Energy and exergy analyses of a copper-chlorine thermochemical water decomposition pilot plant for hydrogen production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orhan, M.F.; Dincer, I.; Rosen, M.A.

2008-01-01

Nuclear-based hydrogen production via thermochemical water decomposition using a copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle consists of a series of chemical reactions in which water is split into hydrogen and oxygen as the net result. This is accomplished through reactions involving intermediate copper and chlorine compounds, which are recycled. Energy and exergy analyses are reported here of a Cu-Cl pilot plant, including the relevant chemical reactions. The reference environment is taken to be at a temperature of 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure (1 atm). The chemical exergy of a substance, which is the maximum work that can be obtained from it by taking it to chemical equilibrium with the reference environment at constant temperature and pressure, is calculated with property data for the substance and the reference environment, with enthalpy and entropy values calculated using Shomate equations. The reaction heat, exergy destruction and efficiencies in each chemical reaction vary with the reaction temperature and reference-environment temperature. A parametric study with variable reaction and reference-environment temperatures is also presented. (author)

Nano-sized Mn3O4 and β-MnOOH from the decomposition of β-cyclodextrin-Mn: 2. The water-oxidizing activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Najafpour, Mohammad Mahdi; Mostafalu, Ramin; Hołyńska, Małgorzata; Ebrahimi, Foad; Kaboudin, Babak

2015-11-01

Nano-sized Mn oxides contain Mn3O4, β-MnOOH and Mn2O3 have been prepared by a previously reported method using thermal decomposition of β-cyclodextrin-Mn complexes. In the next step, the water-oxidizing activities of these Mn oxides using cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate as a chemical oxidant are studied. The turnover frequencies for β-MnO(OH) and Mn3O4 are 0.24 and 0.01-0.17 (mmol O2/mol Mns), respectively. Subsequently, water-oxidizing activities of these compounds are compared to the other previously reported Mn oxides. Important factors affecting water oxidation by these Mn oxides are also discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Biological decomposition of aqueous solutions from soil cleaning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kniebusch, M.M.; Sekoulov, I.

1993-01-01

The biological cleaning of process water from soil cleaning and from contaminated groundwater required the development of new types of reaction systems. With the introduced membrane biofilm reactor, even substances difficult to decompose can be removed from contaminated water. Previous investigations of the elimination of pyrene in the presence of n-hexadecane show an optimum temperature at 30 C. An increase of scale is possible based on the invesstigations carried out on the aerobic biological decomposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. (orig.) [de

Research on Ship-Radiated Noise Denoising Using Secondary Variational Mode Decomposition and Correlation Coefficient.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yuxing; Li, Yaan; Chen, Xiao; Yu, Jing

2017-12-26

As the sound signal of ships obtained by sensors contains other many significant characteristics of ships and called ship-radiated noise (SN), research into a denoising algorithm and its application has obtained great significance. Using the advantage of variational mode decomposition (VMD) combined with the correlation coefficient for denoising, a hybrid secondary denoising algorithm is proposed using secondary VMD combined with a correlation coefficient (CC). First, different kinds of simulation signals are decomposed into several bandwidth-limited intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) using VMD, where the decomposition number by VMD is equal to the number by empirical mode decomposition (EMD); then, the CCs between the IMFs and the simulation signal are calculated respectively. The noise IMFs are identified by the CC threshold and the rest of the IMFs are reconstructed in order to realize the first denoising process. Finally, secondary denoising of the simulation signal can be accomplished by repeating the above steps of decomposition, screening and reconstruction. The final denoising result is determined according to the CC threshold. The denoising effect is compared under the different signal-to-noise ratio and the time of decomposition by VMD. Experimental results show the validity of the proposed denoising algorithm using secondary VMD (2VMD) combined with CC compared to EMD denoising, ensemble EMD (EEMD) denoising, VMD denoising and cubic VMD (3VMD) denoising, as well as two denoising algorithms presented recently. The proposed denoising algorithm is applied to feature extraction and classification for SN signals, which can effectively improve the recognition rate of different kinds of ships.

Research on Ship-Radiated Noise Denoising Using Secondary Variational Mode Decomposition and Correlation Coefficient

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuxing Li

2017-12-01

Full Text Available As the sound signal of ships obtained by sensors contains other many significant characteristics of ships and called ship-radiated noise (SN, research into a denoising algorithm and its application has obtained great significance. Using the advantage of variational mode decomposition (VMD combined with the correlation coefficient for denoising, a hybrid secondary denoising algorithm is proposed using secondary VMD combined with a correlation coefficient (CC. First, different kinds of simulation signals are decomposed into several bandwidth-limited intrinsic mode functions (IMFs using VMD, where the decomposition number by VMD is equal to the number by empirical mode decomposition (EMD; then, the CCs between the IMFs and the simulation signal are calculated respectively. The noise IMFs are identified by the CC threshold and the rest of the IMFs are reconstructed in order to realize the first denoising process. Finally, secondary denoising of the simulation signal can be accomplished by repeating the above steps of decomposition, screening and reconstruction. The final denoising result is determined according to the CC threshold. The denoising effect is compared under the different signal-to-noise ratio and the time of decomposition by VMD. Experimental results show the validity of the proposed denoising algorithm using secondary VMD (2VMD combined with CC compared to EMD denoising, ensemble EMD (EEMD denoising, VMD denoising and cubic VMD (3VMD denoising, as well as two denoising algorithms presented recently. The proposed denoising algorithm is applied to feature extraction and classification for SN signals, which can effectively improve the recognition rate of different kinds of ships.

Decompositions of manifolds

CERN Document Server

Daverman, Robert J

2007-01-01

Decomposition theory studies decompositions, or partitions, of manifolds into simple pieces, usually cell-like sets. Since its inception in 1929, the subject has become an important tool in geometric topology. The main goal of the book is to help students interested in geometric topology to bridge the gap between entry-level graduate courses and research at the frontier as well as to demonstrate interrelations of decomposition theory with other parts of geometric topology. With numerous exercises and problems, many of them quite challenging, the book continues to be strongly recommended to eve

Bimetallic catalysts for HI decomposition in the iodine-sulfur thermochemical cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Laijun; Hu Songzhi; Xu Lufei; Li Daocai; Han Qi; Chen Songzhe; Zhang Ping; Xu Jingming

2014-01-01

Among the different kinds of thermochemical water-splitting cycles, the iodine-sulfur (IS) cycle has attracted more and more interest because it is one of the promising candidates for economical and massive hydrogen production. However, there still exist some science and technical problems to be solved before industrialization of the IS process. One such problem is the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen iodide. Although the active carbon supported platinum has been verified to present the excellent performance for HI decomposition, it is very expensive and easy to agglomerate under the harsh condition. In order to decrease the cost and increase the stability of the catalysts for HI decomposition, a series of bimetallic catalysts were prepared and studied at INET. This paper summarized our present research advances on the bimetallic catalysts (Pt-Pd, Pd-Ir and Pt-Ir) for HI decomposition. In the course of the study, the physical properties, structure, and morphology of the catalysts were characterized by specific surface area, X-ray diffractometer; and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The catalytic activity for HI decomposition was investigated in a fixed bed reactor under atmospheric pressure. The results show that due to the higher activity and better stability, the active carbon supported bimetallic catalyst is more potential candidate than mono metallic Pt catalyst for HI decomposition in the IS thermochemical cycle. (author)

Thermal decomposition of pyrite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Music, S.; Ristic, M.; Popovic, S.

1992-01-01

Thermal decomposition of natural pyrite (cubic, FeS 2 ) has been investigated using X-ray diffraction and 57 Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis of pyrite ore from different sources showed the presence of associated minerals, such as quartz, szomolnokite, stilbite or stellerite, micas and hematite. Hematite, maghemite and pyrrhotite were detected as thermal decomposition products of natural pyrite. The phase composition of the thermal decomposition products depends on the terature, time of heating and starting size of pyrite chrystals. Hematite is the end product of the thermal decomposition of natural pyrite. (author) 24 refs.; 6 figs.; 2 tabs

Danburite decomposition by sulfuric acid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirsaidov, U.; Mamatov, E.D.; Ashurov, N.A.

2011-01-01

Present article is devoted to decomposition of danburite of Ak-Arkhar Deposit of Tajikistan by sulfuric acid. The process of decomposition of danburite concentrate by sulfuric acid was studied. The chemical nature of decomposition process of boron containing ore was determined. The influence of temperature on the rate of extraction of boron and iron oxides was defined. The dependence of decomposition of boron and iron oxides on process duration, dosage of H 2 SO 4 , acid concentration and size of danburite particles was determined. The kinetics of danburite decomposition by sulfuric acid was studied as well. The apparent activation energy of the process of danburite decomposition by sulfuric acid was calculated. The flowsheet of danburite processing by sulfuric acid was elaborated.

Basic dye decomposition kinetics in a photocatalytic slurry reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, C.-H.; Chang, H.-W.; Chern, J.-M.

2006-01-01

Wastewater effluent from textile plants using various dyes is one of the major water pollutants to the environment. Traditional chemical, physical and biological processes for treating textile dye wastewaters have disadvantages such as high cost, energy waste and generating secondary pollution during the treatment process. The photocatalytic process using TiO 2 semiconductor particles under UV light illumination has been shown to be potentially advantageous and applicable in the treatment of wastewater pollutants. In this study, the dye decomposition kinetics by nano-size TiO 2 suspension at natural solution pH was experimentally studied by varying the agitation speed (50-200 rpm), TiO 2 suspension concentration (0.25-1.71 g/L), initial dye concentration (10-50 ppm), temperature (10-50 deg. C), and UV power intensity (0-96 W). The experimental results show the agitation speed, varying from 50 to 200 rpm, has a slight influence on the dye decomposition rate and the pH history; the dye decomposition rate increases with the TiO 2 suspension concentration up to 0.98 g/L, then decrease with increasing TiO 2 suspension concentration; the initial dye decomposition rate increases with the initial dye concentration up to a certain value depending upon the temperature, then decreases with increasing initial dye concentration; the dye decomposition rate increases with the UV power intensity up to 64 W to reach a plateau. Kinetic models have been developed to fit the experimental kinetic data well

Pulse frequency and soil-litter mixing alter the control of cumulative precipitation over litter decomposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Joly, François-Xavier; Kurupas, Kelsey L; Throop, Heather L

2017-09-01

Macroclimate has traditionally been considered the predominant driver of litter decomposition. However, in drylands, cumulative monthly or annual precipitation typically fails to predict decomposition. In these systems, the windows of opportunity for decomposer activity may rather depend on the precipitation frequency and local factors affecting litter desiccation, such as soil-litter mixing. We used a full-factorial microcosm experiment to disentangle the relative importance of cumulative precipitation, pulse frequency, and soil-litter mixing on litter decomposition. Decomposition, measured as litter carbon loss, saturated with increasing cumulative precipitation when pulses were large and infrequent, suggesting that litter moisture no longer increased and/or microbial activity was no longer limited by water availability above a certain pulse size. More frequent precipitation pulses led to increased decomposition at high levels of cumulative precipitation. Soil-litter mixing consistently increased decomposition, with greatest relative increase (+194%) under the driest conditions. Collectively, our results highlight the need to consider precipitation at finer temporal scale and incorporate soil-litter mixing as key driver of decomposition in drylands. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Radiation induced decomposition of chlorinated phenols in water

Science.gov (United States)

Getoff, N.; Solar, S.

Experiments with 4-Cl-phenol as a model compound for pesticides were performed under steady-state conditions using deoxygenated solutions as well as such saturated with air, oxygen or oxygen mixed with ozone. The yield of Cl -ions serviced as an indicator for the degradation process. As main products of the first step of decomposition were identified: polyhydroxybenzenes, aldehydes and acids. The yield of aldehydes was studied as a function of the absorbed dose and substrate concentration. In the presence of ozone a chain-reaction of the oxidative pollutant degradation takes place. Transient absorption spectra and kinetics obtained by preliminary pulse radiolysis studies of 4-Cl-phenol in the presence of oxygen as well as probable reaction mechanisms are also presented.

Radiation induced decomposition of chlorinated phenols in water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Getoff, N.; Solar, S.

1988-01-01

Experiments with 4-Cl-phenol as a model compound for pesticides were performed under steady-state conditions using deoxygenated solutions as well as solutions saturated with air, oxygen or oxygen mixed with ozone. The yield of Cl - ions served as an indicator for the degradation process. As main products of the first step of decomposition were identified: polyhydroxybenzenes, aldehydes and acids. The yield of aldehydes was studied as a function of the absorbed dose and substrate concentration. In the presence of ozone a chain-reaction of the oxidative pollutant degradation takes place. Transient absorption spectra and kinetics obtained by preliminary pulse radiolysis studies of 4-Cl-phenol in the presence of oxygen as well as probable reaction mechanisms are also presented. (author)

Decomposition of tetraalkylammonium thiotungstates characterized by thermoanalysis, mass spectrometry, X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poisot, M.; Bensch, W.

2007-01-01

Thermal decomposition reactions of tetraalkylammonium thiotungstates (R 4 N) 2 WS 4 (R = methyl to heptyl), were investigated with DSC and DTA-TG coupled with mass spectroscopy (MS). The results demonstrate that the complexity of thermal decomposition reactions is significantly influenced by the alkyl group, i.e., more complex steps are observed for the materials with longer alkyl chain lengths. Tetraethyl and tetrapropyl complexes show reversible and irreversible phase transitions detected by DSC experiments combined with thermodiffractometry. The tetrapentyl compound undergoes an irreversible phase transition while the tetraheptyl sample exhibits a glass-like transition and melting prior to decomposition. The whole series of compounds decompose without forming sulfur rich WS n (n = 3 or 4) intermediates. The final WS 2 products are nearly stoichiometric for R = methyl to pentyl but for hexyl and heptyl samples the sulfur content is significantly reduced with a W/S ratio of about 1.5. The residual carbon and hydrogen contents increase in the final decomposition products in the same order as the number of C atoms in R 4 N increase. For the N content no clear trend is obvious. A general thermal decomposition mechanism is suggested which follows a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction. In the SEM images only for R = heptyl the formation of macro-pores with a sponge-like morphology is seen, but for the other precursors compact materials are formed which in part display a well developed morphology. X-ray diffraction analysis of the final products shows the formation of amorphous WS 2 up to the tetrapentyl precursor. But for the tetrahexyl and tetraheptyl materials the W:S ratio is significantly smaller than 1:2 and large amounts of C and H are determined by chemical analyses. In accordance with previously reported results it can be assumed that a carbosulfide phase is formed by a mixed C-W-S sandwich layered structure

Thermal decomposition of rhenium (5) complexes with 1,2,4-triazole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amindzhanov, A.A.; Gagieva, S.Ch.; Kotegov, K.V.

1991-01-01

Processes of thermal decomposition of rhenium (5) complexes with 1,2,4-triazole were studied. Thermolysis products were identified on the basis of data of the element analysis, IR spectra, conductometry and other methods. It is ascertained that at the first stage of thermolysis of hydroxyl-containing monomer complexes removal of water molecules occurs, and at the second one - dimerization process with formation of Re-O-Re group. It is shown that the nature of halide ion practically does not affect the temperature of the start of intensive thermal decomposition of the complexes

The initial changes of fat deposits during the decomposition of human and pig remains.

Science.gov (United States)

Notter, Stephanie J; Stuart, Barbara H; Rowe, Rebecca; Langlois, Neil

2009-01-01

The early stages of adipocere formation in both pig and human adipose tissue in aqueous environments have been investigated. The aims were to determine the short-term changes occurring to fat deposits during decomposition and to ascertain the suitability of pigs as models for human decomposition. Subcutaneous adipose tissue from both species after immersion in distilled water for up to six months was compared using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Changes associated with decomposition were observed, but no adipocere was formed during the initial month of decomposition for either tissue type. Early-stage adipocere formation in pig samples during later months was detected. The variable time courses for adipose tissue decomposition were attributed to differences in the distribution of total fatty acids between species. Variations in the amount of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium were also detected between species. The study shows that differences in total fatty acid composition between species need to be considered when interpreting results from experimental decomposition studies using pigs as human body analogs.

Microbial plant litter decomposition in aquatic and terrestrial boreal systems along a natural fertility gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Soares, A. Margarida P. M.; Kritzberg, Emma S.; Rousk, Johannes

2017-04-01

Plant litter decomposition is a global ecosystem process, with a crucial role in carbon and nutrient cycling. The majority of litter processing occurs in terrestrial systems, but an important fraction also takes place in inland waters. Among environmental factors, pH impacts the litter decomposition through its selective influence on microbial decomposers. Fungal communities are less affected by pH than bacteria, possibly owing to a wider pH tolerance by this group. On the other hand, bacterial pH optima are constrained to a narrower range of pH values. The microbial decomposition of litter is universally nutrient limited; but few comparisons exist between terrestrial and aquatic systems. We investigated the microbial colonisation and decomposition of plant litter along a fertility gradient, which varied in both pH and N availability in both soil and adjacent water. To do this we installed litterbags with birch (Betula pendula) in streams and corresponding soils in adjacent riparian areas in a boreal system, in Krycklan, Sweden. During the four months covering the ice-free growth season we monitored the successional dynamics of fungal (acetate incorporation into ergosterol) and bacterial growth (thymidine incorporation), microbial respiration in leaf litter, and quantitative and qualitative changes in litter over time. We observed that bacterial growth rates were initially higher in litter decomposing in streams than those in soils, but differences between terrestrial and aquatic bacterial production converged towards the end of the experiment. In litter bags installed in soils, bacterial growth was lower at sites with more acidic pH and lower N availability, while aquatic bacteria were relatively unaffected by the fertility level. Fungal growth rates were two-fold higher for litter decomposing in streams than in soils. In aquatic systems, fungal growth was initially lower in low fertility sites, but differences gradually disappeared over the time course. Fungal

Azimuthal decomposition of optical modes

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Dudley, Angela L

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This presentation analyses the azimuthal decomposition of optical modes. Decomposition of azimuthal modes need two steps, namely generation and decomposition. An azimuthally-varying phase (bounded by a ring-slit) placed in the spatial frequency...

To prevent the occurrence of black water agglomerate through delaying decomposition of cyanobacterial bloom biomass by sediment microbial fuel cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yan-Li; Jiang, He-Long; Cai, Hai-Yuan

2015-04-28

Settlement of cyanobacterial bloom biomass (CBB) into sediments in eutrophic lakes often induced the occurrence of black water agglomerate and then water quality deterioration. This study investigated the effect of sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) on CBB removal in sediments and related water pollution. Sediment bulking and subsequent black water from decomposition of settled CBB happened without SMFC, but were not observed over 100-day experiments with SMFC employment. While CBB in sediments improved power production from SMFC, the removal efficiency of organic matters in CBB-amended sediments with SMFC was significantly lower than that without SMFC. Pyrosequencing analysis showed higher abundances of the fermentative Clostridium and acetoclastic methanogen in CBB-amended bulk sediments without SMFC than with SMFC at the end of experiments. Obviously, SMFC operation changed the microbial community in CBB-amended sediments, and delayed the CBB degradation against sediment bulking. Thus, SMFC could be potentially applied as pollution prevention in CBB-settled and sensitive zones in shallow lakes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sulfurized limonite as material for fast decomposition of organic compounds by heterogeneous Fenton reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toda, Kei; Tanaka, Toshinori; Tsuda, Yutaka; Ban, Masahiro; Koveke, Edwin P.; Koinuma, Michio; Ohira, Shin-Ichi

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Used limonite degrades organic compounds by heterogeneous Fenton reaction. • Sulfurized limonite removes methylene blue color in seconds. • Recycled limonite can be used for biogas purification and wastewater treatment. - Abstract: Rapid decomposition of wastewater contaminants using sulfurized limonite (S-limonite) was investigated. Limonite is used for desulfurization of biogases, and S-limonite is obtained from desulfurization plants as solid waste. In this work, the profitable use of S-limonite in water treatment was examined. The divalent Fe in S-limonite was expected to produce OH radicals, as Fe 2+ ions and limonite thermally treated with H 2 do. Methylene blue was used for batch-wise monitoring of the decomposition performance. The decomposition rate was fast and the methylene blue solution color disappeared in only 10 s when a small amount of H 2 O 2 was added (1 mM in the sample solution) in the presence of S-limonite. The OH radicals were formed by a heterogeneous reaction on the S-limonite surface and Fenton reaction with dissolved Fe 2+ . The decomposition of pentachlorophenol was also examined; it was successfully decomposed in batch-wise tests. The surfaces of limonite before sulfurization, S-limonite, and S-limonite after use for water treatment were performed using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that S-limonite reverted to limonite after being used for water treatment

Sulfurized limonite as material for fast decomposition of organic compounds by heterogeneous Fenton reaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toda, Kei, E-mail: todakei@sci.kumamoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Chemistry, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555 (Japan); Tanaka, Toshinori; Tsuda, Yutaka; Ban, Masahiro; Koveke, Edwin P. [Department of Chemistry, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555 (Japan); Koinuma, Michio [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555 (Japan); Ohira, Shin-Ichi [Department of Chemistry, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555 (Japan)

2014-08-15

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Used limonite degrades organic compounds by heterogeneous Fenton reaction. • Sulfurized limonite removes methylene blue color in seconds. • Recycled limonite can be used for biogas purification and wastewater treatment. - Abstract: Rapid decomposition of wastewater contaminants using sulfurized limonite (S-limonite) was investigated. Limonite is used for desulfurization of biogases, and S-limonite is obtained from desulfurization plants as solid waste. In this work, the profitable use of S-limonite in water treatment was examined. The divalent Fe in S-limonite was expected to produce OH radicals, as Fe{sup 2+} ions and limonite thermally treated with H{sub 2} do. Methylene blue was used for batch-wise monitoring of the decomposition performance. The decomposition rate was fast and the methylene blue solution color disappeared in only 10 s when a small amount of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} was added (1 mM in the sample solution) in the presence of S-limonite. The OH radicals were formed by a heterogeneous reaction on the S-limonite surface and Fenton reaction with dissolved Fe{sup 2+}. The decomposition of pentachlorophenol was also examined; it was successfully decomposed in batch-wise tests. The surfaces of limonite before sulfurization, S-limonite, and S-limonite after use for water treatment were performed using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that S-limonite reverted to limonite after being used for water treatment.

Thermal decomposition of uranyl nitrate hexahydrate. Study of intermediate reaction products; Decomposition thermique du nitrate d'uranyle hexahydrate etude des intermediaires de cette decomposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chottard, G [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1970-07-01

The thermal decomposition of uranyl nitrate hexahydrate has been carried but at constant pressure and constant rate of reaction. The following intermediary products have been shown to exist and isolated: UO{sub 2}(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}.3H{sub 2}O; UO{sub 2}(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}. 2H{sub 2}O; UO{sub 2}(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}. H{sub 2}O; UO{sub 2}(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} and UO{sub 3}. These products, together with the hexahydrate UO{sub 2} (NO{sub 3}){sub 2}.6H{sub 2}O, have been studied by: - X-ray diffraction, using the Debye-Scherrer method.- infra-red spectrography: determination of the type of bonding for the water and the nitrate groups. - nuclear magnetic resonance: study of the mobility of water molecules. The main results concern: - the water molecule bonds in the series of hydrates with 6.3 and 2 H{sub 2}O. - isolation and characterization of uranyl nitrate monohydrate, together with the determination of its molecular structure. - the mobility of the water molecules in the series of the hydrates with 6.3 and 2 H{sub 2}O. An analysis is made of the complementary results given by infra-red spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance; they are interpreted for the whole of the hydrate series. [French] La decomposition thermique du nitrate d'uranyle hexahydrate a ete effectuee en operant a pression et vitesse de decomposition constantes. Les produits intermediaires suivants ont ete mis en evidence et isoles: UO{sub 2}(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}, 3H{sub 2}O; UO{sub 2}(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}, 2H{sub 2}O; UO{sub 2}(NO{sub 3}){sub 2},H{sub 2}O; UO{sub 2}(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} et UO{sub 3}. Ces composes, ainsi que l'hexahydrate UO{sub 2}(NO{sub 3} ){sub 2}, 6H{sub 2}O ont ete etudies par: - diffraction des rayons X, selon la methode Debye-Scherrer.- spectrographie infra-rouge: determination des modes de liaison de l'eau et des groupements nitrate. - resonance magnetique nucleaire: etude de la mobilite des molecules d'eau. Les principaux resultats portent sur: - les liaisons des molecules d'eau dans la

Estimation of Paddy Rice Variables with a Modified Water Cloud Model and Improved Polarimetric Decomposition Using Multi-Temporal RADARSAT-2 Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhi Yang

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Rice growth monitoring is very important as rice is one of the staple crops of the world. Rice variables as quantitative indicators of rice growth are critical for farming management and yield estimation, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR has great advantages for monitoring rice variables due to its all-weather observation capability. In this study, eight temporal RADARSAT-2 full-polarimetric SAR images were acquired during rice growth cycle and a modified water cloud model (MWCM was proposed, in which the heterogeneity of the rice canopy in the horizontal direction and its phenological changes were considered when the double-bounce scattering between the rice canopy and the underlying surface was firstly considered as well. Then, three scattering components from an improved polarimetric decomposition were coupled with the MWCM, instead of the backscattering coefficients. Using a genetic algorithm, eight rice variables were estimated, such as the leaf area index (LAI, rice height (h, and the fresh and dry biomass of ears (Fe and De. The accuracy validation showed the MWCM was suitable for the estimation of rice variables during the whole growth season. The validation results showed that the MWCM could predict the temporal behaviors of the rice variables well during the growth cycle (R2 > 0.8. Compared with the original water cloud model (WCM, the relative errors of rice variables with the MWCM were much smaller, especially in the vegetation phase (approximately 15% smaller. Finally, it was discussed that the MWCM could be used, theoretically, for extensive applications since the empirical coefficients in the MWCM were determined in general cases, but more applications of the MWCM are necessary in future work.

Radiation-induced decomposition of aqueous trichloroethylene solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gehringer, P.; Proksch, E.; Szinovatz, W.; Eschweiler, H.

1988-01-01

In air-saturated reagent grade water, 10 ppm trichloroethylene are decomposed by γ radiation in a roughly first-order reaction; the initial G-value being 5.4 molecules/100 eV. At sub-ppm concentrations the kinetics remain roughly first-order; the initial G-values decrease with decreasing concentration. The main decomposition products are Cl - , CO 2 and HCOOH. A tentative reaction scheme in accordance with these results is presented. (author)

Influence of drainage status on soil and water chemistry, litter decomposition and soil respiration in central Amazonian forests on sandy soils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antônio Ocimar Manzi

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Central Amazonian rainforest landscape supports a mosaic of tall terra firme rainforest and ecotone campinarana, riparian and campina forests, reflecting topography-induced variations in soil, nutrient and drainage conditions. Spatial and temporal variations in litter decomposition, soil and groundwater chemistry and soil CO2 respiration were studied in forests on sandy soils, whereas drought sensitivity of poorly-drained valley soils was investigated in an artificial drainage experiment. Slightly changes in litter decomposition or water chemistry were observed as a consequence of artificial drainage. Riparian plots did experience higher litter decomposition rates than campina forest. In response to a permanent lowering of the groundwater level from 0.1 m to 0.3 m depth in the drainage plot, topsoil carbon and nitrogen contents decreased substantially. Soil CO2 respiration decreased from 3.7±0.6 µmol m-2 s-1 before drainage to 2.5±0.2 and 0.8±0.1 µmol m-2 s-1 eight and 11 months after drainage, respectively. Soil respiration in the control plot remained constant at 3.7±0.6 µmol m-2 s-1. The above suggests that more frequent droughts may affect topsoil carbon and nitrogen content and soil respiration rates in the riparian ecosystem, and may induce a transition to less diverse campinarana or short-statured campina forest that covers areas with strongly-leached sandy soil.

Advanced Oxidation: Oxalate Decomposition Testing With Ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ketusky, E.; Subramanian, K.

2012-01-01

At the Savannah River Site (SRS), oxalic acid is currently considered the preferred agent for chemically cleaning the large underground Liquid Radioactive Waste Tanks. It is applied only in the final stages of emptying a tank when generally less than 5,000 kg of waste solids remain, and slurrying based removal methods are no-longer effective. The use of oxalic acid is preferred because of its combined dissolution and chelating properties, as well as the fact that corrosion to the carbon steel tank walls can be controlled. Although oxalic acid is the preferred agent, there are significant potential downstream impacts. Impacts include: (1) Degraded evaporator operation; (2) Resultant oxalate precipitates taking away critically needed operating volume; and (3) Eventual creation of significant volumes of additional feed to salt processing. As an alternative to dealing with the downstream impacts, oxalate decomposition using variations of ozone based Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) were investigated. In general AOPs use ozone or peroxide and a catalyst to create hydroxyl radicals. Hydroxyl radicals have among the highest oxidation potentials, and are commonly used to decompose organics. Although oxalate is considered among the most difficult organic to decompose, the ability of hydroxyl radicals to decompose oxalate is considered to be well demonstrated. In addition, as AOPs are considered to be 'green' their use enables any net chemical additions to the waste to be minimized. In order to test the ability to decompose the oxalate and determine the decomposition rates, a test rig was designed, where 10 vol% ozone would be educted into a spent oxalic acid decomposition loop, with the loop maintained at 70 C and recirculated at 40L/min. Each of the spent oxalic acid streams would be created from three oxalic acid strikes of an F-area simulant (i.e., Purex = high Fe/Al concentration) and H-area simulant (i.e., H area modified Purex = high Al/Fe concentration) after nearing

ADVANCED OXIDATION: OXALATE DECOMPOSITION TESTING WITH OZONE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ketusky, E.; Subramanian, K.

2012-02-29

At the Savannah River Site (SRS), oxalic acid is currently considered the preferred agent for chemically cleaning the large underground Liquid Radioactive Waste Tanks. It is applied only in the final stages of emptying a tank when generally less than 5,000 kg of waste solids remain, and slurrying based removal methods are no-longer effective. The use of oxalic acid is preferred because of its combined dissolution and chelating properties, as well as the fact that corrosion to the carbon steel tank walls can be controlled. Although oxalic acid is the preferred agent, there are significant potential downstream impacts. Impacts include: (1) Degraded evaporator operation; (2) Resultant oxalate precipitates taking away critically needed operating volume; and (3) Eventual creation of significant volumes of additional feed to salt processing. As an alternative to dealing with the downstream impacts, oxalate decomposition using variations of ozone based Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) were investigated. In general AOPs use ozone or peroxide and a catalyst to create hydroxyl radicals. Hydroxyl radicals have among the highest oxidation potentials, and are commonly used to decompose organics. Although oxalate is considered among the most difficult organic to decompose, the ability of hydroxyl radicals to decompose oxalate is considered to be well demonstrated. In addition, as AOPs are considered to be 'green' their use enables any net chemical additions to the waste to be minimized. In order to test the ability to decompose the oxalate and determine the decomposition rates, a test rig was designed, where 10 vol% ozone would be educted into a spent oxalic acid decomposition loop, with the loop maintained at 70 C and recirculated at 40L/min. Each of the spent oxalic acid streams would be created from three oxalic acid strikes of an F-area simulant (i.e., Purex = high Fe/Al concentration) and H-area simulant (i.e., H area modified Purex = high Al/Fe concentration

Thermal decomposition behavior of the co-precipitated carbonate precursor for La0.84Sr0.16MnO3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sankaranarayanan, A.; Kalekar, B.B.; Ramanathan, S.

2004-01-01

A carbonate precursor for lanthanum strontium manganite powder (La 0.84 Sr 0.16 MnO 3 - LSM) was obtained by addition of an aqueous solution of nitrates of lanthanum, strontium and manganese into a bath of ammonium carbonate solution. The precipitate was filtered, washed, dried and dry ground for homogenization. The thermal decomposition behavior of the precursor was studied by simultaneous TG-DTA-EGA technique while the precursor and intermediates formed at different temperatures were characterized by FTIR and XRD techniques for decomposition of carbonate and compound formation. It exhibited a loss in weight and endotherms in stages in the temperature ranges of 20 to 260 deg C, 260 deg to 500 deg C, 500 deg to 600 deg C, 600 deg to 900 deg C. The loss of carbon dioxide was exhibited in the EGA data and FTIR spectra while phase formation was confirmed by XRD. A comparative study of all these results showed that the processes occurring at various temperature ranges (20 deg to 260 deg C, 260 deg to 500 deg C, 500 deg to 600 deg C, 600 deg to 900 deg C) are dehydration of adsorbed moisture and water of crystallization, decomposition of manganese hydroxycarbonate to manganese dioxide, lanthanum carbonate to lanthanum oxy-carbonate and interaction between lanthanum oxy-carbonate, manganese dioxide and strontium carbonate to form finally LSM. Even though decomposition of carbonates into oxides was complete at 900 deg C, phase pure compound formation occurred at 1100 deg C, under the conditions used. (author)

Decomposition of gas-phase diphenylether at 473 K by electron beam generated plasma

CERN Document Server

Kim, H H; Kojima, T

2003-01-01

Decomposition of gas-phase diphenylether (DPE) in the order of several parts per million by volume (ppmv) was studied as a model compound of dioxin using a flow-type electron-beam reactor at an elevated temperature of 473 K. The ground state oxygen ( sup 3 P) atoms played an important role in the decomposition of DPE resulting in the formation of 1,4-hydroquinone (HQ) as a major ring retaining product. The high yield of hydroquinone indicated that the breakage of ether bond (C-O) is important in the initial step of DPE decomposition. Ring cleavage products were CO and CO sub 2 , and NO sub 2 was also produced from background N sub 2 -O sub 2. The sum of the yields of HQ, CO sub 2 and CO accounts for over 90% of the removed DPE. Hydroxyl radicals (OH) were less important in the dilute DPE decomposition at a high water content, and were mostly consumed by recombination reactions to form hydrogen peroxide. The smaller the initial DPE concentrations, the higher the decomposition efficiency and the lower the yield...

Study relating to the physico-chemical behaviour of heavy water in nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chenouard, J.; Dirian, G.; Roth, E.; Vignet, P.; Platzer, R.

1959-01-01

Chemical and isotope pollution, and radiolytic decomposition are the two most important ways in which heavy water becomes degraded in nuclear reactors. Chemical pollution has led to the creation of ion exchange purification loops specially designed for reactors: the report contains a description in detail of the application of this purification method in CEA research reactors, including the analysis required, results obtained, and their interpretation. The intelligence obtained on radiolytic decomposition with the same facilities is also discussed, as well as the recombination apparatus and control equipment utilized. Finally, investigation to date in the CEA on recombination circuits for power reactors is also discussed. (author) [fr

Early Decomposition of Retained Heavy Silicone Oil Droplets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Touka Banaee

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To report a case of early decomposition of retained heavy silicone oil droplets. Case Report: The single highly myopic eye of a 16-year-old boy with history of scleral buckling and buckle revision developed redetachment due to inferior retinal dialysis. The patient underwent pars plana vitrectomy and injection of heavy silicone oil. Early emulsification of the silicone oil was observed following surgery, which was removed 4 weeks later in another operation. Retained heavy silicone droplets lost their heavier- than-water specific gravity within 2 months together with extensive iris depigmentation, and release of pigment granules into the anterior chamber and vitreous cavity. Conclusion: This case report demonstrates that heavy silicone oil droplets can undergo in vivo chemical decomposition with possible toxic effects on ocular tissues.

Three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation: part I—decomposition model and theorems

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Shujuan; Chou, Jifan; Cheng, Jianbo

2018-04-01

In order to study the interactions between the atmospheric circulations at the middle-high and low latitudes from the global perspective, the authors proposed the mathematical definition of three-pattern circulations, i.e., horizontal, meridional and zonal circulations with which the actual atmospheric circulation is expanded. This novel decomposition method is proved to accurately describe the actual atmospheric circulation dynamics. The authors used the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data to calculate the climate characteristics of those three-pattern circulations, and found that the decomposition model agreed with the observed results. Further dynamical analysis indicates that the decomposition model is more accurate to capture the major features of global three dimensional atmospheric motions, compared to the traditional definitions of Rossby wave, Hadley circulation and Walker circulation. The decomposition model for the first time realized the decomposition of global atmospheric circulation using three orthogonal circulations within the horizontal, meridional and zonal planes, offering new opportunities to study the large-scale interactions between the middle-high latitudes and low latitudes circulations.

Thermal decomposition and X-ray diffraction of sulphate efflorescent minerals from El Jaroso Ravine, Sierra Almagrera, Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frost, Ray L.; Wain, Daria; Martens, Wayde N.; Locke, Ashley C.; Martinez-Frias, Jesus; Rull, Fernando

2007-01-01

Two evaporite minerals from the El Jaroso Ravine, Spain have been analysed by thermogravimetry coupled with an evolved gas mass spectrometer. X-ray diffraction results proved the evaporite minerals were a mixture of sulphates including the minerals magnesiocopiapite, coquimbite and possibly alunogen. Thermal decomposition of the unoxidised samples showed steps at 52, 99 and 143 deg. C confirmed by mass spectrometric results and attributed to adsorbed water, interstitial water and chemically bonded water. This evaporite mineral rock showed two higher temperature decomposition steps at 555 and 599 deg. C with mass losses of 19.6 and 7.8%. Slightly different temperatures for the thermal decomposition of the oxadada sample were observed at 52, 64.5 and 100 deg. C. Two higher temperature mass loss steps at 560.5 and 651 deg. C were observed for the oxidised sample. By comparison of the thermal analysis patterns of halotrichite and jarosite it can be shown that the El Jaroso samples are mineral sulphates and not halotrichite or jarosite

Thermal decomposition and X-ray diffraction of sulphate efflorescent minerals from El Jaroso Ravine, Sierra Almagrera, Spain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frost, Ray L. [Inorganic Materials Research Program, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001 (Australia)]. E-mail: r.frost@qut.edu.au; Wain, Daria [Inorganic Materials Research Program, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001 (Australia); Martens, Wayde N. [Inorganic Materials Research Program, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001 (Australia); Locke, Ashley C. [Inorganic Materials Research Program, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001 (Australia); Martinez-Frias, Jesus [Inorganic Materials Research Program, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001 (Australia); Cristalografia y Mineralogia, Unidad Asociada al Centro de Astrobiologia INTA-CSIC, Universidad de Valladolid, 47006 Valladolid (Spain); Rull, Fernando [Inorganic Materials Research Program, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001 (Australia); Cristalografia y Mineralogia, Unidad Asociada al Centro de Astrobiologia INTA-CSIC, Universidad de Valladolid, 47006 Valladolid (Spain)

2007-08-25

Two evaporite minerals from the El Jaroso Ravine, Spain have been analysed by thermogravimetry coupled with an evolved gas mass spectrometer. X-ray diffraction results proved the evaporite minerals were a mixture of sulphates including the minerals magnesiocopiapite, coquimbite and possibly alunogen. Thermal decomposition of the unoxidised samples showed steps at 52, 99 and 143 deg. C confirmed by mass spectrometric results and attributed to adsorbed water, interstitial water and chemically bonded water. This evaporite mineral rock showed two higher temperature decomposition steps at 555 and 599 deg. C with mass losses of 19.6 and 7.8%. Slightly different temperatures for the thermal decomposition of the oxadada sample were observed at 52, 64.5 and 100 deg. C. Two higher temperature mass loss steps at 560.5 and 651 deg. C were observed for the oxidised sample. By comparison of the thermal analysis patterns of halotrichite and jarosite it can be shown that the El Jaroso samples are mineral sulphates and not halotrichite or jarosite.

Efficient Method for the Determination of the Activation Energy of the Iodide-Catalyzed Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide

Science.gov (United States)

Sweeney, William; Lee, James; Abid, Nauman; DeMeo, Stephen

2014-01-01

An experiment is described that determines the activation energy (E[subscript a]) of the iodide-catalyzed decomposition reaction of hydrogen peroxide in a much more efficient manner than previously reported in the literature. Hydrogen peroxide, spontaneously or with a catalyst, decomposes to oxygen and water. Because the decomposition reaction is…

Investigation of the decomposition reaction and dust explosion characteristics of crystalline benzoyl peroxides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, K.-T.; Chen, T.-C.; Hu, K.-H.

2009-01-01

The benzoyl peroxide (BPO) is widely used in the chemical industry. Many catastrophes have been caused by its thermal instability or reactive incompatibility in storage or thermal decomposition reaction. Thus, its hazard characteristics have to be clearly identified. First of all, the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) is used to measure the heat of decomposition reaction, which can contribute to understanding the reaction characteristics of benzoyl peroxide. The accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) is used to measure the rates of temperature and pressure rises of decomposition reaction, and then the kinetics parameters are estimated. Furthermore, the MIKE 3 apparatus and the 20-l-Apparatus are used to measure and analyze the dust explosion characteristics of benzoyl peroxide under room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Finally, Semenov's thermal explosion theory is applied to investigate the critical runaway condition and the stability criterion of decomposition reaction, and to build the relationship of critical temperature, convective heat transfer coefficient, heat transfer surface area and ambient temperature. These results contribute to improving the safety in the reaction, transportation and storage processes of benzoyl peroxide

An Efficient Local Correlation Matrix Decomposition Approach for the Localization Implementation of Ensemble-Based Assimilation Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hongqin; Tian, Xiangjun

2018-04-01

Ensemble-based data assimilation methods often use the so-called localization scheme to improve the representation of the ensemble background error covariance (Be). Extensive research has been undertaken to reduce the computational cost of these methods by using the localized ensemble samples to localize Be by means of a direct decomposition of the local correlation matrix C. However, the computational costs of the direct decomposition of the local correlation matrix C are still extremely high due to its high dimension. In this paper, we propose an efficient local correlation matrix decomposition approach based on the concept of alternating directions. This approach is intended to avoid direct decomposition of the correlation matrix. Instead, we first decompose the correlation matrix into 1-D correlation matrices in the three coordinate directions, then construct their empirical orthogonal function decomposition at low resolution. This procedure is followed by the 1-D spline interpolation process to transform the above decompositions to the high-resolution grid. Finally, an efficient correlation matrix decomposition is achieved by computing the very similar Kronecker product. We conducted a series of comparison experiments to illustrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed local correlation matrix decomposition approach. The effectiveness of the proposed correlation matrix decomposition approach and its efficient localization implementation of the nonlinear least-squares four-dimensional variational assimilation are further demonstrated by several groups of numerical experiments based on the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting model.

