Sharif Digital Repository

A three-dimensional numerical study has been performed to investigate the influence of angle of shock waves on sonic transverse Hydrogen micro-jets subjected to a supersonic crossflow. This study focuses on mixing of the Hydrogen jet in a Mach 4.0 crossflow with a global equivalence ratio of 0.5. Flow structure and fuel/air mixing mechanism were investigated numerically. Parametric studies were conducted on the angle of shock wave by using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with Menter's Shear Stress Transport turbulence model. Complex jet interactions were found in the downstream region with a variety of flow features depending upon the angle of shock incident. These flow... 

The Nafion ionomer affects the efficiency of the platinum (Pt) catalyst by blocking the active sites thereby restricting the gas permeability of the catalyst layer; but, there is a limitation in the quantity of Nafion ionomer that needs to be added without affecting the cell performance. Sulfonation of carbon-supported catalysts as mixed electronic and protonic conductors has been reported to be an efficient way to increase the triple-phase boundaries. In order to improve the utilization and activity of cathodic catalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), Pt nanoparticles were loaded on a mixture of Vulcan XC-72R and MWCNTs, which were functionalized in a mixture of 96% sulfuric acid... 

Distributed static series compensator (DSSC) is a member of the family of distributed flexible AC transmission system devices that can be attached directly to conductors of transmission lines. DSSCs are able to compensate for and adjust the line reactance; thus, they could be widely used in stability-limited transmission systems. Owing to economic matters, the optimal placement of DSSCs is of a great interest from practical viewpoints. This study presents an approach to find the optimal locations of DSSCs to enhance the system loadability and reliability using the DC load flow model. The optimisation problem is solved using the mixed-integer linear programming. A compromise between improving... 

Wind power is a promising alternative in power generation because of its tremendous environmental and social benefits. Generation scheduling (GS) is more important in a power system integrating wind farms. Unlike conventional power generation sources, wind power generators supply intermittent power because of uncertainty in resource. This paper presents a fuzzy approach to the generation scheduling problem of a GenCo considering uncertainties in parameters or constraints such as load, reserve and available wind power generation. The modeling of constraints is an important issue in power system scheduling. A fuzzy optimization approach is an approach that can be used to obtain the generation... 

This paper presents a study of the Taguchi design method to optimise the rate of electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of Bioglass® particles from aqueous suspensions. The effect of Bioglass® concentration, pH and electric field was investigated. An orthogonal array of L16 type with mixed levels of the control factors was utilized. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and regression analysis based on the partial least-square method were used to identify the significant factors affecting the deposition rate and its stability during constant-voltage EPD. It was found that the pH of the suspension significantly influences the deposition rate whereas the applied electric field has the smallest... 

This paper proposes a stochastic mixed-integer programming (SMIP) model for the reliability-constrained unit commitment (RCUC) problem. The major objective of the paper is to examine both features of accuracy and efficiency of the proposed SMIP model of RCUC. The spinning reserve of generating units is considered as the only available reserve provision resource; however, the proposed formulation can be readily extended to comprise the other kind of reserve facilities. Expected load not served (ELNS) and loss of load probability (LOLP) are accommodated as the reliability constraints. Binding either or both reliability indices ensures the security of operation incorporating the stochastic... 

Pulsating heat pipes are complex heat transfer devices, and their optimum thermal performance is largely dependent on different parameters. In this paper, in order to investigate these parameters, first a closed-loop pulsating heat pipe (CLPHP) was designed and manufactured. The CLPHP was made of copper tubes with internal diameters of 1.8 mm. The lengths of the evaporator, adiabatic, and condenser sections were 60, 150, and 60 mm, respectively. Afterward, the effect of various parameters, including the working fluid (water and ethanol), the volumetric filling ratio (30%, 40%, 50%, 70%, 80%), and the input heat power (5 to 70 W), on the thermal performance of the CLPHP was investigated... 

Integration of wind power generation creates new concerns for operation engineers in a power system. Unlike conventional power generation sources, wind power generators supply intermittent power due to uncertainty in parameters of wind such as its velocity. This paper presents probabilistic model for load and wind power uncertainty which can be used in operation planning (with durations up to one or two years). A stochastic model is proposed to simulate the status of units that are directly affected by the load and wind power generation uncertainties. This paper develops a solution method for generation scheduling of power system, while taking into account the stochastic behavior of the load... 

A novel type of four-impinging-jets reactor (FIJR) has been proposed and tested successfully for the oxidative desulfurization of kerosene as a typical light fuel oil. The FIJR is characterized by a high-intensity mixing chamber located at the bottom of the reactor and equipped with four impinging jets. The influences of various operating and design parameters such as feed flow rate, internozzle distance, jet diameter, and jet Reynolds number on the performance of the FIJR have been carefully investigated. As a result of both the impinging process and shear forces exerted on the phases, the rate of desulfurization in FIJR increased significantly compared to that obtained by a conventional... 

This paper studies the transit network scheduling problem and aims to minimize the waiting time at transfer stations. First, the problem is formulated as a mixed integer programming model that gives the departure times of vehicles in lines so that passengers can transfer between lines at transfer stations with minimum waiting times. Then, the model is expanded to a second model by considering the extra stopping time of vehicles at transfer stations as a new variable set. By calculating the optimal values for these variables, transfers can be better performed. The sizes of the models, compared with the existing models, are small enough that the models can be solved for small- and medium-sized... 

