractures in close proximity to primary fractures is discussed. Results based on this criterion compare favorably with those measured during a series of laboratory-scale hydraulic fracture interaction tests. It is concluded that the multiple fracture criterion and laboratory results demonstrate that transversely fractured horizontal wellbores have a limited capacity to resist the initiation of multiple fractures from adjacent perforations, or intersecting induced and natural fractures. 23 refs., 1 tab., 9 figs.

  19. Systematic assessment of wellbore integrity for geologic carbon storage projects using regulatory and industry information

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moody, Mark [Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH (United States); Sminchak, J.R. [Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH (United States)

    2015-11-01

    Under this three year project, the condition of legacy oil and gas wells in the Midwest United States was evaluated through analysis of well records, well plugging information, CBL evaluation, sustained casing pressure (SCP) field testing, and analysis of hypothetical CO2 test areas to provide a realistic description of wellbore integrity factors. The research included a state-wide review of oil and gas well records for Ohio and Michigan, along with more detailed testing of wells in Ohio. Results concluded that oil and gas wells are clustered along fields in areas. Well records vary in quality, and there may be wells that have not been identified in records, but there are options for surveying unknown wells. Many of the deep saline formations being considered for CO2 storage have few wells that penetrate the storage zone or confining layers. Research suggests that a variety of well construction and plugging approaches have been used over time in the region. The project concluded that wellbore integrity is an important issue for CO2 storage applications in the Midwest United States. Realistic CO2 storage projects may cover an area in the subsurface with several hundred legacy oil and gas wells. However, closer inspection may often establish that most of the wells do not penetrate the confining layers or storage zone. Therefore, addressing well integrity may be manageable. Field monitoring of SCP also indicated that tested wells provided zonal isolation of the reservoirs they were designed to isolate. Most of these wells appeared to exhibit gas pressure originating from intermediate zones. Based on these results, more flexibility in terms of cementing wells to surface, allowing well testing, and monitoring wells may aid operators in completing CO2 storage project. Several useful products were developed under this project for examining wellbore integrity for CO2 storage applications including, a

  20. Superamphiphobic cotton fabrics with enhanced stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Bi, E-mail: xubi@dhu.edu.cn [National Engineering Research Center for Dyeing and Finishing of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); Key Laboratory of Science & Technology of Eco-Textile, Ministry of Education, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); Ding, Yinyan; Qu, Shaobo [College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); Cai, Zaisheng, E-mail: zshcai@dhu.edu [College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China)

    2015-11-30

    Highlights: • Superamphiphobic cotton fabrics were prepared. • Water and hexadecane contact angels reach to 164.4° and 156.3°, respectively. • Nanoporous organically modified silica alcogel particles were synthesized. • The superamphiphobic cotton fabrics exhibit enhanced stability against abrasion, laundering and acid. - Abstract: Superamphiphobic cotton fabrics were prepared by alternately depositing organically modified silica alcogel (ormosil) particles onto chitosan precoated cotton fabrics and subsequent 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyltrimethoxysilane (PFOTMS) modification. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images reveal that the ormosil particles display a fluffy, sponge-like nanoporous structure, and the entire cotton fiber surface is covered with highly porous networks. PFOTMS acts as not only a modifier to lower the surface energy of the cotton fabric but also a binder to enhance the coating stability against abrasion and washing. The treated cotton fabrics show highly liquid repellency with the water, cooking oil and hexadecane contact angels reaching to 164.4°, 160.1° and 156.3°, respectively. Meanwhile, the treated cotton fabrics exhibit good abrasion resistance and high laundering durability, which can withstand 10,000 cycles of abrasion and 30 cycles of machine wash without apparently changing the superamphiphobicity. The superamphiphobic cotton fabric also shows high acid stability, and can withstand 98% H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}. Moreover, the superamphiphobic coating has almost no influence on the other physical properties of the cotton fabrics including tensile strength, whiteness and air permeability. This durable non-wetting surface may provide a wide range of new applications in the future.

  1. Inorganic electret with enhanced charge stability for energy harvesting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Fei; Hansen, Ole

    2013-01-01

    We report a new surface treatment of inorganic electret materials which enhances the charge stability. Coating the surfaces with 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H - perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (FDTS) makes the electret surface more hydrophobic which improves the surface charge stability under high humidity condit...... conditions. Thermal tests show that the thermal stability of charge in the inorganic electrets is also much better than that of polymer materials such as CYTOP. A demonstrator device with SiO2 electrets shows promising results for energy harvesting applications....

  2. Improving wellbore position accuracy of horizontal wells by using a continuous inclination measurement from a near bit inclination MWD sensor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berger, P. E.; Sele, R. [Baker Hughes INTEQ (United States)

    1998-12-31

    Wellbore position calculations are typically performed by measuring azimuth and inclination at 10 to 30 meter intervals and using interpolation techniques to determine the borehole position between survey stations. The input parameters are measured depth (MD), azimuth and inclination, where the two parameters are measured with an MWD tool. Output parameters are the geometric coordinates; true value depth (TVD), north and east. By improving the accuracy of the inclination measurement reduces the uncertainty of the calculated TVD value, resulting in increased confidence in wellbore position. Significant improvements in quality control can be achieved by using multiple sensors. This paper describes a set of quality control parameters that can be used to verify individual sensor performance and a method for calculating TVD uncertainty in horizontal wells, using a single sensor or a combination of sensors. 6 refs., 5 figs.

  3. PRODUCTION WELL PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT USING SONICATION TECHNOLOGY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Michael A. Adewumi; M. Thaddeus Ityokumbul; Robert W. Watson; Mario Farias; Glenn Heckman; Johnson Olanrewaju; Eltohami Eltohami; Bruce G. Miller; W. Jack Hughes; Thomas C. Montgomery

    2003-12-17

    The objective of this project is to develop a sonic well performance enhancement technology that focuses on near wellbore formations. In order to successfully achieve this objective, a three-year project has been defined with each year consisting of four tasks. The first task is the laboratory-scale study whose goal is to determine the underlying principles of the technology. The second task will develop a scale-up mathematical model to serve as the design guide for tool development. The third task is to develop effective transducers that can operate with variable frequency so that the most effective frequencies can be applied in any given situation. The system, assembled as part of the production string, ensures delivery of sufficient sonic energy to penetrate the near-wellbore formation. The last task is the actual field testing of the tool. The first year of the project has been completed.

  4. Enhanced Physical Stability of Amorphous Drug Formulations via Dry Polymer Coating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capece, Maxx; Davé, Rajesh

    2015-06-01

    Although amorphous solid drug formulations may be advantageous for enhancing the bioavailability of poorly soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients, they exhibit poor physical stability and undergo recrystallization. To address this limitation, this study investigates stability issues associated with amorphous solids through analysis of the crystallization behavior for acetaminophen (APAP), known as a fast crystallizer, using a modified form of the Avrami equation that kinetically models both surface and bulk crystallization. It is found that surface-enhanced crystallization, occurring faster at the free surface than in the bulk, is the major impediment to the stability of amorphous APAP. It is hypothesized that a novel use of a dry-polymer-coating process referred to as mechanical-dry-polymer-coating may be used to inhibit surface crystallization and enhance stability. The proposed process, which is examined, simultaneously mills and coats amorphous solids with polymer, while avoiding solvents or solutions, which may otherwise cause stability or crystallization issues during coating. It is shown that solid dispersions of APAP (64% loading) with a small particle size (28 μm) could be prepared and coated with the polymer, carnauba wax, in a vibratory ball mill. The resulting amorphous solid was found to have excellent stability as a result of inhibition of surface crystallization. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

  5. Numerical modeling of injection, stress and permeability enhancement during shear stimulation at the Desert Peak Enhanced Geothermal System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dempsey, David; Kelkar, Sharad; Davatzes, Nick; Hickman, Stephen H.; Moos, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    Creation of an Enhanced Geothermal System relies on stimulation of fracture permeability through self-propping shear failure that creates a complex fracture network with high surface area for efficient heat transfer. In 2010, shear stimulation was carried out in well 27-15 at Desert Peak geothermal field, Nevada, by injecting cold water at pressure less than the minimum principal stress. An order-of-magnitude improvement in well injectivity was recorded. Here, we describe a numerical model that accounts for injection-induced stress changes and permeability enhancement during this stimulation. In a two-part study, we use the coupled thermo-hydrological-mechanical simulator FEHM to: (i) construct a wellbore model for non-steady bottom-hole temperature and pressure conditions during the injection, and (ii) apply these pressures and temperatures as a source term in a numerical model of the stimulation. In this model, a Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and empirical fracture permeability is developed to describe permeability evolution of the fractured rock. The numerical model is calibrated using laboratory measurements of material properties on representative core samples and wellhead records of injection pressure and mass flow during the shear stimulation. The model captures both the absence of stimulation at low wellhead pressure (WHP ≤1.7 and ≤2.4 MPa) as well as the timing and magnitude of injectivity rise at medium WHP (3.1 MPa). Results indicate that thermoelastic effects near the wellbore and the associated non-local stresses further from the well combine to propagate a failure front away from the injection well. Elevated WHP promotes failure, increases the injection rate, and cools the wellbore; however, as the overpressure drops off with distance, thermal and non-local stresses play an ongoing role in promoting shear failure at increasing distance from the well.

  6. Method for measurement of flowing water salinity within or behind wellbore casing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arnold, D.M.

    1986-01-01

    Water flowing within or behind a wellbore casing is irradiated with 14 MeV neutrons from a source in a downhole sonde. Gamma radiation from the isotope nitrogen-16 induced from the O 16 (n,p)N 16 reaction and the products of either the Na 23 (n,α)F 20 or the Cl 37 (n,α)p 34 reactions is measured in intensity and energy with detectors in the sonde. From the gamma radiation measurements, the relative presence of oxygen to at least one of sodium or chlorine in the water is measured, and from the measurement the salinity of the water is determined

  7. Enhanced stabilization of collagen by furfural.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lakra, Rachita; Kiran, Manikantan Syamala; Usha, Ramamoorthy; Mohan, Ranganathan; Sundaresan, Raja; Korrapati, Purna Sai

    2014-04-01

    Furfural (2-furancarboxaldehyde), a product derived from plant pentosans, has been investigated for its interaction with collagen. Introduction of furfural during fibril formation enhanced the thermal and mechanical stability of collagen. Collagen films treated with furfural exhibited higher denaturation temperature (Td) (pFurfural and furfural treated collagen films did not have any cytotoxic effect. Rheological characterization showed an increase in shear stress and shear viscosity with increasing shear rate for treated collagen. Circular dichroism (CD) studies indicated that the furfural did not have any impact on triple helical structure of collagen. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of furfural treated collagen exhibited small sized porous structure in comparison with untreated collagen. Thus this study provides an alternate ecologically safe crosslinking agent for improving the stability of collagen for biomedical and industrial applications. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Delay-enhanced stability and stochastic resonance in perception bistability under non-Gaussian noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Tao; Zeng, Chunhua; Liu, Ruifen; Wang, Hua; Mei, Dongcheng

    2015-01-01

    In this paper we investigate the effect of time delay in an attractor network model of perception bistability driven by non-Gaussian noise. Using delay Langevin and Fokker–Planck approaches, the theoretical analysis of the model is presented. It is found that the mean first-passage time (MFPT) as a function of the time delay exhibits a maximum, which is identified as the characteristic of the delay-enhanced stability of the system. This is different to the case of noise-enhanced stability. The non-Gaussian noise-enhanced stability of the system is also analyzed. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as a function of the noise intensity exhibits a maximum. This maximum implies the identifying characteristic of stochastic resonance (SR), and the time delay and non-Gaussian noise can enhance the SR phenomenon. (paper)

  9. A mechanistic model of heat transfer for gas-liquid flow in vertical wellbore annuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Bang-Tang; Li, Xiang-Fang; Liu, Gang

    2018-01-01

    The most prominent aspect of multiphase flow is the variation in the physical distribution of the phases in the flow conduit known as the flow pattern. Several different flow patterns can exist under different flow conditions which have significant effects on liquid holdup, pressure gradient and heat transfer. Gas-liquid two-phase flow in an annulus can be found in a variety of practical situations. In high rate oil and gas production, it may be beneficial to flow fluids vertically through the annulus configuration between well tubing and casing. The flow patterns in annuli are different from pipe flow. There are both casing and tubing liquid films in slug flow and annular flow in the annulus. Multiphase heat transfer depends on the hydrodynamic behavior of the flow. There are very limited research results that can be found in the open literature for multiphase heat transfer in wellbore annuli. A mechanistic model of multiphase heat transfer is developed for different flow patterns of upward gas-liquid flow in vertical annuli. The required local flow parameters are predicted by use of the hydraulic model of steady-state multiphase flow in wellbore annuli recently developed by Yin et al. The modified heat-transfer model for single gas or liquid flow is verified by comparison with Manabe's experimental results. For different flow patterns, it is compared with modified unified Zhang et al. model based on representative diameters.

  10. Modeling the key factors that could influence the diffusion of CO2 from a wellbore blowout in the Ordos Basin, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Qi; Shi, Hui; Yang, Duoxing; Wei, Xiaochen

    2017-02-01

    Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) blowout from a wellbore is regarded as a potential environment risk of a CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) project. In this paper, an assumed blowout of a wellbore was examined for China's Shenhua CCS demonstration project. The significant factors that influenced the diffusion of CO 2 were identified by using a response surface method with the Box-Behnken experiment design. The numerical simulations showed that the mass emission rate of CO 2 from the source and the ambient wind speed have significant influence on the area of interest (the area of high CO 2 concentration above 30,000 ppm). There is a strong positive correlation between the mass emission rate and the area of interest, but there is a strong negative correlation between the ambient wind speed and the area of interest. Several other variables have very little influence on the area of interest, e.g., the temperature of CO 2 , ambient temperature, relative humidity, and stability class values. Due to the weather conditions at the Shenhua CCS demonstration site at the time of the modeled CO 2 blowout, the largest diffusion distance of CO 2 in the downwind direction did not exceed 200 m along the centerline. When the ambient wind speed is in the range of 0.1-2.0 m/s and the mass emission rate is in the range of 60-120 kg/s, the range of the diffusion of CO 2 is at the most dangerous level (i.e., almost all Grade Four marks in the risk matrix). Therefore, if the injection of CO 2 takes place in a region that has relatively low perennial wind speed, special attention should be paid to the formulation of pre-planned, emergency measures in case there is a leakage accident. The proposed risk matrix that classifies and grades blowout risks can be used as a reference for the development of appropriate regulations. This work may offer some indicators in developing risk profiles and emergency responses for CO 2 blowouts.

  11. Enhancing stability of industrial turbines using adjustable partial arc bearings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chasalevris, Athanasios; Dohnal, Fadi

    2016-09-01

    The paper presents the principal of operation, the simulation and the characteristics of two partial-arc journal bearings of variable geometry and adjustable/controllable stiffness and damping properties. The proposed journals are supposed to consist of a scheme that enables the periodical variation of bearing properties. Recent achievements of suppressing rotor vibrations using plain circular journal bearings of variable geometry motivate the further extension of the principle to bearings of applicable geometry for industrial turbines. The paper describes the application of a partial-arc journal bearing to enhance stability of high speed industrial turbines. The proposed partial-arc bearings with adjustable/controllable properties enhance stability and they introduce stable margins in speeds much higher than the 1st critical.

  12. Near-wellbore modeling of a horizontal well with Computational Fluid Dynamics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Szanyi, Márton L.; Hemmingsen, Casper Schytte; Yan, Wei

    2018-01-01

    Dynamics (CFD) is capable of modeling the complex interaction between the creeping reservoir flow and turbulent well flow for single phases, while capturing both the completion geometry and formation damage. A series of single phase steady-state simulations are undertaken, using such fully coupled three...... dimensional numerical models, to predict the inflow to the well. The present study considers the applicability of CFD for near-wellbore modeling through benchmark cases with available analytical solutions. Moreover, single phase steady-state numerical investigations are performed on a specific perforated...... horizontal well producing from the Siri field, offshore Denmark. The performance of the well is investigated with an emphasis on the inflow profile and the productivity index for different formation damage scenarios. A considerable redistribution of the inflow profile were found when the filtrate invasion...

  13. Final Scientific/Technical Report for "Nanite" for Better Well-Bore Integrity and Zonal Isolation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veedu, Vinod [Oceanit Laboratories, Inc., Honolulu, HI (United States); Hadmack, Michael [Oceanit Laboratories, Inc., Honolulu, HI (United States); Pollock, Jacob [Oceanit Laboratories, Inc., Honolulu, HI (United States); Pernambuco-Wise, Paul [Oceanit Laboratories, Inc., Honolulu, HI (United States); Ah Yo, Derek [Oceanit Laboratories, Inc., Honolulu, HI (United States)

    2017-05-30

    Nanite™ is a cementitious material that contains a proprietary formulation of functionalized nanomaterial additive to transform conventional cement into a smart material responsive to pressure (or stress), temperature, and any intrinsic changes in composition. This project has identified optimal sensing modalities of smart well cement and demonstrated how real-time sensing of Nanite™ can improve long-term wellbore integrity and zonal isolation in shale gas and applicable oil and gas operations. Oceanit has explored Nanite’s electrical sensing properties in depth and has advanced the technology from laboratory proof-of-concept to sub-scale testing in preparation for field trials.

  14. Vastly enhancing the chemical stability of phosphorene by employing an electric field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Junfeng; Zhang, Gang; Zhang, Yong-Wei

    2017-03-23

    Currently, a major hurdle preventing phosphorene from various electronic applications is its rapid oxidation under ambient conditions. Thus how to enhance its chemical stability by suppressing oxidation becomes an urgent task. Here, we reveal a highly effective procedure to suppress the oxidation of phosphorene by employing a suitable van der Waals (vdW) substrate and a vertical electric field. Our first-principles study shows that the phosphorene-MoSe 2 vdW heterostructure is able to reverse the stability of physisorption and chemisorption of molecular O 2 on phosphorene. With further application of a vertical electric field of -0.6 V Å -1 , the energy barrier for oxidation is able to further increase to 0.91 eV, leading to a 10 5 times enhancement in its lifetime compared with that without using the procedure at room temperature. Our work presents a viable strategy to vastly enhance the chemical stability of phosphorene in air.

  15. C-5 Propynyl Modifications Enhance the Mechanical Stability of DNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aschenbrenner, Daniela; Baumann, Fabian; Milles, Lukas F; Pippig, Diana A; Gaub, Hermann E

    2015-07-20

    Increased thermal or mechanical stability of DNA duplexes is desired for many applications in nanotechnology or -medicine where DNA is used as a programmable building block. Modifications of pyrimidine bases are known to enhance thermal stability and have the advantage of standard base-pairing and easy integration during chemical DNA synthesis. Through single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments with atomic force microscopy and the molecular force assay we investigated the effect of pyrimidines harboring C-5 propynyl modifications on the mechanical stability of double-stranded DNA. Utilizing these complementary techniques, we show that propynyl bases significantly increase the mechanical stability if the DNA is annealed at high temperature. In contrast, modified DNA complexes formed at room temperature and short incubation times display the same stability as non-modified DNA duplexes. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  16. Relevance of Linear Stability Results to Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Xueru; Daripa, Prabir

    2012-11-01

    How relevant can the results based on linear stability theory for any problem for that matter be to full scale simulation results? Put it differently, is the optimal design of a system based on linear stability results is optimal or even near optimal for the complex nonlinear system with certain objectives of interest in mind? We will address these issues in the context of enhanced oil recovery by chemical flooding. This will be based on an ongoing work. Supported by Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation).

  17. Transient Stability Enhancement in Power System Using Static VAR Compensator (SVC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Youssef MOULOUDI

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, an indirect adaptive fuzzy excitation and static VAR (unit of reactive power, volt-ampere reactive compensator (SVC controller is proposed to enhance transient stability for the power system, which based on input-output linearization technique. A three-bus system, which contains a generator and static VAR compensator (SVC, is considered in this paper, the SVC is located at the midpoint of the transmission lines. Simulation results show that the proposed controller compared with a controller based on tradition linearization technique can enhance the transient stability of the power system under a large sudden fault, which may occur nearly at the generator bus terminal.

  18. Understanding acoustic physics in oil and gas wellbores with the presence of ubiquitous geometric eccentricity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yang; D'Angelo, Ralph M.; Choi, Gloria; Zhu, Lingchen; Bose, Sandip; Zeroug, Smaine

    2018-04-01

    Once an oil and gas wellbore has been drilled, steel casings and cement slurry are placed to ensure structural support, protection from fluid invasion, and most importantly to provide zonal isolation. The actual wellbore and string structure is rarely concentric but rather is often an eccentric one, especially in deviated boreholes. The term "eccentricity" is used to describe how off-center a casing string is within another pipe or the open-hole. In a typical double-string configuration, the inner casing is eccentered with respect to the outer string which itself is also eccentered within the cylindrical hole. The annuli may or may not be filled with solid cement, and the cement may have liquid-filled channels or be disbonded over localized azimuthal ranges. The complexity of wave propagation along axial intervals is significant in that multiple modes can be excited and detected with characteristics that are affected by the various parameters, including eccentering, in a non-linear fashion. A successful diagnosis of cement flaws largely relies on a thorough understanding of the complex acoustic modal information. The present study employs both modeling and experiments to fully understand the acoustic wave propagation in the complex, fluid-solid nested, cylindrically layered structures, with geometric eccentricities. The experimental results show excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions from newly developed, borehole acoustic modeling approaches. As such, it provides the basis for better understanding the operative wave physics and providing the means for effective inspection methodologies to assess well integrity and zonal isolation of oil wells.

  19. Printable luminescent down shifter for enhancing efficiency and stability of organic photovoltaics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kettle, J.; Bristow, N.; Gethin, D.T.

    2016-01-01

    monitoring, using a 16-cell monolithically connected OPV module. By applying the LDS layer, a ~5% relative enhancement in photocurrent is observed for both sets of devices. More significantly, indoor light soaking tests on single cell devices without encapsulation showed an 850% enhancement in the measured...... half-life (T50%). The OPV modules were encapsulated and tested for outdoor stability over a 70 day period in the Negev desert, Israel. The modules made with the LDS filter are shown to match the stability of those made with a commercial UV filter and outperform the modules with no filter applied...

  20. Nanocaged enzymes with enhanced catalytic activity and increased stability against protease digestion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Zhao; Fu, Jinglin; Dhakal, Soma; Johnson-Buck, Alexander; Liu, Minghui; Zhang, Ting; Woodbury, Neal W.; Liu, Yan; Walter, Nils G.; Yan, Hao

    2016-01-01

    Cells routinely compartmentalize enzymes for enhanced efficiency of their metabolic pathways. Here we report a general approach to construct DNA nanocaged enzymes for enhancing catalytic activity and stability. Nanocaged enzymes are realized by self-assembly into DNA nanocages with well-controlled stoichiometry and architecture that enabled a systematic study of the impact of both encapsulation and proximal polyanionic surfaces on a set of common metabolic enzymes. Activity assays at both bulk and single-molecule levels demonstrate increased substrate turnover numbers for DNA nanocage-encapsulated enzymes. Unexpectedly, we observe a significant inverse correlation between the size of a protein and its activity enhancement. This effect is consistent with a model wherein distal polyanionic surfaces of the nanocage enhance the stability of active enzyme conformations through the action of a strongly bound hydration layer. We further show that DNA nanocages protect encapsulated enzymes against proteases, demonstrating their practical utility in functional biomaterials and biotechnology. PMID:26861509

  1. Nanocaged enzymes with enhanced catalytic activity and increased stability against protease digestion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Zhao; Fu, Jinglin; Dhakal, Soma; Johnson-Buck, Alexander; Liu, Minghui; Zhang, Ting; Woodbury, Neal W.; Liu, Yan; Walter, Nils G.; Yan, Hao

    2016-02-01

    Cells routinely compartmentalize enzymes for enhanced efficiency of their metabolic pathways. Here we report a general approach to construct DNA nanocaged enzymes for enhancing catalytic activity and stability. Nanocaged enzymes are realized by self-assembly into DNA nanocages with well-controlled stoichiometry and architecture that enabled a systematic study of the impact of both encapsulation and proximal polyanionic surfaces on a set of common metabolic enzymes. Activity assays at both bulk and single-molecule levels demonstrate increased substrate turnover numbers for DNA nanocage-encapsulated enzymes. Unexpectedly, we observe a significant inverse correlation between the size of a protein and its activity enhancement. This effect is consistent with a model wherein distal polyanionic surfaces of the nanocage enhance the stability of active enzyme conformations through the action of a strongly bound hydration layer. We further show that DNA nanocages protect encapsulated enzymes against proteases, demonstrating their practical utility in functional biomaterials and biotechnology.

  2. Microbial enhancement of non-Darcy flow: Theoretical consideration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shi, Jianxin; Schneider, D.R.

    1995-12-31

    In the near well-bore region and perforations, petroleum fluids usually flow at high velocities and may exhibit non-Darcy-flow behavior. Microorganisms can increase permeability and porosity by removing paraffin or asphaltene accumulations. They can also reduce interfacial tension by producing biosurfactants. These changes can significantly affect non-Darcy flow behavior. Theoretical analysis shows that microbial activities can enhance production by decreasing the turbulence pressure drop and in some cases increasing the drag force exerted to the oil phase. This implies that the effects of microbial activities on non-Darcy flow are important and should be considered in the evaluation of microbial well stimulation and enhanced oil recovery.

  3. Polymer-Cement Composites with Self-Healing Ability for Geothermal and Fossil Energy Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Childers, M. Ian; Nguyen, Manh-Thuong; Rod, Kenton A.; Koech, Phillip K.; Um, Wooyong; Chun, Jaehun; Glezakou, Vassiliki-Alexandra; Linn, Diana; Roosendaal, Timothy J.; Wietsma, Thomas W.; Huerta, Nicolas John; Kutchko, Barbara G.; Fernandez, Carlos A.

    2017-05-18

    Sealing of wellbores in geothermal and tight oil/gas reservoirs by filling the annulus with cement is a well-established practice. Failure of the cement as a result of physical and/or chemical stress is a common problem with serious environmental and financial consequences. Numerous alternative cement blends have been proposed for the oil and gas industry. Most of these possess poor mechanical properties, or are not designed to work in high temperature environments. This work reports on a novel polymer-cement composite with remarkable self-healing ability that maintains the required properties of typical wellbore cements and may be stable at most geothermal temperatures. We combine for the first time experimental analysis of physical and chemical properties with density functional theory simulations to evaluate cement performance. The thermal stability and mechanical strength are attributed to the formation of a number of chemical interactions between the polymer and cement matrix including covalent bonds, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals interactions. Self-healing was demonstrated by sealing fractures with 0.3–0.5 mm apertures, 2 orders of magnitude larger than typical wellbore fractures. This polymer-cement composite represents a major advance in wellbore cementing that could improve the environmental safety and economics of enhanced geothermal energy and tight oil/gas production.

  4. Enhancement of small signal stability of a DFIG-based wind power ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology ... logic controllers for enhancing the small signal stability of DFIG-based wind integrated power system. ... state space model, eigenvalue analysis, fuzzy logic based tuning circuits ...

  5. VMCast: A VM-Assisted Stability Enhancing Solution for Tree-Based Overlay Multicast.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weidong Gu

    Full Text Available Tree-based overlay multicast is an effective group communication method for media streaming applications. However, a group member's departure causes all of its descendants to be disconnected from the multicast tree for some time, which results in poor performance. The above problem is difficult to be addressed because overlay multicast tree is intrinsically instable. In this paper, we proposed a novel stability enhancing solution, VMCast, for tree-based overlay multicast. This solution uses two types of on-demand cloud virtual machines (VMs, i.e., multicast VMs (MVMs and compensation VMs (CVMs. MVMs are used to disseminate the multicast data, whereas CVMs are used to offer streaming compensation. The used VMs in the same cloud datacenter constitute a VM cluster. Each VM cluster is responsible for a service domain (VMSD, and each group member belongs to a specific VMSD. The data source delivers the multicast data to MVMs through a reliable path, and MVMs further disseminate the data to group members along domain overlay multicast trees. The above approach structurally improves the stability of the overlay multicast tree. We further utilized CVM-based streaming compensation to enhance the stability of the data distribution in the VMSDs. VMCast can be used as an extension to existing tree-based overlay multicast solutions, to provide better services for media streaming applications. We applied VMCast to two application instances (i.e., HMTP and HCcast. The results show that it can obviously enhance the stability of the data distribution.

  6. Effect of Matrix-Wellbore Flow and Porosity on Pressure Transient Response in Shale Formation Modeling by Dual Porosity and Dual Permeability System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daolun Li

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A mathematical dual porosity and dual permeability numerical model based on perpendicular bisection (PEBI grid is developed to describe gas flow behaviors in shale-gas reservoirs by incorporating slippage corrected permeability and adsorbed gas effect. Parametric studies are conducted for a horizontal well with multiple infinite conductivity hydraulic fractures in shale-gas reservoir to investigate effect of matrix-wellbore flow, natural fracture porosity, and matrix porosity. We find that the ratio of fracture permeability to matrix permeability approximately decides the bottom hole pressure (BHP error caused by omitting the flow between matrix and wellbore and that the effect of matrix porosity on BHP is related to adsorption gas content. When adsorbed gas accounts for large proportion of the total gas storage in shale formation, matrix porosity only has a very small effect on BHP. Otherwise, it has obvious influence. This paper can help us understand the complex pressure transient response due to existence of the adsorbed gas and help petroleum engineers to interpret the field data better.

  7. Understanding chemical-potential-related transient pore-pressure response to improve real-time borehole (in)stability predictions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tare, U.A.; Mody, F.K.; Mese, A.I. [Halliburton Energy Services, Cairo (Egypt)

    2000-11-01

    Experimental studies were conducted to explain the concept of a real-time wellbore (in)stability logging methodology. The role of the chemical potential of drilling fluids on transient pore pressure and time-dependent rock property alterations of shale formations was examined by providing details about a pore pressure transmission (PPT) test. The PPT experiments exposed formation (shale) cores under simulated downhole conditions to various salt solutions and drilling fluids. The main objective was to translate the results of the PPT tests to actual drilling conditions. A 20 per cent w/w calcium chloride solution was exposed to a Pierre II shale under high pressure in the PPT apparatus. The PPT test was used to estimate the impact of a drilling fluid on shale pore pressure. The efficiency of the salt solution/shale system was also estimated. Estimates of the dynamic rock properties were made based on the obtained acoustic data. It was determined that in order to accurately model time-dependent wellbore (in)stability in the field, it is important to calibrate representative shale core response to drilling fluids under realistic in-situ conditions. The 20 per cent w/w calcium chloride solution showed very low membrane efficiency of 4.45 per cent. It was concluded that changes in the shale dynamic rock properties as a function of test fluid exposure can be obtained from the simultaneous acquisition of sonic compression and shear wave velocity data. 12 refs., 5 figs.

  8. Origin of Activity and Stability Enhancement for Ag3PO4 Photocatalyst after Calcination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pengyu Dong

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Pristine Ag3PO4 microspheres were synthesized by a co-precipitation method, followed by being calcined at different temperatures to obtain a series of calcined Ag3PO4 photocatalysts. This work aims to investigate the origin of activity and stability enhancement for Ag3PO4 photocatalyst after calcination based on the systematical analyses of the structures, morphologies, chemical states of elements, oxygen defects, optical absorption properties, separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, and active species. The results indicate that oxygen vacancies (VO˙˙ are created and metallic silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs are formed by the reaction of partial Ag+ in Ag3PO4 semiconductor with the thermally excited electrons from Ag3PO4 and then deposited on the surface of Ag3PO4 microspheres during the calcination process. Among the calcined Ag3PO4 samples, the Ag3PO4-200 sample exhibits the best photocatalytic activity and greatly enhanced photocatalytic stability for photodegradation of methylene blue (MB solution under visible light irradiation. Oxygen vacancies play a significantly positive role in the enhancement of photocatalytic activity, while metallic Ag has a very important effect on improving the photocatalytic stability. Overall, the present work provides some powerful evidences and a deep understanding on the origin of activity and stability enhancement for the Ag3PO4 photocatalyst after calcination.

  9. Enhancement of stability of various nZVI suspensions used in groundwater remediation with environmentally friendly organic stabilizers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmid, Doris; Wagner, Stephan; Velimirović, Milica; Laumann, Susanne; Micić, Vesna; Hofmann, Thilo

    2014-05-01

    The use of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) particles for in situ remediation of polluted soil and groundwater has been shown as one of the most promising techniques [1]. The success of this technology depends on the mobility, reactivity, and longevity of nZVI particles. The mobility of nZVI particles depends on the properties of the single particles, stability of the particle suspension, and the aquifer material [1,2]. In order to enhance the mobility of nZVI, the mobility-decisive properties of the nZVI particles in suspension such as concentration, size distribution, surface charge, and sedimentation rate have to be investigated and optimized. Previous studies showed that pristine nZVI particles aggregate rapidly in water, reducing the particles radius of influence after injection [3]. In order to prevent aggregation and sedimentation of the nZVI particles, and consequently improve the stability of nZVI suspension and therefore the mobility of the nZVI particles, surface stabilizers can be used to provide electrostatic repulsion and steric or electrosteric stabilization [3,4]. The objective of this lab-scale study is to investigate the potential for enhancing the stability of different nZVI suspensions by means of environmentally friendly organic stabilizers, including carboxymethyl cellulose, pectin, alginate, xanthan, and guar gum. The different nZVI particles used included pristine and polyacrylic acid-coated nZVI particles provided in suspension (Nanofer 25 and Nanofer 25S, respectively, NANOIRON s.r.o., Czech Republic), air-stable nZVI particles (Nanofer Star, (NANOIRON s.r.o., Czech Republic), and milled iron flakes (UVR-FIA, Germany). In order to study the enhancement of nZVI stability (1 g L-1 total iron) different concentrations of organic stabilizers (1-20 wt.%) were applied in these nZVI suspensions. Each nZVI suspension was freshly prepared and treated for 10 minutes with Ultra-Turrax (15 000 rpm) and 10 minutes ultrasonic bath prior to

  10. Fluorinated Phosphorene: Electrochemical Synthesis, Atomistic Fluorination, and Enhanced Stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Xian; Liang, Weiyuan; Zhao, Jinlai; Li, Zhongjun; Qiu, Meng; Fan, Taojian; Luo, Crystal Shaojuan; Zhou, Ye; Li, Yu; Guo, Zhinan; Fan, Dianyuan; Zhang, Han

    2017-12-01

    Phosphorene has attracted great interest due to its unique electronic and optoelectronic properties owing to its tunable direct and moderate band-gap in association with high carrier mobility. However, its intrinsic instability in air seriously hinders its practical applications, and problems of technical complexity and in-process degradation exist in currently proposed stabilization strategies. A facile pathway in obtaining and stabilizing phosphorene through a one-step, ionic liquid-assisted electrochemical exfoliation and synchronous fluorination process is reported in this study. This strategy enables fluorinated phosphorene (FP) to be discovered and large-scale, highly selective few-layer FP (3-6 atomic layers) to be obtained. The synthesized FP is found to exhibit unique morphological and optical characteristics. Possible atomistic fluorination configurations of FP are revealed by core-level binding energy shift calculations in combination with spectroscopic measurements, and the results indicate that electrolyte concentration significantly modulates the fluorination configurations. Furthermore, FP is found to exhibit enhanced air stability thanks to the antioxidation and antihydration effects of the introduced fluorine adatoms, and demonstrate excellent photothermal stability during a week of air exposure. These findings pave the way toward real applications of phosphorene-based nanophotonics. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  11. Stabilizing ultrasmall Au clusters for enhanced photoredox catalysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weng, Bo; Lu, Kang-Qiang; Tang, Zichao; Chen, Hao Ming; Xu, Yi-Jun

    2018-04-18

    Recently, loading ligand-protected gold (Au) clusters as visible light photosensitizers onto various supports for photoredox catalysis has attracted considerable attention. However, the efficient control of long-term photostability of Au clusters on the metal-support interface remains challenging. Herein, we report a simple and efficient method for enhancing the photostability of glutathione-protected Au clusters (Au GSH clusters) loaded on the surface of SiO 2 sphere by utilizing multifunctional branched poly-ethylenimine (BPEI) as a surface charge modifying, reducing and stabilizing agent. The sequential coating of thickness controlled TiO 2 shells can further significantly improve the photocatalytic efficiency, while such structurally designed core-shell SiO 2 -Au GSH clusters-BPEI@TiO 2 composites maintain high photostability during longtime light illumination conditions. This joint strategy via interfacial modification and composition engineering provides a facile guideline for stabilizing ultrasmall Au clusters and rational design of Au clusters-based composites with improved activity toward targeting applications in photoredox catalysis.

  12. Impact of Casing Expansion on the Mechanical and Petro-Physical Properties of Wellbore Cements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oyibo, A. E.

    2014-12-01

    The main objective of this research is to investigate the applicability of expandable casing technology as a remediation technique for leaky wells resulting in gas migration problems. Micro annulus is usually created at the cement-formation/cement-casing interface or within the cement matrix either due to poor primary cementing or as a result of activities such as temperature and pressure variation or fracturing operations. Recent reports on gas migration in hydraulically fractured wellbores, has raised concerns on the contamination of fresh water aquifers resulting from fluid migration though this flow path. A unique bench-scale physical model which utilizes expandable tubulars in the remediation of micro annular gas flow has been used to simulate expansion of a previously-cemented casing under field-like conditions. Three different designs of cement slurry: regular 16.4 lb. /gal, 16.4 lb. /gal base slurry foamed to 13 lb. /gal and 16.4 lb. /gal cement slurry with 10% salt concentration. Gas flow path (microannulus) was artificially created at the pipe-cement interface by rotating the inner pipe in a pipe inside pipe assembly with cement in the annulus within the first few hours of hydration to create debonding at the cement-casing interface. Nitrogen gas flow-through experiments were performed before and after the expansion to confirm the sealing of the microannulus. The results obtained confirmed the effectiveness of this technique in the complete closure of gas leakage path, providing seal-tight cement-formation interface free of microannulus. The manipulation of the cement sheath during the casing expansion resulted in improved porosity, permeability and the strength of the cement sheath. SEM micrographs revealed decrease in pore size and fracturing of unhydrated cement grains within the cement matrix. This technology has great potential to become one of the leading cement remediation techniques for leaks behind the casing if implemented. Keywords: Wellbore

  13. Both solubility and chemical stability of curcumin are enhanced by solid dispersion in cellulose derivative matrices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Bin; Konecke, Stephanie; Wegiel, Lindsay A; Taylor, Lynne S; Edgar, Kevin J

    2013-10-15

    Amorphous solid dispersions (ASD) of curcumin (Cur) in cellulose derivative matrices, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMCAS), carboxymethylcellulose acetate butyrate (CMCAB), and cellulose acetate adipate propionate (CAAdP) were prepared in order to investigate the structure-property relationship and identify polymer properties necessary to effectively increase Cur aqueous solution concentration. XRD results indicated that all investigated solid dispersions were amorphous, even at a 9:1 Cur:polymer ratio. Both stability against crystallization and Cur solution concentration from these ASDs were significantly higher than those from physical mixtures and crystalline Cur. Remarkably, curcumin was also stabilized against chemical degradation in solution. Chemical stabilization was polymer-dependent, with stabilization in CAAdP>CMCAB>HPMCAS>PVP, while matrices enhanced solution concentration as PVP>HPMCAS>CMCAB≈CAAdP. HPMCAS/Cur dispersions have useful combinations of pH-triggered release profile, chemical stabilization, and strong enhancement of Cur solution concentration. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Enhancing Activity and Stability of Uricase from Lactobacillus plantarum by Zeolite immobilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iswantini, D.; Nurhidayat, N.; Sarah

    2017-03-01

    Lactobacillus plantarum has been known be able to produce uricase for uric acid biosensor. Durability and stability of L. plantarum in generating uricase enzyme was low. Hence, we tried to enhance its durability and stability by immobilizing it onto activated 250 mg zeolite at room temperature using 100 μL L.plantarum suspension and 2.87 mM uric acid, while Michaelis-Menten constant (KM) and Vmax were obtained at 6.7431 mM and 0.9171 µA consecutively, and the linearity range was 0.1-3.3 mM (R2 = 0.9667). Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) value of the measurement were 0.4827 mM and 1.6092 mM respectively. Biosensor stability treatment was carried out in two different treatments, using the same electrode and using disposable electrode. The disposable electrode stability showed better result based on repeated measurements, but stability was still need improvement.

  15. Enhanced Stability of Inactivated Influenza Vaccine Encapsulated in Dissolving Microneedle Patches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Leonard Y; Ye, Ling; Dong, Ke; Compans, Richard W; Yang, Chinglai; Prausnitz, Mark R

    2016-04-01

    This study tested the hypothesis that encapsulation of influenza vaccine in microneedle patches increases vaccine stability during storage at elevated temperature. Whole inactivated influenza virus vaccine (A/Puerto Rico/8/34) was formulated into dissolving microneedle patches and vaccine stability was evaluated by in vitro and in vivo assays of antigenicity and immunogenicity after storage for up to 3 months at 4, 25, 37 and 45°C. While liquid vaccine completely lost potency as determined by hemagglutination (HA) activity within 1-2 weeks outside of refrigeration, vaccine in microneedle patches lost 40-50% HA activity during or shortly after fabrication, but then had no significant additional loss of activity over 3 months of storage, independent of temperature. This level of stability required reduced humidity by packaging with desiccant, but was not affected by presence of oxygen. This finding was consistent with additional stability assays, including antigenicity of the vaccine measured by ELISA, virus particle morphological structure captured by transmission electron microscopy and protective immune responses by immunization of mice in vivo. These data show that inactivated influenza vaccine encapsulated in dissolving microneedle patches has enhanced stability during extended storage at elevated temperatures.

  16. Cross-linkable liposomes stabilize a magnetic resonance contrast-enhancing polymeric fastener.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Cartney E; Kong, Hyunjoon

    2014-04-08

    Liposomes are commonly used to deliver drugs and contrast agents to their target site in a controlled manner. One of the greatest obstacles in the performance of such delivery vehicles is their stability in the presence of serum. Here, we demonstrate a method to stabilize a class of liposomes that load gadolinium, a magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agent, as a model cargo on their surfaces. We hypothesized that the sequential adsorption of a gadolinium-binding chitosan fastener on the liposome surface followed by covalent cross-linking of the lipid bilayer would provide enhanced stability and improved MR signal in the presence of human serum. To investigate this hypothesis, liposomes composed of diyne-containing lipids were assembled and functionalized via chitosan conjugated with a hydrophobic anchor and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA). This postadsorption cross-linking strategy served to stabilize the thermodynamically favorable association between liposome and polymeric fastener. Furthermore, the chitosan-coated, cross-linked liposomes proved more effective as delivery vehicles of gadolinium than uncross-linked liposomes due to the reduced liposome degradation and chitosan desorption. Overall, this study demonstrates a useful method to stabilize a broad class of particles used for systemic delivery of various molecular payloads.

  17. Natural polyphenols enhance stability of crosslinked UHMWPE for joint implants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Jie; Gao, Guorong; Liu, Xincai; Fu, Jun

    2015-03-01

    Radiation-crosslinked UHMWPE has been used for joint implants since the 1990s. Postirradiation remelting enhances oxidative stability, but with some loss in strength and toughness. Vitamin E-stabilized crosslinked UHMWPE has shown improved strength and stability as compared with irradiated and remelted UHMWPE. With more active phenolic hydroxyl groups, natural polyphenols are widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries as potent stabilizers and could be useful for oxidative stability in crosslinked UHMWPE. We asked whether UHMWPE blended with polyphenols would (1) show higher oxidation resistance after radiation crosslinking; (2) preserve the mechanical properties of UHMWPE after accelerated aging; and (3) alter the wear resistance of radiation-crosslinked UHMWPE. The polyphenols, gallic acid and dodecyl gallate, were blended with medical-grade UHMWPE followed by consolidation and electron beam irradiation at 100 kGy. Radiation-crosslinked virgin and vitamin E-blended UHMWPEs were used as reference materials. The UHMWPEs were aged at 120 °C in air with oxidation levels analyzed by infrared spectroscopy. Tensile (n = 5 per group) and impact (n = 3 per group) properties before and after aging as per ASTM F2003 were evaluated. The wear rates were examined by pin-on-disc testing (n = 3 per group). The data were reported as mean ± SDs. Statistical analysis was performed by using Student's t-test for a two-tailed distribution with unequal variance for tensile and impact data obtained with n ≥ 3. A significant difference is defined with p Accelerated aging of these polyphenol-blended UHMWPEs resulted in ultimate tensile strength of 50.4 ± 1.4 MPa and impact strength of 53 ± 5 kJ/m(2) for 100 kGy-irradiated UHMWPE with 0.05 wt% dodecyl gallate, for example, in comparison to 51.2 ± 0.7 MPa (p = 0.75) and 58 ± 5 kJ/m(2) (p = 0.29) before aging. The pin-on-disc wear rates of 100 kGy-irradiated UHMWPE with 0.05 wt% dodecyl gallate and 0.05 wt% gallic acid

  18. Subsurface fracture mapping from geothermal wellbores. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hartenbaum, B.A.; Rawson, G.

    1983-08-01

    To advance the state-of-the-art in Hot Dry Rock technology, and evaluation is made of (1) the use of both electromagnetic and acoustic radar to map far-field fractures, (2) the use of more than twenty different conventional well logging tools to map borehole-fracture intercepts, (3) the use of magnetic dipole ranging to determine the relative positions of the injection well and the production well within the fractured zone, (4) the use of passive microseismic methods to determine the orientation and extent of hydraulic fractures, and (5) the application of signal processing techniques to fracture mapping including tomography, holography, synthetic aperture, image reconstruction, and the relative importance of phase and amplitude information. It is found that according to calculations, VHF backscatter radar has the potential for mapping fractures within a distance of 50 +- 20 meters from the wellbore. A new technique for improving fracture identification is presented. The range of acoustic radar is five to seven times greater than that of VHF radar when compared on the basis of equal resolution, i.e., equal wavelengths. Analyses of extant data indicate that when used synergistically the (1) caliper, (2) resistivity dipmeter, (3) televiewer, (4) television, (5) impression packer, and (6) acoustic transmission are useful for mapping borehole-fracture intercepts. A new model of hydraulic fracturing is presented which indicates that a hydraulic fracture is dynamically unstable; consequently, improvements in locating the crack tip may be possible. The importance of phase in signal processing is stressed and those techniques which employ phase data are emphasized for field use.

  19. Towards passive and active laser stabilization using cavity-enhanced atomic interaction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schäffer, Stefan Alaric; Christensen, Bjarke Takashi Røjle; Rathmann, Stefan Mossor

    2017-01-01

    Ultra stable frequency references such as the ones used in optical atomic clocks and for quantum metrology may be obtained by stabilizing a laser to an optical cavity that is stable over time. State-of-the-art frequency references are constructed in this way, but their stabilities are currently...... experimental efforts derived from these proposals, to use cavity-enhanced interaction with atomic 88Sr samples as a frequency reference for laser stabilization. Such systems can be realized using both passive and active approaches where either the atomic phase response is used as an error signal, or the narrow...... atomic transition itself is used as a source for a spectrally pure laser. Both approaches shows the promise of being able to compete with the current state of the art in stable lasers and have similar limitations on their ultimately achievable linewidths [1, 2]....

  20. Gas Migration Project: Risk Assessment Tool and Computational Analyses to Investigate Wellbore/Mine Interactions, Secretary's Potash Area, Southeastern New Mexico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sobolik, Steven R. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Geomechanics Dept.; Hadgu, Teklu [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Nuclear Waste Disposal Research and Analysis Dept.; Rechard, Robert P. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Nuclear Waste Disposal Research and Analysis Dept.

    2016-05-01

    The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Department of the Interior has asked Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to perform scientific studies relevant to technical issues that arise in the development of co-located resources of potash and petroleum in southeastern New Mexico in the Secretary’s Potash Area. The BLM manages resource development, issues permits and interacts with the State of New Mexico in the process of developing regulations, in an environment where many issues are disputed by industry stakeholders. The present report is a deliverable of the study of the potential for gas migration from a wellbore to a mine opening in the event of wellbore leakage, a risk scenario about which there is disagreement among stakeholders and little previous site specific analysis. One goal of this study was to develop a framework that required collaboratively developed inputs and analytical approaches in order to encourage stakeholder participation and to employ ranges of data values and scenarios. SNL presents here a description of a basic risk assessment (RA) framework that will fulfill the initial steps of meeting that goal. SNL used the gas migration problem to set up example conceptual models, parameter sets and computer models and as a foundation for future development of RA to support BLM resource development.

  1. Enhanced stability of black phosphorus field-effect transistors with SiO₂ passivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Bensong; Yang, Bingchao; Wang, Yue; Zhang, Junying; Zeng, Zhongming; Liu, Zhongyuan; Wang, Wenhong

    2015-10-30

    Few-layer black phosphorus (BP) has attracted much attention due to its high mobility and suitable band gap for potential applic5ations in optoelectronics and flexible devices. However, its instability under ambient conditions limits its practical applications. Our investigations indicate that by passivation of the mechanically exfoliated BP flakes with a SiO2 layer, the fabricated BP field-effect transistors (FETs) exhibit greatly enhanced environmental stability. Compared to the unpassivated BP devices, which show a fast drop of on/off current ratio by a factor of 10 after one week of ambient exposure, the SiO2-passivated BP devices display a high retained on/off current ratio of over 600 after one week of exposure, just a little lower than the initial value of 810. Our investigations provide an effective route to passivate the few-layer BPs for enhancement of their environmental stability.

  2. Hydrated Ordinary Portland Cement as a Carbonic Cement: The Mechanisms, Dynamics, and Implications of Self-Sealing and CO2 Resistance in Wellbore Cements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guthrie, George Drake Jr. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Pawar, Rajesh J. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Carey, James William [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Karra, Satish [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Harp, Dylan Robert [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Viswanathan, Hari S. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2017-07-28

    This report analyzes the dynamics and mechanisms of the interactions of carbonated brine with hydrated Portland cement. The analysis is based on a recent set of comprehensive reactive-transport simulations, and it relies heavily on the synthesis of the body of work on wellbore integrity that we have conducted for the Carbon Storage Program over the past decade.

  3. Improving the accuracy and reliability of MWD/magnetic-Wellbore-Directional surveying in the barents sea

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Edvardsen, I.; Nyrnes, E.; Johnsen, M. G.

    2014-01-01

    of nonmagnetic steel in the bottomhole assembly (BHA). To maintain azimuth uncertaintyat an acceptable level in northern areas, it is crucial that wellbore-directional-surveying requirements are given high priority and considered early during well planning. During the development phase of an oil and gas field...... magnetic-reference stations. The different land and sea configuration, distant offshore oil and gas fields, higher geomagnetic latitude, and different behavior of the magnetic field require the procedures to be reassessed before being applied to the Barents Sea. To reduce drilling delays, procedures must...... be implemented to enable efficient management of magnetic disturbances.In some areas of the Barents Sea, the management requires new equipment to be developed and tested before drilling, such as seabed magnetometer stations. One simple way to reduce drillstring interference is increasing the amount...

  4. Optimizing Tube Precurvature to Enhance Elastic Stability of Concentric Tube Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ha, Junhyoung; Park, Frank C; Dupont, Pierre E

    2017-02-01

    Robotic instruments based on concentric tube technology are well suited to minimally invasive surgery since they are slender, can navigate inside small cavities and can reach around sensitive tissues by taking on shapes of varying curvature. Elastic instabilities can arise, however, when rotating one precurved tube inside another. In contrast to prior work that considered only tubes of piecewise constant precurvature, we allow precurvature to vary along the tube's arc length. Stability conditions for a planar tube pair are derived and used to formulate an optimal design problem. An analytic formulation of the optimal precurvature function is derived that achieves a desired tip orientation range while maximizing stability and respecting bending strain limits. This formulation also includes straight transmission segments at the proximal ends of the tubes. The result, confirmed by both numerical and physical experiment, enables designs with enhanced stability in comparison to designs of constant precurvature.

  5. Rapid stabilization of thawing soils For enhanced vehicle mobility: a field demonstration project

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-02-01

    Thawing soil presents a formidable challenge for vehicle operations cross-country and on unsurfaced roads. To mitigate the problem, a variety of stabilization techniques were evaluated for their suitability for rapid employment to enhance military ve...

  6. LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS OF SILICATE MUD CONTAMINATION WITH CALCIUM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nediljka Gaurina-Međimurec

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available The silicate-based drilling fluid is a low solids KCl/polymer system with the addition of soluble sodium or potassium silicate to enhance inhibition and wellbore stability. Silicate-based drilling fluids exhibit remarkable shale and chalk stabilizing properties, resulting in gauge hole and the formation of firm cuttings when drilling reactive shales and soft chalks. Silicates protect shales by in-situ gellation when exposed to the neutral pore fluid and precipitation, which occurs on contact with divalent ions present at the surface of the shale. Also, silicates prevent the dispersion and washouts when drilling soft chalk by reacting with the Ca2+ ions present on chalk surfaces of cutting and wellbore to form a protective film. The silicate-based drilling fluid can be used during drilling hole section through shale interbeded anhydrite formations because of its superior shale stabilizing characteristics. However, drilling through the anhydrite can decrease the silicate concentration and change rheological and filtration fluid properties. So, the critical concentration of calcium ions should be investigated by lab tests. This paper details the mechanism of shale inhibition using silicate-based drilling fluid, and presents results of lab tests conducted to ascertain the effect of Ca2+ ions on silicate level in the fluid and the fluid properties.

  7. The PTRC : a world leader in enhanced heavy oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kristoff, B.; Knudsen, R.; Asghari, K. [Petroleum Technology Research Centre, Regina, SK (Canada); Pappas, E.S. [Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, SK (Canada)

    2006-07-01

    The Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) fosters knowledge and progressive technologies to enhance the recovery of petroleum. This paper discussed the PTRC's leadership in enhanced heavy oil recovery, with particular reference to core research program such as heavy oil (post) cold flow; enhanced waterflooding; miscible/immiscible solvent injection; and near-wellbore conformance control. Other projects that were presented included a joint implementation of vapour extraction project (JIVE); and the IEA greenhouse gas (GHG) Weyburn-Midale carbon dioxide monitoring and storage project. The JIVE project will develop, demonstrate and evaluate solvent vapour extraction processes for enhanced oil recovery in heavy oil reservoirs. The GHG Weyburn-Midale project, launched in 2000, studies carbon dioxide injection and storage in partially depleted oil reservoirs. It was concluded that the PTRC continues to develop technologies to meet the world's energy requirements while mitigating both immediate and long-term environmental impacts. 4 figs.

  8. Protection enhances community and habitat stability: evidence from a mediterranean marine protected area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraschetti, Simonetta; Guarnieri, Giuseppe; Bevilacqua, Stanislao; Terlizzi, Antonio; Boero, Ferdinando

    2013-01-01

    Rare evidences support that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) enhance the stability of marine habitats and assemblages. Based on nine years of observation (2001-2009) inside and outside a well managed MPA, we assessed the potential of conservation and management actions to modify patterns of spatial and/or temporal variability of Posidonia oceanica meadows, the lower midlittoral and the shallow infralittoral rock assemblages. Significant differences in both temporal variations and spatial patterns were observed between protected and unprotected locations. A lower temporal variability in the protected vs. unprotected assemblages was found in the shallow infralittoral, demonstrating that, at least at local scale, protection can enhance community stability. Macrobenthos with long-lived and relatively slow-growing invertebrates and structurally complex algal forms were homogeneously distributed in space and went through little fluctuations in time. In contrast, a mosaic of disturbed patches featured unprotected locations, with small-scale shifts from macroalgal stands to barrens, and harsh temporal variations between the two states. Opposite patterns of spatial and temporal variability were found for the midlittoral assemblages. Despite an overall clear pattern of seagrass regression through time, protected meadows showed a significantly higher shoot density than unprotected ones, suggesting a higher resistance to local human activities. Our results support the assumption that the exclusion/management of human activities within MPAs enhance the stability of the structural components of protected marine systems, reverting or arresting threat-induced trajectories of change.

  9. Maintaining the stability of nonlinear differential equations by the enhancement of HPM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hosein Nia, S.H.; Ranjbar, A.N.; Ganji, D.D.; Soltani, H.; Ghasemi, J.

    2008-01-01

    Homotopy perturbation method is an effective method to find a solution of a nonlinear differential equation. In this method, a nonlinear complex differential equation is transformed to a series of linear and nonlinear parts, almost simpler differential equations. These sets of equations are then solved iteratively. Finally, a linear series of the solutions completes the answer if the convergence is maintained. In this Letter, the need for stability verification is shown through some examples. Consequently, HPM is enhanced by a preliminary assumption. The idea is to keep the inherent stability of nonlinear dynamic, even the selected linear part is not

  10. Wellbore cement fracture evolution at the cement–basalt caprock interface during geologic carbon sequestration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung, Hun Bok; Kabilan, Senthil; Carson, James P.; Kuprat, Andrew P.; Um, Wooyong; Martin, Paul F.; Dahl, Michael E.; Kafentzis, Tyler A.; Varga, Tamas; Stephens, Sean A.; Arey, Bruce W.; Carroll, KC; Bonneville, Alain; Fernandez, Carlos A.

    2014-08-07

    Composite Portland cement-basalt caprock cores with fractures, as well as neat Portland cement columns, were prepared to understand the geochemical and geomechanical effects on the integrity of wellbores with defects during geologic carbon sequestration. The samples were reacted with CO2-saturated groundwater at 50 ºC and 10 MPa for 3 months under static conditions, while one cement-basalt core was subjected to mechanical stress at 2.7 MPa before the CO2 reaction. Micro-XRD and SEM-EDS data collected along the cement-basalt interface after 3-month reaction with CO2-saturated groundwater indicate that carbonation of cement matrix was extensive with the precipitation of calcite, aragonite, and vaterite, whereas the alteration of basalt caprock was minor. X-ray microtomography (XMT) provided three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of the opening and interconnection of cement fractures due to mechanical stress. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling further revealed that this stress led to the increase in fluid flow and hence permeability. After the CO2-reaction, XMT images displayed that calcium carbonate precipitation occurred extensively within the fractures in the cement matrix, but only partially along the fracture located at the cement-basalt interface. The 3-D visualization and CFD modeling also showed that the precipitation of calcium carbonate within the cement fractures after the CO2-reaction resulted in the disconnection of cement fractures and permeability decrease. The permeability calculated based on CFD modeling was in agreement with the experimentally determined permeability. This study demonstrates that XMT imaging coupled with CFD modeling represent a powerful tool to visualize and quantify fracture evolution and permeability change in geologic materials and to predict their behavior during geologic carbon sequestration or hydraulic fracturing for shale gas production and enhanced geothermal systems.

  11. A hybrid superconducting fault current limiter for enhancing transient stability in Korean power systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Sangsoo; Kim, Seog-Joo; Moon, Young-Hwan; Lee, Byongjun

    2013-11-01

    Additional power generation sites have been limited in Korea, despite the fact load demands are gradually increasing. In order to meet these increasing demands, Korea’s power system company has begun constructing new generators at existing sites. Thus, multi-unit plants can create problems in terms of transient stability when a large disturbance occurs. This paper proposes a hybrid superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) application to enhance the transient stability of multi-unit power plants. SFCLs reduce fault currents, and limitation currents decrease the imbalance of the mechanical and electrical torque of the generators, resulting in an improvement in transient stability.

  12. Steam-assisted gravity drainage technology enhancement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durkin, S.; Menshikova, I.

    2018-05-01

    A hydrodynamic model of a region of Yaregskoye heavy oilfield was build. The results of the simulation have shown that injection capacity along the wellbore of a horizontal well is not uniform. It is determined by the geological heterogeneity of the formation. Therefore, there is importance of enhancing SAGD technology for Yaregskoye oilfield. A new technology was created. The efficiency of the technology is proved by numerical modelling. Horizontal injector and two-wellhead production wells penetrate the formation. Horizontal sections of the wells are located one above the other in the payzone. Wells are divided into two sections. Those sections work simultaneously and independently of one another. This technology allows to increase oil recovery of the oilfield.

  13. Magnesium ferrite nanocrystal clusters for magnetorheological fluid with enhanced sedimentation stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Guangshuo; Ma, Yingying; Li, Meixia; Cui, Guohua; Che, Hongwei; Mu, Jingbo; Zhang, Xiaoliang; Tong, Yu; Dong, Xufeng

    2017-01-01

    In this study, magnesium ferrite (MgFe2O4) nanocrystal clusters were synthesized using an ascorbic acid-assistant solvothermal method and evaluated as a candidate for magnetorheological (MR) fluid. The morphology, microstructure and magnetic properties of the MgFe2O4 nanocrystal clusters were investigated in detail by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The MgFe2O4 nanocrystal clusters were suspended in silicone oil to prepare MR fluid and the MR properties were tested using a Physica MCR301 rheometer fitted with a magneto-rheological module. The prepared MR fluid showed typical Bingham plastic behavior, changing from a liquid-like to a solid-like structure under an external magnetic field. Compared with the conventional carbonyl iron particles, MgFe2O4 nanocrystal clusters-based MR fluid demonstrated enhanced sedimentation stability due to the reduced mismatch in density between the particles and the carrier medium. In summary, the as-prepared MgFe2O4 nanocrystal clusters are regarded as a promising candidate for MR fluid with enhanced sedimentation stability.

  14. Origin of Shear Stability and Compressive Ductility Enhancement of Metallic Glasses by Metal Coating

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, B. A.; Chen, S. H.; Lu, Y. M.; Zhu, Z. G.; Zhao, Y. L.; Yang, Y.; Chan, K. C.; Liu, C. T.

    2016-01-01

    Metallic glasses (MGs) are notorious for the poor macroscopic ductility and to overcome the weakness various intrinsic and extrinsic strategies have been proposed in past decades. Among them, the metal coating is regarded as a flexible and facile approach, yet the physical origin is poorly understood due to the complex nature of shear banding process. Here, we studied the origin of ductile enhancement in the Cu-coating both experimentally and theoretically. By examining serrated shear events and their stability of MGs, we revealed that the thin coating layer plays a key role in stopping the final catastrophic failure of MGs by slowing down shear band dynamics and thus retarding its attainment to a critical instable state. The mechanical analysis on interplay between the coating layer and shear banding process showed the enhanced shear stability mainly comes from the lateral tension of coating layer induced by the surface shear step and the bonding between the coating layer and MGs rather than the layer thickness is found to play a key role in contributing to the shear stability. PMID:27271435

  15. On the stabilizing role of species diffusion in chemical enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daripa, Prabir; Gin, Craig

    2015-11-01

    In this talk, the speaker will discuss a problem on the stability analysis related to the effect of species diffusion on stabilization of fingering in a Hele-Shaw model of chemical enhanced oil recovery. The formulation of the problem is motivated by a specific design principle of the immiscible interfaces in the hope that this will lead to significant stabilization of interfacial instabilities, there by improving oil recovery in the context of porous media flow. Testing the merits of this hypothesis poses some challenges which will be discussed along with some numerical results based on current formulation of this problem. Several open problems in this context will be discussed. This work is currently under progress. Supported by the grant NPRP 08-777-1-141 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).