Managing Soil Biota-Mediated Decomposition and Nutrient Mineralization in Sustainable Agroecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joann K. Whalen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Transformation of organic residues into plant-available nutrients occurs through decomposition and mineralization and is mediated by saprophytic microorganisms and fauna. Of particular interest is the recycling of the essential plant elements—N, P, and S—contained in organic residues. If organic residues can supply sufficient nutrients during crop growth, a reduction in fertilizer use is possible. The challenge is synchronizing nutrient release from organic residues with crop nutrient demands throughout the growing season. This paper presents a conceptual model describing the pattern of nutrient release from organic residues in relation to crop nutrient uptake. Next, it explores experimental approaches to measure the physical, chemical, and biological barriers to decomposition and nutrient mineralization. Methods are proposed to determine the rates of decomposition and nutrient release from organic residues. Practically, this information can be used by agricultural producers to determine if plant-available nutrient supply is sufficient to meet crop demands at key growth stages or whether additional fertilizer is needed. Finally, agronomic practices that control the rate of soil biota-mediated decomposition and mineralization, as well as those that facilitate uptake of plant-available nutrients, are identified. Increasing reliance on soil biological activity could benefit crop nutrition and health in sustainable agroecosystems.

Control of xenon oscillations in Advanced Heavy Water Reactor via two-stage decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munje, R.K.; Parkhe, J.G.; Patre, B.M.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Singularly perturbed model of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor is explored. • Composite controller is designed using slow subsystem alone, which achieves asymptotic stability. • Nonlinear simulations are carried out under different transient conditions. • Performance of the controller is found to be satisfactory. - Abstract: Xenon induced spatial oscillations developed in large nuclear reactors, like Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) need to be controlled for safe operation. Otherwise, a serious situation may arise in which different regions of the core may undergo variations in neutron flux in opposite phase. If these oscillations are left uncontrolled, the power density and rate of change of power at some locations in the reactor core may exceed their respective thermal limits, resulting in fuel failure. In this paper, a state feedback based control strategy is investigated for spatial control of AHWR. The nonlinear model of AHWR including xenon and iodine dynamics is characterized by 90 states, 5 inputs and 18 outputs. The linear model of AHWR, obtained by linearizing the nonlinear equations is found to be highly ill-conditioned. This higher order model of AHWR is first decomposed into two comparatively lower order subsystems, namely, 73rd order ‘slow’ subsystem and 17th order ‘fast’ subsystem using two-stage decomposition. Composite control law is then derived from individual subsystem feedback controls and applied to the vectorized nonlinear model of AHWR. Through the dynamic simulations it is observed that the controller is able to suppress xenon induced spatial oscillations developed in AHWR and the overall performance is found to be satisfactory

Thermodynamic anomaly in magnesium hydroxide decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reis, T.A.

1983-08-01

The Origin of the discrepancy in the equilibrium water vapor pressure measurements for the reaction Mg(OH) 2 (s) = MgO(s) + H 2 O(g) when determined by Knudsen effusion and static manometry at the same temperature was investigated. For this reaction undergoing continuous thermal decomposition in Knudsen cells, Kay and Gregory observed that by extrapolating the steady-state apparent equilibrium vapor pressure measurements to zero-orifice, the vapor pressure was approx. 10 -4 of that previously established by Giauque and Archibald as the true thermodynamic equilibrium vapor pressure using statistical mechanical entropy calculations for the entropy of water vapor. This large difference in vapor pressures suggests the possibility of the formation in a Knudsen cell of a higher energy MgO that is thermodynamically metastable by about 48 kJ / mole. It has been shown here that experimental results are qualitatively independent of the type of Mg(OH) 2 used as a starting material, which confirms the inferences of Kay and Gregory. Thus, most forms of Mg(OH) 2 are considered to be the stable thermodynamic equilibrium form. X-ray diffraction results show that during the course of the reaction only the equilibrium NaCl-type MgO is formed, and no different phases result from samples prepared in Knudsen cells. Surface area data indicate that the MgO molar surface area remains constant throughout the course of the reaction at low decomposition temperatures, and no significant annealing occurs at less than 400 0 C. Scanning electron microscope photographs show no change in particle size or particle surface morphology. Solution calorimetric measurements indicate no inherent hgher energy content in the MgO from the solid produced in Knudsen cells. The Knudsen cell vapor pressure discrepancy may reflect the formation of a transient metastable MgO or Mg(OH) 2 -MgO solid solution during continuous thermal decomposition in Knudsen cells

Decomposition of standing litter in arid grasslands: Interactions between sunlight, non-rainfall moisture, microbes, and plant traits

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, J. R. V.; Jacobson, P. J.; Jacobson, K. M.; Evans, S.

2017-12-01

Although arid lands make up 40% of the Earth's land surface, we still lack a strong understanding of carbon cycling and plant decomposition in these systems. One reason for this is that field studies typically only focus on decomposition at or below the ground surface even though standing dead litter (material that has not yet fallen to the ground) accounts for more than 50% of total necromass in many of these systems. While recent work has begun to recognize the important and unique aspects of standing litter decomposition, few studies have investigated specific mechanisms controlling rates of mass loss. We hypothesized that initial photodegradation of the outer plant cuticle of standing litter is an important determinant of litter decomposition because this process increases moisture absorption and subsequent opportunities for biological decomposition. Our preliminary results offer support for this hypothesis. We found that standing grass stems with their cuticles artificially removed had greater water absorbance and more than 400% greater mass loss over a 6-month period relative to controls with intact cuticles. Additionally, spectroscopic measurements of cuticle integrity showed damage to the litter surface after a period of extended photodegradation, allowing increased moisture uptake during simulated fog/dew events. These findings are especially important in the context of recent work by us and others showing that non-rainfall moisture (fog, dew, and water vapor) plays a much larger role in arid land decomposition than previously thought. Improving our understanding of the mechanisms driving decomposition of standing litter will enable us to develop a more predictive understanding of carbon storage in arid lands.

Global decomposition experiment shows soil animal impacts on decomposition are climate-dependent

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Wall, D.H.; Bradford, M.A.; John, M.G.St.; Trofymow, J.A.; Behan-Pelletier, V.; Bignell, D.E.; Dangerfield, J.M.; Parton, W.J.; Rusek, Josef; Voigt, W.; Wolters, V.; Gardel, H.Z.; Ayuke, F. O.; Bashford, R.; Beljakova, O.I.; Bohlen, P.J.; Brauman, A.; Flemming, S.; Henschel, J.R.; Johnson, D.L.; Jones, T.H.; Kovářová, Marcela; Kranabetter, J.M.; Kutny, L.; Lin, K.-Ch.; Maryati, M.; Masse, D.; Pokarzhevskii, A.; Rahman, H.; Sabará, M.G.; Salamon, J.-A.; Swift, M.J.; Varela, A.; Vasconcelos, H.L.; White, D.; Zou, X.

2008-01-01

Roč. 14, č. 11 (2008), s. 2661-2677 ISSN 1354-1013 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60660521; CEZ:AV0Z60050516 Keywords : climate decomposition index * decomposition * litter Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 5.876, year: 2008

Studies on the thermal decomposition of lanthanum(III) valerate and lanthanum(III) caproate in argon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grivel, J.-C., E-mail: jean@dtu.dk [Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK - 4000 Roskilde (Denmark); Zhao, Y.; Suarez Guevara, M.J. [Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK - 4000 Roskilde (Denmark); Watenphul, A. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22603 Hamburg (Germany); Institute of Mineralogy and Petrography, University of Hamburg, Grindelallee 48, 20146 Hamburg (Germany)

2015-07-20

Highlights: • The thermal decomposition of Lathanum valerate and caproate has been studied in Ar. • The compounds melt prior to decomposition. • Gas release in the molten state results in irregular mass loss. • CO{sub 2} and symmetrical ketones are the main evolving gas species. - Abstract: The decomposition of La-valerate (La(C{sub 4}H{sub 9}CO{sub 2}){sub 3}·xH{sub 2}O (x ≈ 0.45)) and La-caproate (La(C{sub 5}H{sub 11}CO{sub 2}){sub 3}·xH{sub 2}O (x ≈ 0.30)) was studied upon heating at 5 °C/min in a flow of argon. Using a variety of techniques including simultaneous TG-DTA, FTIR, X-ray diffraction with both laboratory Cu Kα and synchrotron sources as well as hot-stage microscopy, it was found that both compounds melt prior to decomposition and that the main decomposition stage from the molten, anhydrous state leads to the formation of La-dioxycarbonate (La{sub 2}O{sub 2}CO{sub 3}) via an unstable intermediate product and release of symmetrical ketones. Final decomposition to La{sub 2}O{sub 3} takes place with release of CO{sub 2}.

Digital Image Stabilization Method Based on Variational Mode Decomposition and Relative Entropy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duo Hao

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Cameras mounted on vehicles frequently suffer from image shake due to the vehicles’ motions. To remove jitter motions and preserve intentional motions, a hybrid digital image stabilization method is proposed that uses variational mode decomposition (VMD and relative entropy (RE. In this paper, the global motion vector (GMV is initially decomposed into several narrow-banded modes by VMD. REs, which exhibit the difference of probability distribution between two modes, are then calculated to identify the intentional and jitter motion modes. Finally, the summation of the jitter motion modes constitutes jitter motions, whereas the subtraction of the resulting sum from the GMV represents the intentional motions. The proposed stabilization method is compared with several known methods, namely, medium filter (MF, Kalman filter (KF, wavelet decomposition (MD method, empirical mode decomposition (EMD-based method, and enhanced EMD-based method, to evaluate stabilization performance. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the other stabilization methods.

Decomposition methods for unsupervised learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørup, Morten

2008-01-01

This thesis presents the application and development of decomposition methods for Unsupervised Learning. It covers topics from classical factor analysis based decomposition and its variants such as Independent Component Analysis, Non-negative Matrix Factorization and Sparse Coding...... methods and clustering problems is derived both in terms of classical point clustering but also in terms of community detection in complex networks. A guiding principle throughout this thesis is the principle of parsimony. Hence, the goal of Unsupervised Learning is here posed as striving for simplicity...... in the decompositions. Thus, it is demonstrated how a wide range of decomposition methods explicitly or implicitly strive to attain this goal. Applications of the derived decompositions are given ranging from multi-media analysis of image and sound data, analysis of biomedical data such as electroencephalography...

Dictionary-Based Tensor Canonical Polyadic Decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Jeremy Emile; Gillis, Nicolas

2018-04-01

To ensure interpretability of extracted sources in tensor decomposition, we introduce in this paper a dictionary-based tensor canonical polyadic decomposition which enforces one factor to belong exactly to a known dictionary. A new formulation of sparse coding is proposed which enables high dimensional tensors dictionary-based canonical polyadic decomposition. The benefits of using a dictionary in tensor decomposition models are explored both in terms of parameter identifiability and estimation accuracy. Performances of the proposed algorithms are evaluated on the decomposition of simulated data and the unmixing of hyperspectral images.

Cellular decomposition in vikalloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belyatskaya, I.S.; Vintajkin, E.Z.; Georgieva, I.Ya.; Golikov, V.A.; Udovenko, V.A.

1981-01-01

Austenite decomposition in Fe-Co-V and Fe-Co-V-Ni alloys at 475-600 deg C is investigated. The cellular decomposition in ternary alloys results in the formation of bcc (ordered) and fcc structures, and in quaternary alloys - bcc (ordered) and 12R structures. The cellular 12R structure results from the emergence of stacking faults in the fcc lattice with irregular spacing in four layers. The cellular decomposition results in a high-dispersion structure and magnetic properties approaching the level of well-known vikalloys [ru

Preliminary radiation-oxidizing treatment influence on radiation-catalytic activity of zirconium during water decomposition process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garibov, A.A.; Aliyev, A.G.; Agayev, T.N.; Aliyev, S.M.; Velibekova, G.Z.

2004-01-01

The study of physical-chemical processes proceeding in contact of metal constructional materials nuclear reactors with water at simultaneous influence of temperature and radiation represents the large interest at the decision of problems material authority and safety of work of nuclear -power installations [1-2]. One of the widely widespread materials of active zone nuclear reactors is metal zirconium and its alloys. The influence of preliminary radiation processing on radiation, radiation -thermal and thermal processes of accumulation of molecular hydrogen and oxidation zirconium in contact with water is investigated at T=673 K and ρ=5mg/sm 3 [3-4]. Initial samples zirconium previously has been exposed by an irradiation in medium H 2 O 2 at D=20-410 kGy. The contribution of radiation processes in these contacts in process thermo-radiation decomposition of water and oxidation of materials of zirconium is revealed. It is established that the interaction of Zr metal, preliminary treated by radiation, with water at radiation -heterogeneous processes leads to passivity of a surface. The rate meanings of thermal, radiation -thermal processes and radiation-chemical yields of hydrogen are determined. It is revealed, that at radiation-heterogeneous processes in system Zr +H 2 O (ρ =5mg/sm 3 T=673 K) the increase of the absorbed doze up to 123 kGy results to reduction of a radiation -chemical yield of molecular hydrogen. The further increase of the absorbed doze results to increase of a radiation -chemical yield of hydrogen. The observable effect at the preliminary radiation of zirconium is connected to formation of oxide phase on a surface. The mechanism of radiation -heterogeneous processes proceeding in system Zr+H 2 O is suggested. (author)

Catalytic non-thermal plasma reactor for the decomposition of a ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2016-08-26

Aug 26, 2016 ... Among the catalytic study, MnOx/SMF (manganese oxide on sintered metal fibres electrode) shows better performance, probably due to the formation of active oxygen species by in situ decomposition of ozone on the catalyst surface. Water vapour further enhanced the performance due to the in situ ...

Nitrogen deposition does not enhance Sphagnum decomposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Manninen, S; Kivimäki, S; Leith, I D; Leeson, S R; Sheppard, L J

2016-11-15

Long-term additions of nitrogen (N) to peatlands have altered bryophyte growth, species dominance, N content in peat and peat water, and often resulted in enhanced Sphagnum decomposition rate. However, these results have mainly been derived from experiments in which N was applied as ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), neglecting the fact that in polluted areas, wet deposition may be dominated either by NO3(-) or NH4(+). We studied effects of elevated wet deposition of NO3(-) vs. NH4(+) alone (8 or 56kgNha(-1)yr(-1) over and above the background of 8kgNha(-1)yr(-1) for 5 to 11years) or combined with phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) on Sphagnum quality for decomposers, mass loss, and associated changes in hummock pore water in an ombrotrophic bog (Whim). Adding N, especially as NH4(+), increased N concentration in Sphagnum, but did not enhance mass loss from Sphagnum. Mass loss seemed to depend mainly on moss species and climatic factors. Only high applications of N affected hummock pore water chemistry, which varied considerably over time. Overall, C and N cycling in this N treated bog appeared to be decoupled. We conclude that moss species, seasonal and annual variation in climatic factors, direct negative effects of N (NH4(+) toxicity) on Sphagnum production, and indirect effects (increase in pH and changes in plant species dominance under elevated NO3(-) alone and with PK) drive Sphagnum decomposition and hummock C and N dynamics at Whim. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sensitivity of decomposition rates of soil organic matter with respect to simultaneous changes in temperature and moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Sierra, Carlos A.; Trumbore, Susan E.; Davidson, Eric A.; Vicca, Sara; Janssens, I.

2015-03-01

The sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition to global environmental change is a topic of prominent relevance for the global carbon cycle. Decomposition depends on multiple factors that are being altered simultaneously as a result of global environmental change; therefore, it is important to study the sensitivity of the rates of soil organic matter decomposition with respect to multiple and interacting drivers. In this manuscript, we present an analysis of the potential response of decomposition rates to simultaneous changes in temperature and moisture. To address this problem, we first present a theoretical framework to study the sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition when multiple driving factors change simultaneously. We then apply this framework to models and data at different levels of abstraction: (1) to a mechanistic model that addresses the limitation of enzyme activity by simultaneous effects of temperature and soil water content, the latter controlling substrate supply and oxygen concentration for microbial activity; (2) to different mathematical functions used to represent temperature and moisture effects on decomposition in biogeochemical models. To contrast model predictions at these two levels of organization, we compiled different data sets of observed responses in field and laboratory studies. Then we applied our conceptual framework to: (3) observations of heterotrophic respiration at the ecosystem level; (4) laboratory experiments looking at the response of heterotrophic respiration to independent changes in moisture and temperature; and (5) ecosystem-level experiments manipulating soil temperature and water content simultaneously.

Determination of Characteristic Peroids of Suppression of Thermal Decomposition Reaction of Forest Fuel Material by Specialized Software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gumerov Vladislav M.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Experimental studies determining periods of suppression of thermal decomposition reaction of forest combustible materials was carried out by high-speed, cross-correlation cameras and panoramic techniques PIV and IPI under influence of water steam. Conditions and characteristics of reaction termination of thermal decomposition of forest combustible materials under reaction with steam cloud were defined.

Humidity effects on surface dielectric barrier discharge for gaseous naphthalene decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelaziz, Ayman A.; Ishijima, Tatsuo; Seto, Takafumi

2018-04-01

Experiments are performed using dry and humid air to clarify the effects of water vapour on the characteristics of surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) and investigate its impact on the performance of the SDBD for decomposition of gaseous naphthalene in air stream. The current characteristics, including the discharge and the capacitive currents, are deeply analyzed and the discharge mechanism is explored. The results confirmed that the humidity affected the microdischarge distribution without affecting the discharge mode. Interestingly, it is found that the water vapour had a significant influence on the capacitance of the reactor due to its deposition on the discharge electrode and the dielectric, which, in turn, affects the power loss in the dielectric and the total power consumed in the reactor. Thus, the factor of the humidity effect on the power loss in the dielectric should be considered in addition to its effect on the attachment coefficient. Additionally, there was an optimum level of the humidity for the decomposition of naphthalene in the SDBD, and its value depended on the gas composition, where the maximum naphthalene decomposition efficiency in O2/H2O is achieved at the humidity level ˜10%, which was lower than that obtained in air/H2O (˜28%). The results also revealed that the role of the humidity in the decomposition efficiency was not significant in the humidified O2 at high power level. This was attributed to the significant increase in oxygen-derived species (such as O atoms and O3) at high power, which was enough to overcome the negative effects of the humidity.

Decomposition for emission baseline setting in China's electricity sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steenhof, Paul A.

2007-01-01

Decomposition analysis is used to generate carbon dioxide emission baselines in China's electricity sector to the year 2020. This is undertaken from the vantage point of the final consumer of electricity, and therefore considers factors influencing electricity demand, efficiency of generation, sources of energy used for generation purposes, and the effectiveness of transmission and distribution. It is found that since 1980, gains in efficiency of generation have been the most important factor affecting change in the emission intensity of electricity generated. Based upon known energy and economic policy, efficiency gains will continue to contribute to reductions in the emission intensity of electricity generated, however, fuel shifts to natural gas and increases in nuclear generation will further these trends into the future. The analysis confirms other sources in the literature that decomposition is an appropriate technique available for baseline construction, thereby suitable for the emerging carbon market and its related mechanisms

Comparison of hybrid spectral-decomposition artificial neural network models for understanding climatic forcing of groundwater levels

Science.gov (United States)

Abrokwah, K.; O'Reilly, A. M.

2017-12-01

Groundwater is an important resource that is extracted every day because of its invaluable use for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes. The need for sustaining groundwater resources is clearly indicated by declining water levels and has led to modeling and forecasting accurate groundwater levels. In this study, spectral decomposition of climatic forcing time series was used to develop hybrid wavelet analysis (WA) and moving window average (MWA) artificial neural network (ANN) models. These techniques are explored by modeling historical groundwater levels in order to provide understanding of potential causes of the observed groundwater-level fluctuations. Selection of the appropriate decomposition level for WA and window size for MWA helps in understanding the important time scales of climatic forcing, such as rainfall, that influence water levels. Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is used to decompose the input time-series data into various levels of approximate and details wavelet coefficients, whilst MWA acts as a low-pass signal-filtering technique for removing high-frequency signals from the input data. The variables used to develop and validate the models were daily average rainfall measurements from five National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) weather stations and daily water-level measurements from two wells recorded from 1978 to 2008 in central Florida, USA. Using different decomposition levels and different window sizes, several WA-ANN and MWA-ANN models for simulating the water levels were created and their relative performances compared against each other. The WA-ANN models performed better than the corresponding MWA-ANN models; also higher decomposition levels of the input signal by the DWT gave the best results. The results obtained show the applicability and feasibility of hybrid WA-ANN and MWA-ANN models for simulating daily water levels using only climatic forcing time series as model inputs.

Observation of spinodal decomposition in nuclei?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guarnera, A.; Colonna, M.; Chomaz, Ph.

1996-01-01

In the framework of the recently developed stochastic one-body descriptions it has been shown that the occurrence of nuclear multifragmentation by spinodal decomposition is characterized by typical size and time scales; in particular, the formation of nearly equal mass fragments is expected around Z=10. A first preliminary comparison of our predictions with experimental data for the Xe + Cu at 45 MeV/A and for Xe + Sn at 50 MeV/A recently measured by the Indra collaboration is presented. The agreement of the results with the data seems finally to plead in favour of a possible occurrence of a first order phase transition. (K.A.)

Double Bounce Component in Cross-Polarimetric SAR from a New Scattering Target Decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Sang-Hoon; Wdowinski, Shimon

2013-08-01

Common vegetation scattering theories assume that the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) cross-polarization (cross-pol) signal represents solely volume scattering. We found this assumption incorrect based on SAR phase measurements acquired over the south Florida Everglades wetlands indicating that the cross-pol radar signal often samples the water surface beneath the vegetation. Based on these new observations, we propose that the cross-pol measurement consists of both volume scattering and double bounce components. The simplest multi-bounce scattering mechanism that generates cross-pol signal occurs by rotated dihedrals. Thus, we use the rotated dihedral mechanism with probability density function to revise some of the vegetation scattering theories and develop a three- component decomposition algorithm with single bounce, double bounce from both co-pol and cross-pol, and volume scattering components. We applied the new decomposition analysis to both urban and rural environments using Radarsat-2 quad-pol datasets. The decomposition of the San Francisco's urban area shows higher double bounce scattering and reduced volume scattering compared to other common three-component decomposition. The decomposition of the rural Everglades area shows that the relations between volume and cross-pol double bounce depend on the vegetation density. The new decomposition can be useful to better understand vegetation scattering behavior over the various surfaces and the estimation of above ground biomass using SAR observations.

Effects of anthropogenic heavy metal contamination on litter decomposition in streams – A meta-analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferreira, Verónica; Koricheva, Julia; Duarte, Sofia; Niyogi, Dev K.; Guérold, François

2016-01-01

Many streams worldwide are affected by heavy metal contamination, mostly due to past and present mining activities. Here we present a meta-analysis of 38 studies (reporting 133 cases) published between 1978 and 2014 that reported the effects of heavy metal contamination on the decomposition of terrestrial litter in running waters. Overall, heavy metal contamination significantly inhibited litter decomposition. The effect was stronger for laboratory than for field studies, likely due to better control of confounding variables in the former, antagonistic interactions between metals and other environmental variables in the latter or differences in metal identity and concentration between studies. For laboratory studies, only copper + zinc mixtures significantly inhibited litter decomposition, while no significant effects were found for silver, aluminum, cadmium or zinc considered individually. For field studies, coal and metal mine drainage strongly inhibited litter decomposition, while drainage from motorways had no significant effects. The effect of coal mine drainage did not depend on drainage pH. Coal mine drainage negatively affected leaf litter decomposition independently of leaf litter identity; no significant effect was found for wood decomposition, but sample size was low. Considering metal mine drainage, arsenic mines had a stronger negative effect on leaf litter decomposition than gold or pyrite mines. Metal mine drainage significantly inhibited leaf litter decomposition driven by both microbes and invertebrates, independently of leaf litter identity; no significant effect was found for microbially driven decomposition, but sample size was low. Overall, mine drainage negatively affects leaf litter decomposition, likely through negative effects on invertebrates. - Highlights: • A meta-analysis was done to assess the effects of heavy metals on litter decomposition. • Heavy metals significantly and strongly inhibited litter decomposition in streams. �

Study on Thermal Decomposition Characteristics of Ammonium Nitrate Emulsion Explosive in Different Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Qiujie; Tan, Liu; Xu, Sen; Liu, Dabin; Min, Li

2018-04-01

Numerous accidents of emulsion explosive (EE) are attributed to uncontrolled thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate emulsion (ANE, the intermediate of EE) and EE in large scale. In order to study the thermal decomposition characteristics of ANE and EE in different scales, a large-scale test of modified vented pipe test (MVPT), and two laboratory-scale tests of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) were applied in the present study. The scale effect and water effect both play an important role in the thermal stability of ANE and EE. The measured decomposition temperatures of ANE and EE in MVPT are 146°C and 144°C, respectively, much lower than those in DSC and ARC. As the size of the same sample in DSC, ARC, and MVPT successively increases, the onset temperatures decrease. In the same test, the measured onset temperature value of ANE is higher than that of EE. The water composition of the sample stabilizes the sample. The large-scale test of MVPT can provide information for the real-life operations. The large-scale operations have more risks, and continuous overheating should be avoided.

Multiresolution signal decomposition schemes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Goutsias (John); H.J.A.M. Heijmans (Henk)

1998-01-01

textabstract[PNA-R9810] Interest in multiresolution techniques for signal processing and analysis is increasing steadily. An important instance of such a technique is the so-called pyramid decomposition scheme. This report proposes a general axiomatic pyramid decomposition scheme for signal analysis

Symmetric Tensor Decomposition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brachat, Jerome; Comon, Pierre; Mourrain, Bernard

2010-01-01

We present an algorithm for decomposing a symmetric tensor, of dimension n and order d, as a sum of rank-1 symmetric tensors, extending the algorithm of Sylvester devised in 1886 for binary forms. We recall the correspondence between the decomposition of a homogeneous polynomial in n variables...... of polynomial equations of small degree in non-generic cases. We propose a new algorithm for symmetric tensor decomposition, based on this characterization and on linear algebra computations with Hankel matrices. The impact of this contribution is two-fold. First it permits an efficient computation...... of the decomposition of any tensor of sub-generic rank, as opposed to widely used iterative algorithms with unproved global convergence (e.g. Alternate Least Squares or gradient descents). Second, it gives tools for understanding uniqueness conditions and for detecting the rank....

Thermal decomposition of beryllium perchlorate tetrahydrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berezkina, L.G.; Borisova, S.I.; Tamm, N.S.; Novoselova, A.V.

1975-01-01

Thermal decomposition of Be(ClO 4 ) 2 x4H 2 O was studied by the differential flow technique in the helium stream. The kinetics was followed by an exchange reaction of the perchloric acid appearing by the decomposition with potassium carbonate. The rate of CO 2 liberation in this process was recorded by a heat conductivity detector. The exchange reaction yielding CO 2 is quantitative, it is not the limiting one and it does not distort the kinetics of the process of perchlorate decomposition. The solid products of decomposition were studied by infrared and NMR spectroscopy, roentgenography, thermography and chemical analysis. A mechanism suggested for the decomposition involves intermediate formation of hydroxyperchlorate: Be(ClO 4 ) 2 x4H 2 O → Be(OH)ClO 4 +HClO 4 +3H 2 O; Be(OH)ClO 4 → BeO+HClO 4 . Decomposition is accompained by melting of the sample. The mechanism of decomposition is hydrolytic. At room temperature the hydroxyperchlorate is a thick syrup-like compound crystallizing after long storing

Hydrogen peroxide and radiation water chemistry of boiling water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibe, E.; Watanabe, A.; Endo, M.; Takahashi, M.; Karasawa, H.

1991-01-01

G-values and rate constants at elevated temperature are reviewed and updated for computer simulation of water radiolysis in BWRs. Quantitative relationship between g-values of H 2 and OH was found out to govern numerically the radiolytic environment in the BWR primary system. Thermal decomposition of hydrogen peroxide was measured in stagnant water in a quartz cell and the rate constant was determined at 2.4 x 10 -7 s -1 with the activation energy of 53.3 kJ/mol. Behaviors of hydrogen peroxide under HWC simulated with updated variables were consistent with plant observation at Forsmark 1 and 2. The most likely decomposition scheme of hydrogen peroxide at surface was identified as H 2 O 2 → H + HO 2 . Based on the surface decomposition process, actual level of hydrogen peroxide was estimated at 200-400 ppb under NWC condition from measured at BWR sampling stations. The estimation was consistent with the numerical simulation of BWR water radiolysis with updated variables. (author)

Nonlinear QR code based optical image encryption using spiral phase transform, equal modulus decomposition and singular value decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Ravi; Bhaduri, Basanta; Nishchal, Naveen K.

2018-01-01

In this study, we propose a quick response (QR) code based nonlinear optical image encryption technique using spiral phase transform (SPT), equal modulus decomposition (EMD) and singular value decomposition (SVD). First, the primary image is converted into a QR code and then multiplied with a spiral phase mask (SPM). Next, the product is spiral phase transformed with particular spiral phase function, and further, the EMD is performed on the output of SPT, which results into two complex images, Z 1 and Z 2. Among these, Z 1 is further Fresnel propagated with distance d, and Z 2 is reserved as a decryption key. Afterwards, SVD is performed on Fresnel propagated output to get three decomposed matrices i.e. one diagonal matrix and two unitary matrices. The two unitary matrices are modulated with two different SPMs and then, the inverse SVD is performed using the diagonal matrix and modulated unitary matrices to get the final encrypted image. Numerical simulation results confirm the validity and effectiveness of the proposed technique. The proposed technique is robust against noise attack, specific attack, and brutal force attack. Simulation results are presented in support of the proposed idea.

Colonization by Chironomidae larvae in decomposition leaves of Eichhornia azurea in a lentic system in Southeastern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

da Silveira, Lidimara Souza; Martins, Renato Tavares; da Silveira, Guilherme Augusto; Grazul, Richard Michael; Lobo, Danielle Pinheiro; Alves, Roberto da Gama

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to analyze the colonization of Chironomidae (Diptera) larvae during the decomposition of Eichhornia azurea (Swartz) Kunth (Commelinales: Pontederiaceae) leaves in a lake in southeastern Brazil in two seasons of the year. The experiment was conducted from September to November 2007 and February to April 2008. In each period, 21 litter bags were used, each containing 10 g of dried leaves. Three bags were removed after 2, 5, 8, 12, 25, 45, and 65 days of colonization. The decomposition rate of the E. azurea leaves was rapid in both seasons, with no significant difference between them. The Chironomidae showed higher density than the other invertebrates. Goeldichironomus, Tonytarsus, and Corynoneura were the most abundant genera of Chironomidae. The invertebrate density increased during the experiment, differing within days but not between seasons. The faunal composition differed between the decomposition phases (initial and final), but did not differ between the seasons (dry and wet). The taxa Ablabesmyia, Caladomyia, Chironomus, Goeldichironomus, and Parachironomus were the most closely related to the final days of the experiment. Litter was the main food item found in the gut contents of the organisms of all the genera analyzed, both at the beginning and end of the decomposition. We believe that the feeding activity combined with the high larval density is an important factor contributing to the rapid decomposition of the E. azurea leaves. In conclusion, the succession process along the detritus chain of E. azurea was more important in structuring the assemblage of Chironomidae larvae than seasonal variations.

Decomposition of water and production of H{sub 2} using semiconductor-photocatalytic effect induced by gamma ray from high radioactive waste

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wada, Y; Kawaguchi, K; Myouchin, M [Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Works

1996-12-31

The technology of the radiolytic decomposition of water leading to hydrogen production was demonstrated to explore a new field in the utilization of radiation and radioactive elements. The technology used consisted of a photoassisted catalytic method which has been generally investigated for photocatalysis using a semiconductor and light in an electrochemical study. In our study, gamma radiation from Co-60 was used instead of light, and a significant amount of evolved hydrogen was detected. Our preliminary experiments proved the possibility of converting the energy ionizing radiation (gamma radiation) into chemical energy (hydrogen) using a semiconductor-photocatalytic effect. (author).

Mesoporous film of WO{sub 3}–the “sunlight” assisted decomposition of surfactant in wastewater for voltammetric determination of Pb

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krasnodębska-Ostręga, Beata, E-mail: bekras@chem.uw.edu.pl; Bielecka, Agnieszka; Biaduń, Ewa; Miecznikowski, Krzysztof, E-mail: kmiecz@chem.uw.edu.pl

2016-12-01

Highlights: • The “sun light” decomposed of surfactants: Sodium dodecyl sulfate and Triton™X-114 in the presence of WO{sub 3}. • Mesoporous WO{sub 3} films use for the degradation of surfactant without any reagents. • The developed procedure is suggested to be a no-reagents method of decomposition of added SDS leads to 100% recovery of added Pb (II). - Abstract: In this paper we present the application of “sunlight” assisted digestion in the presence of WO{sub 3} to the decomposition of dissolved organic matter, using the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and the nonionic surfactant (1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenyl-polyethylene glycol (Triton™X-114) in natural water samples, prior to the determination of traces residues of lead by stripping voltammetry methods. The results of the study showed firstly that the preparation of reproducible WO{sub 3} layers characterized by high mechanical and chemical resistance was possible, and secondly that it was also possible to obtain a high efficiency of decomposition, equal in efficiency to that of the reference method, which was the hydrogen peroxide oxidation assisted by UV, with evaporation nearly to dryness. The developed procedure is suggested to be a no-reagents method for the decomposition of added SDS, leading to 100% recovery of added Pb (II). The anodic stripping voltammetric curves recorded in solution after 4 h irradiation with UV assisted by WO{sub 3} were repeatable and increased linearly with standard additions, but the data finally obtained were incorrect. The curves recorded in solution after “sunlight” assisted digestion in the presence of WO{sub 3} were repeatable, and increased linearly with an increasing of concentration of standard additions (100% recovery of Pb). In the case of a nonionic surfactant, the decomposition time is at least 6 h. The advantage of the proposed method is the fact that the digestion process does not need the addition of any chemicals for the

Some nonlinear space decomposition algorithms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tai, Xue-Cheng; Espedal, M. [Univ. of Bergen (Norway)

1996-12-31

Convergence of a space decomposition method is proved for a general convex programming problem. The space decomposition refers to methods that decompose a space into sums of subspaces, which could be a domain decomposition or a multigrid method for partial differential equations. Two algorithms are proposed. Both can be used for linear as well as nonlinear elliptic problems and they reduce to the standard additive and multiplicative Schwarz methods for linear elliptic problems. Two {open_quotes}hybrid{close_quotes} algorithms are also presented. They converge faster than the additive one and have better parallelism than the multiplicative method. Numerical tests with a two level domain decomposition for linear, nonlinear and interface elliptic problems are presented for the proposed algorithms.

Interacting effects of insects and flooding on wood decomposition.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael D Ulyshen

Full Text Available Saproxylic arthropods are thought to play an important role in wood decomposition but very few efforts have been made to quantify their contributions to the process and the factors controlling their activities are not well understood. In the current study, mesh exclusion bags were used to quantify how arthropods affect loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L. decomposition rates in both seasonally flooded and unflooded forests over a 31-month period in the southeastern United States. Wood specific gravity (based on initial wood volume was significantly lower in bolts placed in unflooded forests and for those unprotected from insects. Approximately 20.5% and 13.7% of specific gravity loss after 31 months was attributable to insect activity in flooded and unflooded forests, respectively. Importantly, minimal between-treatment differences in water content and the results from a novel test carried out separately suggest the mesh bags had no significant impact on wood mass loss beyond the exclusion of insects. Subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae: Reticulitermes spp. were 5-6 times more active below-ground in unflooded forests compared to flooded forests based on wooden monitoring stakes. They were also slightly more active above-ground in unflooded forests but these differences were not statistically significant. Similarly, seasonal flooding had no detectable effect on above-ground beetle (Coleoptera richness or abundance. Although seasonal flooding strongly reduced Reticulitermes activity below-ground, it can be concluded from an insignificant interaction between forest type and exclusion treatment that reduced above-ground decomposition rates in seasonally flooded forests were due largely to suppressed microbial activity at those locations. The findings from this study indicate that southeastern U.S. arthropod communities accelerate above-ground wood decomposition significantly and to a similar extent in both flooded and unflooded forests

Solving network design problems via decomposition, aggregation and approximation

CERN Document Server

Bärmann, Andreas

2016-01-01

Andreas Bärmann develops novel approaches for the solution of network design problems as they arise in various contexts of applied optimization. At the example of an optimal expansion of the German railway network until 2030, the author derives a tailor-made decomposition technique for multi-period network design problems. Next, he develops a general framework for the solution of network design problems via aggregation of the underlying graph structure. This approach is shown to save much computation time as compared to standard techniques. Finally, the author devises a modelling framework for the approximation of the robust counterpart under ellipsoidal uncertainty, an often-studied case in the literature. Each of these three approaches opens up a fascinating branch of research which promises a better theoretical understanding of the problem and an increasing range of solvable application settings at the same time. Contents Decomposition for Multi-Period Network Design Solving Network Design Problems via Ag...

Decomposition of Multi-player Games

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Dengji; Schiffel, Stephan; Thielscher, Michael

Research in General Game Playing aims at building systems that learn to play unknown games without human intervention. We contribute to this endeavour by generalising the established technique of decomposition from AI Planning to multi-player games. To this end, we present a method for the automatic decomposition of previously unknown games into independent subgames, and we show how a general game player can exploit a successful decomposition for game tree search.

Fate of mercury in tree litter during decomposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. K. Pokharel

2011-09-01

Full Text Available We performed a controlled laboratory litter incubation study to assess changes in dry mass, carbon (C mass and concentration, mercury (Hg mass and concentration, and stoichiometric relations between elements during decomposition. Twenty-five surface litter samples each, collected from four forest stands, were placed in incubation jars open to the atmosphere, and were harvested sequentially at 0, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months. Using a mass balance approach, we observed significant mass losses of Hg during decomposition (5 to 23 % of initial mass after 18 months, which we attribute to gaseous losses of Hg to the atmosphere through a gas-permeable filter covering incubation jars. Percentage mass losses of Hg generally were less than observed dry mass and C mass losses (48 to 63 % Hg loss per unit dry mass loss, although one litter type showed similar losses. A field control study using the same litter types exposed at the original collection locations for one year showed that field litter samples were enriched in Hg concentrations by 8 to 64 % compared to samples incubated for the same time period in the laboratory, indicating strong additional sorption of Hg in the field likely from atmospheric deposition. Solubility of Hg, assessed by exposure of litter to water upon harvest, was very low (<0.22 ng Hg g⁻¹ dry mass and decreased with increasing stage of decomposition for all litter types. Our results indicate potentially large gaseous emissions, or re-emissions, of Hg originally associated with plant litter upon decomposition. Results also suggest that Hg accumulation in litter and surface layers in the field is driven mainly by additional sorption of Hg, with minor contributions from "internal" accumulation due to preferential loss of C over Hg. Litter types showed highly species-specific differences in Hg levels during decomposition suggesting that emissions, retention, and sorption of Hg are dependent on litter type.

Preliminary results on laboratory simulations of the decomposition of the green algae Ulva rigida

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karavoltsos, S.; Scoullous, M.; Kaberi, H.

1999-01-01

The Ulva Rigida is a cosmopolitan green algae characteristic of many eutrophic and mesotrophic coastal environments. The effect of its growth and decomposition on the cycle of trace metals has been studied by using enclosures in the site Loutropyrgos over a number of years. The present study is a continuation of that research. Its main aim was to simulate a number of the field experiments in the laboratory, under more controlled conditions and understand better the impact of the decomposition of algae on sea water and sediment

Fate of mercury in tree litter during decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Pokharel, A. K.; Obrist, D.

2011-09-01

We performed a controlled laboratory litter incubation study to assess changes in dry mass, carbon (C) mass and concentration, mercury (Hg) mass and concentration, and stoichiometric relations between elements during decomposition. Twenty-five surface litter samples each, collected from four forest stands, were placed in incubation jars open to the atmosphere, and were harvested sequentially at 0, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months. Using a mass balance approach, we observed significant mass losses of Hg during decomposition (5 to 23 % of initial mass after 18 months), which we attribute to gaseous losses of Hg to the atmosphere through a gas-permeable filter covering incubation jars. Percentage mass losses of Hg generally were less than observed dry mass and C mass losses (48 to 63 % Hg loss per unit dry mass loss), although one litter type showed similar losses. A field control study using the same litter types exposed at the original collection locations for one year showed that field litter samples were enriched in Hg concentrations by 8 to 64 % compared to samples incubated for the same time period in the laboratory, indicating strong additional sorption of Hg in the field likely from atmospheric deposition. Solubility of Hg, assessed by exposure of litter to water upon harvest, was very low (associated with plant litter upon decomposition. Results also suggest that Hg accumulation in litter and surface layers in the field is driven mainly by additional sorption of Hg, with minor contributions from "internal" accumulation due to preferential loss of C over Hg. Litter types showed highly species-specific differences in Hg levels during decomposition suggesting that emissions, retention, and sorption of Hg are dependent on litter type.