Heat exchanger network synthesis (HENS) is one of the most efficient process integration tools to save energy in chemical plants. In this work, a new optimization framework is proposed for the synthesis of HENS, based on a genetic algorithm (GA) coupled with a commercial process simulator through the ActiveX capability of the simulator. The use of GA provides a robust search in complex and nonconvex spaces of mathematical problems, while the use of a simulator facilitates the formulation of rigorous models for different alternatives. To include the most common heat exchanger structures in the model, a promising superstructure has been used. Allowing nonisothermal mixing of streams in the new... 

The solvent-based process appears to be an increasingly feasible technology for the extraction of heavy oil reserves. However, there is a lack of fundamental understanding of how fracture geometrical characteristics control the oil recovery efficiency in this type of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique. In this work, a series of experiments were performed whereby the pure and mixed hydrocarbon solvents (HCS) displaced heavy oil in fractured five-spot glass micro-models. Successive images of the solvent injection process were recorded. The oil recovery factor, as a function of injected pore volume of solvents, was measured using image analysis of the provided pictures. It has been observed... 

The deactivation of solid acid catalysts in liquid phase alkylation of isobutane with 2-butene was investigated. Since under liquid phase conditions the alkylation reaction is severely diffusion limited, effects of diffusion on the rate of reaction and deactivation pathways were considered. In the present work, an attempt has been made to implement more appropriate assumptions in order to properly model catalyst deactivation in a mixed reactor. Accordingly, spatial variation of diffusivity in the pores of the catalyst was considered as a function of time on stream. The effect of the pore mouth plugging was also investigated and it was found that this phenomenon had a pronounced effect on the... 

In the past decades, remote control switches have been broadly integrated into distribution systems to achieve a certain level of service reliability. To take utmost benefits of them, a cost-benefit analysis should be conducted. In this regard, the budget restriction plays a crucial role in remote control switch placement. This paper is aimed at proposing a model to determine the optimal number and location of remote control switches in a distribution system. As the main contribution of the paper, the model is developed in multistage planning format to address the issue of budget limitation. To this end, the model is formulated in mixed integer linear programming format, which tries to... 

This paper proposes a hierarchical outage management scheme to enhance the resilience of a smart distribution system comprised of multi-microgrids against unexpected disaster events. In this regard, after identifying the main features and requirements for a resilient outage management scheme, an appropriate framework is devised and the roles and tasks of different management entities in a multi-microgrids system are introduced. Based on this framework, the microgrids schedule their available resources in the first stage using a novel model predictive control-based algorithm. In the second stage, distribution system operator coordinates the possible power transfers among the microgrids and... 

In future smart grids, energy storage systems (EESs) and demand response (DR) are expected to have an important role in balancing load changes arising from life-style of consumers and varying output of some renewable energy resources. However, activating DR and installing ESSs need huge investment forcing system owner to justify their effectiveness prior to any implementation. This paper presents a model to find the optimal capacity of EESs in distribution systems with demand responding to electricity price changes. The model aims at maximizing system owner profit by lessening total electricity provision costs. The model is formulated as a mixed integer non-linear programming problem. Due to... 

This paper concentrates on degradation of electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion batteries in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) programs and proposes a practical wear cost model for EVs charge scheduling applications. As the first step, all the factors affecting the cycle life of lithium-ion batteries are identified and their impacts on degradation process are investigated. Subsequently, a general model for battery loss of cycle life is devised incorporating all the pertinent factors associated with charging and discharging activities in V2G applications. Modeling the battery wear cost as a series of equal-payments over the cycle life, a mechanism for calculating the cost incurred by EV users due to... 

This paper describes concepts, design, implementation, and performance evaluation of a 3D-based user interface for accessing IoT-based Smart Environments (IoT-SE). The generic interaction model of the described work addresses some major challenges of Human-IoT-SE-Interaction such as cognitive overload associated with manual device selection in complex IoT-SE, loss of user control, missing system image or over-automation. To address these challenges we propose a 3D-based mobile interface for mixed-initiative interaction in IoT-SE. The 3D visualization and 3D UI, acting as the central feature of the system, create a logical link between physical devices and their virtual representation on the... 

Titanium anodes activated by noble metal oxides possess a wide range of advantages and applications. Actually, coating of titanium anodes by highly conductive oxides of noble metals (Ru, Ir) dramatically increases the lifetime of these anodes. In this study, the binary coating consisting of Ti and Ru and the ternary coating consisting of Ti, Ru and Ir were prepared through sol–gel method. After coating of the titanium substrate, the corrosion behavior of coatings was studied by anodic polarization and cyclic voltammetry tests. The lifetime of anodes was determined using accelerated corrosion test. The morphology of coatings was examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy and... 

In this study, the biological removal of styrene (STR) and ethylbenzene (EB) was investigated and the effect of carriers on the membrane fouling (MF) and the performance of two MBRs (with and without carrier) were examined. The flocculation ability, sludge particle size distribution (PSD), FTIR analysis, excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy, microscopic observations, microbial activities, microorganism population, filamentous bacteria, and sludge volume index (SVI) are considered to determine sludge characteristics. The results show that adding suitable dosage of carrier can reduce MF. It was also demonstrated that, biodegradation was the main mechanism for the STR in...