  16. Enhancement of thermal stability of silver(I) acetylacetonate by platinum(II) acetylacetonate

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Křenek, T.; Kovářík, T.; Pola, M.; Jakubec, Ivo; Bezdička, Petr; Bastl, Zdeněk; Pokorná, Dana; Urbanová, Markéta; Galíková, Anna; Pola, Josef

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 554, FEB (2013), s. 1-7 ISSN 0040-6031 Institutional support: RVO:61388980 ; RVO:61388955 ; RVO:67985858 Keywords : thermal gravimetric analysis * differential scanning calorimetry * silver(I) acetylacetonate * platinum(II) acetylacetonate * enhancement of thermal stability Subject RIV: CA - Inorganic Chemistry; CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry (UFCH-W) Impact factor: 2.105, year: 2013

  17. Polymer nanocomposites for sealing microannulus cracks in wellbores cement-steel interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genedy, M.; Fernandez, S. G.; Stormont, J.; Matteo, E. N.; Dewers, T. A.; Reda Taha, M.

    2017-12-01

    Seal integrity of production and storage wellbores has become a critical challenge with the increasing oil and gas leakage incidents. The general consensus is that one of the potential leakage pathways is micro-annuli at the cement-steel interface. In this paper, we examine the efficiency of proposed polymer nanocomposite to seal microannulus cracks at the cement-steel interface. The repair material efficiency is defined as the ability of the repair material to reduce or eliminate the gas permeability of the cement-steel interface. The flow rate of an inert gas (Nitrogen) at the cement-steel interface was investigated for three cases: 1) repaired test samples with traditional repair material (microfine cement), 2) polymer nanocomposites, and 3) unrepaired test samples. Flow rates were measured and compared for all three cases. The experimental results show up to 99.5% seal efficiency achieved by using polymer nanocomposites compared to 20% efficiency achieved in the case of microfine cement. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525. SAND2017-8094 A.

  18. Structural Design Optimization of a Tiltrotor Aircraft Composite Wing to Enhance Whirl Flutter Stability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Taeseong; Kim, Jaehoon; Shin, Sang Joon

    2013-01-01

    In order to enhance the aeroelastic stability of a tiltrotor aircraft, a structural optimization framework is developed by applying a multi-level optimization approach. Each optimization level is designed to achieve a different purpose; therefore, relevant optimization schemes are selected for each...... level. Enhancement of the aeroelastic stability is selected as an objective in the upper-level optimization. This is achieved by seeking the optimal structural properties of a composite wing, including its mass, vertical, chordwise, and torsional stiffness. In the upper-level optimization, the response...... surface method (RSM), is selected. On the other hand, lower-level optimization seeks to determine the local detailed cross-sectional parameters, such as the ply orientation angles and ply thickness, which are relevant to the wing structural properties obtained at the upper-level. To avoid manufacturing...

  19. Engineering bright solitons to enhance the stability of two-component Bose–Einstein condensates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radha, R.; Vinayagam, P.S.; Sudharsan, J.B.; Liu, Wu-Ming; Malomed, Boris A.

    2015-01-01

    We consider a system of coupled Gross–Pitaevskii (GP) equations describing a binary quasi-one-dimensional Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) with intrinsic time-dependent attractive interactions, placed in a time-dependent expulsive parabolic potential, in a special case when the system is integrable (a deformed Manakov's system). Since the nonlinearity in the integrable system which represents binary attractive interactions exponentially decays with time, solitons are also subject to decay. Nevertheless, it is shown that the robustness of bright solitons can be enhanced in this system, making their respective lifetime longer, by matching the time dependence of the interaction strength (adjusted with the help of the Feshbach-resonance management) to the time modulation of the strength of the parabolic potential. The analytical results, and their stability, are corroborated by numerical simulations. In particular, we demonstrate that the addition of random noise does not impact the stability of the solitons. - Highlights: • We formulate a versatile mechanism to enhance the lifetime of vectorial condensates employing Feshbach Resonance. • Vectorial condensates in a transient harmonic trap are more long lived compared to their counterpart in a time independent harmonic trap. • Corroborate the exact analytical results with numerical simulations. • Addition of random noise does not impact the stability of vector BECs.

  20. Engineering bright solitons to enhance the stability of two-component Bose–Einstein condensates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Radha, R., E-mail: radha_ramaswamy@yahoo.com [Centre for Nonlinear Science, PG and Research Dept. of Physics, Govt. College for Women (Autonomous), Kumbakonam 612001 (India); Vinayagam, P.S.; Sudharsan, J.B. [Centre for Nonlinear Science, PG and Research Dept. of Physics, Govt. College for Women (Autonomous), Kumbakonam 612001 (India); Liu, Wu-Ming, E-mail: wmliu@iphy.ac.cn [Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing-100190 (China); Malomed, Boris A., E-mail: malomed@post.tau.ac.il [Department of Physical Electronics, School of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978 (Israel)

    2015-12-04

    We consider a system of coupled Gross–Pitaevskii (GP) equations describing a binary quasi-one-dimensional Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) with intrinsic time-dependent attractive interactions, placed in a time-dependent expulsive parabolic potential, in a special case when the system is integrable (a deformed Manakov's system). Since the nonlinearity in the integrable system which represents binary attractive interactions exponentially decays with time, solitons are also subject to decay. Nevertheless, it is shown that the robustness of bright solitons can be enhanced in this system, making their respective lifetime longer, by matching the time dependence of the interaction strength (adjusted with the help of the Feshbach-resonance management) to the time modulation of the strength of the parabolic potential. The analytical results, and their stability, are corroborated by numerical simulations. In particular, we demonstrate that the addition of random noise does not impact the stability of the solitons. - Highlights: • We formulate a versatile mechanism to enhance the lifetime of vectorial condensates employing Feshbach Resonance. • Vectorial condensates in a transient harmonic trap are more long lived compared to their counterpart in a time independent harmonic trap. • Corroborate the exact analytical results with numerical simulations. • Addition of random noise does not impact the stability of vector BECs.

  1. Study on Enhancement Principle and Stabilization for the Luminol-H2O2-HRP Chemiluminescence System.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lihua Yang

    Full Text Available A luminol-H2O2-HRP chemiluminescence system with high relative luminescent intensity (RLU and long stabilization time was investigated. First, the comparative study on the enhancement effect of ten compounds as enhancers to the luminol-H2O2-HRP chemiluminescence system was carried out, and the results showed that 4-(imidazol-1-ylphenol (4-IMP, 4-iodophenol (4-IOP, 4-bromophenol (4-BOP and 4-hydroxy-4'-iodobiphenyl (HIOP had the best performance. Based on the experiment, the four enhancers were dissolved in acetone, acetonitrile, methanol, and dimethylformamide (DMF with various concentrations, the results indicated that 4-IMP, 4-IOP, 4-BOP and HIOP dissolved in DMF with the concentrations of 0.2%, 3.2%, 1.6% and 3.2% could get the highest RLU values. Subsequently, the influences of pH, ionic strength, HRP, 4-IMP, 4-IOP, 4-BOP, HIOP, H2O2 and luminol on the stabilization of the luminol-H2O2-HRP chemiluminescence system were studied, and we found that pH value, ionic strength, 4-IMP, 4-IOP, 4-BOP, HIOP, H2O2 and luminol have little influence on luminescent stabilization, while HRP has a great influence. In different ranges of HRP concentration, different enhancers should be selected. When the concentration is within the range of 0~6 ng/mL, 4-IMP should be selected. When the concentration of HRP ranges from 6 to 25 ng/mL, 4-IOP was the best choice. And when the concentration is within the range of 25~80 ng/mL, HIOP should be selected as the enhancer. Finally, the three well-performing chemiluminescent enhanced solutions (CESs have been further optimized according to the three enhancers (4-IMP, 4-IOP and HIOP in their utilized HRP concentration ranges.

  2. Hollow wall to stabilize and enhance ignition hohlraums

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandenboomgaerde, M.; Grisollet, A.; Bonnefille, M.; Clérouin, J.; Arnault, P.; Desbiens, N.; Videau, L.

    2018-01-01

    In the context of the indirect-drive scheme of the inertial-confinement fusion, performance of the gas-filled hohlraums at the National Ignition Facility appears to be reduced. Experiments ascertain a limited efficacy of the laser beam propagation and x-ray conversion. One identified issue is the growth of the gold plasma plume (or bubble) which is generated near the ends of the hohlraum by the impact of the laser beams. This bubble impedes the laser propagation towards the equator of the hohlraum. Furthermore, for high foot or low foot laser pulses, the gold-gas interface of the bubble can be unstable. If this instability should grow to mixing, the x-ray conversion could be degraded. A novel hollow-walled hohlraum is designed, which drastically reduces the growth of the gold bubble and stabilizes the gold-gas interface. The hollow walls are built from the combination of a thin gold foil and a gold domed-wall. We theoretically explain how the bubble expansion can be delayed and the gold-gas interface stabilized. This advanced design lets the laser beams reach the waist of the hohlraum. As a result, the x-ray drive on the capsule is enhanced, and more spherical implosions are obtained. Furthermore, this design only requires intermediate gas fill density to be efficient.

  3. Solid Waste Biodegradation Enhancements and the Evaluation of Analytical Methods Used to Predict Waste Stability

    OpenAIRE

    Kelly, Ryan J.

    2002-01-01

    Conventional landfills are built to dispose of the increasing amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated each year. A relatively new type of landfill, called a bioreactor landfill, is designed to optimize the biodegradation of the contained waste to stabilized products. Landfills with stabilized waste pose little threat to the environment from ozone depleting gases and groundwater contamination. Limited research has been done to determine the importance of biodegradation enhancement tech...

  4. PDF and cAMP enhance PER stability in Drosophila clock neurons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yue; Guo, Fang; Shen, James; Rosbash, Michael

    2014-01-01

    The neuropeptide PDF is important for Drosophila circadian rhythms: pdf01 (pdf-null) animals are mostly arrhythmic or short period in constant darkness and have an advanced activity peak in light–dark conditions. PDF contributes to the amplitude, synchrony, as well as the pace of circadian rhythms within clock neurons. PDF is known to increase cAMP levels in PDR receptor (PDFR)-containing neurons. However, there is no known connection of PDF or of cAMP with the Drosophila molecular clockworks. We discovered that the mutant period gene perS ameliorates the phenotypes of pdf-null flies. The period protein (PER) is a well-studied repressor of clock gene transcription, and the perS protein (PERS) has a markedly short half-life. The result therefore suggests that the PDF-mediated increase in cAMP might lengthen circadian period by directly enhancing PER stability. Indeed, increasing cAMP levels and cAMP-mediated protein kinase A (PKA) activity stabilizes PER, in S2 tissue culture cells and in fly circadian neurons. Adding PDF to fly brains in vitro has a similar effect. Consistent with these relationships, a light pulse causes more prominent PER degradation in pdf01 circadian neurons than in wild-type neurons. The results indicate that PDF contributes to clock neuron synchrony by increasing cAMP and PKA, which enhance PER stability and decrease clock speed in intrinsically fast-paced PDFR-containing clock neurons. We further suggest that the more rapid degradation of PERS bypasses PKA regulation and makes the pace of clock neurons more uniform, allowing them to avoid much of the asynchrony caused by the absence of PDF. PMID:24707054

  5. Synthesis and Characterisation of Biocompatible Polymer-Conjugated Magnetic Beads for Enhancement Stability of Urease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doğaç, Yasemin Ispirli; Teke, Mustafa

    2016-04-01

    We reported natural polymer-conjugated magnetic featured urease systems for removal of urea effectively. The optimum temperature (20-60 °C), optimum pH (3.0-10.0), kinetic parameters, thermal stability (4-70 °C), pH stability (4.0-9.0), operational stability (0-250 min), reusability (18 times) and storage stability (24 weeks) were studied for characterisation of the urease-encapsulated biocompatible polymer-conjugated magnetic beads. Also, the surface groups and chemical structure of the magnetic beads were determined by using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The all urease-encapsulated magnetic beads protected their stability of 30-45 % relative activity at 70 °C. A significant increase was observed at their pH stability compared with the free urease for both acidic and alkaline medium. Besides this, their repeatability activity were approximately 100 % during 4(th) run. They showed residual activity of 50 % after 16 weeks. The importance of this work is enhancement stability of immobilised urease by biocompatible polymer-conjugated magnetic beads for the industrial application based on removal of urea.

  6. Application of a combined superconducting fault current limiter and STATCOM to enhancement of power system transient stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mahdad, Belkacem, E-mail: bemahdad@mselab.org; Srairi, K.

    2013-12-15

    Highlights: •A simple interactive model SFCL–STATCOM Controller is proposed to enhance the transient stability. •The STATCOM controller is integrated in coordination with the SFCL to support the excessive reactive power during fault. •Voltage stability index based continuation power flow is used to locate the STATCOM and the SFCL. •The clearing time improved compared to other cases (with only SFCL, with only STATCOM). •The choice of the STATCOM parameters is very important to exploit efficiently the integration of STATCOM Controller. -- Abstract: Stable and reliable operation of the power system network is dependent on the dynamic equilibrium between energy production and power demand under large disturbance such as short circuit or important line tripping. This paper investigates the use of combined model based superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) and shunt FACTS Controller (STATCOM) for assessing the transient stability of a power system considering the automatic voltage regulator. The combined model located at a specified branch based on voltage stability index using continuation power flow. The main role of the proposed combined model is to achieve simultaneously a flexible control of reactive power using STATCOM Controller and to reduce fault current using superconducting technology based SFCL. The proposed combined model has been successfully adapted within the transient stability program and applied to enhance the transient power system stability of the WSCC9-Bus system. Critical clearing time (CCT) has been used as an index to evaluate and validate the contribution of the proposed coordinated Controller. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness and perspective of this combined Controller to enhance the dynamic power system performances.

  7. Enhancement of Frequency Stability Using Synchronization of a Cantilever Array for MEMS-Based Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesc Torres

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Micro and nano electromechanical resonators have been widely used as single or multiple-mass detection sensors. Smaller devices with higher resonance frequencies and lower masses offer higher mass responsivities but suffer from lower frequency stability. Synchronization phenomena in multiple MEMS resonators have become an important issue because they allow frequency stability improvement, thereby preserving mass responsivity. The authors present an array of five cantilevers (CMOS-MEMS system that are forced to vibrate synchronously to enhance their frequency stability. The frequency stability has been determined in closed-loop configuration for long periods of time by calculating the Allan deviation. An Allan deviation of 0.013 ppm (@ 1 s averaging time for a 1 MHz cantilever array MEMS system was obtained at the synchronized mode, which represents a 23-fold improvement in comparison with the non-synchronized operation mode (0.3 ppm.

  8. Time-Lapse Measurement of Wellbore Integrity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duguid, A.

    2017-12-01

    estimate of the cement isolating capacity. Cased-hole sidewall cores in the steel and fiberglass casing sections allowed analysis of bulk cement and the cement at the casing- and formation-interface. This presentation will cover how time-lapse logging was conducted, how the results may be applicable to other wells, and how monitoring well design may affect wellbore integrity.

  9. Does a crouched leg posture enhance running stability and robustness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blum, Yvonne; Birn-Jeffery, Aleksandra; Daley, Monica A; Seyfarth, Andre

    2011-07-21

    Humans and birds both walk and run bipedally on compliant legs. However, differences in leg architecture may result in species-specific leg control strategies as indicated by the observed gait patterns. In this work, control strategies for stable running are derived based on a conceptual model and compared with experimental data on running humans and pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). From a model perspective, running with compliant legs can be represented by the planar spring mass model and stabilized by applying swing leg control. Here, linear adaptations of the three leg parameters, leg angle, leg length and leg stiffness during late swing phase are assumed. Experimentally observed kinematic control parameters (leg rotation and leg length change) of human and avian running are compared, and interpreted within the context of this model, with specific focus on stability and robustness characteristics. The results suggest differences in stability characteristics and applied control strategies of human and avian running, which may relate to differences in leg posture (straight leg posture in humans, and crouched leg posture in birds). It has been suggested that crouched leg postures may improve stability. However, as the system of control strategies is overdetermined, our model findings suggest that a crouched leg posture does not necessarily enhance running stability. The model also predicts different leg stiffness adaptation rates for human and avian running, and suggests that a crouched avian leg posture, which is capable of both leg shortening and lengthening, allows for stable running without adjusting leg stiffness. In contrast, in straight-legged human running, the preparation of the ground contact seems to be more critical, requiring leg stiffness adjustment to remain stable. Finally, analysis of a simple robustness measure, the normalized maximum drop, suggests that the crouched leg posture may provide greater robustness to changes in terrain height

  10. Enhancing Economic Stability Utilizing the High Technologies in Community Colleges: A Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehnert, Barbara H.; Kurki, Allan W.

    Strategies to enhance the economic stability of community colleges through high technology approaches are discussed in this paper. First, general economic problems facing higher education are identified, and the ways in which they influence community colleges are described. Next, 10 strategies to aid in the economic recovery of community colleges…

  11. Enhanced coercivity thermal stability realized in Nd–Fe–B thin films diffusion-processed by Nd–Co alloys

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhong, Hui; Fu, Yanqing [Key laboratory of electromagnetic processing of materials (EPM), Ministry of Education, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Department of Physics and Chemistry of Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Li, Guojian; Liu, Tie [Key laboratory of electromagnetic processing of materials (EPM), Ministry of Education, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Cui, Weibin, E-mail: cuiweibin@epm.neu.edu.cn [Key laboratory of electromagnetic processing of materials (EPM), Ministry of Education, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Department of Physics and Chemistry of Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Liu, Wei; Zhang, Zhidong [Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research (IMR), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenyang 110016 (China); Wang, Qiang, E-mail: wangq@mail.neu.edu.cn [Key laboratory of electromagnetic processing of materials (EPM), Ministry of Education, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China)

    2017-03-15

    A proposed Nd{sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B-core/Nd{sub 2}(Fe, Co){sub 14}B-shell microstructure was realized by diffusion-processing textured Nd{sub 14}Fe{sub 77}B{sub 9} single-layer film with Nd{sub 100−x}Co{sub x} (x=10, 20 and 40) alloys to improve the coercivity thermal stability. The ambient coercivity was increased from around 1 T in single-layer film to nearly 2 T in diffusion-processed films, which was due to the Nd-rich grain boundaries as seen from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. The coercivity thermal stability was improved by the core/shell microstructure because Nd-rich grain boundaries provided the high ambient coercivity and Co-rich shell provided the improved coercivity stability. - Highlights: • Core–shell microstructure proposed for enhancing the coercivity thermal stability. • Coercivity enhanced to nearly 2 T by diffusion-processing with Nd–Co alloy. • Good squareness and highly textured microstructure obtained. • Nd-rich phases observed by TEM after diffusion process. • Coercivity thermal stability improved with minor Co addition in grain boundary regions.

  12. Enhanced stabilization of Pb, Zn, and Cd in contaminated soils using oxalic acid-activated phosphate rocks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhuo; Guo, Guanlin; Wang, Mei; Zhang, Jia; Wang, Zhixin; Li, Fasheng; Chen, Honghan

    2018-01-01

    Phosphate amendments, especially phosphate rock (PR), are one of the most commonly used materials to stabilize heavy metals in contaminated soils. However, most of PR reserve consists of low-grade ore, which limits the efficiency of PR for stabilizing heavy metals. This study was to enhance the stabilization of heavy metals through improving the available phosphorous (P) release of PR by oxalic acid activation. Raw PR and activated PR (APR) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface analysis, and laser diffraction to determine the changes of structure and composition of APR. The stabilization effectiveness of lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and cadmium (Cd) in soils by APR was investigated through toxicity leaching test and speciation analysis. The results indicated that after treatment by oxalic acid, (1) the crystallinity of the fluorapatite phase of PR transformed into the weddellite phase; (2) the surface area of PR increased by 37%; (3) the particle size of PR became homogenized (20-70 μm); and (4) the available P content in PR increased by 22 times. These changes of physicochemical characteristics of PR induced that APR was more effective to transform soil heavy metals from the non-residual fraction to the residual fraction and enhance the stabilization efficiency of Pb, Zn, and Cd than PR. These results are significant for the future use of low-grade PR to stabilize heavy metals.

  13. Stability enhancement of P3HT:PCBM polymer solar cells using thermally evaporated MoO3 anode buffer layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ameen, M. Yoosuf; Shamjid, P.; Abhijith, T.; Radhakrishnan, Thulasi; Reddy, V. S.

    2018-02-01

    Polymer solar cells have been fabricated with thermally evaporated MoO3 as anode buffer layer (ABL). The stability of MoO3 and PEDOT:PSS based devices was examined under different test conditions. The MoO3 based device exhibited a slightly better efficiency and significantly higher stability compared to PEDOT:PSS based device. At a relative humidity of 45% the unencapsulated PEDOT:PSS based device degraded completely within 96 h. On the other hand, MoO3 based device retained more than 60% of its initial efficiency after 96 h. The reason behind stability enhancement was investigated by measuring time-evolution of reflectance and hole-current. Experimental results revealed that the stability enhancement for MoO3 based device originates from the reduction in degradation of anode/active layer interface.

  14. As-grown graphene/copper nanoparticles hybrid nanostructures for enhanced intensity and stability of surface plasmon resonance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yun-Fei; Dong, Feng-Xi; Chen, Yang; Zhang, Xu-Lin; Wang, Lei; Bi, Yan-Gang; Tian, Zhen-Nan; Liu, Yue-Feng; Feng, Jing; Sun, Hong-Bo

    2016-11-01

    The transfer-free fabrication of the high quality graphene on the metallic nanostructures, which is highly desirable for device applications, remains a challenge. Here, we develop the transfer-free method by direct chemical vapor deposition of the graphene layers on copper (Cu) nanoparticles (NPs) to realize the hybrid nanostructures. The graphene as-grown on the Cu NPs permits full electric contact and strong interactions, which results in a strong localization of the field at the graphene/copper interface. An enhanced intensity of the localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) supported by the hybrid nanostructures can be obtained, which induces a much enhanced fluorescent intensity from the dye coated hybrid nanostructures. Moreover, the graphene sheets covering completely and uniformly on the Cu NPs act as a passivation layer to protect the underlying metal surface from air oxidation. As a result, the stability of the LSPRs for the hybrid nanostructures is much enhanced compared to that of the bare Cu NPs. The transfer-free hybrid nanostructures with enhanced intensity and stability of the LSPRs will enable their much broader applications in photonics and optoelectronics.

  15. Enhanced stability of steep channel beds to mass failure and debris flow initiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prancevic, J.; Lamb, M. P.; Ayoub, F.; Venditti, J. G.

    2015-12-01

    Debris flows dominate bedrock erosion and sediment transport in very steep mountain channels, and are often initiated from failure of channel-bed alluvium during storms. While several theoretical models exist to predict mass failures, few have been tested because observations of in-channel bed failures are extremely limited. To fill this gap in our understanding, we performed laboratory flume experiments to identify the conditions necessary to initiate bed failures in non-cohesive sediment of different sizes (D = 0.7 mm to 15 mm) on steep channel-bed slopes (S = 0.45 to 0.93) and in the presence of water flow. In beds composed of sand, failures occurred under sub-saturated conditions on steep bed slopes (S > 0.5) and under super-saturated conditions at lower slopes. In beds of gravel, however, failures occurred only under super-saturated conditions at all tested slopes, even those approaching the dry angle of repose. Consistent with theoretical models, mass failures under super-saturated conditions initiated along a failure plane approximately one grain-diameter below the bed surface, whereas the failure plane was located near the base of the bed under sub-saturated conditions. However, all experimental beds were more stable than predicted by 1-D infinite-slope stability models. In partially saturated sand, enhanced stability appears to result from suction stress. Enhanced stability in gravel may result from turbulent energy losses in pores or increased granular friction for failures that are shallow with respect to grain size. These grain-size dependent effects are not currently included in stability models for non-cohesive sediment, and they may help to explain better the timing and location of debris flow occurrence.

  16. Relative permeability of fractured wellbore cement: an experimental investigation using electrical resistivity monitoring for moisture content

    Science.gov (United States)

    Um, W.; Rod, K. A.; Strickland, C. E.

    2016-12-01

    Permeability is a critical parameter needed to understand flow in subsurface environments; it is particularly important in deep subsurface reservoirs where multiphase fluid flow is common, such as carbon sequestration and geothermal reservoirs. Cement is used in the annulus of wellbores due to its low permeable properties to seal aquifers, reducing leaks to adjacent strata. Extreme subsurface environments of CO2 storage and geothermal production conditions will eventually reduce the cement integrity, propagating fracture networks and increasing the permeability for air and/or water. To date, there have been no reproducible experimental investigations of relative permeability in fractured wellbore cement published. To address this gap, we conducted a series of experiments using fractured Portland cement monoliths with increasing fracture networks. The monolith cylinder sides were jacketed with heavy-duty moisture-seal heat-shrink tubing, then fractured using shear force applied via a hydraulic press. Fractures were generated with different severity for each of three monoliths. Stainless steel endcaps were fixed to the monoliths using the same shrink-wrapped jacket. Fracture characteristics were determined using X-ray microtomography and image analysis. Flow controllers were used to control flow of water and air to supply continuous water or water plus air, both of which were delivered through the influent end cap. Effluent air flow was monitored using a flow meter, and water flow was measured gravimetrically. To monitor the effective saturation of the fractures, a RCON2 concrete bulk electrical resistivity test device was attached across both endcaps and a 0.1M NaNO3 brine was used as the transport fluid to improve resistivity measurements. Water content correlated to resistivity measurements with a r2 > 0.96. Data from the experiments was evaluated using two relative permeability models, the Corey-curve, often used for modeling relative permeability in porous media

  17. Enhanced ionic transport in fine-grained scandia-stabilized zirconia ceramics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abdala, Paula M.; Lamas, Diego G. [CINSO (Centro de Investigaciones en Solidos), CONICET-CITEFA, J.B. de La Salle 4397 (B1603ALO) Villa Martelli, Pcia. de Buenos Aires (Argentina); Custo, Graciela S. [Gerencia de Area Seguridad Nuclear y Ambiente, Gerencia Quimica, Departamento Quimica Analitica, Centro Atomico Constituyentes, Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Av. Constituyentes 1499 (B1650KNA) San Martin, Pcia. de Buenos Aires (Argentina)

    2010-06-01

    In this work, the transport properties of fine-grained scandia-stabilized zirconia ceramics with low Si content have been investigated. These materials were prepared from ZrO{sub 2}-6 mol% Sc{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanopowders synthesized by a nitrate-lysine gel-combustion route. High relative densities and excellent electrical properties were obtained, even for sintering temperatures as low as 1350 C. Our electrochemical impedance spectroscopy study showed that both the volume fraction of grain boundaries and the specific grain-boundary conductivity are significantly enhanced with decreasing grain size, resulting in a higher total ionic conductivity. (author)

  18. Enhanced Stability of DNA Nanostructures by Incorporation of Unnatural Base Pairs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Qing; Liu, Guocheng; Wang, Ting; Fu, Jing; Li, Rujiao; Song, Linlin; Wang, Zhen-Gang; Ding, Baoquan; Chen, Fei

    2017-11-03

    Self-assembled DNA nanostructures hold great promise in the fields of nanofabrication, biosensing and nanomedicine. However, the inherent low stability of the DNA double helices, formed by weak interactions, largely hinders the assembly and functions of DNA nanostructures. In this study, we redesigned and constructed a six-arm DNA junction by incorporation of the unnatural base pairs 5-Me-isoC/isoG and A/2-thioT into the double helices. They not only retained the structural integrity of the DNA nanostructure, but also showed enhanced thermal stability and resistance to T7 Exonuclease digestion. This research may expand the applications of DNA nanostructures in nanofabrication and biomedical fields, and furthermore, the genetic alphabet expansion with unnatural base pairs may enable us to construct more complicated and diversified self-assembled DNA nanostructures. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  19. Stabilizing the CH2 Domain of an Antibody by Engineering in an Enhanced Aromatic Sequon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Wentao; Kong, Leopold; Connelly, Stephen; Dendle, Julia M; Liu, Yu; Wilson, Ian A; Powers, Evan T; Kelly, Jeffery W

    2016-07-15

    Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) exhibiting highly selective binding to a protein target constitute a large and growing proportion of the therapeutics market. Aggregation of mAbs results in the loss of their therapeutic efficacy and can result in deleterious immune responses. The CH2 domain comprising part of the Fc portion of Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is typically the least stable domain in IgG-type antibodies and therefore influences their aggregation propensity. We stabilized the CH2 domain by engineering an enhanced aromatic sequon (EAS) into the N-glycosylated C'E loop and observed a 4.8 °C increase in the melting temperature of the purified IgG1 Fc fragment. This EAS-stabilized CH2 domain also conferred enhanced stability against thermal and low pH induced aggregation in the context of a full-length monoclonal IgG1 antibody. The crystal structure of the EAS-stabilized (Q295F/Y296A) IgG1 Fc fragment confirms the design principle, i.e., the importance of the GlcNAc1•F295 interaction, and surprisingly reveals that the core fucose attached to GlcNAc1 also engages in an interaction with F295. Inhibition of core fucosylation confirms the contribution of the fucose-Phe interaction to the stabilization. The Q295F/Y296A mutations also modulate the binding affinity of the full-length antibody to Fc receptors by decreasing the binding to low affinity Fc gamma receptors (FcγRIIa, FcγRIIIa, and FcγRIIIb), while maintaining wild-type binding affinity to FcRn and FcγRI. Our results demonstrate that engineering an EAS into the N-glycosylated reverse turn on the C'E loop leads to stabilizing N-glycan-protein interactions in antibodies and that this modification modulates antibody-Fc receptor binding.

  20. Enhancement of Orthodontic Anchor Screw Stability Under Immediate Loading by Ultraviolet Photofunctionalization Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Maiko; Motoyoshi, Mitsuru; Inaba, Mizuki; Hagiwara, Yoshiyuki; Shimizu, Noriyoshi

    Ultraviolet (UV)-mediated photofunctionalization technology is intended to enhance the osseointegration capability of titanium implants. There are concerns about orthodontic anchor screws loosening under immediate loading protocols in adolescent orthodontic treatment. The purpose of this in vivo study was to evaluate the effects of photofunctionalization on the intrabony stability of orthodontic titanium anchor screws and bone-anchor screw contact under immediate loading in growing rats. Custom-made titanium anchor screws (1.4 mm in diameter and 4.0 mm in length) with or without photofunctionalization pretreatment were placed on the proximal epiphysis of the tibial bone in 6-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats and were loaded immediately after placement. After 2 weeks of loading, the stability of the anchor screws was evaluated using a Periotest device, and the bone-anchor screw contact ratio (BSC) was assessed by a histomorphometric analysis using field-emission scanning electron microscopy. In the unloaded group, Periotest values (PTVs) were ~25 for UV-untreated screws and 13 for UVtreated screws (P < .01), while in the immediate-loading group, PTVs were 28 for UV-untreated screws and 16 for UV-treated screws (P < .05). Significantly less screw mobility was observed in both UV-treated groups regardless of the loading protocol. The BSC was increased ~1.8 fold for UV-treated screws, compared with UV-untreated screws, regardless of the loading protocol. Photofunctionalization enhanced the intrabony stability of orthodontic anchor screws under immediate loading in growing rats by increasing bone-anchor screw contact.

  1. An Enhanced Asymptotic Expansion for the Stability of Nonlinear Elastic Structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Claus Dencker; Byskov, Esben

    2010-01-01

    A new, enhanced asymptotic expansion applicable to stability of structures made of nonlinear elastic materials is established. The method utilizes “hyperbolic” terms instead of the conventional polynomial terms, covers full kinematic nonlinearity and is applied to nonlinear elastic Euler columns...... with two different types of cross-section. Comparison with numerical results show that our expansion provides more accurate predictions of the behavior than usual expansions. The method is based on an extended version of the principle of virtual displacements that covers cases with auxiliary conditions...

  2. Fabrication of amorphous curcumin nanosuspensions using β-lactoglobulin to enhance solubility, stability, and bioavailability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aditya, N P; Yang, Hanjoo; Kim, Saehoon; Ko, Sanghoon

    2015-03-01

    Curcumin has low aqueous stability and solubility in its native form. It also has a low bioavailability which presents a major barrier to its use in fortifying food products. The aim of this work was to reduce the size of curcumin crystals to the nanoscale and subsequently stabilize them in an amorphous form. To this end, amorphous curcumin nanosuspensions were fabricated using the antisolvent precipitation method with β-lactoglobulin (β-lg) as a stabilizer. The resulting amorphous curcumin nanosuspensions were in the size range of 150-175 nm with unimodal size distribution. The curcumin particles were amorphous and were molecularly dispersed within the β-lg as confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The solubility of the amorphous curcumin nanosuspension was enhanced ∼35-fold due to the reduced size and lower crystallinity. Among the formulations, the amorphous curcumin nanosuspensions stabilized with β-lg and prepared at pH 3.4 (β-lg-cur 3.4), showed maximum aqueous stability which was >90% after 30 days. An in vitro study using Caco-2 cell lines showed a significant increase in curcumin bioavailability after stabilization with β-lg. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Stability Enhancement of a Power System Containing High-Penetration Intermittent Renewable Generation

    OpenAIRE

    Morel, Jorge; Obara, Shin’ya; Morizane, Yuta

    2015-01-01

    This paper considers the transient stability enhancement of a power system containing large amounts of solar and wind generation in Japan. Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster there has been an increasing awareness on the importance of a distributed architecture, based mainly on renewable generation, for the Japanese power system. Also, the targets of CO2 emissions can now be approached without heavily depending on nuclear generation. Large amounts of renewable generation leads to...

  4. Enhancing Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells to Moisture by the Facile Hydrophobic Passivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Insung; Jeong, Inyoung; Lee, Jinwoo; Ko, Min Jae; Yong, Kijung

    2015-08-12

    In this study, a novel and facile passivation process for a perovskite solar cell is reported. Poor stability in ambient atmosphere, which is the most critical demerit of a perovskite solar cell, is overcome by a simple passivation process using a hydrophobic polymer layer. Teflon, the hydrophobic polymer, is deposited on the top of a perovskite solar cell by a spin-coating method. With the hydrophobic passivation, the perovskite solar cell shows negligible degradation after a 30 day storage in ambient atmosphere. Suppressed degradation of the perovskite film is proved in various ways: X-ray diffraction, light absorption spectrum, and quartz crystal microbalance. This simple but effective passivation process suggests new kind of approach to enhance stability of perovskite solar cells to moisture.

  5. Stabilizing salt-bridge enhances protein thermostability by reducing the heat capacity change of unfolding.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chi-Ho Chan

    Full Text Available Most thermophilic proteins tend to have more salt bridges, and achieve higher thermostability by up-shifting and broadening their protein stability curves. While the stabilizing effect of salt-bridge has been extensively studied, experimental data on how salt-bridge influences protein stability curves are scarce. Here, we used double mutant cycles to determine the temperature-dependency of the pair-wise interaction energy and the contribution of salt-bridges to ΔC(p in a thermophilic ribosomal protein L30e. Our results showed that the pair-wise interaction energies for the salt-bridges E6/R92 and E62/K46 were stabilizing and insensitive to temperature changes from 298 to 348 K. On the other hand, the pair-wise interaction energies between the control long-range ion-pair of E90/R92 were negligible. The ΔC(p of all single and double mutants were determined by Gibbs-Helmholtz and Kirchhoff analyses. We showed that the two stabilizing salt-bridges contributed to a reduction of ΔC(p by 0.8-1.0 kJ mol⁻¹ K⁻¹. Taken together, our results suggest that the extra salt-bridges found in thermophilic proteins enhance the thermostability of proteins by reducing ΔC(p, leading to the up-shifting and broadening of the protein stability curves.

  6. Incorporating electrokinetic effects in the porochemoelastic inclined wellbore formulation and solution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vinh X. Nguyen

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The porochemoelectroelastic analytical models and solutions have been used to describe the response of chemically active and electrically charged saturated porous media such as clays, shales, and biological tissues. However, these attempts have been restricted to one-dimensional consolidation problems, which are very limited in practice and not general enough to serve as benchmark solutions for numerical validation. This work summarizes the general linear porochemoelectroelastic formulation and presents the solution of an inclined wellbore drilled in a fluid-saturated chemically active and ionized formation, such as shale, and subjected to a three-dimensional in-situ state of stress. The analytical solution to this geometry incorporates the coupled solid deformation and simultaneous fluid/ion flows induced by the combined influences of pore pressure, chemical potential, and electrical potential gradients under isothermal conditions. The formation pore fluid is modeled as an electrolyte solution comprised of a solvent and one type of dissolved cation and anion. The analytical approach also integrates into the solution the quantitative use of the cation exchange capacity (CEC commonly obtained from laboratory measurements on shale samples. The results for stresses and pore pressure distributions due to the coupled electrochemical effects are illustrated and plotted in the vicinity of the inclined wellbore and compared with the classical porochemoelastic and poroelastic solutions.Modelos analíticos poroelásticos incluindo acoplamento químico e elétrico e soluções têm sido utilizados paradescrever a resposta de meios porosos saturados ativos química e eletricamente tais como argilas, folhelhos e tecidos biológicos. Entretanto tais tentativas têm sido restritas a problemas de consolidação unidimensional os quais exibem limitações na prática não constituindo exemplos realistas para validação de soluções numéricas. Este trabalho

  7. Validation of enhanced stabilization of municipal solid waste under controlled leachate recirculation using FTIR and XRD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sethi, Sapna; Kothiyal, N C; Nema, Arvind K

    2012-07-01

    Leachate recirculation at neutral PH accompanied with buffer/nutrients addition has been used successfully in earlier stabilization of municipal solid waste in bioreactor landfills. In the present study, efforts were made to enhance the stabilization rate of municipal solid waste (MSW) and organic solid waste (OSW) in simulated landfill bioreactors by controlling the pH of recirculated leachate towards slightly alkaline side in absence of additional buffer and nutrients addition. Enhanced stabilization in waste samples was monitored with the help of analytical tools like Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Predominance of bands assigned to inorganic compounds and comparatively lower intensities of bands for organic compounds in the FTIR spectra of waste samples degraded with leachate recirculation under controlled pH confirmed higher rate of biodegradation and mineralization of waste than the samples degraded without controlled leachate recirculation. XRD spectra also confirmed to a greater extent of mineralization in the waste samples degraded under leachate recirculation with controlled pH. Comparison of XRD spectra of two types of wastes pointed out higher degree of mineralization in organic solid waste as compared to municipal solid waste.

  8. Enhanced thermal stability of RuO2/polyimide interface for flexible device applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Music, Denis; Schmidt, Paul; Chang, Keke

    2017-09-01

    We have studied the thermal stability of RuO2/polyimide (Kapton) interface using experimental and theoretical methods. Based on calorimetric and spectroscopic analyses, this inorganic-organic system does not exhibit any enthalpic peaks as well as all bonds in RuO2 and Kapton are preserved up to 500 °C. In addition, large-scale density functional theory based molecular dynamics, carried out in the same temperature range, validates the electronic structure and points out that numerous Ru-C and a few Ru-O covalent/ionic bonds form across the RuO2/Kapton interface. This indicates strong adhesion, but there is no evidence of Kapton degradation upon thermal excitation. Furthermore, RuO2 does not exhibit any interfacial bonds with N and H in Kapton, providing additional evidence for the thermal stability notion. It is suggested that the RuO2/Kapton interface is stable due to aromatic architecture of Kapton. This enhanced thermal stability renders Kapton an appropriate polymeric substrate for RuO2 containing systems in various applications, especially for flexible microelectronic and energy devices.

  9. The Development and Test of a Sensor for Measurement of the Working Level of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Coalbed Methane Wellbore Annulus

    OpenAIRE

    Chuan Wu; Huafeng Ding; Lei Han

    2018-01-01

    Coalbed methane (CBM) is one kind of clean-burning gas and has been valued as a new form of energy that will be used widely in the near future. When producing CBM, the working level within a CBM wellbore annulus needs to be monitored to dynamically adjust the gas drainage and extraction processes. However, the existing method of measuring the working level does not meet the needs of accurate adjustment, so we designed a new sensor for this purpose. The principle of our sensor is a liquid pres...

  10. The use of synthetic ligaments in the design of an enhanced stability total knee joint replacement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stokes, Michael D; Greene, Brendan C; Pietrykowski, Luke W; Gambon, Taylor M; Bales, Caroline E; DesJardins, John D

    2018-03-01

    Current total knee replacement designs work to address clinically desired knee stability and range of motion through a balance of retained anatomy and added implant geometry. However, simplified implant geometries such as bearing surfaces, posts, and cams are often used to replace complex ligamentous constraints that are sacrificed during most total knee replacement procedures. This article evaluates a novel total knee replacement design that incorporates synthetic ligaments to enhance the stability of the total knee replacement system. It was hypothesized that by incorporating artificial cruciate ligaments into a total knee replacement design at specific locations and lengths, the stability of the total knee replacement could be significantly altered while maintaining active ranges of motion. The ligament attachment mechanisms used in the design were evaluated using a tensile test, and determined to have a safety factor of three with respect to expected ligamentous loading in vivo. Following initial computational modeling of possible ligament orientations, a physical prototype was constructed to verify the function of the design by performing anterior/posterior drawer tests under physiologic load. Synthetic ligament configurations were found to increase total knee replacement stability up to 94% compared to the no-ligament case, while maintaining total knee replacement flexion range of motion between 0° and 120°, indicating that a total knee replacement that incorporates synthetic ligaments with calibrated location and lengths should be able to significantly enhance and control the kinematic performance of a total knee replacement system.

  11. Dynamic State Estimation for Multi-Machine Power System by Unscented Kalman Filter With Enhanced Numerical Stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qi, Junjian; Sun, Kai; Wang, Jianhui; Liu, Hui

    2018-03-01

    In this paper, in order to enhance the numerical stability of the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) used for power system dynamic state estimation, a new UKF with guaranteed positive semidifinite estimation error covariance (UKFGPS) is proposed and compared with five existing approaches, including UKFschol, UKF-kappa, UKFmodified, UKF-Delta Q, and the squareroot UKF (SRUKF). These methods and the extended Kalman filter (EKF) are tested by performing dynamic state estimation on WSCC 3-machine 9-bus system and NPCC 48-machine 140-bus system. For WSCC system, all methods obtain good estimates. However, for NPCC system, both EKF and the classic UKF fail. It is found that UKFschol, UKF-kappa, and UKF-Delta Q do not work well in some estimations while UKFGPS works well in most cases. UKFmodified and SRUKF can always work well, indicating their better scalability mainly due to the enhanced numerical stability.

  12. Silylated Zeolites with Enhanced Hydrothermal Stability for the Aqueous-Phase Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vu, Hue-Tong; Harth, Florian M.; Wilde, Nicole

    2018-05-01

    A systematic silylation approach using mono-, di- and trichlorosilanes with different alkyl chain lengths was employed to enhance the hydrothermal stability of zeolite Y. DRIFT spectra of the silylated zeolites indicate that the attachment of the silanes takes place at surface silanol groups. Regarding hydrothermal stability under aqueous-phase processing conditions, i.e., pH ≈ 2, 473 K and autogenous pressure, the selective silylation of the zeolite surface using monochlorosilanes has no considerable influence. By using trichlorosilanes, the hydrothermal stability of zeolite Y can be improved significantly as proven by a stability test in an aqueous solution of 0.6 M levulinic acid (LA) and 0.2 M formic acid (FA) at 473 K. However, the silylation with trichlorosilanes results in a significant loss of total specific pore volume and total specific surface area, e.g., 0.35 cm3 g-1 and 507 m2 g 1 for the silylated zeolite Y functionalized with n octadecyltrichlorosilane compared to 0.51 cm3 g 1 and 788 m2 g-1 for the parent zeolite Y. The hydrogenation of LA to γ valerolactone (GVL) was conducted over 3 wt.-% Pt on zeolite Y (3PtY) silylated with either n octadecyltrichlorosilane or methyltrichlorosilane using different reducing agents, e.g., FA or H2. While in the stability test an enhanced hydrothermal stability was found for zeolite Y silylated with n octadecyltrichlorosilane, its stability in the hydrogenation of LA was far less pronounced. Only by applying an excess amount of methyltrichlorosilane, i.e., 10 mmol per 1 g of zeolite Y, presumably resulting in a high degree of polymerization among the silanes, a recognizable improvement of the stability of the 3 PtY catalyst could be achieved. Nonetheless, the pore blockage found for zeolite Y silylated with an excess amount of methyltrichlorosilane was reflected in a drastically lower GVL yield at 493 K using FA as reducing agent, i.e., 12% vs. 34% for 3PtY after 24 h.

  13. Silylated Zeolites With Enhanced Hydrothermal Stability for the Aqueous-Phase Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hue-Tong Vu

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available A systematic silylation approach using mono-, di-, and trichlorosilanes with different alkyl chain lengths was employed to enhance the hydrothermal stability of zeolite Y. DRIFT spectra of the silylated zeolites indicate that the attachment of the silanes takes place at surface silanol groups. Regarding hydrothermal stability under aqueous-phase processing (APP conditions, i.e., pH ≈ 2, 473 K and autogenous pressure, the selective silylation of the zeolite surface using monochlorosilanes has no considerable influence. By using trichlorosilanes, the hydrothermal stability of zeolite Y can be improved significantly as proven by a stability test in an aqueous solution of 0.2 M levulinic acid (LA and 0.6 M formic acid (FA at 473 K. However, the silylation with trichlorosilanes results in a significant loss of total specific pore volume and total specific surface area, e.g., 0.35 cm3 g−1 and 507 m2 g−1 for the silylated zeolite Y functionalized with n-octadecyltrichlorosilane compared to 0.51 cm3 g−1 and 788 m2 g−1 for the parent zeolite Y. The hydrogenation of LA to γ-valerolactone (GVL was conducted over 3 wt.-% Pt on zeolite Y (3PtY silylated with either n-octadecyltrichlorosilane or methyltrichlorosilane using different reducing agents, e.g., FA or H2. While in the stability test an enhanced hydrothermal stability was found for zeolite Y silylated with n-octadecyltrichlorosilane, its stability in the hydrogenation of LA was far less pronounced. Only by applying an excess amount of methyltrichlorosilane, i.e., 10 mmol per 1 g of zeolite Y, presumably resulting in a high degree of polymerization among the silanes, a recognizable improvement of the stability of the 3 PtY catalyst could be achieved. Nonetheless, the pore blockage found for zeolite Y silylated with an excess amount of methyltrichlorosilane was reflected in a drastically lower GVL yield at 493 K using FA as reducing agent, i.e., 12 vs. 34% for 3PtY after 24 h.

  14. Stabilization of dendritic spine clusters and hyperactive Ras-MAPK signaling predict enhanced motor learning in an autistic savant mouse model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryan Thomas Ash

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available That both prominent behavioral inflexibility and exceptional learning abilities are seen occasionally in autistic patients is a mystery. We hypothesize that these altered patterns of learning and memory can arise from a pathological imbalance between the stability and plasticity of internal neural representations. We evaluated this hypothesis in the mouse model of MECP2 duplication syndrome, which demonstrates enhanced motor learning, stereotyped behaviors, and social avoidance. Learning-associated structural plasticity was measured in the motor cortex of MECP2 duplication mice by 2-photon imaging (Fig. 1A. An increased stabilization rate of learning-associated dendritic spines was observed in mutants, and this correlated with rotarod performance. Analysis of the spatial distribution of stabilized spines revealed that the mutant’s increased spine stabilization was due to a specific increase in the stability of spines jointly formed in ~9-micron clusters. Clustered spine stabilization but not isolated spine stabilization predicted enhanced motor performance in MECP2 duplication mice (Fig. 1B. Biochemical assays of Ras-MAPK and mTOR pathway activation demonstrated profound hyperphosphorylation of MAPK in the motor cortex of MECP2 duplication mice with motor training (Fig. 1C. Taken together these data suggest that a pathological bias towards hyperstability of learning-associated dendritic spine clusters driven by hyperactive Ras-MAPK signaling could contribute to neurobehavioral phenotypes in this form of syndromic autism.

  15. Thermo-cleavable polymers: Materials with enhanced photochemical stability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manceau, Matthieu; Petersen, Martin Helgesen; Krebs, Frederik C

    2010-01-01

    Photochemical stability of three thermo-cleavable polymers was investigated as thin films under atmospheric conditions. A significant increase in lifetime was observed once the side-chain was cleaved emphasizing the detrimental effect of solubilizing groups on the photochemical stability of conju......Photochemical stability of three thermo-cleavable polymers was investigated as thin films under atmospheric conditions. A significant increase in lifetime was observed once the side-chain was cleaved emphasizing the detrimental effect of solubilizing groups on the photochemical stability...... of conjugated polymers. In addition to their ease of processing, thermo-cleavable polymers thus also offer a greater intrinsic stability under illumination....

  16. Structure-based stabilization of HIV-1 gp120 enhances humoral immune responses to the induced co-receptor binding site.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barna Dey

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1 exterior envelope glycoprotein, gp120, possesses conserved binding sites for interaction with the primary virus receptor, CD4, and also for the co-receptor, generally CCR5. Although gp120 is a major target for virus-specific neutralizing antibodies, the gp120 variable elements and its malleable nature contribute to evasion of effective host-neutralizing antibodies. To understand the conformational character and immunogenicity of the gp120 receptor binding sites as potential vaccine targets, we introduced structure-based modifications to stabilize gp120 core proteins (deleted of the gp120 major variable regions into the conformation recognized by both receptors. Thermodynamic analysis of the re-engineered core with selected ligands revealed significant stabilization of the receptor-binding regions. Stabilization of the co-receptor-binding region was associated with a marked increase in on-rate of ligand binding to this site as determined by surface plasmon resonance. Rabbit immunization studies showed that the conformational stabilization of core proteins, along with increased ligand affinity, was associated with strikingly enhanced humoral immune responses against the co-receptor-binding site. These results demonstrate that structure-based approaches can be exploited to stabilize a conformational site in a large functional protein to enhance immunogenic responses specific for that region.

  17. Enhancement of efficiency and stability of phosphorescent OLEDs based on heterostructured light-emitting layers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chin, Byung Doo, E-mail: bdchin@dankook.ac.kr [Department of Polymer Science and Engineering and Center for Photofunctional Energy Materials, Dankook University, Jukjeon-dong, Suji-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 448-701 (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-03-23

    The light-emitting efficiency and stability of a phosphorescent organic light-emitting device (OLED), whose emission characteristics are strongly dominated not only by the energy transfer but also by the charge carrier trapping influenced by heterostructured emissive layers, are studied. The variation of the material combination of the heterostructured emitter, both for mixed and double layer configuration, affects the charge injection behaviour, luminous efficiency and stability. Both double and mixed emitter configurations yield low-voltage and high-efficiency behaviour (51 lm W{sup -1} at 1000 cd m{sup -2}; 30 lm W{sup -1} at 10 000 cd m{sup -2}). Such an improvement in power efficiency at elevated brightness is sufficiently universal, while the enhancement of device half-lifetime is rather sensitive to the circumstantial layout of heterostructural emitters. With an optimal mixture of hole-transport type and electron-transport type, a half-lifetime of more than 2500 h at 4000 cd m{sup -2} is obtained, which is 8 times the half-lifetime of control devices with a single emitter structure. The origin and criterion for enhancement of efficiency and lifetime are discussed in terms of the carrier transport behaviour with a specific device architecture.

  18. Stability Enhancement of a Power System Containing High-Penetration Intermittent Renewable Generation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Morel

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers the transient stability enhancement of a power system containing large amounts of solar and wind generation in Japan. Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster there has been an increasing awareness on the importance of a distributed architecture, based mainly on renewable generation, for the Japanese power system. Also, the targets of CO2 emissions can now be approached without heavily depending on nuclear generation. Large amounts of renewable generation leads to a reduction in the total inertia of the system because renewable generators are connected to the grid by power converters, and transient stability becomes a significant issue. Simulation results show that sodium-sulfur batteries can keep the system in operation and stable after strong transient disturbances, especially for an isolated system. The results also show how the reduction of the inertia in the system can be mitigated by exploiting the kinetic energy of wind turbines.

  19. Flexible cement improves wellbore integrity for steam assisted gravity drainage SAGD wells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DeBruijn, G.; Whitton, S.; Redekopp, D. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Schlumberger Canada Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada); Siso, C. [ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corp., Calgary, AB (Canada); Reinheimer, D. [Schlumberger Canada Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    Cement sheath integrity is an important factor in ensuring the zonal isolation of wells. Significant stresses are placed on the cement sheaths of wells during steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) processes, as the expanded forces from the heating of the well are transferred to the cement sheath, which places a tensile load on the cement at the sheath's outer edge. In this study, a computerized simulation was conducted to examine stresses in a novel flexible cement sheath system during an SAGD heat-up cycle. Wellbore temperature was increased from 10 degrees C to 250 degrees C over a period of 720 minutes. Pressure was increased from 0 MPa to 5 MPa. The finite element model was used to predict microannulus, cement failure in compression, and cement failure in tension. A sensitivity analysis was used to estimate the effect of different parameters as well as to estimate the value of the Young's modulus of the shale. Results of the study showed that temperature and pressure dynamics have a significant impact on stresses in the cement sheath. An extended heat-up period resulted in reduced stresses to the sheath. Lower operating pressures also reduced stresses. It was concluded that pressure and temperature increases should be extended over a long a period as possible in order to reduce stresses. Results suggested that a flexible cement system with a low Young's modulus is suitable for SAGD wells. 8 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs.

  20. A new reconfiguration scheme for voltage stability enhancement of radial distribution systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arun, M.; Aravindhababu, P.

    2009-01-01

    Network reconfiguration is an operation problem, which entails altering the topological structure of the distribution feeders by rearranging the status of switches in order to obtain an optimal configuration in order to minimise the system losses. This paper presents a new reconfiguration algorithm that enhances voltage stability and improves the voltage profile besides minimising losses without incurring any additional cost for installation of capacitors, tap changing transformers and related switching equipment in the distribution system. Test results on a 69 node distribution system reveal the superiority of this algorithm.

  1. Enhancement and stabilization of plasma using collinear long-short double-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Minchao; Deguchi, Yoshihiro; Wang, Zhenzhen; Fujita, Yuki; Liu, Renwei; Shiou, Fang-Jung; Zhao, Shengdun

    2018-04-01

    A collinear long-short dual-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (DP-LIBS) method was employed to enhance and stabilize the laser-induced plasma from steel sample. The long-pulse-width laser beam with the pulse width of 60 μs was generated by a Nd: YAG laser which was operated at FR (free running) mode. The comparative experiments were carried out between single pulse LIBS (SP-LIBS) and long-short DP-LIBS. The recorded results showed that the emission intensities and the temperature of plasma were enhanced by long-short DP-LIBS. The plasma images showed that the plasma was bigger and had a longer lifetime in long-short DP-LIBS situation. Through the calculation of time-resolved plasma temperature and intensity ratio, it can be concluded that the plasma was stabilized by the long-pulse-width laser beam. The long-short DP-LIBS method also generated the stable plasma condition from the samples with different initial temperatures, which overcame the difficulties of LIBS in the online measurement for steel production line.

  2. Enhanced structural stability of DNA origami nanostructures by graphene encapsulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matković, Aleksandar; Vasić, Borislav; Pešić, Jelena; Gajić, Radoš; Prinz, Julia; Bald, Ilko; Milosavljević, Aleksandar R

    2016-01-01

    We demonstrate that a single-layer graphene replicates the shape of DNA origami nanostructures very well. It can be employed as a protective layer for the enhancement of structural stability of DNA origami nanostructures. Using the AFM based manipulation, we show that the normal force required to damage graphene encapsulated DNA origami nanostructures is over an order of magnitude greater than for the unprotected ones. In addition, we show that graphene encapsulation offers protection to the DNA origami nanostructures against prolonged exposure to deionized water, and multiple immersions. Through these results we demonstrate that graphene encapsulated DNA origami nanostructures are strong enough to sustain various solution phase processing, lithography and transfer steps, thus extending the limits of DNA-mediated bottom-up fabrication. (paper)

  3. Transducer-based fiber Bragg grating high-temperature sensor with enhanced range and stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mamidi, Venkata Reddy; Kamineni, Srimannarayana; Ravinuthala, Lakshmi Narayana Sai Prasad; Tumu, Venkatappa Rao

    2017-09-01

    Fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based high-temperature sensor with enhanced-temperature range and stability has been developed and tested. The sensor consists of an FBG and a mechanical transducer, which furnishes a linear temperature-dependent tensile strain on FBG by means of differential linear thermal expansion of two different ceramic materials. The designed sensor is tested over a range: 20°C to 1160°C and is expected to measure up to 1500°C.

  4. Observer enhanced control for spin-stabilized tethered formation in earth orbit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guang, Zhai; Yuyang, Li; Liang, Bin

    2018-04-01

    This paper addresses the issues relevant to control of spin-stabilized tethered formation in circular orbit. Due to the dynamic complexities and nonlinear perturbations, it is challenging to promote the control precision for the formation deployment and maintenance. In this work, the formation dynamics are derived with considering the spinning rate of the central body, then major attention is dedicated to develop the nonlinear disturbance observer. To achieve better control performance, the observer-enhanced controller is designed by incorporating the disturbance observer into the control loop, benefits from the disturbance compensation are demonstrated, and also, the dependences of the disturbance observer performance on some important parameters are theoretically and numerically analyzed.

  5. Nonlinear Synergetic Governor Controllers for Steam Turbine Generators to Enhance Power System Stability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xingbao Ju

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a decentralized nonlinear synergetic governor controller (NSGC for turbine generators to enhance power system stability by using synergetic control theory and the feedback linearization technique. The precise feedback linearization model of a turbine-generator with a steam valve control is obtained, at first, by using a feedback linearization technique. Then based on this model, a manifold is defined as a linear combination of the deviation of the rotor angle, speed deviation, and speed derivative. The control law of the proposed NSGC is deduced and the stability condition of the whole closed-loop system is subsequently analyzed. According to the requirement of the primary frequency regulation, an additional proportional integral (PI controller is designed to dynamically track the steady-state value of the rotor angle. Case studies are undertaken based on a single-machine infinite-bus system and the New England system, respectively. Simulation results show that the proposed NSGC can suppress the power oscillations and improve transient stability more effectively in comparison with the conventional proportional-integral-derivative (PID governor controller. Moreover, the proposed NSGC is robust to the variations of the system operating conditions.

  6. Intelligent Control of UPFC for Enhancing Transient Stability on Multi-Machine Power Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hassan Barati

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the benefit of FACTS devices is increase of stability in power systems with control active and reactive power at during the fault in power system. Although, the power system stabilizers (PSSs have been one of the most common controls used to damp out oscillations, this device may not produce enough damping especially to inter-area mode and therefore, there is an increasing interest in using FACTS devices to aid in damping of these oscillations. In This paper, UPFC is used for damping oscillations and to enhance the transient stability performance of power systems. The controller parameters are designed using an efficient version of the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy control scheme. The function based Takagi-Sugeno-Kang (TSK fuzzy controller uses. For optimization parameters of fuzzy PI controller, the GA, PSO and HGAPSO algorithms are used. The computer simulation results, the effect of UPFC with conventional PI controller, fuzzy PI controller and intelligent controllers (GA, PSO and HGAPSO for damping the local-mode and inter-area mode of under large and small disturbances in the four-machine two-area power system evaluated and compared.

  7. Study on stability of a-SiCOF films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding Shijin; Zhang Qingquan; Wang Pengfei; Zhang Wei; Wang Jitao

    2001-01-01

    Low-dielectric-constant a-SiCOF films have been prepared from TEOS, C 4 F 8 and Ar by using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. With the aid of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), the chemical bonding configuration, thermal stability and resistance to water of the films are explored

  8. Stability Proxies for Water-in-Oil Emulsions and Implications in Aqueous-based Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehrnoosh Moradi

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Several researchers have proposed that mobility control mechanisms can positively contribute to oil recovery in the case of emulsions generated in Enhanced-Oil Recovery (EOR operations. Chemical EOR techniques that use alkaline components or/and surfactants are known to produce undesirable emulsions that create operational problems and are difficult to break. Other water-based methods have been less studied in this sense. EOR processes such as polymer flooding and LoSalTM injection require adjustments of water chemistry, mainly by lowering the ionic strength of the solution or by decreasing hardness. The decreased ionic strength of EOR solutions can give rise to more stable water-in-oil emulsions, which are speculated to improve mobility ratio between the injectant and the displaced oil. The first step toward understanding the connection between the emulsions and EOR mechanisms is to show that EOR conditions, such as salinity and hardness requirements, among others, are conducive to stabilizing emulsions. In order to do this, adequate stability proxies are required. This paper reviews commonly used emulsion stability proxies and explains the advantages and disadvantage of methods reviewed. This paper also reviews aqueous-based EOR processes with focus on heavy oil to contextualize in-situ emulsion stabilization conditions. This context sets the basis for comparison of emulsion stability proxies.

  9. Inducing half-metallicity with enhanced stability in zigzag graphene nanoribbons via fluorine passivation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jaiswal, Neeraj K., E-mail: neerajkjaiswal@gmail.com [Discipline of Physics, Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacturing, Jabalpur 482005 (India); Tyagi, Neha [Department of Applied Physics, Delhi Technological University, Delhi 110042 (India); Kumar, Amit [Discipline of Physics, Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacturing, Jabalpur 482005 (India); Srivastava, Pankaj [Nanomaterials Research Group, ABV-Indian Institute of Information Technology & Management, Gwalior 474015 (India)

    2017-02-28

    Highlights: • F passivated zigzag graphene nanoribbon (F-ZGNR) are more favorable than pristine ones. • External electric field induces half metallicity in F-ZGNR. • The observed half metallicity is independent of ribbon widths. • Enhanced stability makes F-ZGNR preferable over pristine ribbon. - Abstract: Half metals are the primary ingredients for the realization of novel spintronic devices. In the present work, by employing density functional theory based first-principles calculation, we predict half metallic behavior in fluorine passivated zigzag graphene nanoribbons (F-ZGNR). Four different structures have been investigated viz. one edge F passivated ZGNR (F-ZGNR-1), both edges F passivated ZGNR (F-ZGNR-2), F passivation on alternate sites in first configuration (alt-1) and F passivation on alternate sites in second configuration (alt-2). Interestingly, it is noticed that F passivation is analogous to H passivation (pristine), however, F-ZGNR are reckoned energetically more stable than pristine ones. An spin induced band gap is noticed for all F-ZGNR irrespective of their widths although its magnitude is slightly less than the pristine counterparts. With an external transverse electric field, ribbons undergo semiconducting to half metallic transformation. The observed half metallic character with enhanced stability present F-ZGNR as a better candidate than pristine ZGNR towards the realization of upcoming spintronic devices.