Helicopter crashes into water: warning time, final position, and other factors affecting survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Christopher J; MacDonald, Conor V; Baker, Susan P; Shanahan, Dennis F; Haaland, Wren L

2014-04-01

According to 40 yr of data, the fatality rate for a helicopter crash into water is approximately 25%. Does warning time and the final position of the helicopter in the water influence the survival rate? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) database was queried to identify helicopter crashes into water between 1981 and 2011 in the Gulf of Mexico and Hawaii. Fatality rate, amount of warning time prior to the crash, and final position of the helicopter were identified. There were 133 helicopters that crashed into water with 456 crew and passengers. Of these, 119 occupants (26%) did not survive; of those who did survive, 38% were injured. Twelve died after making a successful escape from the helicopter. Crashes with 1 min. However, more than half of fatalities (57%) came from crashes for which the warning time could not be determined. Lack of warning time and how to survive in the water after the crash should be a topic for study in all marine survival/aircraft ditching courses. Investigators should be trained to provide estimates of warning time when investigating helicopter crashes into water.

Radiolytic decomposition of water-ethanol mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baquey, Charles

1968-07-01

This research thesis addresses the study of the behaviour of binary mixtures submitted to ionizing radiations, and notably aims, by studying the case of water-ethanol mixtures, at verifying solutions proposed by previously published works on the origin of hydrogen atoms and of molecular hydrogen, on the intervention of excited atoms, and on the origin of products appearing under radiolysis. The experimental part of this work consists in the dosing of products formed in water-ethanol mixtures irradiated in presence or absence of nitrate, hydrogen, hydrocarbon, acetaldehyde, 2-3 butanediol and nitrite. Results are discussed and interpreted in terms of acetaldehyde efficiency, 2-3 butanediol efficiencies, and hydrocarbon efficiencies in pure ethanol, and in water-ethanol mixtures. The influence of the presence of nitrate ions in mixtures is also discussed

Decomposition of diesel oil by various microorganisms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suess, A; Netzsch-Lehner, A

1969-01-01

Previous experiments demonstrated the decomposition of diesel oil in different soils. In this experiment the decomposition of /sup 14/C-n-Hexadecane labelled diesel oil by special microorganisms was studied. The results were as follows: (1) In the experimental soils the microorganisms Mycoccus ruber, Mycobacterium luteum and Trichoderma hamatum are responsible for the diesel oil decomposition. (2) By adding microorganisms to the soil an increase of the decomposition rate was found only in the beginning of the experiments. (3) Maximum decomposition of diesel oil was reached 2-3 weeks after incubation.

Multilinear operators for higher-order decompositions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kolda, Tamara Gibson

2006-04-01

We propose two new multilinear operators for expressing the matrix compositions that are needed in the Tucker and PARAFAC (CANDECOMP) decompositions. The first operator, which we call the Tucker operator, is shorthand for performing an n-mode matrix multiplication for every mode of a given tensor and can be employed to concisely express the Tucker decomposition. The second operator, which we call the Kruskal operator, is shorthand for the sum of the outer-products of the columns of N matrices and allows a divorce from a matricized representation and a very concise expression of the PARAFAC decomposition. We explore the properties of the Tucker and Kruskal operators independently of the related decompositions. Additionally, we provide a review of the matrix and tensor operations that are frequently used in the context of tensor decompositions.

Decomposition of tetrachloroethylene by ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakoda, T.; Hirota, K.; Hashimoto, S.

1998-01-01

Decomposition of tetrachloroethylene and other chloroethenes by ionizing radiation were examined to get information on treatment of industrial off-gas. Model gases, airs containing chloroethenes, were confined in batch reactors and irradiated with electron beam and gamma ray. The G-values of decomposition were larger in the order of tetrachloro- > trichloro- > trans-dichloro- > cis-dichloro- > monochloroethylene in electron beam irradiation and tetrachloro-, trichloro-, trans-dichloro- > cis-dichloro- > monochloroethylene in gamma ray irradiation. For tetrachloro-, trichloro- and trans-dichloroethylene, G-values of decomposition in EB irradiation increased with increase of chlorine atom in a molecule, while those in gamma ray irradiation were almost kept constant. The G-value of decomposition for tetrachloroethylene in EB irradiation was the largest of those for all chloroethenes. In order to examine the effect of the initial concentration on G-value of decomposition, airs containing 300 to 1,800 ppm of tetrachloroethylene were irradiated with electron beam and gamma ray. The G-values of decomposition in both irradiation increased with the initial concentration. Those in electron beam irradiation were two times larger than those in gamma ray irradiation

Effects of terrestrial isopods (Crustacea: Oniscidea on leaf litter decomposition processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khaleid F. Abd El-Wakeil

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The leaf litter decomposition is carried out by the combined action of microorganisms and decomposer invertebrates such as earthworms, diplopods and isopods. The present work aimed to evaluate the impact of terrestrial isopod on leaf litter decomposition process. In Lab experimental food sources from oak and magnolia leaves litter were prepared. Air dried leaf litter were cut to 9 mm discs and sterilized in an autoclave then soaked in distilled water or water percolated through soil and left to decompose for 2, 4 and 6 weeks. 12 groups from two isopods species Porcellio scaber and Armadillidium vulgare, were prepared with each one containing 9 isopods. They were fed individually on the prepared food for 2 weeks. The prepared food differed in Carbon stable isotope ratio (δ13C, C%, N% and C/N ratios. At the end of the experiment, isopods were dissected and separated into gut, gut content and rest of the body. The δ13C for the prepared food, faecal pellets, remaining food, gut content, gut and rest of isopod were compared. The feeding activities of the two isopods were significantly different among isopods groups. Consumption and egestion ratios of magnolia leaf were higher than oak leaf. P. scaber consumed and egested litter higher than A. vulgare. The present results suggested that the impact of isopods and decomposition processes is species and litter specific.

Soft tissue decomposition of submerged, dismembered pig limbs enclosed in plastic bags.

Science.gov (United States)

Pakosh, Caitlin M; Rogers, Tracy L

2009-11-01

This study examines underwater soft tissue decomposition of dismembered pig limbs deposited in polyethylene plastic bags. The research evaluates the level of influence that disposal method has on underwater decomposition processes and details observations specific to this scenario. To our knowledge, no other study has yet investigated decomposing, dismembered, and enclosed remains in water environments. The total sample size consisted of 120 dismembered pig limbs, divided into a subsample of 30 pig limbs per recovery period (34 and 71 days) for each treatment. The two treatments simulated non-enclosed and plastic enclosed disposal methods in a water context. The remains were completely submerged in Lake Ontario for 34 and 71 days. In both recovery periods, the non-enclosed samples lost soft tissue to a significantly greater extent than their plastic enclosed counterparts. Disposal of remains in plastic bags therefore results in preservation, most likely caused by bacterial inhibition and reduced oxygen levels.

Decomposition of Sodium Tetraphenylborate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, M.J.

1998-01-01

The chemical decomposition of aqueous alkaline solutions of sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) has been investigated. The focus of the investigation is on the determination of additives and/or variables which influence NaTBP decomposition. This document describes work aimed at providing better understanding into the relationship of copper (II), solution temperature, and solution pH to NaTPB stability

Thermal decomposition of γ-irradiated lead nitrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nair, S.M.K.; Kumar, T.S.S.

1990-01-01

The thermal decomposition of unirradiated and γ-irradiated lead nitrate was studied by the gas evolution method. The decomposition proceeds through initial gas evolution, a short induction period, an acceleratory stage and a decay stage. The acceleratory and decay stages follow the Avrami-Erofeev equation. Irradiation enhances the decomposition but does not affect the shape of the decomposition curve. (author) 10 refs.; 7 figs.; 2 tabs

Decomposing Nekrasov decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morozov, A.; Zenkevich, Y.

2016-01-01

AGT relations imply that the four-point conformal block admits a decomposition into a sum over pairs of Young diagrams of essentially rational Nekrasov functions — this is immediately seen when conformal block is represented in the form of a matrix model. However, the q-deformation of the same block has a deeper decomposition — into a sum over a quadruple of Young diagrams of a product of four topological vertices. We analyze the interplay between these two decompositions, their properties and their generalization to multi-point conformal blocks. In the latter case we explain how Dotsenko-Fateev all-with-all (star) pair “interaction” is reduced to the quiver model nearest-neighbor (chain) one. We give new identities for q-Selberg averages of pairs of generalized Macdonald polynomials. We also translate the slicing invariance of refined topological strings into the language of conformal blocks and interpret it as abelianization of generalized Macdonald polynomials.

Decomposing Nekrasov decomposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morozov, A. [ITEP,25 Bolshaya Cheremushkinskaya, Moscow, 117218 (Russian Federation); Institute for Information Transmission Problems,19-1 Bolshoy Karetniy, Moscow, 127051 (Russian Federation); National Research Nuclear University MEPhI,31 Kashirskoe highway, Moscow, 115409 (Russian Federation); Zenkevich, Y. [ITEP,25 Bolshaya Cheremushkinskaya, Moscow, 117218 (Russian Federation); National Research Nuclear University MEPhI,31 Kashirskoe highway, Moscow, 115409 (Russian Federation); Institute for Nuclear Research of Russian Academy of Sciences,6a Prospekt 60-letiya Oktyabrya, Moscow, 117312 (Russian Federation)

2016-02-16

AGT relations imply that the four-point conformal block admits a decomposition into a sum over pairs of Young diagrams of essentially rational Nekrasov functions — this is immediately seen when conformal block is represented in the form of a matrix model. However, the q-deformation of the same block has a deeper decomposition — into a sum over a quadruple of Young diagrams of a product of four topological vertices. We analyze the interplay between these two decompositions, their properties and their generalization to multi-point conformal blocks. In the latter case we explain how Dotsenko-Fateev all-with-all (star) pair “interaction” is reduced to the quiver model nearest-neighbor (chain) one. We give new identities for q-Selberg averages of pairs of generalized Macdonald polynomials. We also translate the slicing invariance of refined topological strings into the language of conformal blocks and interpret it as abelianization of generalized Macdonald polynomials.

Final Energy Consumption Trends and Drivers in Czech Republic and Latvia

OpenAIRE

Zhiqian Yu; Dalia Streimikiene; Tomas Balezentis; Rimantas Dapkus; Radislav Jovovic; Veselin Draskovic

2017-01-01

This paper analyses the trends of final energy consumption in Latvia and Czech Republic. Analysis of final energy consumption during 2000-2013 period indicated the main driving forces of final energy consumption during and after world financial crisis of 2008. The paper aimed to evaluate the impact of economic activity and other factors on final energy consumption. The decomposition of the final energy consumption is assessed by analyzing effect of different drivers by the main end-users sect...

Analysis of sulfur-iodine thermochemical cycle for solar hydrogen production. Part 1: decomposition of sulfuric acid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Cunping; T-Raissi, Ali [Central Florida Univ., Florida Solar Energy Center, Cocoa, FL (United States)

2005-05-01

The sulfur-iodine (S-I) thermochemical water splitting cycle is one of the most studied cycles for hydrogen (H{sub 2}) production. S-I cycle consists of four sections: (I) acid production and separation and oxygen purification, (II) sulfuric acid concentration and decomposition, (III) hydroiodic acid (HI) concentration, and (IV) HI decomposition and H{sub 2} purification. Section II of the cycle is an endothermic reaction driven by the heat input from a high temperature source. Analysis of the S-I cycle in the past thirty years have been focused mostly on the utilization of nuclear power as the high temperature heat source for the sulfuric acid decomposition step. Thermodynamic as well as kinetic considerations indicate that both the extent and rate of sulfuric acid decomposition can be improved at very high temperatures (in excess of 1000 deg C) available only from solar concentrators. The beneficial effect of high temperature solar heat for decomposition of sulfuric acid in the S-I cycle is described in this paper. We used Aspen Technologies' HYSYS chemical process simulator (CPS) to develop flowsheets for sulfuric acid (H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}) decomposition that include all mass and heat balances. Based on the HYSYS analyses, two new process flowsheets were developed. These new sulfuric acid decomposition processes are simpler and more stable than previous processes and yield higher conversion efficiencies for the sulfuric acid decomposition and sulfur dioxide and oxygen formation. (Author)

Freeman-Durden Decomposition with Oriented Dihedral Scattering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Jian

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, when the azimuth direction of polarimetric Synthetic Aperature Radars (SAR differs from the planting direction of crops, the double bounce of the incident electromagnetic waves from the terrain surface to the growing crops is investigated and compared with the normal double bounce. Oriented dihedral scattering model is developed to explain the investigated double bounce and is introduced into the Freeman-Durden decomposition. The decomposition algorithm corresponding to the improved decomposition is then proposed. The airborne polarimetric SAR data for agricultural land covering two flight tracks are chosen to validate the algorithm; the decomposition results show that for agricultural vegetated land, the improved Freeman-Durden decomposition has the advantage of increasing the decomposition coherency among the polarimetric SAR data along the different flight tracks.

An effective secondary decomposition approach for wind power forecasting using extreme learning machine trained by crisscross optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin, Hao; Dong, Zhen; Chen, Yunlong; Ge, Jiafei; Lai, Loi Lei; Vaccaro, Alfredo; Meng, Anbo

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A secondary decomposition approach is applied in the data pre-processing. • The empirical mode decomposition is used to decompose the original time series. • IMF1 continues to be decomposed by applying wavelet packet decomposition. • Crisscross optimization algorithm is applied to train extreme learning machine. • The proposed SHD-CSO-ELM outperforms other pervious methods in the literature. - Abstract: Large-scale integration of wind energy into electric grid is restricted by its inherent intermittence and volatility. So the increased utilization of wind power necessitates its accurate prediction. The contribution of this study is to develop a new hybrid forecasting model for the short-term wind power prediction by using a secondary hybrid decomposition approach. In the data pre-processing phase, the empirical mode decomposition is used to decompose the original time series into several intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). A unique feature is that the generated IMF1 continues to be decomposed into appropriate and detailed components by applying wavelet packet decomposition. In the training phase, all the transformed sub-series are forecasted with extreme learning machine trained by our recently developed crisscross optimization algorithm (CSO). The final predicted values are obtained from aggregation. The results show that: (a) The performance of empirical mode decomposition can be significantly improved with its IMF1 decomposed by wavelet packet decomposition. (b) The CSO algorithm has satisfactory performance in addressing the premature convergence problem when applied to optimize extreme learning machine. (c) The proposed approach has great advantage over other previous hybrid models in terms of prediction accuracy.

76 FR 57646 - Final Withdrawal of Certain Federal Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria Applicable to Wisconsin

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-16

... Final Withdrawal of Certain Federal Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria Applicable to Wisconsin AGENCY... aquatic life water quality criteria applicable to Wisconsin? C. Why is the EPA not withdrawing Wisconsin's chronic endrin aquatic life use criterion for waters designated as Warm Water Sportfish and Warm Water...

Danburite decomposition by hydrochloric acid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mamatov, E.D.; Ashurov, N.A.; Mirsaidov, U.

2011-01-01

Present article is devoted to decomposition of danburite of Ak-Arkhar Deposit of Tajikistan by hydrochloric acid. The interaction of boron containing ores of Ak-Arkhar Deposit of Tajikistan with mineral acids, including hydrochloric acid was studied. The optimal conditions of extraction of valuable components from danburite composition were determined. The chemical composition of danburite of Ak-Arkhar Deposit was determined as well. The kinetics of decomposition of calcined danburite by hydrochloric acid was studied. The apparent activation energy of the process of danburite decomposition by hydrochloric acid was calculated.

Decoupling the direct and indirect effects of climate on plant litter decomposition: Accounting for stress-induced modifications in plant chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Suseela, Vidya; Tharayil, Nishanth

2018-04-01

Decomposition of plant litter is a fundamental ecosystem process that can act as a feedback to climate change by simultaneously influencing both the productivity of ecosystems and the flux of carbon dioxide from the soil. The influence of climate on decomposition from a postsenescence perspective is relatively well known; in particular, climate is known to regulate the rate of litter decomposition via its direct influence on the reaction kinetics and microbial physiology on processes downstream of tissue senescence. Climate can alter plant metabolism during the formative stage of tissues and could shape the final chemical composition of plant litter that is available for decomposition, and thus indirectly influence decomposition; however, these indirect effects are relatively poorly understood. Climatic stress disrupts cellular homeostasis in plants and results in the reprogramming of primary and secondary metabolic pathways, which leads to changes in the quantity, composition, and organization of small molecules and recalcitrant heteropolymers, including lignins, tannins, suberins, and cuticle within the plant tissue matrix. Furthermore, by regulating metabolism during tissue senescence, climate influences the resorption of nutrients from senescing tissues. Thus, the final chemical composition of plant litter that forms the substrate of decomposition is a combined product of presenescence physiological processes through the production and resorption of metabolites. The changes in quantity, composition, and localization of the molecular construct of the litter could enhance or hinder tissue decomposition and soil nutrient cycling by altering the recalcitrance of the lignocellulose matrix, the composition of microbial communities, and the activity of microbial exo-enzymes via various complexation reactions. Also, the climate-induced changes in the molecular composition of litter could differentially influence litter decomposition and soil nutrient cycling. Compared

LMDI decomposition approach: A guide for implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ang, B.W.

2015-01-01

Since it was first used by researchers to analyze industrial electricity consumption in the early 1980s, index decomposition analysis (IDA) has been widely adopted in energy and emission studies. Lately its use as the analytical component of accounting frameworks for tracking economy-wide energy efficiency trends has attracted considerable attention and interest among policy makers. The last comprehensive literature review of IDA was reported in 2000 which is some years back. After giving an update and presenting the key trends in the last 15 years, this study focuses on the implementation issues of the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) decomposition methods in view of their dominance in IDA in recent years. Eight LMDI models are presented and their origin, decomposition formulae, and strengths and weaknesses are summarized. Guidelines on the choice among these models are provided to assist users in implementation. - Highlights: • Guidelines for implementing LMDI decomposition approach are provided. • Eight LMDI decomposition models are summarized and compared. • The development of the LMDI decomposition approach is presented. • The latest developments of index decomposition analysis are briefly reviewed.

Insulation Strength and Decomposition Characteristics of a C6F12O and N2 Gas Mixture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoxing Zhang

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the decomposition characteristics of a new type of environmentally friendly insulating gas C6F12O and N2 mixed gas under AC voltage. The breakdown behavior of 3% C6F12O and N2 mixed gas in quasi-uniform field was investigated through a breakdown experiment. The self-recovery of the mixed gas was analyzed by 100 breakdown experiments. The decomposition products of C6F12O and N2 under breakdown voltage were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC-MS. Finally, the decomposition process of the products was calculated by density functional theory, and the ionization energy, affinity, and molecular orbital gap of the decomposition products were also calculated. The properties of the decomposition products were analyzed from the aspects of insulation and environmental protection. The experimental results show that the 3% C6F12O and N2 mixed gas did not show a downward trend over 100 breakdown tests under a 0.10 MPa breakdown voltage. The decomposition products after breakdown were CF4, C2F6, C3F6, C3F8, C4F10, and C5F12. The ionization energies of several decomposition products are more than 10 eV. The Global Warming Potential (GWP values of the main products are lower than SF6. C2F6, C3F8, and C4F10 have better insulation properties.

On the Use of Generalized Volume Scattering Models for the Improvement of General Polarimetric Model-Based Decomposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qinghua Xie

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, a general polarimetric model-based decomposition framework was proposed by Chen et al., which addresses several well-known limitations in previous decomposition methods and implements a simultaneous full-parameter inversion by using complete polarimetric information. However, it only employs four typical models to characterize the volume scattering component, which limits the parameter inversion performance. To overcome this issue, this paper presents two general polarimetric model-based decomposition methods by incorporating the generalized volume scattering model (GVSM or simplified adaptive volume scattering model, (SAVSM proposed by Antropov et al. and Huang et al., respectively, into the general decomposition framework proposed by Chen et al. By doing so, the final volume coherency matrix structure is selected from a wide range of volume scattering models within a continuous interval according to the data itself without adding unknowns. Moreover, the new approaches rely on one nonlinear optimization stage instead of four as in the previous method proposed by Chen et al. In addition, the parameter inversion procedure adopts the modified algorithm proposed by Xie et al. which leads to higher accuracy and more physically reliable output parameters. A number of Monte Carlo simulations of polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR data are carried out and show that the proposed method with GVSM yields an overall improvement in the final accuracy of estimated parameters and outperforms both the version using SAVSM and the original approach. In addition, C-band Radarsat-2 and L-band AIRSAR fully polarimetric images over the San Francisco region are also used for testing purposes. A detailed comparison and analysis of decomposition results over different land-cover types are conducted. According to this study, the use of general decomposition models leads to a more accurate quantitative retrieval of target parameters. However, there

FDG decomposition products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macasek, F.; Buriova, E.

2004-01-01

In this presentation authors present the results of analysis of decomposition products of [ 18 ]fluorodexyglucose. It is concluded that the coupling of liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry with electrospray ionisation is a suitable tool for quantitative analysis of FDG radiopharmaceutical, i.e. assay of basic components (FDG, glucose), impurities (Kryptofix) and decomposition products (gluconic and glucuronic acids etc.); 2-[ 18 F]fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG) is sufficiently stable and resistant towards autoradiolysis; the content of radiochemical impurities (2-[ 18 F]fluoro-gluconic and 2-[ 18 F]fluoro-glucuronic acids in expired FDG did not exceed 1%

s-core network decomposition: A generalization of k-core analysis to weighted networks

Science.gov (United States)

Eidsaa, Marius; Almaas, Eivind

2013-12-01

A broad range of systems spanning biology, technology, and social phenomena may be represented and analyzed as complex networks. Recent studies of such networks using k-core decomposition have uncovered groups of nodes that play important roles. Here, we present s-core analysis, a generalization of k-core (or k-shell) analysis to complex networks where the links have different strengths or weights. We demonstrate the s-core decomposition approach on two random networks (ER and configuration model with scale-free degree distribution) where the link weights are (i) random, (ii) correlated, and (iii) anticorrelated with the node degrees. Finally, we apply the s-core decomposition approach to the protein-interaction network of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the context of two gene-expression experiments: oxidative stress in response to cumene hydroperoxide (CHP), and fermentation stress response (FSR). We find that the innermost s-cores are (i) different from innermost k-cores, (ii) different for the two stress conditions CHP and FSR, and (iii) enriched with proteins whose biological functions give insight into how yeast manages these specific stresses.

Adaptive Hybrid Visual Servo Regulation of Mobile Robots Based on Fast Homography Decomposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunfu Wu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available For the monocular camera-based mobile robot system, an adaptive hybrid visual servo regulation algorithm which is based on a fast homography decomposition method is proposed to drive the mobile robot to its desired position and orientation, even when object’s imaging depth and camera’s position extrinsic parameters are unknown. Firstly, the homography’s particular properties caused by mobile robot’s 2-DOF motion are taken into account to induce a fast homography decomposition method. Secondly, the homography matrix and the extracted orientation error, incorporated with the desired view’s single feature point, are utilized to form an error vector and its open-loop error function. Finally, Lyapunov-based techniques are exploited to construct an adaptive regulation control law, followed by the experimental verification. The experimental results show that the proposed fast homography decomposition method is not only simple and efficient, but also highly precise. Meanwhile, the designed control law can well enable mobile robot position and orientation regulation despite the lack of depth information and camera’s position extrinsic parameters.

Photochemical decomposition of perfluorooctanoic acid in aqueous periodate with VUV and UV light irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, M.H.; Wang, B.B.; Yu, H.S.; Wang, L.L.; Yuan, S.H.; Chen, J.

2010-01-01

The photochemical decomposition of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in aqueous periodate (IO 4 - ) was investigated under two types of low-pressure mercury lamps: one emits at 254 nm light (UV light) and the other emits both 254 nm and 185 nm light (VUV light). PFOA decomposed efficiently under VUV light irradiation while it decomposed poorly under UV light irradiation. The addition of IO 4 - significantly increased the rate of decomposition and defluorination of PFOA irradiated with UV light whereas it decreased both processes under VUV irradiation. Reactive radical (IO 3 ·) generated by photolysis of IO 4 - initiated the oxidation of PFOA in UV process. Aquated electrons (e aq - ), generated from water homolysis, scavenged IO 4 - resulting in decrease of reactive radical species production and PFOA decomposition. The shorter-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) formed in a stepwise manner from long-chain PFCAs.

Ecosystem function in oil sands wetlands : rates of detrital decomposition, moss growth, and microbial respiration in oilsands wetlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wytrykush, C. [Windsor Univ., ON (Canada); Hornung, J. [Petro-Canada, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2007-07-01

A study was conducted in which leaf litter breakdown and biomass accrual in 31 reference and oilsands affected (OSPM) wetlands in Northeastern Alberta was examined. The purpose was to determine how the decomposition of dead plant matter controls the primary productivity in wetlands. The data collected from this study will provide information about carbon flow and dynamics in oilsands affected wetlands. The study involved the investigation of wetlands that contrasted in water origin (OSPM vs. reference), sediment origin (OSPM vs. natural), sediment organic content and age. Mesh bags containing 5 g of dried Typha (cattail) or 20 g of damp moss were placed into 31 wetlands in order to monitor the rate at which biomass was lost to decomposition, as measured by changes in dry mass. After 1 year, moss growth was found to be greatest in younger wetlands with natural sediments. Cattail decomposition was found to be slower in wetlands containing OSPM water than that in reference wetlands. Preliminary analysis of respiration rates of biota associated with decomposing cattail indicate that the amount of oxygen consumed is not affected by wetland water source, sediment source, level of initial sediment organic content, or age.

Management intensity alters decomposition via biological pathways

Science.gov (United States)

Wickings, Kyle; Grandy, A. Stuart; Reed, Sasha; Cleveland, Cory

2011-01-01

Current conceptual models predict that changes in plant litter chemistry during decomposition are primarily regulated by both initial litter chemistry and the stage-or extent-of mass loss. Far less is known about how variations in decomposer community structure (e.g., resulting from different ecosystem management types) could influence litter chemistry during decomposition. Given the recent agricultural intensification occurring globally and the importance of litter chemistry in regulating soil organic matter storage, our objectives were to determine the potential effects of agricultural management on plant litter chemistry and decomposition rates, and to investigate possible links between ecosystem management, litter chemistry and decomposition, and decomposer community composition and activity. We measured decomposition rates, changes in litter chemistry, extracellular enzyme activity, microarthropod communities, and bacterial versus fungal relative abundance in replicated conventional-till, no-till, and old field agricultural sites for both corn and grass litter. After one growing season, litter decomposition under conventional-till was 20% greater than in old field communities. However, decomposition rates in no-till were not significantly different from those in old field or conventional-till sites. After decomposition, grass residue in both conventional- and no-till systems was enriched in total polysaccharides relative to initial litter, while grass litter decomposed in old fields was enriched in nitrogen-bearing compounds and lipids. These differences corresponded with differences in decomposer communities, which also exhibited strong responses to both litter and management type. Overall, our results indicate that agricultural intensification can increase litter decomposition rates, alter decomposer communities, and influence litter chemistry in ways that could have important and long-term effects on soil organic matter dynamics. We suggest that future

Confronting South Africa's water challenge: a decomposition analysis of water intensity

OpenAIRE

Kohler, Marcel

2016-01-01

Water is a vital natural resource, demanding careful management. It is essential for life and integral to virtually all economic activities, including energy and food production and the production of industrial outputs. The availability of clean water in sufficient quantities is not only a prerequisite for human health and well-being but the life-blood of freshwater ecosystems and the many services that these provide. Water resource intensity measures the intensity of water use in terms of vo...

Using decomposition kinetics to model the removal of mine water pollutants in constructed wetlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tarutis, W J; Unz, R F [Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA (United States)

1994-01-01

Although numerous mathematical models have been used to describe decomposition, few, if any, have been used to model the removal of pollutants in constructed wetlands. A steady state method based on decomposition kinetics and reaction stoichiometry has been developed which simulates the removal of ferrous iron entering wetlands constructed for mine drainage treatment. Input variables for the model include organic matter concentration, reaction rate coefficient, porosity and dry density, and hydraulic detection time. Application of the model assumes complete anaerobic conditions within the entire substrate profile, constant temperature, no additional organic matter input, and subsurface flow only. For these ideal conditions, model simulations indicate that wetlands constructed with readily decomposable substrates rich in organic carbon are initially capable of removing far greater amounts of iron than wetlands built with less biodegradable substrates. However, after three to five years of operation this difference becomes negligible. For acceptable long-term treatment performance, therefore, periodic additions of decomposable organic matter will be required.

Eigenvector decomposition of full-spectrum x-ray computed tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzales, Brian J; Lalush, David S

2012-03-07

Energy-discriminated x-ray computed tomography (CT) data were projected onto a set of basis functions to suppress the noise in filtered back-projection (FBP) reconstructions. The x-ray CT data were acquired using a novel x-ray system which incorporated a single-pixel photon-counting x-ray detector to measure the x-ray spectrum for each projection ray. A matrix of the spectral response of different materials was decomposed using eigenvalue decomposition to form the basis functions. Projection of FBP onto basis functions created a de facto image segmentation of multiple contrast agents. Final reconstructions showed significant noise suppression while preserving important energy-axis data. The noise suppression was demonstrated by a marked improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) along the energy axis for multiple regions of interest in the reconstructed images. Basis functions used on a more coarsely sampled energy axis still showed an improved SNR. We conclude that the noise-resolution trade off along the energy axis was significantly improved using the eigenvalue decomposition basis functions.

Microbial decomposition of PCB. PCB no biseibutsu bunkai

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Furukawa, K [Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Japan). Faculty of Agriculture

1993-08-01

This paper generalizes knowledges acquired so far on bio-remediation of PCB. Aerobic PCB decomposition using soil bacteria generally goes through introduction of O2 into second and third orders of a biphenyl ring, ring cleavage, and hydrolysis, and generates benzoate finally. PCB that is decomposed in this 2, 3-dioxygenaze path requires at least one of the second and third orders to be open. The decomposition through this path becomes difficult when the number of displaced Cl increases, and PCB with Cl displaced in only one of the rings decomposes more easily than PCB with the same number of Cl in both rings. A group in GE, Inc. has searched for two kinds of bacteria stocks that introduce O2 preferentially into the third and fourth orders. These stocks decompose third and fourth ordered open high-chlorine PCB. Groups in GE, Inc. and other companies have isolated bacteria that dechlorinate PCB decreasingly under an anaerobic condition. These bacteria desorb metha-ordered chlorine. Discussions are being made on cloning of PCB decomposing genes, and breeding of decomposing bacteria that have wide PCB decomposing spectra. 22 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs.

Carbon dynamics in peatlands under changing hydrology. Effects of water level drawdown on litter quality, microbial enzyme activities and litter decomposition rates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strakova, P.

2010-07-01

Pristine peatlands are carbon (C) accumulating wetland ecosystems sustained by a high water level (WL) and consequent anoxia that slows down decomposition. Persistent WL drawdown as a response to climate and/or land-use change directly affects decomposition: increased oxygenation stimulates decomposition of the 'old C' (peat) sequestered under prior anoxic conditions. Responses of the 'new C' (plant litter) in terms of quality, production and decomposability, and the consequences for the whole C cycle of peatlands are not fully understood. WL drawdown induces changes in plant community resulting in shift in dominance from Sphagnum and graminoids to shrubs and trees. There is increasing evidence that the indirect effects of WL drawdown via the changes in plant communities will have more impact on the ecosystem C cycling than any direct effects. The aim of this study is to disentangle the direct and indirect effects of WL drawdown on the 'new C' by measuring the relative importance of (1) environmental parameters (WL depth, temperature, soil chemistry) and (2) plant community composition on litter production, microbial activity, litter decomposition rates and, consequently, on the C accumulation. This information is crucial for modelling C cycle under changing climate and/or land-use. The effects of WL drawdown were tested in a large-scale experiment with manipulated WL at two time scales and three nutrient regimes. Furthermore, the effect of climate on litter decomposability was tested along a north-south gradient. Additionally, a novel method for estimating litter chemical quality and decomposability was explored by combining Near infrared spectroscopy with multivariate modelling. WL drawdown had direct effects on litter quality, microbial community composition and activity and litter decomposition rates. However, the direct effects of WL drawdown were overruled by the indirect effects via changes in litter type composition and

Decomposition studies of no-clean solder flux systems in connection with corrosion reliability of electronics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Conseil, Helene; Jellesen, Morten Stendahl; Verdingovas, Vadimas

2013-01-01

with specific soldering process and parameters, while most important factors are the flux chemistry and its decomposition characteristics. Active parts of the flux residue can cause increased water absorption due to their hygroscopic nature and in solution they will increase leakage current and corrosion...... the contaminated PCBA parts to varying humidity and measuring the resulting leakage current. Results revealed a significant influence of flux chemistry including the amount of WOAs, while aggressiveness of the residue seems to vary with content and type of WOAs, and their nature of decomposition....

Ozone decomposition in water studied by pulse radiolysis. 2. OH and HO4 as chain intermediates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Staehelin, J.; Buehler, R.E.; Hoigne, J.

1984-01-01

Ozone decomposition in pure water involves a chain mechanism, initiated by the reaction OH - +O 3 and propogated by O 2 - and OH. In the present studies this chain is initiated by pulse radiolysis of aqueous solutions of ozone. The chain propogation steps were studied in two parts. By computer simulation of the rate curves, it is shown that from OH + O 3 and intermediate HO 4 must be formed, most likely a charge-transfer complex (HO.O 3 ), which eventually decays into HO 2 . The derived rate constants for the formation of the various species are included. The spectrum of HO 4 is derived. It is similar to the one of ozone, but the absorption coefficients are about 50% larger. In the presence of high ozone concentration, the dominant chain termination reactions are HO 4 + HO 4 and HO 4 + HO 3 . The effect on chain length, dose, overall rate, and pH and of added scavengers is described. The implications for the natural ozone decay mechanism are discussed

Time space domain decomposition methods for reactive transport - Application to CO2 geological storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haeberlein, F.

2011-01-01

Reactive transport modelling is a basic tool to model chemical reactions and flow processes in porous media. A totally reduced multi-species reactive transport model including kinetic and equilibrium reactions is presented. A structured numerical formulation is developed and different numerical approaches are proposed. Domain decomposition methods offer the possibility to split large problems into smaller subproblems that can be treated in parallel. The class of Schwarz-type domain decomposition methods that have proved to be high-performing algorithms in many fields of applications is presented with a special emphasis on the geometrical viewpoint. Numerical issues for the realisation of geometrical domain decomposition methods and transmission conditions in the context of finite volumes are discussed. We propose and validate numerically a hybrid finite volume scheme for advection-diffusion processes that is particularly well-suited for the use in a domain decomposition context. Optimised Schwarz waveform relaxation methods are studied in detail on a theoretical and numerical level for a two species coupled reactive transport system with linear and nonlinear coupling terms. Well-posedness and convergence results are developed and the influence of the coupling term on the convergence behaviour of the Schwarz algorithm is studied. Finally, we apply a Schwarz waveform relaxation method on the presented multi-species reactive transport system. (author)

Photochemical decomposition of catecholamines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mol, N.J. de; Henegouwen, G.M.J.B. van; Gerritsma, K.W.

1979-01-01

During photochemical decomposition (lambda=254 nm) adrenaline, isoprenaline and noradrenaline in aqueous solution were converted to the corresponding aminochrome for 65, 56 and 35% respectively. In determining this conversion, photochemical instability of the aminochromes was taken into account. Irradiations were performed in such dilute solutions that the neglect of the inner filter effect is permissible. Furthermore, quantum yields for the decomposition of the aminochromes in aqueous solution are given. (Author)

Pilot-scale UV/H2O2 study for emerging organic contaminants decomposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Xiaona; Xiao, Yan; Hu, Jiangyong; Quek, Elaine; Xie, Rongjin; Pang, Thomas; Xing, Yongjie

2016-03-01

Human behaviors including consumption of drugs and use of personal care products, climate change, increased international travel, and the advent of water reclamation for direct potable use have led to the introduction of significant amounts of emerging organic contaminants into the aqueous environment. In addition, the lower detection limits associated with improved scientific methods of chemical analysis have resulted in a recent increase in documented incidences of these contaminants which previously were not routinely monitored in water. Such contaminants may cause known or suspected adverse ecological and/or human health effects at very low concentrations. Conventional drinking water treatment processes may not effectively remove these organic contaminants. Advanced oxidation process (AOP) is a promising treatment process for the removal of most of these emerging organic contaminants, and has been accepted worldwide as a suitable treatment process. In this study, different groups of emerging contaminants were studied for decomposition efficiency using pilot-scale UV/H2O2 oxidation setup, including EDCs, PPCPs, taste and odor (T&O), and perfluorinated compounds. Results found that MP UV/H2O2 AOP was efficient in removing all the selected contaminants except perfluorinated compounds. Study of the kinetics of the process showed that both light absorption and quantum yield of each compound affected the decomposition performance. Analysis of water quality parameters of the treated water indicated that the outcome of both UV photolysis and UV/H2O2 processes can be affected by changes in the feed water quality.

Investigating hydrogel dosimeter decomposition by chemical methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jordan, Kevin

2015-01-01

The chemical oxidative decomposition of leucocrystal violet micelle hydrogel dosimeters was investigated using the reaction of ferrous ions with hydrogen peroxide or sodium bicarbonate with hydrogen peroxide. The second reaction is more effective at dye decomposition in gelatin hydrogels. Additional chemical analysis is required to determine the decomposition products

Nanoparticle-assisted photo-Fenton reaction for photo-decomposition of humic acid

Science.gov (United States)

Banik, Jhuma; Basumallick, Srijita

2017-11-01

We report here the synthesis of CuO-doped ZnO composite nanomaterials (NMs) by chemical route and demonstrated for the first time that these NMs are efficient catalysts for H2O2-assisted photo-decomposition (photo-Fenton type catalyst) of humic acid, a natural pollutant of surface water by solar irradiation. This has been explained by faster electron transfer to OH radical at the p-n hetero-junction of this composite catalyst. Application of this composite catalyst in decomposing humus substances of local pond water by solar energy has been demonstrated.

A novel hybrid decomposition-and-ensemble model based on CEEMD and GWO for short-term PM2.5 concentration forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Mingfei; Wang, Yufang; Sun, Shaolong; Li, Yongwu

2016-06-01

To enhance prediction reliability and accuracy, a hybrid model based on the promising principle of "decomposition and ensemble" and a recently proposed meta-heuristic called grey wolf optimizer (GWO) is introduced for daily PM2.5 concentration forecasting. Compared with existing PM2.5 forecasting methods, this proposed model has improved the prediction accuracy and hit rates of directional prediction. The proposed model involves three main steps, i.e., decomposing the original PM2.5 series into several intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) via complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition (CEEMD) for simplifying the complex data; individually predicting each IMF with support vector regression (SVR) optimized by GWO; integrating all predicted IMFs for the ensemble result as the final prediction by another SVR optimized by GWO. Seven benchmark models, including single artificial intelligence (AI) models, other decomposition-ensemble models with different decomposition methods and models with the same decomposition-ensemble method but optimized by different algorithms, are considered to verify the superiority of the proposed hybrid model. The empirical study indicates that the proposed hybrid decomposition-ensemble model is remarkably superior to all considered benchmark models for its higher prediction accuracy and hit rates of directional prediction.

Multilevel index decomposition analysis: Approaches and application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, X.Y.; Ang, B.W.

2014-01-01

With the growing interest in using the technique of index decomposition analysis (IDA) in energy and energy-related emission studies, such as to analyze the impacts of activity structure change or to track economy-wide energy efficiency trends, the conventional single-level IDA may not be able to meet certain needs in policy analysis. In this paper, some limitations of single-level IDA studies which can be addressed through applying multilevel decomposition analysis are discussed. We then introduce and compare two multilevel decomposition procedures, which are referred to as the multilevel-parallel (M-P) model and the multilevel-hierarchical (M-H) model. The former uses a similar decomposition procedure as in the single-level IDA, while the latter uses a stepwise decomposition procedure. Since the stepwise decomposition procedure is new in the IDA literature, the applicability of the popular IDA methods in the M-H model is discussed and cases where modifications are needed are explained. Numerical examples and application studies using the energy consumption data of the US and China are presented. - Highlights: • We discuss the limitations of single-level decomposition in IDA applied to energy study. • We introduce two multilevel decomposition models, study their features and discuss how they can address the limitations. • To extend from single-level to multilevel analysis, necessary modifications to some popular IDA methods are discussed. • We further discuss the practical significance of the multilevel models and present examples and cases to illustrate

Thermic decomposition of biphenyl; Decomposition thermique du biphenyle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lutz, M [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1966-03-01

Liquid and vapour phase pyrolysis of very pure biphenyl obtained by methods described in the text was carried out at 400 C in sealed ampoules, the fraction transformed being always less than 0.1 per cent. The main products were hydrogen, benzene, terphenyls, and a deposit of polyphenyls strongly adhering to the walls. Small quantities of the lower aliphatic hydrocarbons were also found. The variation of the yields of these products with a) the pyrolysis time, b) the state (gas or liquid) of the biphenyl, and c) the pressure of the vapour was measured. Varying the area and nature of the walls showed that in the absence of a liquid phase, the pyrolytic decomposition takes place in the adsorbed layer, and that metallic walls promote the reaction more actively than do those of glass (pyrex or silica). A mechanism is proposed to explain the results pertaining to this decomposition in the adsorbed phase. The adsorption seems to obey a Langmuir isotherm, and the chemical act which determines the overall rate of decomposition is unimolecular. (author) [French] Du biphenyle tres pur, dont la purification est decrite, est pyrolyse a 400 C en phase vapeur et en phase liquide dans des ampoules scellees sous vide, a des taux de decomposition n'ayant jamais depasse 0,1 pour cent. Les produits provenant de la pyrolyse sont essentiellement: l' hydrogene, le benzene, les therphenyles, et un depot de polyphenyles adherant fortement aux parois. En plus il se forme de faibles quantites d'hydrocarbures aliphatiques gazeux. On indique la variation des rendements des differents produits avec la duree de pyrolyse, l'etat gazeux ou liquide du biphenyle, et la pression de la vapeur. Variant la superficie et la nature des parois, on montre qu'en absence de liquide la pyrolyse se fait en phase adsorbee. La pyrolyse est plus active au contact de parois metalliques que de celles de verres (pyrex ou silice). A partir des resultats experimentaux un mecanisme de degradation du biphenyle en phase

Decomposition of some amines and amino acids in steam generator environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jayaweera, P.; Hettiarachchi, S.; Millett, P.J.

1994-01-01

Hydrothermal decomposition rate constants and high temperature pH values of some selected high-molecular weight amines and amino acids were measured under simulated steam generator conditions. These amines and amino acids were evaluated as potential crevice buffering agents for steam generator applications in pressurized water reactors. The study showed that, although the high molecular weight amines undergo hydrothermal decomposition, they have a better buffer capacity than their low molecular weight counterparts at 290 C. The amines provide effective crevice buffering by increasing the pH of the simulated crevice solution by as much as 2.84 to 4.24 units. However, volatility data for the amines and amino acids are needed before in-plant testing to ensure that amines can concentrate sufficiently in steam generator crevices to provide effective buffering

Early stages of spinodal decomposition in Fe-Cr resolved by in-situ small-angle neutron scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Hörnqvist, M.; Thuvander, M.; Steuwer, A.; King, S.; Odqvist, J.; Hedström, P.

2015-02-01

In-situ, time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) investigations of the early stages of the spinodal decomposition process in Fe-35Cr were performed at 773 and 798 K. The kinetics of the decomposition, both in terms of characteristic distance and peak intensity, followed a power-law behaviour from the start of the heat treatment (a'= 0.10-0.11 and a″ = 0.67-0.86). Furthermore, the method allows tracking of the high-Q slope, which is a sensitive measure of the early stages of decomposition. Ex-situ SANS and atom probe tomography were used to verify the results from the in-situ investigations. Finally, the in-situ measurement of the evolution of the characteristic distance at 773 K was compared with the predictions from the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook model, which showed good agreement with the experimental data (a'= 0.12-0.20 depending on the assumed mobility).

Primary decomposition of torsion R[X]-modules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William A. Adkins

1994-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with studying hereditary properties of primary decompositions of torsion R[X]-modules M which are torsion free as R-modules. Specifically, if an R[X]-submodule of M is pure as an R-submodule, then the primary decomposition of M determines a primary decomposition of the submodule. This is a generalization of the classical fact from linear algebra that a diagonalizable linear transformation on a vector space restricts to a diagonalizable linear transformation of any invariant subspace. Additionally, primary decompositions are considered under direct sums and tensor product.

Effects of 2 fungicide formulations on microbial and macroinvertebrate leaf decomposition under laboratory conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Elskus, Adria; Smalling, Kelly L.; Hladik, Michelle; Kuivila, Kathryn

2016-01-01

Aquatic fungi contribute significantly to the decomposition of leaves in streams, a key ecosystem service. However, little is known about the effects of fungicides on aquatic fungi and macroinvertebrates involved with leaf decomposition. Red maple (Acer rubrum) leaves were conditioned in a stream to acquire microbes (bacteria and fungi), or leached in tap water (unconditioned) to simulate potential reduction of microbial biomass by fungicides. Conditioned leaves were exposed to fungicide formulations QUILT (azoxystrobin + propiconazole) or PRISTINE (boscalid + pyraclostrobin), in the presence and absence of the leaf shredder, Hyalella azteca (amphipods; 7-d old at start of exposures) for 14 d at 23 °C. QUILT formulation (~ 0.3 μg/L, 1.8 μg/L, 8 μg/L) tended to increase leaf decomposition by amphipods (not significant) without a concomitant increase in amphipod biomass, indicating potential increased consumption of leaves with reduced nutritional value. PRISTINE formulation (~ 33 μg/L) significantly reduced amphipod growth and biomass (p<0.05), effects similar to those observed with unconditioned controls. The significant suppressive effects of PRISTINE on amphipod growth, and the trend towards increased leaf decomposition with increasing QUILT concentration, indicate the potential for altered leaf decay in streams exposed to fungicides. Further work is needed to evaluate fungicide effects on leaf decomposition under conditions relevant to stream ecosystems, including temperature shifts and pulsed exposures to pesticide mixtures.

Electrochemical decomposition of fluorinated wetting agents in plating industry waste water.

Science.gov (United States)

Fath, Andreas; Sacher, Frank; McCaskie, John E

2016-01-01

Electrochemical decomposition of fluorinated surfactants (PFAS, perfluorinated alkyl substances) used in the plating industry was analyzed and the decomposition process parameters optimized at the laboratory scale and production scale of a 500-liter reactor using lead electrodes. The method and system was successfully demonstrated under production conditions to treat PFAS) with up to 99% efficiency in the concentration range of 1,000-20,000 μg/l (1 ppm-20 ppm). The treatment also reduced hexavalent chromium (Cr(6+)) ions to trivalent chromium (Cr(3+)) ions in the wastewater. If the PFAS-containing wastewater is mixed with other wastewater streams, specifically from nickel plating drag out solution or when pH values >5, the treatment process is ineffective. For the short chain PFAS, (perfluorobutylsulfonate) the process was less efficient than C6-C8 PFAS. The process is automated and has safety procedures and controls to prevent hazards. The PFAS were decomposed to hydrogen fluoride (HF) under the strong acid electrochemical operating conditions. Analytical tests showed no evidence of organic waste products remaining from the process. Conventional alternative PFAS removal systems were tested on the waste streams and compared with each other and with the-E-destruct (electrochemical oxidation) process. For example, ion exchange resin (IX resin) treatment of wastewater to complex and remove PFAS was found to be seven times more efficient when compared to the conventional activated carbon absorption (C-treat) process. However, the E-destruct process is higher in capacity, exhibits longer service life and lower operating costs than either IX or C-treat methods for elimination of PFAS from these electroplating waste streams.

Decomposition of fresh and anaerobically digested plant biomass in soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moorhead, K.K.; Graetz, D.A.; Reddy, K.R.

1987-01-01

Using water hyacinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms] for waste water renovation produces biomass that must be disposed of. This biomass may be anaerobically digested to produce CH 4 or added to soil directly as an amendment. In this study, fresh and anaerobically digested water hyacinth biomass, with either low or high N tissue content, were added to soil to evaluate C and N mineralization characteristics. The plant biomass was labeled with 15 N before digestion. The fresh plant biomass and digested biomass sludge were freeze-dried and ground to pass a 0.84-mm sieve. The materials were thoroughly mixed with a Kindrick fine sand at a rate of 5 g kg -1 soil and incubated for 90 d at 27 0 C at a moisture content adjusted to 0.01 MPa. Decomposition was evaluated by CO 2 evolution and 15 N mineralization. After 90 d, approximately 20% of the added C of the digested sludges had evolved as CO 2 compared to 39 and 50% of the added C of the fresh plant biomass with a low and high N content, respectively. First-order kinetics were used to describe decomposition stages. Mineralization of organic 15 N to 15 NO 3 - -N accounted for 8% of applied N for both digested sludges at 90 d. Nitrogen mineralization accounted for 3 and 33% of the applied organic N for fresh plant biomass with a low and high N content, respectively

Differential Decomposition Among Pig, Rabbit, and Human Remains.

Science.gov (United States)

Dautartas, Angela; Kenyhercz, Michael W; Vidoli, Giovanna M; Meadows Jantz, Lee; Mundorff, Amy; Steadman, Dawnie Wolfe

2018-03-30

While nonhuman animal remains are often utilized in forensic research to develop methods to estimate the postmortem interval, systematic studies that directly validate animals as proxies for human decomposition are lacking. The current project compared decomposition rates among pigs, rabbits, and humans at the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility across three seasonal trials that spanned nearly 2 years. The Total Body Score (TBS) method was applied to quantify decomposition changes and calculate the postmortem interval (PMI) in accumulated degree days (ADD). Decomposition trajectories were analyzed by comparing the estimated and actual ADD for each seasonal trial and by fuzzy cluster analysis. The cluster analysis demonstrated that the rabbits formed one group while pigs and humans, although more similar to each other than either to rabbits, still showed important differences in decomposition patterns. The decomposition trends show that neither nonhuman model captured the pattern, rate, and variability of human decomposition. © 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Exploring Patterns of Soil Organic Matter Decomposition with Students and the Public Through the Global Decomposition Project (GDP)

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, J. H.; Natali, S.

2014-12-01

The Global Decomposition Project (GDP) is a program designed to introduce and educate students and the general public about soil organic matter and decomposition through a standardized protocol for collecting, reporting, and sharing data. This easy-to-use hands-on activity focuses on questions such as "How do environmental conditions control decomposition of organic matter in soil?" and "Why do some areas accumulate organic matter and others do not?" Soil organic matter is important to local ecosystems because it affects soil structure, regulates soil moisture and temperature, and provides energy and nutrients to soil organisms. It is also important globally because it stores a large amount of carbon, and when microbes "eat", or decompose organic matter they release greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, which affects the earth's climate. The protocol describes a commonly used method to measure decomposition using a paper made of cellulose, a component of plant cell walls. Participants can receive pre-made cellulose decomposition bags, or make decomposition bags using instructions in the protocol and easily obtained materials (e.g., window screen and lignin-free paper). Individual results will be shared with all participants and the broader public through an online database. We will present decomposition bag results from a research site in Alaskan tundra, as well as from a middle-school-student led experiment in California. The GDP demonstrates how scientific methods can be extended to educate broader audiences, while at the same time, data collected by students and the public can provide new insight into global patterns of soil decomposition. The GDP provides a pathway for scientists and educators to interact and reach meaningful education and research goals.

Decomposition of methane hydrate for hydrogen production using microwave and radio frequency in-liquid plasma methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahim, Ismail; Nomura, Shinfuku; Mukasa, Shinobu; Toyota, Hiromichi

2015-01-01

This research involves two in-liquid plasma methods of methane hydrate decomposition, one using radio frequency wave (RF) irradiation and the other microwave radiation (MW). The ultimate goal of this research is to develop a practical process for decomposition of methane hydrate directly at the subsea site for fuel gas production. The mechanism for methane hydrate decomposition begins with the dissociation process of methane hydrate formed by CH_4 and water. The process continues with the simultaneously occurring steam methane reforming process and methane cracking reaction, during which the methane hydrate is decomposed releasing CH_4 into H_2, CO and other by-products. It was found that methane hydrate can be decomposed with a faster rate of CH_4 release using microwave irradiation over that using radio frequency irradiation. However, the radio frequency plasma method produces hydrogen with a purity of 63.1% and a CH conversion ratio of 99.1%, which is higher than using microwave plasma method which produces hydrogen with a purity of 42.1% and CH_4 conversion ratio of 85.5%. - Highlights: • The decomposition of methane hydrate is proposed using plasma in-liquid method. • Synthetic methane hydrate is used as the sample for decomposition in plasma. • Hydrogen can be produced from decomposition of methane hydrate. • Hydrogen purity is higher when using radio frequency stimulation.

Forest composition modifies litter dynamics and decomposition in regenerating tropical dry forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Schilling, Erik M; Waring, Bonnie G; Schilling, Jonathan S; Powers, Jennifer S

2016-09-01

We investigated how forest composition, litter quality, and rainfall interact to affect leaf litter decomposition across three successional tropical dry forests in Costa Rica. We monitored litter stocks and bulk litter turnover in 18 plots that exhibit substantial variation in soil characteristics, tree community structure, fungal communities (including forests dominated by ecto- or arbuscular mycorrhizal host trees), and forest age. Simultaneously, we decomposed three standard litter substrates over a 6-month period spanning an unusually intense drought. Decay rates of standard substrates depended on the interaction between litter identity and forest type. Decomposition rates were correlated with tree and soil fungal community composition as well as soil fertility, but these relationships differed among litter types. In low fertility soils dominated by ectomycorrhizal oak trees, bulk litter turnover rates were low, regardless of soil moisture. By contrast, in higher fertility soils that supported mostly arbuscular mycorrhizal trees, bulk litter decay rates were strongly dependent on seasonal water availability. Both measures of decomposition increased with forest age, as did the frequency of termite-mediated wood decay. Taken together, our results demonstrate that soils and forest age exert strong control over decomposition dynamics in these tropical dry forests, either directly through effects on microclimate and nutrients, or indirectly by affecting tree and microbial community composition and traits, such as litter quality.

Pitfalls in VAR based return decompositions: A clarification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engsted, Tom; Pedersen, Thomas Quistgaard; Tanggaard, Carsten

in their analysis is not "cashflow news" but "inter- est rate news" which should not be zero. Consequently, in contrast to what Chen and Zhao claim, their decomposition does not serve as a valid caution against VAR based decompositions. Second, we point out that in order for VAR based decompositions to be valid......Based on Chen and Zhao's (2009) criticism of VAR based return de- compositions, we explain in detail the various limitations and pitfalls involved in such decompositions. First, we show that Chen and Zhao's interpretation of their excess bond return decomposition is wrong: the residual component...

FURFURAL YIELD AND DECOMPOSITION IN SODIUM 2,4DIMETHYLBENZENESULFONATE--SULFURIC ACID--WATER SOLUTIONS.

Science.gov (United States)

Batch-type microreactors (about 1/40 milliliter of reactants) were used to measure furfural yields from acidified xylose solutions containing sodium...It was found that presence of the salt did not affect the quantity of furfural produced, but greatly increased the rate of formation. The regular...increase in rate of furfural formation was directly related to the increase in the rate xylose decomposition, and furfural yields for all salt and acid

Reaction mechanism of ethylene glycol decomposition on Pt model catalysts: A density functional theory study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lv, Cun-Qin; Yang, Bo; Pang, Xian-Yong; Wang, Gui-Chang

2016-01-01

Highlights: • DFT calculations were performed to study the ethylene glycol decomposition on Pt. • The final products are CO and H_2 on Pt(111), (100) and (211). • Ethylene glycol decomposition on Pt(111) undergoes via initial O−H bond scission and followed by C−H bond cleavage. • Ethylene glycol decomposition proceeds via initial O−H bond scission and followed by O−H bond cleavage on Pt(100)/(211). - Abstract: Understanding and controlling bond beak sequence is important in catalytic processes. The DFT-GGA method combined with slab model was performed to study the ethylene glycol decomposition on various Pt model catalysts such as close-packed Pt(111), stepped Pt(211) and a more open one, Pt(100). Calculation results show that the adsorption energies of ethylene glycol and other decomposition species depend on the coordination number of surface atom, that is, low coordination number correspond to high adsorption energy. Moreover, it was found that final products of ethylene glycol decomposition are CO and H_2 on all model catalysts, but the reaction mechanism varies: On Pt(111), the first step is O−H bond scission, followed by C−H bond cleavage, namely C_2H_6O_2 → HOCH_2CH_2O + H → HOCH_2CHO + 2H→ HOCH_2CO +3H → OCH_2CO + 4H → OCHCO + 5H → CO + HCO + 5H → 2CO + 6H→ 2CO + 3H_2; On Pt(211) and Pt(100), however, it is a second O−H bond cleavage that follows the initial O−H bond scission, that is, C_2H_6O_2 → HOCH_2CH_2O + H → OCH_2CH_2O + 2H → OCHCH_2O + 3H → OCHCHO + 4H → 2HCO + 4H → 2CO + 6H → 2CO + 3H_2  on Pt(211), and C_2H_6O_2 →HOCH_2CH_2O+ H → OCH_2CH_2O + 2H→OCHCH_2O+3H→OCCH_2O+4H→CO+H_2CO+4H→CO+HCO+5H→2CO+6H→2CO+3H_2 on Pt(100) For the catalytic order of ethylene glycol to form H_2, it may be determined based on the rate-controlling step, and it is Pt(111) > Pt(211) > Pt(100).

An investigation on thermal decomposition of DNTF-CMDB propellants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zheng, Wei; Wang, Jiangning; Ren, Xiaoning; Zhang, Laying; Zhou, Yanshui [Xi' an Modern Chemistry Research Institute, Xi' an 710065 (China)

2007-12-15

The thermal decomposition of DNTF-CMDB propellants was investigated by pressure differential scanning calorimetry (PDSC) and thermogravimetry (TG). The results show that there is only one decomposition peak on DSC curves, because the decomposition peak of DNTF cannot be separated from that of the NC/NG binder. The decomposition of DNTF can be obviously accelerated by the decomposition products of the NC/NG binder. The kinetic parameters of thermal decompositions for four DNTF-CMDB propellants at 6 MPa were obtained by the Kissinger method. It is found that the reaction rate decreases with increasing content of DNTF. (Abstract Copyright [2007], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Suppression of the Thermal Decomposition Reaction of Forest Combustible Materials in Large-Area Fires

Science.gov (United States)

Volkov, R. S.; Zhdanova, A. O.; Kuznetsov, G. V.; Strizhak, P. A.

2018-05-01

Experimental investigations on the characteristic time of suppression of the thermal decomposition reaction of typical forest combustible materials (aspen twigs, birch leaves, spruce needles, pine chips, and a mixture of these materials) and the volume of water required for this purpose have been performed for model fire hotbeds of different areas: SFCM = 0.0003-0.007 m2 and SFCM = 0.045-0.245 m2. In the experiments, aerosol water flows with droplets of size 0.01-0.25 mm were used for the spraying of model fire hotbeds, and the density of spraying was 0.02 L/(m2·s). It was established that the characteristics of suppression of a fire by an aerosol water flow are mainly determined by the sizes of the droplets in this flow. Prognostic estimates of changes in the dispersivity of a droplet cloud, formed from large (as large as 0.5 L) "drops" (water agglomerates) thrown down from a height, have been made. It is shown that these changes can influence the conditions and characteristics of suppression of a forest fire. Dependences, allowing one to forecast the characteristics of suppression of the thermal decomposition of forest combustible materials with the use of large water agglomerates thrown down from an aircraft and aerosol clouds formed from these agglomerates in the process of their movement to the earth, are presented.

Suppression of the Thermal Decomposition Reaction of Forest Combustible Materials in Large-Area Fires

Science.gov (United States)

Volkov, R. S.; Zhdanova, A. O.; Kuznetsov, G. V.; Strizhak, P. A.

2018-03-01

Experimental investigations on the characteristic time of suppression of the thermal decomposition reaction of typical forest combustible materials (aspen twigs, birch leaves, spruce needles, pine chips, and a mixture of these materials) and the volume of water required for this purpose have been performed for model fire hotbeds of different areas: SFCM = 0.0003-0.007 m2 and SFCM = 0.045-0.245 m2. In the experiments, aerosol water flows with droplets of size 0.01-0.25 mm were used for the spraying of model fire hotbeds, and the density of spraying was 0.02 L/(m2·s). It was established that the characteristics of suppression of a fire by an aerosol water flow are mainly determined by the sizes of the droplets in this flow. Prognostic estimates of changes in the dispersivity of a droplet cloud, formed from large (as large as 0.5 L) "drops" (water agglomerates) thrown down from a height, have been made. It is shown that these changes can influence the conditions and characteristics of suppression of a forest fire. Dependences, allowing one to forecast the characteristics of suppression of the thermal decomposition of forest combustible materials with the use of large water agglomerates thrown down from an aircraft and aerosol clouds formed from these agglomerates in the process of their movement to the earth, are presented.

Method for thermochemical decomposition of water

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, Bernard M.; Schreiner, Felix

1977-01-11

Water is thermochemically decomposed to produce hydrogen by the following sequence of reactions: KI, NH.sub.3, CO.sub. 2 and water in an organic solvent such as ethyl or propyl alcohol are reacted to produce KHCO 3 and NH.sub.4 I. The KHCO.sub.3 is thermally decomposed to K.sub.2 CO.sub.3, H.sub.2 O and CO.sub.2, while the NH.sub.4 I is reacted with Hg to produce HgI.sub.2, NH.sub.3 and H.sub.2. The K.sub.2 CO.sub.3 obtained by calcining KHCO.sub.3 is then reacted with HgI.sub.2 to produce Hg, KI, CO and O.sub.2. All products of the reaction are recycled except hydrogen and oxygen.

Water plasma generation under atmospheric pressure for HFC destruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Takayuki; Tsuru, Taira

2008-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the decomposition process of hydrofluoroethylene (HFC-134a) by water plasmas. The water plasma was generated by DC arc discharge with a cathode of hafnium embedded into a copper rod and a nozzle-type copper anode. The advantage of the water plasma torch is the generation of 100%-water plasma by DC discharge. The distinctive steam generation leads to the portable light-weight plasma generation system that does not require the gas supply unit, as well as the high energy efficiency owing to the nonnecessity of the additional water-cooling. HFC-134a was injected into the water plasma jet to decompose it in the reaction tube. Neutralization vessel was combined to the reaction tube to absorb F 2 and HF generated from the HFC-134a decomposition. The decomposition was performed with changing the feed rate of HFC-134a up to 185 mmol/min. The decomposition efficiency of 99.9% can be obtained up to 0.43 mmol/kJ of the ratio of HFC-134a feed rate to the arc power, hence the maximum feed rate was estimated to be 160 g/h at 1 kW of the arc power

Structural decomposition analysis of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, Richard

2009-01-01

A complex system of production links our greenhouse gas emissions to our consumer demands. Whilst progress may be made in improving efficiency, other changes in the production structure may easily annul global improvements. Utilising a structural decomposition analysis, a comparative-static technique of input-output analysis, over a time period of around 30 years, net greenhouse emissions are decomposed in this study into the effects, due to changes in industrial efficiency, forward linkages, inter-industry structure, backward linkages, type of final demand, cause of final demand, population affluence, population size, and mix and level of exports. Historically, significant competing forces at both the whole of economy and industrial scale have been mitigating potential improvements. Key sectors and structural influences are identified that have historically shown the greatest potential for change, and would likely have the greatest net impact. Results clearly reinforce that the current dichotomy of growth and exports are the key problems in need of address.

Low-order modelling of shallow water equations for sensitivity analysis using proper orthogonal decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Zokagoa, Jean-Marie; Soulaïmani, Azzeddine

2012-06-01

This article presents a reduced-order model (ROM) of the shallow water equations (SWEs) for use in sensitivity analyses and Monte-Carlo type applications. Since, in the real world, some of the physical parameters and initial conditions embedded in free-surface flow problems are difficult to calibrate accurately in practice, the results from numerical hydraulic models are almost always corrupted with uncertainties. The main objective of this work is to derive a ROM that ensures appreciable accuracy and a considerable acceleration in the calculations so that it can be used as a surrogate model for stochastic and sensitivity analyses in real free-surface flow problems. The ROM is derived using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method coupled with Galerkin projections of the SWEs, which are discretised through a finite-volume method. The main difficulty of deriving an efficient ROM is the treatment of the nonlinearities involved in SWEs. Suitable approximations that provide rapid online computations of the nonlinear terms are proposed. The proposed ROM is applied to the simulation of hypothetical flood flows in the Bordeaux breakwater, a portion of the 'Rivière des Prairies' located near Laval (a suburb of Montreal, Quebec). A series of sensitivity analyses are performed by varying the Manning roughness coefficient and the inflow discharge. The results are satisfactorily compared to those obtained by the full-order finite volume model.

Thermal decomposition of chromite spinel with chlorite admixture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez-Ramos, S. [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Valencia, C/Doctor Moliner 50, 46100-Burjassot, Valencia (Spain); Escuela Superior de Ceramica, C/Ceramista A. Blat 22, 46940 Manises, Valencia (Spain); Domenech-Carbo, A. [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Valencia, C/Doctor Moliner 50, 46100-Burjassot, Valencia (Spain); Gimeno-Adelantado, J.V. [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Valencia, C/Doctor Moliner 50, 46100-Burjassot, Valencia (Spain)], E-mail: jose.v.gimeno@uv.es; Peris-Vicente, J.; Valle-Algarra, F.M. [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Valencia, C/Doctor Moliner 50, 46100-Burjassot, Valencia (Spain)

2008-09-30

The behaviour of minerals in a South African chromite ore during the increasing of the temperature has been studied. Firstly, the changes produced during the ignition process have been examined by means of thermal and differential analysis (TGA-DTA) until 1200 deg. C. The characterization of the initial mineral and those obtained after heating at several temperatures in room atmosphere has been performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Moreover, voltammetric analyses have allowed to determine the variation of the iron oxidation degree in the studied materials. Light microscopy was applied to find more information about the different phases by their colour. During the heating, a wide range of complex exothermic and endothermic transformations take place. Decomposition compounds were identified, which were produced by heat decomposition, loss of structural water, element substitutions and oxygen absorptions and desorptions, caused mainly by the variation of the iron oxidation degree. The spinels of the chromite ore decompose in other spinels, with a partial change of the iron oxidation degree. From nearly 800 deg. C, chrome oxide (Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}) comes off from the chromite forming another phase, and almost at 1000 deg. C, a slow decrease of weight was detected, caused among others to the formation of a magnetite phase. Simultaneously, the silicates undergo strong modifications, including decompositions and incorporation of iron (II) in their structure and producing other silicates stable at high temperatures, which modify the behaviour of the pure spinels. Moreover, at 1200 deg. C these silicates decompose to cristobalite (SiO{sub 2})

Early stages of spinodal decomposition in Fe–Cr resolved by in-situ small-angle neutron scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hörnqvist, M.; Thuvander, M.; Steuwer, A.; King, S.; Odqvist, J.; Hedström, P.

2015-01-01

In-situ, time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) investigations of the early stages of the spinodal decomposition process in Fe–35Cr were performed at 773 and 798 K. The kinetics of the decomposition, both in terms of characteristic distance and peak intensity, followed a power-law behaviour from the start of the heat treatment (a′   = 0.10–0.11 and a″ = 0.67–0.86). Furthermore, the method allows tracking of the high–Q slope, which is a sensitive measure of the early stages of decomposition. Ex-situ SANS and atom probe tomography were used to verify the results from the in-situ investigations. Finally, the in-situ measurement of the evolution of the characteristic distance at 773 K was compared with the predictions from the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook model, which showed good agreement with the experimental data (a′   = 0.12–0.20 depending on the assumed mobility)

Early stages of spinodal decomposition in Fe–Cr resolved by in-situ small-angle neutron scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hörnqvist, M., E-mail: magnus.hornqvist@chalmers.se; Thuvander, M. [Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Fysikgränd 3, S-412 96 Gothenburg (Sweden); Steuwer, A. [MAX IV Laboratory, Lund University, S-221 00 Lund (Sweden); Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Gardham Ave., Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa); King, S. [ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, OX11 0QX Didcot (United Kingdom); Odqvist, J.; Hedström, P. [Materials Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Brinellvägen 23, S-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)

2015-02-09

In-situ, time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) investigations of the early stages of the spinodal decomposition process in Fe–35Cr were performed at 773 and 798 K. The kinetics of the decomposition, both in terms of characteristic distance and peak intensity, followed a power-law behaviour from the start of the heat treatment (a′{sup  }= 0.10–0.11 and a″ = 0.67–0.86). Furthermore, the method allows tracking of the high–Q slope, which is a sensitive measure of the early stages of decomposition. Ex-situ SANS and atom probe tomography were used to verify the results from the in-situ investigations. Finally, the in-situ measurement of the evolution of the characteristic distance at 773 K was compared with the predictions from the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook model, which showed good agreement with the experimental data (a′{sup  }= 0.12–0.20 depending on the assumed mobility)

Immobilization and mineralization of N and P by heterotrophic microbes during leaf decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Beth Cheever; Erika Kratzer; Jackson Webster

2012-01-01

According to theory, the rate and stoichiometry of microbial mineralization depend, in part, on nutrient availability. For microbes associated with leaves in streams, nutrients are available from both the water column and the leaf. Therefore, microbial nutrient cycling may change with nutrient availability and during leaf decomposition. We explored spatial and temporal...

Local Fractional Adomian Decomposition and Function Decomposition Methods for Laplace Equation within Local Fractional Operators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheng-Ping Yan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We perform a comparison between the local fractional Adomian decomposition and local fractional function decomposition methods applied to the Laplace equation. The operators are taken in the local sense. The results illustrate the significant features of the two methods which are both very effective and straightforward for solving the differential equations with local fractional derivative.

An Efficient Approach for Pixel Decomposition to Increase the Spatial Resolution of Land Surface Temperature Images from MODIS Thermal Infrared Band Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Wang

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Land surface temperature (LST images retrieved from the thermal infrared (TIR band data of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS have much lower spatial resolution than the MODIS visible and near-infrared (VNIR band data. The coarse pixel scale of MODIS LST images (1000 m under nadir have limited their capability in applying to many studies required high spatial resolution in comparison of the MODIS VNIR band data with pixel scale of 250–500 m. In this paper we intend to develop an efficient approach for pixel decomposition to increase the spatial resolution of MODIS LST image using the VNIR band data as assistance. The unique feature of this approach is to maintain the thermal radiance of parent pixels in the MODIS LST image unchanged after they are decomposed into the sub-pixels in the resulted image. There are two important steps in the decomposition: initial temperature estimation and final temperature determination. Therefore the approach can be termed double-step pixel decomposition (DSPD. Both steps involve a series of procedures to achieve the final result of decomposed LST image, including classification of the surface patterns, establishment of LST change with normalized difference of vegetation index (NDVI and building index (NDBI, reversion of LST into thermal radiance through Planck equation, and computation of weights for the sub-pixels of the resulted image. Since the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER with much higher spatial resolution than MODIS data was on-board the same platform (Terra as MODIS for Earth observation, an experiment had been done in the study to validate the accuracy and efficiency of our approach for pixel decomposition. The ASTER LST image was used as the reference to compare with the decomposed LST image. The result showed that the spatial distribution of the decomposed LST image was very similar to that of the ASTER LST image with a root mean square error

An efficient approach for pixel decomposition to increase the spatial resolution of land surface temperature images from MODIS thermal infrared band data.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Fei; Qin, Zhihao; Li, Wenjuan; Song, Caiying; Karnieli, Arnon; Zhao, Shuhe

2014-12-25

Land surface temperature (LST) images retrieved from the thermal infrared (TIR) band data of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) have much lower spatial resolution than the MODIS visible and near-infrared (VNIR) band data. The coarse pixel scale of MODIS LST images (1000 m under nadir) have limited their capability in applying to many studies required high spatial resolution in comparison of the MODIS VNIR band data with pixel scale of 250-500 m. In this paper we intend to develop an efficient approach for pixel decomposition to increase the spatial resolution of MODIS LST image using the VNIR band data as assistance. The unique feature of this approach is to maintain the thermal radiance of parent pixels in the MODIS LST image unchanged after they are decomposed into the sub-pixels in the resulted image. There are two important steps in the decomposition: initial temperature estimation and final temperature determination. Therefore the approach can be termed double-step pixel decomposition (DSPD). Both steps involve a series of procedures to achieve the final result of decomposed LST image, including classification of the surface patterns, establishment of LST change with normalized difference of vegetation index (NDVI) and building index (NDBI), reversion of LST into thermal radiance through Planck equation, and computation of weights for the sub-pixels of the resulted image. Since the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) with much higher spatial resolution than MODIS data was on-board the same platform (Terra) as MODIS for Earth observation, an experiment had been done in the study to validate the accuracy and efficiency of our approach for pixel decomposition. The ASTER LST image was used as the reference to compare with the decomposed LST image. The result showed that the spatial distribution of the decomposed LST image was very similar to that of the ASTER LST image with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 2

Constructive quantum Shannon decomposition from Cartan involutions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drury, Byron; Love, Peter [Department of Physics, 370 Lancaster Ave., Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041 (United States)], E-mail: plove@haverford.edu

2008-10-03

The work presented here extends upon the best known universal quantum circuit, the quantum Shannon decomposition proposed by Shende et al (2006 IEEE Trans. Comput.-Aided Des. Integr. Circuits Syst. 25 1000). We obtain the basis of the circuit's design in a pair of Cartan decompositions. This insight gives a simple constructive factoring algorithm in terms of the Cartan involutions corresponding to these decompositions.

Constructive quantum Shannon decomposition from Cartan involutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drury, Byron; Love, Peter

2008-01-01

The work presented here extends upon the best known universal quantum circuit, the quantum Shannon decomposition proposed by Shende et al (2006 IEEE Trans. Comput.-Aided Des. Integr. Circuits Syst. 25 1000). We obtain the basis of the circuit's design in a pair of Cartan decompositions. This insight gives a simple constructive factoring algorithm in terms of the Cartan involutions corresponding to these decompositions

Thermal decomposition of agardites (REE) - relationship between dehydroxylation temperature and electronegativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frost, Ray L.; Erickson, Kristy L.; Weier, Matt L.; McKinnon, Adam R.; Williams, Peter A.; Leverett, Peter

2005-01-01

The thermal decomposition of a suite of synthetic agardites of formula ACu 6 (AsO 4 ) 2 (OH) 6 ·3H 2 O where A is given by a rare earth element has been studied using thermogravimetric analysis techniques. Dehydration of the agardites occurs at low temperatures and over an extended temperature range from ambient to around 60 deg. C. This loss of water is attributed to the loss of zeolitic water. The mass loss of water indicates 3 mol of zeolitic water in the structure. Dehydroxylation occurs in steps over a wide range of temperatures from 235 to 456 deg. C. The mass loss during dehydroxylation shows the number of moles of hydroxyl units is six. There is a linear relationship between the first dehydroxylation temperature and the electronegativity of the agardites (REE)

Degradation and intermediates of diclofenac as instructive example for decomposition of recalcitrant pharmaceuticals by hydroxyl radicals generated with pulsed corona plasma in water.

Science.gov (United States)

Banaschik, Robert; Jablonowski, Helena; Bednarski, Patrick J; Kolb, Juergen F

2018-01-15

Seven recalcitrant pharmaceutical residues (diclofenac, 17α-ethinylestradiol, carbamazepine, ibuprofen, trimethoprim, diazepam, diatrizoate) were decomposed by pulsed corona plasma generated directly in water. The detailed degradation pathway was investigated for diclofenac and 21 intermediates could be identified in the degradation cascade. Hydroxyl radicals have been found primarily responsible for decomposition steps. By spin trap enhanced electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR), OH-adducts and superoxide anion radical adducts were detected and could be distinguished applying BMPO as a spin trap. The increase of concentrations of adducts follows qualitatively the increase of hydrogen peroxide concentrations. Hydrogen peroxide is eventually consumed in Fenton-like processes but the concentration is continuously increasing to about 2mM for a plasma treatment of 70min. Degradation of diclofenac is inversely following hydrogen peroxide concentrations. No qualitative differences between byproducts formed during plasma treatment or due to degradation via Fenton-induced processes were observed. Findings on degradation kinetics of diclofenac provide an instructive understanding of decomposition rates for recalcitrant pharmaceuticals with respect to their chemical structure. Accordingly, conclusions can be drawn for further development and a first risk assessment of the method which can also be applied towards other AOPs that rely on the generation of hydroxyl radicals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rates of Litter Decomposition and Soil Respiration in Relation to Soil Temperature and Water in Different-Aged Pinus massoniana Forests in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Lixiong; Huang, Zhilin; Lei, Jingpin; Zhou, Benzhi; Li, Maihe

2014-01-01

To better understand the soil carbon dynamics and cycling in terrestrial ecosystems in response to environmental changes, we studied soil respiration, litter decomposition, and their relations to soil temperature and soil water content for 18-months (Aug. 2010–Jan. 2012) in three different-aged Pinus massoniana forests in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China. Across the experimental period, the mean total soil respiration and litter respiration were 1.94 and 0.81, 2.00 and 0.60, 2.19 and 0.71 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1, and the litter dry mass remaining was 57.6%, 56.2% and 61.3% in the 20-, 30-, and 46-year-old forests, respectively. We found that the temporal variations of soil respiration and litter decomposition rates can be well explained by soil temperature at 5 cm depth. Both the total soil respiration and litter respiration were significantly positively correlated with the litter decomposition rates. The mean contribution of the litter respiration to the total soil respiration was 31.0%–45.9% for the three different-aged forests. The present study found that the total soil respiration was not significantly affected by forest age when P. masonniana stands exceed a certain age (e.g. >20 years old), but it increased significantly with increased soil temperature. Hence, forest management strategies need to protect the understory vegetation to limit soil warming, in order to reduce the CO2 emission under the currently rapid global warming. The contribution of litter decomposition to the total soil respiration varies across spatial and temporal scales. This indicates the need for separate consideration of soil and litter respiration when assessing the climate impacts on forest carbon cycling. PMID:25004164

Fact Sheet: Notice of Ambient Water Quality Criteria Document for Tributyltin (TBT) - Final

Science.gov (United States)

Information pertaining to 2004 Final Acute and Chronic Ambient Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Tributyltin (TBT) for freshwater and saltwater. This fact sheet includes the safe levels of TBT that should protect the majority of species.

Generalized Benders’ Decomposition for topology optimization problems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munoz Queupumil, Eduardo Javier; Stolpe, Mathias

2011-01-01

) problems with discrete design variables to global optimality. We present the theoretical aspects of the method, including a proof of finite convergence and conditions for obtaining global optimal solutions. The method is also linked to, and compared with, an Outer-Approximation approach and a mixed 0......–1 semi definite programming formulation of the considered problem. Several ways to accelerate the method are suggested and an implementation is described. Finally, a set of truss topology optimization problems are numerically solved to global optimality.......This article considers the non-linear mixed 0–1 optimization problems that appear in topology optimization of load carrying structures. The main objective is to present a Generalized Benders’ Decomposition (GBD) method for solving single and multiple load minimum compliance (maximum stiffness...

Thermodynamic analysis of trimethylgallium decomposition during GaN metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Sekiguchi, Kazuki; Shirakawa, Hiroki; Chokawa, Kenta; Araidai, Masaaki; Kangawa, Yoshihiro; Kakimoto, Koichi; Shiraishi, Kenji

2018-04-01

We analyzed the decomposition of Ga(CH3)3 (TMG) during the metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) of GaN on the basis of first-principles calculations and thermodynamic analysis. We performed activation energy calculations of TMG decomposition and determined the main reaction processes of TMG during GaN MOVPE. We found that TMG reacts with the H2 carrier gas and that (CH3)2GaH is generated after the desorption of the methyl group. Next, (CH3)2GaH decomposes into (CH3)GaH2 and this decomposes into GaH3. Finally, GaH3 becomes GaH. In the MOVPE growth of GaN, TMG decomposes into GaH by the successive desorption of its methyl groups. The results presented here concur with recent high-resolution mass spectroscopy results.

Modeling and measurement of boiling point elevation during water vaporization from aqueous urea for SCR applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dan, Ho Jin; Lee, Joon Sik

2016-01-01

Understanding of water vaporization is the first step to anticipate the conversion process of urea into ammonia in the exhaust stream. As aqueous urea is a mixture and the urea in the mixture acts as a non-volatile solute, its colligative properties should be considered during water vaporization. The elevation of boiling point for urea water solution is measured with respect to urea mole fraction. With the boiling-point elevation relation, a model for water vaporization is proposed underlining the correction of the heat of vaporization of water in the urea water mixture due to the enthalpy of urea dissolution in water. The model is verified by the experiments of water vaporization as well. Finally, the water vaporization model is applied to the water vaporization of aqueous urea droplets. It is shown that urea decomposition can begin before water evaporation finishes due to the boiling-point elevation

Modeling and measurement of boiling point elevation during water vaporization from aqueous urea for SCR applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dan, Ho Jin; Lee, Joon Sik [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2016-03-15

Understanding of water vaporization is the first step to anticipate the conversion process of urea into ammonia in the exhaust stream. As aqueous urea is a mixture and the urea in the mixture acts as a non-volatile solute, its colligative properties should be considered during water vaporization. The elevation of boiling point for urea water solution is measured with respect to urea mole fraction. With the boiling-point elevation relation, a model for water vaporization is proposed underlining the correction of the heat of vaporization of water in the urea water mixture due to the enthalpy of urea dissolution in water. The model is verified by the experiments of water vaporization as well. Finally, the water vaporization model is applied to the water vaporization of aqueous urea droplets. It is shown that urea decomposition can begin before water evaporation finishes due to the boiling-point elevation.

Decomposition studies of group 6 hexacarbonyl complexes. Pt. 2. Modelling of the decomposition process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Usoltsev, Ilya; Eichler, Robert; Tuerler, Andreas [Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Bern Univ. (Switzerland)

2016-11-01

The decomposition behavior of group 6 metal hexacarbonyl complexes (M(CO){sub 6}) in a tubular flow reactor is simulated. A microscopic Monte-Carlo based model is presented for assessing the first bond dissociation enthalpy of M(CO){sub 6} complexes. The suggested approach superimposes a microscopic model of gas adsorption chromatography with a first-order heterogeneous decomposition model. The experimental data on the decomposition of Mo(CO){sub 6} and W(CO){sub 6} are successfully simulated by introducing available thermodynamic data. Thermodynamic data predicted by relativistic density functional theory is used in our model to deduce the most probable experimental behavior of the corresponding Sg carbonyl complex. Thus, the design of a chemical experiment with Sg(CO){sub 6} is suggested, which is sensitive to benchmark our theoretical understanding of the bond stability in carbonyl compounds of the heaviest elements.

Confronting South Africa’s water challenge: A decomposition analysis of water intensity

OpenAIRE

Marcel Kohler

2016-01-01

Water is a vital natural resource, demanding careful management. It is essential for life and integral to virtually all economic activities, including energy and food production and the production of industrial outputs. The availability of clean water in sufficient quantities is not only a prerequisite for human health and well-being but the life-blood of freshwater ecosystems and the many services that these provide. Water resource intensity measures the intensity of water use in terms of vo...

Spatial domain decomposition for neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yavuz, M.; Larsen, E.W.