  10. Nanostructural control of methane release in kerogen and its implications to wellbore production decline

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Tuan Anh; Criscenti, Louise J.; Wang, Yifeng

    2016-06-01

    Despite massive success of shale gas production in the US in the last few decades there are still major concerns with the steep decline in wellbore production and the large uncertainty in a long-term projection of decline curves. A reliable projection must rely on a mechanistic understanding of methane release in shale matrix-a limiting step in shale gas extraction. Using molecular simulations, we here show that methane release in nanoporous kerogen matrix is characterized by fast release of pressurized free gas (accounting for ~30-47% recovery) followed by slow release of adsorbed gas as the gas pressure decreases. The first stage is driven by the gas pressure gradient while the second stage is controlled by gas desorption and diffusion. We further show that diffusion of all methane in nanoporous kerogen behaves differently from the bulk phase, with much smaller diffusion coefficients. The MD simulations also indicate that a significant fraction (3-35%) of methane deposited in kerogen can potentially become trapped in isolated nanopores and thus not recoverable. Our results shed a new light on mechanistic understanding gas release and production decline in unconventional reservoirs. The long-term production decline appears controlled by the second stage of gas release.

  11. Technical review of the high energy gas stimulation technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haney, B.; Cuthill, D. [Computalog Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    1997-08-01

    High Energy Gas Stimulation (HEGS) or propellant stimulation is a process that enhances production of oil wells by decreasing wellbore damage and increasing near wellbore permeability. The technique has been used on about 7,000 wells with varying results. The HEGS tool is a cast cylinder of solid rocket propellant with a central ignition system. The propellant is fired and as it burns it produces a pressure load on the formation, increasing fracture volume which enhances the flow channels. Background information on the development and application of this stimulation technique was provided. The introduction of fractures around a wellbore is dependent on the pressure loading rate and the dynamic response of the rock. Propellant stimulation relies on controlling the pressure-time behaviour to maximize fracture growth by fluid pressurization. The process is composed of 3 sequential phases: (1) wellbore pressurization, (2) fracture initiation, and (3) fracture extension. A full description of each of these phases was provided. Geologic and well-tool factors that have a significant influence on the fracturing process such as in-situ stress, natural fractures and flaws, formation mechanical properties, formation fluid and flow properties, formation thermal properties, and wellbore, tool, and tamp configuration, were also reviewed. The many applications for HEGS were presented. It was emphasized that the success of HEGS is dependent on pre-stimulation problem evaluation and on proper charge design. Since HEGS will decrease near-wellbore restrictions and initiate formation breakdown, it should only be used in cases where this will be beneficial to the well. Careful attention to engineering will optimize results. 21 refs., 13 figs.

  12. Bee species diversity enhances productivity and stability in a perennial crop.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shelley R Rogers

    Full Text Available Wild bees provide important pollination services to agroecoystems, but the mechanisms which underlie their contribution to ecosystem functioning--and, therefore, their importance in maintaining and enhancing these services-remain unclear. We evaluated several mechanisms through which wild bees contribute to crop productivity, the stability of pollinator visitation, and the efficiency of individual pollinators in a highly bee-pollination dependent plant, highbush blueberry. We surveyed the bee community (through transect sampling and pan trapping and measured pollination of both open- and singly-visited flowers. We found that the abundance of managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, and wild-bee richness were equally important in describing resulting open pollination. Wild-bee richness was a better predictor of pollination than wild-bee abundance. We also found evidence suggesting pollinator visitation (and subsequent pollination are stabilized through the differential response of bee taxa to weather (i.e., response diversity. Variation in the individual visit efficiency of A. mellifera and the southeastern blueberry bee, Habropoda laboriosa, a wild specialist, was not associated with changes in the pollinator community. Our findings add to a growing literature that diverse pollinator communities provide more stable and productive ecosystem services.

  13. Bee species diversity enhances productivity and stability in a perennial crop.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, Shelley R; Tarpy, David R; Burrack, Hannah J

    2014-01-01

    Wild bees provide important pollination services to agroecoystems, but the mechanisms which underlie their contribution to ecosystem functioning--and, therefore, their importance in maintaining and enhancing these services-remain unclear. We evaluated several mechanisms through which wild bees contribute to crop productivity, the stability of pollinator visitation, and the efficiency of individual pollinators in a highly bee-pollination dependent plant, highbush blueberry. We surveyed the bee community (through transect sampling and pan trapping) and measured pollination of both open- and singly-visited flowers. We found that the abundance of managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, and wild-bee richness were equally important in describing resulting open pollination. Wild-bee richness was a better predictor of pollination than wild-bee abundance. We also found evidence suggesting pollinator visitation (and subsequent pollination) are stabilized through the differential response of bee taxa to weather (i.e., response diversity). Variation in the individual visit efficiency of A. mellifera and the southeastern blueberry bee, Habropoda laboriosa, a wild specialist, was not associated with changes in the pollinator community. Our findings add to a growing literature that diverse pollinator communities provide more stable and productive ecosystem services.

  14. Integrating EDDS-enhanced washing with low-cost stabilization of metal-contaminated soil from an e-waste recycling site.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beiyuan, Jingzi; Tsang, Daniel C W; Ok, Yong Sik; Zhang, Weihua; Yang, Xin; Baek, Kitae; Li, Xiang-Dong

    2016-09-01

    While chelant-enhanced soil washing has been widely studied for metal extraction from contaminated soils, there are concerns about destabilization and leaching of residual metals after remediation. This study integrated 2-h soil washing enhanced by biodegradable ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS) and 2-month stabilization using agricultural waste product (soybean stover biochar pyrolyzed at 300 and 700 °C), industrial by-product (coal fly ash (CFA)), and their mixture. After integration with 2-month stabilization, the leachability and mobility of residual metals (Cu, Zn, and Pb) in the field-contaminated soil were significantly reduced, especially for Cu, in comparison with 2-h EDDS washing alone. This suggested that the metals destabilized by EDDS-washing could be immobilized by subsequent stabilization with biochar and CFA. Moreover, when the remediation performance was evaluated for phytoavailability and bioaccessibility, prior EDDS washing helped to achieve a greater reduction in the bioavailable fraction of metals than sole stabilization treatment. This was probably because the weakly-bound metals were first removed by EDDS washing before stabilization. Both individual and combined applications of biochar and CFA showed comparable effectiveness regardless of the difference in material properties, possibly due to the high level of amendments (150 ton ha(-1)). Based on the mobility and bioaccessibility results, the estimated human health risk (primarily resulting from Pb) could be mitigated to an acceptable level in water consumption pathway or reduced by half in soil ingestion pathway. These results suggest that an integration of EDDS washing with soil stabilization can alleviate post-remediation impacts of residual metals in the treated soil. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Enhanced capacity and stability for the separation of cesium in electrically switched ion exchange

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tawfic, A.F.; Dickson, S.E.; Kim, Y.; Mekky, W.

    2015-01-01

    Electrically switched ion exchange (ESIX) can be used to separate ionic contaminants from industrial wastewater, including that generated by the nuclear industry. The ESIX method involves sequential application of reduction and oxidation potentials to an ion exchange film to induce the respective loading and unloading of cesium. This technology is superior to conventional methods (e.g electrodialysis reversal or reverse osmosis) as it requires very little energy for ionic separation. In previous studies, ESIX films have demonstrated relatively low ion exchange capacities and limited film stabilities over repeated potential applications. In this study, the methodology for the deposition of electro-active films (nickel hexacyanoferrate) on nickel electrodes was modified to improve the ion exchange capacity for cesium removal using ESIX. Cyclic voltammetry was used to investigate the ion exchange capacity and stability. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the modified film surfaces. Additionally, the films were examined for the separation of cesium ions. This modified film preparation technique enhanced the ion exchange capacity and improves the film stability compared to previous methods for the deposition of ESIX films. (authors)

  16. Enhanced capacity and stability for the separation of cesium in electrically switched ion exchange

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tawfic, A.F.; Dickson, S.E.; Kim, Y. [McMaster University, Hamilton, ON (Canada); Mekky, W. [AMEC NSS, Power and Process America, Toronto (Canada)

    2015-03-15

    Electrically switched ion exchange (ESIX) can be used to separate ionic contaminants from industrial wastewater, including that generated by the nuclear industry. The ESIX method involves sequential application of reduction and oxidation potentials to an ion exchange film to induce the respective loading and unloading of cesium. This technology is superior to conventional methods (e.g electrodialysis reversal or reverse osmosis) as it requires very little energy for ionic separation. In previous studies, ESIX films have demonstrated relatively low ion exchange capacities and limited film stabilities over repeated potential applications. In this study, the methodology for the deposition of electro-active films (nickel hexacyanoferrate) on nickel electrodes was modified to improve the ion exchange capacity for cesium removal using ESIX. Cyclic voltammetry was used to investigate the ion exchange capacity and stability. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the modified film surfaces. Additionally, the films were examined for the separation of cesium ions. This modified film preparation technique enhanced the ion exchange capacity and improves the film stability compared to previous methods for the deposition of ESIX films. (authors)

  17. Engineering bright solitons to enhance the stability of two-component Bose-Einstein condensates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radha, R.; Vinayagam, P. S.; Sudharsan, J. B.; Liu, Wu-Ming; Malomed, Boris A.

    2015-12-01

    We consider a system of coupled Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equations describing a binary quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with intrinsic time-dependent attractive interactions, placed in a time-dependent expulsive parabolic potential, in a special case when the system is integrable (a deformed Manakov's system). Since the nonlinearity in the integrable system which represents binary attractive interactions exponentially decays with time, solitons are also subject to decay. Nevertheless, it is shown that the robustness of bright solitons can be enhanced in this system, making their respective lifetime longer, by matching the time dependence of the interaction strength (adjusted with the help of the Feshbach-resonance management) to the time modulation of the strength of the parabolic potential. The analytical results, and their stability, are corroborated by numerical simulations. In particular, we demonstrate that the addition of random noise does not impact the stability of the solitons.

  18. Enhancing the crumb rubber modified asphalt’s storage stability through the control of its internal network structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohyeldin Ragab

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The current research investigated the effect of the internal network structure developed in the crumb rubber modified asphalt (CRMA on its storage stability. The authors investigated the influence of asphalt-crumb rubber modifier (CRM interaction parameters (interaction time, interaction speed, and interaction temperature on the development of the internal network structure in CRMA. The authors found that the existence of three dimensional (3D network structures in the CRMA enhanced its storage stability. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR Spectroscopy was utilized to determine the nature of CRM components responsible for the development of 3D network structure in the liquid phase of CRMA. This was achieved by monitoring the changes of the IR distinctive peaks in the CRMA liquid phase. Dissolution tests and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA were carried out on the extracted CRM after interaction with asphalt to determine the role of CRM dissolved amounts and released components on the development of 3D network structure in CRMA. The asphalt-CRM interaction parameters were found to be essential to induce the formation of the 3D network structure within the liquid phase of the CRMA through controlling the swelling, dissolution and release of CRM components into the asphalt liquid phase. The existence of 3D network structure in the CRMA had determinant impact on the enhancement of its storage stability. Keywords: Storage stability, Three dimensional (3D network, Crumb rubber modified asphalt

  19. SiC-dopped MCM-41 materials with enhanced thermal and hydrothermal stabilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Yingyong; Jin, Guoqiang; Tong, Xili; Guo, Xiangyun

    2011-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Novel SiC-dopped MCM-41 materials were synthesized by adding silicon carbide suspension in the molecular sieve precursor solvent followed by in situ hydrothermal synthesis. The dopped materials have a wormhole-like mesoporous structure and exhibit enhanced thermal and hydrothermal stabilities. Highlights: → SiC-dopped MCM-41 was synthesized by in situ hydrothermal synthesis of molecular sieve precursor combined with SiC. → The dopped MCM-41 materials show a wormhole-like mesoporous structure. → The thermal stability of the dopped materials have an increment of almost 100 o C compared with the pure MCM-41. → The hydrothermal stability of the dopped materials is also better than that of the pure MCM-41. -- Abstract: SiC-dopped MCM-41 mesoporous materials were synthesized by the in situ hydrothermal synthesis, in which a small amount of SiC was added in the precursor solvent of molecular sieve before the hydrothermal treatment. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N 2 physical adsorption and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. The results show that the thermal and hydrothermal stabilities of MCM-41 materials can be improved obviously by incorporating a small amount of SiC. The structure collapse temperature of SiC-dopped MCM-41 materials is 100 o C higher than that of pure MCM-41 according to the differential scanning calorimetry analysis. Hydrothermal treatment experiments also show that the pure MCM-41 will losses it's ordered mesoporous structure in boiling water for 24 h while the SiC-dopped MCM-41 materials still keep partial porous structure.

  20. Thermal conductivity enhancement of sodium acetate trihydrate by adding graphite powder and the effect on stability of supercooling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Jakob Berg; Dannemand, Mark; Kong, Weiqiang

    2015-01-01

    . The graphite powder was stabilized using carboxymetyl cellulose and successfully tested in heating and supercooling cycles with no loss of performance. Thermal conductivity enhancing properties of graphite powder was shown in samples. Since the experiments were conducted in small scale, at 200 g per sample......, large scale experiments are required to validate graphite as a thermo conductivity enhancing agent, suitable for use in seasonal heat storage applications utilizing SAT....

  1. Hydrogel Tethering Enhances Interdomain Stabilization of Single-Chain Antibodies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiong, Yijia [Department; Ford, Nicole R. [Marine; Hecht, Karen A. [Marine; Roesijadi, Guritno [Marine; Department; Squier, Thomas C. [Department

    2017-10-12

    Self-assembly of recombinant proteins within the biosilica of living diatoms represents a means to construct functional materials in a reproducible and scalable manner that enable applications that harness the inherent specificities of proteins to sense and respond to environmental cues. Here we describe the use of a silaffin-derived lysine-rich 39 amino-acid targeting sequence (Sil3T8) to direct a single chain fragment variable (scFv) antibody or an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) to assemble within the biosilica frustule, resulting in abundances in excess of 200,000 proteins per frustule. The fluorescence of either a derivative of trinitrotoluene (TNT) bound to the scFv or the endogenous fluorescence of EGFP was used to monitor pro-tein conformational dynamics, accessibility to external quenchers, binding affinity, and conformational stability. We find that proteins within isolated frustules undergo isotropic rotational motions with two-fold increases in rotational correlation times, which are indicative of weak macromolecular associations within the biosilica. Solvent accessibilities and high-affinity (pM) binding are comparable to those in solution. In contrast to solution conditions, scFv antibod-ies within the biosilica matrix retain their binding affinity in the presence of chaotropic agents (i.e., 8 M urea). These results argue that dramatic increases in protein conforma-tional stability within the biosilica frustule matrices arise through molecular crowding, acting to retain native protein folds and associated functionality to allow the utility of engineered proteins under a range of harsh environmental conditions associated with environmental sensing and industrial catalytic transformations.

  2. Enhanced exo-inulinase activity and stability by fusion of an inulin-binding module.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Shun-Hua; Liu, Yuan; Zhao, Yu-Juan; Chi, Zhe; Chi, Zhen-Ming; Liu, Guang-Lei

    2016-09-01

    In this study, an inulin-binding module from Bacillus macerans was successfully fused to an exo-inulinase from Kluyveromyces marxianus, creating a hybrid functional enzyme. The recombinant exo-inulinase (rINU), the hybrid enzyme (rINUIBM), and the recombinant inulin-binding module (rIBM) were, respectively, heterologously expressed and biochemically characterized. It was found that both the inulinase activity and the catalytic efficiency (k cat/K m(app)) of the rINUIBM were considerably higher than those of rINU. Though the rINU and the rINUIBM shared the same optimum pH of 4.5, the optimum temperature of the rINUIBM (60 °C) was 5 °C higher than that of the rINU. Notably, the fused IBM significantly enhanced both the pH stability and the thermostability of the rINUIBM, suggesting that the rINUIBM obtained would have more extensive potential applications. Furthermore, the fusion of the IBM could substantially improve the inulin-binding capability of the rINUIBM, which was consistent with the determination of the K m(app). This meant that the fused IBM could play a critical role in the recognition of polysaccharides and enhanced the hydrolase activity of the associated inulinase by increasing enzyme-substrate proximity. Besides, the extra supplement of the independent non-catalytic rIBM could also improve the inulinase activity of the rINU. However, this improvement was much better in case of the fusion. Consequently, the IBM could be designated as a multifunctional domain that was responsible for the activity enhancement, the stabilization, and the substrate binding of the rINUIBM. All these features obtained in this study make the rINUIBM become an attractive candidate for an efficient inulin hydrolysis.

  3. Enhancement of ionic conductivity in stabilized zirconia ceramics under millimeter-wave irradiation heating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kishimoto, Akira; Ayano, Keiko; Hayashi, Hidetaka

    2011-01-01

    Ionic conductivity in yttria-stabilized zirconia ceramics under millimeter-wave irradiation heating was compared with that obtained using conventional heating. The former was found to result in higher conductivity than the latter. Enhancement of the ionic conductivity and the reduction in activation energy seemed to depend on self-heating resulting from the millimeter-wave irradiation. Millimeter-wave irradiation heating restricted the degradation in conductivity accompanying over-substitution, suggesting the optimum structure that provided the maximum conductivity could be different between the two heating methods.

  4. Enhanced Cycling Stability of Rechargeable Li-O2 Batteries Using High Concentration Electrolytes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Bin; Xu, Wu; Yan, Pengfei; Sun, Xiuliang; Bowden, Mark E.; Read, Jeffrey; Qian, Jiangfeng; Mei, Donghai; Wang, Chong M.; Zhang, Jiguang

    2016-01-26

    The electrolyte stability against reactive reduced-oxygen species is crucial for the development of rechargeable Li-O2 batteries. In this work, we systematically investigated the effect of lithium salt concentration in 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME)-based electrolytes on the cycling stability of Li-O2 batteries. Cells with high concentration electrolyte illustrate largely enhanced cycling stability under both the full discharge/charge (2.0-4.5 V vs. Li/Li+) and the capacity limited (at 1,000 mAh g-1) conditions. These cells also exhibit much less reaction-residual on the charged air electrode surface, and much less corrosion to the Li metal anode. The density functional theory calculations are conducted on the molecular orbital energies of the electrolyte components and the Gibbs activation barriers for superoxide radical anion to attack DME solvent and Li+-(DME)n solvates. In a highly concentrated electrolyte, all DME molecules have been coordinated with salt and the C-H bond scission of a DME molecule becomes more difficult. Therefore, the decomposition of highly concentrated electrolyte in a Li-O2 battery can be mitigated and both air-cathodes and Li-metal anodes exhibits much better reversibility. As a results, the cyclability of Li-O2 can be largely improved.

  5. Removal of polymeric filter cake in petroleum wells. A study of commercial amylase stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kameda, Etel; Coelho, Maria Alice Z. [Escola de Quimica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Centro de Tecnologia, Bloco E, Lab. 113, Cidade Universitaria, 21949-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); De Queiroz Neto, Joao C. [Cenpes/Petrobras, Cidade Universitaria, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Langone, Marta A.P. [Instituto de Quimica, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Sao Francisco Xavier, 524, PHLC/IQ sala 310, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2007-11-15

    The drilling fluid contact with the productive zone of drilling wells, with horizontal or complex configurations, can reduce its productivity by fluid invasion in the borehole wall. Drilling fluids usually comprise natural polymers as starch and xanthan gum. These polymers are deposited as a filter cake on the wellbore wall. A common approach to remove this filter cake is the application of acids or strong oxidative solutions. However, these are non-specific species and a possible alternative lies in enzymatic preparations that are able to hydrolyze such polymers. The enzymes catalyze specific substrates, are environmentally friendly and the enzymatic degradation rate is slower than that achieved by the oxidative species, permitting to produce uniform degradation of the filter cake. Openhole operations require thermo and pressure stability of these enzymatic products. The results herein reported deals with the technical viability analysis of a commercial {alpha}-amylase as a new catalyst for filter cake removal. The effects of process parameters, like temperature (65, 80 and 95 C), enzyme concentration (1, 5.5 and 10% v/v), calcium concentration (5, 70 and 135 ppm), and pressure (100, 500, 100 and 6000 psi), on amylase stability under openhole operations were investigated. Temperature demonstrated to be the most important parameter for the enzyme stability. The enzyme thermostability behavior in high salt (NaCl) concentration (completion fluid) was not significantly different from the control solution in distillated water. The pressure effect on enzyme stability did not affect the enzyme stability as temperature. Hydrostatic pressure (6000 psi) did not impact the amylolytic activity in brine solution. Combined pressure-temperature assays showed that temperature is the key factor in enzyme stability for application in polymeric filter cake removal in petroleum wells. (author)

  6. Elevated CO2 and water addition enhance nitrogen turnover in grassland plants with implications for temporal stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dijkstra, Feike A; Carrillo, Yolima; Blumenthal, Dana M; Mueller, Kevin E; LeCain, Dan R; Morgan, Jack A; Zelikova, Tamara J; Williams, David G; Follett, Ronald F; Pendall, Elise

    2018-05-01

    Temporal variation in soil nitrogen (N) availability affects growth of grassland communities that differ in their use and reuse of N. In a 7-year-long climate change experiment in a semi-arid grassland, the temporal stability of plant biomass production varied with plant N turnover (reliance on externally acquired N relative to internally recycled N). Species with high N turnover were less stable in time compared to species with low N turnover. In contrast, N turnover at the community level was positively associated with asynchrony in biomass production, which in turn increased community temporal stability. Elevated CO 2 and summer irrigation, but not warming, enhanced community N turnover and stability, possibly because treatments promoted greater abundance of species with high N turnover. Our study highlights the importance of plant N turnover for determining the temporal stability of individual species and plant communities affected by climate change. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  7. Application of Neutron imaging in pore structure of hydrated wellbore cement: comparison of hydration of H20 with D2O based Portland cements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dussenova, D.; Bilheux, H.; Radonjic, M.

    2012-12-01

    Wellbore Cement studies have been ongoing for decades. The studies vary from efforts to reduce permeability and resistance to corrosive environment to issues with gas migration also known as Sustained Casing Pressure (SCP). These practical issues often lead to health and safety problems as well as huge economic loss in oil and gas industry. Several techniques have been employed to reduce the impact of gas leakage. In this study we purely focus on expandable liners, which are introduced as part of oil well reconstruction and work-overs and as well abandonment procedures that help in prevention of SCP. Expandable liner is a tube that after application of a certain tool can increase its diameter. The increase in diameter creates extra force on hydrated cement that results in reducing width of interface fractures and cement-tube de-bonding. Moreover, this also causes cement to change its microstructure and other porous medium properties, primarily hydraulic conductivity. In order to examine changes before and after operations, cement pore structure must be well characterized and correlated to cement slurry design as well as chemical and physical environmental conditions. As modern oil well pipes and tubes contain iron, it is difficult to perform X-ray tomography of a bulk measurement of the cement in its wellbore conditions, which are tube wall-cement-tube wall. Neutron imaging is a complementary technique to x-ray imaging and is well suited for detection of light elements imbedded in metallic containers. Thus, Neutron Imaging (NI) is investigated as a tool for the detection of pore structure of hydrated wellbore cement. Recent measurements were conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) neutron imaging facility. NI is is highly sensitive to light elements such as Hydrogen (H). Oil well cements that have undergone a full hydration contain on average 30%-40% of free water in its pore structure. The unreacted water is the main

  8. Vibration-enhanced posture stabilization achieved by tactile supplementation: may blind individuals get extra benefits?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magalhães, Fernando Henrique; Kohn, André Fabio

    2011-08-01

    Diminished balance ability poses a serious health risk due to the increased likelihood of falling, and impaired postural stability is significantly associated with blindness and poor vision. Noise stimulation (by improving the detection of sub-threshold somatosensory information) and tactile supplementation (i.e., additional haptic information provided by an external contact surface) have been shown to improve the performance of the postural control system. Moreover, vibratory noise added to the source of tactile supplementation (e.g., applied to a surface that the fingertip touches) has been shown to enhance balance stability more effectively than tactile supplementation alone. In view of the above findings, in addition to the well established consensus that blind subjects show superior abilities in the use of tactile information, we hypothesized that blind subjects may take extra benefits from the vibratory noise added to the tactile supplementation and hence show greater improvements in postural stability than those observed for sighted subjects. If confirmed, this hypothesis may lay the foundation for the development of noise-based assistive devices (e.g., canes, walking sticks) for improving somatosensation and hence prevent falls in blind individuals. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Defining the Brittle Failure Envelopes of Individual Reaction Zones Observed in CO2-Exposed Wellbore Cement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hangx, Suzanne J T; van der Linden, Arjan; Marcelis, Fons; Liteanu, Emilia

    2016-01-19

    To predict the behavior of the cement sheath after CO2 injection and the potential for leakage pathways, it is key to understand how the mechanical properties of the cement evolves with CO2 exposure time. We performed scratch-hardness tests on hardened samples of class G cement before and after CO2 exposure. The cement was exposed to CO2-rich fluid for one to six months at 65 °C and 8 MPa Ptotal. Detailed SEM-EDX analyses showed reaction zones similar to those previously reported in the literature: (1) an outer-reacted, porous silica-rich zone; (2) a dense, carbonated zone; and (3) a more porous, Ca-depleted inner zone. The quantitative mechanical data (brittle compressive strength and friction coefficient) obtained for each of the zones suggest that the heterogeneity of reacted cement leads to a wide range of brittle strength values in any of the reaction zones, with only a rough dependence on exposure time. However, the data can be used to guide numerical modeling efforts needed to assess the impact of reaction-induced mechanical failure of wellbore cement by coupling sensitivity analysis and mechanical predictions.

  10. Chitosan nanocomposite films: enhanced electrical conductivity, thermal stability, and mechanical properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marroquin, Jason B; Rhee, K Y; Park, S J

    2013-02-15

    A novel, high-performance Fe(3)O(4)/MWNT/Chitosan nanocomposite has been prepared by a simple solution evaporation method. A significant synergistic effect of Fe(3)O(4) and MWNT provided enhanced electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, and thermal stability on the nanocomposites. A 5% (wt) loading of Fe(3)O(4)/MWNT in the nanocomposite increased conductivity from 5.34×10(-5) S/m to 1.49×10(-2) S/m compared to 5% (wt) MWNT loadings. The Fe(3)O(4)/MWNT/Chitosan films also exhibited increases in tensile strength and modulus of 70% and 155%, respectively. The integral procedure decomposition temperature (IPDT) was enhanced from 501 °C to 568 °C. These effects resulted from a number of factors: generation of a greater number of conductive channels through interactions between MWNT and Fe(3)O(4) surfaces, a higher relative crystallinity, the antiplasticizing effects of Fe(3)O(4), a restricted mobility and hindrance of depolymerization of the Chitosan chain segments, as well as uniform distribution, improved dispersion, and strong interfacial adhesion between the MWNT and Chitosan matrix. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Downhole Temperature Modeling for Non-Newtonian Fluids in ERD Wells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan Sui

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Having precise information of fluids' temperatures is a critical process during planning of drilling operations, especially for extended reach drilling (ERD. The objective of this paper is to develop an accurate temperature model that can precisely calculate wellbore temperature distributions. An established semi-transient temperature model for vertical wellbores is extended and improved to include deviated wellbores and more realistic scenarios using non-Newtonian fluids. The temperature model is derived based on an energy balance between the formation and the wellbore. Heat transfer is considered steady-state in the wellbore and transient in the formation through the utilization of a formation cooling effect. In this paper, the energy balance is enhanced by implementing heat generation from the drill bit friction and contact friction force caused by drillpipe rotation. A non-linear geothermal gradient as a function of wellbore inclination, is also introduced to extend the model to deviated wellbores. Additionally, the model is improved by considering temperature dependent drilling fluid transport and thermal properties. Transport properties such as viscosity and density are obtained by lab measurements, which allows for investigation of the effect of non-Newtonian fluid behavior on the heat transfer. Furthermore, applying a non-Newtonian pressure loss model enables an opportunity to evaluate the impact of viscous forces on fluid properties and thus the overall heat transfer. Results from sensitivity analysis of both drilling fluid properties and other relevant parameters will be presented. The main application area of this model is related to optimization of drilling fluid, hydraulics, and wellbore design parameters, ultimately leading to safe and cost efficient operations.

  12. Enhanced conjugation stability and blood circulation time of macromolecular gadolinium-DTPA contrast agent

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jenjob, Ratchapol [Department of New Drug Development, School of Medicine, Inha University, 2F A-dong, Jeongseok Bldg., Sinheung-dong 3-ga, Jung-gu, Incheon 400-712 (Korea, Republic of); Kun, Na [Department of Biotechnology, The Catholic University of Korea, 43 Jibong-ro, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do 420-743 (Korea, Republic of); Ghee, Jung Yeon [Utah-Inha DDS and Advanced Therapeutics, B-403 Meet-You-All Tower, SongdoTechnopark, 7–50, Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 406-840 (Korea, Republic of); Shen, Zheyu; Wu, Xiaoxia [Division of Functional Materials and Nano-Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering (NIMTE), Chinese Academy of Sciences, 519 Zhuangshi Street, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201 (China); Cho, Steve K., E-mail: scho@gist.ac.kr [Division of Liberal Arts and Science, GIST College, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 500-712 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Don Haeng [Utah-Inha DDS and Advanced Therapeutics, B-403 Meet-You-All Tower, SongdoTechnopark, 7–50, Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 406-840 (Korea, Republic of); Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Incheon 420-751 (Korea, Republic of); Yang, Su-Geun, E-mail: Sugeun.Yang@Inha.ac.kr [Department of New Drug Development, School of Medicine, Inha University, 2F A-dong, Jeongseok Bldg., Sinheung-dong 3-ga, Jung-gu, Incheon 400-712 (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-04-01

    In this study, we prepared macromolecular MR T1 contrast agent: pullulan-conjugated Gd diethylene triamine pentaacetate (Gd-DTPA-Pullulan) and estimated residual free Gd{sup 3+}, chelation stability in competition with metal ions, plasma and tissue pharmacokinetics, and abdominal MR contrast on rats. Residual free Gd{sup 3+} in Gd-DTPA-Pullulan was measured using colorimetric spectroscopy. The transmetalation of Gd{sup 3+} incubated with Ca{sup 2+} was performed by using a dialysis membrane (MWCO 100–500 Da) and investigated by ICP-OES. The plasma concentration profiles of Gd-DTPA-Pullulan were estimated after intravenous injection at a dose 0.1 mmol/kg of Gd. The coronal-plane abdominal images of normal rats were observed by MR imaging. The content of free Gd{sup 3+}, the toxic residual form, was less than 0.01%. Chelation stability of Gd-DTPA-Pullulan was estimated, and only 0.2% and 0.00045% of Gd{sup 3+} were released from Gd-DTPA-Pullulan after 2 h incubation with Ca{sup 2+} and Fe{sup 2+}, respectively. Gd-DTPA-Pullulan displayed the extended plasma half-life (t{sub 1/2,α} = 0.43 h, t{sub 1/2,β} = 2.32 h), much longer than 0.11 h and 0.79 h of Gd-EOB-DTPA. Abdominal MR imaging showed Gd-DTPA-Pullulan maintained initial MR contrast for 30 min. The extended plasma half-life of Gd-DTPA-Pullulan probably allows the prolonged MR acquisition time in clinic with enhanced MR contrast. - Highlights: • Macromolecule (pullulan) conjugated Gd contrast agent (Gd-DTPA-Pullulan) showed the extended plasma half-life (t{sub 1/2,α} = 0.43 h, t{sub 1/2,β} = 2.32 h) in comparison with Gd-EOB-DTPA • Gd-DTPA-pullulan T1 contrast agent exhibited strong chelation stability against Gd. • The extended blood circulation attributed the enhanced and prolonged MR contrast on abdominal region of rats. • The extended blood circulation may provide prolonged MR acquisition time window in clinics.

  13. A fuzzy genetic approach for network reconfiguration to enhance voltage stability in radial distribution systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sahoo, N.C.; Prasad, K.

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents a fuzzy genetic approach for reconfiguration of radial distribution systems (RDS) so as to maximize the voltage stability of the network for a specific set of loads. The network reconfiguration involves a mechanism for selection of the best set of branches to be opened, one from each loop, such that the reconfigured RDS possesses desired performance characteristics. This discrete solution space is better handled by the proposed scheme, which maximizes a suitable optimizing function (computed using two different approaches). In the first approach, this function is chosen as the average of a voltage stability index of all the buses in the RDS, while in the second approach, the complete RDS is reduced to a two bus equivalent system and the optimizing function is the voltage stability index of this reduced two bus system. The fuzzy genetic algorithm uses a suitable coding and decoding scheme for maintaining the radial nature of the network at every stage of genetic evolution, and it also uses a fuzzy rule based mutation controller for efficient search of the solution space. This method, tested on 69 bus and 33 bus RDSs, shows promising results for the both approaches. It is also observed that the network losses are reduced when the voltage stability is enhanced by the network reconfiguration

  14. SS-mPEG chemical modification of recombinant phospholipase C for enhanced thermal stability and catalytic efficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Xian; Wang, Xueting; Li, Guiling; Zeng, Jun; Li, Jian; Liu, Jingwen

    2018-05-01

    PEGylation is one of the most promising and extensively studied strategies for improving the properties of proteins as well as enzymic physical and thermal stability. Phospholipase C, hydrolyzing the phospholipids offers tremendous applications in diverse fields. However, the poor thermal stability and higher cost of production have restricted its industrial application. This study focused on improving the stabilization of recombinant PLC by chemical modification with methoxypolyethylene glycol-Succinimidyl Succinate (SS-mPEG, MW 5000). PLC gene from isolate Bacillus cereus HSL3 was fused with SUMO, a novel small ubiquitin-related modifier expression vector and over expressed in Escherichia coli. The soluble fraction of SUMO-PLC reached 80% of the total recombinant protein. The enzyme exhibited maximum catalytic activity at 80 °C and was relatively thermostable at 40-70 °C. It showed extensive substrate specificity pattern and marked activity toward phosphatidylcholine, which made it a typical non-specific PLC for industrial purpose. SS-mPEG-PLC complex exhibited an enhanced thermal stability at 70-80 °C and the catalytic efficiency (K cat /K m ) had increased by 3.03 folds compared with free PLC. CD spectrum of SS-mPEG-PLC indicated a possible enzyme aggregation after chemical modification, which contributed to the higher thermostability of SS-mPEG-PLC. The increase of antiparallel β sheets in secondary structure also made it more stable than parallel β sheets. The presence of SS-mPEG chains on the enzyme molecule surface somewhat changed the binding rate of the substrates, leading to a significant improvement in catalytic efficiency. This study provided an insight into the addition of SS-mPEG for enhancing the industrial applications of phospholipase C at higher temperature. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Congestion management enhancing transient stability of power systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Esmaili, Masoud; Shayanfar, Heidar Ali; Amjady, Nima

    2010-01-01

    In a competitive electricity market, where market parties try to maximize their profits, it is necessary to keep an acceptable level of power system security to retain the continuity of electricity services to customers at a reasonable cost. Congestion in a power system is turned up due to network limits. After relieving congestion, the network may be operated with a reduced transient stability margin because of increasing the contribution of risky participants. In this paper, a novel congestion management method based on a new transient stability criterion is introduced. Using the sensitivity of corrected transient stability margin with respect to generations and demands, the proposed method so alleviates the congestion that the network can more retain its transient security compared with earlier methods. The proposed transient stability index is constructed considering the likelihood of credible faults. Indeed, market parties participate by their security-effective bids rather than raw bids. Results of testing the proposed method along with the earlier ones on the New-England test system elaborate the efficiency of the proposed method from the viewpoint of providing a better transient stability margin with a lower security cost. (author)

  16. Enhancement of load frequency stabilization effect of superconducting magnetic energy storage by static synchronous series compensator based on H ∞ control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ngamroo, Issarachai; Taeratanachai, Chanin; Dechanupaprittha, Sanchai; Mitani, Yasunori

    2007-01-01

    It is well known that the load frequency stabilization effect of superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) in an interconnected power system is restricted to its located area. The SMES almost has no frequency stabilization effect in another interconnected area. To enhance the frequency stabilization effect of SMES, the static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) can be applied as an auxiliary device. The SSSC can be used as an energy transfer device of the SMES to stabilize the frequency in another interconnected area. The proposed technique not only introduces a sophisticated frequency stabilization in deregulated power systems but also offers a smart energy management control of SMES. In addition, to take the robust stability of the controlled power system against system uncertainties into account, the H ∞ control is used to design robust frequency stabilizers of the SMES and SSSC. Simulation results in a two area interconnected power system confirm the high robustness of the frequency stabilizers SMES and SSSC against load disturbances and system uncertainties

  17. Power system stabilizer control for wind power to enhance power system stability

    OpenAIRE

    Domínguez García, José Luís; Gomis Bellmunt, Oriol; Bianchi, Fernando Daniel; Sumper, Andreas

    2011-01-01

    The paper presents a small signal stability analysis for power systems with wind farm interaction. Power systems have damping oscillation modes that can be excited by disturbance or fault in the grid. The power converters of the wind farms can be used to reduce these oscillations and make the system more stable. These ideas are explored to design a power system stabilized (PSS) for a network with conventional generators and a wind farm in order to increase the damping of the oscillation...

  18. Urease immobilized polymer hydrogel: Long-term stability and enhancement of enzymatic activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kutcherlapati, S N Raju; Yeole, Niranjan; Jana, Tushar

    2016-02-01

    A method has been developed in which an enzyme namely urease was immobilized inside hydrogel matrix to study the stability and enzymatic activity in room temperature (∼27-30°C). This urease coupled hydrogel (UCG) was obtained by amine-acid coupling reaction and this procedure is such that it ensured the wider opening of mobile flap of enzyme active site. A systematic comparison of urea-urease assay and the detailed kinetic data clearly revealed that the urease shows activity for more than a month when stored at ∼27-30°C in case of UCG whereas it becomes inactive in case of free urease (enzyme in buffer solution). The aqueous microenvironment inside the hydrogel, unusual morphological features and thermal behaviour were believed to be the reasons for unexpected behaviour. UCG displayed enzyme activity at basic pH and up to 60°C. UCG showed significant enhancement in activity against thermal degradation compared to free urease. In summary, this method is a suitable process to stabilize the biomacromolecules in standard room temperature for many practical uses. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Determination of tensile forces to enhance the supply stability of reinforced fiber

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Kun Woo; Lee, Jae Wook; Jang, Jin Seok; Jeong, Myeong Sik; Oh, Joo Young; Kang, Hoon; Kang, Ji Heon [Daegyeong Regional Division, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyung Ryul [Agency for Defense Development, Changwon (Korea, Republic of); Yoo, Wan Suk [School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-12-15

    The manufacturing process of long fiber thermoplastic is initiated by supplying reinforced fiber wound in a spool dispenser. If problems such as tangling or kinking occur in the apparatus used for supplying the reinforced fiber in the long-fiber thermoplastic direct process, the productivity of the long-fiber thermoplastic decreases. Therefore, it is important to enhance the supply stability of reinforced fiber. In general, the increase in supply stability can be achieved by maintaining a steady balloon shape that is controlled by the unwinding velocity or tensile force of the reinforced fiber. In this research, the range of suitable tensile force was determined under the assumption that the unwinding velocity remained constant. The reinforced fiber was assumed to be inextensible, homogeneous, and isotropic and to have uniform density. The transient-state unwinding equation of motion to analyze the unwinding motion of reinforced fiber can be derived by using Hamilton’s principle for an open system in which mass can change within a control volume. In the process of solving the transient-state unwinding equation of motion, the exact two-point boundary conditions are adopted for each time step.

  20. One-step polypyrrole coating of self-assembled silver nanoprisms for enhanced stability and Raman scattering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Dong-Won; Jeong, Sugyeong; Jang, Du-Jeon

    2017-07-01

    Self-assemblies of silver nanoprisms (AgPRs) having enhanced structural stability and optical properties have been facilely coated with polypyrrole (PPy) via the in situ polymerization of pyrrole monomers that also act as an assembling agent. The assemblies of AgPRs, whose edge lengths and thicknesses are typically 78 and 4 nm, respectively, have been surrounded by a PPy coating of 6 nm. AgPRs are assembled in a side-to-side orientation, and the degree of assembly has been controlled by varying the concentration of trisodium citrate dihydrate, which attaches selectively to the {111} facets of AgPRs. The morphology deformation time of PPy-coated AgPRs in 0.6 mM H2O2(aq) is seven times longer than that of PPy-free AgPRs, suggesting that PPy coating prevents the sharp tips of AgPRs from being truncated by oxidizing agents. The SERS effect of highly self-assembled and PPy-coated AgPRs becomes as high as 6.3 due to numerous hot spots generated between nanoprisms. Overall, our fabricated AgPRs assemblies with PPy coating have not only improved structural stability but also enhanced optical properties, extending the practical use of noble-metal nanoprisms for various optical applications.

  1. D-amino acid substitution enhances the stability of antimicrobial peptide polybia-CP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Fengjing; Wang, Jiayi; Peng, Jinxiu; Zhao, Ping; Kong, Ziqing; Wang, Kairong; Yan, Wenjin; Wang, Rui

    2017-10-01

    With the increasing emergence of resistant microbes toward conventional antimicrobial agents, there is an urgent need for the development of antimicrobial agents with novel action mode. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are believed to be one kind of ideal alternatives. However, AMPs can be easily degraded by protease, which limited their therapeutic use. In the present study, D-amino acid substitution strategy was employed to enhance the stability of polybia-CP. We investigated the stability of peptides against the degradation of trypsin and chymotrypsin by determining the antimicrobial activity or determining the HPLC profile of peptides after incubation with proteases. Our results showed that both the all D-amino acid derivative (D-CP) and partial D-lysine substitution derivative (D-lys-CP) have an improved stability against trypsin and chymotrypsin. Although D-CP takes left-hand α-helical conformation and D-lys-CP loses some α-helical content, both of the D-amino acid-substituted derivatives maintain their parental peptides' membrane active action mode. In addition, D-lys-CP showed a slight weaker antimicrobial activity than polybia-CP, but the hemolytic activity decreased greatly. These results suggest that D-CP and D-lys-CP can offer strategy to improve the property of AMPs and may be leading compounds for the development of novel antimicrobial agents. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Development of bubble chambers with enhanced stability and sensitivity to low-energy nuclear recoils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bolte, W.J.; Collar, J.I.; Crisler, M.; Hall, J.; Holmgren, D.; Nakazawa, D.; Odom, B.; O'Sullivan, K.; Plunkett, R.; Ramberg, E.; Raskin, A.; Sonnenschein, A.; Vieira, J.D.

    2007-01-01

    The viability of using Bubble Chambers as dark matter particle detectors is considered. Techniques leading to the enhanced chamber stability needed for this new application are described in detail. Prototype trials show that sensitivity to the low-energy nuclear recoils induced by Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMP) is possible in conditions of extreme insensitivity to minimum ionizing backgrounds. An understanding of detector response is demonstrated using existing theoretical models. We briefly comment on the prospects for detection of supersymmetric dark matter with large CF 3 I chambers

  3. Amorphous Solid Dispersion of Epigallocatechin Gallate for Enhanced Physical Stability and Controlled Release

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yizheng Cao

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG has been recognized as the most prominent green tea extract due to its healthy influences. The high instability and low bioavailability, however, strongly limit its utilization in food and drug industries. This work, for the first time, develops amorphous solid dispersion of EGCG to enhance its bioavailability and physical stability. Four commonly used polymeric excipients are found to be compatible with EGCG in water-dioxane mixtures via a stepwise mixing method aided by vigorous mechanical interference. The dispersions are successfully generated by lyophilization. The physical stability of the dispersions is significantly improved compared to pure amorphous EGCG in stress condition (elevated temperature and relative humidity and simulated gastrointestinal tract environment. From the drug release tests, one of the dispersions, EGCG-Soluplus® 50:50 (w/w shows a dissolution profile that only 50% EGCG is released in the first 20 min, and the remains are slowly released in 24 h. This sustained release profile may open up new possibilities to increase EGCG bioavailability via extending its elimination time in plasma.

  4. Amorphous Solid Dispersion of Epigallocatechin Gallate for Enhanced Physical Stability and Controlled Release.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Yizheng; Teng, Jing; Selbo, Jon

    2017-11-09

    Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) has been recognized as the most prominent green tea extract due to its healthy influences. The high instability and low bioavailability, however, strongly limit its utilization in food and drug industries. This work, for the first time, develops amorphous solid dispersion of EGCG to enhance its bioavailability and physical stability. Four commonly used polymeric excipients are found to be compatible with EGCG in water-dioxane mixtures via a stepwise mixing method aided by vigorous mechanical interference. The dispersions are successfully generated by lyophilization. The physical stability of the dispersions is significantly improved compared to pure amorphous EGCG in stress condition (elevated temperature and relative humidity) and simulated gastrointestinal tract environment. From the drug release tests, one of the dispersions, EGCG-Soluplus ® 50:50 ( w / w ) shows a dissolution profile that only 50% EGCG is released in the first 20 min, and the remains are slowly released in 24 h. This sustained release profile may open up new possibilities to increase EGCG bioavailability via extending its elimination time in plasma.

  5. A fuzzy genetic approach for network reconfiguration to enhance voltage stability in radial distribution systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sahoo, N.C. [Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Multimedia University, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, Bukit Beruang, 75450 Melaka (Malaysia); Prasad, K. [Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Multimedia University, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, Bukit Beruang, 75450 Melaka (Malaysia)

    2006-11-15

    This paper presents a fuzzy genetic approach for reconfiguration of radial distribution systems (RDS) so as to maximize the voltage stability of the network for a specific set of loads. The network reconfiguration involves a mechanism for selection of the best set of branches to be opened, one from each loop, such that the reconfigured RDS possesses desired performance characteristics. This discrete solution space is better handled by the proposed scheme, which maximizes a suitable optimizing function (computed using two different approaches). In the first approach, this function is chosen as the average of a voltage stability index of all the buses in the RDS, while in the second approach, the complete RDS is reduced to a two bus equivalent system and the optimizing function is the voltage stability index of this reduced two bus system. The fuzzy genetic algorithm uses a suitable coding and decoding scheme for maintaining the radial nature of the network at every stage of genetic evolution, and it also uses a fuzzy rule based mutation controller for efficient search of the solution space. This method, tested on 69 bus and 33 bus RDSs, shows promising results for the both approaches. It is also observed that the network losses are reduced when the voltage stability is enhanced by the network reconfiguration. (author)

  6. Application of electrolyzer system to enhance frequency stabilization effect of microturbine in a microgrid system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vachirasricirikul, Sitthidet [Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut' s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520 (Thailand); Ngamroo, Issarachai; Kaitwanidvilai, Somyot [Center of Excellence for Innovative Energy Systems, King Mongkut' s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520 (Thailand)

    2009-09-15

    It is well known that the power output of microturbine can be controlled to compensate for load change and alleviate the system frequency fluctuations. Nevertheless, the microturbine may not adequately compensate rapid load change due to its slow dynamic response. Moreover, when the intermittent power generations from wind power and photovoltaic are integrated into the system, they may cause severe frequency fluctuation. In order to study the fast dynamic response, this paper applies electrolyzer system to absorb these power fluctuations and enhance the frequency control effect of microturbine in the microgrid system. The robust coordinated controller of electrolyzer and microturbine for frequency stabilization is designed based on a fixed-structure H{sub {infinity}} loop shaping control. Simulation results exhibit the robustness and stabilizing effects of the proposed coordinated electrolyzer and microturbine controllers against system parameters variation and various operating conditions. (author)

  7. Stability enhancement of an electrically tunable colloidal photonic crystal using modified electrodes with a large electrochemical potential window

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shim, HongShik [Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-do (Korea, Republic of); Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Gyun Shin, Chang; Heo, Chul-Joon; Jeon, Seog-Jin; Jin, Haishun; Woo Kim, Jung; Jin, YongWan; Lee, SangYoon; Gyu Han, Moon, E-mail: moongyu.han@samsung.com, E-mail: jinklee@snu.ac.kr [Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-do (Korea, Republic of); Lim, Joohyun; Lee, Jin-Kyu, E-mail: moongyu.han@samsung.com, E-mail: jinklee@snu.ac.kr [Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-02-03

    The color tuning behavior and switching stability of an electrically tunable colloidal photonic crystal system were studied with particular focus on the electrochemical aspects. Photonic color tuning of the colloidal arrays composed of monodisperse particles dispersed in water was achieved using external electric field through lattice constant manipulation. However, the number of effective color tuning cycle was limited due to generation of unwanted ions by electrolysis of the water medium during electrical switching. By introducing larger electrochemical potential window electrodes, such as conductive diamond-like carbon or boron-doped diamond, the switching stability was appreciably enhanced through reducing the number of ions generated.

  8. Observation of enhanced nuclear stability near the 162 neutron shell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lougheed, R.W.; Moody, K.J.; Wild, J.F.; Hulet, E.K.; McQuaid, J.H. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Lazarev, Yu.A.; Lobanov, Yu.V.; Oganessian, Yu.Ts.; Utyonkov, V.K.; Abdullin, F.Sh.; Buklanov, G.V.; Gikal, B.N.; Iliev, S.; Mezentsev, A.N.; Polyakov, A.N.; Sedykh, I.M.; Shirokovsky, I.V.; Subbotin, V.G.; Sukhov, A.M.; Tsyganov, Yu.S.; Zhuchko, V.E. [Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation)

    1993-09-22

    In bombardments of {sup 248}Cm with {sup 22}Ne the authors discovered two new isotopes, {sup 265}106 and {sup 266}106, by establishing genetic links between {alpha} decays of the 106 nuclides and SF or {alpha} decays of the daughter (grand-daughter) nuclides. For {sup 266}106 they measured E{sub {alpha}}=8.62{+-}0.06 MeV followed by the SF decay of {sup 262}104 for which they measured a half-life value of 1.2{sup +1.0}{sub {minus}0.5} s. For {sup 265}106 they measured E{sub {alpha}}=8.82{+-}0.06 MeV. They estimated {alpha} half-lives of 10-30 s for {sup 266}106 and 2-30 s for {sup 265}106 with SF branches of {approximately}50% or less. The decay properties of {sup 266}106 indicate a large enhancement in the SF stability of this N=160 nuclide and confirm the existence of the predicted neutron-deformed shell N=162.

  9. Surface-stabilized gold nanocatalysts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Sheng [Knoxville, TN; Yan, Wenfu [Oak Ridge, TN

    2009-12-08

    A surface-stabilized gold nanocatalyst includes a solid support having stabilizing surfaces for supporting gold nanoparticles, and a plurality of gold nanoparticles having an average particle size of less than 8 nm disposed on the stabilizing surfaces. The surface-stabilized gold nanocatalyst provides enhanced stability, such as at high temperature under oxygen containing environments. In one embodiment, the solid support is a multi-layer support comprising at least a first layer having a second layer providing the stabilizing surfaces disposed thereon, the first and second layer being chemically distinct.

  10. Ternary system of dihydroartemisinin with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and lecithin: simultaneous enhancement of drug solubility and stability in aqueous solutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Dan; Li, Haiyan; Gu, Jingkai; Guo, Tao; Yang, Shuo; Guo, Zhen; Zhang, Xueju; Zhu, Weifeng; Zhang, Jiwen

    2013-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to simultaneously improve the solubility and stability of dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in aqueous solutions by a ternary cyclodextrin system comprised of DHA, hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and a third auxiliary substance. Solubility and phase solubility studies were carried out to evaluate the solubilizing efficiency of HP-β-CD in association with various auxiliary substances. Then, the solid binary (DHA-HP-β-CD or DHA-lecithin) and ternary systems were prepared and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and power X-ray diffraction (PXRD). The effect of the ternary system on the solubility, dissolution and stability of DHA in aqueous solutions was also investigated. As a result, the soybean lecithin was found to be the most promising third component in terms of solubility enhancement. For the solid characterization, the disappearance of the drug crystallinity indicated the formation of new solid phases, implicating the formation of the ternary system. The dissolution rate of the solid ternary system was much faster than that of the drug alone and binary systems. Importantly, compared with binary systems, the ternary system showed a significant improvement in the stability of DHA in Hank's balanced salt solutions (pH 7.4). The solubility and stability of DHA in aqueous solutions were simultaneously enhanced by the ternary system, which might be attributed to the possible formation of a ternary complex. For the ternary interactions, results of molecular docking studies further indicated that the lecithin covered the top of the wide rim of HP-β-CD and surrounded around the peroxide bridging of DHA, providing the possibility for the ternary complex formation. In summary, the ternary system prepared in our study, with simultaneous enhancement of DHA solubility and stability in aqueous solutions, might have an important pharmaceutical potential in the development of a better

  11. Evaluation of enhanced thermostability and operational stability of carbonic anhydrase from Micrococcus species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharya, Abhishek; Shrivastava, Ankita; Sharma, Anjana

    2013-06-01

    Carbonic anhydrase (CA) was purified from Micrococcus lylae and Micrococcus luteus with 49.90 and 53.8 % yield, respectively, isolated from calcium carbonate kilns. CA from M. lylae retained 80 % stability in the pH and temperature range of 6.0-8.0 and 35-45 °C, respectively. However, CA from M. luteus was stable in the pH and temperature range of 7.5-10.0 and 35-55 °C, respectively. Cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) raised the transition temperature of M. lylae and M. luteus CA up to 67.5 and 74.0 °C, while the operational stability (T(1/20) of CA at 55 °C was calculated to be 7.7 and 12.0 h, respectively. CA from both the strains was found to be monomeric in nature with subunit molecular weight and molecular mass of 29 kDa. Ethoxozolamide was identified as the most potent inhibitor based on both IC(50) values and inhibitory constant measurement (K(i)). The K(m) and V(max) for M. lylae CA (2.31 mM; 769.23 μmol/mg/min) and M. luteus CA (2.0 mM; 1,000 μmol/mg/min) were calculated from Lineweaver-Burk plots in terms of esterase activity. Enhanced thermostability of CLEAs alleviates its role in operational stability for application at an on-site scrubber. The characteristic profile of purified CA from Micrococcus spp. advocates its effective application in biomimetic CO(2) sequestration.

  12. Nanostructured polyurethane perylene bisimide ester assemblies with tuneable morphology and enhanced stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiaoxiao; Gong, Tingyuan; Chi, Hong; Li, Tianduo

    2018-03-01

    Size control has been successfully achieved in inorganic materials, but it remains a challenge in polymer nanomaterials due to their polydispersity. Here, we report a facile approach to tailor the diameters of polyurethane (PU) nanoparticles (490 nm, 820 nm and 2.1 µm) via perylene bisimide (PBI) assisted self-assembly. The formed morphologies such as spindle, spherical and core-shell structures depend on the ratio of PBI and polymer concentrations. It is shown that the formation of PU nanoparticles is directed by π-π stacking of PBI and the morphology transition is not only affected by the amount of PBI incorporated, but also influenced by solvent, which controls the initial evaporation balance. Furthermore, the prepared PUs exhibit retained optical stability and enhanced thermal stability. The PUs, designed to have conjugated PBI segments in backbones, were synthesized via ring-opening and condensation reactions. Compared with the neat PU, gel permeation chromatography shows narrower molecular weight distribution. Fluorescence spectra and ultraviolet-visible spectra indicate retained maximum emission wavelength of PBI at 574 nm and 5.2% quantum yields. Thermo-gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry reveal 79°C higher decomposition temperature and 22°C higher glass transition temperature. This study provides a new way to fabricate well-defined nanostructures of functionalized PUs.

  13. Enhancement of thermo-stability and product tolerance of Pseudomonas putida nitrile hydratase by fusing with self-assembling peptide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yi; Cui, Wenjing; Liu, Zhongmei; Cui, Youtian; Xia, Yuanyuan; Kobayashi, Michihiko; Zhou, Zhemin

    2014-09-01

    Self-assembling amphipathic peptides (SAPs) are the peptides that can spontaneously assemble into ordered nanostructures. It has been reported that the attachment of SAPs to the N- or C-terminus of an enzyme can benefit the thermo-stability of the enzyme. Here, we discovered that the thermo-stability and product tolerance of nitrile hydratase (NHase) were enhanced by fusing with two of the SAPs (EAK16 and ELK16). When the ELK16 was fused to the N-terminus of β-subunit, the resultant NHase (SAP-NHase-2) became an active inclusion body; EAK16 fused NHase in the N-terminus of β-subunit (SAP-NHase-1) and ELK16 fused NHase in the C-terminus of β-subunit (SAP-NHase-10) did not affect NHase solubility. Compared with the deactivation of the wild-type NHase after 30 min incubation at 50°C, SAP-NHase-1, SAP-NHase-2 and SAP-NHase-10 retained 45%, 30% and 50% activity; after treatment in the buffer containing 10% acrylamide, the wild-type retained 30% activity, while SAP-NHase-1, SAP-NHase-2 and SAP-NHase-10 retained 52%, 42% and 55% activity. These SAP-NHases with enhanced thermo-stability and product tolerance would be helpful for further industrial applications of the NHase. Copyright © 2014 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Enhanced electrochemical stability of carbon-coated antimony nanoparticles with sodium alginate binder for sodium-ion batteries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianmin Feng

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The poor cycling stability of antimony during a repeated sodium ion insertion and desertion process is the key issue, which leads to an unsatisfactory application as an anode material in a sodium-ion battery. Addressed at this, we report a facile two-step method to coat antimony nanoparticles with an ultrathin carbon layer of few nanometers (denoted Sb@C NPs for sodium-ion battery anode application. This carbon layer could buffer the volume change of antimony in the charge-discharge process and improve the battery cycle performance. Meanwhile, this carbon coating could also enhance the interfacial stability by firmly connecting the sodium alginate binders through its oxygen-rich surface. Benefitted from these advantages, an improved initial discharge capacity (788.5 mA h g−1 and cycling stability capacity (553 mA h g−1 after 50 times cycle have been obtained in a battery using Sb@C NPs as anode materials at 50 mA g−1. Keywords: Sodium-ion battery, Antimony, Sodium alginate, Liquid-phase reduction, Carbon coating

  15. Transient stability enhancement of wind farms connected to a multi-machine power system by using an adaptive ANN-controlled SMES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muyeen, S.M.; Hasanien, Hany M.; Al-Durra, Ahmed

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We present an ANN-controlled SMES in this paper. • The objective is to enhance transient stability of WF connected to power system. • The control strategy depends on a PWM VSC and DC–DC converter. • The effectiveness of proposed controller is compared with PI controller. • The validity of the proposed system is verified by simulation results. - Abstract: This paper presents a novel adaptive artificial neural network (ANN)-controlled superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) system to enhance the transient stability of wind farms connected to a multi-machine power system during network disturbances. The control strategy of SMES depends mainly on a sinusoidal pulse width modulation (PWM) voltage source converter (VSC) and an adaptive ANN-controlled DC–DC converter using insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). The effectiveness of the proposed adaptive ANN-controlled SMES is then compared with that of proportional-integral (PI)-controlled SMES optimized by response surface methodology and genetic algorithm (RSM–GA) considering both of symmetrical and unsymmetrical faults. For realistic responses, real wind speed data and two-mass drive train model of wind turbine generator system is considered in the analyses. The validity of the proposed system is verified by the simulation results which are performed using the laboratory standard dynamic power system simulator PSCAD/EMTDC. Notably, the proposed adaptive ANN-controlled SMES enhances the transient stability of wind farms connected to a multi-machine power system

  16. Enhancing probiotic stability in industrial processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miguel Gueimonde

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: Manufacture of probiotic products involves industrial processes that reduce the viability of the strains. This lost of viability constitutes an economic burden for manufacturers, compromising the efficacy of the product and preventing the inclusion of probiotics in many product categories. Different strategies have been used to improve probiotic stability during industrial processes. These include technological approaches, such as the modification of production parameters or the reformulation of products, as well as microbiological approaches focused on the strain intrinsic resistance. Among the later, both selection of natural strains with the desired properties and stress-adaptation of strains have been widely used. Conclusion: During recent years, the knowledge acquired on the molecular basis of stress-tolerance of probiotics has increased our understanding on their responses to industrial stresses. This knowledge on stress-response may nowadays be used for the selection of the best strains and industrial conditions in terms of probiotic stability in the final product.

  17. Cross-linked aromatic cationic polymer electrolytes with enhanced stability for high temperature fuel cell applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ma, Wenjia; Zhao, Chengji; Yang, Jingshuai

    2012-01-01

    Diamine-cross-linked membranes were prepared from cross-linkable poly(arylene ether ketone) containing pendant cationic quaternary ammonium group (QPAEK) solution by a facile and general thermal curing method using 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane with rigid framework and 1,6-diaminohexane with flexible...... anchoring of the molecule. Combining the excellent thermal stability, the addition of a small amount of diamines enhanced both the chemical and mechanical stability and the phosphoric acid doping (PA) ability of membranes. Fuel cell performance based on impregnated cross-linked membranes have been...... successfully operated at temperatures up to 120 °C and 180 °C with unhumidified hydrogen and air under ambient pressure, the maximum performance of diamine-cross-linked membrane is observed at 180 °C with a current density of 1.06 A cm−2 and the peak power density of 323 mW cm−2. The results also indicate...

  18. Adaptive and freeze-tolerant heteronetwork organohydrogels with enhanced mechanical stability over a wide temperature range

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Hainan; Zhao, Ziguang; Cai, Yudong; Zhou, Jiajia; Hua, Wenda; Chen, Lie; Wang, Li; Zhang, Jianqi; Han, Dong; Liu, Mingjie; Jiang, Lei

    2017-06-01

    Many biological organisms with exceptional freezing tolerance can resist the damages to cells from extra-/intracellular ice crystals and thus maintain their mechanical stability at subzero temperatures. Inspired by the freezing tolerance mechanisms found in nature, here we report a strategy of combining hydrophilic/oleophilic heteronetworks to produce self-adaptive, freeze-tolerant and mechanically stable organohydrogels. The organohydrogels can simultaneously use water and oil as a dispersion medium, and quickly switch between hydrogel- and organogel-like behaviours in response to the nature of the surrounding phase. Accordingly, their surfaces display unusual adaptive dual superlyophobic in oil/water system (that is, they are superhydrophobic under oil and superoleophobic under water). Moreover, the organogel component can inhibit the ice crystallization of the hydrogel component, thus enhancing the mechanical stability of organohydrogel over a wide temperature range (-78 to 80 °C). The organohydrogels may have promising applications in complex and harsh environments.

  19. Enhanced protective properties and UV stability of epoxy/graphene nanocomposite coating on stainless steel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Alhumade

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Epoxy-Graphene (E/G nanocomposites with different loading of graphene were prepared via in situ prepolymerization and evaluated as protective coating for Stainless Steel 304 (SS304. The prepolymer composites were spin coated on SS304 substrates and thermally cured. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM were utilized to examine the dispersion of graphene in the epoxy matrix. Epoxy and E/G nanocomposites were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR techniques and the thermal behavior of the prepared coatings is analyzed using Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC. The corrosion protection properties of the prepared coatings were evaluated using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV measurements. In addition to corrosion mitigation properties, the long-term adhesion performance of the coatings was evaluated by measuring the adhesion of the coatings to the SS304 substrate after 60 days of exposure to 3.5 wt% NaCl medium. The effects of graphene loading on the impact resistance, flexibility, and UV stability of the coating are analyzed and discussed. SEM was utilized to evaluate post adhesion and UV stability results. The results indicate that very low graphene loading up to 0.5 wt % significantly enhances the corrosion protection, UV stability, and impact resistance of epoxy coatings.

  20. Optimization of Operation Parameters for Helical Flow Cleanout with Supercritical CO2 in Horizontal Wells Using Back-Propagation Artificial Neural Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Xianzhi; Peng, Chi; Li, Gensheng; He, Zhenguo; Wang, Haizhu

    2016-01-01

    Sand production and blockage are common during the drilling and production of horizontal oil and gas wells as a result of formation breakdown. The use of high-pressure rotating jets and annular helical flow is an effective way to enhance horizontal wellbore cleanout. In this paper, we propose the idea of using supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) as washing fluid in water-sensitive formation. SC-CO2 is manifested to be effective in preventing formation damage and enhancing production rate as drilling fluid, which justifies tis potential in wellbore cleanout. In order to investigate the effectiveness of SC-CO2 helical flow cleanout, we perform the numerical study on the annular flow field, which significantly affects sand cleanout efficiency, of SC-CO2 jets in horizontal wellbore. Based on the field data, the geometry model and mathematical models were built. Then a numerical simulation of the annular helical flow field by SC-CO2 jets was accomplished. The influences of several key parameters were investigated, and SC-CO2 jets were compared to conventional water jets. The results show that flow rate, ambient temperature, jet temperature, and nozzle assemblies play the most important roles on wellbore flow field. Once the difference between ambient temperatures and jet temperatures is kept constant, the wellbore velocity distributions will not change. With increasing lateral nozzle size or decreasing rear/forward nozzle size, suspending ability of SC-CO2 flow improves obviously. A back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) was successfully employed to match the operation parameters and SC-CO2 flow velocities. A comprehensive model was achieved to optimize the operation parameters according to two strategies: cost-saving strategy and local optimal strategy. This paper can help to understand the distinct characteristics of SC-CO2 flow. And it is the first time that the BP-ANN is introduced to analyze the flow field during wellbore cleanout in horizontal wells.

  1. Optimization of Operation Parameters for Helical Flow Cleanout with Supercritical CO2 in Horizontal Wells Using Back-Propagation Artificial Neural Network.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xianzhi Song

    Full Text Available Sand production and blockage are common during the drilling and production of horizontal oil and gas wells as a result of formation breakdown. The use of high-pressure rotating jets and annular helical flow is an effective way to enhance horizontal wellbore cleanout. In this paper, we propose the idea of using supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2 as washing fluid in water-sensitive formation. SC-CO2 is manifested to be effective in preventing formation damage and enhancing production rate as drilling fluid, which justifies tis potential in wellbore cleanout. In order to investigate the effectiveness of SC-CO2 helical flow cleanout, we perform the numerical study on the annular flow field, which significantly affects sand cleanout efficiency, of SC-CO2 jets in horizontal wellbore. Based on the field data, the geometry model and mathematical models were built. Then a numerical simulation of the annular helical flow field by SC-CO2 jets was accomplished. The influences of several key parameters were investigated, and SC-CO2 jets were compared to conventional water jets. The results show that flow rate, ambient temperature, jet temperature, and nozzle assemblies play the most important roles on wellbore flow field. Once the difference between ambient temperatures and jet temperatures is kept constant, the wellbore velocity distributions will not change. With increasing lateral nozzle size or decreasing rear/forward nozzle size, suspending ability of SC-CO2 flow improves obviously. A back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN was successfully employed to match the operation parameters and SC-CO2 flow velocities. A comprehensive model was achieved to optimize the operation parameters according to two strategies: cost-saving strategy and local optimal strategy. This paper can help to understand the distinct characteristics of SC-CO2 flow. And it is the first time that the BP-ANN is introduced to analyze the flow field during wellbore cleanout in

  2. Protein Engineering by Random Mutagenesis and Structure-Guided Consensus of Geobacillus stearothermophilus Lipase T6 for Enhanced Stability in Methanol

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dror, Adi; Shemesh, Einav; Dayan, Natali

    2014-01-01

    The abilities of enzymes to catalyze reactions in nonnatural environments of organic solvents have opened new opportunities for enzyme-based industrial processes. However, the main drawback of such processes is that most enzymes have a limited stability in polar organic solvents. In this study, we employed protein engineering methods to generate a lipase for enhanced stability in methanol, which is important for biodiesel production. Two protein engineering approaches, random mutagenesis (error-prone PCR) and structure-guided consensus, were applied in parallel on an unexplored lipase gene from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T6. A high-throughput colorimetric screening assay was used to evaluate lipase activity after an incubation period in high methanol concentrations. Both protein engineering approaches were successful in producing variants with elevated half-life values in 70% methanol. The best variant of the random mutagenesis library, Q185L, exhibited 23-fold-improved stability, yet its methanolysis activity was decreased by one-half compared to the wild type. The best variant from the consensus library, H86Y/A269T, exhibited 66-fold-improved stability in methanol along with elevated thermostability (+4.3°C) and a 2-fold-higher fatty acid methyl ester yield from soybean oil. Based on in silico modeling, we suggest that the Q185L substitution facilitates a closed lid conformation that limits access for both the methanol and substrate excess into the active site. The enhanced stability of H86Y/A269T was a result of formation of new hydrogen bonds. These improved characteristics make this variant a potential biocatalyst for biodiesel production. PMID:24362426

  3. Application of contact stabilization activated sludge for enhancing biological phosphorus removal (EBPR in domestic wastewater

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ehab M. Rashed

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The experiment has been performed in order to investigate the effect of using contact stabilization activated sludge as an application of enhancing biological phosphorous removal (EBPR by using contact tank as a phosphorus uptake zone and using thickening tank as a phosphorus release zone. The study involved the construction of a pilot plant which was setup in Quhafa waste water treatment plant (WWTP that included contact, final sedimentation, stabilization and thickening tanks, respectively with two returns sludge in this system one of them to contact tank and another to stabilization tank. Then observation of the uptake and release of total phosphorus by achievement through two batch test using sludge samples from thickener and final sedimentations. Results showed the removal efficiencies of COD, BOD and TP for this pilot plant with the range of 94%, 85.44% and 80.54%, respectively. On the other hand the results of batch tests showed that the reason of high ability of phosphorus removal for this pilot plant related to the high performance of microorganisms for phosphorus accumulating. Finally the mechanism of this pilot plant depends on the removal of the phosphorus from the domestic waste water as a concentrated TP solution from the supernatant above the thickening zone not through waste sludge like traditional systems.

  4. Array-level stability enhancement of 50 nm AlxOy ReRAM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwasaki, Tomoko Ogura; Ning, Sheyang; Yamazawa, Hiroki; Takeuchi, Ken

    2015-12-01

    ReRAM's low voltage and low current programmability are attractive features to solve the scaling issues of conventional floating gate Flash. However, read instability in ReRAM is a critical issue, due to random telegraph noise (RTN), sensitivity to disturb and retention. In this work, the array-level characteristics of read stability in 50 nm AlxOy ReRAM are investigated and a circuit technique to improve stability is proposed and evaluated. First, in order to quantitatively assess memory cell stability, a method of stability characterization is defined. Next, based on this methodology, a proposal to improve read stability, called ;stability check loop; is evaluated. The stability check loop is a stability verification procedure, by which, instability improvement of 7×, and read error rate improvement of 40% are obtained.

  5. IQGAP1 interacts with Aurora-A and enhances its stability and its role in cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yin, Ning; Shi, Ji; Wang, Dapeng; Tong, Tong; Wang, Mingrong; Fan, Feiyue; Zhan, Qimin

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► IQGAP1 interacts with Aurora-A through its RGCt domain. ► Overexpression of IQGAP1 prevents ubiquitination of Aurora-A. ► Overexpression of IQGAP1 enhances the protein stability of Aurora-A. ► Overexpression of IQGAP1 promotes the kinase activity of Aurora-A. -- Abstract: IQGAP1, a ubiquitously expressed scaffold protein, has been identified in a wide range of organisms. It participates in multiple aspects of cellular events by binding to and regulating numerous interacting proteins. In our present study, we identified a new IQGAP1 binding protein named Aurora-A which is an oncogenic protein and overexpressed in various types of human tumors. In vitro analysis with GST-Aurora-A fusion proteins showed a physical interaction between Aurora-A and IQGAP1. Moreover, the binding also occurred in HeLa cells as endogenous Aurora-A co-immunoprecipitated with IQGAP1 from the cell lysates. Overexpression of IQGAP1 resulted in an elevation of both expression and activity of Aurora-A kinase. Endogenous IQGAP1 knockdown by siRNA promoted Aurora-A degradation whereas IQGAP1 overexpression enhanced the stability of Aurora-A. Additionally, we documented that the IQGAP1-induced cell proliferation was suppressed by knocking down Aurora-A expression. Taken together, our results showed an unidentified relationship between Aurora-A and IQGAP1, and provided a new insight into the molecular mechanism by which IQGAP1 played a regulatory role in cancer.

  6. Increased stability of thylakoid components in Vigna sinensis seedlings grown under ultraviolet-B enhanced radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nedunchezhian, N.; Kulandaivelu, G.

    1994-01-01

    Chloroplasts isolated from Vigna sinensis L. seedlings grown under cool fluorescent (control chloroplasts) and ultraviolet-B (UV-B)-enhanced fluorescent (UV chloroplasts) radiation, when incubated at 10, 20, 30 and 40-degrees-C, showed large variations in the photosynthetic electron transport reactions. The overall electron transport activity in both control and UV chloroplasts incubated at 40-degrees-C decreased rapidly. In contrast to this, at 30-degrees-C the control chloroplasts got inactivated very rapidly during the 30 min of incubation while the UV chloroplasts showed high stability. A similar trend was also noticed at 20-degrees-C. At 10-degrees-C, although the rate of inactivation was slow, UV chloroplasts were more stable than control chloroplasts. A similar trend was noticed in photosystem (PS) 2 activity. In contrast to overall electron transport and PS2 reactions, PS1 activity showedonly marginal changes at all temperatures. The polypeptide profiles of chloroplasts exposed to UV-B irradiation for 60 min at different temperatures revealed marked decreases in the level of the 23 and 33 kDa polypeptides in control chloroplasts while in UV chloroplasts these polypeptides were highly stable. In addition, UV chloroplasts contained several new polypeptides of both high and low molecular masses. The polypeptide pattern indicated that higher photochemical activity of UV chloroplasts over the control chloroplasts could be due to stabilization of PS2 core complexes by the new polypeptides induced under UV-B enhanced radiation

  7. Facile formation of dendrimer-stabilized gold nanoparticles modified with diatrizoic acid for enhanced computed tomography imaging applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Chen; Li, Kangan; Cao, Xueyan; Xiao, Tingting; Hou, Wenxiu; Zheng, Linfeng; Guo, Rui; Shen, Mingwu; Zhang, Guixiang; Shi, Xiangyang

    2012-11-07

    We report a facile approach to forming dendrimer-stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au DSNPs) through the use of amine-terminated fifth-generation poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers modified by diatrizoic acid (G5.NH(2)-DTA) as stabilizers for enhanced computed tomography (CT) imaging applications. In this study, by simply mixing G5.NH(2)-DTA dendrimers with gold salt in aqueous solution at room temperature, dendrimer-entrapped gold nanoparticles (Au DENPs) with a mean core size of 2.5 nm were able to be spontaneously formed. Followed by an acetylation reaction to neutralize the dendrimer remaining terminal amines, Au DSNPs with a mean size of 6 nm were formed. The formed DTA-containing [(Au(0))(50)-G5.NHAc-DTA] DSNPs were characterized via different techniques. We show that the Au DSNPs are colloid stable in aqueous solution under different pH and temperature conditions. In vitro hemolytic assay, cytotoxicity assay, flow cytometry analysis, and cell morphology observation reveal that the formed Au DSNPs have good hemocompatibility and are non-cytotoxic at a concentration up to 3.0 μM. X-ray absorption coefficient measurements show that the DTA-containing Au DSNPs have enhanced attenuation intensity, much higher than that of [(Au(0))(50)-G5.NHAc] DENPs without DTA or Omnipaque at the same molar concentration of the active element (Au or iodine). The formed DTA-containing Au DSNPs can be used for CT imaging of cancer cells in vitro as well as for blood pool CT imaging of mice in vivo with significantly improved signal enhancement. With the two radiodense elements of Au and iodine incorporated within one particle, the formed DTA-containing Au DSNPs may be applicable for CT imaging of various biological systems with enhanced X-ray attenuation property and detection sensitivity.

  8. Nanostructured polyurethane perylene bisimide ester assemblies with tuneable morphology and enhanced stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiaoxiao; Gong, Tingyuan; Chi, Hong; Li, Tianduo

    2018-03-01

    Size control has been successfully achieved in inorganic materials, but it remains a challenge in polymer nanomaterials due to their polydispersity. Here, we report a facile approach to tailor the diameters of polyurethane (PU) nanoparticles (490 nm, 820 nm and 2.1 µm) via perylene bisimide (PBI) assisted self-assembly. The formed morphologies such as spindle, spherical and core-shell structures depend on the ratio of PBI and polymer concentrations. It is shown that the formation of PU nanoparticles is directed by π-π stacking of PBI and the morphology transition is not only affected by the amount of PBI incorporated, but also influenced by solvent, which controls the initial evaporation balance. Furthermore, the prepared PUs exhibit retained optical stability and enhanced thermal stability. The PUs, designed to have conjugated PBI segments in backbones, were synthesized via ring-opening and condensation reactions. Compared with the neat PU, gel permeation chromatography shows narrower molecular weight distribution. Fluorescence spectra and ultraviolet-visible spectra indicate retained maximum emission wavelength of PBI at 574 nm and 5.2% quantum yields. Thermo-gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry reveal 79°C higher decomposition temperature and 22°C higher glass transition temperature. This study provides a new way to fabricate well-defined nanostructures of functionalized PUs.

  9. Enhanced stability and dissolution of CuO nanoparticles by extracellular polymeric substances in aqueous environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miao, Lingzhan; Wang, Chao; Hou, Jun; Wang, Peifang; Ao, Yanhui; Li, Yi; Lv, Bowen; Yang, Yangyang; You, Guoxiang; Xu, Yi

    2015-01-01

    Stability of engineered nanoparticles in aquatic environment is an essential parameter to evaluate their fate, bioavailability, and potential toxic effects toward living organisms. As CuO NPs enter the wastewater systems, they will encounter extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from microbial community before directly interacting with bacterial cells. EPS may play an important role in affecting the stability and the toxicity of CuO NPs in aquatic environment. In this study, the influences of flocculent sludge-derived EPS, as well as model protein (BSA) and natural polysaccharides (alginate) on the dissolution kinetics and colloidal stability of CuO NPs were investigated. Results showed that the presence of NOMs strongly suppressed CuO NPs aggregation, confirmed by DLS, zeta potentials, and TEM analysis. The enhanced stability of CuO NPs in the presence of EPS and alginate were attributed to the electrostatic combined with steric repulsion, while the steric-hindrance effect may be the predominant mechanism retarding nano-CuO aggregation for BSA. Higher degrees of copper release were achieved with the increasing concentrations of NOMs. EPS are more effective than alginate and BSA in releasing copper, probably due to the abundant functional groups and the excellent metal-binding capacity. The ratio of free-Cu 2+ /total dissolved Cu significantly decreased in the presence of EPS, indicating that EPS may affect the speciation and Cu bioavailability in aqueous environment. These results may be important for assessing the fate and transport behaviors of CuO NPs in the environment as well as for setting up usage regulation and treatment strategy.

  10. Enhanced stability and dissolution of CuO nanoparticles by extracellular polymeric substances in aqueous environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miao, Lingzhan; Wang, Chao; Hou, Jun, E-mail: hhuhjyhj@126.com; Wang, Peifang; Ao, Yanhui; Li, Yi; Lv, Bowen; Yang, Yangyang; You, Guoxiang; Xu, Yi [Hohai University, Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resources Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education (China)

    2015-10-15

    Stability of engineered nanoparticles in aquatic environment is an essential parameter to evaluate their fate, bioavailability, and potential toxic effects toward living organisms. As CuO NPs enter the wastewater systems, they will encounter extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from microbial community before directly interacting with bacterial cells. EPS may play an important role in affecting the stability and the toxicity of CuO NPs in aquatic environment. In this study, the influences of flocculent sludge-derived EPS, as well as model protein (BSA) and natural polysaccharides (alginate) on the dissolution kinetics and colloidal stability of CuO NPs were investigated. Results showed that the presence of NOMs strongly suppressed CuO NPs aggregation, confirmed by DLS, zeta potentials, and TEM analysis. The enhanced stability of CuO NPs in the presence of EPS and alginate were attributed to the electrostatic combined with steric repulsion, while the steric-hindrance effect may be the predominant mechanism retarding nano-CuO aggregation for BSA. Higher degrees of copper release were achieved with the increasing concentrations of NOMs. EPS are more effective than alginate and BSA in releasing copper, probably due to the abundant functional groups and the excellent metal-binding capacity. The ratio of free-Cu{sup 2+}/total dissolved Cu significantly decreased in the presence of EPS, indicating that EPS may affect the speciation and Cu bioavailability in aqueous environment. These results may be important for assessing the fate and transport behaviors of CuO NPs in the environment as well as for setting up usage regulation and treatment strategy.

  11. Entrapment of curcumin into monoolein-based liquid crystalline nanoparticle dispersion for enhancement of stability and anticancer activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baskaran, Rengarajan; Madheswaran, Thiagarajan; Sundaramoorthy, Pasupathi; Kim, Hwan Mook; Yoo, Bong Kyu

    2014-01-01

    Despite the promising anticancer potential of curcumin, its therapeutic application has been limited, owing to its poor solubility, bioavailability, and chemical fragility. Therefore, various formulation approaches have been attempted to address these problems. In this study, we entrapped curcumin into monoolein (MO)-based liquid crystalline nanoparticles (LCNs) and evaluated the physicochemical properties and anticancer activity of the LCN dispersion. The results revealed that particles in the curcumin-loaded LCN dispersion were discrete and monodispersed, and that the entrapment efficiency was almost 100%. The stability of curcumin in the dispersion was surprisingly enhanced (about 75% of the curcumin survived after 45 days of storage at 40°C), and the in vitro release of curcumin was sustained (10% or less over 15 days). Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis using a human colon cancer cell line (HCT116) exhibited 99.1% fluorescence gating for 5 μM curcumin-loaded LCN dispersion compared to 1.36% for the same concentration of the drug in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), indicating markedly enhanced cellular uptake. Consistent with the enhanced cellular uptake of curcumin-loaded LCNs, anticancer activity and cell cycle studies demonstrated apoptosis induction when the cells were treated with the LCN dispersion; however, there was neither noticeable cell death nor significant changes in the cell cycle for the same concentration of the drug in DMSO. In conclusion, entrapping curcumin into MO-based LCNs may provide, in the future, a strategy for overcoming the hurdles associated with both the stability and cellular uptake issues of the drug in the treatment of various cancers. PMID:25061290

  12. Enhancement of Moisture Protective Properties and Stability of Pectin through Formation of a Composite Film: Effects of Shellac and Plasticizer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luangtana-Anan, Manee; Soradech, Sitthiphong; Saengsod, Suthep; Nunthanid, Jurairat; Limmatvapirat, Sontaya

    2017-12-01

    The aim of this investigation was to develop the high moisture protective ability and stable pectin through the design of composite films based on varying shellac concentrations. A film casting method was applied to prepare a free film. The moisture protective properties and mechanical properties were investigated. The findings was the composite films exhibited the reductions in the hydrophilicity, water vapor permeability, and the moisture content compared with pectin films. The single and composite films were then study for their stability at 40 °C and 75% RH for 90 d. Among the concentrations of shellac, 50% (w/w) could improve stability in terms of moisture protection after 90 d of storage, whereas lower concentrations of shellac (10% to 40%) could not achieve this. However, the higher shellac content also contributed to weaker mechanical properties. The mechanical improvement and stability of composite films with the incorporation of plasticizers were further investigated. Polyethylene glycol 400 and diethyl phthalate at a concentration of 10% were used. The results indicated that both plasticizers could enhance the mechanical characteristics and had a slight effect on moisture protection. The stability of pectin in terms of moisture protective properties could, therefore, be modified through the fabrication of composite films with hydrophobic polymers, that is, shellac and the addition of proper plasticizers to enhance mechanical properties, which could offer wide applications for edible film in food, agro, and pharmaceutical industries. The composite film with 50% shellac could improve moisture protective properties of pectin film. Adding a plasticizer could build up the higher mechanical characteristics of composite film. Stability of pectin could be modified by fabrication of composite films with proper content of shellac and plasticizer. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

  13. Enhanced thermal stability of a polymer solar cell blend induced by electron beam irradiation in the transmission electron microscope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bäcke, Olof; Lindqvist, Camilla; de Zerio Mendaza, Amaia Diaz; Gustafsson, Stefan; Wang, Ergang; Andersson, Mats R; Müller, Christian; Kristiansen, Per Magnus; Olsson, Eva

    2017-05-01

    We show by in situ microscopy that the effects of electron beam irradiation during transmission electron microscopy can be used to lock microstructural features and enhance the structural thermal stability of a nanostructured polymer:fullerene blend. Polymer:fullerene bulk-heterojunction thin films show great promise for use as active layers in organic solar cells but their low thermal stability is a hindrance. Lack of thermal stability complicates manufacturing and influences the lifetime of devices. To investigate how electron irradiation affects the thermal stability of polymer:fullerene films, a model bulk-heterojunction film based on a thiophene-quinoxaline copolymer and a fullerene derivative was heat-treated in-situ in a transmission electron microscope. In areas of the film that exposed to the electron beam the nanostructure of the film remained stable, while the nanostructure in areas not exposed to the electron beam underwent large phase separation and nucleation of fullerene crystals. UV-vis spectroscopy shows that the polymer:fullerene films are stable for electron doses up to 2000kGy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Enhanced precipitation promotes decomposition and soil C stabilization in semiarid ecosystems, but seasonal timing of wetting matters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campos, Xochi; Germino, Matthew; de Graaff, Marie-Anne

    2017-01-01

    AimsChanging precipitation regimes in semiarid ecosystems will affect the balance of soil carbon (C) input and release, but the net effect on soil C storage is unclear. We asked how changes in the amount and timing of precipitation affect litter decomposition, and soil C stabilization in semiarid ecosystems.MethodsThe study took place at a long-term (18 years) ecohydrology experiment located in Idaho. Precipitation treatments consisted of a doubling of annual precipitation (+200 mm) added either in the cold-dormant season or in the growing season. Experimental plots were planted with big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), or with crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum). We quantified decomposition of sagebrush leaf litter, and we assessed organic soil C (SOC) in aggregates, and silt and clay fractions.ResultsWe found that: (1) increased precipitation applied in the growing season consistently enhanced decomposition rates relative to the ambient treatment, and (2) precipitation applied in the dormant season enhanced soil C stabilization.ConclusionsThese data indicate that prolonged increases in precipitation can promote soil C storage in semiarid ecosystems, but only if these increases happen at times of the year when conditions allow for precipitation to promote plant C inputs rates to soil.

  15. Enhancing the stabilization of aircraft pitch motion control via intelligent and classical method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lukman, H.; Munawwarah, S.; Azizan, A.; Yakub, F.; Zaki, S. A.; Rasid, Z. A.

    2017-12-01

    The pitching movement of an aircraft is very important to ensure passengers are intrinsically safe and the aircraft achieve its maximum stability. The equations governing the motion of an aircraft are a complex set of six nonlinear coupled differential equations. Under certain assumptions, it can be decoupled and linearized into longitudinal and lateral equations. Pitch control is a longitudinal problem and thus, only the longitudinal dynamics equations are involved in this system. It is a third order nonlinear system, which is linearized about the operating point. The system is also inherently unstable due to the presence of a free integrator. Because of this, a feedback controller is added in order to solve this problem and enhance the system performance. This study uses two approaches in designing controller: a conventional controller and an intelligent controller. The pitch control scheme consists of proportional, integral and derivatives (PID) for conventional controller and fuzzy logic control (FLC) for intelligent controller. Throughout the paper, the performance of the presented controllers are investigated and compared based on the common criteria of step response. Simulation results have been obtained and analysed by using Matlab and Simulink software. The study shows that FLC controller has higher ability to control and stabilize the aircraft's pitch angle as compared to PID controller.

  16. Enhancement of electron emission and long-term stability of tip-type carbon nanotube field emitters via lithium coating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jong-Pil; Chang, Han-Beet; Kim, Bu-Jong; Park, Jin-Seok

    2013-01-01

    Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were deposited on conical tip-type substrates via electrophoresis and coated with lithium (Li) thin films with diverse thicknesses via electroplating. For the as-deposited (i.e., without Li coating) CNT, the turn-on (or triggering) electric field was 0.92 V/μm, and the emission current, which was generated at an applied field of 1.2 V/μm was 56 μA. In the case of the 4.7 nm-thick Li-coated CNT, the turn-on field decreased to 0.65 V/μm and the emission current at the same applied field increased more than ten times to 618 μA. The analysis based on the Kelvin probe measurement and Fowler–Nordheim theory indicated that the coating of Li caused a loss in the structural-aspect-ratio of the CNTs and it reduced their effective work functions from 5.36 eV to 4.90 eV, which led to a great improvement of their electron emission characteristics. The results obtained in this study also showed that the long-term emission stability could be enhanced by the coating of thin Li films on CNTs. - Highlights: ► CNTs are deposited via electrophoretic deposition (EPD). ► Thin films of Li are coated on CNTs via electroplating, without plasma damage. ► Li coating enhanced field emission properties and emission stability of CNTs. ► The effective work functions and field enhancement factors of CNTs are evaluated

  17. Chemical stabilization of porous silicon for enhanced biofunctionalization with immunoglobulin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelson Naveas, Vicente Torres Costa, Dario Gallach, Jacobo Hernandez-Montelongo, Raul Jose Martín Palma, Josefa Predenstinacion Garcia-Ruiz and Miguel Manso-Silván

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Porous silicon (PSi is widely used in biological experiments, owing to its biocompatibility and well-established fabrication methods that allow tailoring its surface. Nevertheless, there are some unresolved issues such as deciding whether the stabilization of PSi is necessary for its biological applications and evaluating the effects of PSi stabilization on the surface biofunctionalization with proteins. In this work we demonstrate that non-stabilized PSi is prone to detachment owing to the stress induced upon biomolecular adsorption. Biofunctionalized non-stabilized PSi loses the interference properties characteristic of a thin film, and groove-like structures resulting from a final layer collapse were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Likewise, direct PSi derivatization with 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTS does not stabilize PSi against immunoglobulin biofunctionalization. To overcome this problem, we developed a simple chemical process of stabilizing PSi (CoxPSi for biological applications, which has several advantages over thermal stabilization (ToxPSi. The process consists of chemical oxidation in H2O2, surface derivatization with APTS and a curing step at 120 °C. This process offers integral homogeneous PSi morphology, hydrophilic surface termination (contact angle θ = 26° and highly efficient derivatized and biofunctionalized PSi surfaces (six times more efficient than ToxPSi. All these features are highly desirable for biological applications, such as biosensing, where our results can be used for the design and optimization of the biomolecular immobilization cascade on PSi surfaces.

  18. Curcumin-Zn(II) complex for enhanced solubility and stability: an approach for improved delivery and pharmacodynamic effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sareen, Rashmi; Jain, Nitin; Dhar, K L

    2016-08-01

    The aim of present investigation was to prepare Curcumin-Zn(II) complex in a view to enhance solubility, stability and pharmacodynamic effect in experimentally induced ulcerative colitis. Curcumin-Zn(II) complex was prepared by stirring curcumin with anhydrous zinc chloride at a molar ratio of 1:1. The prepared curcumin metallocomplex was characterized by TLC, FTIR, UV spectroscopy and (1)H NMR. In vitro kinetic degradation and solubility of Curcumin and Curcumin-Zn(II) complex was analyzed spectrophotometrically. Pharmacodynamic evaluation of curcumin and its metal complex was assessed in ulcerative colitis in mice. Curcumin showed chelation with zinc ion as confirmed by the TLC, FTIR, UV spectroscopy and (1)H NMR. The results of TLC [Rf value], IR Spectroscopy [shifting of stretching vibrations of υ(C=C) and υ(C=O)], UV spectra [deconvoluted with absorption band at 432-466.4 nm] of Curcumin-Zn(II) complex compared to curcumin confirmed the formation of metallocomplex. (1)HNMR spectra of Curcumin-Zn(II) showed the upfield shift of Ha and Hb. Kinetic stability studies showed metallocomplex with zinc exhibited good stability. In vivo study revealed significant reduction in severity and extent of colonic damage with Curcumin-Zn(II) which were further confirmed by histopathological study. This study recognizes higher solubility and stability of Curcumin-Zn(II) complex and suggested better pharmacodynamic effects.

  19. Interchange stability of noncircular reversed field pinches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skinner, D.A.; Prager, S.C.; Todd, A.M.M.

    1987-08-01

    Interchange (Mercier) stability of toroidal reversed-field-pinch plasmas with noncircular cross-section is evaluated numerically. Marginally stable pressure profiles and beta values are produced. Most shapes, such as indented or vertically elongated, reduce stability by making the net magnetic curvature of the poloidal-field-dominated plasmas yet worse than that of the circle. Horizontally elongated plasmas slightly enhance stability beyond that of the circle as a result of increased shear produced by toroidicity. Such shear enhancement by the toroidal shift of magnetic surfaces might be exploited for future, more comprehensive studies

  20. Enhanced production of a single domain antibody with an engineered stabilizing extra disulfide bond.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jinny L; Goldman, Ellen R; Zabetakis, Dan; Walper, Scott A; Turner, Kendrick B; Shriver-Lake, Lisa C; Anderson, George P

    2015-10-09

    Single domain antibodies derived from the variable region of the unique heavy chain antibodies found in camelids yield high affinity and regenerable recognition elements. Adding an additional disulfide bond that bridges framework regions is a proven method to increase their melting temperature, however often at the expense of protein production. To fulfill their full potential it is essential to achieve robust protein production of these stable binding elements. In this work, we tested the hypothesis that decreasing the isoelectric point of single domain antibody extra disulfide bond mutants whose production fell due to the incorporation of the extra disulfide bond would lead to recovery of the protein yield, while maintaining the favorable melting temperature and affinity. Introduction of negative charges into a disulfide bond mutant of a single domain antibody specific for the L1 antigen of the vaccinia virus led to approximately 3.5-fold increase of protein production to 14 mg/L, while affinity and melting temperature was maintained. In addition, refolding following heat denaturation improved from 15 to 70 %. It also maintained nearly 100 % of its binding function after heating to 85 °C for an hour at 1 mg/mL. Disappointingly, the replacement of neutral or positively charged amino acids with negatively charged ones to lower the isoelectric point of two anti-toxin single domain antibodies stabilized with a second disulfide bond yielded only slight increases in protein production. Nonetheless, for one of these binders the charge change itself stabilized the structure equivalent to disulfide bond addition, thus providing an alternative route to stabilization which is not accompanied by loss in production. The ability to produce high affinity, stable single domain antibodies is critical for their utility. While the addition of a second disulfide bond is a proven method for enhancing stability of single domain antibodies, it frequently comes at the cost of reduced

  1. Enhanced photocatalysis, colloidal stability and cytotoxicity of synchrotron X-ray synthesized Au/TiO2 nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Chi-Jen; Yang, Tsung-Yeh; Wang, Chang-Hai; Chien, Chia-Chi; Chen, Shin-Tai; Wang, Cheng-Liang; Leng, Wei-Hua; Hwu, Y.; Lin, Hong-Ming; Lee, Yao-Chang; Cheng, Chia-Liang; Je, J.H.; Margaritondo, G.

    2009-01-01

    Au/TiO 2 nanocomposite particles were synthesized by a method based on intense X-ray irradiation without adding any reducing agent or stabilizer. The nanocomposite exhibits promising photocatalytic and biological properties at physiologically relevant concentration ([Au] = 0.028 mM, [TiO 2 ] = 0.5 mM). The structure and photocatalysis were examined by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy demonstrating that gold nanoparticles of 2-5 nm size were successfully deposited on TiO 2 nanoparticle surfaces. The nanocomposite exhibited good colloidal stability within a typical cellular environment and was nontoxic to cancer cell according to evaluations under controlled conditions. The Au/TiO 2 nanoparticles were also found to enhance the photocatalytic efficiency of UV radiation and even more that of X-ray radiation. In vitro studies indicated that the cell-killing effect under X-ray irradiation is more pronounced with the addition of Au/TiO 2 nanoparticles than of bare TiO 2 nanoparticles.

  2. Development of cellulase-nanoconjugates with enhanced ionic liquid and thermal stability for in situ lignocellulose saccharification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grewal, Jasneet; Ahmad, Razi; Khare, S K

    2017-10-01

    The present work aimed to improve catalytic efficiency of Trichoderma reesei cellulase for enhanced saccharification. The cellulase was immobilized on two nanomatrices i.e. magnetic and silica nanoparticles with immobilization efficiency of 85% and 76% respectively. The nanobioconjugates exhibited increase in V max , temperature optimum, pH and thermal stability as compared with free enzyme. These could be efficiently reused for five repeated cycles and were stable in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazoliumacetate [EMIM][Ac], an ionic liquid. Ionic liquids (IL) are used as green solvents to dissolve lignocellulosic biomass and facilitate better saccharification. The cellulase immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles was used for in situ saccharification of [EMIM][Ac] pretreated sugarcane bagasse and wheat straw for two cycles. The structural deconstruction and decrease in biomass crystallinity was confirmed by SEM, XRD and FTIR. The high hydrolysis yields (∼89%) obtained in this one-pot process coupled with IL stability and recycled use of immobilized cellulase, potentiates its usefulness in biorefineries. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Numerical Exploration of Kaldorian Interregional Macrodynamics: Enhanced Stability and Predominance of Period Doubling under Flexible Exchange Rates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toichiro Asada

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a discrete two-regional Kaldorian macrodynamic model with flexible exchange rates and explore numerically the stability of equilibrium and the possibility of generation of business cycles. We use a grid search method in two-dimensional parameter subspaces, and coefficient criteria for the flip and Hopf bifurcation curves, to determine the stability region and its boundary curves in several parameter ranges. The model is characterized by enhanced stability of equilibrium, while its predominant asymptotic behavior when equilibrium is unstable is period doubling. Cycles are scarce and short-lived in parameter space, occurring at large values of the degree of capital movement β. By contrast to the corresponding fixed exchange rates system, for cycles to occur sufficient amount of trade is required together with high levels of capital movement. Rapid changes in exchange rate expectations and decreased government expenditure are factors contributing to the creation of interregional cycles. Examples of bifurcation and Lyapunov exponent diagrams illustrating period doubling or cycles, and their development into chaotic attractors, are given. The paper illustrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the numerical approach for dynamical systems of moderately high dimensionality and several parameters.

  4. Cross-correlation enhanced stability in a tumor cell growth model with immune surveillance driven by cross-correlated noises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zeng Chunhua; Zhou Xiaofeng; Tao Shufen

    2009-01-01

    The transient properties of a tumor cell growth model with immune surveillance driven by cross-correlated multiplicative and additive noises are investigated. The explicit expression of extinction rate from the state of a stable tumor to the state of extinction is obtained. Based on the numerical computations, we find the following: (i) the intensity of multiplicative noise D and the intensity of additive noise α enhance the extinction rate for the case of λ ≤ 0 (i.e. λ denotes cross-correlation intensity between two noises), but for the case of λ > 0, a critical noise intensity D or α exists at which the extinction rate is the smallest; D and α at first weaken the extinction rate and then enhance it. (ii) The immune rate β and the cross-correlation intensity λ play opposite roles on the extinction rate, i.e. β enhances the extinction rate of the tumor cell, while λ weakens the extinction rate of the tumor cell. Namely, the immune rate can enhance the extinction of the tumor cell and the cross-correlation between two noises can enhance stability of the cancer state.

  5. Enhancing the stability of copper chromite catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of furfural using ALD overcoating

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Hongbo; Lei, Yu; Kropf, A. Jeremy; Zhang, Guanghui; Elam, Jeffrey W.; Miller, Jeffrey T.; Sollberger, Fred; Ribeiro, Fabio; Akatay, M. Cem; Stach, Eric A.; Dumesic, James A.; Marshall, Christopher L.

    2014-08-01

    The stability of a gas-phase furfural hydrogenation catalyst (CuCr2O4 center dot CuO) was enhanced by depositing a thin Al2O3 layer using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Based on temperature-programed reduction (TPR) measurements, the reduction temperature of Cu was raised significantly, and the activation energy for furfural reduction was decreased following the ALD treatment. Thinner ALD layers yielded higher furfural hydrogenation activities. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy studies indicated that Cu1+/Cu-0 are the active species for furfural reduction.

  6. Identification of MHF (massive hydraulic fracturing) fracture planes and flow paths: A correlation of well log data with patterns in locations of induced seismicity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dreesen, D.; Malzahn, M.; Fehler, M.; Dash, Z.

    1987-01-01

    One of the critical steps in developing a hot dry rock geothermal system is the creation of flow paths through the rock between two wellbores. To date, circulation systems have only been created by drilling one wellbore, hydraulically fracturing the well (which induces microearthquakes), locating the microearthquakes and then drilling a second wellbore through the zone of seismicity. A technique for analyzing the pattern of seismicity to determine where fracture planes are located in the seismically active region has recently been developed. This allows us to distinguish portions of the seismically active volume which are most likely to contain significant flow paths. We applied this technique to seismic data collected during a massive hydraulic fracturing (MHF) treatment and found that the fracture planes determined by the seismic method are confirmed by borehole temperature and caliper logs which indicate where permeable fractures and/or zones of weakness intersect the wellbores. A geometric model based on these planes and well log data has enhanced our understanding of the reservoir flow paths created by fracturing and is consistent with results obtained during production testing of the reservoir.

  7. Enhanced capacity and stability of K_2FeO_4 cathode with poly(3-hexylthiophene) coating for alkaline super-iron battery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Suqin; Wang, Yaoyao; Chen, Shuiliang; Hou, Haoqing; Li, Hongbo

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Conductive polymer coating allows improving capacity and stability of K_2FeO_4. • P3HT-coated K_2FeO_4 is prepared. • High capacity is recorded after storing 6 h (314 mAh g"−"1) for P3HT-coated K_2FeO_4. • Partly oxidized P3HT coating is formed due to the reaction between P3HT and K_2FeO_4. • The mechanism of improving capacity and stability of K_2FeO_4 is proposed. - Abstract: Poly(3-hexylthiophene)-coated K_2FeO_4 (K_2FeO_4@P3HT) was prepared to enhance capacity and stability of K_2FeO_4. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) were performed to characterize K_2FeO_4@P3HT. Discharge performance results showed that the Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) coating layer enhanced the capacity of the K_2FeO_4 in 10 mol L"−"1 KOH electrolyte. K_2FeO_4@P3HT-1% electrode showed a high discharge capacity of 351 mAh g"−"1, about 13% increase comparing to the K_2FeO_4 electrode. Moreover, the stability of K_2FeO_4 electrode was obviously enhanced by P3HT coating, and the discharge capacity of the electrode which was stored in electrolyte for 6 h was improved to 314 mAh g"−"1, increasing about 22.6% compared to that of 314 mAh g"−"1. These desirable properties can be attributed to the in-situ formation of two-layer film on the surface of K_2FeO_4 crystal, which keep electrolyte from directly contacting with K_2FeO_4 and reduce the resistance of charge transfer.

  8. In situ growth of hollow gold-silver nanoshells within porous silica offers tunable plasmonic extinctions and enhanced colloidal stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chien-Hung; Jamison, Andrew C; Rittikulsittichai, Supparesk; Lee, Tai-Chou; Lee, T Randall

    2014-11-26

    Porous silica-coated hollow gold-silver nanoshells were successfully synthesized utilizing a procedure where the porous silica shell was produced prior to the transformation of the metallic core, providing enhanced control over the structure/composition of the bimetallic hollow core. By varying the reaction time and the precise amount of gold salt solution added to a porous silica-coated silver-core template solution, composite nanoparticles were tailored to reveal a readily tunable surface plasmon resonance that could be centered across the visible and near-IR spectral regions (∼445-800 nm). Characterization by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the synthetic methodology afforded particles having uniform composition, size, and shape. The optical properties were evaluated by absorption/extinction spectroscopy. The stability of colloidal solutions of our composite nanoparticles as a function of pH was also investigated, revealing that the nanoshells remain intact over a wide range of conditions (i.e., pH 2-10). The facile tunability, enhanced stability, and relatively small diameter of these composite particles (∼110 nm) makes them promising candidates for use in tumor ablation or as photothermal drug-delivery agents.

  9. Enhanced thermal stability of a polymer solar cell blend induced by electron beam irradiation in the transmission electron microscope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bäcke, Olof, E-mail: obacke@chalmers.se [Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Göteborg (Sweden); Lindqvist, Camilla; Diaz de Zerio Mendaza, Amaia [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Göteborg (Sweden); Gustafsson, Stefan [Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Göteborg (Sweden); Wang, Ergang; Andersson, Mats R.; Müller, Christian [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Göteborg (Sweden); Kristiansen, Per Magnus [Institute of Polymer Nanotechnology (INKA), FHNW University of Applied Science and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, 5210 Windisch (Switzerland); Laboratory for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Olsson, Eva, E-mail: eva.olsson@chalmers.se [Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Göteborg (Sweden)

    2017-05-15

    We show by in situ microscopy that the effects of electron beam irradiation during transmission electron microscopy can be used to lock microstructural features and enhance the structural thermal stability of a nanostructured polymer:fullerene blend. Polymer:fullerene bulk-heterojunction thin films show great promise for use as active layers in organic solar cells but their low thermal stability is a hindrance. Lack of thermal stability complicates manufacturing and influences the lifetime of devices. To investigate how electron irradiation affects the thermal stability of polymer:fullerene films, a model bulk-heterojunction film based on a thiophene-quinoxaline copolymer and a fullerene derivative was heat-treated in-situ in a transmission electron microscope. In areas of the film that exposed to the electron beam the nanostructure of the film remained stable, while the nanostructure in areas not exposed to the electron beam underwent large phase separation and nucleation of fullerene crystals. UV–vis spectroscopy shows that the polymer:fullerene films are stable for electron doses up to 2000 kGy. - Highlights: • Thermal stability of a polymer: fullerne blend is increased using electron irradiation. • Using in-situ transmission electron microscopy the nanostructure is studied. • Electron irradiation stops phase separation between the polymer and fullerene. • Electron irradiation quenches the formation and nucleation of fullerene crystals.

  10. Glutamine deprivation enhances antitumor activity of 3-bromopyruvate through the stabilization of monocarboxylate transporter-1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardaci, Simone; Rizza, Salvatore; Filomeni, Giuseppe; Bernardini, Roberta; Bertocchi, Fabio; Mattei, Maurizio; Paci, Maurizio; Rotilio, Giuseppe; Ciriolo, Maria Rosa

    2012-09-01

    Anticancer drug efficacy might be leveraged by strategies to target certain biochemical adaptations of tumors. Here we show how depriving cancer cells of glutamine can enhance the anticancer properties of 3-bromopyruvate, a halogenated analog of pyruvic acid. Glutamine deprival potentiated 3-bromopyruvate chemotherapy by increasing the stability of the monocarboxylate transporter-1, an effect that sensitized cells to metabolic oxidative stress and autophagic cell death. We further elucidated mechanisms through which resistance to chemopotentiation by glutamine deprival could be circumvented. Overall, our findings offer a preclinical proof-of-concept for how to employ 3-bromopyruvate or other monocarboxylic-based drugs to sensitize tumors to chemotherapy. ©2012 AACR.

  11. Non-covalent conjugation of cutinase from Fusarium sp. ICT SAC1 with pectin for enhanced stability: Process minutiae, kinetics, thermodynamics and structural study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muley, Abhijeet B; Chaudhari, Sandeep A; Singhal, Rekha S

    2017-09-01

    Cutinase, a member of α/β-fold hydrolase family possess potentially diverse applications in several industrial processes and products. The present work aims towards thermo-stabilization of cutinase from novel source Fusarium sp. ICT SAC1 via non-covalent interaction with polysaccharides. Although all six polysaccharides chosen for study enhanced the thermal stability, pectin was found to be most promising. The interaction protocol for cutinase with pectin was optimized sequentially with respect to the ratio of enzyme to pectin, solution pH, and buffer strength. Cutinase-pectin conjugate under optimized conditions (1:12, pH-6.5, 50mM) showed enhanced thermal stability as evident from lower inactivation rate constant, higher half-life and D-value within the 40-55°C. A slender rise in K m and V max values and enhanced thermodynamic parameters of cutinase-pectin conjugate were observed after non-covalent interaction. Entropy values were 1.5-fold higher for cutinase-pectin conjugate at each temperature suggesting an upsurge in number of protein molecules in a transition activated state. Positive values of entropy for both forms of cutinase suggested a rise in disordered conformation. Noticeable conformational changes in cutinase after conjugation with pectin were confirmed by FTIR as well as fluorescence emission spectra. An increment in helix to turn conversion was observed in complexed cutinase vis-à-vis free cutinase. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Reactivity enhancement of iron sulfide nanoparticles stabilized by sodium alginate: Taking Cr (VI) removal as an example

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Jun; Wang, Xian-Bin; Zeng, Raymond J., E-mail: rzeng@ustc.edu.cn

    2017-07-05

    Highlights: • Sodium alginate can be used to stabilize FeS nanoparticles. • FeS-SA enhances Cr(VI) removal efficiency from 65% to 100% compared to naked FeS. • Reduction and adsorption respectively account for 82% and 18% of Cr removal by FeS-SA. • Analysis of reaction products reveals the co-existence of α-FeOOH, S{sub 8}, and Cr(OH){sub 3.} - Abstract: The widespread distribution of chromium(VI) in the environment leads to groundwater contamination. The use of iron sulfide (FeS) to remove Cr(VI) has therefore been proposed. However, aggregation is one of the main problems associated with the use of FeS nanoparticles prepared by traditional methods In this study, we used sodium alginate (SA) to stabilize FeS nanoparticles (FeS-SA). SA could prevent aggregation of FeS by the concurrent electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance. Homogeneously dispersed FeS-SA nanoparticles 100 nm in diameter were observed. FeS-SA showed high efficiency in Cr(VI) removal, corresponding to an enhancement of efficiency from 65% (7.50 mmol Cr(VI) per g FeS) to 100% (11.54 mmol Cr per g FeS) relative to that achieved with naked FeS. Analysis of reaction products by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the co-existence of α-FeOOH, S{sub 8}, and Cr(OH){sub 3} that apparently were introduced by Fe(II), S(−II), and Cr(VI), respectively. In-depth analysis of the removal mechanism revealed that reduction and adsorption respectively account for 82% and 18% of the Cr removal. In addition, higher pH and CaCl{sub 2} concentration resulted in lower removal efficiency. This study provides a promising application of SA in enhancing FeS reactivity for the remediation of groundwater pollution.

  13. Conjugation of curcumin onto alginate enhances aqueous solubility and stability of curcumin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dey, Soma; Sreenivasan, K

    2014-01-01

    Curcumin is a potential drug for various diseases including cancer. Prime limitations associated with curcumin are low water solubility, rapid hydrolytic degradation and poor bioavailability. In order to redress these issues we developed Alginate-Curcumin (Alg-Ccm) conjugate which was characterized by FTIR and (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The conjugate self-assembled in aqueous solution forming micelles with an average hydrodynamic diameter of 459 ± 0.32 nm and negative zeta potential. The spherical micelles were visualized by TEM. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of Alg-Ccm conjugate was determined. A significant enhancement in the aqueous solubility of curcumin was observed upon conjugation with alginate. Formation of micelles improved the stability of curcumin in water at physiological pH. The cytotoxic activity of Alg-Ccm was quantified by MTT assay using L-929 fibroblast cells and it was found to be potentially cytotoxic. Hence, Alg-Ccm could be a promising drug conjugate as well as a nanosized delivery vehicle. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Enhanced mechanical behavior of a nanocrystallised stainless steel and its thermal stability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roland, T.; Retraint, D.; Lu, K.; Lu, J.

    2007-01-01

    This paper discusses the mechanical properties of a nanocrystallised stainless steel obtained using surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) and the underlying grain refinement mechanism using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was shown that grain refinement down to the nanometer range has the potential to significantly improve the mechanical properties of a 316L stainless steel which becomes comparable in strength to titanium alloys. Hence, promising structural applications could be considered for such a material. At the same time, the thermal stability of this nanocrystallised material was studied in the temperature range from 100 to 800 deg. C. The results show that the nanometer scaled microstructure is retained up to 600 deg. C and that a controlled annealing treatment could even lead to enhancement of both strength and ductility of this material. All these results are explained in terms of microstructural investigations, X-ray diffraction measurements, tensile and bending tests as well as microhardness measurements

  15. Enhanced mechanical behavior of a nanocrystallised stainless steel and its thermal stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roland, T. [ICD, LASMIS, University of Technology of Troyes, 10010 Troyes (France); Retraint, D. [ICD, LASMIS, University of Technology of Troyes, 10010 Troyes (France)]. E-mail: delphine.retraint@utt.fr; Lu, K. [Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110015 (China); Lu, J. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (China)

    2007-02-15

    This paper discusses the mechanical properties of a nanocrystallised stainless steel obtained using surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) and the underlying grain refinement mechanism using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was shown that grain refinement down to the nanometer range has the potential to significantly improve the mechanical properties of a 316L stainless steel which becomes comparable in strength to titanium alloys. Hence, promising structural applications could be considered for such a material. At the same time, the thermal stability of this nanocrystallised material was studied in the temperature range from 100 to 800 deg. C. The results show that the nanometer scaled microstructure is retained up to 600 deg. C and that a controlled annealing treatment could even lead to enhancement of both strength and ductility of this material. All these results are explained in terms of microstructural investigations, X-ray diffraction measurements, tensile and bending tests as well as microhardness measurements.

  16. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy platform based on graphene with one-year stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tite, Teddy [Univ Lyon, UJM-Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Laboratoire Hubert Curien UMR 5516, 18 rue Professeur Benoit Lauras, F-42000 Saint-Etienne (France); Barnier, Vincent [Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines, CNRS, Laboratoire Georges Friedel UMR 5307, 158 cours Fauriel, F-42023 Saint-Etienne (France); Donnet, Christophe, E-mail: Christophe.Donnet@univ-st-etienne.fr [Univ Lyon, UJM-Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Laboratoire Hubert Curien UMR 5516, 18 rue Professeur Benoit Lauras, F-42000 Saint-Etienne (France); Loir, Anne–Sophie; Reynaud, Stéphanie; Michalon, Jean–Yves; Vocanson, Francis; Garrelie, Florence [Univ Lyon, UJM-Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Laboratoire Hubert Curien UMR 5516, 18 rue Professeur Benoit Lauras, F-42000 Saint-Etienne (France)

    2016-04-01

    We report the synthesis, characterization and use of a robust surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy platform with a stable detection for up to one year of Rhodamine R6G at a concentration of 10{sup −6} M. The detection of aminothiophenol and methyl parathion, as active molecules of commercial insecticides, is further demonstrated at concentrations down to 10{sup −5}–10{sup −6} M. This platform is based on large scale textured few-layer (fl) graphene obtained without any need of graphene transfer. The synthesis route is based on diamond-like carbon films grown by pulsed laser deposition, deposited onto silicon substrates covered by a Ni layer prior to diamond-like carbon deposition. The formation of fl-graphene film, confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and mapping, is obtained by thermal annealing inducing the diffusion of Ni atoms and the concomitant formation of nickel silicide compounds, as identified by Raman and Auger electron spectroscopies. The textured fl-graphene films were decorated with gold nanoparticles to optimize the efficiency of the SERS device to detect organic molecules at low concentrations. - Highlights: • Synthesis of graphene film from amorphous carbon by pulsed laser deposition with nickel catalyst • Large scale textured graphene with nanoscale roughness obtained through nickel silicide formation • Films used for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy detection of organophosphate compounds • Stability of the SERS platforms over up to one year.

  17. Crystalline Ethylene Oxide and Propylene Oxide Triblock Copolymer Solid Dispersion Enhance Solubility, Stability and Promoting Time- Controllable Release of Curcumin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alves, Thais F R; das Neves Lopes, Franciely C C; Rebelo, Marcia A; Souza, Juliana F; da Silva Pontes, Katiusca; Santos, Carolina; Severino, Patricia; Junior, Jose M O; Komatsu, Daniel; Chaud, Marco V

    2018-01-01

    The design and development of an effective medicine are, however, often faced with a number of challenges. One of them is the close relationship of drug's bioavailability with solubility, dissolution rate and permeability. The use of curcumin's (CUR) therapeutic potential is limited by its poor water solubility and low chemical stability. The purpose was to evaluate the effect of polymer and solid dispersion (SD) preparation techniques to enhance the aqueous solubility, dissolution rate and stability of the CUR. The recent patents on curcumin SD were reported as (i) curcumin with polyvinylpyrrolidone (CN20071 32500 20071214, WO2006022012 and CN20151414227 20150715), (ii) curcumin-zinc/polyvinylpyrrolidone (CN20151414227 20150715), (iii) curcumin-poloxamer 188 (CN2008171177 20080605), (iv) curcumin SD prepared by melting method (CN20161626746-20160801). SD obtained by co-preciptation or microwave fusion and the physical mixture of CUR with Poloxamer-407 (P-407), Hydroxypropylmetylcellulose-K4M (HPMC K4M) and Polyvinylpyrrolidone-K30 (PVP-K30) were prepared at the ratios of 1:2; 1:1 and 2:1. The samples were evaluated by solubility, stability, dissolution rate and characterized by SEM, PXRD, DSC and FTIR. The solubility, stability (pH 7.0) and dissolution rate were significantly greater for SD (CUR:P-407 1:2). The PXRD,SEM and DSC indicated a change in the crystalline state of CUR. The enhancement of solubility was dependent on a combination of factors including the weight ratio, preparation techniques and carrier properties. The drug release data fitted well with the Weibull equation, indicating that the drug release was controlled by diffusion, polymer relaxation and erosion occurring simultaneously. Thus, these SDs, specifically CUR:P-407 1:2 w/w, can overcome the barriers of poor bioavailability to reap many beneficial properties. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  18. The wellbore simulator SIMU1999; El simulador de pozos SIMU1999

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanchez Upton, Pedro [Comision Federal de Electricidad, Morelia, Michoacan (Mexico)

    1999-08-01

    This work presents a brief description of the architecture and scope of the wellbore simulator SIMU1999. Its prime application involves the representation of the different flow types and thermodynamic conditions found in geothermal wells. The simulator utilizes a homogeneous flow model which incorporates the fundamental theories of fluid mechanics and allows the handling of two-phase three component mixtures (H{sub 2}O-NaCl-CO{sub 2}), which represent the main constituents appearing in the production of geothermal fluids. SIMU1999 uses a two-phase friction factor developed on the basis of 64 production test carried out on 45 different wells. There were recovered more than 324 pressure drop data and 628 temperature measurements from the inner of the wells. Mechanical log recorders (Kuster) were mainly used but some electronic logs (Hot Hole and Pruett) were carried out, too. The friction factor is calculated using the Reynolds number, steam quality, and fluid pressure, therefore, it is independent of any previous flow pattern identification. Production data included specific enthalpies from 650 to 2 780 kj/kg, fluid pressures between 0.4 and 14 MPa, and fluid temperatures from 110 to 340 Celsius degrees. The computer code of SIMU 1999 is written in Fortran 90 and generates and executable file a little bit greater than 1 Mb. The program is divided in four parts, these are: the wellbore simulator; a graphical output to analyze the results on the screen; a separated subroutine to evaluate the mass flow rate of three component flows discharging to the atmosphere at the speed of sound; and an independent thermodynamic module which could be utilized to make estimations to be used in manual analysis. The code incorporates an efficient algorithm to solve the fluid transport phenomena problem, based on a numerical method of successive approaches. The simulator uses the International System of Units, for data input and for results (outcomes) generation. Everything is realized

  19. Local order origin of thermal stability enhancement in amorphous Ag doping GeTe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, L.; Li, Y.; Yu, N. N.; Zhong, Y. P.; Miao, X. S., E-mail: miaoxs@mail.hust.edu.cn [Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074 (China); School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

    2015-01-19

    We demonstrate the impacts of Ag doping on the local atomic structure of amorphous GeTe phase-change material. The variations of phonon vibrational modes, boding nature, and atomic structure are shown by Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and ab initio calculation. Combining the experiments and simulations, we observe that the number of Ge atoms in octahedral site decreases and that in tetrahedral site increases. This modification in local order of GeTe originating from the low valence element will affect the crystallization behavior of amorphous GeTe, which is verified by differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscope results. This work not only gives the analysis on the structural change of GeTe with Ag dopants but also provides a method to enhance the thermal stability of amorphous phase-change materials for memory and brain-inspired computing applications.

  20. Self-Standing Polypyrrole/Black Phosphorus Laminated Film: Promising Electrode for Flexible Supercapacitor with Enhanced Capacitance and Cycling Stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Shaojuan; Zhao, Jinlai; Zou, Jifei; He, Zhiliang; Xu, Changwen; Liu, Fuwei; Huang, Yang; Dong, Lei; Wang, Lei; Zhang, Han

    2018-01-31

    With the rapid development of portable electronics, solid-state flexible supercapacitors (SCs) are considered as one of the promising energy devices in powering electronics because of their intrinsic advantages. Polypyrrole (PPy) is an ideal electrode material in constructing flexible SCs owing to its high electrochemical activity and inherent flexibility, although its relatively low capacitance and poor cycling stability are still worthy of improvement. Herein, through the innovative introduction of black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets, we developed a laminated PPy/BP self-standing film with enhanced capacitance and cycling stability via a facile one-step electrochemical deposition method. The film exhibits a high capacitance of 497.5 F g -1 (551.7 F cm -3 ) and outstanding cycling stability of 10 000 charging/discharging cycles, thanks to BP nanosheets inducing laminated assembly which hinder dense and disordered stacking of PPy during electrodeposition, consequently providing a precise pathway for ion diffusion and electron transport together with alleviation of the structural deterioration during charge/discharge. The flexible SC fabricated by laminated films delivers a high capacitance of 452.8 F g -1 (7.7 F cm -3 ) besides its remarkable mechanical flexibility and cycling stability. Our facile strategy paves the way to improve the electrochemical performance of PPy-based SC that could serve as promising flexible energy device for portable electronics.

  1. Thermal stability engineering of Glomerella cingulata cutinase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chin, Iuan-Sheau; Abdul Murad, Abdul Munir; Mahadi, Nor Muhammad; Nathan, Sheila; Abu Bakar, Farah Diba

    2013-05-01

    Cutinase has been ascertained as a biocatalyst for biotechnological and industrial bioprocesses. The Glomerella cingulata cutinase was genetically modified to enhance its enzymatic performance to fulfill industrial requirements. Two sites were selected for mutagenesis with the aim of altering the surface electrostatics as well as removing a potentially deamidation-prone asparagine residue. The N177D cutinase variant was affirmed to be more resilient to temperature increase with a 2.7-fold increase in half-life at 50°C as compared with wild-type enzyme, while, the activity at 25°C is not compromised. Furthermore, the increase in thermal tolerance of this variant is accompanied by an increase in optimal temperature. Another variant, the L172K, however, exhibited higher enzymatic performance towards phenyl ester substrates of longer carbon chain length, yet its thermal stability is inversely affected. In order to restore the thermal stability of L172K, we constructed a L172K/N177D double variant and showed that these two mutations yield an improved variant with enhanced activity towards phenyl ester substrates and enhanced thermal stability. Taken together, our study may provide valuable information for enhancing catalytic performance and thermal stability in future engineering endeavors.

  2. Interfacial stability with mass and heat transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsieh, D.Y.

    1977-07-01

    A simplified formulation is presented to deal with interfacial stability problems with mass and heat transfer. For Rayleigh-Taylor stability problems of a liquid-vapor system, it was found that the effect of mass and heat transfer tends to enhance the stability of the system when the vapor is hotter than the liquid, although the classical stability criterion is still valid. For Kelvin-Holmholtz stability problems, however, the classical stability criterion was found to be modified substantially due to the effect of mass and heat transfer

  3. Natural colorants: Pigment stability and extraction yield enhancement via utilization of appropriate pretreatment and extraction methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngamwonglumlert, Luxsika; Devahastin, Sakamon; Chiewchan, Naphaporn

    2017-10-13

    Natural colorants from plant-based materials have gained increasing popularity due to health consciousness of consumers. Among the many steps involved in the production of natural colorants, pigment extraction is one of the most important. Soxhlet extraction, maceration, and hydrodistillation are conventional methods that have been widely used in industry and laboratory for such a purpose. Recently, various non-conventional methods, such as supercritical fluid extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction, pulsed-electric field extraction, and enzyme-assisted extraction have emerged as alternatives to conventional methods due to the advantages of the former in terms of smaller solvent consumption, shorter extraction time, and more environment-friendliness. Prior to the extraction step, pretreatment of plant materials to enhance the stability of natural pigments is another important step that must be carefully taken care of. In this paper, a comprehensive review of appropriate pretreatment and extraction methods for chlorophylls, carotenoids, betalains, and anthocyanins, which are major classes of plant pigments, is provided by using pigment stability and extraction yield as assessment criteria.

  4. Big Data-Based Approach to Detect, Locate, and Enhance the Stability of an Unplanned Microgrid Islanding

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jiang, Huaiguang; Li, Yan; Zhang, Yingchen; Zhang, Jun Jason; Gao, David Wenzhong; Muljadi, Eduard; Gu, Yi

    2017-10-01

    In this paper, a big data-based approach is proposed for the security improvement of an unplanned microgrid islanding (UMI). The proposed approach contains two major steps: the first step is big data analysis of wide-area monitoring to detect a UMI and locate it; the second step is particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based stability enhancement for the UMI. First, an optimal synchrophasor measurement device selection (OSMDS) and matching pursuit decomposition (MPD)-based spatial-temporal analysis approach is proposed to significantly reduce the volume of data while keeping appropriate information from the synchrophasor measurements. Second, a random forest-based ensemble learning approach is trained to detect the UMI. When combined with grid topology, the UMI can be located. Then the stability problem of the UMI is formulated as an optimization problem and the PSO is used to find the optimal operational parameters of the UMI. An eigenvalue-based multiobjective function is proposed, which aims to improve the damping and dynamic characteristics of the UMI. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach.