1989-01-01

A spatial Domain Decomposition method is proposed for modifying the Source Iteration (SI) and Diffusion Synthetic Acceleration (DSA) algorithms for solving discrete ordinates problems. The method, which consists of subdividing the spatial domain of the problem and performing the transport sweeps independently on each subdomain, has the advantage of being parallelizable because the calculations in each subdomain can be performed on separate processors. In this paper we describe the details of this spatial decomposition and study, by numerical experimentation, the effect of this decomposition on the SI and DSA algorithms. Our results show that the spatial decomposition has little effect on the convergence rates until the subdomains become optically thin (less than about a mean free path in thickness)

Aging-driven decomposition in zolpidem hemitartrate hemihydrate and the single-crystal structure of its decomposition products.

Science.gov (United States)

Vega, Daniel R; Baggio, Ricardo; Roca, Mariana; Tombari, Dora

2011-04-01

The "aging-driven" decomposition of zolpidem hemitartrate hemihydrate (form A) has been followed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and the crystal and molecular structures of the decomposition products studied by single-crystal methods. The process is very similar to the "thermally driven" one, recently described in the literature for form E (Halasz and Dinnebier. 2010. J Pharm Sci 99(2): 871-874), resulting in a two-phase system: the neutral free base (common to both decomposition processes) and, in the present case, a novel zolpidem tartrate monohydrate, unique to the "aging-driven" decomposition. Our room-temperature single-crystal analysis gives for the free base comparable results as the high-temperature XRPD ones already reported by Halasz and Dinnebier: orthorhombic, Pcba, a = 9.6360(10) Å, b = 18.2690(5) Å, c = 18.4980(11) Å, and V = 3256.4(4) Å(3) . The unreported zolpidem tartrate monohydrate instead crystallizes in monoclinic P21 , which, for comparison purposes, we treated in the nonstandard setting P1121 with a = 20.7582(9) Å, b = 15.2331(5) Å, c = 7.2420(2) Å, γ = 90.826(2)°, and V = 2289.73(14) Å(3) . The structure presents two complete moieties in the asymmetric unit (z = 4, z' = 2). The different phases obtained in both decompositions are readily explained, considering the diverse genesis of both processes. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PWR [pressurized water reactor] pressurizer transient response: Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphy, S.I.

1987-08-01

To predict PWR pressurizer transients, Ahl proposed a three region model with a universal coefficient to represent condensation on the water surface. Specifically, this work checks the need for three regions and the modeling of the interfacial condensation coefficient. A computer model has been formulated using the basic mass and energy conservation laws. A two region vapor and liquid model was first used to predict transients run on a one-eleventh scale Freon pressurizer. These predictions verified the need for a second liquid region. As a result, a three region model was developed and used to predict full-scale pressurizer transients at TMI-2, Shippingport, and Stade. Full-scale pressurizer predictions verified the three region model and pointed out the shortcomings of Ahl's universal condensation coefficient. In addition, experiments were run using water at low pressure to study interface condensation. These experiments showed interface condensation to be significant only when spray flow is turned on; this result was incorporated in the final three region model

Microbiological decomposition of bagasse after radiation pasteurization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Hitoshi; Ishigaki, Isao

1987-01-01

Microbiological decomposition of bagasse was studied for upgrading to animal feeds after radiation pasteurization. Solid-state culture media of bagasse were prepared with addition of some amount of inorganic salts for nitrogen source, and after irradiation, fungi were infected for cultivation. In this study, many kind of cellulosic fungi such as Pleurotus ostreatus, P. flavellatus, Verticillium sp., Coprinus cinereus, Lentinus edodes, Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma koningi, T. viride were used for comparison of decomposition of crude fibers. In alkali nontreated bagasse, P. ostreatus, P. flavellatus, C. cinereus and Verticillium sp. could decompose crude fibers from 25 to 34 % after one month of cultivation, whereas other fungi such as A. niger, T. koningi, T. viride, L. edodes decomposed below 10 %. On the contrary, alkali treatment enhanced the decomposition of crude fiber by A. niger, T. koningi and T. viride to be 29 to 47 % as well as Pleurotus species or C. cinereus. Other species of mushrooms such as L. edodes had a little ability of decomposition even after alkali treatment. Radiation treatment with 10 kGy could not enhance the decomposition of bagasse compared with steam treatment, whereas higher doses of radiation treatment enhanced a little of decomposition of crude fibers by microorganisms. (author)

Microbiological decomposition of bagasse after radiation pasteurization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ito, Hitoshi; Ishigaki, Isao

1987-11-01

Microbiological decomposition of bagasse was studied for upgrading to animal feeds after radiation pasteurization. Solid-state culture media of bagasse were prepared with addition of some amount of inorganic salts for nitrogen source, and after irradiation, fungi were infected for cultivation. In this study, many kind of cellulosic fungi such as Pleurotus ostreatus, P. flavellatus, Verticillium sp., Coprinus cinereus, Lentinus edodes, Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma koningi, T. viride were used for comparison of decomposition of crude fibers. In alkali nontreated bagasse, P. ostreatus, P. flavellatus, C. cinereus and Verticillium sp. could decompose crude fibers from 25 to 34 % after one month of cultivation, whereas other fungi such as A. niger, T. koningi, T. viride, L. edodes decomposed below 10 %. On the contrary, alkali treatment enhanced the decomposition of crude fiber by A. niger, T. koningi and T. viride to be 29 to 47 % as well as Pleurotus species or C. cinereus. Other species of mushrooms such as L. edodes had a little ability of decomposition even after alkali treatment. Radiation treatment with 10 kGy could not enhance the decomposition of bagasse compared with steam treatment, whereas higher doses of radiation treatment enhanced a little of decomposition of crude fibers by microorganisms.

Effects of calibration methods on quantitative material decomposition in photon-counting spectral computed tomography using a maximum a posteriori estimator.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Tyler E; Roeder, Ryan K

2017-10-01

Advances in photon-counting detectors have enabled quantitative material decomposition using multi-energy or spectral computed tomography (CT). Supervised methods for material decomposition utilize an estimated attenuation for each material of interest at each photon energy level, which must be calibrated based upon calculated or measured values for known compositions. Measurements using a calibration phantom can advantageously account for system-specific noise, but the effect of calibration methods on the material basis matrix and subsequent quantitative material decomposition has not been experimentally investigated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the range and number of contrast agent concentrations within a modular calibration phantom on the accuracy of quantitative material decomposition in the image domain. Gadolinium was chosen as a model contrast agent in imaging phantoms, which also contained bone tissue and water as negative controls. The maximum gadolinium concentration (30, 60, and 90 mM) and total number of concentrations (2, 4, and 7) were independently varied to systematically investigate effects of the material basis matrix and scaling factor calibration on the quantitative (root mean squared error, RMSE) and spatial (sensitivity and specificity) accuracy of material decomposition. Images of calibration and sample phantoms were acquired using a commercially available photon-counting spectral micro-CT system with five energy bins selected to normalize photon counts and leverage the contrast agent k-edge. Material decomposition of gadolinium, calcium, and water was performed for each calibration method using a maximum a posteriori estimator. Both the quantitative and spatial accuracy of material decomposition were most improved by using an increased maximum gadolinium concentration (range) in the basis matrix calibration; the effects of using a greater number of concentrations were relatively small in

Self-decomposition of radiochemicals. Principles, control, observations and effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, E.A.

1976-01-01

The aim of the booklet is to remind the established user of radiochemicals of the problems of self-decomposition and to inform those investigators who are new to the applications of radiotracers. The section headings are: introduction; radionuclides; mechanisms of decomposition; effects of temperature; control of decomposition; observations of self-decomposition (sections for compounds labelled with (a) carbon-14, (b) tritium, (c) phosphorus-32, (d) sulphur-35, (e) gamma- or X-ray emitting radionuclides, decomposition of labelled macromolecules); effects of impurities in radiotracer investigations; stability of labelled compounds during radiotracer studies. (U.K.)

Mechanism of thermal decomposition of K{sub 2}FeO{sub 4} and BaFeO{sub 4}: A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharma, Virender K., E-mail: vsharma@sph.tamhsc.edu [Texas A& M University, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health (United States); Machala, Libor [Palacky University, Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Departments of Experimental Physics and Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science (Czech Republic)

2016-12-15

This paper presents thermal decomposition of potassium ferrate(VI) (K{sub 2}FeO{sub 4}) and barium ferrate(VI) (BaFeO{sub 4}) in air and nitrogen atmosphere. Mössbauer spectroscopy and nuclear forward scattering (NFS) synchrotron radiation approaches are reviewed to advance understanding of electron-transfer processes involved in reduction of ferrate(VI) to Fe(III) phases. Direct evidences of Fe {sup V} and Fe {sup IV} as intermediate iron species using the applied techniques are given. Thermal decomposition of K{sub 2}FeO{sub 4} involved Fe {sup V}, Fe {sup IV}, and K{sub 3}FeO{sub 3} as intermediate species while BaFeO{sub 3} (i.e. Fe {sup IV}) was the only intermediate species during the decomposition of BaFeO{sub 4}. Nature of ferrite species, formed as final Fe(III) species, of thermal decomposition of K{sub 2}FeO{sub 4} and BaFeO{sub 4} under different conditions are evaluated. Steps of the mechanisms of thermal decomposition of ferrate(VI), which reasonably explained experimental observations of applied approaches in conjunction with thermal and surface techniques, are summarized.

Reactive Goal Decomposition Hierarchies for On-Board Autonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Hartmann, L.

2002-01-01

As our experience grows, space missions and systems are expected to address ever more complex and demanding requirements with fewer resources (e.g., mass, power, budget). One approach to accommodating these higher expectations is to increase the level of autonomy to improve the capabilities and robustness of on- board systems and to simplify operations. The goal decomposition hierarchies described here provide a simple but powerful form of goal-directed behavior that is relatively easy to implement for space systems. A goal corresponds to a state or condition that an operator of the space system would like to bring about. In the system described here goals are decomposed into simpler subgoals until the subgoals are simple enough to execute directly. For each goal there is an activation condition and a set of decompositions. The decompositions correspond to different ways of achieving the higher level goal. Each decomposition contains a gating condition and a set of subgoals to be "executed" sequentially or in parallel. The gating conditions are evaluated in order and for the first one that is true, the corresponding decomposition is executed in order to achieve the higher level goal. The activation condition specifies global conditions (i.e., for all decompositions of the goal) that need to hold in order for the goal to be achieved. In real-time, parameters and state information are passed between goals and subgoals in the decomposition; a termination indication (success, failure, degree) is passed up when a decomposition finishes executing. The lowest level decompositions include servo control loops and finite state machines for generating control signals and sequencing i/o. Semaphores and shared memory are used to synchronize and coordinate decompositions that execute in parallel. The goal decomposition hierarchy is reactive in that the generated behavior is sensitive to the real-time state of the system and the environment. That is, the system is able to react

COMPARISON OF CATALYTIC ACTIVITIES BOTH FOR SELECTIVE OXIDATION AND DECOMPOSITION OF AMMONIA OVER Fe/HZβ CATALYST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

YELİZ ÇETİN

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Ammonia is one of the syngas contaminants that must be removed before using the syngas downstream applications. The most promising hot-gas clean-up techniques of ammonia are selective catalytic oxidation (SCO and catalytic decomposition. In this study, the catalytic activities over Zeolite Hβ supported iron catalyst (Fe/HZβ were compared both for the two catalytic routes. For SCO experiments; temperature (300-550 °C, O2 (2000-6000 ppmv and (0-10% H2 concentrations were investigated with the presence of 800 ppm NH3 in each of the final gas mixture. In the second route, catalytic ammonia decomposition experiments were carried out with H2 in balance N2 (0-30% containing 800 ppm NH3 at 700°C and 800°C. In the SCO, NH3 conversions were increased with increasing reaction temperatures with the absence of H2 in the reaction mixture. With 10% H2, it was shown that NH3 conversions increased with decreasing the reaction temperature. This was interpreted as the competing H2 and NH3 oxidations over the catalyst. On the other hand, in the catalytic decomposition, thermodynamic equilibrium conversion of almost 100% was attained at both 700 and 800 °C. Upon H2 addition, all conversions decreased. The decrease in conversion seemed to be linear with inlet hydrogen concentration. Hydrogen was seen to inhibit ammonia decomposition reaction. It was shown that Fe/HZβ catalyst is better to use for catalytic decomposition of NH3 in syngas rather than SCO of NH3 in spite of higher reaction temperatures needed in the decomposition reaction.

Methyl Iodide Decomposition at BWR Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pop, Mike; Bell, Merl

2012-09-01

Based on favourable results from short-term testing of methanol addition to an operating BWR plant, AREVA has performed numerous studies in support of necessary Engineering and Plant Safety Evaluations prior to extended injection of methanol. The current paper presents data from a study intended to provide further understanding of the decomposition of methyl iodide as it affects the assessment of methyl iodide formation with the application of methanol at BWR Plants. This paper describes the results of the decomposition testing under UV-C light at laboratory conditions and its effect on the subject methyl iodide production evaluation. The study as to the formation and decomposition of methyl iodide as it is effected by methanol addition is one phase of a larger AREVA effort to provide a generic plant Safety Evaluation prior to long-term methanol injection to an operating BWR. Other testing phases have investigated the compatibility of methanol with fuel construction materials, plant structural materials, plant consumable materials (i.e. elastomers and coatings), and ion exchange resins. Methyl iodide is known to be very unstable, typically preserved with copper metal or other stabilizing materials when produced and stored. It is even more unstable when exposed to light, heat, radiation, and water. Additionally, it is known that methyl iodide will decompose radiolytically, and that this effect may be simulated using ultra-violet radiation (UV-C) [2]. In the tests described in this paper, the use of a UV-C light source provides activation energy for the formation of methyl iodide. Thus is similar to the effect expected from Cherenkov radiation present in a reactor core after shutdown. Based on the testing described in this paper, it is concluded that injection of methanol at concentrations below 2.5 ppm in BWR applications to mitigate IGSCC of internals is inconsequential to the accident conditions postulated in the FSAR as they are related to methyl iodide formation

Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments: Four Case Studies of Water Utility Practices (2011 Final)

Science.gov (United States)

EPA has released the final report titled, Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments: Four Case Studies of Water Utility Practices. This report was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment's Global Climate Research Staff in the Office of Research and D...

The Characterization and Hydrogen Production from Water Decomposition with Methanol in a Semi-Batch Type Reactor Using In, P-TiO2s

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joonwoo Kim

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The photocatalytic production of hydrogen from water using solar energy is potentially a clean and renewable source for hydrogen fuel. This study examines the production of hydrogen over In, P-TiO2s photocatalysts. 1 mol% In-TiO2 and P-TiO2 were produced using the solvothermal method and were treated at 500 and 800∘C to obtain anatase and rutile structure, respectively. The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence spectra, X-ray spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The production of H2 from methanol photodecomposition was greater over the rutile structure than over the anatase structure of TiO2. Moreover, the amount of hydrogen was enhanced over In-TiO2 and P-TiO2 compared to that over pure TiO2; the production increased by about 30%. The structural effect and the addition of In, P have significant influence on the H2 production from methanol/water decomposition.

Radiation-chemical degradation of chloroform in water solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmadov, S.A; Gurbanov, M.A; Iskenderova, Z.I; Abdullaev, E.T; Ibadov, N.A.

2006-01-01

Full text: Chloroform is the major chlorine-containing compound forming at chlorination of drinking water. As our basic water resources of Kur and Araz rivers are mostly polluted along the territory of the neighbor republics their chlorination for the purpose of biological purification can result in forming of chloroform. Unfortunately, there are only poor data about containing of chloroform in drinking water in the Republic, however the particular problem is to develop new methods of drinking water purification from chloroform, taking into account the high toxicity of this compounds. Appropriate works indicate that radiation-chemical processing can mostly reduce the concentration of chloroform in drinking water. The purification degree can achieve 95-98%. This work studies the tendency of chloroform decomposition at its radiolysis processes in percentage. Taking into account the dissolvability of chloroform in water solutions it can be said that examined water solutions are homogeneous. Following advancements are studied: b Determination of radiation-chemical yield of chloroform decomposition at its various initial concentrations;Impact of adsorbed dose on pH of solutions;Formation of by-products.It is set that radiation-chemical output of chloroform decomposition is equal to 3.10-3-125 mol 100ev.

Theoretical study of the decomposition pathways and products of C5- perfluorinated ketone (C5 PFK)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fu, Yuwei; Wang, Xiaohua, E-mail: xhw@mail.xjtu.edu.cn, E-mail: mzrong@mail.xjtu.edu.cn; Li, Xi; Yang, Aijun; Wu, Yi; Rong, Mingzhe, E-mail: xhw@mail.xjtu.edu.cn, E-mail: mzrong@mail.xjtu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi’an Jiaotong University, No. 28 XianNing West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710049 (China); Han, Guohui; Lu, Yanhui [Pinggao Group Co. Ltd., Pingdingshan, Henan Province 467001 (China)

2016-08-15

formation of IV a, IV b and products of CF{sub 3} + CF-CF{sub 3} in pathway IV. Although IV a is dominant to a lesser extent due to its relative high energy barrier, its complicated decomposition pathway V was also studied and CF{sub 3}, C = CF{sub 2} as well as C-CF{sub 3} species were found as the ultimate products. To complete the decomposition of C5 PFK, pathway V I of Ic decomposition was fully explored and the final products were obtained. Therefore, the integrate decomposition scheme of C5 PFK was proposed, which contains six pathways and forty-eight species (including all the reactants, products and transition states). This work is hopeful to lay a theoretical basis for the insulating properties of C5 PFK.

Magic Coset Decompositions

CERN Document Server

Cacciatori, Sergio L; Marrani, Alessio

2013-01-01

By exploiting a "mixed" non-symmetric Freudenthal-Rozenfeld-Tits magic square, two types of coset decompositions are analyzed for the non-compact special K\\"ahler symmetric rank-3 coset E7(-25)/[(E6(-78) x U(1))/Z_3], occurring in supergravity as the vector multiplets' scalar manifold in N=2, D=4 exceptional Maxwell-Einstein theory. The first decomposition exhibits maximal manifest covariance, whereas the second (triality-symmetric) one is of Iwasawa type, with maximal SO(8) covariance. Generalizations to conformal non-compact, real forms of non-degenerate, simple groups "of type E7" are presented for both classes of coset parametrizations, and relations to rank-3 simple Euclidean Jordan algebras and normed trialities over division algebras are also discussed.

Iron ore catalysts for methane decomposition to make CO x free hydrogen and carbon nano material

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Lu

2018-03-27

In this work, for the first time, iron ores with 91.7%–96.2% FeO, 1.3%–2.3% AlO, 1.2%–4.5% SiO, 1.3%–3.9% NaO, were studied directly as bulk catalysts for methane decomposition. By hydrogen pre-reduction at 850 °C, FeO species on iron ores were gradually reduced into FeO, FeO and then finally into Fe species. After reduction of 1.6 g of iron ore catalysts of 50 µm particle size with 100 mL/min pure H for 3.5 h at 850 °C, CMD life testing was conducted at 850 °C and GHSV of 3.75 L/g h and the catalyst showed a stable methane conversion for 5 h. When methane decomposition proceeded on Fe sites, FeC species would be formed to deposit graphite around themselves to finally form carbon nano onions. This carbon nano onions material showed excellent application for wastewater purification. All samples were fully characterized with XRF, XRD, H-TPR, TEM and Raman.

U-Shaped Fiber-Optic Detection Elements for Investigation of Photocatalytic Decomposition of Toluene Dissolved in Water

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Matějec, Vlastimil; Bartoň, Ivo; Mrázek, Jan; Podrazký, Ondřej

2014-01-01

Roč. 27, May (2014), s. 244-252 ISSN 2306-8515 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP102/12/2361 Institutional support: RVO:67985882 Keywords : Toluene detection * Photocatalytic decomposition * U-Shaped fiber Subject RIV: JA - Electronics ; Optoelectronics, Electrical Engineering

Preparation of Ti/IrO2 Anode with Low Iridium Content by Thermal Decomposition Process: Electrochemical removal of organic pollutants in water

Science.gov (United States)

Yaqub, Asim; Isa, Mohamed Hasnain; Ajab, Huma; Kutty, S. R. M.; Ezechi, Ezerie H.; Farooq, Robina

2018-04-01

In this study IrO2 (Iridium oxide) was coated onto a titanium plate anode from a dilute (50 mg/10 ml) IrCl3×H2O salt solution. Coating was done at high temperature (550∘C) using thermal decomposition. Surface morphology and characteristics of coated surface of Ti/IrO2 anode were examined by FESEM and XRD. The coated anode was applied for electrochemical removal of organic pollutants from synthetic water samples in 100 mL compartment of batch electrochemical cell. About 50% COD removal was obtained at anode prepared with low Ir content solution while 72% COD removal was obtained with anode prepared at high Ir content. Maximum COD removal was obtained at 10 mA/cm2 current density.

New mechanism for autocatalytic decomposition of H2CO3 in the vapor phase.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghoshal, Sourav; Hazra, Montu K

2014-04-03

In this article, we present high level ab initio calculations investigating the energetics of a new autocatalytic decomposition mechanism for carbonic acid (H2CO3) in the vapor phase. The calculation have been performed at the MP2 level of theory in conjunction with aug-cc-pVDZ, aug-cc-pVTZ, and 6-311++G(3df,3pd) basis sets as well as at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The present study suggests that this new decomposition mechanism is effectively a near-barrierless process at room temperature and makes vapor phase of H2CO3 unstable even in the absence of water molecules. Our calculation at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level predicts that the effective barrier, defined as the difference between the zero-point vibrational energy (ZPE) corrected energy of the transition state and the total energy of the isolated starting reactants in terms of bimolecular encounters, is nearly zero for the autocatalytic decomposition mechanism. The results at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of calculations suggest that the effective barrier, as defined above, is sensitive to some extent to the levels of calculations used, nevertheless, we find that the effective barrier height predicted at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level is very small or in other words the autocatalytic decomposition mechanism presented in this work is a near-barrierless process as mentioned above. Thus, we suggest that this new autocatalytic decomposition mechanism has to be considered as the primary mechanism for the decomposition of carbonic acid, especially at its source, where the vapor phase concentration of H2CO3 molecules reaches its highest levels.

On the hadron mass decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Lorcé, Cédric

2018-02-01

We argue that the standard decompositions of the hadron mass overlook pressure effects, and hence should be interpreted with great care. Based on the semiclassical picture, we propose a new decomposition that properly accounts for these pressure effects. Because of Lorentz covariance, we stress that the hadron mass decomposition automatically comes along with a stability constraint, which we discuss for the first time. We show also that if a hadron is seen as made of quarks and gluons, one cannot decompose its mass into more than two contributions without running into trouble with the consistency of the physical interpretation. In particular, the so-called quark mass and trace anomaly contributions appear to be purely conventional. Based on the current phenomenological values, we find that in average quarks exert a repulsive force inside nucleons, balanced exactly by the gluon attractive force.

On the hadron mass decomposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lorce, Cedric [Universite Paris-Saclay, Centre de Physique Theorique, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, Palaiseau (France)

2018-02-15

We argue that the standard decompositions of the hadron mass overlook pressure effects, and hence should be interpreted with great care. Based on the semiclassical picture, we propose a new decomposition that properly accounts for these pressure effects. Because of Lorentz covariance, we stress that the hadron mass decomposition automatically comes along with a stability constraint, which we discuss for the first time. We show also that if a hadron is seen as made of quarks and gluons, one cannot decompose its mass into more than two contributions without running into trouble with the consistency of the physical interpretation. In particular, the so-called quark mass and trace anomaly contributions appear to be purely conventional. Based on the current phenomenological values, we find that in average quarks exert a repulsive force inside nucleons, balanced exactly by the gluon attractive force. (orig.)

Biogeochemical effects of macroalgae decomposition on intertidal microbenthos: a microcosm experiment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garcia-Robledo, Emilio; Corzo, Alfonso; Garcia de Lomas, J

2008-01-01

as indicated by a transient increase in Corg and N. Aerobic mineralization of macroalgal detritus reduced O2 in the water column and the sediment. Microbenthos photosynthetic activity was initially suppressed but recovered from the third day as macroalgal detritus decomposed. Photosynthetic O2 production...... by microbenthos largely determined the fraction of macroalgal detritus that was aerobically mineralised. Decomposition of macroalgal detritus favoured the dominance of cyanobacteria over diatoms in the microbenthos....

Mathematical modelling of the decomposition of explosives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smirnov, Lev P

2010-01-01

Studies on mathematical modelling of the molecular and supramolecular structures of explosives and the elementary steps and overall processes of their decomposition are analyzed. Investigations on the modelling of combustion and detonation taking into account the decomposition of explosives are also considered. It is shown that solution of problems related to the decomposition kinetics of explosives requires the use of a complex strategy based on the methods and concepts of chemical physics, solid state physics and theoretical chemistry instead of empirical approach.

Multisensors Cooperative Detection Task Scheduling Algorithm Based on Hybrid Task Decomposition and MBPSO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changyun Liu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A multisensor scheduling algorithm based on the hybrid task decomposition and modified binary particle swarm optimization (MBPSO is proposed. Firstly, aiming at the complex relationship between sensor resources and tasks, a hybrid task decomposition method is presented, and the resource scheduling problem is decomposed into subtasks; then the sensor resource scheduling problem is changed into the match problem of sensors and subtasks. Secondly, the resource match optimization model based on the sensor resources and tasks is established, which considers several factors, such as the target priority, detecting benefit, handover times, and resource load. Finally, MBPSO algorithm is proposed to solve the match optimization model effectively, which is based on the improved updating means of particle’s velocity and position through the doubt factor and modified Sigmoid function. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is better in terms of convergence velocity, searching capability, solution accuracy, and efficiency.

Early stage litter decomposition across biomes

Science.gov (United States)

Ika Djukic; Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas; Inger Kappel Schmidt; Klaus Steenberg Larsen; Claus Beier; Björn Berg; Kris Verheyen; Adriano Caliman; Alain Paquette; Alba Gutiérrez-Girón; Alberto Humber; Alejandro Valdecantos; Alessandro Petraglia; Heather Alexander; Algirdas Augustaitis; Amélie Saillard; Ana Carolina Ruiz Fernández; Ana I. Sousa; Ana I. Lillebø; Anderson da Rocha Gripp; André-Jean Francez; Andrea Fischer; Andreas Bohner; Andrey Malyshev; Andrijana Andrić; Andy Smith; Angela Stanisci; Anikó Seres; Anja Schmidt; Anna Avila; Anne Probst; Annie Ouin; Anzar A. Khuroo; Arne Verstraeten; Arely N. Palabral-Aguilera; Artur Stefanski; Aurora Gaxiola; Bart Muys; Bernard Bosman; Bernd Ahrends; Bill Parker; Birgit Sattler; Bo Yang; Bohdan Juráni; Brigitta Erschbamer; Carmen Eugenia Rodriguez Ortiz; Casper T. Christiansen; E. Carol Adair; Céline Meredieu; Cendrine Mony; Charles A. Nock; Chi-Ling Chen; Chiao-Ping Wang; Christel Baum; Christian Rixen; Christine Delire; Christophe Piscart; Christopher Andrews; Corinna Rebmann; Cristina Branquinho; Dana Polyanskaya; David Fuentes Delgado; Dirk Wundram; Diyaa Radeideh; Eduardo Ordóñez-Regil; Edward Crawford; Elena Preda; Elena Tropina; Elli Groner; Eric Lucot; Erzsébet Hornung; Esperança Gacia; Esther Lévesque; Evanilde Benedito; Evgeny A. Davydov; Evy Ampoorter; Fabio Padilha Bolzan; Felipe Varela; Ferdinand Kristöfel; Fernando T. Maestre; Florence Maunoury-Danger; Florian Hofhansl; Florian Kitz; Flurin Sutter; Francisco Cuesta; Francisco de Almeida Lobo; Franco Leandro de Souza; Frank Berninger; Franz Zehetner; Georg Wohlfahrt; George Vourlitis; Geovana Carreño-Rocabado; Gina Arena; Gisele Daiane Pinha; Grizelle González; Guylaine Canut; Hanna Lee; Hans Verbeeck; Harald Auge; Harald Pauli; Hassan Bismarck Nacro; Héctor A. Bahamonde; Heike Feldhaar; Heinke Jäger; Helena C. Serrano; Hélène Verheyden; Helge Bruelheide; Henning Meesenburg; Hermann Jungkunst; Hervé Jactel; Hideaki Shibata; Hiroko Kurokawa; Hugo López Rosas; Hugo L. Rojas Villalobos; Ian Yesilonis; Inara Melece; Inge Van Halder; Inmaculada García Quirós; Isaac Makelele; Issaka Senou; István Fekete; Ivan Mihal; Ivika Ostonen; Jana Borovská; Javier Roales; Jawad Shoqeir; Jean-Christophe Lata; Jean-Paul Theurillat; Jean-Luc Probst; Jess Zimmerman; Jeyanny Vijayanathan; Jianwu Tang; Jill Thompson; Jiří Doležal; Joan-Albert Sanchez-Cabeza; Joël Merlet; Joh Henschel; Johan Neirynck; Johannes Knops; John Loehr; Jonathan von Oppen; Jónína Sigríður Þorláksdóttir; Jörg Löffler; José-Gilberto Cardoso-Mohedano; José-Luis Benito-Alonso; Jose Marcelo Torezan; Joseph C. Morina; Juan J. Jiménez; Juan Dario Quinde; Juha Alatalo; Julia Seeber; Jutta Stadler; Kaie Kriiska; Kalifa Coulibaly; Karibu Fukuzawa; Katalin Szlavecz; Katarína Gerhátová; Kate Lajtha; Kathrin Käppeler; Katie A. Jennings; Katja Tielbörger; Kazuhiko Hoshizaki; Ken Green; Lambiénou Yé; Laryssa Helena Ribeiro Pazianoto; Laura Dienstbach; Laura Williams; Laura Yahdjian; Laurel M. Brigham; Liesbeth van den Brink; Lindsey Rustad; al. et

2018-01-01

Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litter and methodologies...

Optimization and kinetics decomposition of monazite using NaOH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MV Purwani; Suyanti; Deddy Husnurrofiq

2015-01-01

Decomposition of monazite with NaOH has been done. Decomposition performed at high temperature on furnace. The parameters studied were the comparison NaOH / monazite, temperature and time decomposition. From the research decomposition for 100 grams of monazite with NaOH, it can be concluded that the greater the ratio of NaOH / monazite, the greater the conversion. In the temperature influences decomposition 400 - 700°C, the greater the reaction rate constant with increasing temperature greater decomposition. Comparison NaOH / monazite optimum was 1.5 and the optimum time of 3 hours. Relations ratio NaOH / monazite with conversion (x) following the polynomial equation y = 0.1579x 2 – 0.2855x + 0.8301 (y = conversion and x = ratio of NaOH/monazite). Decomposition reaction of monazite with NaOH was second orde reaction, the relationship between temperature (T) with a reaction rate constant (k), k = 6.106.e - 1006.8 /T or ln k = - 1006.8/T + 6.106, frequency factor A = 448.541, activation energy E = 8.371 kJ/mol. (author)

Combinatorial geometry domain decomposition strategies for Monte Carlo simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, G.; Zhang, B.; Deng, L.; Mo, Z.; Liu, Z.; Shangguan, D.; Ma, Y.; Li, S.; Hu, Z. [Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing, 100094 (China)

2013-07-01

Analysis and modeling of nuclear reactors can lead to memory overload for a single core processor when it comes to refined modeling. A method to solve this problem is called 'domain decomposition'. In the current work, domain decomposition algorithms for a combinatorial geometry Monte Carlo transport code are developed on the JCOGIN (J Combinatorial Geometry Monte Carlo transport INfrastructure). Tree-based decomposition and asynchronous communication of particle information between domains are described in the paper. Combination of domain decomposition and domain replication (particle parallelism) is demonstrated and compared with that of MERCURY code. A full-core reactor model is simulated to verify the domain decomposition algorithms using the Monte Carlo particle transport code JMCT (J Monte Carlo Transport Code), which has being developed on the JCOGIN infrastructure. Besides, influences of the domain decomposition algorithms to tally variances are discussed. (authors)

Combinatorial geometry domain decomposition strategies for Monte Carlo simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, G.; Zhang, B.; Deng, L.; Mo, Z.; Liu, Z.; Shangguan, D.; Ma, Y.; Li, S.; Hu, Z.

2013-01-01

Analysis and modeling of nuclear reactors can lead to memory overload for a single core processor when it comes to refined modeling. A method to solve this problem is called 'domain decomposition'. In the current work, domain decomposition algorithms for a combinatorial geometry Monte Carlo transport code are developed on the JCOGIN (J Combinatorial Geometry Monte Carlo transport INfrastructure). Tree-based decomposition and asynchronous communication of particle information between domains are described in the paper. Combination of domain decomposition and domain replication (particle parallelism) is demonstrated and compared with that of MERCURY code. A full-core reactor model is simulated to verify the domain decomposition algorithms using the Monte Carlo particle transport code JMCT (J Monte Carlo Transport Code), which has being developed on the JCOGIN infrastructure. Besides, influences of the domain decomposition algorithms to tally variances are discussed. (authors)

Decompositional equivalence: A fundamental symmetry underlying quantum theory

OpenAIRE

Fields, Chris

2014-01-01

Decompositional equivalence is the principle that there is no preferred decomposition of the universe into subsystems. It is shown here, by using simple thought experiments, that quantum theory follows from decompositional equivalence together with Landauer's principle. This demonstration raises within physics a question previously left to psychology: how do human - or any - observers agree about what constitutes a "system of interest"?

Analysis of sea water by difference chromatography. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mangelsdorf, P.C. Jr.

1977-02-01

During the final period of this research contract the principal results obtained were: (a) the development of anion analysis by difference chromatography to the extent that SO/sub 4//sup =//Cl/sup -/ can be determined to better than 0.1 percent using an 0.5 ml seawater sample, (b) the determination of the ion-exchange cation complements of a variety of sediments in river water and in seawater, and (c) the discovery of a simple technique for the qualitative removal of NH/sub 4//sup +/ from seawater samples without altering the ratios of the other cations. This method supersedes the use of Cu-Chelex which has proved impossible to sustain.

Covariant Conformal Decomposition of Einstein Equations

Science.gov (United States)

Gourgoulhon, E.; Novak, J.

It has been shown1,2 that the usual 3+1 form of Einstein's equations may be ill-posed. This result has been previously observed in numerical simulations3,4. We present a 3+1 type formalism inspired by these works to decompose Einstein's equations. This decomposition is motivated by the aim of stable numerical implementation and resolution of the equations. We introduce the conformal 3-``metric'' (scaled by the determinant of the usual 3-metric) which is a tensor density of weight -2/3. The Einstein equations are then derived in terms of this ``metric'', of the conformal extrinsic curvature and in terms of the associated derivative. We also introduce a flat 3-metric (the asymptotic metric for isolated systems) and the associated derivative. Finally, the generalized Dirac gauge (introduced by Smarr and York5) is used in this formalism and some examples of formulation of Einstein's equations are shown.

Generalized Fisher index or Siegel-Shapley decomposition?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Boer, Paul

2009-01-01

It is generally believed that index decomposition analysis (IDA) and input-output structural decomposition analysis (SDA) [Rose, A., Casler, S., Input-output structural decomposition analysis: a critical appraisal, Economic Systems Research 1996; 8; 33-62; Dietzenbacher, E., Los, B., Structural decomposition techniques: sense and sensitivity. Economic Systems Research 1998;10; 307-323] are different approaches in energy studies; see for instance Ang et al. [Ang, B.W., Liu, F.L., Chung, H.S., A generalized Fisher index approach to energy decomposition analysis. Energy Economics 2004; 26; 757-763]. In this paper it is shown that the generalized Fisher approach, introduced in IDA by Ang et al. [Ang, B.W., Liu, F.L., Chung, H.S., A generalized Fisher index approach to energy decomposition analysis. Energy Economics 2004; 26; 757-763] for the decomposition of an aggregate change in a variable in r = 2, 3 or 4 factors is equivalent to SDA. They base their formulae on the very complicated generic formula that Shapley [Shapley, L., A value for n-person games. In: Kuhn H.W., Tucker A.W. (Eds), Contributions to the theory of games, vol. 2. Princeton University: Princeton; 1953. p. 307-317] derived for his value of n-person games, and mention that Siegel [Siegel, I.H., The generalized 'ideal' index-number formula. Journal of the American Statistical Association 1945; 40; 520-523] gave their formulae using a different route. In this paper tables are given from which the formulae of the generalized Fisher approach can easily be derived for the cases of r = 2, 3 or 4 factors. It is shown that these tables can easily be extended to cover the cases of r = 5 and r = 6 factors. (author)

Radiation-chemical degradation of chloroform in water solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmadov, S.A.; Gurbanov, M.A.; Iskenderova, Z.I.; Abdullayev, E.T.; Ibadov, N.A.

2006-01-01

Full text: Chloroform is the major chlorine-containing compound forming at chlorination of drinking water. As our basic water resources of Kur and Araz rivers are mostly polluted along the territory of the neighbour republics their chlorination for the purpose of biological purification can result in forming of chloroform. Unfortunately, there are only poor data about containing of chloroform in drinking water in the Republic, however the particular problem is to develop new methods of drinking water purification from chloroform, taking into account the high toxicity of this compounds. Appropriate works indicate that radiation-chemical processing can mostly reduce the concentration of chloroform in drinking water. The purification degree can achieve 95-98 percent. This work studies the tendency of chloroform decomposition at its radiolysis processes in water solutions. The concentration of chloroform changed in the range of 0,03-1 weight percentage. Taking into account the dissolvability of chloroform in water solutions it can be said that examined water solutions are homogeneous. Following advancements are studied: 1) Determination of radiation-chemical yield of chloroform decomposition at its various initial concentrations; 2) Impact of adsorbed dose on pH of solutions; 3) Formation of by-products. It is set that radiation-chemical output of chloroform decomposition is equal to 3 * 10 - 3 - 125 mol/100 ev. The high yield of chloroform decomposition can be connected with the chain process of oxidation with presence of dissolved oxygen. However, taking into account the fact that at its water radiolysis the yield of active particles of OH, e - aq, H-atoms does not exceed 6-7 particles/100 ev, the observed high yield can be explained only with the chain process with presence of dissolved oxygen

The effect of hydraulic lift on organic matter decomposition, soil nitrogen cycling, and nitrogen acquisition by a grass species.

Science.gov (United States)

Armas, Cristina; Kim, John H; Bleby, Timothy M; Jackson, Robert B

2012-01-01

Hydraulic lift (HL) is the passive movement of water through plant roots, driven by gradients in water potential. The greater soil-water availability resulting from HL may in principle lead to higher plant nutrient uptake, but the evidence for this hypothesis is not universally supported by current experiments. We grew a grass species common in North America in two-layer pots with three treatments: (1) the lower layer watered, the upper one unwatered (HL), (2) both layers watered (W), and (3) the lower layer watered, the upper one unwatered, but with continuous light 24 h a day to limit HL (no-HL). We inserted ingrowth cores filled with enriched-nitrogen organic matter ((15)N-OM) in the upper layer and tested whether decomposition, mineralization and uptake of (15)N were higher in plants performing HL than in plants without HL. Soils in the upper layer were significantly wetter in the HL treatment than in the no-HL treatment. Decomposition rates were similar in the W and HL treatments and lower in no-HL. On average, the concentration of NH(4)(+)-N in ingrowth cores was highest in the W treatment, and NO(3)(-)-N concentrations were highest in the no-HL treatment, with HL having intermediate values for both, suggesting differential mineralization of organic N among treatments. Aboveground biomass, leaf (15)N contents and the (15)N uptake in aboveground tissues were higher in W and HL than in no-HL, indicating higher nutrient uptake and improved N status of plants performing HL. However, there were no differences in total root nitrogen content or (15)N uptake by roots, indicating that HL affected plant allocation of acquired N to photosynthetic tissues. Our evidence for the role of HL in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling suggests that HL could have positive effects on plant nutrient dynamics and nutrient turnover.

DFT calculations on N2O decomposition by binuclear Fe complexes in Fe/ZSM-5

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yakovlev, A.L.; Zhidomirov, G.M.; Santen, van R.A.

2001-01-01

N2O decomposition catalyzed by oxidized Fe clusters localized in the micropores of Fe/ZSM-5 has been studied using the DFT approach and a binuclear cluster model of the active site. Three different reaction routes were found, depending on temperature and water pressure. The results show that below

Reactivity continuum modeling of leaf, root, and wood decomposition across biomes

Science.gov (United States)

Koehler, Birgit; Tranvik, Lars J.

2015-07-01

Large carbon dioxide amounts are released to the atmosphere during organic matter decomposition. Yet the large-scale and long-term regulation of this critical process in global carbon cycling by litter chemistry and climate remains poorly understood. We used reactivity continuum (RC) modeling to analyze the decadal data set of the "Long-term Intersite Decomposition Experiment," in which fine litter and wood decomposition was studied in eight biome types (224 time series). In 32 and 46% of all sites the litter content of the acid-unhydrolyzable residue (AUR, formerly referred to as lignin) and the AUR/nitrogen ratio, respectively, retarded initial decomposition rates. This initial rate-retarding effect generally disappeared within the first year of decomposition, and rate-stimulating effects of nutrients and a rate-retarding effect of the carbon/nitrogen ratio became more prevalent. For needles and leaves/grasses, the influence of climate on decomposition decreased over time. For fine roots, the climatic influence was initially smaller but increased toward later-stage decomposition. The climate decomposition index was the strongest climatic predictor of decomposition. The similar variability in initial decomposition rates across litter categories as across biome types suggested that future changes in decomposition may be dominated by warming-induced changes in plant community composition. In general, the RC model parameters successfully predicted independent decomposition data for the different litter-biome combinations (196 time series). We argue that parameterization of large-scale decomposition models with RC model parameters, as opposed to the currently common discrete multiexponential models, could significantly improve their mechanistic foundation and predictive accuracy across climate zones and litter categories.

Decomposition of diverse solid inorganic matrices with molten ammonium bifluoride salt for constituent elemental analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Hara, Matthew J.; Kellogg, Cyndi M.; Parker, Cyrena M.; Morrison, Samuel S.; Corbey, Jordan F.; Grate, Jay W.

2017-09-01

Ammonium bifluoride (ABF, NH4F·HF) is a well-known reagent for converting metal oxides to fluorides and for its applications in breaking down minerals and ores in order to extract useful components. It has been more recently applied to the decomposition of inorganic matrices prior to elemental analysis. Herein, a sample decomposition method that employs molten ABF sample treatment in the initial step is systematically evaluated across a range of inorganic sample types: glass, quartz, zircon, soil, and pitchblende ore. Method performance is evaluated across the two variables: duration of molten ABF treatment and ABF reagent mass to sample mass ratio. The degree of solubilization of these sample classes are compared to the fluoride stoichiometry that is theoretically necessary to enact complete fluorination of the sample types. Finally, the sample decomposition method is performed on several soil and pitchblende ore standard reference materials, after which elemental constituent analysis is performed by ICP-OES and ICP-MS. Elemental recoveries are compared to the certified values; results indicate good to excellent recoveries across a range of alkaline earth, rare earth, transition metal, and actinide elements.

Effects of dissolved organic matter leaching from macrophyte litter on black water events in shallow lakes.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Yuhong; Song, Na; Jiang, He-Long

2018-04-01

In recent years, the black water phenomenon has become an environmental event in eutrophic shallow lakes in China, leading to deterioration of lake ecosystems and potable water crises. Decomposition of macrophyte debris has been verified as a key inducement for black water events. In this study, the effects of the decomposition of dissolved organic matter (Kottelat et al., WASP 187:343-351, 2008) derived from macrophyte leachate on the occurrence of black water events are investigated to clarify the detailed mechanisms involved. Results show that dissolved organic matter (DOM) is composed of a trace of chromophoric DOM and mostly non-chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM). DOM decomposition is accompanied by varied concentration of CDOM components, generation of organic particles, and increased microbial concentrations. These processes increase water chroma only during initial 48 h, so the intensified water color cannot be maintained by DOM decomposition alone. During DOM decomposition, microorganisms first consume non-CDOM, increasing the relative CDOM concentration and turning the water color to black (or brown). Simultaneously, tryptophan and aromatic proteins, which are major ingredients of CDOM, enhance UV light absorption, further aggravating the macroscopic phenomenon of black color. Our results show that DOM leached from decayed macrophytes promotes or even triggers the occurrence of black water events and should be taken more seriously in the future.

Crop residue decomposition in Minnesota biochar amended plots

OpenAIRE

S. L. Weyers; K. A. Spokas

2014-01-01

Impacts of biochar application at laboratory scales are routinely studied, but impacts of biochar application on decomposition of crop residues at field scales have not been widely addressed. The priming or hindrance of crop residue decomposition could have a cascading impact on soil processes, particularly those influencing nutrient availability. Our objectives were to evaluate biochar effects on field decomposition of crop residue, using plots that were amended with ...

Towards a paradigm shift in the modeling of soil organic carbon decomposition for earth system models

Science.gov (United States)

He, Yujie

Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon pools and contain approximately 2200 Pg of carbon. Thus, the dynamics of soil carbon plays an important role in the global carbon cycle and climate system. Earth System Models are used to project future interactions between terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics and climate. However, these models often predict a wide range of soil carbon responses and their formulations have lagged behind recent soil science advances, omitting key biogeochemical mechanisms. In contrast, recent mechanistically-based biogeochemical models that explicitly account for microbial biomass pools and enzyme kinetics that catalyze soil carbon decomposition produce notably different results and provide a closer match to recent observations. However, a systematic evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of the microbial models and how they differ from empirical, first-order formulations in soil decomposition models for soil organic carbon is still needed. This dissertation consists of a series of model sensitivity and uncertainty analyses and identifies dominant decomposition processes in determining soil organic carbon dynamics. Poorly constrained processes or parameters that require more experimental data integration are also identified. This dissertation also demonstrates the critical role of microbial life-history traits (e.g. microbial dormancy) in the modeling of microbial activity in soil organic matter decomposition models. Finally, this study surveys and synthesizes a number of recently published microbial models and provides suggestions for future microbial model developments.

Thermal decomposition of hydroiodic acid and hydrogen separation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yeheskel, J.; Leger, D.; Courvoisier, P.

1978-01-01

The reaction of decomposition of hydroiodic acid is included in a promising water splitting process (sulfur-iodine cycle). An experimental program is running in order to overcome some basic difficulties and data shortcomings which stand in the way of achieving that target. The core of the experimental system is the palladium silver (23% Ag) membrane tube reactor in which the feed gas entered the inner side of the tube. Four series of different kinds of experiments have been performed: 1) diffusion of hydrogen from a pure feed hydrogen stream through the membrane; the results are statistically analyzed due to the present correlations of the H 2 specific permeability as a function of temperature and pressure (up to 600 0 C and 20 bar); 2) separation of hydrogen from a binary feed mixture H 2 -He; a mathematical model is developed for this operation; 3) indication of the poisoning effect of a little amount of hydroiodic acid on the hydrogen pereability; this effect is partly reversible at high temperatures; 4) a performance of one continuous experiment of HI decomposition into the membrane tube at steady pressure and temperature of 8 bar and 500 0 C; the results prove the catalytic activity of the membrane surface

Excimer laser decomposition of silicone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laude, L.D.; Cochrane, C.; Dicara, Cl.; Dupas-Bruzek, C.; Kolev, K.

2003-01-01

Excimer laser irradiation of silicone foils is shown in this work to induce decomposition, ablation and activation of such materials. Thin (100 μm) laminated silicone foils are irradiated at 248 nm as a function of impacting laser fluence and number of pulsed irradiations at 1 s intervals. Above a threshold fluence of 0.7 J/cm 2 , material starts decomposing. At higher fluences, this decomposition develops and gives rise to (i) swelling of the irradiated surface and then (ii) emission of matter (ablation) at a rate that is not proportioned to the number of pulses. Taking into consideration the polymer structure and the foil lamination process, these results help defining the phenomenology of silicone ablation. The polymer decomposition results in two parts: one which is organic and volatile, and another part which is inorganic and remains, forming an ever thickening screen to light penetration as the number of light pulses increases. A mathematical model is developed that accounts successfully for this physical screening effect

1.7. Acid decomposition of kaolin clays of Ziddi Deposit. 1.7.1. The hydrochloric acid decomposition of kaolin clays and siallites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirsaidov, U.M.; Mirzoev, D.Kh.; Boboev, Kh.E.

2016-01-01

Present article of book is devoted to hydrochloric acid decomposition of kaolin clays and siallites. The chemical composition of kaolin clays and siallites was determined. The influence of temperature, process duration, acid concentration on hydrochloric acid decomposition of kaolin clays and siallites was studied. The optimal conditions of hydrochloric acid decomposition of kaolin clays and siallites were determined.

Wavelet decomposition and neuro-fuzzy hybrid system applied to short-term wind power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandez-Jimenez, L.A.; Mendoza-Villena, M. [La Rioja Univ., Logrono (Spain). Dept. of Electrical Engineering; Ramirez-Rosado, I.J.; Abebe, B. [Zaragoza Univ., Zaragoza (Spain). Dept. of Electrical Engineering

2010-03-09

Wind energy has become increasingly popular as a renewable energy source. However, the integration of wind farms in the electrical power systems presents several problems, including the chaotic fluctuation of wind flow which results in highly varied power generation from a wind farm. An accurate forecast of wind power generation has important consequences in the economic operation of the integrated power system. This paper presented a new statistical short-term wind power forecasting model based on wavelet decomposition and neuro-fuzzy systems optimized with a genetic algorithm. The paper discussed wavelet decomposition; the proposed wind power forecasting model; and computer results. The original time series, the mean electric power generated in a wind farm, was decomposing into wavelet coefficients that were utilized as inputs for the forecasting model. The forecasting results obtained with the final models were compared to those obtained with traditional forecasting models showing a better performance for all the forecasting horizons. 13 refs., 1 tab., 4 figs.

A low-dimensional tool for predicting force decomposition coefficients for varying inflow conditions

KAUST Repository

Ghommem, Mehdi

2013-01-01

We develop a low-dimensional tool to predict the effects of unsteadiness in the inflow on force coefficients acting on a circular cylinder using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) modes from steady flow simulations. The approach is based on combining POD and linear stochastic estimator (LSE) techniques. We use POD to derive a reduced-order model (ROM) to reconstruct the velocity field. To overcome the difficulty of developing a ROM using Poisson\\'s equation, we relate the pressure field to the velocity field through a mapping function based on LSE. The use of this approach to derive force decomposition coefficients (FDCs) under unsteady mean flow from basis functions of the steady flow is illustrated. For both steady and unsteady cases, the final outcome is a representation of the lift and drag coefficients in terms of velocity and pressure temporal coefficients. Such a representation could serve as the basis for implementing control strategies or conducting uncertainty quantification. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

A low-dimensional tool for predicting force decomposition coefficients for varying inflow conditions

KAUST Repository

Ghommem, Mehdi; Akhtar, Imran; Hajj, M. R.

2013-01-01

We develop a low-dimensional tool to predict the effects of unsteadiness in the inflow on force coefficients acting on a circular cylinder using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) modes from steady flow simulations. The approach is based on combining POD and linear stochastic estimator (LSE) techniques. We use POD to derive a reduced-order model (ROM) to reconstruct the velocity field. To overcome the difficulty of developing a ROM using Poisson's equation, we relate the pressure field to the velocity field through a mapping function based on LSE. The use of this approach to derive force decomposition coefficients (FDCs) under unsteady mean flow from basis functions of the steady flow is illustrated. For both steady and unsteady cases, the final outcome is a representation of the lift and drag coefficients in terms of velocity and pressure temporal coefficients. Such a representation could serve as the basis for implementing control strategies or conducting uncertainty quantification. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Multi hollow needle to plate plasmachemical reactor for pollutant decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pekarek, S.; Kriha, V.; Viden, I.; Pospisil, M.

2001-01-01

Modification of the classical multipin to plate plasmachemical reactor for pollutant decomposition is proposed in this paper. In this modified reactor a mixture of air and pollutant flows through the needles, contrary to the classical reactor where a mixture of air and pollutant flows around the pins or through the channel plus through the hollow needles. We give the results of comparison of toluene decomposition efficiency for (a) a reactor with the main stream of a mixture through the channel around the needles and a small flow rate through the needles and (b) a modified reactor. It was found that for similar flow rates and similar energy deposition, the decomposition efficiency of toluene was increased more than six times in the modified reactor. This new modified reactor was also experimentally tested for the decomposition of volatile hydrocarbons from gasoline distillation range. An average efficiency of VOC decomposition of about 25% was reached. However, significant differences in the decomposition of various hydrocarbon types were observed. The best results were obtained for the decomposition of olefins (reaching 90%) and methyl-tert-butyl ether (about 50%). Moreover, the number of carbon atoms in the molecule affects the quality of VOC decomposition. (author)

A handbook of decomposition methods in analytical chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bok, R.

1984-01-01

Decomposition methods of metals, alloys, fluxes, slags, calcine, inorganic salts, oxides, nitrides, carbides, borides, sulfides, ores, minerals, rocks, concentrates, glasses, ceramics, organic substances, polymers, phyto- and biological materials from the viewpoint of sample preparation for analysis have been described. The methods are systemitized according to decomposition principle: thermal with the use of electricity, irradiation, dissolution with participation of chemical reactions and without it. Special equipment for different decomposition methods is described. Bibliography contains 3420 references

N2O decomposition over Fe/ZSM-5: reversible generation of highly active cationic Fe species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhu, Q.; Hensen, E.J.M.; Mojet, B.L.; Wolput, van J.H.M.C.; Santen, van R.A.

2002-01-01

Fe-oxide species in Fe/ZSM-5 (prepared by chemical vapor deposition of FeCl3)-active in N2O decomposition-react with zeolite protons during high temperature calcination to give highly active cationic Fe species, this transformation being reversible upon exposure to water vapor at lower temperature

Decomposition of silicon carbide at high pressures and temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daviau, Kierstin; Lee, Kanani K. M.

2017-11-01

We measure the onset of decomposition of silicon carbide, SiC, to silicon and carbon (e.g., diamond) at high pressures and high temperatures in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell. We identify decomposition through x-ray diffraction and multiwavelength imaging radiometry coupled with electron microscopy analyses on quenched samples. We find that B3 SiC (also known as 3C or zinc blende SiC) decomposes at high pressures and high temperatures, following a phase boundary with a negative slope. The high-pressure decomposition temperatures measured are considerably lower than those at ambient, with our measurements indicating that SiC begins to decompose at ~ 2000 K at 60 GPa as compared to ~ 2800 K at ambient pressure. Once B3 SiC transitions to the high-pressure B1 (rocksalt) structure, we no longer observe decomposition, despite heating to temperatures in excess of ~ 3200 K. The temperature of decomposition and the nature of the decomposition phase boundary appear to be strongly influenced by the pressure-induced phase transitions to higher-density structures in SiC, silicon, and carbon. The decomposition of SiC at high pressure and temperature has implications for the stability of naturally forming moissanite on Earth and in carbon-rich exoplanets.

Note on Symplectic SVD-Like Decomposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AGOUJIL Said

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to introduce a constructive method to compute a symplectic singular value decomposition (SVD-like decomposition of a 2n-by-m rectangular real matrix A, based on symplectic refectors.This approach used a canonical Schur form of skew-symmetric matrix and it allowed us to compute eigenvalues for the structured matrices as Hamiltonian matrix JAA^T.

Solid state green synthesis and catalytic activity of CuO nanorods in thermal decomposition of potassium periodate

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Vinay Kumar; Bhattacharya, Shantanu

2017-09-01

The present study reports a facile solid state green synthesis process using the leaf extracts of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis to synthesize CuO nanorods with average diameters of 15-20 nm and lengths up to 100 nm. The as-synthesized CuO nanorods were characterized by x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction. The formation mechanism of CuO nanorods has been explained by involving the individual role of amide I (amino groups) and carboxylate groups under excess hydroxyl ions released from NaOH. The catalytic activity of CuO nanorods in thermal decomposition of potassium periodate microparticles (µ-KIO4) microparticles was studied by thermo gravimetric analysis measurement. The original size (~100 µm) of commercially procured potassium periodate was reduced to microscale length scale to about one-tenth by PEG200 assisted emulsion process. The CuO nanorods prepared by solid state green route were found to catalyze the thermal decomposition of µ-KIO4 with a reduction of 18 °C in the final thermal decomposition temperature of potassium periodate.

Evaluating litter decomposition and soil organic matter dynamics in earth system models: contrasting analysis of long-term litter decomposition and steady-state soil carbon

Science.gov (United States)

Bonan, G. B.; Wieder, W. R.

2012-12-01

Decomposition is a large term in the global carbon budget, but models of the earth system that simulate carbon cycle-climate feedbacks are largely untested with respect to litter decomposition. Here, we demonstrate a protocol to document model performance with respect to both long-term (10 year) litter decomposition and steady-state soil carbon stocks. First, we test the soil organic matter parameterization of the Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4), the terrestrial component of the Community Earth System Model, with data from the Long-term Intersite Decomposition Experiment Team (LIDET). The LIDET dataset is a 10-year study of litter decomposition at multiple sites across North America and Central America. We show results for 10-year litter decomposition simulations compared with LIDET for 9 litter types and 20 sites in tundra, grassland, and boreal, conifer, deciduous, and tropical forest biomes. We show additional simulations with DAYCENT, a version of the CENTURY model, to ask how well an established ecosystem model matches the observations. The results reveal large discrepancy between the laboratory microcosm studies used to parameterize the CLM4 litter decomposition and the LIDET field study. Simulated carbon loss is more rapid than the observations across all sites, despite using the LIDET-provided climatic decomposition index to constrain temperature and moisture effects on decomposition. Nitrogen immobilization is similarly biased high. Closer agreement with the observations requires much lower decomposition rates, obtained with the assumption that nitrogen severely limits decomposition. DAYCENT better replicates the observations, for both carbon mass remaining and nitrogen, without requirement for nitrogen limitation of decomposition. Second, we compare global observationally-based datasets of soil carbon with simulated steady-state soil carbon stocks for both models. The models simulations were forced with observationally-based estimates of annual

The decomposition of estuarine macrophytes under different ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this study was to determine the decomposition characteristics of the most dominant submerged macrophyte and macroalgal species in the Great Brak Estuary. Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the effect of different temperature regimes on the rate of decomposition of 3 macrophyte species ...

Decomposition and flame structure of hydrazinium nitroformate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Louwers, J.; Parr, T.; Hanson-Parr, D.

1999-01-01

The decomposition of hydrazinium nitroformate (HNF) was studied in a hot quartz cell and by dropping small amounts of HNF on a hot plate. The species formed during the decomposition were identified by ultraviolet-visible absorption experiments. These experiments reveal that first HONO is formed. The

Mixed first- and second-order transport method using domain decomposition techniques for reactor core calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girardi, E.; Ruggieri, J.M.

2003-01-01

The aim of this paper is to present the last developments made on a domain decomposition method applied to reactor core calculations. In this method, two kind of balance equation with two different numerical methods dealing with two different unknowns are coupled. In the first part the two balance transport equations (first order and second order one) are presented with the corresponding following numerical methods: Variational Nodal Method and Discrete Ordinate Nodal Method. In the second part, the Multi-Method/Multi-Domain algorithm is introduced by applying the Schwarz domain decomposition to the multigroup eigenvalue problem of the transport equation. The resulting algorithm is then provided. The projection operators used to coupled the two methods are detailed in the last part of the paper. Finally some preliminary numerical applications on benchmarks are given showing encouraging results. (authors)

Spectral decomposition of tent maps using symmetry considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ordonez, G.E.; Driebe, D.J.

1996-01-01

The spectral decompostion of the Frobenius-Perron operator of maps composed of many tents is determined from symmetry considerations. The eigenstates involve Euler as well as Bernoulli polynomials. The authors have introduced some new techniques, based on symmetry considerations, enabling the construction of spectral decompositions in a much simpler way than previous construction algorithms, Here we utilize these techniques to construct the spectral decomposition for one- dimensional maps of the unit interval composed of many tents. The construction uses the knowledge of the spectral decomposition of the r-adic map, which involves Bernoulli polynomials and their duals. It will be seen that the spectral decomposition of the tent maps involves both Bernoulli polynomials and Euler polynomials along with the appropriate dual states

Nanomaterial Case Studies: Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide in Water Treatment and in Topical Sunscreen (Final)

Science.gov (United States)

EPA announced the availability of the final report, Nanomaterial Case Studies: Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide in Water Treatment and in Topical Sunscreen. This report is a starting point to determine what is known and what needs to be known about selected nanomaterials as par...

Decomposition of forest products buried in landfills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Xiaoming; Padgett, Jennifer M.; Powell, John S.; Barlaz, Morton A.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • This study tracked chemical changes of wood and paper in landfills. • A decomposition index was developed to quantify carbohydrate biodegradation. • Newsprint biodegradation as measured here is greater than previous reports. • The field results correlate well with previous laboratory measurements. - Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the decomposition of selected wood and paper products in landfills. The decomposition of these products under anaerobic landfill conditions results in the generation of biogenic carbon dioxide and methane, while the un-decomposed portion represents a biogenic carbon sink. Information on the decomposition of these municipal waste components is used to estimate national methane emissions inventories, for attribution of carbon storage credits, and to assess the life-cycle greenhouse gas impacts of wood and paper products. Hardwood (HW), softwood (SW), plywood (PW), oriented strand board (OSB), particleboard (PB), medium-density fiberboard (MDF), newsprint (NP), corrugated container (CC) and copy paper (CP) were buried in landfills operated with leachate recirculation, and were excavated after approximately 1.5 and 2.5 yr. Samples were analyzed for cellulose (C), hemicellulose (H), lignin (L), volatile solids (VS), and organic carbon (OC). A holocellulose decomposition index (HOD) and carbon storage factor (CSF) were calculated to evaluate the extent of solids decomposition and carbon storage. Samples of OSB made from HW exhibited cellulose plus hemicellulose (C + H) loss of up to 38%, while loss for the other wood types was 0–10% in most samples. The C + H loss was up to 81%, 95% and 96% for NP, CP and CC, respectively. The CSFs for wood and paper samples ranged from 0.34 to 0.47 and 0.02 to 0.27 g OC g −1 dry material, respectively. These results, in general, correlated well with an earlier laboratory-scale study, though NP and CC decomposition measured in this study were higher than

Decomposition of forest products buried in landfills

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Xiaoming, E-mail: xwang25@ncsu.edu [Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, Campus Box 7908, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7908 (United States); Padgett, Jennifer M. [Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, Campus Box 7908, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7908 (United States); Powell, John S. [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Campus Box 7905, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7905 (United States); Barlaz, Morton A. [Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, Campus Box 7908, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7908 (United States)

2013-11-15

Highlights: • This study tracked chemical changes of wood and paper in landfills. • A decomposition index was developed to quantify carbohydrate biodegradation. • Newsprint biodegradation as measured here is greater than previous reports. • The field results correlate well with previous laboratory measurements. - Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the decomposition of selected wood and paper products in landfills. The decomposition of these products under anaerobic landfill conditions results in the generation of biogenic carbon dioxide and methane, while the un-decomposed portion represents a biogenic carbon sink. Information on the decomposition of these municipal waste components is used to estimate national methane emissions inventories, for attribution of carbon storage credits, and to assess the life-cycle greenhouse gas impacts of wood and paper products. Hardwood (HW), softwood (SW), plywood (PW), oriented strand board (OSB), particleboard (PB), medium-density fiberboard (MDF), newsprint (NP), corrugated container (CC) and copy paper (CP) were buried in landfills operated with leachate recirculation, and were excavated after approximately 1.5 and 2.5 yr. Samples were analyzed for cellulose (C), hemicellulose (H), lignin (L), volatile solids (VS), and organic carbon (OC). A holocellulose decomposition index (HOD) and carbon storage factor (CSF) were calculated to evaluate the extent of solids decomposition and carbon storage. Samples of OSB made from HW exhibited cellulose plus hemicellulose (C + H) loss of up to 38%, while loss for the other wood types was 0–10% in most samples. The C + H loss was up to 81%, 95% and 96% for NP, CP and CC, respectively. The CSFs for wood and paper samples ranged from 0.34 to 0.47 and 0.02 to 0.27 g OC g{sup −1} dry material, respectively. These results, in general, correlated well with an earlier laboratory-scale study, though NP and CC decomposition measured in this study were higher than

Parallel processing for pitch splitting decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Levi; Li, Yong; Wadkins, David; Biederman, Steve; Miloslavsky, Alex; Cork, Chris

2009-10-01

Decomposition of an input pattern in preparation for a double patterning process is an inherently global problem in which the influence of a local decomposition decision can be felt across an entire pattern. In spite of this, a large portion of the work can be massively distributed. Here, we discuss the advantages of geometric distribution for polygon operations with limited range of influence. Further, we have found that even the naturally global "coloring" step can, in large part, be handled in a geometrically local manner. In some practical cases, up to 70% of the work can be distributed geometrically. We also describe the methods for partitioning the problem into local pieces and present scaling data up to 100 CPUs. These techniques reduce DPT decomposition runtime by orders of magnitude.

Soil plus root respiration and microbial biomass following water, nitrogen, and phosphorus application at a high arctic semi desert

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Illeris, Lotte; Michelsen, Anders; Jonasson, Sven Evert

2003-01-01

CO2 emmision, Decomposition, Microbial biomass carbon, Soil organic matter, Tundra, Water and nutrient limitation......CO2 emmision, Decomposition, Microbial biomass carbon, Soil organic matter, Tundra, Water and nutrient limitation...

An experimental study of turbulent two-phase flow in hydraulic jumps and application of a triple decomposition technique

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hang; Felder, Stefan; Chanson, Hubert

2014-07-01

Intense turbulence develops in the two-phase flow region of hydraulic jump, with a broad range of turbulent length and time scales. Detailed air-water flow measurements using intrusive phase-detection probes enabled turbulence characterisation of the bubbly flow, although the phenomenon is not a truly random process because of the existence of low-frequency, pseudo-periodic fluctuating motion in the jump roller. This paper presents new measurements of turbulent properties in hydraulic jumps, including turbulence intensity, longitudinal and transverse integral length and time scales. The results characterised very high turbulent levels and reflected a combination of both fast and slow turbulent components. The respective contributions of the fast and slow motions were quantified using a triple decomposition technique. The decomposition of air-water detection signal revealed "true" turbulent characteristics linked with the fast, microscopic velocity turbulence of hydraulic jumps. The high-frequency turbulence intensities were between 0.5 and 1.5 close to the jump toe, and maximum integral turbulent length scales were found next to the bottom. Both decreased in the flow direction with longitudinal turbulence dissipation. The results highlighted the considerable influence of hydrodynamic instabilities of the flow on the turbulence characterisation. The successful application of triple decomposition technique provided the means for the true turbulence properties of hydraulic jumps.

A parallel domain decomposition-based implicit method for the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook phase-field equation in 3D

KAUST Repository

Zheng, Xiang

2015-03-01

We present a numerical algorithm for simulating the spinodal decomposition described by the three dimensional Cahn-Hilliard-Cook (CHC) equation, which is a fourth-order stochastic partial differential equation with a noise term. The equation is discretized in space and time based on a fully implicit, cell-centered finite difference scheme, with an adaptive time-stepping strategy designed to accelerate the progress to equilibrium. At each time step, a parallel Newton-Krylov-Schwarz algorithm is used to solve the nonlinear system. We discuss various numerical and computational challenges associated with the method. The numerical scheme is validated by a comparison with an explicit scheme of high accuracy (and unreasonably high cost). We present steady state solutions of the CHC equation in two and three dimensions. The effect of the thermal fluctuation on the spinodal decomposition process is studied. We show that the existence of the thermal fluctuation accelerates the spinodal decomposition process and that the final steady morphology is sensitive to the stochastic noise. We also show the evolution of the energies and statistical moments. In terms of the parallel performance, it is found that the implicit domain decomposition approach scales well on supercomputers with a large number of processors. © 2015 Elsevier Inc.

A parallel domain decomposition-based implicit method for the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook phase-field equation in 3D

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Xiang; Yang, Chao; Cai, Xiao-Chuan; Keyes, David

2015-03-01

We present a numerical algorithm for simulating the spinodal decomposition described by the three dimensional Cahn-Hilliard-Cook (CHC) equation, which is a fourth-order stochastic partial differential equation with a noise term. The equation is discretized in space and time based on a fully implicit, cell-centered finite difference scheme, with an adaptive time-stepping strategy designed to accelerate the progress to equilibrium. At each time step, a parallel Newton-Krylov-Schwarz algorithm is used to solve the nonlinear system. We discuss various numerical and computational challenges associated with the method. The numerical scheme is validated by a comparison with an explicit scheme of high accuracy (and unreasonably high cost). We present steady state solutions of the CHC equation in two and three dimensions. The effect of the thermal fluctuation on the spinodal decomposition process is studied. We show that the existence of the thermal fluctuation accelerates the spinodal decomposition process and that the final steady morphology is sensitive to the stochastic noise. We also show the evolution of the energies and statistical moments. In terms of the parallel performance, it is found that the implicit domain decomposition approach scales well on supercomputers with a large number of processors.

A parallel domain decomposition-based implicit method for the Cahn–Hilliard–Cook phase-field equation in 3D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, Xiang; Yang, Chao; Cai, Xiao-Chuan; Keyes, David

2015-01-01

We present a numerical algorithm for simulating the spinodal decomposition described by the three dimensional Cahn–Hilliard–Cook (CHC) equation, which is a fourth-order stochastic partial differential equation with a noise term. The equation is discretized in space and time based on a fully implicit, cell-centered finite difference scheme, with an adaptive time-stepping strategy designed to accelerate the progress to equilibrium. At each time step, a parallel Newton–Krylov–Schwarz algorithm is used to solve the nonlinear system. We discuss various numerical and computational challenges associated with the method. The numerical scheme is validated by a comparison with an explicit scheme of high accuracy (and unreasonably high cost). We present steady state solutions of the CHC equation in two and three dimensions. The effect of the thermal fluctuation on the spinodal decomposition process is studied. We show that the existence of the thermal fluctuation accelerates the spinodal decomposition process and that the final steady morphology is sensitive to the stochastic noise. We also show the evolution of the energies and statistical moments. In terms of the parallel performance, it is found that the implicit domain decomposition approach scales well on supercomputers with a large number of processors

On practical challenges of decomposition-based hybrid forecasting algorithms for wind speed and solar irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yamin; Wu, Lei

2016-01-01

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis on practical challenges of empirical mode decomposition (EMD) based algorithms on wind speed and solar irradiation forecasts that have been largely neglected in literature, and proposes an alternative approach to mitigate such challenges. Specifically, the challenges are: (1) Decomposed sub-series are very sensitive to the original time series data. That is, sub-series of the new time series, consisting of the original one plus a limit number of new data samples, may significantly differ from those used in training forecasting models. In turn, forecasting models established by original sub-series may not be suitable for newly decomposed sub-series and have to be trained more frequently; and (2) Key environmental factors usually play a critical role in non-decomposition based methods for forecasting wind speed and solar irradiation. However, it is difficult to incorporate such critical environmental factors into forecasting models of individual decomposed sub-series, because the correlation between the original data and environmental factors is lost after decomposition. Numerical case studies on wind speed and solar irradiation forecasting show that the performance of existing EMD-based forecasting methods could be worse than the non-decomposition based forecasting model, and are not effective in practical cases. Finally, the approximated forecasting model based on EMD is proposed to mitigate the challenges and achieve better forecasting results than existing EMD-based forecasting algorithms and the non-decomposition based forecasting models on practical wind speed and solar irradiation forecasting cases. - Highlights: • Two challenges of existing EMD-based forecasting methods are discussed. • Significant changes of sub-series in each step of the rolling forecast procedure. • Difficulties in incorporating environmental factors into sub-series forecasting models. • The approximated forecasting method is proposed to

Complex multidisciplinary systems decomposition for aerospace vehicle conceptual design and technology acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

Omoragbon, Amen

Although, the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry is a significant contributor to the United States' economy, national prestige and national security, it experiences significant cost and schedule overruns. This problem is related to the differences between technology acquisition assessments and aerospace vehicle conceptual design. Acquisition assessments evaluate broad sets of alternatives with mostly qualitative techniques, while conceptual design tools evaluate narrow set of alternatives with multidisciplinary tools. In order for these two fields to communicate effectively, a common platform for both concerns is desired. This research is an original contribution to a three-part solution to this problem. It discusses the decomposition step of an innovation technology and sizing tool generation framework. It identifies complex multidisciplinary system definitions as a bridge between acquisition and conceptual design. It establishes complex multidisciplinary building blocks that can be used to build synthesis systems as well as technology portfolios. It also describes a Graphical User Interface Designed to aid in decomposition process. Finally, it demonstrates an application of the methodology to a relevant acquisition and conceptual design problem posed by the US Air Force.

Decomposition of lake phytoplankton. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, L.; Krog, G.F.; Soendergaard, M.

1986-01-01

The lysis process of phytoplankton was followed in 24 h incubations in three Danish lakes. By means of gel-chromatography it was shown that the dissolved carbon leaching from different algal groups differed in molecular weight composition. Three distinct molecular weight classes (>10,000; 700 to 10,000 and < 700 Daltons) leached from blue-green algae in almost equal proportion. The lysis products of spring-bloom diatoms included only the two smaller size classes, and the molecules between 700 and 10,000 Daltons dominated. Measurements of cell content during decomposition of the diatoms revealed polysaccharides and low molecular weight compounds to dominate the lysis products. No proteins were leached during the first 24 h after cell death. By incubating the dead algae in natural lake water, it was possible to detect a high bacterial affinity towards molecules between 700 and 10,000 Daltons, although the other size classes were also utilized. Bacterial transformation of small molecules to larger molecules could be demonstrated. (author)

Nutrient Dynamics and Litter Decomposition in Leucaena ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nutrient contents and rate of litter decomposition were investigated in Leucaena leucocephala plantation in the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. Litter bag technique was used to study the pattern and rate of litter decomposition and nutrient release of Leucaena leucocephala. Fifty grams of oven-dried ...

Climate fails to predict wood decomposition at regional scales

Science.gov (United States)

Mark A. Bradford; Robert J. Warren; Petr Baldrian; Thomas W. Crowther; Daniel S. Maynard; Emily E. Oldfield; William R. Wieder; Stephen A. Wood; Joshua R. King

2014-01-01

Decomposition of organic matter strongly influences ecosystem carbon storage1. In Earth-system models, climate is a predominant control on the decomposition rates of organic matter2, 3, 4, 5. This assumption is based on the mean response of decomposition to climate, yet there is a growing appreciation in other areas of global change science that projections based on...

Are litter decomposition and fire linked through plant species traits?

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelissen, Johannes H C; Grootemaat, Saskia; Verheijen, Lieneke M; Cornwell, William K; van Bodegom, Peter M; van der Wal, René; Aerts, Rien

2017-11-01

Contents 653 I. 654 II. 657 III. 659 IV. 661 V. 662 VI. 663 VII. 665 665 References 665 SUMMARY: Biological decomposition and wildfire are connected carbon release pathways for dead plant material: slower litter decomposition leads to fuel accumulation. Are decomposition and surface fires also connected through plant community composition, via the species' traits? Our central concept involves two axes of trait variation related to decomposition and fire. The 'plant economics spectrum' (PES) links biochemistry traits to the litter decomposability of different fine organs. The 'size and shape spectrum' (SSS) includes litter particle size and shape and their consequent effect on fuel bed structure, ventilation and flammability. Our literature synthesis revealed that PES-driven decomposability is largely decoupled from predominantly SSS-driven surface litter flammability across species; this finding needs empirical testing in various environmental settings. Under certain conditions, carbon release will be dominated by decomposition, while under other conditions litter fuel will accumulate and fire may dominate carbon release. Ecosystem-level feedbacks between decomposition and fire, for example via litter amounts, litter decomposition stage, community-level biotic interactions and altered environment, will influence the trait-driven effects on decomposition and fire. Yet, our conceptual framework, explicitly comparing the effects of two plant trait spectra on litter decomposition vs fire, provides a promising new research direction for better understanding and predicting Earth surface carbon dynamics. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Spectral Decomposition Algorithm (SDA)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Spectral Decomposition Algorithm (SDA) is an unsupervised feature extraction technique similar to PCA that was developed to better distinguish spectral features in...

Interspecific variations in mangrove leaf litter decomposition are related to labile nitrogenous compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Nordhaus, Inga; Salewski, Tabea; Jennerjahn, Tim C.

2017-06-01

Mangrove leaves form a large pool of carbon, nitrogen and energy that is a major driver of element cycles and detrital food webs inside mangrove forests as well as in adjacent coastal waters. However, there are large gaps in knowledge on the transformation pathways and ultimate fate of leaf nitrogen. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to determine the amount and composition of nitrogenous organic matter and possible species-specific differences during the decomposition of mangrove leaf litter. For that purpose a three month decomposition experiment with litterbags was conducted using leaves of Aegiceras corniculatum, Avicennia alba, Ceriops decandra, Rhizophora apiculata, and Sonneratia caseolaris in the mangrove forest of the Segara Anakan Lagoon, Java, Indonesia. Detrital leaves were analyzed for bulk carbon and total nitrogen (N), stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition (δ13C, δ15N), total hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA) and total hydrolyzable hexosamines (THHA). Decomposition rates (k d-1) were highest and tM50 values (when 50% of the original mass had been degraded) lowest in S. caseolaris (k = 0.0382 d-1; tM50 = 18 days), followed by A. alba, C. decandra, A. corniculatum, and R. apiculata (k = 0.0098 d-1; tM50 = 71 days). The biochemical composition of detrital leaves differed significantly among species and over time. S. caseolaris and A. alba had higher concentrations of N, THAA and THHA and a lower C/N ratio than the other three species. For most of the species concentrations of N, THAA and THHA increased during decomposition. The hexosamine galactosamine, indicative of bacterial cell walls, was first found in leaves after 5-7 days of decomposition and increased afterwards. Our findings suggest an increasing, but species-specific varying, portion of labile nitrogenous OM and total N in decomposing leaves over time that is partly related to the activity of leaf-colonizing bacteria. Despite a higher relative nitrogen content in the

Thermal decomposition of lanthanide and actinide tetrafluorides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibson, J.K.; Haire, R.G.

1988-01-01

The thermal stabilities of several lanthanide/actinide tetrafluorides have been studied using mass spectrometry to monitor the gaseous decomposition products, and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) to identify solid products. The tetrafluorides, TbF 4 , CmF 4 , and AmF 4 , have been found to thermally decompose to their respective solid trifluorides with accompanying release of fluorine, while cerium tetrafluoride has been found to be significantly more thermally stable and to congruently sublime as CeF 4 prior to appreciable decomposition. The results of these studies are discussed in relation to other relevant experimental studies and the thermodynamics of the decomposition processes. 9 refs., 3 figs

Plant litter decomposition and carbon sequestration for arable soils. Final report of works. April 2005

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Recous, S.; Barrois, F.; Coppens, F.; Garnier, P.; Grehan, E.; Balesdent, J.; Dambrine, E.; Zeller, B.; Loiseau, P.; Personeni, E.

2002-01-01

The general objective of this project was to contribute to the evaluation of land use and management impacts on C sequestration and nitrogen dynamics in soils. The land used through the presence/absence of crops and their species, and the land management through tillage, localisation of crop residues, fertilizer applications,... are important factors that affect the dynamics of organic matters in soils, particularly the mineralization of C and N, the losses to the atmosphere and hydrosphere, the retention of carbon into the soil. This project was conducted by four research groups, three of them having expertise in nutrient cycling of three major agro-ecosystems (arable crops, grasslands, forests) and the fourth one having expertise in modelling long term effects of land use on C storage into the soils. Within this common project one major objective was to better understand the fate of plant litter entering the soil either as above litter or as root litter. The focus was put on two factors that particularly affect decomposition: the initial biochemical quality of plant litter, and the location of the decomposing litter. One innovative aspect of the project was the use of stable isotope as 13 C for carbon, based on the use of enriched or depleted 13 C material, the only option to assess the dynamics of 'new' C entering the soil on the short term, in order to reveal the effects of decomposition factors. Another aspect was the simultaneous study of C and N. The project consisted in experiments relevant for each agro-ecosystem, in forest, grassland and arable soils for which interactions between residue quality and nitrogen availability on the one hand, residue quality and location on the other hand, was investigated. A common experiment was set up to investigate the potential degradability of the various residue used (beech leaf rape straw, young rye, Lolium and dactylic roots) in a their original soils and in a single soil was assessed. Based on these experiments, the

Microstructural study and numerical simulation of phase decomposition of heat treated Co–Cu alloys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.M. Mebed

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The influence of heat treatment on the phase decomposition and the grain size of Co–10 at% Cu alloy were studied. Few samples were aged in a furnace for either 3 or 5 h and then quenched in iced water. The materials and phase compositions were investigated using energy dispersive spectrometry and X-ray diffraction techniques. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the samples contained Co, Cu, CuO, CoCu2O3, CoCuO2 phases in different proportions depending on the heat treatment regimes. The formation of dendrite Co phase rendered the spinodal decomposition while the oxidations prevent the initiation of the spinodal decomposition even for a deep long aging inside the miscibility gap. Since the Bragg reflections from different phases of Co–Cu alloy significantly overlap, the crystal structural parameters were refined with FULLPROF program. The shifts in the refined lattice constants (a, b and c, the space group and the grain size were found to be phase- and heat treatment-dependant. Two-dimensional computer simulations were conducted to study the phase decomposition of Co–Cu binary alloy systems. The excess free energy as well as the strain energy, without a priori knowledge of the shape or the position of the new phase, was precisely evaluated. The results indicate that the morphology and the shape of the microstructure agree with SEM observation.

Revisions to the Clean Water Act Regulatory Definition of Discharge of Dredged Material; Final Rule

Science.gov (United States)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated a final rule Amending a Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 regulation that defines the term discharge of dredged material.

Steganography based on pixel intensity value decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulla, Alan Anwar; Sellahewa, Harin; Jassim, Sabah A.

2014-05-01

This paper focuses on steganography based on pixel intensity value decomposition. A number of existing schemes such as binary, Fibonacci, Prime, Natural, Lucas, and Catalan-Fibonacci (CF) are evaluated in terms of payload capacity and stego quality. A new technique based on a specific representation is proposed to decompose pixel intensity values into 16 (virtual) bit-planes suitable for embedding purposes. The proposed decomposition has a desirable property whereby the sum of all bit-planes does not exceed the maximum pixel intensity value, i.e. 255. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed technique offers an effective compromise between payload capacity and stego quality of existing embedding techniques based on pixel intensity value decomposition. Its capacity is equal to that of binary and Lucas, while it offers a higher capacity than Fibonacci, Prime, Natural, and CF when the secret bits are embedded in 1st Least Significant Bit (LSB). When the secret bits are embedded in higher bit-planes, i.e., 2nd LSB to 8th Most Significant Bit (MSB), the proposed scheme has more capacity than Natural numbers based embedding. However, from the 6th bit-plane onwards, the proposed scheme offers better stego quality. In general, the proposed decomposition scheme has less effect in terms of quality on pixel value when compared to most existing pixel intensity value decomposition techniques when embedding messages in higher bit-planes.