  5. Metal–Organic Framework-Based Separators for Enhancing Li–S Battery Stability: Mechanism of Mitigating Polysulfide Diffusion

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Mengliu

    2017-09-13

    The shuttling effect of polysulfides severely hinders the cycle performance and commercialization of Li–S batteries, and significant efforts have been devoted to searching for feasible solutions to mitigate the effect in the past two decades. Recently, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with rich porosity, nanometer cavity sizes, and high surface areas have been claimed to be effective in suppressing polysulfide migration. However, the formation of large-scale and grain boundary-free MOFs is still very challenging, where a large number of grain boundaries of MOF particles may also allow the diffusion of polysulfides. Hence, it is still controversial whether the pores in MOFs or the grain boundaries play the critical role. In this study, we perform a comparative study for several commonly used MOFs, and our experimental results and analysis prove that a layer of MOFs on a separator did enhance the capacity stability. Our results suggest that the chemical stability and the aggregation (packing) morphology of MOF particles play more important roles than the internal cavity size in MOFs.

  6. Metal–Organic Framework-Based Separators for Enhancing Li–S Battery Stability: Mechanism of Mitigating Polysulfide Diffusion

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Mengliu; Wan, Yi; Huang, Jing-Kai; Assen, Ayalew Hussen Assen; Hsiung, Chia-En; Jiang, Hao; Han, Yu; Eddaoudi, Mohamed; Lai, Zhiping; Ming, Jun; Li, Lain-Jong

    2017-01-01

    The shuttling effect of polysulfides severely hinders the cycle performance and commercialization of Li–S batteries, and significant efforts have been devoted to searching for feasible solutions to mitigate the effect in the past two decades. Recently, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with rich porosity, nanometer cavity sizes, and high surface areas have been claimed to be effective in suppressing polysulfide migration. However, the formation of large-scale and grain boundary-free MOFs is still very challenging, where a large number of grain boundaries of MOF particles may also allow the diffusion of polysulfides. Hence, it is still controversial whether the pores in MOFs or the grain boundaries play the critical role. In this study, we perform a comparative study for several commonly used MOFs, and our experimental results and analysis prove that a layer of MOFs on a separator did enhance the capacity stability. Our results suggest that the chemical stability and the aggregation (packing) morphology of MOF particles play more important roles than the internal cavity size in MOFs.

  7. A comparative study of fluorine substituents for enhanced stability of flexible and ITO-free high-performance polymer solar cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carlé, Jon Eggert; Helgesen, Martin; Zawacka, Natalia Klaudia

    2014-01-01

    lifetime in flexible large area roll-coated bulk heterojunction solar cells. The two polymer series have different side chains on the BDT unit, namely 2-hexyldecyloxy (BDTHDO) (P1-P3) or 2-hexyldecylthiophene (BDT THD) (P4-P6). The photochemical stability clearly shows that the stability enhances along...... with the number of fluorine atoms incorporated on the polymer backbone. Fabrication of the polymer solar cells based on the materials was carried out in ambient atmosphere on a roll coating/printing machine employing flexible and indium-tin-oxide-free plastic substrates. Solar cells based on the P4-P6 series...... in the performance followed by a much slower decay rate, still retaining 40-55% of their initial performance after 250 h of testing under ISOS-L-1 conditions. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc....

  8. ENHANCING THE STABILITY OF UNMANNED GROUND SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES THROUGH COORDINATED CONTROL UNDER MU-SPLIT AND GUST OF WIND

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    FITRI YAKUB

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This study describes a comparative study of steering and yaw moment control manoeuvres in model predictive control (MPC and linear quadratic control approaches for path following unmanned vehicles for different control manoeuvres: two-wheel steering, four-wheel steering, and direct yaw moment control. We then propose MPC with a proportional-integral (PI controller for the coordination of active front steering (AFS and active braking system, which particularly highlights direct yaw moment control (DYC manoeuvres. Based on the known trajectory, we tested a vehicle at middle forward speed with the disturbance consideration of the road surface adhesion and the wind for a double lane change scenario in order to follow the desired trajectory as close as possible, minimizing tracking errors, and enhancing vehicle stability and drivability. We compared two different controllers; i MPC with PI of an AFS and, ii MPC with PI for coordination of AFS and DYC. The operation of the proposed integrated control is demonstrated in a Matlab simulation environment by manoeuvring the vehicle along the desired trajectory. Simulation results showed that the proposed method had yielded better tracking performances, and were able to enhance the vehicle’s stability at a given speed even under road surface coefficient and wind.

  9. Enhanced photo-stability and photocatalytic activity of Ag3PO4 via modification with BiPO4 and polypyrrole

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Li; Jiang, Hui; Wang, Luxi

    2017-10-01

    Ag3PO4 photocatalysts modified with BiPO4 and polypyrrole (PPy) were successfully synthesized via a combination of co-precipitation hydrothermal technique and oxidative polymerization method. Their morphologies, structures and optical and electronic properties were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas, X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflection spectra (UV-vis DRS), photocurrent technique and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS). The typical triphenylmethane dye (malachite green) was chosen as a target organic contaminants to estimate the photocatalytic activities and photo-stabilities of Ag3PO4-BiPO4-PPy heterostructures under visible light irradiation. The results indicated that the existence of BiPO4 and PPy not only showed great influences on the photocatalytic activity, but also significantly enhanced photo-stability of Ag3PO4 in repeated and long-term applications. The degradation conversion of Ag3PO4-BiPO4-PPy heterostructures (ABP-3) was 1.58 times of that of pure Ag3PO4. The photo-corrosion phenomenon of Ag3PO4 was effectively avoided. The photocatalytic activity of up to 87% in the Ag3PO4-BiPO4-PPy heterostructures (ABP-3) can be remained after five repeated cycles, while only about 33% of the degradation efficiency can be reserved in pure Ag3PO4. The possible mechanism of enhanced photo-stability and photocatalytic activity of Ag3PO4-BiPO4-PPy heterostructures was also discussed in this work.

  10. Enhanced superconductivity of fullerenes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Washington, II, Aaron L.; Teprovich, Joseph A.; Zidan, Ragaiy

    2017-06-20

    Methods for enhancing characteristics of superconductive fullerenes and devices incorporating the fullerenes are disclosed. Enhancements can include increase in the critical transition temperature at a constant magnetic field; the existence of a superconducting hysteresis over a changing magnetic field; a decrease in the stabilizing magnetic field required for the onset of superconductivity; and/or an increase in the stability of superconductivity over a large magnetic field. The enhancements can be brought about by transmitting electromagnetic radiation to the superconductive fullerene such that the electromagnetic radiation impinges on the fullerene with an energy that is greater than the band gap of the fullerene.

  11. Few-layer antimonene decorated microfiber: ultra-short pulse generation and all-optical thresholding with enhanced long term stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yufeng; Liang, Zhiming; Jiang, Xiantao; Chen, Yunxiang; Li, Zhongjun; Lu, Lu; Ge, Yanqi; Wang, Ke; Zheng, Jilin; Lu, Shunbin; Ji, Jianhua; Zhang, Han

    2017-12-01

    Antimonene, a new type of mono/few-layer two-dimensional (2D) mono-elemental material purely consisting of antimony similar as graphene and phosphorene, has been theoretically predicted with excellent optical response and enhanced stability. Herein, we experimentally investigated the broadband nonlinear optical response of highly stable few-layer antimonene (FLA) by performing an open-aperture Z-scan laser measurement. Thanks to the direct bandgap and resonant absorption at the telecommunication band, we demonstrated the feasibility of FLA-decorated microfiber not only as an optical saturable absorber for ultrafast photonics operation, but also as a stable all-optical pulse thresholder that can effectively suppress the transmission noise, boost the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and reshape the deteriorated input signal. Our findings, as the first prototypic device of absorption of antimonene, might facilitate the development of antimonene-based optical communication technologies towards high stability and practical applications in the future.

  12. Enhanced biodegradation of lindane using oil-in-water bio-microemulsion stabilized by biosurfactant produced by a new yeast strain, Pseudozyma VITJzN01.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdul Salam, Jaseetha; Das, Nilanjana

    2013-11-28

    Organochlorine pesticide residues continue to remain as a major environmental threat worldwide. Lindane is an organochlorine pesticide widely used as an acaricide in medicine and agriculture. In the present study, a new lindane-degrading yeast strain, Pseudozyma VITJzN01, was identified as a copious producer of glycolipid biosurfactant. The glycolipid structure and type were elucidated by FTIR, NMR spectroscopy, and GC-MS analysis. The surface activity and stability of the glycolipid was analyzed. The glycolipids, characterized as mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs), exhibited excellent surface active properties and the surface tension of water was reduced to 29 mN/m. The glycolipid was stable over a wide range of pH, temperature, and salinity, showing a very low CMC of 25 mg/l. Bio-microemulsion of olive oil-in-water (O/W) was prepared using the purified biosurfactant without addition of any synthetic cosurfactants, for lindane solubilization and enhanced degradation assay in liquid and soil slurry. The O/W bio-microemulsions enhanced the solubility of lindane up to 40-folds. Degradation of lindane (700 mg/l) by VITJzN01 in liquid medium amended with bio-microemulsions was found to be enhanced by 36% in 2 days, compared with degradation in 12 days in the absence of bio-microemulsions. Lindane-spiked soil slurry incubated with bio-microemulsions also showed 20-40% enhanced degradation compared with the treatment with glycolipids or yeast alone. This is the first report on lindane degradation by Pseudozyma sp., and application of bio-microemulsions for enhanced lindane degradation. MEL-stabilized bio-microemulsions can serve as a potential tool for enhanced remediation of diverse lindanecontaminated environments.

  13. Enhanced hydrothermal stability of Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst via surface modification in the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH_3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Tao; Shi, Juan; Liu, Jian; Wang, Daxi; Zhao, Zhen; Cheng, Kai; Li, Jianmei

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The hydrothermal stability of Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst was enhanced after surface modification. • An inert silica layer was deposited on the surface of Cu-ZSM-5 and formed a protective layer. • The contact between Si and Cu and Al atoms could form Si-O-Al and Si- O−Cu bonds. • The redox and acidity properties of Cu-ZSM-5-CLD-Aged catalyst were largely retained. • The adsorption and activation of NO and NH_3 was almost unchanged over Cu-ZSM-5-CLD catalyst before and after hydrothermal treatment. - Abstract: The surface of Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst was modified by chemical liquid deposition (CLD) of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) for enhancing its hydrothermal stability in the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH_3. After hydrothermal aging at 750 °C for 13 h, the catalytic performance of Cu-ZSM-5-Aged catalyst was significantly reduced for NO reduction in the entire temperature range, while that of Cu-ZSM-5-CLD-Aged catalyst was affected very little. The characterization results indicated that an inert silica layer was deposited on the surface of Cu-ZSM-5 and formed a protective layer, which prevents the detachment of Cu"2"+ from ZSM-5 ion-exchange positions and the dealumination of zeolite during the hydrothermal aging process. Based on the data it is hypothesized to be the primary reason for the high hydrothermal stability of Cu-ZSM-5-CLD catalyst.

  14. Enhancing trunk stability in acute poststroke subjects using physioball exercise and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation technique: A pilot randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ravichandran Hariharasudhan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Poststroke, most survivors experience trunk control impairment and instability. Previous works on exercise on an unstable surface to improve trunk stability in nonstroke population had proven effective. Thus, physioball exercises (PBEs in poststroke subjects may be useful in the recovery of trunk stability and thereby reduce disability. We hypothesize that PBE is feasible and effective in enhancing trunk stability. Aims: To test the feasibility and successful implementation of conducting a randomized controlled study to assess the clinical effectiveness of PBE and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF technique to enhance trunk control in poststroke subjects. Methods: This study was conducted in a stroke unit of Global Hospitals and Health City, Chennai, India. Thirty patients with the first onset of stroke within 40 days of stroke duration, lesion to one side, and ability to sit independently with or without arm support for 15 days were recruited. All thirty poststroke subjects were randomized either into PBE group or PNF group, and outcome assessors involved in the trail were blinded to allocation. PBE group performed task-oriented activities on an unstable surface and PNF group were treated with PNF-specific trunk stability exercise program for 4 weeks (30 min/day, 5 times/week. Trunk impairment scale (TIS was used as a main outcome measure. Results: Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed rank sum test and Mann–Whitney U-test for intra- and inter-group comparison. The baseline characteristics between both groups were statistically nonsignificant. Within groups, there were significant improvements between baseline and at 4 weeks in the measure of TIS. In addition, PBE group showed a significant increase in trunk control (mean 2.33, 95% confidence interval 1.14-3.52, P = 0.002 than the PNF subject. Conclusion: This pilot randomized controlled trial

  15. Galvanic replacement-free deposition of Au on Ag for core-shell nanocubes with enhanced chemical stability and SERS activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yin; Liu, Jingyue; Fu, Zheng-Wen; Qin, Dong

    2014-06-11

    We report a robust synthesis of Ag@Au core-shell nanocubes by directly depositing Au atoms on the surfaces of Ag nanocubes as conformal, ultrathin shells. Our success relies on the introduction of a strong reducing agent to compete with and thereby block the galvanic replacement between Ag and HAuCl4. An ultrathin Au shell of 0.6 nm thick was able to protect the Ag in the core in an oxidative environment. Significantly, the core-shell nanocubes exhibited surface plasmonic properties essentially identical to those of the original Ag nanocubes, while the SERS activity showed a 5.4-fold further enhancement owing to an improvement in chemical enhancement. The combination of excellent SERS activity and chemical stability may enable a variety of new applications.

  16. A numerical technique for enhanced efficiency and stability for the solution of the nuclear reactor equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khotylev, V.A.; Hoogenboom, J.E.

    1996-01-01

    The paper presents new techniques for the solution of the nuclear reactor equation in diffusion approximation, that has enhanced efficiency and stability. The code system based on the new technique solves a number of steady-state and/or transient problems with coupled thermal hydraulics in one-, two-, or three dimensional geometry with reduced CPU time as compared to similar code systems of previous generations if well-posed neutronics problems are considered. Automated detection of ill-posed problem and selection of the appropriate numerical method makes the new code system capable of yielding a correct solution for wider range of problems without user intervention. (author)

  17. A numerical technique for enhanced efficiency and stability for the solution of the nuclear reactor equation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khotylev, V.A.; Hoogenboom, J.E. [Delft Univ. of Technology, Interfaculty Reactor Inst., Delft (Netherlands)

    1996-07-01

    The paper presents new techniques for the solution of the nuclear reactor equation in diffusion approximation, that has enhanced efficiency and stability. The code system based on the new technique solves a number of steady-state and/or transient problems with coupled thermal hydraulics in one-, two-, or three dimensional geometry with reduced CPU time as compared to similar code systems of previous generations if well-posed neutronics problems are considered. Automated detection of ill-posed problem and selection of the appropriate numerical method makes the new code system capable of yielding a correct solution for wider range of problems without user intervention. (author)

  18. AREA 2: Novel Materials for Robust Repair of Leaky Wellbores in CO2 Storage Formations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Balhoff, Matthew [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Tavassoli, Shayan [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Fei Ho, Jostine [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)

    2016-01-31

    The potential leakage of hydrocarbon fluids or CO2 out of subsurface formations through wells with fractured cement or debonded microannuli is a primary concern in oil and gas production and CO2 storage. The presence of fractures in a cement annulus with apertures on the order of 10–300 microns can pose a significant leakage danger with effective permeability in the range of 0.1–1 mD (millidarcy). Leakage pathways with small apertures are often difficult to repair using conventional oilfield cement, thus a low-viscosity sealant that can be easily placed into these fractures while providing an effective seal is desired. The development of a novel application using pH-triggered polymeric sealants could potentially be the solution to plugging these fractures and that was the research aim of this study. The application is based on the transport and reaction of a low-pH poly(acrylic acid) polymer through fractures in strongly alkaline cement. The pH-sensitive microgels viscosify upon neutralization with cement to become highly swollen gels with substantial yield stress that can block fluid flow. Experiments in a cement fracture determined the effects of the viscosification and gel deposition via real-time visual observation and measurements of pressure gradient and effluent pH. While the pH-triggered gelling mechanism and rheology measurements of the neutralized polymer gel show promising results, the polymer solution in contact with cement undergoes an undesirable reaction known as polymer syneresis. Syneresis is caused by the release of calcium cation from cement that collapses the polymer network. Syneresis produces an unstable calcium-precipitation byproduct that is detrimental to the strength and stability of the gel in place. As a result, gel-sealed leakage pathways that subjected to various degrees of syneresis often failed to hold back pressures. Several chemicals were studied to inhibit polymer syneresis and tested for pretreatment of

  19. Enhanced integrated nonthermal treatment system study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biagi, C.; Schwinkendorf, B.; Teheranian, B.

    1997-02-01

    The purpose of the Enhanced Nonthermal Treatment Systems (ENTS) study is to evaluate alternative configurations of one of the five systems evaluated in the Integrated Nonthermal Treatment Systems (INTS) study. Five alternative configurations are evaluated. Each is designed to enhance the final waste form performance by replacing grout with improved stabilization technologies, or to improve system performance by improving the destruction efficiency for organic contaminants. AU enhanced systems are alternative configurations of System NT-5, which has the following characteristics: Nonthermal System NT-5: (1) catalytic wet oxidation (CWO) to treat organic material including organic liquids, sludges, and soft (or combustible) debris, (2) thermal desorption of inorganic sludge and process residue, (3) washing of soil and inorganic debris with treatment by CWO of removed organic material, (4) metal decontamination by abrasive blasting, (5) stabilization of treated sludge, soil, debris, and untreated debris with entrained contamination in grout, and (6) stabilization of inorganic sludge, salts and secondary waste in polymer. System NT-5 was chosen because it was designed to treat combustible debris thereby minimizing the final waste form volume, and because it uses grout for primary stabilization. The enhanced nonthermal systems were studied to determine the cost and performance impact of replacing grout (a commonly used stabilization agent in the DOE complex) with improved waste stabilization methods such as vitrification and polymer

  20. Application of stability enhancing minimum interfacial pressure force model for MARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Won Jae; Lim, Ho Gon; Kim, Kyung Doo; Ha, Kwi Seok

    2001-04-01

    For thermal-hydraulic modeling of two-phase flow systems, two-fluid model, which assumes that the pressures of liquid, vapor and interface are identical, a so-called single-pressure model, is commonly used in codes for nuclear reactor safety analyses. Typical two-phase model with single pressure assumption possesses complex characteristics that result in system being ill-posed. As a result, typical single pressure model may cause the unbounded growth of instabilities. In order to overcome the ill-posedness of single-pressure two-fluid model, a hyperbolic equation system has been developed by introducing an interfacial pressure force into single pressure two-fluid model. The potential impact of the present model on the stability of finite difference solution has been examined by Von-Neumann stability analysis. The obvious improvement in numerical stability has been found when a semi-implicit time advancement scheme is used. Numerical experiments using the pilot code were also performed for the conceptual problems. It was found that the result was consistent with numerical stability test. The new model was implemented to MARS using Two-step approach. Through the conceptual stability test problems and benchmark problems, the applicability of the new model was verified.

  1. Application of stability enhancing minimum interfacial pressure force model for MARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Won Jae; Lim, Ho Gon; Kim, Kyung Doo; Ha, Kwi Seok

    2001-04-01

    For thermal-hydraulic modeling of two-phase flow systems, two-fluid model, which assumes that the pressures of liquid, vapor and interface are identical, a so-called single-pressure model, is commonly used in codes for nuclear reactor safety analyses. Typical two-phase model with single pressure assumption possesses complex characteristics that result in system being ill-posed. As a result, typical single pressure model may cause the unbounded growth of instabilities. In order to overcome the ill-posedness of single-pressure two-fluid model, a hyperbolic equation system has been developed by introducing an interfacial pressure force into single pressure two-fluid model. The potential impact of the present model on the stability of finite difference solution has been examined by Von-Neumann stability analysis. The obvious improvement in numerical stability has been found when a semi-implicit time advancement scheme is used. Numerical experiments using the pilot code were also performed for the conceptual problems. It was found that the result was consistent with numerical stability test. The new model was implemented to MARS using Two-step approach. Through the conceptual stability test problems and benchmark problems, the applicability of the new model was verified

  2. Enhanced conjugation stability and blood circulation time of macromolecular gadolinium-DTPA contrast agent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenjob, Ratchapol; Kun, Na; Ghee, Jung Yeon; Shen, Zheyu; Wu, Xiaoxia; Cho, Steve K; Lee, Don Haeng; Yang, Su-Geun

    2016-04-01

    In this study, we prepared macromolecular MR T1 contrast agent: pullulan-conjugated Gd diethylene triamine pentaacetate (Gd-DTPA-Pullulan) and estimated residual free Gd(3+), chelation stability in competition with metal ions, plasma and tissue pharmacokinetics, and abdominal MR contrast on rats. Residual free Gd(3+) in Gd-DTPA-Pullulan was measured using colorimetric spectroscopy. The transmetalation of Gd(3+) incubated with Ca(2+) was performed by using a dialysis membrane (MWCO 100-500 Da) and investigated by ICP-OES. The plasma concentration profiles of Gd-DTPA-Pullulan were estimated after intravenous injection at a dose 0.1 mmol/kg of Gd. The coronal-plane abdominal images of normal rats were observed by MR imaging. The content of free Gd(3+), the toxic residual form, was less than 0.01%. Chelation stability of Gd-DTPA-Pullulan was estimated, and only 0.2% and 0.00045% of Gd(3+) were released from Gd-DTPA-Pullulan after 2h incubation with Ca(2+) and Fe(2+), respectively. Gd-DTPA-Pullulan displayed the extended plasma half-life (t1/2,α=0.43 h, t1/2,β=2.32 h), much longer than 0.11h and 0.79 h of Gd-EOB-DTPA. Abdominal MR imaging showed Gd-DTPA-Pullulan maintained initial MR contrast for 30 min. The extended plasma half-life of Gd-DTPA-Pullulan probably allows the prolonged MR acquisition time in clinic with enhanced MR contrast. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Enhancing the thermal stability of natural rubber/recycled ethylene–propylene–diene rubber blends by means of introducing pre-vulcanised ethylene–propylene–diene rubber and electron beam irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nabil, H.; Ismail, H.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • New route of processing was introduced to optimise the thermal stability of NR/R-EPDM blends. • Pre-vulcanised EPDM and EB irradiation were introduced into NR/R-EPDM blends. • Thermal stability is obviously enhanced by applying these two techniques. • Applying new route of processing methods is clearly successful to NR/R-EPDM blends. - Abstract: Most rubber materials are subjected to oxidation. The rate of oxidation depends on the type of rubber, processing method, and end-use conditions. The oxidation of rubber can result in the loss of physical properties, such as tensile strength, elongation, and flexibility. Hence, the service life is determined by oxidation stability. Thermal properties are relevant to the potential use of polymeric materials in many consumer oriented applications. Thermo-oxidative ageing and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) have been proven to be successful techniques in determining the thermal stability of polymers and polymer blends. In this article, preparation of a series of natural rubber/recycled ethylene–propylene–diene rubber (NR/R-EPDM) blends is described. Processing of the blends, by means of introducing pre-vulcanised EPDM and electron beam (EB) irradiation, was carried out. Two thermal analysis methods, namely thermo-oxidative ageing and thermogravimetric analysis, were conducted. The results indicated that pre-vulcanising EPDM for 1.45 min (ts − 2) is sufficient to gain the optimum retained tensile and elongation at break. It was simultaneously observed that the introduction of pre-vulcanised EPDM increased decomposition temperature and activation energy by showing optimum values at a pre-vulcanising time of 3.45 min (ts). In the latter study, the retained properties increased after EB irradiation. The results can be verified by the thermal decomposition temperature and their activation energy. The obtained TG profiles and the calculated kinetic parameters indicated that introducing EB irradiation

  4. Numerical Exploration of Kaldorian Macrodynamics: Enhanced Stability and Predominance of Period Doubling and Chaos with Flexible Exchange Rates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toichiro Asada

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available We explore a discrete Kaldorian macrodynamic model of an open economy with flexible exchange rates, focusing on the effects of variation of the model parameters, the speed of adjustment of the goods market α, and the degree of capital mobility β. We determine by a numerical grid search method the stability region in parameter space and find that flexible rates cause enhanced stability of equilibrium with respect to variations of the parameters. We identify the Hopf-Neimark bifurcation curve and the flip bifurcation curve, and find that the period doubling cascades which leads to chaos is the dominant behavior of the system outside the stability region, persisting to large values of β. Cyclical behavior of noticeable presence is detected for some extreme values of a state parameter. Bifurcation and Lyapunov exponent diagrams are computed illustrating the complex dynamics involved. Examples of attractors and trajectories are presented. The effect of the speed of adaptation of the expected rate is also briefly discussed. Finally, we explore a special model variation incorporating the “wealth effect” which is found to behave similarly to the basic model, contrary to the model of fixed exchange rates in which incorporation of this effect causes an entirely different behavior.

  5. Enhanced stability of magic clusters: A case study of icosahedric Al12X, X=B, Al, Ga, C, Si, Ge, Ti, As

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gong, X.G.; Kumar, V.

    1992-10-01

    We present results of the electronic structure and stability of some 40 valence electron icosahedric Al 12 X (X=B, Al, Ga, C, Si, Ge, Ti and As) clusters within the local spin density functional theory. It is shown that the stability of Al 13 cluster can be substantially enhanced by proper doping. For neutral clusters, substitution of C at the center of the icosahedron leads to the largest gain in energy. However, Al 12 B - is the most bounded in this family. These results are in agreement with the recent experiments which also find Al 12 B - to be highly abundant. (author). 12 refs, 4 figs, 2 tabs

  6. EUV multilayer mirrors with enhanced stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benoit, Nicolas; Yulin, Sergiy; Feigl, Torsten; Kaiser, Norbert

    2006-08-01

    The application of multilayer optics in EUV lithography requires not only the highest possible normal-incidence reflectivity but also a long-term thermal and radiation stability at operating temperatures. This requirement is most important in the case of the collector mirror of the illumination system close to the EUV source where a short-time decrease in reflectivity is most likely. Mo/Si multilayer mirrors, designed for high normal reflectivity at the wavelength of 13.5 nm and deposited by dc magnetron sputtering, were directly exposed to EUV radiation without mitigation system. They presented a loss of reflectivity of more than 18% after only 8 hours of irradiation by a Xe-discharge source. Another problem of Mo/Si multilayers is the instability of reflectivity and peak wavelength under high heat load. It becomes especially critical at temperatures above 200°C, where interdiffusion between the molybdenum and the silicon layers is observed. The development of high-temperature multilayers was focused on two alternative Si-based systems: MoSi II/Si and interface engineered Mo/C/Si/C multilayer mirrors. The multilayer designs as well as the deposition parameters of all systems were optimized in terms of high peak reflectivity (>= 60 %) at a wavelength of 13.5 nm and high thermal stability. Small thermally induced changes of the MoSi II/Si multilayer properties were found but they were independent of the annealing time at all temperatures examined. A wavelength shift of -1.7% and a reflectivity drop of 1.0% have been found after annealing at 500°C for 100 hours. The total degradation of optical properties above 650°C can be explained by a recrystallization process of MoSi II layers.

  7. Entrapment of curcumin into monoolein-based liquid crystalline nanoparticle dispersion for enhancement of stability and anticancer activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baskaran R

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Rengarajan Baskaran,1 Thiagarajan Madheswaran,2 Pasupathi Sundaramoorthy,1 Hwan Mook Kim,1 Bong Kyu Yoo1 1College of Pharmacy, Gachon University, Incheon, South Korea; 2College of Pharmacy Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea Abstract: Despite the promising anticancer potential of curcumin, its therapeutic application has been limited, owing to its poor solubility, bioavailability, and chemical fragility. Therefore, various formulation approaches have been attempted to address these problems. In this study, we entrapped curcumin into monoolein (MO-based liquid crystalline nanoparticles (LCNs and evaluated the physicochemical properties and anticancer activity of the LCN dispersion. The results revealed that particles in the curcumin-loaded LCN dispersion were discrete and monodispersed, and that the entrapment efficiency was almost 100%. The stability of curcumin in the dispersion was surprisingly enhanced (about 75% of the curcumin survived after 45 days of storage at 40°C, and the in vitro release of curcumin was sustained (10% or less over 15 days. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS analysis using a human colon cancer cell line (HCT116 exhibited 99.1% fluorescence gating for 5 µM curcumin-loaded LCN dispersion compared to 1.36% for the same concentration of the drug in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, indicating markedly enhanced cellular uptake. Consistent with the enhanced cellular uptake of curcumin-loaded LCNs, anticancer activity and cell cycle studies demonstrated apoptosis induction when the cells were treated with the LCN dispersion; however, there was neither noticeable cell death nor significant changes in the cell cycle for the same concentration of the drug in DMSO. In conclusion, entrapping curcumin into MO-based LCNs may provide, in the future, a strategy for overcoming the hurdles associated with both the stability and cellular uptake issues of the drug in the treatment of various cancers. Keywords: liquid

  8. Enhanced activity and stability of L-arabinose isomerase by immobilization on aminopropyl glass.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ye-Wang; Jeya, Marimuthu; Lee, Jung-Kul

    2011-03-01

    Immobilization of Bacillus licheniformis L: -arabinose isomerase (BLAI) on aminopropyl glass modified with glutaraldehyde (4 mg protein g support⁻¹) was found to enhance the enzyme activity. The immobilization yield of BLAI was proportional to the quantity of amino groups on the surface of support. Reducing particle size increased the adsorption capacity (q(m)) and affinity (k(a)). The pH and temperature for immobilization were optimized to be pH 7.1 and 33 °C using response surface methodology (RSM). The immobilized enzyme was characterized and compared to the free enzyme. There is no change in optimal pH and temperature before and after immobilization. However, the immobilized BLAI enzyme achieved 145% of the activity of the free enzyme. Correspondingly, the catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K(m)) was improved 1.47-fold after immobilization compared to the free enzyme. The thermal stability was improved 138-fold (t₁/₂) increased from 2 to 275 h) at 50 °C following immobilization.

  9. Plasma etching to enhance the surface insulating stability of alumina for fusion applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Malo

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available A significant increase in the surface electrical conductivity of alumina, considered one of the most promising insulating materials for numerous applications in fusion devices, has been observed during ion bombardment in vacuum due to oxygen loss by preferential sputtering. Although this is expected to cause serious limitations to insulating components functionality, recent studies showed it is possible to restore the damaged lattice by oxygen reincorporation during thermal treatments in air. These studies also revealed a correlation between conductivity and ion beam induced luminescence, which is being used to monitor surface electrical conductivity degradation and help qualify the post irradiation recovery. Work now carried out for Wesgo alumina considers oxygen implantation and plasma etching as additional methods to improve recovered layer depth and quality. Both conductivity and luminescence results indicate the potential use of plasma etching not only for damage recovery, but also as a pre-treatment to enhance material stability during irradiation.

  10. Mesoscale Origin of the Enhanced Cycling-Stability of the Si-Conductive Polymer Anode for Li-ion Batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Meng; Xiao, Xing-Cheng; Liu, Gao; Thevuthasan, Suntharampillai; Baer, Donald R.; Zhang, Ji-Guang; Liu, Jun; Browning, Nigel D.; Wang, Chong-Min

    2014-01-01

    Electrode used in lithium-ion battery is invariably a composite of multifunctional components. The performance of the electrode is controlled by the interactive function of all components at mesoscale. Fundamental understanding of mesoscale phenomenon sets the basis for innovative designing of new materials. Here we report the achievement and origin of a significant performance enhancement of electrode for lithium ion batteries based on Si nanoparticles wrapped with conductive polymer. This new material is in marked contrast with conventional material, which exhibit fast capacity fade. In-situ TEM unveils that the enhanced cycling stability of the conductive polymer-Si composite is associated with mesoscale concordant function of Si nanoparticles and the conductive polymer. Reversible accommodation of the volume changes of Si by the conductive polymer allows good electrical contact between all the particles during the cycling process. In contrast, the failure of the conventional Si-electrode is probed to be the inadequate electrical contact. PMID:24418812

  11. A population-feedback control based algorithm for well trajectory optimization using proxy model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javad Kasravi

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Wellbore instability is one of the concerns in the field of drilling engineering. This phenomenon is affected by several factors such as azimuth, inclination angle, in-situ stress, mud weight, and rock strength parameters. Among these factors, azimuth, inclination angle, and mud weight are controllable. The objective of this paper is to introduce a new procedure based on elastoplastic theory in wellbore stability solution to determine the optimum well trajectory and global minimum mud pressure required (GMMPR. Genetic algorithm (GA was applied as a main optimization engine that employs proportional feedback controller to obtain the minimum mud pressure required (MMPR. The feedback function repeatedly calculated and updated the error between the simulated and set point of normalized yielded zone area (NYZA. To reduce computation expenses, an artificial neural network (ANN was used as a proxy (surrogate model to approximate the behavior of the actual wellbore model. The methodology was applied to a directional well in southwestern Iranian oilfield. The results demonstrated that the error between the predicted GMMPR and practical safe mud pressure was 4% for elastoplastic method, and 22% for conventional elastic solution.

  12. Acoustically enhanced microfluidic mixer to synthesize highly uniform nanodrugs without the addition of stabilizers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Nguyen Hoai An; Van Phan, Hoang; Yu, Jiaqi; Chan, Hak-Kim; Neild, Adrian; Alan, Tuncay

    2018-01-01

    This article presents an acoustically enhanced microfluidic mixer to generate highly uniform and ultra-fine nanoparticles, offering significant advantages over conventional liquid antisolvent techniques. The method employed a 3D microfluidic geometry whereby two different phases - solvent and antisolvent - were introduced at either side of a 1 μm thick resonating membrane, which contained a through-hole. The vibration of the membrane rapidly and efficiently mixed the two phases, at the location of the hole, leading to the formation of nanoparticles. The versatility of the device was demonstrated by synthesizing budesonide (a common asthma drug) with a mean diameter of 135.7 nm and a polydispersity index of 0.044. The method offers a 40-fold reduction in the size of synthesized particles combined with a substantial improvement in uniformity, achieved without the need of stabilizers.

  13. Enhanced photocatalysis, colloidal stability and cytotoxicity of synchrotron X-ray synthesized Au/TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Chi-Jen; Yang, Tsung-Yeh; Wang, Chang-Hai [Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan (China); Chien, Chia-Chi [Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan (China); Department of Engineering Science and System, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan (China); Chen, Shin-Tai; Wang, Cheng-Liang; Leng, Wei-Hua [Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan (China); Hwu, Y., E-mail: phhwu@sinica.edu.tw [Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan (China); Department of Engineering Science and System, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan (China); Institute of Optoelectronic Sciences, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 202, Taiwan (China); National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan (China); Lin, Hong-Ming [Department of Materials Engineering, Tatung University, Taipei 10461, Taiwan (China); Lee, Yao-Chang [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan (China); Cheng, Chia-Liang [Department of Physics, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien 97401, Taiwan (China); Je, J.H. [X-ray Imaging Center, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang (Korea, Republic of); Margaritondo, G. [Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

    2009-09-15

    Au/TiO{sub 2} nanocomposite particles were synthesized by a method based on intense X-ray irradiation without adding any reducing agent or stabilizer. The nanocomposite exhibits promising photocatalytic and biological properties at physiologically relevant concentration ([Au] = 0.028 mM, [TiO{sub 2}] = 0.5 mM). The structure and photocatalysis were examined by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy demonstrating that gold nanoparticles of 2-5 nm size were successfully deposited on TiO{sub 2} nanoparticle surfaces. The nanocomposite exhibited good colloidal stability within a typical cellular environment and was nontoxic to cancer cell according to evaluations under controlled conditions. The Au/TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles were also found to enhance the photocatalytic efficiency of UV radiation and even more that of X-ray radiation. In vitro studies indicated that the cell-killing effect under X-ray irradiation is more pronounced with the addition of Au/TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles than of bare TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles.

  14. Enhanced Stability of a Protein with Increasing Temperature

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vinther, Joachim Møllesøe; Kristensen, Søren M; Led, Jens J

    2010-01-01

    The unusual stability of a structured but locally flexible protein, human growth hormone (hGH) at pH 2.7, was investigated using the temperature dependence of the nanosecond-picosecond dynamics of the backbone amide groups obtained from (15)N NMR relaxation data. It is found that the flexibility ...

  15. Transient stability enhancement of modern power grid using predictive Wide-Area Monitoring and Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yousefian, Reza

    This dissertation presents a real-time Wide-Area Control (WAC) designed based on artificial intelligence for large scale modern power systems transient stability enhancement. The WAC using the measurements available from Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) at generator buses, monitors the global oscillations in the system and optimally augments the local excitation system of the synchronous generators. The complexity of the power system stability problem along with uncertainties and nonlinearities makes the conventional modeling non-practical or inaccurate. In this work Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithm on the benchmark of Neural Networks (NNs) is used to map the nonlinearities of the system in real-time. This method different from both the centralized and the decentralized control schemes, employs a number of semi-autonomous agents to collaborate with each other to perform optimal control theory well-suited for WAC applications. Also, to handle the delays in Wide-Area Monitoring (WAM) and adapt the RL toward the robust control design, Temporal Difference (TD) is proposed as a solver for RL problem or optimal cost function. However, the main drawback of such WAC design is that it is challenging to determine if an offline trained network is valid to assess the stability of the power system once the system is evolved to a different operating state or network topology. In order to address the generality issue of NNs, a value priority scheme is proposed in this work to design a hybrid linear and nonlinear controllers. The algorithm so-called supervised RL is based on mixture of experts, where it is initialized by linear controller and as the performance and identification of the RL controller improves in real-time switches to the other controller. This work also focuses on transient stability and develops Lyapunov energy functions for synchronous generators to monitor the stability stress of the system. Using such energies as a cost function guarantees the convergence

  16. Silver nanoparticle colloids with γ-cyclodextrin: enhanced stability and Gibbs–Marangoni flow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Amiri, Setareh; Duroux, Laurent; Larsen, Kim Lambertsen, E-mail: kll@bio.aau.dk [Aalborg University, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience (Denmark)

    2015-01-15

    Although cyclodextrins (CD) are effective stabilizers for metal nanoparticle colloids, differences between α-, β- and γ-CD in stabilizing such colloids have not been previously reported. In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNP) were synthesized using NaBH{sub 4} as reducing agent and cyclodextrins as stabilizers. Long-term stability of AgNP colloids in equilibrium conditions showed no marked differences between CD types. Transmission electron microscopy and quantitative image analysis revealed only marginal differences in particle sizes for CD-AgNP, although statistically significant. CD-AgNP colloids showed dispersed particles with average diameters of 7.3 ± 2.2, 6.3 ± 2.9 and 4.9 ± 1.9 nm for α-, β- and γ-CD, respectively, and with similar ζ-potentials about −25 to −30 mV. AgNP without CD showed bigger and aggregated particles of 15.0 ± 2.0 nm with lower ζ-potentials of about −40 mV. When subjected to centrifugal forces, i.e. non-equilibrium conditions, γ-CD was markedly more efficient than α- and β-CD in stabilizing the colloids. Drying patterns of colloid droplets showed a typical self-pinned coffee ring for all but the colloid stabilized by γ-CD, which showed a pattern resulting from a dominant Gibbs–Marangoni flow inside the drying droplet. Calculations using the Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey and Overbeek (DLVO) theory supported the stabilizing effect of CD in equilibrium conditions; it however did not provide clues for the superior stabilization by γ-CD in conditions of hydrodynamic stress.

  17. Silver nanoparticle colloids with γ-cyclodextrin: enhanced stability and Gibbs–Marangoni flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amiri, Setareh; Duroux, Laurent; Larsen, Kim Lambertsen

    2015-01-01

    Although cyclodextrins (CD) are effective stabilizers for metal nanoparticle colloids, differences between α-, β- and γ-CD in stabilizing such colloids have not been previously reported. In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNP) were synthesized using NaBH 4 as reducing agent and cyclodextrins as stabilizers. Long-term stability of AgNP colloids in equilibrium conditions showed no marked differences between CD types. Transmission electron microscopy and quantitative image analysis revealed only marginal differences in particle sizes for CD-AgNP, although statistically significant. CD-AgNP colloids showed dispersed particles with average diameters of 7.3 ± 2.2, 6.3 ± 2.9 and 4.9 ± 1.9 nm for α-, β- and γ-CD, respectively, and with similar ζ-potentials about −25 to −30 mV. AgNP without CD showed bigger and aggregated particles of 15.0 ± 2.0 nm with lower ζ-potentials of about −40 mV. When subjected to centrifugal forces, i.e. non-equilibrium conditions, γ-CD was markedly more efficient than α- and β-CD in stabilizing the colloids. Drying patterns of colloid droplets showed a typical self-pinned coffee ring for all but the colloid stabilized by γ-CD, which showed a pattern resulting from a dominant Gibbs–Marangoni flow inside the drying droplet. Calculations using the Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey and Overbeek (DLVO) theory supported the stabilizing effect of CD in equilibrium conditions; it however did not provide clues for the superior stabilization by γ-CD in conditions of hydrodynamic stress

  18. Multifunctional non-viral gene vectors with enhanced stability, improved cellular and nuclear uptake capability, and increased transfection efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhe; Jiang, Zhaozhong; Cao, Zhong; Zhang, Chao; Gao, Di; Luo, Xingen; Zhang, Xiaofang; Luo, Huiyan; Jiang, Qing; Liu, Jie

    2014-08-01

    We have developed a new multifunctional, non-viral gene delivery platform consisting of cationic poly(amine-co-ester) (PPMS) for DNA condensation, PEG shell for nanoparticle stabilization, poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) and mTAT (a cell-penetrating peptide) for accelerated cellular uptake, and a nuclear localization signal peptide (NLS) for enhanced intracellular transport of DNA to the nucleus. In vitro study showed that coating of the binary PPMS/DNA polyplex with γ-PGA promotes cellular uptake of the polyplex particles, particularly by γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT)-positive cells through the GGT-mediated endocytosis pathway. Conjugating PEG to the γ-PGA led to the formation of a ternary PPMS/DNA/PGA-g-PEG polyplex with decreased positive charges on the surface of the polyplex particles and substantially higher stability in serum-containing aqueous medium. The cellular uptake rate was further improved by incorporating mTAT into the ternary polyplex system. Addition of the NLS peptide was designed to facilitate intracellular delivery of the plasmid to the nucleus--a rate-limiting step in the gene transfection process. As a result, compared with the binary PPMS/LucDNA polyplex, the new mTAT-quaternary PPMS/LucDNA/NLS/PGA-g-PEG-mTAT system exhibited reduced cytotoxicity, remarkably faster cellular uptake rate, and enhanced transport of DNA to the nucleus. All these advantageous functionalities contribute to the remarkable gene transfection efficiency of the mTAT-quaternary polyplex both in vitro and in vivo, which exceeds that of the binary polyplex and commercial Lipofectamine™ 2000/DNA lipoplex. The multifunctional mTAT-quaternary polyplex system with improved efficiency and reduced cytotoxicity represents a new type of promising non-viral vectors for the delivery of therapeutic genes to treat tumors.We have developed a new multifunctional, non-viral gene delivery platform consisting of cationic poly(amine-co-ester) (PPMS) for DNA condensation, PEG shell

  19. Power system stability modelling, analysis and control

    CERN Document Server

    Sallam, Abdelhay A

    2015-01-01

    This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the subject from both a physical and mathematical perspective and covers a range of topics including modelling, computation of load flow in the transmission grid, stability analysis under both steady-state and disturbed conditions, and appropriate controls to enhance stability.

  20. Enhanced post-annealing stability of perpendicular Ta/CoFeB/Mg/MgO multilayers by inhibiting Ta diffusion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Xu-Jing; Jiang, Shao-Long; Zhang, Jing-Yan; Liu, Qian-Qian; Liu, Yi-Wei; Zhao, Jian-Cheng [Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 (China); Wu, Zheng-Long [Analytical and Testing Center, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875 (China); Feng, Chun, E-mail: fengchun@ustb.edu.cn [Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 (China); Li, Ming-Hua [Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 (China); Yu, Guang-Hua, E-mail: ghyu@mater.ustb.edu.cn [Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 (China)

    2016-03-01

    Graphical abstract: To reveal the underlying mechanism of Mg influence on the enhanced post-annealing stability of perpendicular Ta/CoFeB/Mg/MgO multilayers, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis have been performed. It is found that a certain amount of Mg interlayer at the CoFeB/MgO interface could prevent the Ta oxidation to some extent due to the oxygen deficit MgO{sub x} (x < 1), and consequently lower the diffusion motivation of Ta from the bottom layer to the CoFeB/MgO interfaces to some extent during the annealing process. The prevention of Ta diffusion realizes the effective hybridization of Fe and O at the CoFeB/MgO interface and maintains interfacial magnetic anisotropy (K{sub CoFeB/MgO}). As a result, the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at high annealing temperatures was maintained. - Highlights: • High annealing stability of perpendicular Ta/CoFeB/Mg/MgO multilayers was realized. • X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis has been performed to explore the reasons. • The prevention of Ta diffusion was realized by introducing Mg at the CoFeB/MgO interface. - Abstracts: To reveal the underlying mechanism of Mg influence on the enhanced post-annealing stability of perpendicular Ta/CoFeB/Mg/MgO multilayers, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis has been performed. It is found that a certain amount of Mg interlayer at the CoFeB/MgO interface could prevent the Ta oxidation, and consequently lower the diffusion motivation of Ta from the bottom layer to the CoFeB/MgO interfaces to some extent in the annealing process. The prevention of Ta diffusion realizes the effective hybridization of Fe and O at the CoFeB/MgO interface and maintains interfacial magnetic anisotropy (KCoFeB/MgO). As a result, the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at high annealing temperatures is maintained.

  1. Enhanced post-annealing stability of perpendicular Ta/CoFeB/Mg/MgO multilayers by inhibiting Ta diffusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Xu-Jing; Jiang, Shao-Long; Zhang, Jing-Yan; Liu, Qian-Qian; Liu, Yi-Wei; Zhao, Jian-Cheng; Wu, Zheng-Long; Feng, Chun; Li, Ming-Hua; Yu, Guang-Hua

    2016-01-01

    Graphical abstract: To reveal the underlying mechanism of Mg influence on the enhanced post-annealing stability of perpendicular Ta/CoFeB/Mg/MgO multilayers, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis have been performed. It is found that a certain amount of Mg interlayer at the CoFeB/MgO interface could prevent the Ta oxidation to some extent due to the oxygen deficit MgO_x (x < 1), and consequently lower the diffusion motivation of Ta from the bottom layer to the CoFeB/MgO interfaces to some extent during the annealing process. The prevention of Ta diffusion realizes the effective hybridization of Fe and O at the CoFeB/MgO interface and maintains interfacial magnetic anisotropy (K_C_o_F_e_B_/_M_g_O). As a result, the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at high annealing temperatures was maintained. - Highlights: • High annealing stability of perpendicular Ta/CoFeB/Mg/MgO multilayers was realized. • X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis has been performed to explore the reasons. • The prevention of Ta diffusion was realized by introducing Mg at the CoFeB/MgO interface. - Abstracts: To reveal the underlying mechanism of Mg influence on the enhanced post-annealing stability of perpendicular Ta/CoFeB/Mg/MgO multilayers, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis has been performed. It is found that a certain amount of Mg interlayer at the CoFeB/MgO interface could prevent the Ta oxidation, and consequently lower the diffusion motivation of Ta from the bottom layer to the CoFeB/MgO interfaces to some extent in the annealing process. The prevention of Ta diffusion realizes the effective hybridization of Fe and O at the CoFeB/MgO interface and maintains interfacial magnetic anisotropy (KCoFeB/MgO). As a result, the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at high annealing temperatures is maintained

  2. Reduction of Charge Traps and Stability Enhancement in Solution-Processed Organic Field-Effect Transistors Based on a Blended n-Type Semiconductor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campos, Antonio; Riera-Galindo, Sergi; Puigdollers, Joaquim; Mas-Torrent, Marta

    2018-05-09

    Solution-processed n-type organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are essential elements for developing large-area, low-cost, and all organic logic/complementary circuits. Nonetheless, the development of air-stable n-type organic semiconductors (OSCs) lags behind their p-type counterparts. The trapping of electrons at the semiconductor-dielectric interface leads to a lower performance and operational stability. Herein, we report printed small-molecule n-type OFETs based on a blend with a binder polymer, which enhances the device stability due to the improvement of the semiconductor-dielectric interface quality and a self-encapsulation. Both combined effects prevent the fast deterioration of the OSC. Additionally, a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-like inverter is fabricated depositing p-type and n-type OSCs simultaneously.

  3. Enhanced hydrothermal stability of Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst via surface modification in the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH{sub 3}

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Tao; Shi, Juan; Liu, Jian, E-mail: liujian@cup.edu.cn; Wang, Daxi; Zhao, Zhen, E-mail: zhenzhao@cup.edu.cn; Cheng, Kai; Li, Jianmei

    2016-07-01

    Highlights: • The hydrothermal stability of Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst was enhanced after surface modification. • An inert silica layer was deposited on the surface of Cu-ZSM-5 and formed a protective layer. • The contact between Si and Cu and Al atoms could form Si-O-Al and Si- O−Cu bonds. • The redox and acidity properties of Cu-ZSM-5-CLD-Aged catalyst were largely retained. • The adsorption and activation of NO and NH{sub 3} was almost unchanged over Cu-ZSM-5-CLD catalyst before and after hydrothermal treatment. - Abstract: The surface of Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst was modified by chemical liquid deposition (CLD) of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) for enhancing its hydrothermal stability in the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH{sub 3}. After hydrothermal aging at 750 °C for 13 h, the catalytic performance of Cu-ZSM-5-Aged catalyst was significantly reduced for NO reduction in the entire temperature range, while that of Cu-ZSM-5-CLD-Aged catalyst was affected very little. The characterization results indicated that an inert silica layer was deposited on the surface of Cu-ZSM-5 and formed a protective layer, which prevents the detachment of Cu{sup 2+} from ZSM-5 ion-exchange positions and the dealumination of zeolite during the hydrothermal aging process. Based on the data it is hypothesized to be the primary reason for the high hydrothermal stability of Cu-ZSM-5-CLD catalyst.

  4. Stability enhancement of cytochrome c through heme deprotonation and mutations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sonoyama, Takafumi; Hasegawa, Jun; Uchiyama, Susumu; Nakamura, Shota; Kobayashi, Yuji; Sambongi, Yoshihiro

    2009-01-01

    The chemical denaturation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cytochrome c(551) variants was examined at pH 5.0 and 3.6. All variants were stabilized at both pHs compared with the wild-type. Remarkably, the variants carrying the F34Y and/or E43Y mutations were more stabilized than those having the F7A/V13M or V78I ones at pH 5.0 compared with at pH 3.6 by ~3.0-4.6 kJ/mol. Structural analyses predicted that the side chains of introduced Tyr-34 and Tyr-43 become hydrogen donors for the hydrogen bond formation with heme 17-propionate at pH 5.0, but less efficiently at pH 3.6, because the propionate is deprotonated at the higher pH. Our results provide an insight into a stabilization strategy for heme proteins involving variation of the heme electronic state and introduction of appropriate mutations.

  5. Noise enhanced stability effect in a metastable system with two different kinds of time delays and cross-correlated noises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jia Zhenglin; Mei Dongcheng

    2011-01-01

    We numerically investigate the influences of the time delay τ simultaneously existing in both the deterministic and fluctuating forces, the time delay τ r existing only in the fluctuating force and the cross-correlation strength λ on the enhancement of the mean first-passage time (MFPT) as a function of the additive D and the multiplicative α noise intensities in a metastable system. The results indicate that both the multiplicative and additive noises can induce the noise-enhanced stability (NES) effect. An increase of λ can enhance or weaken the NES effect induced by the additive noise, depending on the value of τ. However, it weakens the NES effect induced by the multiplicative noise with a suppression of the effect of λ caused by increasing τ. The τ-induced critical behavior on both NES effects can be observed, i.e. an increase of τ can enhance or restrain the NES effects induced by the two kinds of noises. With an increase of λ and τ, MFPT versus D shows a transition from one peak to two peaks and finally one peak, implying the multiple NES effect caused by λ and τ. An increase of τ r can enhance the NES effect induced by the additive noise and weaken the NES effect induced by the multiplicative noise.

  6. Method for enhancing low frequency output of impulsive type seismic energy sources and its application to a seismic energy source for use while drilling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radtke, Robert P; Stokes, Robert H; Glowka, David A

    2014-12-02

    A method for operating an impulsive type seismic energy source in a firing sequence having at least two actuations for each seismic impulse to be generated by the source. The actuations have a time delay between them related to a selected energy frequency peak of the source output. One example of the method is used for generating seismic signals in a wellbore and includes discharging electric current through a spark gap disposed in the wellbore in at least one firing sequence. The sequence includes at least two actuations of the spark gap separated by an amount of time selected to cause acoustic energy resulting from the actuations to have peak amplitude at a selected frequency.

  7. Improved stability and enhanced efficiency to degrade chlorimuron-ethyl by the entrapment of esterase SulE in cross-linked poly (γ-glutamic acid)/gelatin hydrogel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Liqiang [State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Li, Xinyu; Li, Xu; Su, Zhencheng; Zhang, Chenggang; Xu, MingKai [State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang (China); Zhang, Huiwen, E-mail: hwzhang@iae.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang (China)

    2015-04-28

    Highlights: • Esterase SulE was entrapped in a three-dimensional network of CPE. • CPE-SulE obviously improved thermostability, pH stability and reusability. • CPE-SulE displayed obviously enhanced efficiency in degrading chlorimuron-ethyl. • The three-dimensional network and kinetic parameters of CPE-SulE were analysed. • CPE-SulE possesses the great potential to remediate chlorimuron-ethyl contaminated in situ. - Abstract: Free enzymes often undergo some problems such as easy deactivation, low stability, and less recycling in biodegradation processes, especially in soil condition. A novel esterase SulE, which is responsible for primary degradation of a wide range of sulfonylurea herbicides by methyl or ethyl ester de-esterification, was expressed by strain Hansschlegelia sp. CHL1 and entrapped for the first time in an environment-friendly, biocompatible and biodegradable cross-linked poly (γ-glutamic acid)/gelatin hydrogel (CPE). The activity and stability of CPE-SulE were compared with free SulE under varying pH and temperature condition by measuring chlorimuron-ethyl residue. Meanwhile, the three-dimensional network of CPE-SulE was verified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that CPE-SulE obviously improved thermostability, pH stability and reusability compared with free SulE. Furthermore, CPE-SulE enhanced degrading efficiency of chlorimuron-ethyl in both soil and water system, especially in acid environment. The characteristics of CPE-SulE suggested the great potential to remediate chlorimuron-ethyl contaminated soils in situ.

  8. Improved stability and enhanced efficiency to degrade chlorimuron-ethyl by the entrapment of esterase SulE in cross-linked poly (γ-glutamic acid)/gelatin hydrogel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Liqiang; Li, Xinyu; Li, Xu; Su, Zhencheng; Zhang, Chenggang; Xu, MingKai; Zhang, Huiwen

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Esterase SulE was entrapped in a three-dimensional network of CPE. • CPE-SulE obviously improved thermostability, pH stability and reusability. • CPE-SulE displayed obviously enhanced efficiency in degrading chlorimuron-ethyl. • The three-dimensional network and kinetic parameters of CPE-SulE were analysed. • CPE-SulE possesses the great potential to remediate chlorimuron-ethyl contaminated in situ. - Abstract: Free enzymes often undergo some problems such as easy deactivation, low stability, and less recycling in biodegradation processes, especially in soil condition. A novel esterase SulE, which is responsible for primary degradation of a wide range of sulfonylurea herbicides by methyl or ethyl ester de-esterification, was expressed by strain Hansschlegelia sp. CHL1 and entrapped for the first time in an environment-friendly, biocompatible and biodegradable cross-linked poly (γ-glutamic acid)/gelatin hydrogel (CPE). The activity and stability of CPE-SulE were compared with free SulE under varying pH and temperature condition by measuring chlorimuron-ethyl residue. Meanwhile, the three-dimensional network of CPE-SulE was verified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that CPE-SulE obviously improved thermostability, pH stability and reusability compared with free SulE. Furthermore, CPE-SulE enhanced degrading efficiency of chlorimuron-ethyl in both soil and water system, especially in acid environment. The characteristics of CPE-SulE suggested the great potential to remediate chlorimuron-ethyl contaminated soils in situ

  9. Carbon coated CoS_2 thermal battery electrode material with enhanced discharge performances and air stability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie, Song; Deng, Yafeng; Mei, Jun; Yang, Zhaotang; Lau, Woon-Ming; Liu, Hao

    2017-01-01

    Graphical abstract: A novel carbon coated CoS_2 composite is prepared and investigated as a cathode material for thermal batteries. - Highlights: • A novel C@CoS_2 composite is successfully prepared by hydrothermal method. • The growth of CoS_2 in the glucose solution results in a smaller grain size. • The coating of carbon favors electron transfer and buffers polysulfides formation. • The in situ coated carbon layer effectively prevents the oxidation of CoS_2. • The C@CoS_2 composite shows competitive thermal stability and discharge property. - Abstract: Cobalt disulfide (CoS_2) is a promising thermal battery electrode material for its superior thermal stability and discharge performance. However, the low natural resource and poor air stability restrict its application in thermal battery fabrication. In this work, carbon coated CoS_2 composite was prepared by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method with glucose as carbon source. During the growth of CoS_2, the glucose molecules were in situ adsorbed and carbonized on the surface of the as-synthesized CoS_2, and the resultant carbon coating provided improved electrical conductivity and discharge performances to the composite. The thermal battery cell, which was fabricated with such a composite cathode and with a Li-Si anode, can output a capacity of 235.8 mAh g"−"1 and an energy density of 416.9 Wh kg"−"1 at a cut-off voltage of 1.7 V. This carbon coated CoS_2 composite also presented enhanced air stability. After being stored in dry air for 3 months, the composite can still provide a capacity of 232.4 mAh g"−"1 to 1.7 V, whereas the capacity of bare CoS_2 stored with the same condition dropped from 202.4 mAh g"−"1 to 189.7 mAh g"−"1.

  10. Liquidity Constraints and Fiscal Stabilization Policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristoffersen, Mark Strøm

    It is often claimed that the presence of liquidity constrained households enhances the need for and the effects of fi…scal stabilization policies. This paper studies this in a model of a small open economy with liquidity constrained households. The results show that the consequences of liquidity...... constraints are more complex than previously thought: The optimal stabilization policy in case of productivity shocks is independent of the liquidity constraints, and the presence of liquidity constraints tends to reduce the need for an active policy stabilizing productivity shocks....

  11. Esterified dendritic TAM radicals with very high stability and enhanced oxygen sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yuguang; Liu, Yangping; Hemann, Craig; Villamena, Frederick A; Zweier, Jay L

    2013-02-15

    In this work, we have developed a new class of dendritic TAM radicals (TG, TdG, and dTdG) through a convergent method based on the TAM core CT-03 or its deuterated analogue dCT-03 and trifurcated Newkome-type monomer. Among these radicals, dTdG exhibits the best EPR properties with sharpest EPR singlet and highest O(2) sensitivity due to deuteration of both the ester linker groups and the TAM core CT-03. Like the previous dendritic TAM radicals, these new compounds also show extremely high stability toward various reactive species owing to the dendritic encapsulation. The highly charged nature of these molecules resulting from nine carboxylate groups prevents concentration-dependent EPR line broadening at physiological pH. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these TAM radicals can be easily derivatized (e.g., PEGylation) at the nine carboxylate groups and the resulting PEGylated analogue dTdG-PEG completely inhibits the albumin binding, thereby enhancing suitability for in vivo applications. These new dendritic TAM radicals show great potential for in vivo EPR oximetric applications and provide insights on approaches to develop improved and targeted EPR oximetric probes for biomedical applications.

  12. Silicon/Wolfram Carbide@Graphene composite: enhancing conductivity and structure stability in amorphous-silicon for high lithium storage performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Wei; Hu, Renzong; Liu, Hui; Zhang, Hanying; Liu, Jiangwen; Yang, Lichun; Wang, Haihui; Zhu, Min

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Two-step ball milling was used to produce an amorphous-Si/WC@Graphene(SW@G) composite. • Concrete-like core-shell structure with high stability was designed. • Multiscale WC particle strengthen the inside structure. • Graphene coating outside much enhanced the cycling stability and conductivity. • The SW@G anode exhibited long cycle life and superior volumetric capacity. - Abstract: Improving the electron conductivity and lithiated structure stability for Si anodes can result in high stable capacity in cells. A Silicon/Wolfram Carbide@Graphene (SW@G) composite anode is designed and produced by a simple two-step ball milling the mixture of coarse-grained Si with good conductive wolfram carbide (WC) and graphite. The SW@G composite consists of multiple-scale WC particles, which are uniformly distributed in amorphous Si matrices, and wrapped by graphene nanosheets (GNs) on the outside. Owing to the unique concrete-like core-shell structure, the wrapping of GNs on the Si improves the conductivity and structural stability of the composite. The inner WC particles which tightly connect the Si and graphene act as the cornerstone to resist large volumetric expansion of Si during charge/discharge, and in particular serve as the high-speed channels of electrons as well as provide more interface paths for Li + to accelerate their transfer inside the Si. These contribute to the excellent electrochemical properties of SW@G composite anode, including high volumetric capacity (three times higher than that of graphite), superior rate capability, and long-life stable cycleability. The synthetic method developed in this work paves the way for large-scale manufacturing of high performance Li storage anodes using commercially available materials and technologies.

  13. Multilayer SnSb4-SbSe Thin Films for Phase Change Materials Possessing Ultrafast Phase Change Speed and Enhanced Stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ruirui; Zhou, Xiao; Zhai, Jiwei; Song, Jun; Wu, Pengzhi; Lai, Tianshu; Song, Sannian; Song, Zhitang

    2017-08-16

    A multilayer thin film, comprising two different phase change material (PCM) components alternatively deposited, provides an effective means to tune and leverage good properties of its components, promising a new route toward high-performance PCMs. The present study systematically investigated the SnSb 4 -SbSe multilayer thin film as a potential PCM, combining experiments and first-principles calculations, and demonstrated that these multilayer thin films exhibit good electrical resistivity, robust thermal stability, and superior phase change speed. In particular, the potential operating temperature for 10 years is shown to be 122.0 °C and the phase change speed reaches 5 ns in the device test. The good thermal stability of the multilayer thin film is shown to come from the formation of the Sb 2 Se 3 phase, whereas the fast phase change speed can be attributed to the formation of vacancies and a SbSe metastable phase. It is also demonstrated that the SbSe metastable phase contributes to further enhancing the electrical resistivity of the crystalline state and the thermal stability of the amorphous state, being vital to determining the properties of the multilayer SnSb 4 -SbSe thin film.