Laboratory studies on the effect of ozonation on THM formation in swimming pool water

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kamilla Marie Speht; Spiliotopoulou, Aikaterini; Cheema, Waqas Akram

2015-01-01

Water samples from indoor swimming pool were ozonated at different pH values to evaluate the effect of pH on decomposition of ozone in swimming pool water. Furthermore, drinking and pool water were repeatedly ozonated followed by chlorination to evaluate THM formation. Decomposition of ozone...... was not affected by pH in the range relevant to swimming pools (pH 6.8 – 7.8) and a half-life time at 10-12 min was obtained. Repeating the ozonation, the decomposition of ozone increased at the second dose of ozone added (t½,2=8 min) and then decreased again at the third and fourth dose of ozone (t½,3=17 min; t...... chlorine for drinking water as lower TTHM formation occurred than in non-ozonated samples. For pool water, a higher TTHM formation was observed in ozonated than non-ozonated pool water. Thus, it was observed that ozone reacts markedly different in swimming pool water from the known pattern in drinking...

Water chemistry control in HTTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sekita, Kenji; Furusawa, Takayuki; Emori, Koichi; Kuroha, Misao; Hayakawa, Masato; Ohuchi, Hiroshi; Ishii, Taro

2008-08-01

A carbon steel is used for the main material for the components and pipings of the pressurized water cooling system etc. that are the reactor cooling system of the HTTR. Water quality is managed by using the hydrazine in the coolant of the water cooling system to prevent corrosion of the components and deoxidize the coolant. Also, regular analysis is carried out for the confirmation of the water quality. The following results were obtained through the water quality analysis. (1) In the pressurized water cooling system, the coolant temperature rises higher due to the heat removal of the primary coolant. So, the ammonia was formed in the thermal decomposition of the hydrazine. The electric conductivity increased, while the concentration of the hydrazine decreased, there was no problem as the plan it. (2) Thermal decomposition of the hydrazine was not occurred in the auxiliary water cooling system and vessel cooling system because of the coolant temperature was low. (3) An indistinct procedure is clarified and procedure of water quality analysis was established in the HTTR. (4) It is assumed that the corrosion of the components in these water cooling system hardly occurred from measurement results of dissolved oxide and chloride ion. Thus, the water quality was managed enough. (author)

COMPOSITE POLYMERICADDITIVESDESIGNATED FORCONCRETEMIXES BASED ONPOLYACRYLATES, PRODUCTS OF THERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF POLYAMIDE-6 AND LOW-MOLECULAR POLYETHYLENE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polyakov Vyacheslav Sergeevich

2012-07-01

4 the optimal composite additive that increases the time period of stiffening of the cement grout , improves the water resistance and the compressive strength of concrete, represents the composition of polyacrylates and polymethacrylates, products of thermal decomposition of polyamide-6 and low-molecular polyethylene in the weight ratio of 1:1:0.5.

Tensor decompositions for the analysis of atomic resolution electron energy loss spectra

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spiegelberg, Jakob; Rusz, Ján [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, S-751 20 Uppsala (Sweden); Pelckmans, Kristiaan [Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University, Box 337, S-751 05 Uppsala (Sweden)

2017-04-15

A selection of tensor decomposition techniques is presented for the detection of weak signals in electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) data. The focus of the analysis lies on the correct representation of the simulated spatial structure. An analysis scheme for EEL spectra combining two-dimensional and n-way decomposition methods is proposed. In particular, the performance of robust principal component analysis (ROBPCA), Tucker Decompositions using orthogonality constraints (Multilinear Singular Value Decomposition (MLSVD)) and Tucker decomposition without imposed constraints, canonical polyadic decomposition (CPD) and block term decompositions (BTD) on synthetic as well as experimental data is examined. - Highlights: • A scheme for compression and analysis of EELS or EDX data is proposed. • Several tensor decomposition techniques are presented for BSS on hyperspectral data. • Robust PCA and MLSVD are discussed for denoising of raw data.

Comparison of decomposition rates between autopsied and non-autopsied human remains.

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Lennon N; Wescott, Daniel J

2016-04-01

Penetrating trauma has been cited as a significant factor in the rate of decomposition. Therefore, penetrating trauma may have an effect on estimations of time-since-death in medicolegal investigations and on research examining decomposition rates and processes when autopsied human bodies are used. The goal of this study was to determine if there are differences in the rate of decomposition between autopsied and non-autopsied human remains in the same environment. The purpose is to shed light on how large incisions, such as those from a thorocoabdominal autopsy, effect time-since-death estimations and research on the rate of decomposition that use both autopsied and non-autopsied human remains. In this study, 59 non-autopsied and 24 autopsied bodies were studied. The number of accumulated degree days required to reach each decomposition stage was then compared between autopsied and non-autopsied remains. Additionally, both types of bodies were examined for seasonal differences in decomposition rates. As temperature affects the rate of decomposition, this study also compared the internal body temperatures of autopsied and non-autopsied remains to see if differences between the two may be leading to differential decomposition. For this portion of this study, eight non-autopsied and five autopsied bodies were investigated. Internal temperature was collected once a day for two weeks. The results showed that differences in the decomposition rate between autopsied and non-autopsied remains was not statistically significant, though the average ADD needed to reach each stage of decomposition was slightly lower for autopsied bodies than non-autopsied bodies. There was also no significant difference between autopsied and non-autopsied bodies in the rate of decomposition by season or in internal temperature. Therefore, this study suggests that it is unnecessary to separate autopsied and non-autopsied remains when studying gross stages of human decomposition in Central Texas

The platinum catalysed decomposition of hydrazine in acidic media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ananiev, A.V.; Tananaev, I.G.; Brossard, Ph.; Broudic, J.C.

2000-01-01

Kinetic study of the hydrazine decomposition in the solutions of HClO 4 , H 2 SO 4 and HNO 3 in the presence of Pt/SiO 2 catalyst has been undertaken. It was shown that the kinetics of the hydrazine catalytic decomposition in HClO 4 and H 2 SO 4 are identical. The process is determined by the heterogeneous catalytic auto-decomposition of N 2 H 4 on the catalyst's surface. The platinum catalysed hydrazine decomposition in the nitric acid solutions is a complex process, including heterogeneous catalytic auto-decomposition of N 2 H 4 , reaction of hydrazine with catalytically generated nitrous acid and the catalytic oxidation of hydrazine by nitric acid. The kinetic parameters of these reactions have been determined. The contribution of each reaction in the total process is determined by the liquid phase composition and by the temperature. (authors)

Generalized decompositions of dynamic systems and vector Lyapunov functions

Science.gov (United States)

Ikeda, M.; Siljak, D. D.

1981-10-01

The notion of decomposition is generalized to provide more freedom in constructing vector Lyapunov functions for stability analysis of nonlinear dynamic systems. A generalized decomposition is defined as a disjoint decomposition of a system which is obtained by expanding the state-space of a given system. An inclusion principle is formulated for the solutions of the expansion to include the solutions of the original system, so that stability of the expansion implies stability of the original system. Stability of the expansion can then be established by standard disjoint decompositions and vector Lyapunov functions. The applicability of the new approach is demonstrated using the Lotka-Volterra equations.

In situ XAS of the solvothermal decomposition of dithiocarbamate complexes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Islam, H.-U.; Roffey, A.; Hollingsworth, N.; Catlow, R.; Wolthers, M.; de Leeuw, N.H.; Bras, W.; Sankar, G.; Hogarth, G.

2012-01-01

An in situ XAS study of the solvothermal decomposition of iron and nickel dithiocarbamate complexes was performed in order to gain understanding of the decomposition mechanisms. This work has given insight into the steps involved in the decomposition, showing variation in reaction pathways between

High Performance Polar Decomposition on Distributed Memory Systems

KAUST Repository

Sukkari, Dalal E.; Ltaief, Hatem; Keyes, David E.

2016-01-01

The polar decomposition of a dense matrix is an important operation in linear algebra. It can be directly calculated through the singular value decomposition (SVD) or iteratively using the QR dynamically-weighted Halley algorithm (QDWH). The former

Fast approximate convex decomposition using relative concavity

KAUST Repository

Ghosh, Mukulika; Amato, Nancy M.; Lu, Yanyan; Lien, Jyh-Ming

2013-01-01

Approximate convex decomposition (ACD) is a technique that partitions an input object into approximately convex components. Decomposition into approximately convex pieces is both more efficient to compute than exact convex decomposition and can also generate a more manageable number of components. It can be used as a basis of divide-and-conquer algorithms for applications such as collision detection, skeleton extraction and mesh generation. In this paper, we propose a new method called Fast Approximate Convex Decomposition (FACD) that improves the quality of the decomposition and reduces the cost of computing it for both 2D and 3D models. In particular, we propose a new strategy for evaluating potential cuts that aims to reduce the relative concavity, rather than absolute concavity. As shown in our results, this leads to more natural and smaller decompositions that include components for small but important features such as toes or fingers while not decomposing larger components, such as the torso, that may have concavities due to surface texture. Second, instead of decomposing a component into two pieces at each step, as in the original ACD, we propose a new strategy that uses a dynamic programming approach to select a set of n c non-crossing (independent) cuts that can be simultaneously applied to decompose the component into n c+1 components. This reduces the depth of recursion and, together with a more efficient method for computing the concavity measure, leads to significant gains in efficiency. We provide comparative results for 2D and 3D models illustrating the improvements obtained by FACD over ACD and we compare with the segmentation methods in the Princeton Shape Benchmark by Chen et al. (2009) [31]. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fast approximate convex decomposition using relative concavity

KAUST Repository

Ghosh, Mukulika

2013-02-01

Approximate convex decomposition (ACD) is a technique that partitions an input object into approximately convex components. Decomposition into approximately convex pieces is both more efficient to compute than exact convex decomposition and can also generate a more manageable number of components. It can be used as a basis of divide-and-conquer algorithms for applications such as collision detection, skeleton extraction and mesh generation. In this paper, we propose a new method called Fast Approximate Convex Decomposition (FACD) that improves the quality of the decomposition and reduces the cost of computing it for both 2D and 3D models. In particular, we propose a new strategy for evaluating potential cuts that aims to reduce the relative concavity, rather than absolute concavity. As shown in our results, this leads to more natural and smaller decompositions that include components for small but important features such as toes or fingers while not decomposing larger components, such as the torso, that may have concavities due to surface texture. Second, instead of decomposing a component into two pieces at each step, as in the original ACD, we propose a new strategy that uses a dynamic programming approach to select a set of n c non-crossing (independent) cuts that can be simultaneously applied to decompose the component into n c+1 components. This reduces the depth of recursion and, together with a more efficient method for computing the concavity measure, leads to significant gains in efficiency. We provide comparative results for 2D and 3D models illustrating the improvements obtained by FACD over ACD and we compare with the segmentation methods in the Princeton Shape Benchmark by Chen et al. (2009) [31]. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aplication Of Life Cycle Assessment On Water Quality Caesed By Fish Culture Activity In Cirata Reservoir, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tri Heru Prihadi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Life Cycle Assessment (LCA is an environmental analytical tool used for evaluating the environmental performance of products by compiling and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout the life cycle of product.Sources of the decomposition at Cirata Reservoir are from industrial activities, household waste, agricultural waste, and the leftover from the activities of floating net fish cages. The wastes are in the form of fat, protein and carbohydrat. In decomposition process and the rate of destruction process of organic matters in the sediment  is carried our by bacteria, resulting in the oxygen dissolved in the waters will decrease. This lessens the oxygen at Cirata reservoir so that decomposition process takes place anaerobically at the bottom of the waters. The methodology was conducted by  water and sediment sampling, measuring water quality on location and laboratory analysis for samples of water and sediment. Analysis result showed that the data of water quality collected in every station was relatively homogeneous. The quality of water at measuring time approached critical treshold required for fish raising. The result showed that the level of decomposition Sediment Organic Metter, water quality in Cirata reservoir based on IKA_STORET valued class I, II, and III catagorized as worse. Valued DO, sulfide, Fenol, BOD, COD, Total Fosfat byone  water quality standar. The destruction will occur by itself, depending on the availability of oxygen on the sediment and interface when there is bacteria serving as heterotraphic aerobic in line with the availability of dissolved oxygen for bacteria to do the decomposition activity in the sediment. The result would be confirmed on dendogram classification hierarchy, result revealed that stations of observation were divided into 2 groups according to affecting characteristics. Group 1 covering stasion 1 and 2, group 2 which covering station 3

Climate history shapes contemporary leaf litter decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Michael S. Strickland; Ashley D. Keiser; Mark A. Bradford

2015-01-01

Litter decomposition is mediated by multiple variables, of which climate is expected to be a dominant factor at global scales. However, like other organisms, traits of decomposers and their communities are shaped not just by the contemporary climate but also their climate history. Whether or not this affects decomposition rates is underexplored. Here we source...

The Fault Diagnosis of Rolling Bearing Based on Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition and Random Forest

OpenAIRE

Qin, Xiwen; Li, Qiaoling; Dong, Xiaogang; Lv, Siqi

2017-01-01

Accurate diagnosis of rolling bearing fault on the normal operation of machinery and equipment has a very important significance. A method combining Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) and Random Forest (RF) is proposed. Firstly, the original signal is decomposed into several intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) by EEMD, and the effective IMFs are selected. Then their energy entropy is calculated as the feature. Finally, the classification is performed by RF. In addition, the wavelet meth...

Electrochemical and Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy Detection of SF₆ Decomposition Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Ming; Zhang, Chongxing; Ren, Ming; Albarracín, Ricardo; Ye, Rixin

2017-11-15

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) gas-insulated electrical equipment is widely used in high-voltage (HV) and extra-high-voltage (EHV) power systems. Partial discharge (PD) and local heating can occur in the electrical equipment because of insulation faults, which results in SF₆ decomposition and ultimately generates several types of decomposition products. These SF₆ decomposition products can be qualitatively and quantitatively detected with relevant detection methods, and such detection contributes to diagnosing the internal faults and evaluating the security risks of the equipment. At present, multiple detection methods exist for analyzing the SF₆ decomposition products, and electrochemical sensing (ES) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy are well suited for application in online detection. In this study, the combination of ES with IR spectroscopy is used to detect SF₆ gas decomposition. First, the characteristics of these two detection methods are studied, and the data analysis matrix is established. Then, a qualitative and quantitative analysis ES-IR model is established by adopting a two-step approach. A SF₆ decomposition detector is designed and manufactured by combining an electrochemical sensor and IR spectroscopy technology. The detector is used to detect SF₆ gas decomposition and is verified to reliably and accurately detect the gas components and concentrations.

Decomposition of oxalate precipitates by photochemical reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jae-Hyung Yoo; Eung-Ho Kim

1999-01-01

A photo-radiation method was applied to decompose oxalate precipitates so that it can be dissolved into dilute nitric acid. This work has been studied as a part of partitioning of minor actinides. Minor actinides can be recovered from high-level wastes as oxalate precipitates, but they tend to be coprecipitated together with lanthanide oxalates. This requires another partitioning step for mutual separation of actinide and lanthanide groups. In this study, therefore, some experimental work of photochemical decomposition of oxalate was carried out to prove its feasibility as a step of partitioning process. The decomposition of oxalic acid in the presence of nitric acid was performed in advance in order to understand the mechanistic behaviour of oxalate destruction, and then the decomposition of neodymium oxalate, which was chosen as a stand-in compound representing minor actinide and lanthanide oxalates, was examined. The decomposition rate of neodymium oxalate was found as 0.003 mole/hr at the conditions of 0.5 M HNO 3 and room temperature when a mercury lamp was used as a light source. (author)

Abstract decomposition theorem and applications

CERN Document Server

Grossberg, R; Grossberg, Rami; Lessmann, Olivier

2005-01-01

Let K be an Abstract Elementary Class. Under the asusmptions that K has a nicely behaved forking-like notion, regular types and existence of some prime models we establish a decomposition theorem for such classes. The decomposition implies a main gap result for the class K. The setting is general enough to cover \\aleph_0-stable first-order theories (proved by Shelah in 1982), Excellent Classes of atomic models of a first order tehory (proved Grossberg and Hart 1987) and the class of submodels of a large sequentially homogenuus \\aleph_0-stable model (which is new).

Forest products decomposition in municipal solid waste landfills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barlaz, Morton A.

2006-01-01

Cellulose and hemicellulose are present in paper and wood products and are the dominant biodegradable polymers in municipal waste. While their conversion to methane in landfills is well documented, there is little information on the rate and extent of decomposition of individual waste components, particularly under field conditions. Such information is important for the landfill carbon balance as methane is a greenhouse gas that may be recovered and converted to a CO 2 -neutral source of energy, while non-degraded cellulose and hemicellulose are sequestered. This paper presents a critical review of research on the decomposition of cellulosic wastes in landfills and identifies additional work that is needed to quantify the ultimate extent of decomposition of individual waste components. Cellulose to lignin ratios as low as 0.01-0.02 have been measured for well decomposed refuse, with corresponding lignin concentrations of over 80% due to the depletion of cellulose and resulting enrichment of lignin. Only a few studies have even tried to address the decomposition of specific waste components at field-scale. Long-term controlled field experiments with supporting laboratory work will be required to measure the ultimate extent of decomposition of individual waste components

Radiation-thermal purification of waste water from oil pollution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mustafaev, I.; Guliyeva, N.; Rzayev, R.; Yagubov, K.

2004-01-01

Full text: During the extraction, preparation, transportation and refining of oil the sewages containing oil contaminations are produced. The concentration of oil content in the water depends on used technology and may vary from a thousandths parts up to tens percents. There is a necessity of cleaning this pollution up to a permissible level. There are numerous methods (adsorption, mechanical, chemical and etc) of treating of waster water from oil contaminations. Radiation-chemical method is one of the effective among the above mentioned methods. The results of radiation-thermal decomposition of n-heptane micro-admixtures in water medium are adduced. The main parameters of radiolysis change within the intervals: temperature 20-400 o C, absorbed dose - 0†10.8 kGy at dose rate 3.6 kGy/h. The correlation of n-heptane concentration and water steam changed within [C 5 H 1 2]/[H 2 O] (1-100) 10-5. Total concentration of steam was about 10 20 molec/ml. As a product of decomposition are observed H 2 , CO, CH 4 , C 2 H 4 , C 2 H 6 , C 3 H 8 , C 3 H 6 , C 4 H 8 , hydrocarbons C 5 , and C 6 . The changes of n-heptane concentration in the reactor also were established. The chain regime of n-heptane decomposition at high temperatures in the irradiated mixture is observed. The critical value of temperature and mixture ratio of components, under which the break of chain process of normal n-heptane occurs are defined. The mechanisms of proceeding radiation thermal processes in hydrocarbons-water system are discussed. At the temperatures higher than 300 o C the radiation-thermal decompositions of hydrocarbon micro-impurities in water into gas products occurs according a chain mechanism and the radiation-chemical yield of the decomposition exceeds 100 molec/100eV. This method can be used for purification of sewages from oil contaminations

The contrasting effects of nutrient enrichment on growth, biomass allocation and decomposition of plant tissue in coastal wetlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hayes, Matthew A.; Jesse, Amber; Tabet, Basam; Reef, Ruth; Keuskamp, Joost A.; Lovelock, Catherine E.

2017-01-01

Eutrophication of coastal waters can have consequences for the growth, function and soil processes of coastal wetlands. Our aims were to assess how nutrient enrichment affects growth, biomass allocation and decomposition of plant tissues of a common and widespread mangrove, Avicennia marina, and how

Physicochemical aspects of decomposition of silica-alumina ores of argillites and green clays of Chashma-Sang Deposit of the Republic of Tajikistan by hydrochloric and nitric acids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kayumov, A.M.

2018-01-01

The purpose of work is to study the processes of decomposition of silica-alumina ores of argillites and green clays of Chashma-Sang Deposit of the Republic of Tajikistan by hydrochloric and nitric acids in temperature interval 20-98 deg C with the using of methods of selective extraction of valuable materials; elaboration of rational conditions of decomposition of raw material. Physicochemical properties of initial aluminium comprising ores, intermediate and final products of processing of argillites and green clays have been studied. Kinetic parameters of processes at acidic decomposition of argillites and green clays have been studied as well. The kinetic parameters of processes of decomposition of green clays and argillites by nitric and hydrochloric acids have been calculated. The flowsheet of complex processing of green clays and argillites of Chashma-Sang Deposit has been elaborated.

Hybrid subgroup decomposition method for solving fine-group eigenvalue transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yasseri, Saam; Rahnema, Farzad

2014-01-01

Highlights: • An acceleration technique for solving fine-group eigenvalue transport problems. • Coarse-group quasi transport theory to solve coarse-group eigenvalue transport problems. • Consistent and inconsistent formulations for coarse-group quasi transport theory. • Computational efficiency amplified by a factor of 2 using hybrid SGD for 1D BWR problem. - Abstract: In this paper, a new hybrid method for solving fine-group eigenvalue transport problems is developed. This method extends the subgroup decomposition method to efficiently couple a new coarse-group quasi transport theory with a set of fixed-source transport decomposition sweeps to obtain the fine-group transport solution. The advantages of the quasi transport theory are its high accuracy, straight-forward implementation and numerical stability. The hybrid method is analyzed for a 1D benchmark problem characteristic of boiling water reactors (BWR). It is shown that the method reproduces the fine-group transport solution with high accuracy while increasing the computational efficiency up to 12 times compared to direct fine-group transport calculations

Decomposition mechanism of melamine borate in pyrolytic and thermo-oxidative conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffendahl, Carmen; Duquesne, Sophie; Fontaine, Gaëlle; Bourbigot, Serge, E-mail: serge.bourbigot@ensc-lille.fr

2014-08-20

Highlights: • Decomposition of melamine borate in pyrolytic and thermo-oxidative conditions was investigated. • With increasing temperature, orthoboric acid forms boron oxide releasing water. • Melamine decomposes evolving melamine, ammonia and other fragments. • Boron oxide is transformed into boron nitride and boron nitride-oxide structures through presence of ammonia. - Abstract: Decomposition mechanism of melamine borate (MB) in pyrolytic and thermo-oxidative conditions is investigated in the condensed and gas phases using solid state NMR ({sup 13}C and {sup 11}B), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), pyrolysis-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (py-GCMS) and thermogravimetric analysis coupled with a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (TGA–FTIR). It is evidenced that orthoboric acid dehydrates to metaboric and then to boron oxide. The melamine is partially sublimated. At the same time, melamine condensates, i.e., melem and melon are formed. Melon is only formed in thermo-oxidative conditions. At higher temperature, melem and melon decompose releasing ammonia which reacts with the boron oxide to form boron nitride (BN) and BNO structures.

Joint Matrices Decompositions and Blind Source Separation

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Chabriel, G.; Kleinsteuber, M.; Moreau, E.; Shen, H.; Tichavský, Petr; Yeredor, A.

2014-01-01

Roč. 31, č. 3 (2014), s. 34-43 ISSN 1053-5888 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA102/09/1278 Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : joint matrices decomposition * tensor decomposition * blind source separation Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 5.852, year: 2014 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2014/SI/tichavsky-0427607.pdf

G-Doob-Meyer Decomposition and Its Applications in Bid-Ask Pricing for Derivatives under Knightian Uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Chen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The target of this paper is to establish the bid-ask pricing framework for the American contingent claims against risky assets with G-asset price systems on the financial market under Knightian uncertainty. First, we prove G-Dooby-Meyer decomposition for G-supermartingale. Furthermore, we consider bid-ask pricing American contingent claims under Knightian uncertainty, by using G-Dooby-Meyer decomposition; we construct dynamic superhedge strategies for the optimal stopping problem and prove that the value functions of the optimal stopping problems are the bid and ask prices of the American contingent claims under Knightian uncertainty. Finally, we consider a free boundary problem, prove the strong solution existence of the free boundary problem, and derive that the value function of the optimal stopping problem is equivalent to the strong solution to the free boundary problem.

A review of plutonium oxalate decomposition reactions and effects of decomposition temperature on the surface area of the plutonium dioxide product

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orr, R.M.; Sims, H.E.; Taylor, R.J.

2015-01-01

Plutonium (IV) and (III) ions in nitric acid solution readily form insoluble precipitates with oxalic acid. The plutonium oxalates are then easily thermally decomposed to form plutonium dioxide powder. This simple process forms the basis of current industrial conversion or ‘finishing’ processes that are used in commercial scale reprocessing plants. It is also widely used in analytical or laboratory scale operations and for waste residues treatment. However, the mechanisms of the thermal decompositions in both air and inert atmospheres have been the subject of various studies over several decades. The nature of intermediate phases is of fundamental interest whilst understanding the evolution of gases at different temperatures is relevant to process control. The thermal decomposition is also used to control a number of powder properties of the PuO_2 product that are important to either long term storage or mixed oxide fuel manufacturing. These properties are the surface area, residual carbon impurities and adsorbed volatile species whereas the morphology and particle size distribution are functions of the precipitation process. Available data and experience regarding the thermal and radiation-induced decompositions of plutonium oxalate to oxide are reviewed. The mechanisms of the thermal decompositions are considered with a particular focus on the likely redox chemistry involved. Also, whilst it is well known that the surface area is dependent on calcination temperature, there is a wide variation in the published data and so new correlations have been derived. Better understanding of plutonium (III) and (IV) oxalate decompositions will assist the development of more proliferation resistant actinide co-conversion processes that are needed for advanced reprocessing in future closed nuclear fuel cycles. - Highlights: • Critical review of plutonium oxalate decomposition reactions. • New analysis of relationship between SSA and calcination temperature. • New SEM

Microbial Signatures of Cadaver Gravesoil During Decomposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Finley, Sheree J; Pechal, Jennifer L; Benbow, M Eric; Robertson, B K; Javan, Gulnaz T

2016-04-01

Genomic studies have estimated there are approximately 10(3)-10(6) bacterial species per gram of soil. The microbial species found in soil associated with decomposing human remains (gravesoil) have been investigated and recognized as potential molecular determinants for estimates of time since death. The nascent era of high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the conserved 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene region of gravesoil microbes is allowing research to expand beyond more subjective empirical methods used in forensic microbiology. The goal of the present study was to evaluate microbial communities and identify taxonomic signatures associated with the gravesoil human cadavers. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon-based sequencing, soil microbial communities were surveyed from 18 cadavers placed on the surface or buried that were allowed to decompose over a range of decomposition time periods (3-303 days). Surface soil microbial communities showed a decreasing trend in taxon richness, diversity, and evenness over decomposition, while buried cadaver-soil microbial communities demonstrated increasing taxon richness, consistent diversity, and decreasing evenness. The results show that ubiquitous Proteobacteria was confirmed as the most abundant phylum in all gravesoil samples. Surface cadaver-soil communities demonstrated a decrease in Acidobacteria and an increase in Firmicutes relative abundance over decomposition, while buried soil communities were consistent in their community composition throughout decomposition. Better understanding of microbial community structure and its shifts over time may be important for advancing general knowledge of decomposition soil ecology and its potential use during forensic investigations.

Thermal decomposition of the amino acids glycine, cysteine, aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid, glutamine, arginine and histidine.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, Ingrid M; Muth, Christina; Drumm, Robert; Kirchner, Helmut O K

2018-01-01

The pathways of thermal instability of amino acids have been unknown. New mass spectrometric data allow unequivocal quantitative identification of the decomposition products. Calorimetry, thermogravimetry and mass spectrometry were used to follow the thermal decomposition of the eight amino acids G, C, D, N, E, Q, R and H between 185 °C and 280 °C. Endothermic heats of decomposition between 72 and 151 kJ/mol are needed to form 12 to 70% volatile products. This process is neither melting nor sublimation. With exception of cysteine they emit mainly H 2 O, some NH 3 and no CO 2 . Cysteine produces CO 2 and little else. The reactions are described by polynomials, AA→ a NH 3 + b H 2 O+ c CO 2 + d H 2 S+ e residue, with integer or half integer coefficients. The solid monomolecular residues are rich in peptide bonds. Eight of the 20 standard amino acids decompose at well-defined, characteristic temperatures, in contrast to commonly accepted knowledge. Products of decomposition are simple. The novel quantitative results emphasize the impact of water and cyclic condensates with peptide bonds and put constraints on hypotheses of the origin, state and stability of amino acids in the range between 200 °C and 300 °C.

Sensitivity analysis of six soil organic matter models applied to the decomposition of animal manures and crop residues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Cavalli

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Two features distinguishing soil organic matter simulation models are the type of kinetics used to calculate pool decomposition rates, and the algorithm used to handle the effects of nitrogen (N shortage on carbon (C decomposition. Compared to widely used first-order kinetics, Monod kinetics more realistically represent organic matter decomposition, because they relate decomposition to both substrate and decomposer size. Most models impose a fixed C to N ratio for microbial biomass. When N required by microbial biomass to decompose a given amount of substrate-C is larger than soil available N, carbon decomposition rates are limited proportionally to N deficit (N inhibition hypothesis. Alternatively, C-overflow was proposed as a way of getting rid of excess C, by allocating it to a storage pool of polysaccharides. We built six models to compare the combinations of three decomposition kinetics (first-order, Monod, and reverse Monod, and two ways to simulate the effect of N shortage on C decomposition (N inhibition and C-overflow. We conducted sensitivity analysis to identify model parameters that mostly affected CO2 emissions and soil mineral N during a simulated 189-day laboratory incubation assuming constant water content and temperature. We evaluated model outputs sensitivity at different stages of organic matter decomposition in a soil amended with three inputs of increasing C to N ratio: liquid manure, solid manure, and low-N crop residue. Only few model parameters and their interactions were responsible for consistent variations of CO2 and soil mineral N. These parameters were mostly related to microbial biomass and to the partitioning of applied C among input pools, as well as their decomposition constants. In addition, in models with Monod kinetics, CO2 was also sensitive to a variation of the half-saturation constants. C-overflow enhanced pool decomposition compared to N inhibition hypothesis when N shortage occurred. Accumulated C in the

Succession change of microorganisms on plant waste decomposition in simulation modelling field experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Vinogradova, Julia; Perminova, Evgenia; Khabibullina, Fluza; Kovaleva, Vera; Lapteva, Elena

2016-04-01

Plant waste decomposition processes are closely associated with living activity of soil microbiota in aboveground ecosystems. Functional activity of microorganisms and soil invertebrates determines plant material transformation rate whereby changes in plant material chemical composition during destruction - succession change of soil biota. The purpose of the work was revealing the mechanism of microorganisms succession change during plant waste decomposition in middle-taiga green-moss spruce forests and coniferous-deciduous secondary stands formed after earlier cut bilberry spruce forests. The study materials were undisturbed bilberry spruce forest (Sample Plot 1 - SP1) and coniferous-deciduous secondary stands which were formed after tree cutting activities of 2001-2002 (SP2) and 1969 and 1970 (SP3). Plant material decomposition intensity was determined in microcosms isolated into kapron bags with cell size of 1 mm. At SP1 and SP2, test material was living mosses and at SP3 - fallen birch and aspen leaves. Every test material was exposed for 2 years. Destruction rate was calculated as a weight loss for a particular time period. Composition of micromycetes which participated in plant material decomposition was assessed by the method of inoculation of soil extract to Getchinson's medium and acidified Czapek's medium (pH=4.5). Microbe number and biomass was analyzed by the method of luminescent microscopy. Chemical analysis of plant material was done in the certified Ecoanalytical Laboratory of the Institute of Biology Komi SC UrD RAS. Finally, plant material destruction intensity was similar for study plots and comprised 40-44 % weight loss for 2 years. The strongest differences in plant material decomposition rate between undisturbed spruce forests and secondary after-cut stands were observed at first stages of destruction process. In the first exposition year, mineralizing processes were most active in undisturbed spruce forest. Decomposition rate in cuts at that

Theoretical and experimental study: the size dependence of decomposition thermodynamics of nanomaterials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui, Zixiang; Duan, Huijuan; Li, Wenjiao; Xue, Yongqiang

2015-01-01

In the processes of preparation and application of nanomaterials, the decomposition reactions of nanomaterials are often involved. However, there is a dramatic difference in decomposition thermodynamics between nanomaterials and the bulk counterparts, and the difference depends on the size of the particles that compose the nanomaterials. In this paper, the decomposition model of a nanoparticle was built, the theory of decomposition thermodynamics of nanomaterials was proposed, and the relations of the size dependence of thermodynamic quantities for the decomposition reactions were deduced. In experiment, taking the thermal decomposition of nano-Cu 2 (OH) 2 CO 3 with different particle sizes (the range of radius is at 8.95–27.4 nm) as a system, the reaction thermodynamic quantities were determined, and the regularities of size dependence of the quantities were summarized. These experimental regularities consist with the above thermodynamic relations. The results show that there is a significant effect of the size of particles composing a nanomaterial on the decomposition thermodynamics. When all the decomposition products are gases, the differences in thermodynamic quantities of reaction between the nanomaterials and the bulk counterparts depend on the particle size; while when one of the decomposition products is a solid, the differences depend on both the initial particle size of the nanoparticle and the decomposition ratio. When the decomposition ratio is very small, these differences are only related to the initial particle size; and when the radius of the nanoparticles approaches or exceeds 10 nm, the reaction thermodynamic functions and the logarithm of the equilibrium constant are linearly associated with the reciprocal of radius, respectively. The thermodynamic theory can quantificationally describe the regularities of the size dependence of thermodynamic quantities for decomposition reactions of nanomaterials, and contribute to the researches and the

New Mexico cloud super cooled liquid water survey final report 2009.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beavis, Nick; Roskovensky, John K.; Ivey, Mark D.

2010-02-01

Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories are partners in an effort to survey the super-cooled liquid water in clouds over the state of New Mexico in a project sponsored by the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program. This report summarizes the scientific work performed at Sandia National Laboratories during the 2009. In this second year of the project a practical methodology for estimating cloud super-cooled liquid water was created. This was accomplished through the analysis of certain MODIS sensor satellite derived cloud products and vetted parameterizations techniques. A software code was developed to analyze multiple cases automatically. The eighty-one storm events identified in the previous year effort from 2006-2007 were again the focus. Six derived MODIS products were obtained first through careful MODIS image evaluation. Both cloud and clear-sky properties from this dataset were determined over New Mexico. Sensitivity studies were performed that identified the parameters which most influenced the estimation of cloud super-cooled liquid water. Limited validation was undertaken to ensure the soundness of the cloud super-cooled estimates. Finally, a path forward was formulized to insure the successful completion of the initial scientific goals which include analyzing different of annual datasets, validation of the developed algorithm, and the creation of a user-friendly and interactive tool for estimating cloud super-cooled liquid water.

Use of isotopic tools to delimit areas of harnessing for drinking water supply - Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gourcy, L.; Petelet-Giraud, E.

2011-03-01

Within the frame of an action of the ONEMA-BRGM convention (Methodological approaches and tools for the protection of drinking water harnessing against diffuse pollutions), this study aims at developing a synthesis of isotopic geochemical tools to obtain the information required for the delimitation of harnessing supply areas. The report first describes the conventional tools: water molecule steady isotopes, radioactive isotopes, water dating tools, tools developed for another use, and artificial tracers. It presents the possible uses of natural and artificial tracers to determine parameters like flow directions, water residence duration, exchanges between aquifers and water sheet-river interactions. It gives an overview of knowledge on the use of isotopic methods to determine the origin of contaminants. It proposes a brief overview of a previous study of water sheets-rivers relationships. It finally discusses the use of geochemical and isotopic tools when delimiting supply areas for harnessing aimed at drinking water supply

Two Notes on Discrimination and Decomposition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Helena Skyt

1998-01-01

1. It turns out that the Oaxaca-Blinder wage decomposition is inadequate when it comes to calculation of separate contributions for indicator variables. The contributions are not robust against a change of reference group. I extend the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to handle this problem. 2. The p....... The paper suggests how to use the logit model to decompose the gender difference in the probability of an occurrence. The technique is illustrated by an analysis of discrimination in child labor in rural Zambia....

Decomposition Technology Development of Organic Component in a Decontamination Waste Solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Chong Hun; Oh, W. Z.; Won, H. J.; Choi, W. K.; Kim, G. N.; Moon, J. K.

2007-11-01

Through the project of 'Decomposition Technology Development of Organic Component in a Decontamination Waste Solution', the followings were studied. 1. Investigation of decontamination characteristics of chemical decontamination process 2. Analysis of COD, ferrous ion concentration, hydrogen peroxide concentration 3. Decomposition tests of hardly decomposable organic compounds 4. Improvement of organic acid decomposition process by ultrasonic wave and UV light 5. Optimization of decomposition process using a surrogate decontamination waste solution

Thermal decomposition of rhenium (5) complexes with 1,2,4-triazole. Termicheskoe razlozhenie kompleksov reniya (5) s 1,2,4-triazolom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amindzhanov, A A; Gagieva, S Ch; Kotegov, K V [Tadzhikskij Gosudarstvennyj Univ., Dushanbe (Tajikistan)

1991-01-01

Processes of thermal decomposition of rhenium (5) complexes with 1,2,4-triazole were studied. Thermolysis products were identified on the basis of data of the element analysis, IR spectra, conductometry and other methods. It is ascertained that at the first stage of thermolysis of hydroxyl-containing monomer complexes removal of water molecules occurs, and at the second one - dimerization process with formation of Re-O-Re group. It is shown that the nature of halide ion practically does not affect the temperature of the start of intensive thermal decomposition of the complexes.

A Deep Learning Prediction Model Based on Extreme-Point Symmetric Mode Decomposition and Cluster Analysis

OpenAIRE

Li, Guohui; Zhang, Songling; Yang, Hong

2017-01-01

Aiming at the irregularity of nonlinear signal and its predicting difficulty, a deep learning prediction model based on extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition (ESMD) and clustering analysis is proposed. Firstly, the original data is decomposed by ESMD to obtain the finite number of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) and residuals. Secondly, the fuzzy c-means is used to cluster the decomposed components, and then the deep belief network (DBN) is used to predict it. Finally, the reconstructed ...

Kinetics of the decomposition reaction of phosphorite concentrate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huang Run

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Apatite is the raw material, which is mainly used in phosphate fertilizer, and part are used in yellow phosphorus, red phosphorus, and phosphoric acid in the industry. With the decrease of the high grade phosphorite lump, the agglomeration process is necessary for the phosphorite concentrate after beneficiation process. The decomposition behavior and the phase transformation are of vital importance for the agglomeration process of phosphorite. In this study, the thermal kinetic analysis method was used to study the kinetics of the decomposition of phosphorite concentrate. The phosphorite concentrate was heated under various heating rate, and the phases in the sample heated were examined by the X-ray diffraction method. It was found that the main phases in the phosphorite are fluorapatiteCa5(PO43F, quartz SiO2,and dolomite CaMg(CO32.The endothermic DSC peak corresponding to the mass loss caused by the decomposition of dolomite covers from 600°C to 850°C. The activation energy of the decomposition of dolomite, which increases with the increase in the extent of conversion, is about 71.6~123.6kJ/mol. The mechanism equation for the decomposition of dolomite agrees with the Valensi equation and G-B equation.

The Effect of Body Mass on Outdoor Adult Human Decomposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Lindsey G; Spencer, Jessica R; Dabbs, Gretchen R

2017-09-01

Forensic taphonomy explores factors impacting human decomposition. This study investigated the effect of body mass on the rate and pattern of adult human decomposition. Nine males and three females aged 49-95 years ranging in mass from 73 to 159 kg who were donated to the Complex for Forensic Anthropology Research between December 2012 and September 2015 were included in this study. Kelvin accumulated degree days (KADD) were used to assess the thermal energy required for subjects to reach several total body score (TBS) thresholds: early decomposition (TBS ≥6.0), TBS ≥12.5, advanced decomposition (TBS ≥19.0), TBS ≥23.0, and skeletonization (TBS ≥27.0). Results indicate no significant correlation between body mass and KADD at any TBS threshold. Body mass accounted for up to 24.0% of variation in decomposition rate depending on stage, and minor differences in decomposition pattern were observed. Body mass likely has a minimal impact on postmortem interval estimation. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Randomized interpolative decomposition of separated representations

Science.gov (United States)

Biagioni, David J.; Beylkin, Daniel; Beylkin, Gregory

2015-01-01

We introduce an algorithm to compute tensor interpolative decomposition (dubbed CTD-ID) for the reduction of the separation rank of Canonical Tensor Decompositions (CTDs). Tensor ID selects, for a user-defined accuracy ɛ, a near optimal subset of terms of a CTD to represent the remaining terms via a linear combination of the selected terms. CTD-ID can be used as an alternative to or in combination with the Alternating Least Squares (ALS) algorithm. We present examples of its use within a convergent iteration to compute inverse operators in high dimensions. We also briefly discuss the spectral norm as a computational alternative to the Frobenius norm in estimating approximation errors of tensor ID. We reduce the problem of finding tensor IDs to that of constructing interpolative decompositions of certain matrices. These matrices are generated via randomized projection of the terms of the given tensor. We provide cost estimates and several examples of the new approach to the reduction of separation rank.

Detailed Chemical Kinetic Modeling of Hydrazine Decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Meagher, Nancy E.; Bates, Kami R.

2000-01-01

The purpose of this research project is to develop and validate a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for gas-phase hydrazine decomposition. Hydrazine is used extensively in aerospace propulsion, and although liquid hydrazine is not considered detonable, many fuel handling systems create multiphase mixtures of fuels and fuel vapors during their operation. Therefore, a thorough knowledge of the decomposition chemistry of hydrazine under a variety of conditions can be of value in assessing potential operational hazards in hydrazine fuel systems. To gain such knowledge, a reasonable starting point is the development and validation of a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for gas-phase hydrazine decomposition. A reasonably complete mechanism was published in 1996, however, many of the elementary steps included had outdated rate expressions and a thorough investigation of the behavior of the mechanism under a variety of conditions was not presented. The current work has included substantial revision of the previously published mechanism, along with a more extensive examination of the decomposition behavior of hydrazine. An attempt to validate the mechanism against the limited experimental data available has been made and was moderately successful. Further computational and experimental research into the chemistry of this fuel needs to be completed.