  14. Synthesis of polymer-stabilized monometallic Cu and bimetallic Cu/Ag nanoparticles and their surface-enhanced Raman scattering properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Danhui; Liu, Xiaoheng

    2013-03-01

    The present study demonstrates a facile process for the production of spherical-shaped Cu and Ag nanoparticles synthesized and stabilized by hydrazine and gelatin, respectively. Advantages of the synthetic method include its production of water dispersible copper and copper/silver nanoparticles at room temperature under no inert atmosphere. The resulting nanoparticles (copper or copper/silver) are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The nanometallic dispersions were characterized by surface plasmon absorbance measuring at 420 and 572 nm for Ag and Cu nanoparticles, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy showed the formation of nanoparticles in the range of ˜10 nm (silver), and ˜30 nm (copper). The results also demonstrate that the reducing order of Cu2+/Ag+ is important for the formation of the bimetallic nanoparticles. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering effects of copper and copper/silver nanoparticles were also displayed. It was found that the enhancement ability of copper/silver nanoparticles was little higher than the copper nanoparticles.

  15. Enhanced Colloidal Stability of CeO2 Nanoparticles by Ferrous Ions: Adsorption, Redox Reaction, and Surface Precipitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xuyang; Ray, Jessica R; Neil, Chelsea W; Li, Qingyun; Jun, Young-Shin

    2015-05-05

    Due to the toxicity of cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles (NPs), a better understanding of the redox reaction-induced surface property changes of CeO2 NPs and their transport in natural and engineered aqueous systems is needed. This study investigates the impact of redox reactions with ferrous ions (Fe2+) on the colloidal stability of CeO2 NPs. We demonstrated that under anaerobic conditions, suspended CeO2 NPs in a 3 mM FeCl2 solution at pH 4.8 were much more stable against sedimentation than those in the absence of Fe2+. Redox reactions between CeO2 NPs and Fe2+ lead to the formation of 6-line ferrihydrite on the CeO2 surfaces, which enhanced the colloidal stability by increasing the zeta potential and hydrophilicity of CeO2 NPs. These redox reactions can affect the toxicity of CeO2 NPs by increasing cerium dissolution, and by creating new Fe(III) (hydr)oxide reactive surface layers. Thus, these findings have significant implications for elucidating the phase transformation and transport of redox reactive NPs in the environment.

  16. Relationship between plant diversity and spatial stability of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Theory predicts that greater biodiversity is expected to enhance stability of ecosystem. In field experiment, we created some diversity-level assemblages by removing functional groups across two grassland ecosystems and evaluated the responses of spatial stability of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) to varying ...

  17. Enhanced stability of bound pairs at nonzero lattice momenta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kornilovitch, Pavel

    2004-01-01

    A two-body problem on the square lattice is analyzed. The interaction potential consists of strong on-site repulsion and nearest-neighbor attraction. The exact pairing conditions are derived for s-, p-, and d-symmetric bound states. The pairing conditions are strong functions of the total pair momentum K. It is found that the stability of pairs increases with K. At weak attraction, the pairs do not form at the Γ point but stabilize at lattice momenta close to the Brillouin zone boundary. The phase boundaries in the momentum space, which separate stable and unstable pairs, are calculated. It is found that the pairs are formed easier along the (π,0) direction than along the (π,π) direction. This might lead to the appearance of 'hot pairing spots' on the K x and K y axes

  18. Interaction between Hydraulic Fracturing Process and Pre-existing Natural Fractures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meng, C.

    2010-01-01

    Hydraulic fracturing is employed as a stimulation treatment by the oil and gas industry to enhance the hydro-carbon recoveries. The rationale is that by creating fractures from the wellbore into the surrounding formations, the conductivity between the well and reservoir is significantly increased

  19. Aqueous solutions of acidic ionic liquids for enhanced stability of polyoxometalate-carbon supercapacitor electrodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Chenchen; Zhao, Enbo; Nitta, Naoki; Magasinski, Alexandre; Berdichevsky, Gene; Yushin, Gleb

    2016-09-01

    Nanocomposites based on polyoxometalates (POMs) nanoconfined in microporous carbons have been synthesized and used as electrodes for supercapacitors. The addition of the pseudocapacitance from highly reversible redox reaction of POMs to the electric double-layer capacitance of carbon lead to an increase in specific capacitance of ∼90% at 1 mV s-1. However, high solubility of POM in traditional aqueous electrolytes leads to rapid capacity fading. Here we demonstrate that the use of aqueous solutions of protic ionic liquids (P-IL) as electrolyte instead of aqueous sulfuric acid solutions offers an opportunity to significantly improve POM cycling stability. Virtually no degradation in capacitance was observed in POM-based positive electrode after 10,000 cycles in an asymmetric capacitor with P-IL aqueous electrolyte. As such, POM-based carbon composites may now present a viable solution for enhancing energy density of electrical double layer capacitors (EDLC) based on pure carbon electrodes.

  20. Tunable Enzymatic Activity and Enhanced Stability of Cellulase Immobilized in Biohybrid Nanogels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Huan; Rübsam, Kristin; Jakob, Felix; Schwaneberg, Ulrich; Pich, Andrij

    2016-11-14

    This paper reports a facile approach for encapsulation of enzymes in nanogels. Our approach is based on the use of reactive copolymers able to get conjugated with enzyme and build 3D colloidal networks or biohybrid nanogels. In a systematic study, we address the following question: how the chemical structure of nanogel network influences the biocatalytic activity of entrapped enzyme? The developed method allows precise control of the enzyme activity and improvement of enzyme resistance against harsh store conditions, chaotropic agents, and organic solvents. The nanogels were constructed via direct chemical cross-linking of water-soluble reactive copolymers poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone-co-N-methacryloxysuccinimide) with proteins such as enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and cellulase in water-in-oil emulsion. The water-soluble reactive copolymers with controlled amount of reactive succinimide groups and narrow dispersity were synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Poly(ethylene glycol) bis(3-aminopropyl) and branched polyethylenimine were utilized as model cross-linkers to optimize synthesis of nanogels with different architectures in the preliminary experiments. Biofluorescent nanogels with different loading amount of EGFP and varying cross-linking densities were obtained. We demonstrate that the biocatalytic activity of cellulase-conjugated nanogels (CNG) can be elegantly tuned by control of their cross-linking degrees. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra demonstrated that the secondary structures of the immobilized cellulase were changed in the aspect of α-helix contents. The secondary structures of cellulase in highly cross-linked nanogels were strongly altered compared with loosely cross-linked nanogels. The fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) based study further revealed that nanogels with lower cross-linking degree enable higher substrate transport rate, providing easier access to the active site of

  1. Assessment of the Available Drawdowns for Oil Storage Caverns at the West Hackberry SPR Site

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sobolik, Steven R. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Geotechnology and Engineering Dept.

    2016-03-01

    The Department of Energy, in response to requests from the U.S. Congress, wishes to maintain an up-to-date table documenting the number of available full drawdowns of each of the caverns owned by the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This information is important for assessing the SPR’s ability to deliver oil to domestic oil companies expeditiously if national or world events dictate a rapid sale and deployment of the oil reserves. What factors go into assessing available drawdowns? The evaluation of drawdown risks require the consideration of several factors regarding cavern and wellbore integrity and stability, including stress states caused by cavern geometry and operations, salt damage caused by dilatant and tensile stresses, the effect on enhanced creep on wellbore integrity, the sympathetic stress effect of operations on neighboring caverns. Based on the work over the past several months, a consensus has been built regarding the assessment of drawdown capabilities and risks for the SPR caverns. This paper draws upon the recently West Hackberry model upgrade and analyses to reevaluate and update the available drawdowns for each of those caverns. Similar papers for the Bryan Mound, Big Hill, and Bayou Choctaw papers will be developed as the upgrades to those analyses are completed. The rationale and documentation of the methodology is described in the remainder of this report, as are the updated estimates of available drawdowns for the West Hackberry caverns.

  2. Highly stabilized and photoluminescence enhancement of ZnS:Mn2+ nanoparticles in biotin matrix

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keshari, Ashish K.; Pandey, Avinash C.

    2009-01-01

    We synthesized the ZnS:Mn 2+ nanoparticles passivated by biocompatible layer, namely, biotin by chemical precipitation route and studied their temporal evolution for size, structure, optical, and photoluminescence stability. To monitor the structural and optoelectronic properties of the nanoparticles with time, we have characterized the grown product by x-ray diffraction, small angle x-ray scattering, UV visible, and photoluminescence spectroscopic techniques at a regular interval for a period of three months. Results showed that the properties of nanophosphors capped with biotin are remaining the same even after 3 months. Energy dispersive x-ray analysis of 3 month aged sample shows long time compatibility between ZnS:Mn 2+ nanoparticles and the biotin. This is also confirmed by electron microscopy that the growth of the nanoparticles is strongly arrested by the biotin. X-ray photoelectron spectra were also recorded to show the chemical state of the elements. Enhanced ratio of Zn 2p to Mn 2p peaks in the x-ray photoelectron spectra of ZnS:Mn 2+ nanoparticles shows that the Mn 2+ ions are incorporated within ZnS host matrix. We found that biotin capping will enhance the luminescence from ZnS:Mn 2+ nanoparticles as compared to without capped particles. Absence of biotin will gradually degrade the luminescence upon aging while drastic degradation in luminescence intensity was observed after annealing. Properties show that biotin also protected the nanoparticles from any environmental attack

  3. ENHANCING FOOD SAFETY AND STABILITY THROUGH IRRADIATION: A REVIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manzoor Ahmad Shah

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Food irradiation is one of the non thermal food processing methods. It is the process of exposing food materials to the controlled amounts of ionizing radiations such as gamma rays, X-rays and accelerated electrons, to improve microbiological safety and stability. Irradiation disrupts the biological processes that lead to decay of food quality. It is an effective tool to reduce food-borne pathogens, spoilage microorganisms and parasites; to extend shelf-life and for insect disinfection. The safety and consumption of irradiated foods have been extensively studied at national levels and in international cooperations and have concluded that foods irradiated under appropriate technologies are both safe and nutritionally adequate. Specific applications of food irradiation have been approved by national legislations of more than 55 countries worldwide. This review aims to discuss the applications of irradiation in food processing with the emphasis on food safety and stability.

  4. Elastic-modulus enhancement during room-temperature aging and its suppression in metastable Ti–Nb-Based alloys with low body-centered cubic phase stability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tane, M.; Hagihara, K.; Ueda, M.; Nakano, T.; Okuda, Y.

    2016-01-01

    Changes in the elastic properties during room-temperature aging (RT aging) of metastable Ti–Nb-based alloy single crystals with low body-centered cubic (bcc)-phase stability were investigated. The elastic stiffness components of Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr alloys with different Nb concentrations were measured by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy during RT aging; the results revealed that shear moduli c ′ and c 44 were increased by RT aging. In the alloy with the lowest Nb concentration, i.e., with the lowest bcc phase stability, shear moduli c ′ and c 44 were enhanced by the largest amount. The increase rates were ∼5% for 1.1 × 10 7  s (127 days), whereas the bulk modulus was hardly changed by aging. In Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr–O alloys with different oxygen concentrations, shear moduli c ′ and c 44 of the alloy with the lowest oxygen concentration increased most significantly. Moreover, the electrical resistivity of Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr and Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr–O alloys was increased by RT aging. Importantly, the enhancements of shear moduli and electrical resistivity were suppressed by increases in the bcc-phase stability (i.e., increase in the Nb concentration) and oxygen concentration; these factors are known to suppress ω (hexagonal) phase formation. However, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations revealed that only a diffuse ω structure—an ω-like lattice distortion—was formed after RT aging. On the basis of alloying element effects, TEM observations, and analysis of the changes in elastic properties by using a micromechanics model, it was deduced that the enhancements of shear moduli and electrical resistivity were possibly caused by the formation of a diffuse ω structure.

  5. Stability enhancement of cytochrome c through heme deprotonation and mutations

    OpenAIRE

    Sonoyama, Takafumi; Hasegawa, Jun; Uchiyama, Susumu; Nakamura, Shota; Kobayashi, Yuji; Sambongi, Yoshihiro

    2009-01-01

    The chemical denaturation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cytochrome c551 variants was examined at pH 5.0 and 3.6. All variants were stabilized at both pHs compared with the wild-type. Remarkably, the variants carrying the F34Y and/or E43Y mutations were more stabilized than those having the F7A/V13M or V78I ones at pH 5.0 compared with at pH 3.6 by ~3.0 – 4.6 kJ/mol. Structural analyses predicted that the side chains of introduced Tyr-34 and Tyr-43 become hydrogen donors for the hydrogen bond form...

  6. The Development and Test of a Sensor for Measurement of the Working Level of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Coalbed Methane Wellbore Annulus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Chuan; Ding, Huafeng; Han, Lei

    2018-02-14

    Coalbed methane (CBM) is one kind of clean-burning gas and has been valued as a new form of energy that will be used widely in the near future. When producing CBM, the working level within a CBM wellbore annulus needs to be monitored to dynamically adjust the gas drainage and extraction processes. However, the existing method of measuring the working level does not meet the needs of accurate adjustment, so we designed a new sensor for this purpose. The principle of our sensor is a liquid pressure formula, i.e., the sensor monitors the two-phase flow patterns and obtains the mean density of the two-phase flow according to the pattern recognition result in the first step, and then combines the pressure data of the working level to calculate the working level using the liquid pressure formula. The sensor was tested in both the lab and on site, and the tests showed that the sensor's error was ±8% and that the sensor could function well in practical conditions and remain stable in the long term.

  7. The Development and Test of a Sensor for Measurement of the Working Level of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Coalbed Methane Wellbore Annulus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuan Wu

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Coalbed methane (CBM is one kind of clean-burning gas and has been valued as a new form of energy that will be used widely in the near future. When producing CBM, the working level within a CBM wellbore annulus needs to be monitored to dynamically adjust the gas drainage and extraction processes. However, the existing method of measuring the working level does not meet the needs of accurate adjustment, so we designed a new sensor for this purpose. The principle of our sensor is a liquid pressure formula, i.e., the sensor monitors the two-phase flow patterns and obtains the mean density of the two-phase flow according to the pattern recognition result in the first step, and then combines the pressure data of the working level to calculate the working level using the liquid pressure formula. The sensor was tested in both the lab and on site, and the tests showed that the sensor’s error was ±8% and that the sensor could function well in practical conditions and remain stable in the long term.

  8. The Development and Test of a Sensor for Measurement of the Working Level of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Coalbed Methane Wellbore Annulus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Chuan; Ding, Huafeng; Han, Lei

    2018-01-01

    Coalbed methane (CBM) is one kind of clean-burning gas and has been valued as a new form of energy that will be used widely in the near future. When producing CBM, the working level within a CBM wellbore annulus needs to be monitored to dynamically adjust the gas drainage and extraction processes. However, the existing method of measuring the working level does not meet the needs of accurate adjustment, so we designed a new sensor for this purpose. The principle of our sensor is a liquid pressure formula, i.e., the sensor monitors the two-phase flow patterns and obtains the mean density of the two-phase flow according to the pattern recognition result in the first step, and then combines the pressure data of the working level to calculate the working level using the liquid pressure formula. The sensor was tested in both the lab and on site, and the tests showed that the sensor’s error was ±8% and that the sensor could function well in practical conditions and remain stable in the long term. PMID:29443871

  9. Effects of linear and nonlinear time-delayed feedback on the noise-enhanced stability phenomenon in a periodically driven bistable system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jia, Zheng-Lin; Mei, Dong-Cheng

    2011-01-01

    We investigate numerically the effects of time delay on the phenomenon of noise-enhanced stability (NES) in a periodically modulated bistable system. Three types of time-delayed feedback, including linear delayed feedback, nonlinear delayed feedback and global delayed feedback, are considered. We find a non-monotonic behaviour of the mean first-passage time (MFPT) as a function of the delay time τ, with a maximum in the case of linear delayed feedback and with a minimum in the case of nonlinear delayed feedback. There are two peculiar values of τ around which the NES phenomenon is enhanced or weakened. For the case of global delayed feedback, the increase of τ always weakens the NES phenomenon. Moreover, we also show that the amplitude A and the frequency Ω of the periodic forcing play an opposite role in the NES phenomenon, i.e. the increase of A weakens the NES effect while the increase of Ω enhances it. These observations demonstrate that the time-delayed feedback can be used as a feasible control scheme for the NES phenomenon

  10. Nanoparticle Stabilized Foam in Carbonate and Sandstone Reservoirs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Roebroeks, J.; Eftekhari, A.A.; Farajzadeh, R.; Vincent-Bonnieu, S.

    2015-01-01

    Foam flooding as a mechanism to enhance oil recovery has been intensively studied and is the subject of multiple research groups. However, limited stability of surfactant-generated foam in presence of oil and low chemical stability of surfactants in the high temperature and high salinity of an oil

  11. The effect of nanoparticle aggregation on surfactant foam stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    AlYousef, Zuhair A; Almobarky, Mohammed A; Schechter, David S

    2018-02-01

    The combination of nanoparticles (NPs) and surfactant may offer a novel technique of generating stronger foams for gas mobility control. This study evaluates the potential of silica NPs to enhance the foam stability of three nonionic surfactants. Results showed that the concentration of surfactant and NPs is a crucial parameter for foam stability and that there is certain concentrations for strong foam generation. A balance in concentration between the nonionic surfactants and the NPs can enhance the foam stability as a result of forming flocs in solutions. At fixed surfactant concentration, the addition of NPs at low to intermediate concentrations can produce a more stable foam compared to the surfactant. The production of small population of flocs as a result of mixing the surfactant and NPs can enhance the foam stability by providing a barrier between the gas bubbles and delaying the coalescence of bubbles. Moreover, these flocs can increase the solution viscosity and, therefore, slow the drainage rate of thin aqueous film (lamellae). The measurements of foam half-life, bubble size, and mobility tests confirmed this conclusion. However, the addition of more solid particles or surfactant might have a negative impact on foam stability and reduce the maximum capillary pressure of coalescence as a result of forming extensive aggregates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Enhancement of temozolomide stability by loading in chitosan-carboxylated polylactide-based nanoparticles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Di Martino, Antonio; Kucharczyk, Pavel; Capakova, Zdenka; Humpolicek, Petr; Sedlarik, Vladimir, E-mail: sedlarik@ft.utb.cz [Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Centre of Polymer Systems, University Institute (Czech Republic)

    2017-02-15

    In the presented work, amphiphilic nanoparticles based on chitosan and carboxy-enriched polylactic acid have been prepared to improve the stability of the pro-drug temozolomide in physiological media by encapsulation. The carrier, with a diameter in the range of 150–180 nm, was able to accommodate up to 800 μg of temozolomide per mg of polymer. The obtained formulation showed good stability in physiological condition and preparation media up to 1 month. Temozolomide loaded inside the carrier exhibited greater stability than the free drug, in particular in simulated physiological solution at pH 7.4 where the hydrolysis in the inactive metabolite was clearly delayed. CS-SPLA nanoparticles demonstrated a pH-dependent TMZ release kinetics with the opportunity to increase or decrease the rate. Mass spectroscopy, UV-Vis analysis, and in vitro cell tests confirmed the improvement in temozolomide stability and effectiveness when loaded into the polymeric carrier, in comparison with the free drug.

  13. Enhancement of stability of L-tryptophan dehydrogenase from Nostoc punctiforme ATCC29133 and its application to L-tryptophan assay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsui, Daisuke; Okazaki, Seiji; Matsuda, Motoki; Asano, Yasuhisa

    2015-02-20

    Microbial NAD(+)-dependent L-tryptophan dehydrogenase (TrpDH, EC1.4.1.19), which catalyzes the reversible oxidative deamination and the reductive amination between L-tryptophan and indole-3-pyruvic acid, was found in the scytonemin biosynthetic pathway of Nostoc punctiforme ATCC29133. The TrpDH exhibited high specificity toward L-tryptophan, but its instability was a drawback for L-tryptophan determination. The mutant enzyme TrpDH L59F/D168G/A234D/I296N with thermal stability was obtained by screening of Escherichia coli transformants harboring various mutant genes, which were generated by error-prone PCR using complementation in an L-tryptophan auxotroph of E. coli. The specific activity and stability of this mutant enzyme were higher than those of the wild type enzyme. We also revealed here that in these four mutation points, the two amino acid residues Asp168 and Ile296 contributed to increase the enzyme stability, and the Leu59, Ala234 residues to increase its specific activity. Growth of the strain harboring the gene of above 4 point mutated enzyme was accelerated by the enhanced performance. In the present study, we demonstrated that TrpDH L59F/D168G/A234D/I296N was available for determination of L-tryptophan in human plasma. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Topical Niosome Gel of Zingiber cassumunar Roxb. Extract for Anti-inflammatory Activity Enhanced Skin Permeation and Stability of Compound D.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Priprem, Aroonsri; Janpim, Khwanhatai; Nualkaew, Somsak; Mahakunakorn, Pramote

    2016-06-01

    An extract of Zingiber cassumunar Roxb. (ZC) was encapsulated in niosomes of which a topical gel was formed. (E)-4-(3',4'-dimethoxyphenyl)but-3-en-1-ol or compound D detected by a gradient HPLC was employed as the marker and its degradation determined to follow zero-order kinetics. Niosomes significantly retarded thermal-accelerated decomposition of compound D in the gel (p D. Niosomes enhanced in vitro permeation rate of compound D from the gel. Topical applications of ZC noisome gel gave a faster change in tail flick latency than piroxicam gel and hydrocortisone cream (p anti-inflammatory activity up to 6 h using croton oil-induced ear edema model in mice (p > 0.05). Thus, encapsulation of ZC extract in niosomes enhanced chemical stability and skin permeation with comparable topical anti-inflammatory effects to steroid and NSAID.

  15. Enhanced cycling stability of NiCo2S4@NiO core-shell nanowire arrays for all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yuanyuan; Shi, Tielin; Jiang, Shulan; Cheng, Siyi; Tao, Xiangxu; Zhong, Yan; Liao, Guanglan; Tang, Zirong

    2016-12-01

    As a new class of pseudocapacitive material, metal sulfides possess high electrochemical performance. However, their cycling performance as conventional electrodes is rather poor for practical applications. In this article, we report an original composite electrode based on NiCo2S4@NiO core-shell nanowire arrays (NWAs) with enhanced cycling stability. This three-dimensional electrode also has a high specific capacitance of 12.2 F cm-2 at the current density of 1 mA cm-2 and excellent cycling stability (about 89% retention after 10,000 cycles). Moreover, an all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) device has been assembled with NiCo2S4@NiO NWAs as the positive electrode and active carbon (AC) as the negative electrode, delivering a high energy density of 30.38 W h kg-1 at 0.288 KW kg-1 and good cycling stability (about 109% retention after 5000 cycles). The results show that NiCo2S4@NiO NWAs are promising for high-performance supercapacitors with stable cycling based on the unique core-shell structure and well-designed combinations.

  16. Thulium oxide fuel characterization study: Part 2, Environmental behavior and mechanical, thermal and chemical stability enhancement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, C.A.

    1970-12-01

    A study was performed of the correlation between fuel form stability and exposure environment of (temperature and atmosphere). 100% Tm 2 O 3 , 80% Tm 2 O 3 /20% Yb 2 O 3 and 100% Yb 2 O 3 wafers were subjected to air, dynamic vacuum and static vacuum at temperatures to 2000 0 C for times to 100 hours. Results showed the Tm 2 O 3 /Yb 2 O 3 cubic structure to be unaffected by elemental levels of iron, aluminum, magnesium and silicon and unaffected by the environmental conditions imposed on the wafers. A second task emphasized the optimization of the thermal, mechanical and chemical stability of Tm 2 O 3 fuel forms. Enhancement was sought through process variable optimization and the addition of metal oxides to Tm 2 O 3 . CaO, TiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 were added to form a grain boundary precipitate to control fines generation. The presence of 1% additive was inadequate to depress the melting point of Tm 2 O 3 or to change the cubic crystalline structure of Tm 2 O 3 /Yb 2 O 3 . Tm 2 O 3 /Yb 2 O 3 wafers containing CaO developed a grain boundary phase that improved the resistance to fines generation. The presence of Yb 2 O 3 did not appear to measurably influence behavior

  17. Highly Ordered Periodic Au/TiO₂ Hetero-Nanostructures for Plasmon-Induced Enhancement of the Activity and Stability for Ethanol Electro-oxidation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Zhao; Wang, Qiyu; Zheng, Weitao; Cui, Xiaoqiang

    2016-03-02

    The catalytic electro-oxidation of ethanol is the essential technique for direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) in the area of alternative energy for the ability of converting the chemical energy of alcohol into the electric energy directly. Developing highly efficient and stable electrode materials with antipoisoning ability for ethanol electro-oxidation remains a challenge. A highly ordered periodic Au-nanoparticle (NP)-decorated bilayer TiO2 nanotube (BTNT) heteronanostructure was fabricated by a two-step anodic oxidation of Ti foil and the subsequent photoreduction of HAuCl4. The plasmon-induced charge separation on the heterointerface of Au/TiO2 electrode enhances the electrocatalytic activity and stability for the ethanol oxidation under visible light irradiation. The highly ordered periodic heterostructure on the electrode surface enhanced the light harvesting and led to the greater performance of ethanol electro-oxidation under irradiation compared with the ordinary Au NPs-decorated monolayer TiO2 nanotube (MTNT). This novel Au/TiO2 electrode also performed a self-cleaning property under visible light attributed to the enhanced electro-oxidation of the adsorbed intermediates. This light-driven enhancement of the electrochemical performances provides a development strategy for the design and construction of DAFCs.

  18. Enhancement of stability for lithium oxygen batteries by employing electrolytes gelled by poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) and tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Jinqiang; Sun, Bing; Xie, Xiuqiang; Kretschmer, Katja; Wang, Guoxiu

    2015-01-01

    Free-standing gel polymer electrolytes with poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) matrix plasticized with tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) were prepared and investigated. The as-prepared gel polymer electrolytes exhibited large operating window and acceptable ionic conductivity. When applied in lithium oxygen batteries, the gel polymer electrolyte could support a high initial discharge capacity of 2988 mAh g −1 when a carbon black electrode without catalyst was used as cathode. Furthermore, the battery with gel polymer electrolyte can last at least 50 cycles in the fixed capacity cycling, displaying an excellent stability. Detailed study reveals that the gelling process is essential for the cycling stability enhancement. With excellent electrochemical properties, the free-standing gel polymer electrolyte presented in this investigation has great application potentials in long-life lithium oxygen batteries.

  19. Highly Enhanced Electromechanical Stability of Large-Area Graphene with Increased Interfacial Adhesion Energy by Electrothermal-Direct Transfer for Transparent Electrodes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jangheon; Kim, Gi Gyu; Kim, Soohyun; Jung, Wonsuk

    2016-09-07

    Graphene, a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms in a hexagonal lattice structure, has been extensively investigated for research and industrial applications as a promising material with outstanding electrical, mechanical, and chemical properties. To fabricate graphene-based devices, graphene transfer to the target substrate with a clean and minimally defective surface is the first step. However, graphene transfer technologies require improvement in terms of uniform transfer with a clean, nonfolded and nontorn area, amount of defects, and electromechanical reliability of the transferred graphene. More specifically, uniform transfer of a large area is a key challenge when graphene is repetitively transferred onto pretransferred layers because the adhesion energy between graphene layers is too low to ensure uniform transfer, although uniform multilayers of graphene have exhibited enhanced electrical and optical properties. In this work, we developed a newly suggested electrothermal-direct (ETD) transfer method for large-area high quality monolayer graphene with less defects and an absence of folding or tearing of the area at the surface. This method delivers uniform multilayer transfer of graphene by repetitive monolayer transfer steps based on high adhesion energy between graphene layers and the target substrate. To investigate the highly enhanced electromechanical stability, we conducted mechanical elastic bending experiments and reliability tests in a highly humid environment. This ETD-transferred graphene is expected to replace commercial transparent electrodes with ETD graphene-based transparent electrodes and devices such as a touch panels with outstanding electromechanical stability.

  20. SG2NA enhances cancer cell survival by stabilizing DJ-1 and thus activating Akt

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tanti, Goutam Kumar, E-mail: goutamjnu@hotmail.com; Pandey, Shweta; Goswami, Shyamal K.

    2015-08-07

    SG2NA in association with striatin and zinedin forms a striatin family of WD-40 repeat proteins. This family of proteins functions as scaffold in different signal transduction pathways. They also act as a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 2A. We have shown that SG2NA which evolved first in the metazoan evolution among the striatin family members expresses different isoforms generated out of alternative splicing. We have also shown that SG2NA protects cells from oxidative stress by recruiting DJ-1 and Akt to mitochondria and membrane in the post-mitotic neuronal cells. DJ-1 is both cancer and Parkinson's disease related protein. In the present study we have shown that SG2NA protects DJ-1 from proteasomal degradation in cancer cells. Hence, downregulation of SG2NA reduces DJ-1/Akt colocalization in cancer cells resulting in the reduction of anchorage dependent and independent growth. Thus SG2NA enhances cancer cell survival. Reactive oxygen species enhances SG2NA, DJ-1 and Akt trimerization. Removal of the reactive oxygen species by N-acetyl-cysteine thus reduces cancer cell growth. - Highlights: • Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play potential role in cancer cell proliferation. • It enhances the association between DJ-1 and Akt mediated by SG2NA. • In cancer cells SG2NA stabilizes DJ-1 by inhibiting it from proteosomal degradation. • DJ-1 then activates Akt and cancer cells get their property of enhanced proliferation by sustained activation of Akt. • Further study on this field could lead to new target for cancer therapy.

  1. SG2NA enhances cancer cell survival by stabilizing DJ-1 and thus activating Akt

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanti, Goutam Kumar; Pandey, Shweta; Goswami, Shyamal K.

    2015-01-01

    SG2NA in association with striatin and zinedin forms a striatin family of WD-40 repeat proteins. This family of proteins functions as scaffold in different signal transduction pathways. They also act as a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 2A. We have shown that SG2NA which evolved first in the metazoan evolution among the striatin family members expresses different isoforms generated out of alternative splicing. We have also shown that SG2NA protects cells from oxidative stress by recruiting DJ-1 and Akt to mitochondria and membrane in the post-mitotic neuronal cells. DJ-1 is both cancer and Parkinson's disease related protein. In the present study we have shown that SG2NA protects DJ-1 from proteasomal degradation in cancer cells. Hence, downregulation of SG2NA reduces DJ-1/Akt colocalization in cancer cells resulting in the reduction of anchorage dependent and independent growth. Thus SG2NA enhances cancer cell survival. Reactive oxygen species enhances SG2NA, DJ-1 and Akt trimerization. Removal of the reactive oxygen species by N-acetyl-cysteine thus reduces cancer cell growth. - Highlights: • Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play potential role in cancer cell proliferation. • It enhances the association between DJ-1 and Akt mediated by SG2NA. • In cancer cells SG2NA stabilizes DJ-1 by inhibiting it from proteosomal degradation. • DJ-1 then activates Akt and cancer cells get their property of enhanced proliferation by sustained activation of Akt. • Further study on this field could lead to new target for cancer therapy

  2. Stability Enhancement of Multi machine AC Systems by Synchronverter HVDC control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raouia Aouini

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the impact of the Synchronverter based HVDC control on power system stability. The study considers multi machine power systems, with realistic parameters. A specific tuning method of the parameters of the regulators is used. The proposed control scheme is based on the sensitivity of the poles of the HVDC neighbor zone to the control parameters, and next, on their placement using residues. The transient stability of the HVDC neighbor zone is a priori taken into account at the design stage. The new tuning method is evaluated in comparison with the standard vector control via simulation tests. Extensive tests are performed using Matlab/Simulink implementation of the IEEE 9 bus/3 machines test system. The results prove the superiority of the proposed control to the classic vector control. The synchronverter control allows to improve not only the local performances of the HVDC link, but also the overall transient stability of the AC zone in which the HVDC is inserted. (where

  3. Enhanced photoelectrochemical efficiency and stability using a conformal TiO2 film on a black silicon photoanode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yanhao; Zhang, Zheng; Yin, Xin; Kvit, Alexander; Liao, Qingliang; Kang, Zhuo; Yan, Xiaoqin; Zhang, Yue; Wang, Xudong

    2017-06-01

    Black silicon (b-Si) is a surface-nanostructured Si with extremely efficient light absorption capability and is therefore of interest for solar energy conversion. However, intense charge recombination and low electrochemical stability limit the use of b-Si in photoelectrochemical solar-fuel production. Here we report that a conformal, ultrathin, amorphous TiO2 film deposited by low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) on top of b-Si can simultaneously address both of these issues. Combined with a Co(OH)2 thin film as the oxygen evolution catalyst, this b-Si/TiO2/Co(OH)2 heterostructured photoanode was able to produce a saturated photocurrent density of 32.3 mA cm-2 at an external potential of 1.48 V versus reversible reference electrode (RHE) in 1 M NaOH electrolyte. The enhanced photocurrent relative to planar Si and unprotected b-Si photoelectrodes was attributed to the enhanced charge separation efficiency as a result of the effective passivation of defective sites on the b-Si surface. The 8-nm ALD TiO2 layer extends the operational lifetime of b-Si from less than half an hour to four hours.

  4. Enhancement of the chemical stability in confined δ-Bi2O3

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sanna, Simone; Esposito, Vincenzo; Andreasen, Jens Wenzel

    2015-01-01

    Bismuth-oxide-based materials are the building blocks for modern ferroelectrics1, multiferroics2, gas sensors3, light photocatalysts4 and fuel cells5,6. Although the cubic fluorite δ-phase of bismuth oxide (δ-Bi2O3) exhibits the highest conductivity of known solid-state oxygen ion conductors5, its...... instability prevents use at low temperature7–10. Here we demonstrate the possibility of stabilizing δ-Bi2O3 using highly coherent interfaces of alternating layers of Er2O3-stabilized δ-Bi2O3 and Gd2O3-doped CeO2. Remarkably, an exceptionally high chemical stability in reducing conditions and redox cycles...

  5. Silicon hollow sphere anode with enhanced cycling stability by a template-free method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Song; Chen, Zhuo; Luo, Yunjun; Xia, Min; Cao, Chuanbao

    2017-04-01

    Silicon is a promising alternative anode material since it has a ten times higher theoretical specific capacity than that of a traditional graphite anode. However, the poor cycling stability due to the huge volume change of Si during charge/discharge processes has seriously hampered its widespread application. To address this challenge, we design a silicon hollow sphere nanostructure by selective etching and a subsequent magnesiothermic reduction. The Si hollow spheres exhibit enhanced electrochemical properties compared to the commercial Si nanoparticles. The initial discharge and charge capacities of the Si hollow sphere anode are 2215.8 mAh g-1 and 1615.1 mAh g-1 with a high initial coulombic efficiency (72%) at a current density of 200 mA g-1, respectively. In particular, the reversible capacity is 1534.5 mAh g-1 with a remarkable 88% capacity retention against the second cycle after 100 cycles, over four times the theoretical capacity of the traditional graphite electrode. Therefore, our work demonstrates the considerable potential of silicon structures for displacing commercial graphite, and might open up new opportunities to rationally design various nanostructured materials for lithium ion batteries.

  6. Fluoride enhances transfection activity of carbonate apatite by increasing cytoplasmic stability of plasmid DNA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chowdhury, E.H., E-mail: md.ezharul.hoque@med.monash.edu.my [Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Sunway Campus, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan (Malaysia)

    2011-06-17

    Highlights: {yields} Cytoplasmic stability of plasmid DNA is enhanced by fluoride incorporation into carbonate apatite carrier. {yields} Fluoridated carbonate apatite promotes a robust increase in transgene expression. {yields} Controlled dissolution of fluoridated carbonate apatite in endosomal acidic environment might buffer the endosomes and prevent degradation of the released DNA. -- Abstract: Intracellular delivery of a functional gene or a nucleic acid sequence to specifically knockdown a harmful gene is a potential approach to precisely treat a critical human disease. The intensive efforts in the last few decades led to the development of a number of viral and non-viral synthetic vectors. However, an ideal delivery tool in terms of the safety and efficacy has yet to be established. Recently, we have developed pH-sensing inorganic nanocrystals of carbonate apatite for efficient and cell-targeted delivery of gene and gene-silencing RNA. Here we show that addition of very low level of fluoride to the particle-forming medium facilitates a robust increase in transgene expression following post-incubation of the particles with HeLa cells. Confocal microscopic observation and Southern blotting prove the cytoplasmic existence of plasmid DNA delivered by likely formed fluoridated carbonate apatite particles while degradation of plasmid DNA presumably by cytoplasmic nucleases was noticed following delivery with apatite particles alone. The beneficial role of fluoride in enhancing carbonate apatite-mediated gene expression might be due to the buffering potential of generated fluoridated apatite in endosomal acidic environment, thereby increasing the half-life of delivered plasmid DNA.

  7. Fluoride enhances transfection activity of carbonate apatite by increasing cytoplasmic stability of plasmid DNA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chowdhury, E.H.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Cytoplasmic stability of plasmid DNA is enhanced by fluoride incorporation into carbonate apatite carrier. → Fluoridated carbonate apatite promotes a robust increase in transgene expression. → Controlled dissolution of fluoridated carbonate apatite in endosomal acidic environment might buffer the endosomes and prevent degradation of the released DNA. -- Abstract: Intracellular delivery of a functional gene or a nucleic acid sequence to specifically knockdown a harmful gene is a potential approach to precisely treat a critical human disease. The intensive efforts in the last few decades led to the development of a number of viral and non-viral synthetic vectors. However, an ideal delivery tool in terms of the safety and efficacy has yet to be established. Recently, we have developed pH-sensing inorganic nanocrystals of carbonate apatite for efficient and cell-targeted delivery of gene and gene-silencing RNA. Here we show that addition of very low level of fluoride to the particle-forming medium facilitates a robust increase in transgene expression following post-incubation of the particles with HeLa cells. Confocal microscopic observation and Southern blotting prove the cytoplasmic existence of plasmid DNA delivered by likely formed fluoridated carbonate apatite particles while degradation of plasmid DNA presumably by cytoplasmic nucleases was noticed following delivery with apatite particles alone. The beneficial role of fluoride in enhancing carbonate apatite-mediated gene expression might be due to the buffering potential of generated fluoridated apatite in endosomal acidic environment, thereby increasing the half-life of delivered plasmid DNA.

  8. Stabilization of influenza vaccine enhances protection by microneedle delivery in the mouse skin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fu-Shi Quan

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Simple and effective vaccine administration is particularly important for annually recommended influenza vaccination. We hypothesized that vaccine delivery to the skin using a patch containing vaccine-coated microneedles could be an attractive approach to improve influenza vaccination compliance and efficacy.Solid microneedle arrays coated with inactivated influenza vaccine were prepared for simple vaccine delivery to the skin. However, the stability of the influenza vaccine, as measured by hemagglutination activity, was found to be significantly damaged during microneedle coating. The addition of trehalose to the microneedle coating formulation retained hemagglutination activity, indicating stabilization of the coated influenza vaccine. For both intramuscular and microneedle skin immunization, delivery of un-stabilized vaccine yielded weaker protective immune responses including viral neutralizing antibodies, protective efficacies, and recall immune responses to influenza virus. Immunization using un-stabilized vaccine also shifted the pattern of antibody isotypes compared to the stabilized vaccine. Importantly, a single microneedle-based vaccination using stabilized influenza vaccine was found to be superior to intramuscular immunization in controlling virus replication as well as in inducing rapid recall immune responses post challenge.The functional integrity of hemagglutinin is associated with inducing improved protective immunity against influenza. Simple microneedle influenza vaccination in the skin produced superior protection compared to conventional intramuscular immunization. This approach is likely to be applicable to other vaccines too.

  9. Preparation and Stability of Inorganic Solidified Foam for Preventing Coal Fires

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Botao Qin

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Inorganic solidified foam (ISF is a novel material for preventing coal fires. This paper presents the preparation process and working principle of main installations. Besides, aqueous foam with expansion ratio of 28 and 30 min drainage rate of 13% was prepared. Stability of foam fluid was studied in terms of stability coefficient, by varying water-slurry ratio, fly ash replacement ratio of cement, and aqueous foam volume alternatively. Light microscope was utilized to analyze the dynamic change of bubble wall of foam fluid and stability principle was proposed. In order to further enhance the stability of ISF, different dosage of calcium fluoroaluminate was added to ISF specimens whose stability coefficient was tested and change of hydration products was detected by scanning electron microscope (SEM. The outcomes indicated that calcium fluoroaluminate could enhance the stability coefficient of ISF and compact hydration products formed in cell wall of ISF; naturally, the stability principle of ISF was proved right. Based on above-mentioned experimental contents, ISF with stability coefficient of 95% and foam expansion ratio of 5 was prepared, which could sufficiently satisfy field process requirements on plugging air leakage and thermal insulation.

  10. Fullerene (C{sub 60})/CdS nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cai, Qiang [Key Laboratory of Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Hu, Zhuofeng, E-mail: st04hzhf@gmail.com [Department of Chemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong (China); Zhang, Qian; Li, Boyuan [Key Laboratory of Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Shen, Zhurui, E-mail: shenzhurui@tju.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)

    2017-05-01

    Highlights: • C{sub 60}/CdS nanocomposite has been fabricated as a novel visible-light-driven photocatalyst. • It exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity and photostability than that of pure CdS reference. • The C{sub 60} improved the charge separation and transfer of nanocomposite due to its high electron affinity. - Abstract: Herein, the fullerene (C{sub 60})/CdS nanocomposite has been fabricated by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. Its photocatatlytic hydrogen (H{sub 2}) evolution rate and degradation efficiency of Rhodamine B (Rh B) are evaluated under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm). The content of C{sub 60} has been changed from 0.4 wt% to 8 wt%, and the optimal value for photocatalytic activity is determined to be 0.4 wt%. The H{sub 2} evolution rate over this optimal sample reaches 1.73 mmol h{sup −1} g{sup −1} and its apparent degradation rate of Rh B is 0.089 min{sup −1} (degradation efficiency of 97% within 40 min), which is 2.3 times and 1.5 times compared to that of pure CdS reference. Moreover, the photocorrosion of CdS in composite is effectively suppressed, and its photocatalytic activity can be well maintained after three recycles (97.8% retaining for composite vs. 84.4% retaining for CdS). Then, the enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability of C{sub 60}/CdS nanocomposite are further studied by spectroscopic and electrochemical methods. Results show that the C{sub 60} species covering on the surface of CdS can efficiently accelerate the separation and transfer of photoexcited charge carriers, which can improve its activity, and reduce the photocorrosion of CdS.

  11. Experimental Evidence that Hemlock Mortality Enhances Carbon Stabilization in Southern Appalachian Forest Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraterrigo, J.; Ream, K.; Knoepp, J.

    2017-12-01

    Forest insects and pathogens (FIPs) can cause uncertain changes in forest carbon balance, potentially influencing global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. We quantified the effects of hemlock (Tsuga canadensis L. Carr.) mortality on soil carbon fluxes and pools for a decade following either girdling or natural infestation by hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae) to improve mechanistic understanding of soil carbon cycling response to FIPs. Although soil respiration (Rsoil) was similar among reference plots and plots with hemlock mortality, both girdled and HWA-infested plots had greater activities of β-glucosidase, a cellulose-hydrolyzing extracellular enzyme, and decreased O-horizon mass and fine root biomass from 2005 to 2013. During this period, total mineral soil carbon accumulated at a higher rate in disturbed plots than in reference plots in both the surface (0-10 cm) and subsurface (10-30 cm); increases were predominantly in the mineral-associated fraction of the soil organic matter. In contrast, particulate organic matter carbon accrued slowly in surface soils and declined in the subsurface of girdled plots. δ13C values of this fraction demonstrate that particulate organic matter carbon in the surface soil has become more microbially processed over time, suggesting enhanced decomposition of organic matter in this pool. Together, these findings indicate that hemlock mortality and subsequent forest regrowth has led to enhanced soil carbon stabilization in southern Appalachian forests through the translocation of carbon from detritus and particulate soil organic matter pools to the mineral-associated organic matter pool. These findings have implications for ecosystem management and modeling, demonstrating that forests may tolerate moderate disturbance without diminishing soil carbon storage when there is a compensatory growth response by non-host trees.

  12. The Effects of Boundary Conditions and Friction on the Helical Buckling of Coiled Tubing in an Inclined Wellbore.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Yinchun; Ai, Zhijiu; Sun, Xu; Fu, Biwei

    2016-01-01

    Analytical buckling models are important for down-hole operations to ensure the structural integrity of the drill string. A literature survey shows that most published analytical buckling models do not address the effects of inclination angle, boundary conditions or friction. The objective of this paper is to study the effects of boundary conditions, friction and angular inclination on the helical buckling of coiled tubing in an inclined wellbore. In this paper, a new theoretical model is established to describe the buckling behavior of coiled tubing. The buckling equations are derived by applying the principles of virtual work and minimum potential energy. The proper solution for the post-buckling configuration is determined based on geometric and natural boundary conditions. The effects of angular inclination and boundary conditions on the helical buckling of coiled tubing are considered. Many significant conclusions are obtained from this study. When the dimensionless length of the coiled tubing is greater than 40, the effects of the boundary conditions can be ignored. The critical load required for helical buckling increases as the angle of inclination and the friction coefficient increase. The post-buckling behavior of coiled tubing in different configurations and for different axial loads is determined using the proposed analytical method. Practical examples are provided that illustrate the influence of the angular inclination on the axial force. The rate of change of the axial force decreases with increasing angular inclination. Moreover, the total axial friction also decreases with an increasing inclination angle. These results will help researchers to better understand helical buckling in coiled tubing. Using this knowledge, measures can be taken to prevent buckling in coiled tubing during down-hole operations.

  13. Control of waste well casing vent gas from a thermal enhanced oil recovery operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peavy, M.A.; Braun, J.E.

    1991-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of a waste gas treatment system designed to control emissions from thermally enhanced oil recovery wells. This case study discusses the need, design, installation and operations of the system. Oryx Energy Company (Oryx) operates approximately 940 wells in the Midway-Sunset (MWSS) field under casing vapor recovery systems. The emissions collected from well casing vent gas cotaining hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide that are collected and processed through casing vapor recovery skids. These skids are composed of condensers, compressors, and pumps that separate fluids from the waste gas stream. The non-condensible gas is then disposed of in incinerators that reduce the hydrocarbon and sulfur emissions into the atmosphere. Approximately 91,000 lbs/day of hydrocarbon and 10,116 lbs/day of sulfur dioxide are removed from the atmosphere from wells contained within these systems operated by Oryx. These hydrocarbons yield approximately 550 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). The system helps manage the pressure differential from the reservoir into each wellbore and contributes to improved ambient air quality in Kern County, California

  14. Gallic Acid Grafted Chitosan Has Enhanced Oxidative Stability in Bulk Oils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gim, Seo Yeong; Hong, Seungmi; Kim, Mi-Ja; Lee, JaeHwan

    2017-07-01

    Gallic acid (GA) was grafted in chitosan and the effects of GA grafted chitosan (GA-g-CS) on the oxidative stability in bulk oil was tested at 60 and 140 °C. To text oxidative stability in oils, headspace oxygen content, conjugated dienoic acid (CDA) value, p-anisidine value (p-AV), and acid value were determined. Chitosan itself did not show antioxidative or prooxidative effects in oils at 60 °C. However, GA-g-CS and GA acted as antioxidants at 60 °C. At 140 °C heating with moisture supplied condition, different results were observed. GA-g-CS acted as antioxidants based on the results of CDA and p-AV. However, chitosan showed the highest oxidative stability based on results of acid value and brown color formation at 140 °C. This could be due to reduction of moisture content by chitosan. GA was continuously released from GA-g-CS in bulk oil. This might have provided extra antioxidant activities to oils. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

  15. Quantifying Stability in Complex Networks: From Linear to Basin Stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurths, Jürgen

    The human brain, power grids, arrays of coupled lasers and the Amazon rainforest are all characterized by multistability. The likelihood that these systems will remain in the most desirable of their many stable states depends on their stability against significant perturbations, particularly in a state space populated by undesirable states. Here we claim that the traditional linearization-based approach to stability is in several cases too local to adequately assess how stable a state is. Instead, we quantify it in terms of basin stability, a new measure related to the volume of the basin of attraction. Basin stability is non-local, nonlinear and easily applicable, even to high-dimensional systems. It provides a long-sought-after explanation for the surprisingly regular topologies of neural networks and power grids, which have eluded theoretical description based solely on linear stability. Specifically, we employ a component-wise version of basin stability, a nonlinear inspection scheme, to investigate how a grid's degree of stability is influenced by certain patterns in the wiring topology. Various statistics from our ensemble simulations all support one main finding: The widespread and cheapest of all connection schemes, namely dead ends and dead trees, strongly diminish stability. For the Northern European power system we demonstrate that the inverse is also true: `Healing' dead ends by addition of transmission lines substantially enhances stability. This indicates a crucial smart-design principle for tomorrow's sustainable power grids: add just a few more lines to avoid dead ends. Further, we analyse the particular function of certain network motifs to promote the stability of the system. Here we uncover the impact of so-called detour motifs on the appearance of nodes with a poor stability score and discuss the implications for power grid design. Moreover, it will be shown that basin stability enables uncovering the mechanism for explosive synchronization and

  16. Late Quaternary Soil Development Enhances Aeolian Landform Stability, Moenkopi Plateau, Southern Colorado Plateau, USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amy L. Ellwein

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The Moenkopi dune field in northeastern Arizona covers roughly 1250 km2, but most of the field is inactive. Dune deposits on the Moenkopi Plateau (MP have remained inactive throughout the Holocene despite periods of elevated aridity or historical reductions of vegetation cover by livestock grazing. We argue that this inactivity is not because of any diminishment of driving forces in the aeolian system (e.g., insufficient winds, but rather because of increased cohesion due to soil development that enhances resistance to wind erosion. Abundant aeolian sediments were supplied to the Black Mesa region by the Little Colorado River and its tributaries during the late Pleistocene (MIS 2 and 3, which enabled the development of climbing dunes and transport of sand over the Adeii Eechii Cliffs and onto the MP. These deposits (Qe1 stabilized during the Pleistocene/Holocene climatic transition (~12–7.5 ka because of reduced sediment supply and high dust flux which resulted in rapid soil formation. Erosion of climbing dunes/sand ramps from the Adeii Eechii Cliffs eliminated delivery of large quantities of new sand to the MP during the mid to late Holocene. Soil development within the Qe1 mantle increased sediment cohesion and prevented widespread aeolian reactivation during the Holocene, despite the occurrence of conditions (wind speed, climate, etc. under which dune reactivation would be expected. Drylands comprise roughly 40% of the land cover of earth and climate models predict their expansion. Pedogenic stability is not commonly considered in climate-based models used to predict aeolian activity. To improve predictions of future dune activity in drylands, the degree of soil development in aeolian deposits should be considered when evaluating sediment availability in aeolian systems.

  17. Capital requirement, bank competition and stability in Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacob Oduor

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Monetary authorities around the world are implementing enhanced banking capital adequacy requirements under Basel III meant to improve financial stability. Critics however argue that increased capital requirements concentrate the banking industry reducing competition while not guaranteeing financial sector stability. Using data from 167 banks in 37 African countries, we find that increased capital beef-up significantly increases financial instability in Africa (except in big banks implying that higher capital requirements did not make African banks safer. We also find that increased regulatory capital improves competitive pricing for foreign banks while it makes domestic banks less competitive mainly attributed to the high cost of sourcing and holding extra capital for domestic banks compared to foreign banks who can source cheaper capital from parent companies. The results put to question the effectiveness of enhanced regulatory capital on stability and competitiveness of the African financial system.

  18. Enhanced Engine Control for Emergency Operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litt, Jonathan S.

    2012-01-01

    C-MAPSS40k engine simulation has been developed and is available to the public. The authenticity of the engine performance and controller enabled the development of realistic enhanced control modes through controller modification alone. Use of enhanced control modes improved stability and control of an impaired aircraft. - Fast Response is useful for manual manipulation of the throttles - Use of Fast Response improved stability as part of a yaw rate feedback system. - Use of Overthrust shortened takeoff distance, but was generally useful in flight, too. Initial lack of pilot familiarity resulted in discomfort, especially with yaw rate feedback, but that was the only drawback, overall the pilot found the enhanced modes very helpful.

  19. Dual-Function Au@Y2O3:Eu3+ Smart Film for Enhanced Power Conversion Efficiency and Long-Term Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Chang Woo; Eom, Tae Young; Yang, In Seok; Kim, Byung Su; Lee, Wan In; Kang, Yong Soo; Kang, Young Soo

    2017-07-28

    In the present study, a dual-functional smart film combining the effects of wavelength conversion and amplification of the converted wave by the localized surface plasmon resonance has been investigated for a perovskite solar cell. This dual-functional film, composed of Au nanoparticles coated on the surface of Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ phosphor (Au@Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ ) nanoparticle monolayer, enhances the solar energy conversion efficiency to electrical energy and long-term stability of photovoltaic cells. Coupling between the Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ phosphor monolayer and ultraviolet solar light induces the latter to be converted into visible light with a quantum yield above 80%. Concurrently, the Au nanoparticle monolayer on the phosphor nanoparticle monolayer amplifies the converted visible light by up to 170%. This synergy leads to an increased solar light energy conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells. Simultaneously, the dual-function film suppresses the photodegradation of perovskite by UV light, resulting in long-term stability. Introducing the hybrid smart Au@Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ film in perovskite solar cells increases their overall solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency to 16.1% and enhances long-term stability, as compared to the value of 15.2% for standard perovskite solar cells. The synergism between the wavelength conversion effect of the phosphor nanoparticle monolayer and the wave amplification by the localized surface plasmon resonance of the Au nanoparticle monolayer in a perovskite solar cell is comparatively investigated, providing a viable strategy of broadening the solar spectrum utilization.

  20. Enhanced Cycling Stability of Lithium–Sulfur batteries by Electrostatic-Interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Zhaoling; Huang, Xiaobing; Jiang, Qianqian; Huo, Jia; Wang, Shuangyin

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Electrostatic interaction is utilized to hinder the shuttling of polysulfides. • Directly functionalizing SG can better prolong the cycle life of Li–S batteries. • SG/PDDA showed significantly improved capacity retention. - Abstract: Lithiums–sulfur battery is considered as one of the most promising energy storage devices to replace the current Li ion batteries because of its high theoretical capacity of 1675 mA h g −1 . However, the poor cycle stability hinders the further development of this battery system. In order to improve the stability of Li–S batteries, the diffusion of polysulfides from electrodes into electrolyte should be suppressed. Herein, we utilize a positively charged polyelectrolyte to functionalize the electrode materials with the aim to hamper the polysulfides dissolution via electrostatic interaction between strong positively charged polyelectrolyte and negatively charged polysulfides anion. The effect of the functionalization quantity of poly(diallyl dimethylammonium) chloride (PDDA) and functionalization sequence on cycling performances is investigated in detail. It is found that the sulfur–graphene composite (SG) directly functionalized with 10 times PDDA exhibited best cycling stability. At a discharge current density of 0.2 C, much higher capacity retention was realized on the functionalized electrodes than the unfunctionalized (81% vs. 47.3%) after 120 cycles. The as-observed results demonstrate that the electrostatic interaction can effectively prolong the cycling life of Li–S batteries, which provides a new promising strategy for improving the electrochemical performance of Li–S batteries.

  1. Improved Gate Dielectric Deposition and Enhanced Electrical Stability for Single-Layer MoS2 MOSFET with an AlN Interfacial Layer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qian, Qingkai; Li, Baikui; Hua, Mengyuan; Zhang, Zhaofu; Lan, Feifei; Xu, Yongkuan; Yan, Ruyue; Chen, Kevin J

    2016-06-09

    Transistors based on MoS2 and other TMDs have been widely studied. The dangling-bond free surface of MoS2 has made the deposition of high-quality high-k dielectrics on MoS2 a challenge. The resulted transistors often suffer from the threshold voltage instability induced by the high density traps near MoS2/dielectric interface or inside the gate dielectric, which is detrimental for the practical applications of MoS2 metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). In this work, by using AlN deposited by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) as an interfacial layer, top-gate dielectrics as thin as 6 nm for single-layer MoS2 transistors are demonstrated. The AlN interfacial layer not only promotes the conformal deposition of high-quality Al2O3 on the dangling-bond free MoS2, but also greatly enhances the electrical stability of the MoS2 transistors. Very small hysteresis (ΔVth) is observed even at large gate biases and high temperatures. The transistor also exhibits a low level of flicker noise, which clearly originates from the Hooge mobility fluctuation instead of the carrier number fluctuation. The observed superior electrical stability of MoS2 transistor is attributed to the low border trap density of the AlN interfacial layer, as well as the small gate leakage and high dielectric strength of AlN/Al2O3 dielectric stack.

  2. A New Bioinspired Perchlorate Reduction Catalyst with Significantly Enhanced Stability via Rational Tuning of Rhenium Coordination Chemistry and Heterogeneous Reaction Pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jinyong; Han, Mengwei; Wu, Dimao; Chen, Xi; Choe, Jong Kwon; Werth, Charles J; Strathmann, Timothy J

    2016-06-07

    Rapid reduction of aqueous ClO4(-) to Cl(-) by H2 has been realized by a heterogeneous Re(hoz)2-Pd/C catalyst integrating Re(O)(hoz)2Cl complex (hoz = oxazolinyl-phenolato bidentate ligand) and Pd nanoparticles on carbon support, but ClOx(-) intermediates formed during reactions with concentrated ClO4(-) promote irreversible Re complex decomposition and catalyst deactivation. The original catalyst design mimics the microbial ClO4(-) reductase, which integrates Mo(MGD)2 complex (MGD = molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide) for oxygen atom transfer (OAT). Perchlorate-reducing microorganisms employ a separate enzyme, chlorite dismutase, to prevent accumulation of the destructive ClO2(-) intermediate. The structural intricacy of MGD ligand and the two-enzyme mechanism for microbial ClO4(-) reduction inspired us to improve catalyst stability by rationally tuning Re ligand structure and adding a ClOx(-) scavenger. Two new Re complexes, Re(O)(htz)2Cl and Re(O)(hoz)(htz)Cl (htz = thiazolinyl-phenolato bidentate ligand), significantly mitigate Re complex decomposition by slightly lowering the OAT activity when immobilized in Pd/C. Further stability enhancement is then obtained by switching the nanoparticles from Pd to Rh, which exhibits high reactivity with ClOx(-) intermediates and thus prevents their deactivating reaction with the Re complex. Compared to Re(hoz)2-Pd/C, the new Re(hoz)(htz)-Rh/C catalyst exhibits similar ClO4(-) reduction activity but superior stability, evidenced by a decrease of Re leaching from 37% to 0.25% and stability of surface Re speciation following the treatment of a concentrated "challenge" solution containing 1000 ppm of ClO4(-). This work demonstrates the pivotal roles of coordination chemistry control and tuning of individual catalyst components for achieving both high activity and stability in environmental catalyst applications.

  3. Cu-based shape memory alloys with enhanced thermal stability and mechanical properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chung, C.Y.; Lam, C.W.H.

    1999-01-01

    Cu-based shape memory alloys were developed in the 1960s. They show excellent thermoelastic martensitic transformation. However the problems in mechanical properties and thermal instability have inhibited them from becoming promising engineering alloys. A new Cu-Zn-Al-Mn-Zr Cu-based shape memory alloy has been developed. With the addition of Mn and Zr, the martensitic transformation behaviour and the grain size ca be better controlled. The new alloys demonstrates good mechanical properties with ultimate tensile strenght and ductility, being 460 MPa and 9%, respectively. Experimental results revealed that the alloy has better thermal stability, i.e. martensite stabilisation is less serious. In ordinary Cu-Zn-Al alloys, martensite stabilisation usually occurs at room temperature. The new alloy shows better thermal stability even at elevated temperature (∝150 C, >A f =80 C). A limited small amount of martensite stabilisation was observed upon ageing of the direct quenched samples as well as the step quenched samples. This implies that the thermal stability of the new alloy is less dependent on the quenching procedure. Furthermore, such minor martensite stabilisation can be removed by subsequent suitable parent phase ageing. The new alloy is ideal for engineering applications because of its better thermal stability and better mechanical properties. (orig.)

  4. Double-Layer Structured CO2 Adsorbent Functionalized with Modified Polyethyleneimine for High Physical and Chemical Stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, Sunbin; Jung, Hyunchul; Kim, Sung Hyun; Lee, Ki Bong

    2018-06-18

    CO 2 capture using polyethyleneimine (PEI)-impregnated silica adsorbents has been receiving a lot of attention. However, the absence of physical stability (evaporation and leaching of amine) and chemical stability (urea formation) of the PEI-impregnated silica adsorbent has been generally established. Therefore, in this study, a double-layer impregnated structure, developed using modified PEI, is newly proposed to enhance the physical and chemical stabilities of the adsorbent. Epoxy-modified PEI and diepoxide-cross-linked PEI were impregnated via a dry impregnation method in the first and second layers, respectively. The physical stability of the double-layer structured adsorbent was noticeably enhanced when compared to the conventional adsorbents with a single layer. In addition to the enhanced physical stability, the result of simulated temperature swing adsorption cycles revealed that the double-layer structured adsorbent presented a high potential working capacity (3.5 mmol/g) and less urea formation under CO 2 -rich regeneration conditions. The enhanced physical and chemical stabilities as well as the high CO 2 working capacity of the double-layer structured adsorbent were mainly attributed to the second layer consisting of diepoxide-cross-linked PEI.

  5. Eudragit L/HPMCAS blend enteric-coated lansoprazole pellets: enhanced drug stability and oral bioavailability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Yu; Wang, Guozheng; Zhang, Rong; Liu, Zhihua; Liu, Zhenghua; Wu, Xiaohui; Cao, Deying

    2014-06-01

    The objectives of the present work were to use blends of Eudragit L and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMCAS) as enteric film coatings for lansoprazole (LSP) pellets. The enteric-coated pellets were prepared with a fluid-bed coater. The influence of the blend ratio, type of plasticizer, plasticizer level, coating level, and curing conditions on gastric stability in vitro drug release and drug stability was evaluated. Furthermore, the bioavailability of the blend-coated pellets in beagle dogs was also performed. The blend-coated pellets exhibited significant improvement of gastric stability and drug stability compared to the pure polymer-coated pellets. Moreover, the AUC values of blend-coated pellets were greater than that of the pure polymer-coated pellets. It was concluded that the using blends of Eudragit L and HPMCAS as enteric film coatings for LSP pellets improved the drug stability and oral bioavailability.

  6. Core/Shell Structured TiO2/CdS Electrode to Enhance the Light Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Insung; Baek, Minki; Yong, Kijung

    2015-12-23

    In this work, enhanced light stability of perovskite solar cell (PSC) achieved by the introduction of a core/shell-structured CdS/TiO2 electrode and the related mechanism are reported. By a simple solution-based process (SILAR), a uniform CdS shell was coated onto the surface of a TiO2 layer, suppressing the activation of intrinsic trap sites originating from the oxygen vacancies of the TiO2 layer. As a result, the proposed CdS-PSC exhibited highly improved light stability, maintaining nearly 80% of the initial efficiency after 12 h of full sunlight illumination. From the X-ray diffraction analyses, it is suggested that the degradation of the efficiency of PSC during illumination occurs regardless of the decomposition of the perovskite absorber. Considering the light-soaking profiles of the encapsulated cells and the OCVD characteristics, it is likely that the CdS shell had efficiently suppressed the undesirable electron kinetics, such as trapping at the surface defects of the TiO2 and preventing the resultant charge losses by recombination. This study suggests that further complementary research on various effective methods for passivation of the TiO2 layer would be highly meaningful, leading to insight into the fabrication of PSCs stable to UV-light for a long time.

  7. SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW STABILIZERS WITH OPTIMAL MOLECULAR WEIGHT

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Jiang-qing Pan

    2001-01-01

    Over 2 × l08 tons of polymers are produced every year, and a large portion of polymers faces the degradation problem. There are many effective methods to protect polymers against degradation and the addition of stabilizers to polymer remains the most convenient and effective way of enhancing polymer life and performance. In this article, a series of effective stabilizers with optimal molecular weight (MW), including common, monomeric and polymeric stabilizers (antioxidant and light stabilizer) were synthesized using isocyanation, controlled isocyanation, hydrosilylation, epoxide addition, macroreaction of stabilizing functional compounds and polymerization of monomeric stabilizers. The sructure and performance of these new stabilizers were characterized by using IR, NMR, MS, UV-spectra, XPS and elemental analysis. The current development of stabilizer synthesis was also reviewed.``

  8. Fracture Characterization in Enhanced Geothermal Systems by Wellbore and Reservoir Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Horne, Roland N.; Li, Kewen; Alaskar, Mohammed; Ames, Morgan; Co, Carla; Juliusson, Egill; Magnusdottir, Lilja

    2012-06-30

    This report highlights the work that was done to characterize fractured geothermal reservoirs using production data. That includes methods that were developed to infer characteristic functions from production data and models that were designed to optimize reinjection scheduling into geothermal reservoirs, based on these characteristic functions. The characterization method provides a robust way of interpreting tracer and flow rate data from fractured reservoirs. The flow-rate data are used to infer the interwell connectivity, which describes how injected fluids are divided between producers in the reservoir. The tracer data are used to find the tracer kernel for each injector-producer connection. The tracer kernel describes the volume and dispersive properties of the interwell flow path. A combination of parametric and nonparametric regression methods were developed to estimate the tracer kernels for situations where data is collected at variable flow-rate or variable injected concentration conditions. The characteristic functions can be used to calibrate thermal transport models, which can in turn be used to predict the productivity of geothermal systems. This predictive model can be used to optimize injection scheduling in a geothermal reservoir, as is illustrated in this report.

  9. Aggregates of octenylsuccinate oat β-glucan as novel capsules to stabilize curcumin over food processing, storage and digestive fluids and to enhance its bioavailability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, J; Lei, L; Ye, F; Zhou, Y; Younis, Heba G R; Zhao, G

    2018-01-24

    Self-aggregates of octenylsuccinate oat β-glucan (A OSG ) have been verified as nanocapsules to load curcumin, a representative of hydrophobic phytochemicals. This study primarily investigated the stability of curcumin-loaded A OSG s over food processing, storage and digestive fluids. Curcumin in A OSG s showed better stability over storage and thermal treatment than its free form. Curcumin loaded in A OSGs stored at 4 °C in the dark exhibited higher stability than that at higher temperatures or exposed to light. Approximately 18% of curcumin was lost after five freeze-thaw cycles. Curcumin in A OSG was more stable than its free form in mimetic intestinal fluids, attesting to the effective protection of A OSG for curcumin over digestive environments. When curcumin-loaded A OSG travelled across mimetic gastric and intestinal fluids, curcumin was tightly accommodated in the capsule, while it rapidly escaped as the capsule reached the colon. Interestingly, the curcumin loaded in A OSG generated higher values of C max and area under the curve than did its free counterpart. These observations showed that A OSG is a powerful vehicle for stabilizing hydrophobic phytochemicals in food processing and storage, facilitating their colon-targeted delivery and enhancing their bioavailability.

  10. Surface functionalization of microwave plasma-synthesized silica nanoparticles for enhancing the stability of dispersions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sehlleier, Yee Hwa; Abdali, Ali; Schnurre, Sophie Marie; Wiggers, Hartmut; Schulz, Christof

    2014-08-01

    Gas phase-synthesized silica nanoparticles were functionalized with three different silane coupling agents (SCAs) including amine, amine/phosphonate and octyltriethoxy functional groups and the stability of dispersions in polar and non-polar dispersing media such as water, ethanol, methanol, chloroform, benzene, and toluene was studied. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that all three SCAs are chemically attached to the surface of silica nanoparticles. Amine-functionalized particles using steric dispersion stabilization alone showed limited stability. Thus, an additional SCA with sufficiently long hydrocarbon chains and strong positively charged phosphonate groups was introduced in order to achieve electrosteric stabilization. Steric stabilization was successful with hydrophobic octyltriethoxy-functionalized silica nanoparticles in non-polar solvents. The results from dynamic light scattering measurements showed that in dispersions of amine/phosphonate- and octyltriethoxy-functionalized silica particles are dispersed on a primary particle level. Stable dispersions were successfully prepared from initially agglomerated nanoparticles synthesized in a microwave plasma reactor by designing the surface functionalization.

  11. Noise stabilization effects in models of interdisciplinary physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spagnolo, B; Augello, G; Caldara, P; Fiasconaro, A; La Cognata, A; Pizzolato, N; Valenti, D; Dubkov, A A; Pankratov, A L

    2009-01-01

    Metastability is a generic feature of many nonlinear systems, and the problem of the lifetime of metastable states involves fundamental aspects of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. The investigation of noise-induced phenomena in far from equilibrium systems is one of the approaches used to understand the behaviour of physical and biological complex systems. The enhancement of the lifetime of metastable states through the noise enhanced stability effect and the role played by the resonant activation phenomenon will be discussed in models of interdisciplinary physics: (i) polymer translocation dynamics; (ii) transient regime of FitzHugh-Nagumo model; (iii) market stability in a nonlinear Heston model; (iv) dynamics of Josephson junctions; (v) metastability in a quantum bitable system.

  12. Fabrication of Z-scheme Ag3PO4/MoS2 composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability for organic pollutant degradation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Chaosheng; Zhang, Lu; Jiang, Bo; Zheng, Jingtang; Hu, Ping; Li, Sujuan; Wu, Mingbo; Wu, Wenting

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Ag 3 PO 4 /MoS 2 composite photocatalysts were prepared by precipitation method. • The composites showed enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. • The photocorrosion of Ag 3 PO 4 was inhibited due to the introduction of MoS 2 . • Z-scheme mechanism was proposed to explain the enhanced photoactivity. - Abstract: In this study, highly efficient visible-light-driven Ag 3 PO 4 /MoS 2 composite photocatalysts with different weight ratios of MoS 2 were prepared via the ethanol-water mixed solvents precipitation method and characterized by ICP, XRD, HRTEM, FE-SEM, BET, XPS, UV–vis DRS and PL analysis. Under visible-light irradiation, Ag 3 PO 4 /MoS 2 composites exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of organic pollutants in aqueous solution. The optimal composite with 0.648 wt% MoS 2 content exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity, which can degrade almost all MB under visible-light irradiation within 60 min. Recycling experiments confirmed that the Ag 3 PO 4 /MoS 2 catalysts had superior cycle performance and stability. The photocatalytic activity enhancement of Ag 3 PO 4 /MoS 2 photocatalysts can be mainly ascribed to the efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers and the stronger oxidation and reduction ability through a Z-scheme system composed of Ag 3 PO 4 , Ag and MoS 2 , in which Ag particles act as the charge separation center. The high photocatalytic stability is due to the successful inhibition of the photocorrosion of Ag 3 PO 4 by transferring the photogenerated electrons of Ag 3 PO 4 to MoS 2 . The evidence of the Z-scheme photocatalytic mechanism of the composite photocatalysts could be obtained from the active species trapping experiments and the photoluminescence technique.

  13. The conformational stability and flexibility of insulin with an additional intramolecular cross-link

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brems, D.N.; Brown, P.L.; Nakagawa, S.H.; Tager, H.S.

    1991-01-01

    The conformational stability and flexibility of insulin containing a cross-link between the alpha-amino group of the A-chain to the epsilon-amino group of Lys29 of the B-chain was examined. The cross-link varied in length from 2 to 12 carbon atoms. The conformational stability was determined by guanidine hydrochloride-induced equilibrium denaturation and flexibility was assessed by H2O/D2O amide exchange. The cross-link has substantial effects on both conformational stability and flexibility which depend on its length. In general, the addition of a cross-link enhances conformational stability and decreases flexibility. The optimal length for enhanced stability and decreased flexibility was the 6-carbon link. For the 6-carbon link the Gibbs free energy of unfolding was 8.0 kcal/mol compared to 4.5 kcal/mol for insulin, and the amide exchange rate decreased by at least 3-fold. A very short cross-link (i.e. the 2-carbon link) caused conformational strain that was detectable by a lack of stabilization in the Gibbs free energy of unfolding and enhancement in the amide exchange rate compared to insulin. The effect of the cross-link length on insulin hydrodynamic properties is discussed relative to previously obtained receptor binding results

  14. Monoclinic Cc-phase stabilization in magnetically diluted lead free Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3—Evolution of spin glass like behavior with enhanced ferroelectric and dielectric properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thangavelu, Karthik; Asthana, Saket

    2015-09-01

    The effect of magnetic cation substitution on the phase stabilization, ferroelectric, dielectric and magnetic properties of a lead free Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (NBT) system prepared by O2 atmosphere solid state sintering were studied extensively. Cobalt (Co) was chosen as the magnetic cation to substitute at the Ti-site of NBT with optimized 2.5 mol%. Rietveld analysis of x-ray diffraction data favours the monoclinic Cc phase stabilization strongly rather than the parent R3c phase. FE-SEM micrograph supports the single phase characteristics without phase segregation at the grain boundaries. The stabilized Cc space group was explained based on the collective local distortion effects due to spin-orbit stabilization at Co3+ and Co2+ functional centres. The phonon mode changes as observed in the TiO6 octahedral modes also support the Cc phase stabilization. The major Co3+-ion presence was revealed from corresponding crystal field transitions observed through solid state diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The enhanced spontaneous polarization (Ps) from ≅38 μC cm-2 to 45 μC cm-2 could be due to the easy rotation of polarization vector along the {(1\\bar{1}0)}{{pc}} in Cc phase. An increase in static dielectric response (ɛ) from ɛ ≅ 42 to 60 along with enhanced diffusivity from γ ≅ 1.53 to 1.75 was observed. Magneto-thermal irreversibility and their magnetic field dependent ZFC/FC curves suggest the possibility of a spin glass like behaviour below 50 K. The monoclinic Cc phase stabilization as confirmed from structural studies was well correlated with the observed ferroic properties in magnetically diluted NBT.

  15. Ultra-High Pressure Homogenization enhances physicochemical properties of soy protein isolate-stabilized emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernández-Ávila, C; Escriu, R; Trujillo, A J

    2015-09-01

    The effect of Ultra-High Pressure Homogenization (UHPH, 100-300MPa) on the physicochemical properties of oil-in-water emulsions prepared with 4.0% (w/v) of soy protein isolate (SPI) and soybean oil (10 and 20%, v/v) was studied and compared to emulsions treated by conventional homogenization (CH, 15MPa). CH emulsions were prepared with non-heated and heated (95°C for 15min) SPI dispersions. Emulsions were characterized by particle size determination with laser diffraction, rheological properties using a rotational rheometer by applying measurements of flow curve and by transmission electron microscopy. The variation on particle size and creaming was assessed by Turbiscan® analysis, and visual observation of the emulsions was also carried out. UHPH emulsions showed much smaller d 3.2 values and greater physical stability than CH emulsions. The thermal treatment of SPI prior CH process did not improve physical stability properties. In addition, emulsions containing 20% of oil exhibited greater physical stability compared to emulsions containing 10% of oil. Particularly, UHPH emulsions treated at 100 and 200MPa with 20% of oil were the most stable due to low particle size values (d 3.2 and Span), greater viscosity and partial protein denaturation. These results address the physical stability improvement of protein isolate-stabilized emulsions by using the emerging UHPH technology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Solubility and stability enhancement of curcumin: Improving drug properties of natural pigment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M J Ansari

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim: Water insolubility, low potency, and instability are inherent problems of several herbal medicines. Identity, strength, quality, and purity of herbal products are further compromised during manufacturing and storage. The aim of present work was to evaluate solubility and stability of curcumin, a pigment obtained from dried rhizomes of plant Cucrcuma longa. Materials and Methods: The stoichiometric ratios for inclusion complexation of curcumin with various cyclodextrins (CDs were determined by phase solubility analysis. Grinding, kneading, and freeze-drying were employed to determine optimum complexation. Complexes were evaluated for drug inclusion, solubility, and stability. Results: Stability constants were 11200 M−1 , 1557 M−1 , 2858 M−1 , and 2206 M−1 for α-, β-, γ-CD, and dimethyl β-CD (DIMEB, respectively, thus indicating good complex formation. Theoretical amounts of curcumin in binary products were between 80% and 97% with a maximum of 96.8% in curcumin-β-CD freeze-dried product. The complexation resulted in a marked improvement in the solubility of curcumin up to 60, 55, 56, and 1500 folds by α-, β-, γ-CD, and DIMEB, respectively. Inclusion complexation protected the drug from hydrolytic degradations as only 20-40% degradation was observed at the end of 8 h as opposed to >70% for pure curcumin. Conclusion: A significant improvement in the solubility and stability was observed with curcumin-CD complex as compared to pure curcumin.

  17. Molecular complexation of curcumin with pH sensitive cationic copolymer enhances the aqueous solubility, stability and bioavailability of curcumin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sunny; Kesharwani, Siddharth S; Mathur, Himanshi; Tyagi, Mohit; Bhat, G Jayarama; Tummala, Hemachand

    2016-01-20

    Curcumin is a natural dietary compound with demonstrated potential in preventing/treating several chronic diseases in animal models. However, this success is yet to be translated to humans mainly because of its poor oral bioavailability caused by extremely low water solubility. This manuscript demonstrates that water insoluble curcumin (~1μg/ml) forms highly aqueous soluble complexes (>2mg/ml) with a safe pH sensitive polymer, poly(butyl-methacrylate-co-(2-dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate-co-methyl-methacrylate) when precipitated together in water. The complexation process was optimized to enhance curcumin loading by varying several formulation factors. Acetone as a solvent and polyvinyl alcohol as a stabilizer with 1:2 ratio of drug to polymer yielded complexes with relatively high loading (~280μg/ml) and enhanced solubility (>2mg/ml). The complexes were amorphous in solid and were soluble only in buffers with pHs less than 5.0. Hydrogen bond formation and hydrophobic interactions between curcumin and the polymer were recorded by infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, respectively. Molecular complexes of curcumin were more stable at various pHs compared to unformulated curcumin. In mice, these complexes increased peak plasma concentration of curcumin by 6 times and oral bioavailability by ~20 times. This is a simple, economic and safer strategy of enhancing the oral bioavailability of curcumin. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Molecular improvements in microbial α-amylases for enhanced stability and catalytic efficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sindhu, Raveendran; Binod, Parameswaran; Madhavan, Aravind; Beevi, Ummalyma Sabeela; Mathew, Anil Kuruvilla; Abraham, Amith; Pandey, Ashok; Kumar, Vinod

    2017-12-01

    α-Amylases is one of the most important industrial enzyme which contributes to 25% of the industrial enzyme market. Though it is produced by plant, animals and microbial source, those from microbial source seems to have potential applications due to their stability and economic viability. However a large number of α-amylases from different sources have been detailed in the literature, only few numbers of them could withstand the harsh industrial conditions. Thermo-stability, pH tolerance, calcium independency and oxidant stability and starch hydrolyzing efficiency are the crucial qualities for α-amylase in starch based industries. Microbes can be genetically modified and fine tuning can be done for the production of enzymes with desired characteristics for specific applications. This review focuses on the native and recombinant α-amylases from microorganisms, their heterologous production and the recent molecular strategies which help to improve the properties of this industrial enzyme. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Cu-Ag core–shell nanoparticles with enhanced oxidation stability for printed electronics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Changsoo; Kim, Na Rae; Koo, Jahyun; Lee, Yung Jong; Lee, Hyuck Mo

    2015-01-01

    In this work, we synthesized uniform Cu–Ag core–shell nanoparticles using a facile two-step process that consists of thermal decomposition and galvanic displacement methods. The core–shell structure of these nanoparticles was confirmed through characterization using transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. Furthermore, we investigated the oxidation stability of the Cu–Ag core–shell nanoparticles in detail. Both qualitative and quantitative x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses confirm that the Cu–Ag core–shell nanoparticles have considerably higher oxidation stability than Cu nanoparticles. Finally, we formulated a conductive ink using the synthesized nanoparticles and coated it onto glass substrates. Following the sintering process, we compared the resistivity of the Cu–Ag core–shell nanoparticles with that of the Cu nanoparticles. The results of this study clearly show that the Cu–Ag core–shell nanoparticles can potentially be used as an alternative to Ag nanoparticles because of their superior oxidation stability and electrical properties. (paper)

  20. Seismic monitoring of hydraulic fracturing: techniques for determining fluid flow paths and state of stress away from a wellbore

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fehler, M.; House, L.; Kaieda, H.

    1986-01-01

    Hydraulic fracturing has gained in popularity in recent years as a way to determine the orientations and magnitudes of tectonic stresses. By augmenting conventional hydraulic fracturing measurements with detection and mapping of the microearthquakes induced by fracturing, we can supplement and idependently confirm information obtained from conventional analysis. Important information obtained from seismic monitoring includes: the state of stress of the rock, orientation and spacing of the major joint sets, and measurements of rock elastic parameters at locations distant from the wellbore. While conventional well logging operations can provide information about several of these parameters, the zone of interrogation is usually limited to the immediate proximity of the borehole. The seismic waveforms of the microearthquakes contain a wealth of information about the rock in regions that are otherwise inaccessible for study. By reliably locating the hypocenters of many microearthquakes, we have inferred the joint patterns in the rock. We observed that microearthquake locations do not define a simple, thin, planar distribution, that the fault plane solutions are consistent with shear slippage, and that spectral analysis indicates that the source dimensions and slip along the faults are small. Hence we believe that the microearthquakes result from slip along preexisting joints, and not from tensile extension at the tip of the fracture. Orientations of the principal stresses can be estimated by using fault plane solutions of the larger microearthquakes. By using a joint earthquake location scheme, and/or calibrations with downhole detonators, rock velocities and heterogeneities thereof can be investigated in rock volumes that are far enough from the borehole to be representative of intrincis rock properties.

  1. Improvement of the transient stability using SFCL in Korean power systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, Intae; Lee, Seung Ryul; Seo, Sangsoo; Yoon, Jaeyoung; Kim, Chul-Hwan

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: •In Korea, the Special Protection System is applied for protecting the power system. •Hybrid SFCL is protecting the power system from viewpoint of the transient stability. •Basic hybrid SFCL system cannot recover during the auto-reclosing operation. •This paper performs analysis of transient stability using the novel hybrid SFCL. -- Abstract: This paper proposed a novel hybrid SFCL system for the enhancement of the transient stability in Korean power transmission system with auto-reclosing operation. The proposed SFCL system has an operation mechanism that the current limiting impedance is eliminated from the power system in a fault clearing time for the enhancement of the transient stability. Also, the system can cover the auto-reclosing operation of the transmission power system. This study analyzed an improvement of the special protection system by applying the proposed SFCL system to real power system in Korea

  2. Elastic properties of fly ash-stabilized mixes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanja Dimter

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Stabilized mixes are used in the construction of bearing layers in asphalt and concrete pavement structures. Two nondestructive methods: resonant frequency method and ultrasonic pulse velocity method, were used for estimation of elastic properties of fly ash–stabilized mixes. Stabilized mixes were designed containing sand from the river Drava and binder composed of different share of cement and fly ash. The aim of the research was to analyze the relationship between the dynamic modulus of elasticity determined by different nondestructive methods. Data showed that average value of elasticity modulus obtained by the ultrasound velocity method is lower than the values of elasticity modulus obtained by resonant frequency method. For further analysis and enhanced discussion of elastic properties of fly ash stabilized mixes, see Dimter et al. [1].

  3. Application of fluorinated nanofluid for production enhancement of a carbonate gas-condensate reservoir through wettability alteration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakhaei, Zahra; Azin, Reza; Naghizadeh, Arefeh; Osfouri, Shahriar; Saboori, Rahmatollah; Vahdani, Hosein

    2018-03-01

    Condensate blockage phenomenon in near-wellbore region decreases gas production rate remarkably. Wettability alteration using fluorinated chemicals is an efficacious way to vanquish this problem. In this study, new synthesized fluorinated silica nanoparticles with an optimized condition and mean diameter of 50 nm is employed to modify carbonate rock surface wettability. Rock characterization tests consisting Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Energy Dispersive x-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) were utilized to assess the nanofluid adsorption on rock surface after treatment. Contact angle, spontaneous imbibition and core flooding experiments were performed to investigate the effect of synthesized nanofluid adsorption on wettability of rock surface and liquid mobility. Results of contact angle experiments revealed that wettability of rock could alter from strongly oil-wetting to the intermediate gas-wetting even at elevated temperature. Imbibition rates of oil and brine were diminished noticeably after treatment. 60% and 30% enhancement in pressure drop of condensate and brine floods after wettability alteration with modified nanofluid were observed which confirm successful field applicability of this chemical.

  4. Enhanced cell surface expression, immunogenicity and genetic stability resulting from a spontaneous truncation of HIV Env expressed by a recombinant MVA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wyatt, Linda S.; Belyakov, Igor M.; Earl, Patricia L.; Berzofsky, Jay A.; Moss, Bernard

    2008-01-01

    During propagation of modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) encoding HIV 89.6 Env, a few viral foci stained very prominently. Virus cloned from such foci replicated to higher titers than the parent and displayed enhanced genetic stability on passage. Sequence analysis showed a single nucleotide deletion in the 89.6 env gene of the mutant that caused a frame shift and truncation of 115 amino acids from the cytoplasmic domain. The truncated Env was more highly expressed on the cell surface, induced higher antibody responses than the full-length Env, reacted with HIV neutralizing monoclonal antibodies and mediated CD4/co-receptor-dependent fusion. Intramuscular (IM), intradermal (ID) needleless, and intrarectal (IR) catheter inoculations gave comparable serum IgG responses. However, intraoral (IO) needleless injector route gave the highest IgA in lung washings and IR gave the highest IgA and IgG responses in fecal extracts. Induction of CTL responses in the spleens of individual mice as assayed by intracellular cytokine staining was similar with both the full-length and truncated Env constructs. Induction of acute and memory CTL in the spleens of mice immunized with the truncated Env construct by ID, IO, and IR routes was comparable and higher than by the IM route, but only the IR route induced CTL in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue. Thus, truncation of Env enhanced genetic stability as well as serum and mucosal antibody responses, suggesting the desirability of a similar modification in MVA-based candidate HIV vaccines

  5. Polyacrylonitrile nanofibers with added zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-7) to enhance mechanical and thermal stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Min Wook [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, 842 W. Taylor St., Chicago, Illinois 60607-7022 (United States); An, Seongpil; Song, Kyo Yong; Joshi, Bhavana N.; Jo, Hong Seok; Yoon, Sam S., E-mail: skyoon@korea.ac.kr, E-mail: ayarin@uic.edu [School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of); Al-Deyab, Salem S. [Department of Chemistry, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451 (Saudi Arabia); Yarin, Alexander L., E-mail: skyoon@korea.ac.kr, E-mail: ayarin@uic.edu [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, 842 W. Taylor St., Chicago, Illinois 60607-7022 (United States); School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-12-28

    Zeolitic imidazolate framework 7/polyacrylonitrile (ZIF-7/PAN) nanofiber mat of high porosity and surface area can be used as a flexible fibrous filtration membrane that is subjected to various modes of mechanical loading resulting in stresses and strains. Therefore, the stress-strain relation of ZIF-7/PAN nanofiber mats in the elastic and plastic regimes of deformation is of significant importance for numerous practical applications, including hydrogen storage, carbon dioxide capture, and molecular sensing. Here, we demonstrated the fabrication of ZIF-7/PAN nanofiber mats via electrospinning and report their mechanical properties measured in tensile tests covering the elastic and plastic domains. The effect of the mat fabrication temperature on the mechanical properties is elucidated. We showed the superior mechanical strength and thermal stability of the compound ZIF-7/PAN nanofiber mats in comparison with that of pure PAN nanofiber mats. Material characterization including scanning electron microscope, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, tensile tests, differential scanning calorimetry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the enhanced chemical bonds of the ZIF-7/PAN complex.

  6. Plasma Creatine Kinetics After Ingestion of Microencapsulated Creatine Monohydrate with Enhanced Stability in Aqueous Solutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hone, Michelle; Kent, Robert M; Scotto di Palumbo, Alessandro; Bleiel, Sinead B; De Vito, Giuseppe; Egan, Brendan

    2017-07-04

    Creatine monohydrate represents one of the largest sports supplement markets. Enhancing creatine (CRE) stability in aqueous solutions, such as with microencapsulation, represents innovation potential. Ten physically active male volunteers were randomly assigned in a double-blind design to either placebo (PLA) (3-g maltodextrin; n = 5) or microencapsulated CRE (3-g creatine monohydrate; n = 5) conditions. Experimental conditions involved ingestion of the samples in a 70-mL ready-to-drink format. CRE was delivered in a novel microencapsulation matrix material consisting entirely of hydrolyzed milk protein. Three hours after ingestion, plasma creatine concentrations were unchanged during PLA, and averaged ∼45 μM. During CRE, plasma creatine concentration peaked after 30 min at 101.6 ± 14.9 μM (p creatine concentration gradually trended downwards but remained significantly elevated (∼50% above resting levels) 3 hr after ingestion. These results demonstrate that the microencapsulated form of creatine monohydrate reported herein remains bioavailable when delivered in aqueous conditions, and has potential utility in ready-to-drink formulations for creatine supplementation.

  7. Stability Operations and State-Building: Continuities and Contingencies

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Browder, Dewey A; Kaufmann, Greg

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this academic colloquium was to identify principles and supporting policies of state-building that will enhance America's ability "to win the peace" while stabilizing chaotic regions...

  8. On the stability of boundary layers in gas mantle systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohlsson, D.

    1978-10-01

    In this thesis a systematic investigation of the stability properties of the partially ionized boundary regions of gas mantle systems for a large class of dissipative magneto-hydrodynamic modes is presented. In the partially ionized boundary regions of gas mantle systems several strong stabilizing mechanisms arise due to coupling between various dissipative effects in certain parameter regions. The presence of neutral gas strongly enhances the stabilizing effects in a dual fashion. First in an indirect way by cooling the edge region and second in a direct way by enhancing viscous and heat conduction effects. It has, however, to be pointed out that exceptions from this general picture may be found. The stabilizing influence of neutral gas on a large class of electrostatic as well as electromagnetic modes in the boundary regions of gas blanket systems is contrary to what has been found in low density weakly ionized plasmas. In these latter cases presence of neutral gas has even been found to be responsible for the onset of entirely new classes of instabilities. Thus there is no universal stabilizing or destabilizing effect associated with plasma-neutral gas interaction effects. (author)

  9. Enhanced Lamb dip for absolute laser frequency stabilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siegman, A. E.; Byer, R. L.; Wang, S. C.

    1972-01-01

    Enhanced Lamb dip width is 5 MHz and total depth is 10 percent of peak power. Present configuration is useful as frequency standard in near infrared. Technique extends to other lasers, for which low pressure narrow linewidth gain tubes can be constructed.

  10. EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF ARTICULATED WHEELED VEHICLES POSITION STABILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ye. Dubinin

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available With introducing a mobile measurement system with linear acceleration sensors there was experimentally determined the parameter of position stability of the articulated wheeled vehicle on the example of HTA-200 «Slobozhanets». It was determined that the position stability was provided within the entire range of operating speeds and accelerations. The obtained results can be used to enhance the traffic safety of articulated vehicles.

  11. Coastal structures, waste materials and fishery enhancement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Collins, K.J.; Jensen, A.C.; Lockwood, A.P.M.; Lockwood, S.J. [University of Southampton, Southampton (United Kingdom). Dept. of Oceanography

    1994-09-01

    Current UK practice relating to the disposal of material at sea is reviewed. The use of stabilization technology relating to bulk waste materials, coal ash, oil ash and incinerator ash is discussed. The extension of this technology to inert minestone waste and tailings, contaminated dredged sediments and phosphogypsum is explored. Uses of stabilized wastes are considered in the areas of habitat restoration, coastal defense and fishery enhancement. It is suggested that rehabilitation of marine dump sites receiving loose waste such as pulverized fuel ash (PFA) could be enhanced by the continued dumping of the material but in a stabilized block form, so creating new habitat diversity. Global warming predictions include sea level rise and increased storm frequency. This is of particular concern along the southern and eastern coasts of the UK. The emphasis of coastal defense is changing from hard seawalls to soft options which include offshore barriers to reduce wave energy reaching the coast. Stabilized waste materials could be included in these and other marine constructions with possible economic benefit. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), the regulatory authority in England and Wales for marine disposal/construction, policy regarding marine structures and fishery enhancement is outlined. A case is made for the inclusion of fishery enhancement features in future coastal structures. Examples of the productivity of man-made structures are given. Slight modification of planned structures and inclusion of suitable habitat niches could allow for the cultivation of kelp, molluscs, crustacea and fish.

  12. Solid-cryogen-stabilized, cable-in-conduit (CIC) superconducting cables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voccio, J. P.; Michael, P. C.; Bromberg, L.; Hahn, S.

    2015-12-01

    This paper considers the use of a solid cryogen as a means to stabilize, both mechanically and thermally, magnesium diboride (MgB2) superconducting strands within a dual-channel cable-in-conduit (CIC) cable for use in AC applications, such as a generator stator winding. The cable consists of two separate channels; the outer channel contains the superconducting strands and is filled with a fluid (liquid or gas) that becomes solid at the device operating temperature. Several options for fluid will be presented, such as liquid nitrogen, hydrocarbons and other chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that have a range of melting temperatures and volumetric expansions (from solid at operating temperature to fixed volume at room temperature). Implications for quench protection and conductor stability, enhanced through direct contact with the solid cryogen, which has high heat capacity and thermal conductivity (compared with helium gas), will be presented. Depending on the cryogen, the conductor will be filled initially either with liquid at atmospheric conditions or a gas at high pressure (∼100 atm). After cooldown, the cryogen in the stranded-channel will be solid, essentially locking the strands in place, preventing strand motion and degradation due to mechanical deformation while providing enhanced thermal capacity for stability and protection. The effect of cryogen porosity is also considered. The relatively high heat capacity of solid cryogens at these lower temperatures (compared to gaseous helium) enhances the thermal stability of the winding. During operation, coolant flow through the open inner channel will minimize pressure drop.

  13. Coamorphous Loratadine-Citric Acid System with Enhanced Physical Stability and Bioavailability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jin; Chang, Ruimiao; Zhao, Yanan; Zhang, Jiye; Zhang, Ting; Fu, Qiang; Chang, Chun; Zeng, Aiguo

    2017-10-01

    Coamorphous systems using citric acid as a small molecular excipient were studied for improving physical stability and bioavailability of loratadine, a BCS class II drug with low water solubility and high permeability. Coamorphous loratadine-citric acid systems were prepared by solvent evaporation technique and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray powder diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Solid-state analysis proofed that coamorphous loratadine-citric acid system (1:1) was amorphous and homogeneous, had a higher T g over amorphous loratadine, and the intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions between loratadine and citric acid exist. The solubility and dissolution of coamorphous loratadine-citric acid system (1:1) were found to be significantly greater than those of crystalline and amorphous form. The pharmacokinetic study in rats proved that coamorphous loratadine-citric acid system (1:1) could significantly improve absorption and bioavailability of loratadine. Coamorphous loratadine-citric acid system (1:1) showed excellently physical stability over a period of 3 months at 25°C under 0% RH and 25°C under 60% RH conditions. The improved stability of coamorphous loratadine-citric acid system (1:1) could be related to an elevated T g over amorphous form and the intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions between loratadine and citric acid. These studies demonstrate that the developed coamorphous loratadine-citric acid system might be a promising oral formulation for improving solubility and bioavailability of loratadine.

  14. Stability Enhancement Based on Virtual Impedance for DC Microgrids with Constant Power Loads

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lu, Xiaonan; Sun, Kai; Guerrero, Josep M.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, a converter-based DC microgrid is studied. By considering the impact of each component in DC microgrids on system stability, a multi-stage configuration is employed, which includes the source stage, interface converter stage between buses and common load stage. In order to study th....... It can be seen that by using the proposed stabilizers, the unstable poles induced by the CPLs are forced to move into the stable region. The proposed method is verified by the MATLAB/Simulink model of multi-stage DC microgrids with three distributed power generation units.......In this paper, a converter-based DC microgrid is studied. By considering the impact of each component in DC microgrids on system stability, a multi-stage configuration is employed, which includes the source stage, interface converter stage between buses and common load stage. In order to study...... the overall stability of the above DC microgrid with constant power loads (CPLs), a comprehensive small-signal model is derived by analyzing the interface converters in each stage. The instability issue induced by the CPLs is revealed by using the criteria of impedance matching. Meanwhile, virtual...

  15. Enhanced switching stability in Ta2O5 resistive RAM by fluorine doping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sedghi, N.; Li, H.; Brunell, I. F.; Dawson, K.; Guo, Y.; Potter, R. J.; Gibbon, J. T.; Dhanak, V. R.; Zhang, W. D.; Zhang, J. F.; Hall, S.; Robertson, J.; Chalker, P. R.

    2017-08-01

    The effect of fluorine doping on the switching stability of Ta2O5 resistive random access memory devices is investigated. It shows that the dopant serves to increase the memory window and improve the stability of the resistive states due to the neutralization of oxygen vacancies. The ability to alter the current in the low resistance state with set current compliance coupled with large memory window makes multilevel cell switching more favorable. The devices have set and reset voltages of <1 V with improved stability due to the fluorine doping. Density functional modeling shows that the incorporation of fluorine dopant atoms at the two-fold O vacancy site in the oxide network removes the defect state in the mid bandgap, lowering the overall density of defects capable of forming conductive filaments. This reduces the probability of forming alternative conducting paths and hence improves the current stability in the low resistance states. The doped devices exhibit more stable resistive states in both dc and pulsed set and reset cycles. The retention failure time is estimated to be a minimum of 2 years for F-doped devices measured by temperature accelerated and stress voltage accelerated retention failure methods.

  16. Solid dispersions of Myricetin with enhanced solubility: Formulation, characterization and crystal structure of stability-impeding Myricetin monohydrate crystals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mureşan-Pop, M.; Pop, M. M.; Borodi, G.; Todea, M.; Nagy-Simon, T.; Simon, S.

    2017-08-01

    Three solid dispersion forms of Myricetin combined with the Polyvinylpyrrolidone were successfully prepared by spray drying method, and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, thermal analysis, infrared spectroscopy and optical microscopy. Zeta potential measurements provided indications on solid dispersions stability in aqueous suspension related to their storage at elevated temperature and relative humidity, which depends on the Myricetin load. By increase of Myricetin load, the stability of the solid dispersion is impeded due to growth of Myricetin monohydrate crystals. The amorphous dispersions with 10% and 50% Myricetin load are stable and, compared to pure Myricetin, their aqueous solubility is enhanced by a factor of 47 and 13, respectively. The dispersion with 80% Myricetin load is unstable on storage, and this behavior acts in conjunction with the development of Myricetin monohydrate crystals. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction results obtained for Myricetin monohydrate reveal a structure of an infinite 2D network of hydrogen-bonded molecules involving all six hydroxyl groups of Myricetin. The water molecules are positioned in between the infinite chains, and contribute via H-bonds to robust crystal packing. The calculated needle-like morphology of monohydrate form is in agreement with the optical microscopy results. The study shows that the solid amorphous dispersions with up to 50% Myricetin load are a viable option for achieving substantial solubility improvement of Myricetin, and supports their potential use in pharmaceutical applications.

  17. The effect of betaine on the foam stability: Molecular simulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gao, Fengfeng [Chemistry Engineering Department, Zibo Vocational Institute, Zibo 255314 (China); Key laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Liu, Guokui [Key laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Yuan, Shiling, E-mail: shilingyuan@sdu.edu.cn [Key laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China)

    2017-06-15

    Highlights: • The reasons of betaine to enhance the stability of foam films are investigated by molecular simulation. • An electrostatic structure is formed at the air/water interface due to the electrostatic interaction. • The electrostatic structure becomes denser with the increasing concentration of betaine. - Abstract: Zwitterionic betaines are widely used as foam boosters due to these can enhance the stability of foam films. In this paper, mechanistic insights of betaine to improve the stability of alkyl-polyoxyethylene carboxylate (AEC) foam are provided by molecular simulation. In the simulation, we observe the electropositive nitrogen atoms in betaine interact with the electronegative sulfur atoms, an electrostatic structure is formed at the air/water interface. Interaction energies of the mixed surfactants are calculated by the quantum chemistry methods. The calculations show betaine-AEC and betaine–betaine possess attractive interaction, and that AEC–AEC has repulsion to each other. In the other words, the repulsion between the headgroups of anionic surfactants is relaxed by betaine. Additionally, the influence of concentration of betaine on the stability of foam films is also simulated. The RDF and coordination numbers show that the electrostatic structures become denser with the increasing concentration of betaine. Therefore, entry barrier is enhanced accordingly. The SMD simulation also demonstrates the same variation tendency of entry barrier. The simulation details provide vital supplements to experiments.

  18. Stability and the proximity theorem in Casimir actuated nano devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esquivel-Sirvent, R.; Reyes, L.; Bárcenas, J.

    2006-10-01

    A brief description of the stability problem in micro and nano electromechanical devices (MEMS/NEMS) actuated by Casimir forces is given. To enhance the stability, we propose the use of curved surfaces and recalculate the stability conditions by means of the proximity force approximation. The use of curved surfaces changes the bifurcation point, and the radius of curvature becomes a control parameter, allowing a rescaling of the elastic restitution constant and/or of the typical dimensions of the device.

  19. Intentional salt clogging: A novel concept for long-term CO2 sealing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wasch, L.J.; Wollenweber, J.; Tambach, T.J.

    2013-01-01

    Well abandonment in the context of CO2 storage operations demands a mitigation strategy for CO2 leakage along the wellbore. To prevent possible CO2 transport toward the surface and to protect the wellbore material from contact with acid brine, we propose forming a salt seal around the wellbore at

  20. Controllable Spatial Configuration on Cathode Interface for Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance and Device Stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jiangsheng; Duan, Chenghao; Wang, Ning; Zhao, Chengjie; Han, Wei; Jiang, Li; Wang, Jizheng; Zhao, Yingjie; Huang, Changshui; Jiu, Tonggang

    2018-05-08

    The molecular structure of cathode interface modification materials can affect the surface morphology of the active layer and key electron transfer processes occurring at the interface of polymer solar cells in inverted structures mostly due to the change of molecular configuration. To investigate the effects of spatial configuration of the cathode interfacial modification layer on polymer solar cells device performances, we introduced two novel organic ionic salts (linear NS2 and three-dimensional (3D) NS4) combined with the ZnO film to fabricate highly efficient inverted solar cells. Both organic ionic salts successfully decreased the surface traps of the ZnO film and made its work function more compatible. Especially NS4 in three-dimensional configuration increased the electron mobility and extraction efficiency of the interfacial film, leading to a significant improvement of device performance. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.09% based on NS4 was achieved. Moreover, 3D interfacial modification could retain about 92% of its initial PCE over 160 days. It is proposed that 3D interfacial modification retards the element penetration-induced degradation without impeding the electron transfer from the active layer to the ZnO film, which significantly improves device stability. This indicates that inserting three-dimensional organic ionic salt is an efficient strategy to enhance device performance.

  1. Vaccine stabilization: research, commercialization, and potential impact.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kristensen, Debra; Chen, Dexiang; Cummings, Ray

    2011-09-22

    All vaccines are susceptible to damage by elevated temperatures and many are also damaged by freezing. The distribution, storage, and use of vaccines therefore present challenges that could be reduced by enhanced thermostability, with resulting improvements in vaccine effectiveness. Formulation and processing technologies exist that can improve the stability of vaccines at temperature extremes, however, customization is required for individual vaccines and results are variable. Considerations affecting decisions about stabilization approaches include development cost, manufacturing cost, and the ease of use of the final product. Public sector agencies can incentivize vaccine developers to prioritize stabilization efforts through advocacy and by implementing policies that increase demand for thermostable vaccines. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Intercorrelated Ag3PO4 nanoparticles decorated with graphic carbon nitride: Enhanced stability and photocatalytic activities for water treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Jia; Chai, Yuanyuan; Liu, Qianqian; Zhang, Lu; Dai, Wei-Lin

    2017-05-01

    The method of decorating Ag3PO4 nanoparticles with carbon nitride material (g-C3N4) is demonstrated as an efficient pathway to remarkably improve the stability and photocatalytic performance of Ag3PO4 nanoparticles which have been widely used in photocatalysis, but limited by the instability. The improved material herein results in the largely enhanced photocatalytic performance for water purification under visible light irradiation, which was nearly 7 times as high as that of pure Ag3PO4. Meanwhile, the as-obtained materials show the unique stable property, mainly contributed by the protection effect of decorated g-C3N4 sheet. Additionally, the radical trapping experiments revealed that the introduction of g-C3N4 transformed the photocatalytic mechanism to some degree, where rad O2- played a more important role. The tremendous enhancement in catalytic performance may be attributed to the larger surface area, controllable particle size and the synergistic effect between Ag3PO4 and g-C3N4, promoting the separation efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The decorating system can in principle be broadly put into use for unstable photocatalysts.

  3. Cavity-enhanced spectroscopies

    CERN Document Server

    van Zee, Roger

    2003-01-01

    ""Cavity-Enhanced Spectroscopy"" discusses the use of optical resonators and lasers to make sensitive spectroscopic measurements. This volume is written by the researcchers who pioneered these methods. The book reviews both the theory and practice behind these spectroscopic tools and discusses the scientific discoveries uncovered by these techniques. It begins with a chapter on the use of optical resonators for frequency stabilization of lasers, which is followed by in-depth chapters discussing cavity ring-down spectroscopy, frequency-modulated, cavity-enhanced spectroscopy, intracavity spectr

  4. Driving-induced stability with long-range effects

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Basu, U.; De Buyl, P.; Maes, Ch.; Netočný, Karel

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 115, č. 3 (2016), 1-7, č. článku 30007. ISSN 0295-5075 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : stochastic thermodynamics * nonequilibrium steady states * stability enhancement Subject RIV: BE - Theoretical Physics Impact factor: 1.957, year: 2016

  5. Nuclear-enhanced geothermal heat recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, W.H. II

    1995-01-01

    This report proposes the testing of an abandoned drill well for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel rods. The well need not be in a geothermal field, since the downhole assembly takes advantage of only the natural thermal gradient. The water in the immediate vicinity of the fuel will be chemically treated for corrosion resistance. Above this will be a long column of viscous fluid insoluble in water, to act as a fluid barrier. The remainder of the well bore, up to the surface, will be the working fluid for the power turbine at the surface. There will be a low-pressure region in the immediate vicinity of the fuel, encouraging the flashing of steam. Due to the low level of heat emitted by the fuel rods, the radioactive material will be surrounded by a secondary casing that will reduce the water it contacts directly, thus causing it to heat up quickly and to maximize the steam-generating process, and the formation of air nuclides. These will percolate upward through the viscous column where steadily decreasing pressure causes expansion. The nuclear fuel's thermal energy will have been transferred through the high radioactive zone as pressure, then it will flash to steam and heat the water in the top of the wellbore. The drill well, a minimum of 10,000 ft. in depth, will naturally heat any circulating fluid. The fuel is not used as a thermal source, but only to produce a few spontaneous bubbles, sufficient to increase the fluid pressure by expansion as it rises in the wellbore. The additional thermal energy from the nuclear source will superheat the water for use in the power-generation apparatus at the surface. This equipment, operating on very-low radioactive fluid, will be protected by a secondary containment. The typical drill well is ideally suited for the insertion of spent fuel rods, which are smaller than downhole tools and instrumentation regularly installed in production wells

  6. Geochemical alteration of wellbore cement by CO2 or CO2+H 2 S reaction during long-term carbon storage: Original Research Article: Geochemical alteration of wellbore cement by CO2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Um, Wooyong [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Rod, Kenton A. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Jung, Hun Bok [New Jersey City University, Jersey City NJ USA; Brown, Christopher F. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA

    2016-03-22

    Cement samples were reacted with CO2-saturated groundwater, with or without added H2S (1 wt.%), at 50°C and 10 MPa for up to 13 months (CO2 only) or for up to 3.5 months (CO2 + H2S) under static conditions. After the reaction, X-ray computed tomography images revealed that calcium carbonate precipitation (CaCO3) occurred extensively within the fractures in the cement matrix, but only partially along fractures at the cement-basalt interface. Exposure of a fractured cement sample to CO2-saturated groundwater (50°C and 10 MPa) over a period of 13 months demonstrated progressive healing of cement fractures by CaCO3(s) precipitation. After reaction with CO2 + H2S-saturated groundwater, CaCO3 (s) precipitation also occurred more extensively within the cement fracture than along the cement-basalt caprock interfaces. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that major cement carbonation products of the CO2 + H2S-saturated groundwater were calcite, aragonite, and vaterite, all consistent with cement carbonation by CO2-saturated groundwater. While pyrite is thermodynamically favored to form, due to the low H2S concentration it was not identified by XRD in this study. The cement alteration rate into neat Portland cement columns by CO2-saturated groundwater was similar at ~0.02 mm/d, regardless of the cement-curing pressure and temperature (P-T) conditions, or the presence of H2S in the brine. The experimental results imply that the wellbore cement with fractures is likely to be healed during exposure to CO2- or CO2 + H2S-saturated groundwater, whereas fractures along the cement-caprock interface are likely to remain open and vulnerable to the leakage of CO2.

  7. Evaluation and enhancement of physical stability of semi-solid dispersions containing piroxicam into hard gelatin capsules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karataş, Ayşegül; Bekmezci, Serife

    2013-01-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate the physical stability of the semi-solid dispersions into the hard gelatine capsules prepared with Gelucire 44/14, Labrasol and different additives such as microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), mannitol and lactose (alpha-monohydrate) used for enhancing the stability of the formulations. The master dispersion prepared with only Gelucire 44/14 (20% w/w) and Labrasol (80% w/w) was stored in a refrigerator (5 +/- 3 degrees C), while the modified dispersions with the additives (2% w/w) were kept in a climatic chamber (25 +/- 2 degrees C / 60 +/- 5% RH) for 12 months. Dissolution tests of the semi-solid dispersions were performed in media with different pH's immediatly after preparation and after 3, 6 and 12 months of storage. FTIR and DSC studies were also carried out at the same time points. The ideal storage condition for the master dispersion was found to be at 5 degrees C. The addition of MCC, mannitol and lactose (alpha-monohydrate) to the original dispersion afforded a solidification effect on the formulation at room temperature and showed the same dissolution behavior (not less than 85% of piroxicam within 30 min in pH 1.2, 4.5 and 6.8; and water) with the master. The dispersion including lactose was stable at 25 degrees C for 12 months. However, the ideal period of storage for the modified dispersions including MCC and mannitol was 6 months at 25 degrees C. FTIR and DSC results both confirmed the amorphous state of piroxicam in all semi-solid dispersions under storage conditions for 12 months.

  8. PROVISION FOR ECONOMIC STABILITY OF CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISES UNDER CONDITIONS OF UNSTABLE RUSSIAN ECONOMY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. A. Kaminsky

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Construction enterprise economic stability is determined as condition at which there is most coordinated interaction of all activity components(financing, manufacturing, human resources, marketing, investment and management. Construction enterprise stability enhancing may beachieved through the implementation of adaptation programs. A mechanism of the impact on economic stability of individual components is described which makes it possible to increase overall stability of the construction company in different situations.

  9. Thermal Stability-Enhanced and High-Efficiency Planar Perovskite Solar Cells with Interface Passivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Weihai; Xiong, Juan; Jiang, Li; Wang, Jianying; Mei, Tao; Wang, Xianbao; Gu, Haoshuang; Daoud, Walid A; Li, Jinhua

    2017-11-08

    As the electron transport layer (ETL) of perovskite solar cells, oxide semiconductor zinc oxide (ZnO) has been attracting great attention due to its relatively high mobility, optical transparency, low-temperature fabrication, and good environment stability. However, the nature of ZnO will react with the patron on methylamine, which would deteriorate the performance of cells. Although many methods, including high-temperature annealing, doping, and surface modification, have been studied to improve the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells with ZnO ETL, devices remain relatively low in efficiency and stability. Herein, we adopted a novel multistep annealing method to deposit a porous PbI 2 film and improved the quality and uniformity of perovskite films. The cells with ZnO ETL were fabricated at the temperature of perovskite film. Interestingly, the PCE of PCBM-passivated cells could reach nearly 19.1%. To our best knowledge, this is the highest PCE value of ZnO-based perovskite solar cells until now. More importantly, PCBM modification could effectively suppress the decomposition of MAPbI 3 and improve the thermal stability of cells. Therefore, the ZnO is a promising candidate of electron transport material for perovskite solar cells in future applications.

  10. Proppant backflow: Mechanical and flow considerations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McLennan, John [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Walton, Ian [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Moore, Joseph [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Brinton, Dan [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Lund, Jeff [TerraTek Inc., Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

    2015-09-01

    One of the concerns of using proppant in geothermal wells, and particularly in enhanced geothermal systems, is proppant flowback. Particulate proppant maintain post-closure conductivity in hydraulically opened fractures. If that proppant is displaced from the near-wellbore region, either due to overflushing during stimulation or flowback to the wellbore at any time, the reduced fracture width chokes the injection or production. Two intermediate-scale laboratory analogs of a propped hydraulic fracture were prepared, and fluid was flowed through a normally stressed, propped fracture into a central wellbore. The tests were conducted in a polyaxial load frame. Acoustic/microseismic activity was measured during the injection programs. In one scenario—radial flow through a transverse fracture to a wellbore—the results suggest the creation of flow channels and nominally intact propped zones around the channels, maintaining fracture aperture. In the other—linear flow through a longitudinal fracture into a wellbore—there was substantially more proppant removal. The measurements have shown a greater tendency for proppant flowback in a linear flow situation (proppant movement is kinematically more restricted for radial convergent flow). The pressure gradients causing flow are exceedingly small and restraining flowback will be difficult. Convergent flow relationships could be an issue for injector wells, which will experience fluid flowback during hard shutdowns.

  11. FINANCIAL STABILITY AS A FACTOR ECONOMIC SECURITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Endovitskaya

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Summary. The article examines the linkages between financial stability and the level of its economic security. Considered the content of financial stability, represented by its own definition, we studied the basic conditions to achieve it. The logic diagram showing the location of financial stability and financial security to ensure the economic security of the business entity. A system of internal and external factors affecting the financial stability and endanger financial stability and financial security company. It has been established that it is the internal factors such as the availability of financial resources and financial position, capital structure, the company's ability to generate profits determine the level of economic security and its ability to withstand the negative impact of external and internal threats. The necessity of improving the financial sustainability in order to improve the economic security of the enterprise. On the basis of the research proposed matrix of risks affecting the financial stability and economic security, which allows to determine the probability of their occurrence and impact. It presents the economic, social, human, financial, organizational, economic, innovative and productive tools to increase the stability and financial security of an economic entity. List considered standard measures will make a plan of action to minimize the adverse impacts and enhance financial stability and security. Therefore, a prerequisite for the economic security of the enterprise is the attainment of financial stability.

  12. R and D on passive stabilization loop at EAST

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ji, X.; Song, Y.T.; Wu, S.T.; Shen, G.; Wang, Z.; Cao, L.; Zhou, Z.; Liu, X.; Peng, X.; Wang, C.; Wang, S.; Zhu, N.; Zhang, P.; Wu, J.; Gong, X.; Shen, B.; Gao, D.; Fu, P.; Wan, B.; Li, J.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► The passive stabilization loop (PSL) is part of the plasma stabilization system built in the EAST. The project of PSL has been carried out. ► The EM and structural analysis of PSL has been done. ► The R and D of the silvered craft for the PSL is done. ► The R and D of the insulation structure for the PSL is done. - Abstract: The passive stabilization loop (PSL) is part of the plasma stabilization system built in the EAST. Its purpose is to provide passive feedback control of the plasma vertical instability on short time scales. To accommodate with the new stage for high performance plasma and enhance the control of vertical stabilization in EAST, the project of PSL has been carried out. The eddy currents are induced by the vertical displacement events (VDEs) and disruption. The distribution of the eddy currents depend on the structure of the PSL and the formation of the induction. The global model is created and meshed by the ANSYS software. Based on the simulation of plasma VDEs and disruption, the distribution and decay curve of the eddy currents on the PSL are obtained. The stress and the strain caused by the eddy currents and the magnetic field are calculated. To decrease the resistance of the joint and enhance anti-corrosion of the joint surface, the silvered craft is used. In the experiment of test model, the resistance is decreased to half after silvered with the same matrix material and under the same preload. The PSL is insulated from the vacuum vessel at the supports of passive stabilizers. The insulation structure is designed and tested with ceramic material. The PSL is designed, fabricated and assembled with the total resistance 150 μΩ. It can supply passive feedback control to the plasma by the eddy currents induced by the VDEs, which could enhance the vertical placement control of plasma.

  13. R and D on passive stabilization loop at EAST

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ji, X., E-mail: jixiang@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China); Song, Y.T.; Wu, S.T.; Shen, G.; Wang, Z.; Cao, L.; Zhou, Z.; Liu, X.; Peng, X.; Wang, C.; Wang, S.; Zhu, N.; Zhang, P.; Wu, J.; Gong, X.; Shen, B.; Gao, D.; Fu, P.; Wan, B.; Li, J. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China)

    2012-08-15

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The passive stabilization loop (PSL) is part of the plasma stabilization system built in the EAST. The project of PSL has been carried out. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The EM and structural analysis of PSL has been done. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The R and D of the silvered craft for the PSL is done. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The R and D of the insulation structure for the PSL is done. - Abstract: The passive stabilization loop (PSL) is part of the plasma stabilization system built in the EAST. Its purpose is to provide passive feedback control of the plasma vertical instability on short time scales. To accommodate with the new stage for high performance plasma and enhance the control of vertical stabilization in EAST, the project of PSL has been carried out. The eddy currents are induced by the vertical displacement events (VDEs) and disruption. The distribution of the eddy currents depend on the structure of the PSL and the formation of the induction. The global model is created and meshed by the ANSYS software. Based on the simulation of plasma VDEs and disruption, the distribution and decay curve of the eddy currents on the PSL are obtained. The stress and the strain caused by the eddy currents and the magnetic field are calculated. To decrease the resistance of the joint and enhance anti-corrosion of the joint surface, the silvered craft is used. In the experiment of test model, the resistance is decreased to half after silvered with the same matrix material and under the same preload. The PSL is insulated from the vacuum vessel at the supports of passive stabilizers. The insulation structure is designed and tested with ceramic material. The PSL is designed, fabricated and assembled with the total resistance 150 {mu}{Omega}. It can supply passive feedback control to the plasma by the eddy currents induced by the VDEs, which could enhance the vertical placement control of plasma.

  14. Improving the stability of subnano-MoO3/meso-SiO2 catalyst through amino-functionalization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jiasheng; Wu, Wenpei; Yang, Qianfan; Wang, Wan-Hui; Bao, Ming

    Subnano-MoO3 clusters (below 1nm) have excellent catalytic activity on oxidative desulfurization (ODS). However, the stability is not very satisfactory due to the leaching of MoO3 during the reaction. To enhance the stability, here we developed a method by grafting NH2 to silica. NH2 could form coordination bond with MoO3, as proved by solid state 1H NMR, which can prevent MoO3 from leaching and thus significantly enhance the stability.

  15. An Effective Acid Combination for Enhanced Properties and Corrosion Control of Acidizing Sandstone Formation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shafiq, Mian Umer; Mahmud, Hisham Khaled Ben

    2016-01-01

    To fulfill the demand of the world energy, more technologies to enhance the recovery of oil production are being developed. Sandstone acidizing has been introduced and it acts as one of the important means to increase oil and gas production. Sandstone acidizing operation generally uses acids, which create or enlarge the flow channels of formation around the wellbore. In sandstone matrix acidizing, acids are injected into the formation at a pressure below the formation fracturing pressure, in which the injected acids react with mineral particles that may restrict the flow of hydrocarbons. Most common combination is Hydrofluoric Acid - Hydrochloric with concentration (3% HF - 12% HCl) known as mud acid. But there are some problems associated with the use of mud acid i.e., corrosion, precipitation. In this paper several new combinations of acids were experimentally screened to identify the most effective combination. The combinations used consist of fluoboric, phosphoric, formic and hydrofluoric acids. Cores were allowed to react with these combinations and results are compared with the mud acid. The parameters, which are analyzed, are Improved Permeability Ratio, strength and mineralogy. The analysis showed that the new acid combination has the potential to be used in sandstone acidizing. (paper)

  16. Folic acid-targeted disulfide-based cross-linking micelle for enhanced drug encapsulation stability and site-specific drug delivery against tumors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang Y

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Yumin Zhang,1,* Junhui Zhou,2,* Cuihong Yang,1 Weiwei Wang,3 Liping Chu,1 Fan Huang,1 Qiang Liu,1 Liandong Deng,2 Deling Kong,3 Jianfeng Liu,1 Jinjian Liu1 1Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, 2Department of Polymer Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, 3Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biomaterial Research, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally in this work Abstract: Although the shortcomings of small molecular antitumor drugs were efficiently improved by being entrapped into nanosized vehicles, premature drug release and insufficient tumor targeting demand innovative approaches that boost the stability and tumor responsiveness of drug-loaded nanocarriers. Here, we show the use of the core cross-linking method to generate a micelle with enhanced drug encapsulation ability and sensitivity of drug release in tumor. This kind of micelle could increase curcumin (Cur delivery to HeLa cells in vitro and improve tumor accumulation in vivo. We designed and synthesized the core cross-linked micelle (CCM with polyethylene glycol and folic acid-polyethylene glycol as the hydrophilic units, pyridyldisulfide as the cross-linkable and hydrophobic unit, and disulfide bond as the cross-linker. CCM showed spherical shape with a diameter of 91.2 nm by the characterization of dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscope. Attributed to the core cross-linking, drug-loaded CCM displayed higher Nile Red or Cur-encapsulated stability and better sensitivity to glutathione than noncross-linked micelle (NCM. Cellular uptake and in vitro antitumor studies proved the enhanced endocytosis and better cytotoxicity of CCM-Cur against

  17. Enhanced piezoelectric properties and excellent thermal stabilities of cobalt-modified Aurivillius-type calcium bismuth titanate (CaBi_4Ti_4O_1_5)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Tian-Long; Wang, Chun-Ming; Wang, Chun-Lei; Wang, Yi-Ming; Dong, Shuxiang

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Cobalt oxide modified CBT-based ceramics were prepared and investigated in detail. • XRPD analysis revealed Co ions enter into B-site of CBT-based ceramics. • CBT-Co4 ceramics show the enhanced d_3_3 of 14 pC/N and T_c of 782 °C. • CBT-Co4 ceramics present the improved high-temperature resistivity. • Thermal depoling behavior indicates CBT-Co4 ceramics exhibit good thermal stability. - Abstract: Bismuth layer-structured ferroelectric (BLSF) calcium bismuth titanate (CaBi_4Ti_4O_1_5, CBT) piezoelectric ceramics with 0.0–1.0 wt.% cobalt oxide (Co_2O_3) have been prepared via a conventional solid-state reaction method. Microstructural morphology and electrical properties of cobalt oxide-modified CBT ceramics were investigated in detail. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) analysis revealed that the cobalt oxide-modified CBT ceramics have a pure four-layer Aurivillius-type structure. The piezoelectric properties of CBT ceramics were significantly enhanced by cobalt oxide modifications. The piezoelectric coefficient d_3_3 and Curie temperature T_c of 0.2 wt.% cobalt oxide-modified CBT ceramics (CBT-Co4) are 14 pC/N and 782 °C, respectively. The DC resistivity and thermal depoling behavior at elevated temperature indicated that the CBT-Co4 ceramics exhibit good thermal stability, demonstrating that the CBT-Co4 ceramics are potential materials for high temperature piezoelectric applications.

  18. Recent advances in exploiting ionic liquids for biomolecules: Solubility, stability and applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sivapragasam, Magaret; Moniruzzaman, Muhammad; Goto, Masahiro

    2016-08-01

    The technological utility of biomolecules (e.g. proteins, enzymes and DNA) can be significantly enhanced by combining them with ionic liquids (ILs) - potentially attractive "green" and "designer" solvents - rather than using in conventional organic solvents or water. In recent years, ILs have been used as solvents, cosolvents, and reagents for biocatalysis, biotransformation, protein preservation and stabilization, DNA solubilization and stabilization, and other biomolecule-based applications. Using ILs can dramatically enhance the structural and chemical stability of proteins, DNA, and enzymes. This article reviews the recent technological developments of ILs in protein-, enzyme-, and DNA-based applications. We discuss the different routes to increase biomolecule stability and activity in ILs, and the design of biomolecule-friendly ILs that can dissolve biomolecules with minimum alteration to their structure. This information will be helpful to design IL-based processes in biotechnology and the biological sciences that can serve as novel and selective processes for enzymatic reactions, protein and DNA stability, and other biomolecule-based applications. Copyright © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  19. Emerging trends in the stabilization of amorphous drugs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laitinen, Riikka; Löbmann, Korbinian; Strachan, Clare J.

    2013-01-01

    The number of active pharmaceutical substances having high therapeutic potential but low water solubility is constantly increasing, making it difficult to formulate these compounds as oral dosage forms. The solubility and dissolution rate, and thus potentially the bioavailability, of these poorly...... water-soluble drugs can be increased by the formation of stabilized amorphous forms. Currently, formulation as solid polymer dispersions is the preferred method to enhance drug dissolution and to stabilize the amorphous form of a drug. The purpose of this review is to highlight emerging alternative...... of mesoporous silicon and silica-based carriers are presented as potential means to increase the stability of amorphous pharmaceuticals....