Decomposition of dilute residual active chlorine in sea-water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshinaga, Tetsutaro; Kawano, Kentaro; Yanagase, Kenjiro; Shiga, Akira

1985-01-01

Coastal industries such as power stations require enormous quantities of sea-water for cooling, but the marine organisms in it often result in fouling and/or blockade of the circulating water condenser and pipeworks. To prevent this, chlorine, or hypochlorite by the direct electrolysis of sea-water have been added. Environmental concerns, however, dictate that the residual chlorine concentration at the outlet should be less than the regulated value (0.02 ppm). Methods for decomposing dilute residual chlorine solutions were therefore studied. It was found that: 1) The addition of (raw) sea-water to the sea-water which passed through the condenser lowered the residual chlorine concentration to an greater extent than could be expected by dilution only. 2) Ozonation of the residual chlorine solution led to degradation of OCl - , but in solutions with a residual chlorine concentrations of less than 3 -- 4 ppm, ozonation had no effect. 3) Irradiation with ultra violet light (254 nm) decomposed the residual chlorine. Under the present work conditions (25 0 C: pH 8; depth 10 mm), nearly first order kinetics were to hold [da/dt = ksub((1)) (1-a)sup(n)]. There is a proportional relationship between the kinetic constant (k) and illuminous intensity (L), i.e., ksub((1))[C 0 sup(Cl 2 ): 10 ppm] = 6.56 x 10 -5 L (L = 0 -- 1000 lx). Thus, the use of both sea-water addition and UV irradiation provides a probable method for decomposing a residual chlorine to the expected concentration. (author)

Primary decomposition of zero-dimensional ideals over finite fields

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Shuhong; Wan, Daqing; Wang, Mingsheng

2009-03-01

A new algorithm is presented for computing primary decomposition of zero-dimensional ideals over finite fields. Like Berlekamp's algorithm for univariate polynomials, the new method is based on the invariant subspace of the Frobenius map acting on the quotient algebra. The dimension of the invariant subspace equals the number of primary components, and a basis of the invariant subspace yields a complete decomposition. Unlike previous approaches for decomposing multivariate polynomial systems, the new method does not need primality testing nor any generic projection, instead it reduces the general decomposition problem directly to root finding of univariate polynomials over the ground field. Also, it is shown how Groebner basis structure can be used to get partial primary decomposition without any root finding.

Interactions between warming, nutrient enrichment and detritivores on litter decomposition and associated microbial decomposers

OpenAIRE

Sanaei Moghadam, Fatemeh

2013-01-01

Leaf litter decomposition constitutes an important source of energy in many aquatic environments that is controlled by the joint action of microbial decomposers such as bacteria and fungi and also animal detritivores. In view of current scenarios of global environmental change, it is predicted that rapid temperature increases could directly affect most ecosystems including freshwaters. Additionally, human activities and industrial development have impacted water quality of many streams and ri...

Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas: Impacts from the Hydraulic Fracturing Water Cycle on Drinking Water Resources in the United States (Final Report)

Science.gov (United States)

This final report provides a review and synthesis of available scientific information concerning the relationship between hydraulic fracturing activities and drinking water resources in the United States. The report is organized around activities in the hydraulic...

Dynamics of phosphorus and bacterial phoX genes during the decomposition of Microcystis blooms in a mesocosm.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiangyu Dai

Full Text Available Cyanobacterial blooms are a worldwide environmental problem and frequently occur in eutrophic lakes. Organophosphorus mineralization regulated by microbial alkaline phosphatase provides available nutrients for bloom regeneration. To uncover the dynamics of bacterial alkaline phosphatase activity and microbial backgrounds in relation to organophosphorus mineralization during the decomposition process of cyanobacterial blooms, the response of alkaline phosphatase PhoX-producing bacteria were explored using a 23-day mesocosm experiment with three varying densities of Microcystis biomass from eutrophic Lake Taihu. Our study found large amounts of soluble reactive phosphorus and dissolved organophosphorus were released into the lake water during the decomposition process. Bacterial alkaline phosphatase activity showed the peak values during days 5~7 in groups with different chlorophyll-a densities, and then all decreased dramatically to their initial experimental levels during the last stage of decomposition. Bacterial phoX abundances in the three experimental groups increased significantly along with the decomposition process, positively related to the dissolved organic carbon and organophosphorus released by the Microcystis blooms. The genotypes similar to the phoX genes of Alphaproteobacteria were dominant in all groups, whereas the genotypes most similar to the phoX genes of Betaproteobacteria and Cyanobacteria were also abundant in the low density (~15 μg L-1 chlorophyll-a group. At the end of the decomposition process, the number of genotypes most similar to the phoX of Betaproteobacteria and Cyanobacteria increased in the medium (~150 μg L-1 chlorophyll-a and high (~1500 μg L-1 chlorophyll-a density groups. The released organophosphorus and increased bacterial phoX abundance after decomposition of Microcystis aggregates could potentially provide sufficient nutrients and biological conditions for algal proliferation and are probably related

Separating the effects of litter quality and microenvironment on decomposition rates in a patterned peatland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belyea, L.R.

1996-01-01

Decomposition rates, measured as proportion of original ash-free dry mass lost from liter bas, were studied on four microhabitats of an ombrogenous peatland in southwestern Scotland: a Racomitrium lanuginosum hummock (HR), a Sphagnum capilifolium hummock (HS), a Sphagnum papillosum lawn (L), and a Sphagnum cuspidatum hollow (H). Reciprocal transplant experiments, in which litter bags were swapped among depths both within and among microhabitat types, separated the effects of litter quality (litter type and degree of humification of the peat) and microenvironment (water table position and microhabitat type). All were important determinants of mass loss. Decomposability of the litter from different microhabitats increased in the order HR < HS < L < H. Chemical 'ageing' of the peat reduced rates of decay in highly humified peat, although a history of decay was associated with maximum decomposability of peat from HR hummocks. The suitability of hollows for decay was significantly less than for HR and HS hummocks and lawns. Peat lost mass most slowly when placed below the lowest water table, but the highest mass losses were for peat placed in, or slightly above, the zone of water table fluctuation. Mass loss decreased with depth for peat decaying in its natural position in hollows and lawns and the oxic layer of HS hummocks. A peak in mass loss occurred within the zone of water table fluctuation in HS hummocks, and just above the highest water table in HR hummocks. The results support earlier suggestions that differences due to chemical ageing of peat contribute to differences in decomposition rates between hummocks and hollows, and that hummock species are intrinsically more resistant to decay than hollow species. The pattern was complicated further, however, by the effects of water table position and microhabitat type. (Abstract Truncated)

Decomposition Technology Development of Organic Component in a Decontamination Waste Solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Chong Hun; Oh, W. Z.; Won, H. J.; Choi, W. K.; Kim, G. N.; Moon, J. K

2007-11-15

Through the project of 'Decomposition Technology Development of Organic Component in a Decontamination Waste Solution', the followings were studied. 1. Investigation of decontamination characteristics of chemical decontamination process 2. Analysis of COD, ferrous ion concentration, hydrogen peroxide concentration 3. Decomposition tests of hardly decomposable organic compounds 4. Improvement of organic acid decomposition process by ultrasonic wave and UV light 5. Optimization of decomposition process using a surrogate decontamination waste solution.

The decomposition of methyltrichlorosilane: Studies in a high-temperature flow reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allendorf, M.D.; Osterheld, T.H.; Melius, C.F.

1994-01-01

Experimental measurements of the decomposition of methyltrichlorosilane (MTS), a common silicon carbide precursor, in a high-temperature flow reactor are presented. The results indicate that methane and hydrogen chloride are major products of the decomposition. No chlorinated silane products were observed. Hydrogen carrier gas was found to increase the rate of MTS decomposition. The observations suggest a radical-chain mechanism for the decomposition. The implications for silicon carbide chemical vapor deposition are discussed.

Organ nic pollutants in underground water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, H. H.

1998-01-01

Many organic compounds have been diagnosed in underground and surface waters, and there are many theories that explain the source of the dangerous materials on Punic health. The source of pollution could be the underground stored fuel or the polluted water in farms saturated with agricultural insecticides and chemical fertilizers, or there could be leaks in sewage water wastes. The source of pollution could also be the water surfaces in the areas of garbage disposal or industrial and home waste discharge. Due to the fact that the underground water is separated from oxygen in the air, its ability on self-purification is very low, in that the micro-organism that will do the dismantling and decomposition of the organic materials that pollute the water are in need for oxygen. In the event that underground water is subject to pollution m there are many methods for t resting the polluted water including the chemical decomposition method by injecting the polluted areas with neutralizing or oxidizing chemicals, such as Ozone, Chlorine or Hydrogen Peroxide. The mechanical methods could be used for getting rid of the volatile organic materials. As to biological decomposition, it is done with the use of bacteria in dismantling the poisonous materials into un poisonous materials. The preliminary analysis of water samples in one of the water wells in Sar ir and Tazarbo in Great Jamahirieh indicated that the concentration of total organic compounds (TOC) exceeded the internationally allowed limits. This indicates a deterioration of quality of some of underground water resources. It is well known that some of the organic pollutants have a great role in causing dangerous diseases, such as the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and some halogenated compounds that cause cancer. Therefore, much research is required in this field for diagnosing the polluting organic compounds and determining the suitability of this water for drinking or for human consumption. (author). 21 refs., 6 figs

Restoration of Tidal Flow to Impounded Salt Marsh Exerts Mixed Effect on Leaf Litter Decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, B. A.; Schade, J. D.; Foreman, K.

2015-12-01

Salt marsh impoundments (e.g. roads, levees) disconnect marshes from ocean tides, which impairs ecosystem services and often promotes invasive species. Numerous restoration projects now focus on removing impoundments. Leaf litter decomposition is a central process in salt marsh carbon and nutrient cycles, and this study investigated the extent to which marsh restoration alters litter decomposition rates. We considered three environmental factors that can potentially change during restoration: salinity, tidal regime, and dominant plant species. A one-month field experiment (Cape Cod, MA) measured decay of litter bags in impounded, restored, and natural marshes under ambient conditions. A two-week lab experiment measured litter decay in controlled incubations under experimental treatments for salinity (1ppt and 30 ppt), tidal regime (inundated and 12 hr wet-dry cycles), and plant species (native Spartina alterniflora and invasive Phragmites australis). S. alterniflora decomposed faster in situ than P. australis (14±1.0% mass loss versus 0.74±0.69%). Corroborating this difference in decomposition, S. alterniflora supported greater microbial respiration during lab incubation, measured as CO2 flux from leaf litter and biological oxygen demand of water containing leached organic matter (OM). However, nutrient analysis of plant tissue and leached OM show P. australis released more nitrogen than S. alterniflora. Low salinity treatments in both lab and field experiments decayed more rapidly than high salinity treatments, suggesting that salinity inhibited microbial activity. Manipulation of inundation regime did not affect decomposition. These findings suggest the reintroduction of tidal flow to an impounded salt marsh can have mixed effects; recolonization by the native cordgrass could supply labile OM to sediment and slow carbon sequestration, while an increase in salinity might inhibit decomposition and accelerate sequestration.

Simulation-optimization of large agro-hydrosystems using a decomposition approach

Science.gov (United States)

Schuetze, Niels; Grundmann, Jens

2014-05-01

In this contribution a stochastic simulation-optimization framework for decision support for optimal planning and operation of water supply of large agro-hydrosystems is presented. It is based on a decomposition solution strategy which allows for (i) the usage of numerical process models together with efficient Monte Carlo simulations for a reliable estimation of higher quantiles of the minimum agricultural water demand for full and deficit irrigation strategies at small scale (farm level), and (ii) the utilization of the optimization results at small scale for solving water resources management problems at regional scale. As a secondary result of several simulation-optimization runs at the smaller scale stochastic crop-water production functions (SCWPF) for different crops are derived which can be used as a basic tool for assessing the impact of climate variability on risk for potential yield. In addition, microeconomic impacts of climate change and the vulnerability of the agro-ecological systems are evaluated. The developed methodology is demonstrated through its application on a real-world case study for the South Al-Batinah region in the Sultanate of Oman where a coastal aquifer is affected by saltwater intrusion due to excessive groundwater withdrawal for irrigated agriculture.

Decomposition of continuum {gamma}-ray spectra using synthesized response matrix

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jandel, M.; Morhac, M.; Kliman, J.; Krupa, L.; Matousek, V. E-mail: vladislav.matousek@savba.sk; Hamilton, J.H.; Ramayya, A.V

2004-01-01

The efficient methods of decomposition of {gamma}-ray spectra, based on the Gold algorithm, are presented. They use a response matrix of Gammasphere, which was obtained by synthesis of simulated and interpolated response functions using a new developed interpolation algorithm. The decomposition method has been applied to the measured spectra of {sup 152}Eu and {sup 56}Co. The results show a very effective removal of the background counts and their concentration into the corresponding photopeaks. The peak-to-total ratio in the spectra achieved after applying the decomposition method is in the interval 0.95-0.99. In addition, a new advanced algorithm of the 'boosted' decomposition has been proposed. In the spectra obtained after applying the boosted decomposition to the measured spectra, very narrow photopeaks are observed with the counts concentrated to several channels.

In situ ESEM study of the thermal decomposition of chrysotile asbestos in view of safe recycling of the transformation product

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gualtieri, Alessandro F.; Gualtieri, Magdalena Lassinantti; Tonelli, Massimo

2008-01-01

The thermal transformation of asbestos into non-hazardous crystalline phases and their recycling is a promising solution for the 'asbestos problem'. The most common asbestos-containing industrial material produced worldwide is cement-asbestos. Knowledge of the kinetics of thermal transformation of asbestos fibers in cement-asbestos is of paramount importance for the optimization of the firing process at industrial scale. Here, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) was used for the first time to follow in situ the thermal transformation of chrysotile fibers present in cement-asbestos. It was found that the reaction kinetics of thermal transformation of chrysotile was highly slowed down in the presence of water vapor in the experimental chamber with respect to He. This was explained by chemisorbed water on the surface of the fibers which affected the dehydroxylation reaction and consequently the recrystallization into Mg-silicates. In the attempt to investigate alternative and faster firing routes for the decomposition of asbestos, a low melting glass was mixed with cement-asbestos and studied in situ to assess to which extent the decomposition of asbestos is favored. It was found that the addition of a low melting glass to cement-asbestos greatly improved the decomposition reaction and decreased the transformation temperatures

Inverse scale space decomposition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Marie Foged; Benning, Martin; Schönlieb, Carola-Bibiane

2018-01-01

We investigate the inverse scale space flow as a decomposition method for decomposing data into generalised singular vectors. We show that the inverse scale space flow, based on convex and even and positively one-homogeneous regularisation functionals, can decompose data represented...... by the application of a forward operator to a linear combination of generalised singular vectors into its individual singular vectors. We verify that for this decomposition to hold true, two additional conditions on the singular vectors are sufficient: orthogonality in the data space and inclusion of partial sums...... of the subgradients of the singular vectors in the subdifferential of the regularisation functional at zero. We also address the converse question of when the inverse scale space flow returns a generalised singular vector given that the initial data is arbitrary (and therefore not necessarily in the range...

Decomposition of benzidine, α-naphthylamine, and p-toluidine in soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graveel, J.G.; Sommers, L.E.; Nelson, D.W.

1986-01-01

Decomposition of 14 C-labeled benzidine, α-naphthylamine, and p-toluidine in soil was studied in laboratory experiments by monitoring CO 2 production during a 308- to 365-d incubation period. The importance of microbial activity in decomposition of all three aromatic amines was shown by decreased 14 CO 2 evolution in 60 Co treated soils. After 365 d of incubation, 8.4 to 12% of added benzidine (54.3 μmol kg -1 ) was evolved as CO 2 while 17 to 31% of added α-naphthylamine (69.8 μmol kg -1 ) and 19 to 35% of added p-toluidine (93.3 μmol kg -1 ) were evolved as CO 2 in 308 d. Decomposition was enhanced by increasing the temperature from 12 to 30 0 C. For benzidine, both the amount and proportion decomposed increased with an increase in application rate. Decomposition of aromatic amines was not enhanced by the addition of decomposable substrates. Differences in decomposition of aromatic amines occurred among soils, but consistent relationships between decomposition of amines and soil properties were not observed. In batch equilibration studies, the Freundlich equation described aromatic amine sorption. Isotherms were nonlinear for benzidine and 1 -naphthylamine and linear for p-toluidine. Desorption of sorbed amines followed the order: benzidine < p-toluidine < α-naphthylamine and was inversely related to the extent of decomposition

TENSOR DECOMPOSITIONS AND SPARSE LOG-LINEAR MODELS

Science.gov (United States)

Johndrow, James E.; Bhattacharya, Anirban; Dunson, David B.

2017-01-01

Contingency table analysis routinely relies on log-linear models, with latent structure analysis providing a common alternative. Latent structure models lead to a reduced rank tensor factorization of the probability mass function for multivariate categorical data, while log-linear models achieve dimensionality reduction through sparsity. Little is known about the relationship between these notions of dimensionality reduction in the two paradigms. We derive several results relating the support of a log-linear model to nonnegative ranks of the associated probability tensor. Motivated by these findings, we propose a new collapsed Tucker class of tensor decompositions, which bridge existing PARAFAC and Tucker decompositions, providing a more flexible framework for parsimoniously characterizing multivariate categorical data. Taking a Bayesian approach to inference, we illustrate empirical advantages of the new decompositions. PMID:29332971

Multilevel domain decomposition for electronic structure calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrault, M.; Cances, E.; Hager, W.W.; Le Bris, C.

2007-01-01

We introduce a new multilevel domain decomposition method (MDD) for electronic structure calculations within semi-empirical and density functional theory (DFT) frameworks. This method iterates between local fine solvers and global coarse solvers, in the spirit of domain decomposition methods. Using this approach, calculations have been successfully performed on several linear polymer chains containing up to 40,000 atoms and 200,000 atomic orbitals. Both the computational cost and the memory requirement scale linearly with the number of atoms. Additional speed-up can easily be obtained by parallelization. We show that this domain decomposition method outperforms the density matrix minimization (DMM) method for poor initial guesses. Our method provides an efficient preconditioner for DMM and other linear scaling methods, variational in nature, such as the orbital minimization (OM) procedure

Arsenic mobilization and speciation during iron plaque decomposition in a paddy soil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Hai; Chen, Zheng; Sun, Guoxin [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China). Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences; Zhu, Yongguan [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China). Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences; Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen (China). Key Lab. of Urban Environment and Health; Yin, Xixiang [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen (China). Key Lab. of Urban Environment and Health; Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China). Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences

2012-03-15

Little information is available concerning the mobilization and speciation of arsenic (As) in paddy soils during iron plaque decomposition. It is important to investigate these processes since they affect As bioavailability and contaminate surface and ground water systems. A microcosm experiment was conducted to investigate the reductive dissolution of iron plaque and subsequent As mobilization under NaN{sub 3} sterilized (abiotic treatments) and non-sterilized (biotic treatments) paddy soil conditions. In the biotic treatment, As and iron (Fe) were quickly released into the soil solution, with more than 76.1% of total arsenic (T{sub As}) on the roots lost in 27 days. In the abiotic treatment, both iron plaque decomposition and As release were significantly slower, with only 39.4% of T{sub As} on the roots lost in 85 days. A part of arsenate reduction reaction occurred before and may also occur after release from roots in both abiotic and biotic treatments. Bacterial abundance, quantified by real-time PCR, varied significantly between treatments. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism combined with principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that microbial community structures were also different between treatments. The changes in microbial factors (bacterial abundance and microbial diversity and activities) significantly affected iron plaque decomposition, As mobilization, and speciation processes. Iron plaque reductive dissolution was likely the major factor leading to As release. Most As released was trapped in the solid phase during the incubation period. (orig.)

DECOMPOSITION STUDY OF CALCIUM CARBONATE IN COCKLE SHELL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MUSTAKIMAH MOHAMED

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Calcium oxide (CaO is recognized as an efficient carbon dioxide (CO2 adsorbent and separation of CO2 from gas stream using CaO based adsorbent is widely applied in gas purification process especially at high temperature reaction. CaO is normally been produced via thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate (CaCO3 sources such as limestone which is obtained through mining and quarrying limestone hill. Yet, this study able to exploit the vast availability of waste resources in Malaysia which is cockle shell, as the potential biomass resources for CaCO3 and CaO. In addition, effect of particle size towards decomposition process is put under study using four particle sizes which are 0.125-0.25 mm, 0.25-0.5 mm, 1-2 mm, and 2-4 mm. Decomposition reactivity is conducted using Thermal Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA at heating rate of 20°C/minutes in inert (Nitrogen atmosphere. Chemical property analysis using x-ray fluorescence (XRF, shows cockle shell is made up of 97% Calcium (Ca element and CaO is produced after decomposition is conducted, as been analyzed by x-ray diffusivity (XRD analyzer. Besides, smallest particle size exhibits the highest decomposition rate and the process was observed to follow first order kinetics. Activation energy, E, of the process was found to vary from 179.38 to 232.67 kJ/mol. From Arrhenius plot, E increased when the particle size is larger. To conclude, cockle shell is a promising source for CaO and based on four different particles sizes used, sample at 0.125-0.25 mm offers the highest decomposition rate.

Microbial community functional change during vertebrate carrion decomposition.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer L Pechal

Full Text Available Microorganisms play a critical role in the decomposition of organic matter, which contributes to energy and nutrient transformation in every ecosystem. Yet, little is known about the functional activity of epinecrotic microbial communities associated with carrion. The objective of this study was to provide a description of the carrion associated microbial community functional activity using differential carbon source use throughout decomposition over seasons, between years and when microbial communities were isolated from eukaryotic colonizers (e.g., necrophagous insects. Additionally, microbial communities were identified at the phyletic level using high throughput sequencing during a single study. We hypothesized that carrion microbial community functional profiles would change over the duration of decomposition, and that this change would depend on season, year and presence of necrophagous insect colonization. Biolog EcoPlates™ were used to measure the variation in epinecrotic microbial community function by the differential use of 29 carbon sources throughout vertebrate carrion decomposition. Pyrosequencing was used to describe the bacterial community composition in one experiment to identify key phyla associated with community functional changes. Overall, microbial functional activity increased throughout decomposition in spring, summer and winter while it decreased in autumn. Additionally, microbial functional activity was higher in 2011 when necrophagous arthropod colonizer effects were tested. There were inconsistent trends in the microbial function of communities isolated from remains colonized by necrophagous insects between 2010 and 2011, suggesting a greater need for a mechanistic understanding of the process. These data indicate that functional analyses can be implemented in carrion studies and will be important in understanding the influence of microbial communities on an essential ecosystem process, carrion decomposition.

Shock wave and modeling study of the thermal decomposition reactions of pentafluoroethane and 2-H-heptafluoropropane.

Science.gov (United States)

Cobos, C J; Sölter, L; Tellbach, E; Troe, J

2014-06-07

The thermal decomposition reactions of CF3CF2H and CF3CFHCF3 have been studied in shock waves by monitoring the appearance of CF2 radicals. Temperatures in the range 1400-2000 K and Ar bath gas concentrations in the range (2-10) × 10(-5) mol cm(-3) were employed. It is shown that the reactions are initiated by C-C bond fission and not by HF elimination. Differing conclusions in the literature about the primary decomposition products, such as deduced from experiments at very low pressures, are attributed to unimolecular falloff effects. By increasing the initial reactant concentrations in Ar from 60 to 1000 ppm, a retardation of CF2 formation was observed while the final CF2 yields remained close to two CF2 per C2F5H or three CF2 per C3F7H decomposed. This is explained by secondary bimolecular reactions which lead to comparably stable transient species like CF3H, releasing CF2 at a slower rate. Quantum-chemical calculations and kinetic modeling help to identify the reaction pathways and provide estimates of rate constants for a series of primary and secondary reactions in the decomposition mechanism.

Thermal decomposition of 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine (TNAZ): A density functional theory and ab initio study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veals, Jeffrey D.; Thompson, Donald L.

2014-01-01

Density functional theory and ab initio methods are employed to investigate decomposition pathways of 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine initiated by unimolecular loss of NO 2 or HONO. Geometry optimizations are performed using M06/cc-pVTZ and coupled-cluster (CC) theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations, CCSD(T), is used to calculate accurate single-point energies for those geometries. The CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ energies for NO 2 elimination by N–N and C–N bond fission are, including zero-point energy (ZPE) corrections, 43.21 kcal/mol and 50.46 kcal/mol, respectively. The decomposition initiated by trans-HONO elimination can occur by a concerted H-atom and nitramine NO 2 group elimination or by a concerted H-atom and nitroalkyl NO 2 group elimination via barriers (at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level with ZPE corrections) of 47.00 kcal/mol and 48.27 kcal/mol, respectively. Thus, at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level, the ordering of these four decomposition steps from energetically most favored to least favored is: NO 2 elimination by N–N bond fission, HONO elimination involving the nitramine NO 2 group, HONO elimination involving a nitroalkyl NO 2 group, and finally NO 2 elimination by C–N bond fission

Thermal decomposition of 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine (TNAZ): A density functional theory and ab initio study

Science.gov (United States)

Veals, Jeffrey D.; Thompson, Donald L.

2014-04-01

Density functional theory and ab initio methods are employed to investigate decomposition pathways of 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine initiated by unimolecular loss of NO2 or HONO. Geometry optimizations are performed using M06/cc-pVTZ and coupled-cluster (CC) theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations, CCSD(T), is used to calculate accurate single-point energies for those geometries. The CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ energies for NO2 elimination by N-N and C-N bond fission are, including zero-point energy (ZPE) corrections, 43.21 kcal/mol and 50.46 kcal/mol, respectively. The decomposition initiated by trans-HONO elimination can occur by a concerted H-atom and nitramine NO2 group elimination or by a concerted H-atom and nitroalkyl NO2 group elimination via barriers (at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level with ZPE corrections) of 47.00 kcal/mol and 48.27 kcal/mol, respectively. Thus, at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level, the ordering of these four decomposition steps from energetically most favored to least favored is: NO2 elimination by N-N bond fission, HONO elimination involving the nitramine NO2 group, HONO elimination involving a nitroalkyl NO2 group, and finally NO2 elimination by C-N bond fission.

Final programmatic environmental impact statement for the uranium mill tailings remedial action ground water project. Volume I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1996-10-01

This programmatic environmental impact statement (PElS) was prepared for the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Ground Water Project to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This PElS provides an analysis of the potential impacts of the alternatives and ground water compliance strategies as well as potential cumulative impacts. On November 8, 1978, Congress enacted the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) of 1978, Public Law, codified at 42 USC §7901 et seq. Congress found that uranium mill tailings " ... may pose a potential and significant radiation health hazard to the public, and that every reasonable effort should be made to provide for stabilization, disposal, and control in a safe, and environmentally sound manner of such tailings in order to prevent or minimize other environmental hazards from such tailings." Congress authorized the Secretary of Energy to designate inactive uranium processing sites for remedial action by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Congress also directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set the standards to be followed by the DOE for this process of stabilization, disposal, and control. On January 5, 1983, EPA published standards (40 CFR Part 192) for the disposal and cleanup of residual radioactive materials. On September 3, 1985, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit set aside and remanded to EPA the ground water provisions of the standards. The EPA proposed new standards to replace remanded sections and changed other sections of 40 CFR Part 192. These proposed standards were published in the Federal Register on September 24, 1987 (52 FR 36000). Section 108 of the UMTRCA requires that DOE comply with EPA's proposed standards in the absence of final standards. The Ground Water Project was planned under the proposed standards. On January 11, 1995, EPA published the final rule, with which the DOE must now comply. The PElS and the Ground Water Project are

Final programmatic environmental impact statement for the uranium mill tailings remedial action ground water project. Volume I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

This programmatic environmental impact statement (PElS) was prepared for the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Ground Water Project to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This PElS provides an analysis of the potential impacts of the alternatives and ground water compliance strategies as well as potential cumulative impacts. On November 8, 1978, Congress enacted the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) of 1978, Public Law, codified at 42 USC §7901 et seq. Congress found that uranium mill tailings ' ... may pose a potential and significant radiation health hazard to the public, and that every reasonable effort should be made to provide for stabilization, disposal, and control in a safe, and environmentally sound manner of such tailings in order to prevent or minimize other environmental hazards from such tailings.' Congress authorized the Secretary of Energy to designate inactive uranium processing sites for remedial action by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Congress also directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set the standards to be followed by the DOE for this process of stabilization, disposal, and control. On January 5, 1983, EPA published standards (40 CFR Part 192) for the disposal and cleanup of residual radioactive materials. On September 3, 1985, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit set aside and remanded to EPA the ground water provisions of the standards. The EPA proposed new standards to replace remanded sections and changed other sections of 40 CFR Part 192. These proposed standards were published in the Federal Register on September 24, 1987 (52 FR 36000). Section 108 of the UMTRCA requires that DOE comply with EPA's proposed standards in the absence of final standards. The Ground Water Project was planned under the proposed standards. On January 11, 1995, EPA published the final rule, with which the DOE must now comply. The PElS and the Ground Water Project are in

A review of plutonium oxalate decomposition reactions and effects of decomposition temperature on the surface area of the plutonium dioxide product

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Orr, R.M.; Sims, H.E.; Taylor, R.J., E-mail: robin.j.taylor@nnl.co.uk

2015-10-15

Plutonium (IV) and (III) ions in nitric acid solution readily form insoluble precipitates with oxalic acid. The plutonium oxalates are then easily thermally decomposed to form plutonium dioxide powder. This simple process forms the basis of current industrial conversion or ‘finishing’ processes that are used in commercial scale reprocessing plants. It is also widely used in analytical or laboratory scale operations and for waste residues treatment. However, the mechanisms of the thermal decompositions in both air and inert atmospheres have been the subject of various studies over several decades. The nature of intermediate phases is of fundamental interest whilst understanding the evolution of gases at different temperatures is relevant to process control. The thermal decomposition is also used to control a number of powder properties of the PuO{sub 2} product that are important to either long term storage or mixed oxide fuel manufacturing. These properties are the surface area, residual carbon impurities and adsorbed volatile species whereas the morphology and particle size distribution are functions of the precipitation process. Available data and experience regarding the thermal and radiation-induced decompositions of plutonium oxalate to oxide are reviewed. The mechanisms of the thermal decompositions are considered with a particular focus on the likely redox chemistry involved. Also, whilst it is well known that the surface area is dependent on calcination temperature, there is a wide variation in the published data and so new correlations have been derived. Better understanding of plutonium (III) and (IV) oxalate decompositions will assist the development of more proliferation resistant actinide co-conversion processes that are needed for advanced reprocessing in future closed nuclear fuel cycles. - Highlights: • Critical review of plutonium oxalate decomposition reactions. • New analysis of relationship between SSA and calcination temperature. �

Characteristic of root decomposition in a tropical rainforest in Sarawak, Malaysi

Science.gov (United States)

Ohashi, Mizue; Makita, Naoki; Katayam, Ayumi; Kume, Tomonori; Matsumoto, Kazuho; Khoon Kho, L.

2016-04-01

Woody roots play a significant role in forest carbon cycling, as up to 60 percent of tree photosynthetic production can be allocated to belowground. Root decay is one of the main processes of soil C dynamics and potentially relates to soil C sequestration. However, much less attention has been paid for root litter decomposition compared to the studies of leaf litter because roots are hidden from view. Previous studies have revealed that physico-chemical quality of roots, climate, and soil organisms affect root decomposition significantly. However, patterns and mechanisms of root decomposition are still poorly understood because of the high variability of root properties, field environment and potential decomposers. For example, root size would be a factor controlling decomposition rates, but general understanding of the difference between coarse and fine root decompositions is still lacking. Also, it is known that root decomposition is performed by soil animals, fungi and bacteria, but their relative importance is poorly understood. In this study, therefore, we aimed to characterize the root decomposition in a tropical rainforest in Sarawak, Malaysia, and clarify the impact of soil living organisms and root sizes on root litter decomposition. We buried soil cores with fine and coarse root litter bags in soil in Lambir Hills National Park. Three different types of soil cores that are covered by 1.5 cm plastic mesh, root-impermeable sheet (50um) and fungi-impermeable sheet (1um) were prepared. The soil cores were buried in February 2013 and collected 4 times, 134 days, 226 days, 786 days and 1151 days after the installation. We found that nearly 80 percent of the coarse root litter was decomposed after two years, whereas only 60 percent of the fine root litter was decomposed. Our results also showed significantly different ratio of decomposition between different cores, suggesting the different contribution of soil living organisms to decomposition process.

22nd International Conference on Domain Decomposition Methods

CERN Document Server

Gander, Martin; Halpern, Laurence; Krause, Rolf; Pavarino, Luca

2016-01-01

These are the proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Domain Decomposition Methods, which was held in Lugano, Switzerland. With 172 participants from over 24 countries, this conference continued a long-standing tradition of internationally oriented meetings on Domain Decomposition Methods. The book features a well-balanced mix of established and new topics, such as the manifold theory of Schwarz Methods, Isogeometric Analysis, Discontinuous Galerkin Methods, exploitation of modern HPC architectures, and industrial applications. As the conference program reflects, the growing capabilities in terms of theory and available hardware allow increasingly complex non-linear and multi-physics simulations, confirming the tremendous potential and flexibility of the domain decomposition concept.

Accelerated decomposition techniques for large discounted Markov decision processes

Science.gov (United States)

Larach, Abdelhadi; Chafik, S.; Daoui, C.

2017-12-01

Many hierarchical techniques to solve large Markov decision processes (MDPs) are based on the partition of the state space into strongly connected components (SCCs) that can be classified into some levels. In each level, smaller problems named restricted MDPs are solved, and then these partial solutions are combined to obtain the global solution. In this paper, we first propose a novel algorithm, which is a variant of Tarjan's algorithm that simultaneously finds the SCCs and their belonging levels. Second, a new definition of the restricted MDPs is presented to ameliorate some hierarchical solutions in discounted MDPs using value iteration (VI) algorithm based on a list of state-action successors. Finally, a robotic motion-planning example and the experiment results are presented to illustrate the benefit of the proposed decomposition algorithms.

Thermal decomposition of gaseous ammonium nitrate at low pressure: kinetic modeling of product formation and heterogeneous decomposition of nitric acid.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, J; Lin, M C

2009-12-03

The thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate, NH(4)NO(3) (AN), in the gas phase has been studied at 423-56 K by pyrolysis/mass spectrometry under low-pressure conditions using a Saalfeld reactor coated with boric acid. The sublimation of NH(4)NO(3) at 423 K was proposed to produce equal amounts of NH(3) and HNO(3), followed by the decomposition reaction of HNO(3), HNO(3) + M --> OH + NO(2) + M (where M = third-body and reactor surface). The absolute yields of N(2), N(2)O, H(2)O, and NH(3), which can be unambiguously measured and quantitatively calibrated under a constant pressure at 5-6.2 torr He are kinetically modeled using the detailed [H,N,O]-mechanism established earlier for the simulation of NH(3)-NO(2) (Park, J.; Lin, M. C. Technologies and Combustion for a Clean Environment. Proc. 4th Int. Conf. 1997, 34-1, 1-5) and ADN decomposition reactions (Park, J.; Chakraborty, D.; Lin, M. C. Proc. Combust. Inst. 1998, 27, 2351-2357). Since the homogeneous decomposition reaction of HNO(3) itself was found to be too slow to account for the consumption of reactants and the formation of products, we also introduced the heterogeneous decomposition of HNO(3) in our kinetic modeling. The heterogeneous decomposition rate of HNO(3), HNO(3) + (B(2)O(3)/SiO(2)) --> OH + NO(2) + (B(2)O(3)/SiO(2)), was determined by varying its rate to match the modeled result to the measured concentrations of NH(3) and H(2)O; the rate could be represented by k(2b) = 7.91 x 10(7) exp(-12 600/T) s(-1), which appears to be consistent with those reported by Johnston and co-workers (Johnston, H. S.; Foering, L.; Tao, Y.-S.; Messerly, G. H. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1951, 73, 2319-2321) for HNO(3) decomposition on glass reactors at higher temperatures. Notably, the concentration profiles of all species measured could be satisfactorily predicted by the existing [H,N,O]-mechanism with the heterogeneous initiation process.

Thermal Decomposition of Gaseous Ammonium Nitrate at Low Pressure: Kinetic Modeling of Product Formation and Heterogeneous Decomposition of Nitric Acid

Science.gov (United States)

Park, J.; Lin, M. C.

2009-10-01

The thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate, NH4NO3 (AN), in the gas phase has been studied at 423-56 K by pyrolysis/mass spectrometry under low-pressure conditions using a Saalfeld reactor coated with boric acid. The sublimation of NH4NO3 at 423 K was proposed to produce equal amounts of NH3 and HNO3, followed by the decomposition reaction of HNO3, HNO3 + M → OH + NO2 + M (where M = third-body and reactor surface). The absolute yields of N2, N2O, H2O, and NH3, which can be unambiguously measured and quantitatively calibrated under a constant pressure at 5-6.2 torr He are kinetically modeled using the detailed [H,N,O]-mechanism established earlier for the simulation of NH3-NO2 (Park, J.; Lin, M. C. Technologies and Combustion for a Clean Environment. Proc. 4th Int. Conf. 1997, 34-1, 1-5) and ADN decomposition reactions (Park, J.; Chakraborty, D.; Lin, M. C. Proc. Combust. Inst. 1998, 27, 2351-2357). Since the homogeneous decomposition reaction of HNO3 itself was found to be too slow to account for the consumption of reactants and the formation of products, we also introduced the heterogeneous decomposition of HNO3 in our kinetic modeling. The heterogeneous decomposition rate of HNO3, HNO3 + (B2O3/SiO2) → OH + NO2 + (B2O3/SiO2), was determined by varying its rate to match the modeled result to the measured concentrations of NH3 and H2O; the rate could be represented by k2b = 7.91 × 107 exp(-12 600/T) s-1, which appears to be consistent with those reported by Johnston and co-workers (Johnston, H. S.; Foering, L.; Tao, Y.-S.; Messerly, G. H. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1951, 73, 2319-2321) for HNO3 decomposition on glass reactors at higher temperatures. Notably, the concentration profiles of all species measured could be satisfactorily predicted by the existing [H,N,O]-mechanism with the heterogeneous initiation process.

Preconditioned dynamic mode decomposition and mode selection algorithms for large datasets using incremental proper orthogonal decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Ohmichi, Yuya

2017-07-01

In this letter, we propose a simple and efficient framework of dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) and mode selection for large datasets. The proposed framework explicitly introduces a preconditioning step using an incremental proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to DMD and mode selection algorithms. By performing the preconditioning step, the DMD and mode selection can be performed with low memory consumption and therefore can be applied to large datasets. Additionally, we propose a simple mode selection algorithm based on a greedy method. The proposed framework is applied to the analysis of three-dimensional flow around a circular cylinder.

Review on Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Nitrate

Science.gov (United States)

Chaturvedi, Shalini; Dave, Pragnesh N.

2013-01-01

In this review data from the literature on thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate (AN) and the effect of additives to their thermal decomposition are summarized. The effect of additives like oxides, cations, inorganic acids, organic compounds, phase-stablized CuO, etc., is discussed. The effect of an additive mainly occurs at the exothermic peak of pure AN in a temperature range of 200°C to 140°C.

Crop residue decomposition in Minnesota biochar-amended plots

Science.gov (United States)

Weyers, S. L.; Spokas, K. A.

2014-06-01

Impacts of biochar application at laboratory scales are routinely studied, but impacts of biochar application on decomposition of crop residues at field scales have not been widely addressed. The priming or hindrance of crop residue decomposition could have a cascading impact on soil processes, particularly those influencing nutrient availability. Our objectives were to evaluate biochar effects on field decomposition of crop residue, using plots that were amended with biochars made from different plant-based feedstocks and pyrolysis platforms in the fall of 2008. Litterbags containing wheat straw material were buried in July of 2011 below the soil surface in a continuous-corn cropped field in plots that had received one of seven different biochar amendments or a uncharred wood-pellet amendment 2.5 yr prior to start of this study. Litterbags were collected over the course of 14 weeks. Microbial biomass was assessed in treatment plots the previous fall. Though first-order decomposition rate constants were positively correlated to microbial biomass, neither parameter was statistically affected by biochar or wood-pellet treatments. The findings indicated only a residual of potentially positive and negative initial impacts of biochars on residue decomposition, which fit in line with established feedstock and pyrolysis influences. Overall, these findings indicate that no significant alteration in the microbial dynamics of the soil decomposer communities occurred as a consequence of the application of plant-based biochars evaluated here.

Crop residue decomposition in Minnesota biochar amended plots

Science.gov (United States)

Weyers, S. L.; Spokas, K. A.

2014-02-01

Impacts of biochar application at laboratory scales are routinely studied, but impacts of biochar application on decomposition of crop residues at field scales have not been widely addressed. The priming or hindrance of crop residue decomposition could have a cascading impact on soil processes, particularly those influencing nutrient availability. Our objectives were to evaluate biochar effects on field decomposition of crop residue, using plots that were amended with biochars made from different feedstocks and pyrolysis platforms prior to the start of this study. Litterbags containing wheat straw material were buried below the soil surface in a continuous-corn cropped field in plots that had received one of seven different biochar amendments or a non-charred wood pellet amendment 2.5 yr prior to start of this study. Litterbags were collected over the course of 14 weeks. Microbial biomass was assessed in treatment plots the previous fall. Though first-order decomposition rate constants were positively correlated to microbial biomass, neither parameter was statistically affected by biochar or wood-pellet treatments. The findings indicated only a residual of potentially positive and negative initial impacts of biochars on residue decomposition, which fit in line with established feedstock and pyrolysis influences. Though no significant impacts were observed with field-weathered biochars, effective soil management may yet have to account for repeat applications of biochar.

Thermal Decomposition Characteristics of Orthorhombic Ammonium Perchlorate (o-AP) and an 0-AP/HTPB-Based Propellant