  20. Synthesis of a Novel Polyethoxysilsesquiazane and Thermal Conversion into Ternary Silicon Oxynitride Ceramics with Enhanced Thermal Stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwase, Yoshiaki; Horie, Yoji; Daiko, Yusuke; Honda, Sawao; Iwamoto, Yuji

    2017-12-05

    A novel polyethoxysilsesquiazane ([EtOSi(NH) 1.5 ] n , EtOSZ) was synthesized by ammonolysis at -78 °C of ethoxytrichlorosilane (EtOSiCl₃), which was isolated by distillation as a reaction product of SiCl₄ and EtOH. Attenuated total reflection-infra red (ATR-IR), 13 C-, and 29 Si-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analyses of the ammonolysis product resulted in the detection of Si-NH-Si linkage and EtO group. The simultaneous thermogravimetric and mass spectrometry analyses of the EtOSZ under helium revealed cleavage of oxygen-carbon bond of the EtO group to evolve ethylene as a main gaseous species formed in-situ, which lead to the formation at 800 °C of quaternary amorphous Si-C-N with an extremely low carbon content (1.1 wt %) when compared to the theoretical EtOSZ (25.1 wt %). Subsequent heat treatment up to 1400 °C in N₂ lead to the formation of X-ray amorphous ternary Si-O-N. Further heating to 1600 °C in N₂ promoted crystallization and phase partitioning to afford Si₂N₂O nanocrystallites identified by the XRD and TEM analyses. The thermal stability up to 1400 °C of the amorphous state achieved for the ternary Si-O-N was further studied by chemical composition analysis, as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and 29 Si-NMR spectroscopic analyses, and the results were discussed aiming to develop a novel polymeric precursor for ternary amorphous Si-O-N ceramics with an enhanced thermal stability.

  1. Coordinated Control of Multiterminal DC Grid Power Injections for Improved Rotor-Angle Stability Based on Lyapunov Theory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksson, Robert

    2014-01-01

    The stability of an interconnected ac/dc system is affected by disturbances occurring in the system. Disturbances, such as three-phase faults, may jeopardize the rotor-angle stability and, thus, the generators fall out of synchronism. The possibility of fast change of the injected powers...... by the multiterminal dc grid can, by proper control action, enhance this stability. This paper proposes a new time optimal control strategy for the injected power of multiterminal dc grids to enhance the rotor-angle stability. The controller is time optimal, since it reduces the impact of a disturbance as fast...

  2. Microgrid Stability Controller Based on Adaptive Robust Total SMC

    OpenAIRE

    Su, Xiaoling; Han, Minxiao; Guerrero, Josep M.; Sun, Hai

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a microgrid stability controller (MSC) in order to provide existing distributed generation units (DGs) the additional functionality of working in islanding mode without changing their control strategies in grid-connected mode and to enhance the stability of the microgrid. Microgrid operating characteristics and mathematical models of the MSC indicate that the system is inherently nonlinear and time-variable. Therefore, this paper proposes an adaptive robust total sliding...

  3. Innovative Solution to Video Enhancement

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    Through a licensing agreement, Intergraph Government Solutions adapted a technology originally developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for enhanced video imaging by developing its Video Analyst(TM) System. Marshall's scientists developed the Video Image Stabilization and Registration (VISAR) technology to help FBI agents analyze video footage of the deadly 1996 Olympic Summer Games bombing in Atlanta, Georgia. VISAR technology enhanced nighttime videotapes made with hand-held camcorders, revealing important details about the explosion. Intergraph's Video Analyst System is a simple, effective, and affordable tool for video enhancement and analysis. The benefits associated with the Video Analyst System include support of full-resolution digital video, frame-by-frame analysis, and the ability to store analog video in digital format. Up to 12 hours of digital video can be stored and maintained for reliable footage analysis. The system also includes state-of-the-art features such as stabilization, image enhancement, and convolution to help improve the visibility of subjects in the video without altering underlying footage. Adaptable to many uses, Intergraph#s Video Analyst System meets the stringent demands of the law enforcement industry in the areas of surveillance, crime scene footage, sting operations, and dash-mounted video cameras.

  4. Poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic acid)-functionalized porous silicon nanoparticles for enhanced stability and cellular internalization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahbazi, Mohammad-Ali; Almeida, Patrick V; Mäkilä, Ermei; Correia, Alexandra; Ferreira, Mónica P A; Kaasalainen, Martti; Salonen, Jarno; Hirvonen, Jouni; Santos, Hélder A

    2014-03-01

    Currently, developing a stable nanocarrier with high cellular internalization and low toxicity is a key bottleneck in nanomedicine. Here, we have developed a successful method to covalently conjugate poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic acid) (PMVE-MA) copolymer on the surface of (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane-functionalized thermally carbonized porous silicon nanoparticles (APSTCPSi NPs), forming a surface negatively charged nanovehicle with unique properties. This polymer conjugated NPs could modify surface smoothness, charge, and hydrophilicity of the developed NPs, leading to considerable improvement in the colloidal and plasma stabilities via enhanced suspensibility and charge repulsion. Furthermore, despite the surface negative charge of the polymer-conjugated NPs, the cellular internalization was increased in both MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. These results provide a proof-of-concept evidence that such polymer-based PSi nanocomposite can be extensively used as a promising candidate for intracellular drug delivery. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  5. A recyclable Au(I) catalyst for selective homocoupling of arylboronic acids: significant enhancement of nano-surface binding for stability and catalytic activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xin; Zhao, Haitao; Wang, Jianhui

    2010-08-01

    Au nanoparticles stabilized by polystyrene-co-polymethacrylic acid microspheres (PS-co-PMAA) were prepared and characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The Au nanoparticles supported on the microspheres showed highly selective catalytic activity for homo-coupling reactions of arylboronic acids in a system of aryl-halides and arylboronic acids. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of the catalyst shows large amounts of Au(I) complexes band to the surface of the Au nanoparticles, which contributes to the selective homocoupling of the arylboronic acids. More importantly, this supported Au complex is a highly recyclable catalyst. The supported Au catalyst can be recycled and reused at least 6 times for a phenylboronic acid reactant, whereas the parent complex shows very low catalytic activity for this compound. The high catalytic activity of this material is attributed to: (1) the high surface to volume ratio which leads to more active sites being exposed to reactants; (2) the strong surface binding of the Au nanoparticle to the Au(I) complexes, which enhances both the stability and the catalytic activity of these complexes.

  6. Experimental study on hydration damage mechanism of shale from the Longmaxi Formation in southern Sichuan Basin, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiangjun Liu

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available As a serious problem in drilling operation, wellbore instability restricts efficient development of shale gas. The interaction between the drilling fluid and shale with hydration swelling property would have impact on the generation and propagation mechanism of cracks in shale formation, leading to wellbore instability. In order to investigate the influence of the hydration swelling on the crack propagation, mineral components and physicochemical properties of shale from the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation (LF were investigated by using the XRD analysis, cation exchange capabilities (CEC analysis, and SEM observation, and we researched the hydration mechanism of LF shale. Results show that quartz and clay mineral are dominated in mineral composition, and illite content averaged 67% in clay mineral. Meanwhile, CEC of the LF shale are 94.4 mmol/kg. The process of water intruding inside shale along microcracks was able to be observed through high power microscope, meanwhile, the hydration swelling stress would concentrate at the crack tip. The microcracks would propagate, bifurcate and connect with each other, with increase of water immersing time, and it would ultimately develop into macro-fracture. Moreover, the macrocracks extend and coalesce along the bedding, resulting in the rock failure into blocks. Hydration swelling is one of the major causes that lead to wellbore instability of the LF shale, and therefore improving sealing capacity and inhibition of drilling fluid system is an effective measure to stabilize a borehole.

  7. Electrical Grid Stability Enhancement using Smart Home Frequency-response Grid -Friendly Appliance System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muawiya A. Kaigama

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Load shedding is a powerful scheme used for corrective and preventive measures; corrective to restore system’s stability and preventive to avoid catastrophic failure. However, the affected end users are deprived of power supply absolutely with no choice. This paper presents the design, development, feasibility and merits of Frequency-response Grid -Friendly Appliance System (FRGFAS in a smart home. FRGFAS is a decentralized Adaptive Load Shaving(ALS device that supports grid’s system stability by sensing grid’s frequency deterioration level and turns ON/OFF loads accordingly. The FRGFAS permits end users to carry out load shaving at their scale of preference in smart homes via flexible demand responses and automates outdoor lighting to optimum operational hours. FRGFAS obviate load shedding by shaving loads whenever the system is in distress and reset loads supply to the normal state when it stabilizes, this Consequently increases the end user comfort zone and averts a blackout.

  8. Enhancement of the oxygen reduction on nitride stabilized pt-M (M=Fe, Co, and Ni) core–shell nanoparticle electrocatalysts

    KAUST Repository

    Kuttiyiel, Kurian A.; Choi, YongMan; Hwang, Sun-Mi; Park, Gu-Gon; Yang, Tae-Hyun; Su, Dong; Sasaki, Kotaro; Liu, Ping; Adzic, Radoslav R.

    2015-01-01

    Given the harsh operating conditions in hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells, the stability of catalysts is one of the critical questions affecting their commercialization. We describe a distinct class of oxygen reduction (ORR) core–shell electrocatalysts comprised of nitride metal cores enclosed by thin Pt shells that is easily synthesized. The synthesis is reproducible and amenable to scale up. Our theoretical analysis and the experimental data indicate that metal nitride nanoparticle cores could significantly enhance the ORR activity as well as the durability of the core–shell catalysts as a consequence of combined geometrical, electronic and segregation effects on the Pt shells. In addition to its fuel cells application, this class of catalysts holds promise to significantly contribute in resolving the problem of platinum scarcity and furthermore indicates the guidelines for future research and development.

  9. Enhancement of the oxygen reduction on nitride stabilized pt-M (M=Fe, Co, and Ni) core–shell nanoparticle electrocatalysts

    KAUST Repository

    Kuttiyiel, Kurian A.

    2015-04-01

    Given the harsh operating conditions in hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells, the stability of catalysts is one of the critical questions affecting their commercialization. We describe a distinct class of oxygen reduction (ORR) core–shell electrocatalysts comprised of nitride metal cores enclosed by thin Pt shells that is easily synthesized. The synthesis is reproducible and amenable to scale up. Our theoretical analysis and the experimental data indicate that metal nitride nanoparticle cores could significantly enhance the ORR activity as well as the durability of the core–shell catalysts as a consequence of combined geometrical, electronic and segregation effects on the Pt shells. In addition to its fuel cells application, this class of catalysts holds promise to significantly contribute in resolving the problem of platinum scarcity and furthermore indicates the guidelines for future research and development.

  10. Modified silver nanowire transparent electrodes with exceptional stability against oxidation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Idier, J; Neri, W; Ly, I; Poulin, P; Backov, R; Labrugère, C

    2016-01-01

    We report an easy method to prepare thin, flexible and transparent electrodes that show enhanced inertness toward oxidation using modified silver nanowires (Ag NWs). Stabilization is achieved through the adsorption of triphenylphosphine (PPh 3 ) onto the Ag NW hybrid dispersions prior to their 2D organization as transparent electrodes on polyethylene terephtalate (PET) films. After 110 days in air (20 °C) under atmospheric conditions, the transmittance of the PET/Ag NW/PPh 3 based films is nearly unchanged, while the transmittance of the PET/Ag NW-based films decreases by about 5%. The sheet resistance increases for both materials as time elapses, but the rate of increase is more than four times slower for films stabilized by PPh 3 . The improved transmittance and conductivity results in a significantly enhanced stability for the figure of merit σ dc /σ op . This phenomenon is highlighted in highly oxidative nitric acid vapor. The tested stabilized films in such conditions exhibit a decrease to σ dc /σ op of only 38% after 75 min, whereas conventional materials exhibit a relative loss of 71%. In addition, by contrast to other classes of stabilizers, such as polymer or graphene-based encapsulants, PPh 3 does not alter the transparency or conductivity of the modified films. While the present films are made by membrane filtration, the stabilization method could be implemented directly in other liquid processes, including industrially scalable ones. (paper)

  11. Constructing a MoS2 QDs/CdS Core/Shell Flowerlike Nanosphere Hierarchical Heterostructure for the Enhanced Stability and Photocatalytic Activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shijing Liang

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available MoS2 quantum dots (QDs/CdS core/shell nanospheres with a hierarchical heterostructure have been prepared by a simple microwave hydrothermal method. The as-prepared samples are characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS and N2-sorption in detail. The photocatalytic activities of the samples are evaluated by water splitting into hydrogen. Results show that the as-prepared MoS2 QDs/CdS core/shell nanospheres with a diameter of about 300 nm are composed of the shell of CdS nanorods and the core of MoS2 QDs. For the photocatalytic reaction, the samples exhibit a high stability of the photocatalytic activity and a much higher hydrogen evolution rate than the pure CdS, the composite prepared by a physical mixture, and the Pt-loaded CdS sample. In addition, the stability of CdS has also been greatly enhanced. The effect of the reaction time on the formations of nanospheres, the photoelectric properties and the photocatalytic activities of the samples has been investigated. Finally, a possible photocatalytic reaction process has also been proposed.

  12. Enhancing the performance of tungsten doped InZnO thin film transistors via sequential ambient annealing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Hyun-Woo; Song, Aeran; Kwon, Sera; Choi, Dukhyun; Kim, Younghak; Jun, Byung-Hyuk; Kim, Han-Ki; Chung, Kwun-Bum

    2018-03-01

    This study suggests a sequential ambient annealing process as an excellent post-treatment method to enhance the device performance and stability of W (tungsten) doped InZnO thin film transistors (WIZO-TFTs). Sequential ambient annealing at 250 °C significantly enhanced the device performance and stability of WIZO-TFTs, compared with other post-treatment methods, such as air ambient annealing and vacuum ambient annealing at 250 °C. To understand the enhanced device performance and stability of WIZO-TFT with sequential ambient annealing, we investigate the correlations between device performance and stability and electronic structures, such as band alignment, a feature of the conduction band, and band edge states below the conduction band. The enhanced performance of WIZO-TFTs with sequential ambient annealing is related to the modification of the electronic structure. In addition, the dominant mechanism responsible for the enhanced device performance and stability of WIZO-TFTs is considered to be a change in the shallow-level and deep-level band edge states below the conduction band.

  13. Advances of Researches on Improving the Stability of Foams by Nanoparticles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, G.; Wang, K. L.; Lu, C. J.

    2017-09-01

    Recently, nano-tech made a change of traditional oil-gas exploration. Considering that foam fluid had a poor stability, investigators proposed to add nanoparticles to stabilize the foam fluid system. This paper described the mechanism of particles to improve the stability of the foam fluid in detail; and emphasized the synergistic effect between nanoparticles and surfactants and its effect on the foaming and foam stability of dispersions; and reviewed the latest applications of foam fluid that was stabilized by nanoparticle in enhancing oil-gas recovery, in which there are analysis that showed that the nanoparticles not only greatly increase the stability of the foam fluid, but also improve the efficiency of foam fluid; and lastly, forecasted the development of nanotechnology in petroleum areas.

  14. Emerging trends in the stabilization of amorphous drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laitinen, Riikka; Löbmann, Korbinian; Strachan, Clare J; Grohganz, Holger; Rades, Thomas

    2013-08-30

    The number of active pharmaceutical substances having high therapeutic potential but low water solubility is constantly increasing, making it difficult to formulate these compounds as oral dosage forms. The solubility and dissolution rate, and thus potentially the bioavailability, of these poorly water-soluble drugs can be increased by the formation of stabilized amorphous forms. Currently, formulation as solid polymer dispersions is the preferred method to enhance drug dissolution and to stabilize the amorphous form of a drug. The purpose of this review is to highlight emerging alternative methods to amorphous polymer dispersions for stabilizing the amorphous form of drugs. First, an overview of the properties and stabilization mechanisms of amorphous forms is provided. Subsequently, formulation approaches such as the preparation of co-amorphous small-molecule mixtures and the use of mesoporous silicon and silica-based carriers are presented as potential means to increase the stability of amorphous pharmaceuticals. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Decentralized linear quadratic power system stabilizers for multi ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Introduction. Modern excitation systems considerably enhance the overall transient stability of power systems ..... to the local bus rather than the angle δ measured with respect to the remote bus. ... With this in view, the linear and nonlinear per-.

  16. Energy Optimization for Distributed Energy Resources Scheduling with Enhancements in Voltage Stability Margin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morais, Hugo; Sousa, Tiago; Perez, Angel

    2016-01-01

    to evaluate the resulting multiobjective optimization problem: the sum-weighted Pareto front and an adapted goal programming methodology. With this new methodology, the system operators can consider both the costs and voltage stability. Priority can be assigned to one objective function according...... to the operating scenario. Additionally, it is possible to evaluate the impact of the distributed generation and the electric vehicles in the management of voltage stability in the future electric networks. One detailed case study considering a distribution network with high penetration of distributed energy...

  17. Immobilization of non-point phosphorus using stabilized magnetite nanoparticles with enhanced transportability and reactivity in soils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pan Gang; Li Lei; Zhao Dongye; Chen Hao

    2010-01-01

    Laboratory batch and column experiments were conducted to investigate the immobilization of phosphorus (P) in soils using synthetic magnetite nanoparticles stabilized with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-NP). Although CMC-stabilized magnetite particles were at the nanoscale, phosphorus removal by the nanoparticles was less than that of microparticles (MP) without the stabilizer due to the reduced P reactivity caused by the coating. The P reactivity of CMC-NP was effectively recovered when cellulase was added to degrade the coating. For subsurface non-point P pollution control for a water pond, it is possible to inject CMC-NP to form an enclosed protection wall in the surrounding soils. Non-stabilized 'nanomagnetite' could not pass through the soil column under gravity because it quickly agglomerated into microparticles. The immobilized P was 30% in the control soil column, 33% when treated by non-stabilized MP, 45% when treated by CMC-NP, and 73% when treated by both CMC-NP and cellulase. - CMC-stabilized magnetite nanoparticles can effectively penetrate soil columns and immobilize phosphate in situ.

  18. The effect of charge-introduction mutations on E. coli thioredoxin stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez-Jimenez, Raul; Godoy-Ruiz, Raquel; Ibarra-Molero, Beatriz; Sanchez-Ruiz, Jose M

    2005-04-01

    Technological applications of proteins are often hampered by their low-stability and, consequently, the development of procedures for protein stabilization is of considerable biotechnological interest. Here, we use simple electrostatics to determine positions in E. coli thioredoxin at which mutations that introduce new charged residues are expected to lead to stability enhancement. We also obtain the corresponding mutants and characterize their stability using differential scanning calorimetry. The results are interpreted in terms of the accessibility in the native structure of the mutated residues and the potential effect of the mutations on the residual structure of the denatured state.

  19. Modern Shale Gas Horizontal Drilling: Review of Best Practices for Exploration Phase Planning and Execution

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Nathaniel Harding; Stephen Smith; John Shelton; Mike D. Bumaman

    2009-01-01

    The challenging characteristics of shale formations often require horizontal drilling to economically develop their potential. While every shale gas play is unique, there are several best practices for the proper planning and execution of a horizontal well. In planning a horizontal well, the optimal method and technology for building inclination and extending the lateral section must be determined. Properly specified logging-while-drilling tools are essential to keep the wellbore within the target formation. Planning must also focus on casing design. Doing so will help ensure stability and enable reliable and productive completions. Shales pose a challenge for these elements of well planning due to their thin strata and potentially low mechanical competence when foreign fluids are introduced. Once a plan is developed, executing it is even more important to prove a viable exploration program. Fast, efficient drilling with wellbore control and minimal torque and drag should be the priority. This may be achieved by focusing on fluid hydraulics and rheology and bottom hole assembly. Managed pressure drilling (MPD) will help fast drilling, well control and stability. If MPD can be combined with new generation rotary steerable systems that allow the drill string to maintain rotation, impressive efficiencies are possible. Modern drilling parameter analysis represents the newest opportunity for executing shale gas horizontal wells. A method for ROP analysis to improve operational parameters and equipment selection is also proposed.

  20. Metal Stabilization of Collagen and de Novo Designed Mimetic Peptides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parmar, Avanish S; Xu, Fei; Pike, Douglas H; Belure, Sandeep V; Hasan, Nida F; Drzewiecki, Kathryn E; Shreiber, David I; Nanda, Vikas

    2015-08-18

    We explore the design of metal binding sites to modulate triple-helix stability of collagen and collagen-mimetic peptides. Globular proteins commonly utilize metals to connect tertiary structural elements that are well separated in sequence, constraining structure and enhancing stability. It is more challenging to engineer structural metals into fibrous protein scaffolds, which lack the extensive tertiary contacts seen in globular proteins. In the collagen triple helix, the structural adjacency of the carboxy-termini of the three chains makes this region an attractive target for introducing metal binding sites. We engineered His3 sites based on structural modeling constraints into a series of designed homotrimeric and heterotrimeric peptides, assessing the capacity of metal binding to improve stability and in the case of heterotrimers, affect specificity of assembly. Notable enhancements in stability for both homo- and heteromeric systems were observed upon addition of zinc(II) and several other metal ions only when all three histidine ligands were present. Metal binding affinities were consistent with the expected Irving-Williams series for imidazole. Unlike other metals tested, copper(II) also bound to peptides lacking histidine ligands. Acetylation of the peptide N-termini prevented copper binding, indicating proline backbone amide metal-coordination at this site. Copper similarly stabilized animal extracted Type I collagen in a metal-specific fashion, highlighting the potential importance of metal homeostasis within the extracellular matrix.

  1. Characteristics of thermal hydraulic stability in a HYPER system with enhanced natural circulation potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tak, Nam Il; Park, Won S.; Han, Seok Jung

    1999-06-01

    Pb-Bi eutectic chosen as a coolant of HYPER is an excellent heat transfer medium but requires relatively large pumping power. Thus the mixed cooling concept to increase economy and safety is being considered for HYPER. In this cooling concept, a large fraction of total thermal power is carried by natural circulation. However, the mixed cooling concept has been considered for conceptual designs only an it has never been applied to real reactors. The purpose of the present study is to provide simple tools to analyze mixed flow and to examine fundamental stability characteristics of mixed flow. Conventional one-dimensional approaches using mass, momentum, and energy conservation are used to describe a forced circulating flow affected by a large buoyancy force. The results of simple analysis using preliminary design parameters of HYPER show that cooling by mixed flow is possible only when the total pressure loss of system is sufficiently low. The stability behavior of mixed flow in a simple rectangular loop has been studied using numerical solutions of the governing equations. As in the case of natural circulation, three types of flow regions, such as stable, neutrally stable, and unstable regions, were found. The stability map of mixed flow has been obtained using the results of calculations. Forced flow due to the pump is found to increase the stability of the loop, since the stable portion of the stability map is increased. However, the unstable region of the mixed flow does not completely disappear, even though the pump exists. (author). 37 refs., 4 tabs., 23 figs

  2. Silver-mediated base pairings: towards dynamic DNA nanostructures with enhanced chemical and thermal stability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swasey, Steven M; Gwinn, Elisabeth G

    2016-01-01

    The thermal and chemical fragility of DNA nanomaterials assembled by Watson–Crick (WC) pairing constrain the settings in which these materials can be used and how they can be functionalized. Here we investigate use of the silver cation, Ag + , as an agent for more robust, metal-mediated self-assembly, focusing on the simplest duplex building blocks that would be required for more elaborate Ag + –DNA nanostructures. Our studies of Ag + -induced assembly of non-complementary DNA oligomers employ strands of 2–24 bases, with varied base compositions, and use electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to determine product compositions. High yields of duplex products containing narrowly distributed numbers of Ag + can be achieved by optimizing solution conditions. These Ag + -mediated duplexes are stable to at least 60 mM Mg 2+ , higher than is necessary for WC nanotechnology schemes such as tile assemblies and DNA origami, indicating that sequential stages of Ag + -mediated and WC-mediated assembly may be feasible. Circular dichroism spectroscopy suggests simple helical structures for Ag + -mediated duplexes with lengths to at least 20 base pairs, and further indicates that the structure of cytosine-rich duplexes is preserved at high urea concentrations. We therefore propose an approach towards dynamic DNA nanomaterials with enhanced thermal and chemical stability through designs that combine sturdy silver-mediated ‘frames’ with WC paired ‘pictures’. (paper)

  3. Enhancing the stability and performance of a battery cathode using a non-aqueous electrolyte

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Sung Yeol [Division of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912 (United States); Sen, Sujat [Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912 (United States); Song, Hyun-Kon [Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy and School of Nano-Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Banyeon-ri 100, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 689-798 (Korea); Palmore, G. Tayhas R. [Division of Biology and Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912 (United States)

    2010-06-15

    For conductive polymers to be considered materials for energy storage, both their electroactivity and stability must be optimized. In this study, a non-aqueous electrolyte (0.2 M LiClO{sub 4} in acetonitrile) was studied for its effect on the charge storage capacity and stability of two materials used in batteries developed in our laboratory, polypyrrole (pPy) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) doped with 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiaxoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS)). The results are compared to the performance of these materials in an aqueous electrolyte (0.2 M HCl/aq). Loss of ABTS dopant was eliminated principally due to the low solubility of ABTS in acetonitrile, resulting in cathode materials with improved stability in terms of load cycling and performance. (author)

  4. Recent Progress in MHD Stability Calculations of Compact Stellarators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu, G.Y.; Ku, L.P.; Redi, M.H.; Kessel, C.; Monticello, D.A.; Reiman, A.; Cooper, W.A.; Nuehrenberg, C.; Sanchez, R.; Ware, A.; Hirshman, S.P.; Spong, D.A.

    2000-01-01

    A key issue for compact stellarators is the stability of beta-limiting MHD modes, such as external kink modes driven by bootstrap current and pressure gradient. We report here recent progress in MHD stability studies for low-aspect-ratio Quasi-Axisymmetric Stellarators (QAS) and Quasi-Omnigeneous Stellarators (QOS). We find that the N = 0 periodicity-preserving vertical mode is significantly more stable in stellarators than in tokamaks because of the externally generated rotational transform. It is shown that both low-n external kink modes and high-n ballooning modes can be stabilized at high beta by appropriate 3D shaping without a conducting wall. The stabilization mechanism for external kink modes in QAS appears to be an enhancement of local magnetic shear due to 3D shaping. The stabilization of ballooning mode in QOS is related to a shortening of the normal curvature connection length

  5. Stabilizing the thermal lattice Boltzmann method by spatial filtering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillissen, J J J

    2016-10-01

    We propose to stabilize the thermal lattice Boltzmann method by filtering the second- and third-order moments of the collision operator. By means of the Chapman-Enskog expansion, we show that the additional numerical diffusivity diminishes in the low-wavnumber limit. To demonstrate the enhanced stability, we consider a three-dimensional thermal lattice Boltzmann system involving 33 discrete velocities. Filtering extends the linear stability of this thermal lattice Boltzmann method to 10-fold smaller transport coefficients. We further demonstrate that the filtering does not compromise the accuracy of the hydrodynamics by comparing simulation results to reference solutions for a number of standardized test cases, including natural convection in two dimensions.

  6. Frame Stability of Tunnel‐Structured Cryptomelane Nanofibers: The Role of Tunnel Cations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gao, Tao; Norby, Poul

    2013-01-01

    precursor to the tunnel‐structured cryptomelane, in which the K+ ions play important roles in templating and stabilizing the tunneled framework. The presence of tunnel K+ ions also enhances the frame stability of the cryptomelane nanofibers at elevated temperatures. The formation of a layered KxMn2O4 (x ≈ 0...

  7. Short Communication: Improved Stability and Efficacy of Diclofenac ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    An oleogel-based formulation of diclofenac diethylamine (DFDA) was prepared and evaluated for enhanced stability and efficacy. Efficacy was evaluated by carrageenan-induced paw oedema method on albino rats and compared with marketed emulgels. The present findings revealed that the developed oleogel ...

  8. Dynamics of bad-cavity-enhanced interaction with cold Sr atoms for laser stabilization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schäffer, S. A.; Christensen, B. T.R.; Henriksen, M. R.

    2017-01-01

    Hybrid systems of cold atoms and optical cavities are promising systems for increasing the stability of laser oscillators used in quantum metrology and atomic clocks. In this paper we map out the atom-cavity dynamics in such a system and demonstrate limitations as well as robustness of the approach....... We investigate the phase response of an ensemble of cold Sr88 atoms inside an optical cavity for use as an error signal in laser frequency stabilization. With this system we realize a regime where the high atomic phase shift limits the dynamical locking range. The limitation is caused by the cavity...

  9. Model and calculation of in situ stresses in anisotropic formations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yuezhi, W.; Zijun, L.; Lixin, H. [Jianghan Petroleum Institute, (China)

    1997-08-01

    In situ stresses in transversely isotropic material in relation to wellbore stability have been investigated. Equations for three horizontal in- situ stresses and a new formation fracture pressure model were described, and the methodology for determining the elastic parameters of anisotropic rocks in the laboratory was outlined. Results indicate significantly smaller differences between theoretically calculated pressures and actual formation pressures than results obtained by using the isotropic method. Implications for improvements in drilling efficiency were reviewed. 13 refs., 6 figs.

  10. Metal stabilization of collagen and de novo designed mimetic peptides

    OpenAIRE

    Parmar, Avanish S.; Xu, Fei; Pike, Douglas H.; Belure, Sandeep V.; Hasan, Nida F.; Drzewiecki, Kathryn E.; Shreiber, David I.; Nanda, Vikas

    2015-01-01

    We explore the design of metal binding sites to modulate triple-helix stability of collagen and collagen-mimetic peptides. Globular proteins commonly utilize metals to connect tertiary structural elements that are well separated in sequence, constraining structure and enhancing stability. It is more challenging to engineer structural metals into fibrous protein scaffolds, which lack the extensive tertiary contacts seen in globular proteins. In the collagen triple helix, the structural adjacen...

  11. Understanding structure-stability relationships of Candida antartica lipase B in ionic liquids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Diego, Teresa; Lozano, Pedro; Gmouh, Said; Vaultier, Michel; Iborra, José L

    2005-01-01

    Two different water-immiscible ionic liquids (ILs), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidizolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and butyltrimethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, were used for butyl butyrate synthesis from vinyl butyrate catalyzed by Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) at 2% (v/v) water content and 50 degrees C. Both the synthetic activity and stability of the enzyme in these ILs were enhanced as compared to those in hexane. Circular dichroism and intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopic techniques have been used over a period of 4 days to determine structural changes in the enzyme associated with differences in its stability for each assayed medium. CALB showed a loss in residual activity higher than 75% after 4 days of incubation in both water and hexane media at 50 degrees C, being related to great changes in both alpha-helix and beta-strand secondary structures. The stabilization of CALB, which was observed in the two ILs studied, was associated with both the maintenance of the 50% of initial alpha-helix content and the enhancement of beta-strands. Furthermore, intrinsic fluorescence studies clearly showed how a classical enzyme unfolding was occurring with time in both water and hexane media. However, the structural changes associated with the incubation of the enzyme in both ILs might be attributed to a compact and active enzyme conformation, resulting in an enhancement of the stability in these nonaqueous environments.

  12. Assessing Romanian financial sector stability: the importance of the international economic climate

    OpenAIRE

    Albulescu, Claudiu Tiberiu

    2008-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to develop an aggregate stability index for the Romanian financial system. The index which is meant to enhance the set of analysis used by the central bank to assess the financial stability accurately reflects the financial stability dynamics and the periods with financial turbulences during 1997-2007 in Romania. By the application of a technique which enables the measurement of the components’ contribution to the aggregate index volatility, we show that some individu...

  13. Dimensional stability of natural fibers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Driscoll, Mark S. [Ultraviolet Light/Electron Beam (UV/EB) Technology Center, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210 (United States); Smith, Jennifer L.; Woods, Sean; Tiss, Kenneth J. [Ultraviolet Light/Electron Beam (UV/EB) Technology Center, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210 and Sustainable Construction Management and Engineering, SUNY-ESF (United States); Larsen, L. Scott [New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), 17 Columbia Circle, Albany, NY 12203 (United States)

    2013-04-19

    One of the main problems associated with the use of natural fibers as reinforcing agents in composites is their uptake of moisture. Many natural fibers are lignocellulosic, which causes them to swell and shrink as the amount of available moisture changes. Swelling and shrinking can cause composites to prematurely fail. This paper presents the results of a preliminary study that considers the use of two different low molecular weight monomers, hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA), polymerized by electron beam ionizing radiation, to dimensionally stabilize natural fibers. Eight different treatments consisting of varying amounts of monomer, encapsulating agent, and cross-linkers, were evaluated for their ability to dimensionally stabilize sisal fiber. Results indicate that both polymerized HEA and HEMA can reduce the swelling of sisal fiber. The effectiveness of HEA and HEMA can be further enhanced with the use of a cross-linker (SR 454). The use of hydroxylated monomers to dimensionally stabilize natural fibers may play an important role in reducing delamination and improving fiber-resin adhesion in composites.

  14. Dimensional stability of natural fibers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Driscoll, Mark S.; Smith, Jennifer L.; Woods, Sean; Tiss, Kenneth J.; Larsen, L. Scott

    2013-01-01

    One of the main problems associated with the use of natural fibers as reinforcing agents in composites is their uptake of moisture. Many natural fibers are lignocellulosic, which causes them to swell and shrink as the amount of available moisture changes. Swelling and shrinking can cause composites to prematurely fail. This paper presents the results of a preliminary study that considers the use of two different low molecular weight monomers, hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA), polymerized by electron beam ionizing radiation, to dimensionally stabilize natural fibers. Eight different treatments consisting of varying amounts of monomer, encapsulating agent, and cross-linkers, were evaluated for their ability to dimensionally stabilize sisal fiber. Results indicate that both polymerized HEA and HEMA can reduce the swelling of sisal fiber. The effectiveness of HEA and HEMA can be further enhanced with the use of a cross-linker (SR 454). The use of hydroxylated monomers to dimensionally stabilize natural fibers may play an important role in reducing delamination and improving fiber-resin adhesion in composites.

  15. Laser frequency stabilization by combining modulation transfer and frequency modulation spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zi, Fei; Wu, Xuejian; Zhong, Weicheng; Parker, Richard H; Yu, Chenghui; Budker, Simon; Lu, Xuanhui; Müller, Holger

    2017-04-01

    We present a hybrid laser frequency stabilization method combining modulation transfer spectroscopy (MTS) and frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) for the cesium D2 transition. In a typical pump-probe setup, the error signal is a combination of the DC-coupled MTS error signal and the AC-coupled FMS error signal. This combines the long-term stability of the former with the high signal-to-noise ratio of the latter. In addition, we enhance the long-term frequency stability with laser intensity stabilization. By measuring the frequency difference between two independent hybrid spectroscopies, we investigate the short-and long-term stability. We find a long-term stability of 7.8 kHz characterized by a standard deviation of the beating frequency drift over the course of 10 h and a short-term stability of 1.9 kHz characterized by an Allan deviation of that at 2 s of integration time.

  16. Stability of interfacial waves in two-phase flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, W S [Ontario Hydro, Toronto, ON (Canada)

    1996-12-31

    The influence of the interfacial pressure and the flow distribution in the one-dimensional two-fluid model on the stability problems of interfacial waves is discussed. With a proper formulation of the interfacial pressure, the following two-phase phenomena can be predicted from the stability and stationary criteria of the interfacial waves: onset of slug flow, stationary hydraulic jump in a stratified flow, flooding in a vertical pipe, and the critical void fraction of a bubbly flow. It can be concluded that the interfacial pressure plays an important role in the interfacial wave propagation of the two-fluid model. The flow distribution parameter may enhance the flow stability range, but only plays a minor role in the two-phase characteristics. (author). 20 refs., 3 tabs., 4 figs.

  17. Eroding market stability by proliferation of financial instruments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caccioli, F.; Marsili, M.; Vivo, P.

    2009-10-01

    We contrast Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT), the theoretical basis for the development of financial instruments, with a dynamical picture of an interacting market, in a simple setting. The proliferation of financial instruments apparently provides more means for risk diversification, making the market more efficient and complete. In the simple market of interacting traders discussed here, the proliferation of financial instruments erodes systemic stability and it drives the market to a critical state characterized by large susceptibility, strong fluctuations and enhanced correlations among risks. This suggests that the hypothesis of APT may not be compatible with a stable market dynamics. In this perspective, market stability acquires the properties of a common good, which suggests that appropriate measures should be introduced in derivative markets, to preserve stability. in here

  18. Self-Stabilizing Measurement of Phase

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vinjanampathy, Sai

    2014-05-01

    Measuring phase accurately constitutes one of the most important task in precision measurement science. Such measurements can be deployed to measure everything from fundamental constants to measuring detuning and tunneling rates of atoms more precisely. Quantum mechanics enhances the ultimate bounds on the precision of such measurements possible, and exploit coherence and entanglement to reduce the phase uncertainty. In this work, we will describe a method to stabilize a decohering two-level atom and use the stabilizing measurements to learn the unknown phase acquired by the atom. Such measurements will employ a Bayesian learner to do active feedback control on the atom. We will discuss some ultimate bounds employed in precision metrology and an experimental proposal for the implementation of this scheme. Financial support from Ministry of Education, Singapore.

  19. Thermal transient analysis applied to horizontal wells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Duong, A.N. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corp., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is a thermal recovery process used to recover bitumen and heavy oil. This paper presented a newly developed model to estimate cooling time and formation thermal diffusivity by using a thermal transient analysis along the horizontal wellbore under a steam heating process. This radial conduction heating model provides information on the heat influx distribution along a horizontal wellbore or elongated steam chamber, and is therefore important for determining the effectiveness of the heating process in the start-up phase in SAGD. Net heat flux estimation in the target formation during start-up can be difficult to measure because of uncertainties regarding heat loss in the vertical section; steam quality along the horizontal segment; distribution of steam along the wellbore; operational conditions; and additional effects of convection heating. The newly presented model can be considered analogous to pressure transient analysis of a buildup after a constant pressure drawdown. The model is based on an assumption of an infinite-acting system. This paper also proposed a new concept of a heating ring to measure the heat storage in the heated bitumen at the time of testing. Field observations were used to demonstrate how the model can be used to save heat energy, conserve steam and enhance bitumen recovery. 18 refs., 14 figs., 2 appendices.

  20. Investigation the physicochemical properties and stability of w/o emulsion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iqbal, S.; Baloch, M.K.; Hameed, G.

    2014-01-01

    The study aims to investigate the stability of W/O emulsions with respect to coalescence time. The various concentrations of water were dispersed in oil phase (soybean oil). The compositions of organic and aqueous phases were varied by adding emulsifier (Monoglyceride), sodium chloride and thickening agent (mango's pulp). The technique employed for the mixing of two phases was homogenization. The Emulsion Stability Index (ESI), Viscosity changes, separation of organic and aqueous phases as a function of storage time have been studied. It has been found that monoglyceride increases the stability and decreases the emulsion stability index (ESI) and also decreases the viscosity changes with storage time while electrolytes and mango's pulp encourage the coalescence process and enhance the instability of the system. On the other hand the system that contained all the organic and aqueous ingredients showed high stability. (author)

  1. A collapse pressure prediction model for horizontal shale gas wells with multiple weak planes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ping Chen

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Since collapse of horizontal wellbore through long brittle shale interval is a major problem, the occurrence characteristics of weak planes were analyzed according to outcrop, core, and SEM and FMI data of shale rocks. A strength analysis method was developed for shale rocks with multiple weak planes based on weak-plane strength theory. An analysis was also conducted of the strength characteristics of shale rocks with uniform distribution of multiple weak planes. A collapse pressure prediction model for horizontal wells in shale formation with multiple weak planes was established, which takes into consideration the occurrence of each weak plane, wellbore stress condition, borehole azimuth, and in-situ stress azimuth. Finally, a case study of a horizontal shale gas well in southern Sichuan Basin was conducted. The results show that the intersection angle between the shale bedding plane and the structural fracture is generally large (nearly orthogonal; with the increase of weak plane number, the strength of rock mass declines sharply and is more heavily influenced by weak planes; when there are more than four weak planes, the rock strength tends to be isotropic and the whole strength of rock mass is greatly weakened, significantly increasing the risk of wellbore collapse. With the increase of weak plane number, the drilling fluid density (collapse pressure to keep borehole stability goes up gradually. For instance, the collapse pressure is 1.04 g/cm3 when there are no weak planes, and 1.55 g/cm3 when there is one weak plane, and 1.84 g/cm3 when there are two weak planes. The collapse pressure prediction model for horizontal wells proposed in this paper presented results in better agreement with those in actual situation. This model, more accurate and practical than traditional models, can effectively improve the accuracy of wellbore collapse pressure prediction of horizontal shale gas wells.

  2. Synthesis of urease hybrid nanoflowers and their enhanced catalytic properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somturk, Burcu; Yilmaz, Ismail; Altinkaynak, Cevahir; Karatepe, Aslıhan; Özdemir, Nalan; Ocsoy, Ismail

    2016-05-01

    Increasing numbers of materials have been extensively used as platforms for enzyme immobilization to enhance catalytic activity and stability. Although stability of enzyme was accomplished with immobilization approaches, activity of the most of the enzymes was declined after immobilization. Herein, we synthesize the flower shaped-hybrid nanomaterials called hybrid nanoflower (HNF) consisting of urease enzyme and copper ions (Cu(2+)) and report a mechanistic elucidation of enhancement in both activity and stability of the HNF. We demonstrated how experimental factors influence morphology of the HNF. We proved that the HNF (synthesized from 0.02mgmL(-1) urease in 10mM PBS (pH 7.4) at +4°C) exhibited the highest catalytic activity of ∼2000% and ∼4000% when stored at +4°C and RT, respectively compared to free urease. The highest stability was also achieved by this HNF by maintaining 96.3% and 90.28% of its initial activity within storage of 30 days at +4°C and RT, respectively. This dramatically enhanced activity is attributed to high surface area, nanoscale-entrapped urease and favorable urease conformation of the HNF. The exceptional catalytic activity and stability properties of HNF can be taken advantage of to use it in fields of biomedicine and chemistry. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. A Platinum Monolayer Core-Shell Catalyst with a Ternary Alloy Nanoparticle Core and Enhanced Stability for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haoxiong Nan

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We synthesize a platinum monolayer core-shell catalyst with a ternary alloy nanoparticle core of Pd, Ir, and Ni. A Pt monolayer is deposited on carbon-supported PdIrNi nanoparticles using an underpotential deposition method, in which a copper monolayer is applied to the ternary nanoparticles; this is followed by the galvanic displacement of Cu with Pt to generate a Pt monolayer on the surface of the core. The core-shell Pd1Ir1Ni2@Pt/C catalyst exhibits excellent oxygen reduction reaction activity, yielding a mass activity significantly higher than that of Pt monolayer catalysts containing PdIr or PdNi nanoparticles as cores and four times higher than that of a commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst. In 0.1 M HClO4, the half-wave potential reaches 0.91 V, about 30 mV higher than that of Pt/C. We verify the structure and composition of the carbon-supported PdIrNi nanoparticles using X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, and we perform a stability test that confirms the excellent stability of our core-shell catalyst. We suggest that the porous structure resulting from the dissolution of Ni in the alloy nanoparticles may be the main reason for the catalyst’s enhanced performance.

  4. Interpretation of horizontal well performance in complicated systems by the boundary element method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jongkittinarukorn, K.; Tiab, D. [Oklahoma Univ., School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering (United States); Escobar, F. H. [Surcolombiana Univ., Dept. of Petroleum Engineering (Colombia)

    1998-12-31

    A solution obtained by using the boundary element method to simulate pressure behaviour of horizontal wells in complicated reservoir-wellbore configurations is presented. Three different types of well bore and reservoir models were studied, i.e. a snake-shaped horizontal wellbore intersecting a two-layer reservoir with cross flow, a horizontal well in a three-layer reservoir with cross flow, and a vertical well intersecting a two-layer reservoir without cross flow. In each case, special attention was paid to the influence of wellbore inclination angle, the distance from the wellbore to the different boundaries and the permeability ratio. Performance of each of these types of wells are discussed. 9 refs., 18 figs.

  5. Oil recovery enhancement from fractured, low permeability reservoirs. Annual report 1990--1991, Part 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Poston, S.W.

    1991-12-31

    Joint funding by the Department of Energy and the State of Texas has Permitted a three year, multi-disciplinary investigation to enhance oil recovery from a dual porosity, fractured, low matrix permeability oil reservoir to be initiated. The Austin Chalk producing horizon trending thru the median of Texas has been identified as the candidate for analysis. Ultimate primary recovery of oil from the Austin Chalk is very low because of two major technological problems. The commercial oil producing rate is based on the wellbore encountering a significant number of natural fractures. The prediction of the location and frequency of natural fractures at any particular region in the subsurface is problematical at this time, unless extensive and expensive seismic work is conducted. A major portion of the oil remains in the low permeability matrix blocks after depletion because there are no methods currently available to the industry to mobilize this bypassed oil. The following multi-faceted study is aimed to develop new methods to increase oil and gas recovery from the Austin Chalk producing trend. These methods may involve new geological and geophysical interpretation methods, improved ways to study production decline curves or the application of a new enhanced oil recovery technique. The efforts for the second year may be summarized as one of coalescing the initial concepts developed during the initial phase to more in depth analyses. Accomplishments are predicting natural fractures; relating recovery to well-log signatures; development of the EOR imbibition process; mathematical modeling; and field test.

  6. Enhanced piezoelectric properties and excellent thermal stabilities of cobalt-modified Aurivillius-type calcium bismuth titanate (CaBi{sub 4}Ti{sub 4}O{sub 15})

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhao, Tian-Long [School of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Wang, Chun-Ming, E-mail: wangcm@sdu.edu.cn [School of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Wang, Chun-Lei; Wang, Yi-Ming [School of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Dong, Shuxiang [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)

    2015-11-15

    Highlights: • Cobalt oxide modified CBT-based ceramics were prepared and investigated in detail. • XRPD analysis revealed Co ions enter into B-site of CBT-based ceramics. • CBT-Co4 ceramics show the enhanced d{sub 33} of 14 pC/N and T{sub c} of 782 °C. • CBT-Co4 ceramics present the improved high-temperature resistivity. • Thermal depoling behavior indicates CBT-Co4 ceramics exhibit good thermal stability. - Abstract: Bismuth layer-structured ferroelectric (BLSF) calcium bismuth titanate (CaBi{sub 4}Ti{sub 4}O{sub 15}, CBT) piezoelectric ceramics with 0.0–1.0 wt.% cobalt oxide (Co{sub 2}O{sub 3}) have been prepared via a conventional solid-state reaction method. Microstructural morphology and electrical properties of cobalt oxide-modified CBT ceramics were investigated in detail. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) analysis revealed that the cobalt oxide-modified CBT ceramics have a pure four-layer Aurivillius-type structure. The piezoelectric properties of CBT ceramics were significantly enhanced by cobalt oxide modifications. The piezoelectric coefficient d{sub 33} and Curie temperature T{sub c} of 0.2 wt.% cobalt oxide-modified CBT ceramics (CBT-Co4) are 14 pC/N and 782 °C, respectively. The DC resistivity and thermal depoling behavior at elevated temperature indicated that the CBT-Co4 ceramics exhibit good thermal stability, demonstrating that the CBT-Co4 ceramics are potential materials for high temperature piezoelectric applications.

  7. Vane coupling rings: a simple technique for stabilizing a four-vane radiofrequency quadrupole structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Howard, D.; Lancaster, H.

    1982-11-01

    The benefits of stabilized accelerating structures, with regard to the manufacture and operation, have been well documented. The four-vane radiofrequency quadrupoles (RFQ) presently being designed and constructed in many laboratories are not stabilized because of the weak electromagnetic coupling between the quadrant resonators. This paper presents a simple technique developed at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory using vane coupling rings (VCR's) which azimuthally stabilize the RFQ structure and greatly enhance its use as a practical accelerator. In particular, the VCR's: completely eliminate the dipole modes in the frequency range of interest; provide adequate quadrant balance with an initial precision mechanical alignment of the vanes; and enhance axial balance and simplify end tuners. Experimental verification tests on a scale model are discussed

  8. Vane coupling rings: a simple technique for stabilizing a four-vane radiofrequency quadrupole structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Howard, D.; Lancaster, H.

    1983-01-01

    The benefits of stabilized accelerating structures, with regard to the manufacture and operation, have been well documented. The four-vane radiofrequency quadrupoles (RFQ) presently being designed and constructed in many laboratories are not stabilized because of the weak electromagnetic coupling between the quadrant resonators. This paper presents a simple technique developed at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory using vane coupling rings (VCR's) which azimuthally stabilize the RFQ structure and greatly enhance its use as a practical accelerator. In particular, the VCR's: Completely eliminate the dipole modes in the frequency range of interest; Provide adequate quadrant balance with an initial precision mechanical alignment of the vanes; Enhance axial balance and simplify end tuners. Experimental verification tests on a scale model will be discussed

  9. Experimental and DFT study of thiol-stabilized Pt/CNTs catalysts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, L; Chen, S G; Wei, Z D; Qi, X Q; Xia, M R; Wang, Y Q

    2012-12-28

    Using a combination of experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we explored the mechanisms of the stabilization effect of the thiolized (-SH) group on the Pt/SH-CNTs catalyst. Pt particles supported on the hydroxyl functionalized CNTs (Pt/OH-CNTs) are synthesized as a baseline for comparison. Experimentally, the platinum on OH-CNTs has a stronger tendency for aggregation than that on SH-CNTs. The differences in the oxidation resistance, migration activation energy, and corrosion resistance between the Pt/SH-CNTs and Pt/OH-CNTs are calculated using DFT. The DFT calculations indicate that the -SH group enhances the oxidation resistance of the Pt cluster and CNTs and restricts Pt migration on the CNTs. DFT calculations also suggest that the enhanced stability of Pt/SH-CNTs originates from the increased interaction between Pt and SH-CNTs and the depressed d-band center of the Pt NPs. Thus, the functional groups on the CNTs used for stabilization of supported Pt NPs should provide a deposit and anchor site for Pt NPs and maintain the perfect structure of CNTs rather than destroying it.

  10. A comprehensive overview on the micro- and nano-technological encapsulation advances for enhancing the chemical stability and bioavailability of carotenoids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soukoulis, Christos; Bohn, Torsten

    2018-01-02

    Carotenoids are lipophilic secondary plant compounds, and their consumption within fruits and vegetables has been positively correlated with a decreased risk of developing several chronic diseases. However, their bioavailability is often compromised due to incomplete release from the food matrix, poor solubility and potential degradation during digestion. In addition, carotenoids in food products are prone to oxidative degradation, not only lowering the nutritional value of the product but also triggering other quality deteriorative changes, such as formation of lipid pro-oxidants (free radicals), development of discolorations or off-flavor defects. Encapsulation refers to a physicochemical process, aiming to entrap an active substance in structurally engineered micro- or nano-systems, in order to develop an effective thermodynamical and physical barrier against deteriorative environmental conditions, such as water vapor, oxygen, light, enzymes or pH. In this context, encapsulation of carotenoids has shown to be a very effective strategy to improve their chemical stability under common processing conditions including storage. In addition, encapsulation may also enhance bioavailability (via influencing bioaccessibility and absorption) of lipophilic bioactives, via modulating their release kinetics from the carrier system, solubility and interfacial properties. In the present paper, it is aimed to present the state of the art of carotenoid microencapsulation in order to enhance storability and bioavailability alike.

  11. Effect of citronella essential oil fractions as oil phase on emulsion stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Septiyanti, Melati; Meliana, Yenny; Agustian, Egi

    2017-11-01

    The emulsion system consists of water, oil and surfactant. In order to create stable emulsion system, the composition and formulation between water phase, surfactant and oil phase are very important. Essential oil such as citronella oil has been known as active ingredient which has ability as insect repellent. This research studied the effect of citronella oil and its fraction as oil phase on emulsion stability. The cycle stability test was conducted to check the emulsion stability and it was monitored by pH, density, viscosity, particle size, refractive index, zeta potential, physical appearance and FTIR for 4 weeks. Citronellal fraction has better stability compared to citronella oil and rhodinol fraction with slight change of physical and chemical properties before and after the cycle stability test. However, it is need further study to enhance the stability of the emulsion stability for this formulation.

  12. The Nanofabrication and Application of Substrates for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xian Zhang

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS was discovered in 1974 and impacted Raman spectroscopy and surface science. Although SERS has not been developed to be an applicable detection tool so far, nanotechnology has promoted its development in recent decades. The traditional SERS substrates, such as silver electrode, metal island film, and silver colloid, cannot be applied because of their enhancement factor or stability, but newly developed substrates, such as electrochemical deposition surface, Ag porous film, and surface-confined colloids, have better sensitivity and stability. Surface enhanced Raman scattering is applied in other fields such as detection of chemical pollutant, biomolecules, DNA, bacteria, and so forth. In this paper, the development of nanofabrication and application of surface-enhanced Ramans scattering substrate are discussed.

  13. Theoretical studies of surface enhanced hyper-Raman spectroscopy: The chemical enhancement mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valley, Nicholas; Jensen, Lasse; Autschbach, Jochen; Schatz, George C.

    2010-08-01

    Hyper-Raman spectra for pyridine and pyridine on the surface of a tetrahedral 20 silver atom cluster are calculated using static hyperpolarizability derivatives obtained from time dependent density functional theory. The stability of the results with respect to choice of exchange-correlation functional and basis set is verified by comparison with experiment and with Raman spectra calculated for the same systems using the same methods. Calculated Raman spectra were found to match well with experiment and previous theoretical calculations. The calculated normal and surface enhanced hyper-Raman spectra closely match experimental results. The chemical enhancement factors for hyper-Raman are generally larger than for Raman (102-104 versus 101-102). Integrated hyper-Raman chemical enhancement factors are presented for a set of substituted pyridines. A two-state model is developed to predict these chemical enhancement factors and this was found to work well for the majority of the molecules considered, providing a rationalization for the difference between hyper-Raman and Raman enhancement factors.

  14. Non-ferromagnetic overburden casing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vinegar, Harold J.; Harris, Christopher Kelvin; Mason, Stanley Leroy

    2010-09-14

    Systems, methods, and heaters for treating a subsurface formation are described herein. At least one system for electrically insulating an overburden portion of a heater wellbore is described. The system may include a heater wellbore located in a subsurface formation and an electrically insulating casing located in the overburden portion of the heater wellbore. The casing may include at least one non-ferromagnetic material such that ferromagnetic effects are inhibited in the casing.

  15. Heavy metal stabilization in contaminated road-derived sediments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rijkenberg, Micha J A; Depree, Craig V

    2010-02-01

    There is increasing interest in the stabilization of heavy metals in road-derived sediments (RDS), to enable environmentally responsible reuse applications and circumvent the need for costly landfill disposal. To reduce the mobility of heavy metals (i.e. Cu, Pb and Zn) the effectiveness of amendments using phosphate, compost and fly ash addition were investigated using batch leaching experiments. In general, phosphate amendments of RDS were found to be ineffective at stabilizing heavy metals, despite being used successfully in soils. Phosphate amendment resulted in enhanced concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which increased the solubilisation of heavy metals via complexation. Amendment with humified organic matter (compost) successfully stabilized Cu and Pb in high DOC leaching RDS with an optimum loading of 15-20% (w/w). Compost, however, was ineffective at stabilizing Zn. Increasing the pH by amending RDS/compost blends with 2.5-15% (w/w) coal fly ash resulted in the stabilization of Zn, Cu and Pb. However, above a pH of approximately 7.5 and 8 enhanced leaching of organic matter resulted in an increase in leached Cu and Pb, respectively. Accordingly, the optimum level of fly ash amendment for the RDS/compost blends was estimated to be ca. 10%. Boosted regression trees analysis (BRT) of the data revealed that DOC accounted for 56% and 65% of the Cu and Pb leaching, respectively, whereas pH only accounted for ca. 18% of Cu and Pb leaching. RDS sample characteristics (i.e. metal concentrations, size fractionation and organic matter content) were more important at reconciling the leaching concentrations of copper Cu (27%) than Pb (16%). The most important parameter explaining Zn leaching was pH. Overall, the choice of a suitable stabilization agent/s depends on the composition of RDS with respect to the amount of organic matter present, and the sorption chemistry of the heavy metal of interest. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Enhancement of confinement in tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furth, H.P.

    1986-05-01

    A plausible interpretation of the experimental evidence is that energy confinement in tokamaks is governed by two separate considerations: (1) the need for resistive MHD kink-stability, which limits the permissible range of current profiles - and therefore normally also the range of temperature profiles; and (2) the presence of strongly anomalous microscopic energy transport near the plasma edge, which calibrates the amplitude of the global temperature profile, thus determining the energy confinement time tau/sub E/. Correspondingly, there are two main paths towards the enhancement of tokamak confinement: (1) Configurational optimization, to increase the MHD-stable energy content of the plasma core, can evidently be pursued by varying the cross-sectional shape of the plasma and/or finding stable radial profiles with central q-values substantially below unity - but crossing from ''first'' to ''second'' stability within the peak-pressure region would have the greatest ultimate potential. (2) Suppression of edge turbulence, so as to improve the heat insulation in the outer plasma shell, can be pursued by various local stabilizing techniques, such as use of a poloidal divertor. The present confinement model and initial TFTR pellet-injection results suggest that the introduction of a super-high-density region within the plasma core should be particularly valuable for enhancing ntau/subE/. In D-T operation, a centrally peaked plasma pressure profile could possibly lend itself to alpha-particle-driven entry into the second-stability regime

  17. Water coning in porous media reservoirs for compressed air energy storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wiles, L.E.; McCann, R.A.

    1981-06-01

    The general purpose of this work is to define the hydrodynamic and thermodynamic response of a CAES porous media reservoir subjected to simulated air mass cycling. This research will assist in providing design guidelines for the efficient and stable operation of the air storage reservoir. This report presents the analysis and results for the two-phase (air-water), two-dimensional, numerical modeling of CAES porous media reservoirs. The effects of capillary pressure and relative permeability were included. The fluids were considered to be immisicible; there was no phase change; and the system was isothermal. The specific purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the reservoir parameters that were believed to be important to water coning. This phenomenon may occur in reservoirs in which water underlies the air storage zone. It involves the possible intrusion of water into the wellbore or near-wellbore region. The water movement is in response to pressure gradients created during a reservoir discharge cycle. Potential adverse effects due to this water movement are associated with the pressure response of the reservoir and the geochemical stability of the near-wellbore region. The results obtained for the simulated operation of a CAES reservoir suggest that water coning should not be a severe problem, due to the slow response of the water to the pressure gradients and the relatively short duration in which those gradients exist. However, water coning will depend on site-specific conditions, particularly the fluid distributions following bubble development, and, therefore, a water coning analysis should be included as part of site evaluation.

  18. Do large heads enhance stability and restore native anatomy in primary total hip arthroplasty?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lombardi, Adolph V; Skeels, Michael D; Berend, Keith R; Adams, Joanne B; Franchi, Orlando J

    2011-06-01

    Dislocation remains a serious complication in hip arthroplasty. Resurfacing proponents tout anatomic femoral head restoration as an advantage over total hip arthroplasty. However, advances in bearings have expanded prosthetic head options from traditional sizes of 22, 26, 28, and 32 mm to diameters as large as 60 mm. Large heads reportedly enhance stability owing to increased range of motion before impingement and increased jump distance to subluxation. Available larger diameter material combinations include metal- or ceramic-on-highly crosslinked polyethylene and metal-on-metal, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages. We sought to determine (1) if using larger diameter heads has lowered our dislocation rate; and (2) how closely an anatomic metal-on-metal bearing with diameters to 60 mm replicates native femoral head size. We retrospectively reviewed 2020 primary arthroplasties performed with large heads (≥ 36 mm) in 1748 patients and noted dislocation incidence. In a prospective subset of 89 cases using anatomic heads, native femoral head diameter was measured intraoperatively with calipers by an independent observer and later compared with implanted size. One dislocation has occurred in 2020 hips for an incidence of 0.05%. The prosthetic head averaged 0.7 mm larger than the native head with 68 of 89 (76%) reconstructed to within ± 2 mm of native size. Larger diameter heads have contributed to lower dislocation rates and large-diameter metal-on-metal articulation can provide close anatomic restoration in primary THA.

  19. Stability of DIII-D high-performance, negative central shear discharges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, J. M.; Berkery, J. W.; Bialek, J.; Clement, M.; Ferron, J. R.; Garofalo, A. M.; Holcomb, C. T.; La Haye, R. J.; Lanctot, M. J.; Luce, T. C.; Navratil, G. A.; Olofsson, K. E. J.; Strait, E. J.; Turco, F.; Turnbull, A. D.

    2017-05-01

    Tokamak plasma experiments on the DIII-D device (Luxon et al 2005 Fusion Sci. Tech. 48 807) demonstrate high-performance, negative central shear (NCS) equilibria with enhanced stability when the minimum safety factor {{q}\\text{min}} exceeds 2, qualitatively confirming theoretical predictions of favorable stability in the NCS regime. The discharges exhibit good confinement with an L-mode enhancement factor H 89  =  2.5, and are ultimately limited by the ideal-wall external kink stability boundary as predicted by ideal MHD theory, as long as tearing mode (TM) locking events, resistive wall modes (RWMs), and internal kink modes are properly avoided or controlled. Although the discharges exhibit rotating TMs, locking events are avoided as long as a threshold minimum safety factor value {{q}\\text{min}}>2 is maintained. Fast timescale magnetic feedback control ameliorates RWM activity, expanding the stable operating space and allowing access to {β\\text{N}} values approaching the ideal-wall limit. Quickly growing and rotating instabilities consistent with internal kink mode dynamics are encountered when the ideal-wall limit is reached. The RWM events largely occur between the no- and ideal-wall pressure limits predicted by ideal MHD. However, evaluating kinetic contributions to the RWM dispersion relation results in a prediction of passive stability in this regime due to high plasma rotation. In addition, the ideal MHD stability analysis predicts that the ideal-wall limit can be further increased to {β\\text{N}}>4 by broadening the current profile. This path toward improved stability has the potential advantage of being compatible with the bootstrap-dominated equilibria envisioned for advanced tokamak (AT) fusion reactors.

  20. Solving the stability-accuracy-diversity dilemma of recommender systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Lei; Liu, Kecheng; Liu, Jianguo; Zhang, Runtong

    2017-02-01

    Recommender systems are of great significance in predicting the potential interesting items based on the target user's historical selections. However, the recommendation list for a specific user has been found changing vastly when the system changes, due to the unstable quantification of item similarities, which is defined as the recommendation stability problem. To improve the similarity stability and recommendation stability is crucial for the user experience enhancement and the better understanding of user interests. While the stability as well as accuracy of recommendation could be guaranteed by recommending only popular items, studies have been addressing the necessity of diversity which requires the system to recommend unpopular items. By ranking the similarities in terms of stability and considering only the most stable ones, we present a top- n-stability method based on the Heat Conduction algorithm (denoted as TNS-HC henceforth) for solving the stability-accuracy-diversity dilemma. Experiments on four benchmark data sets indicate that the TNS-HC algorithm could significantly improve the recommendation stability and accuracy simultaneously and still retain the high-diversity nature of the Heat Conduction algorithm. Furthermore, we compare the performance of the TNS-HC algorithm with a number of benchmark recommendation algorithms. The result suggests that the TNS-HC algorithm is more efficient in solving the stability-accuracy-diversity triple dilemma of recommender systems.