Sharif Digital Repository

In this study, the behavior of gavoshan dam was evaluated during construction and the first impounding. A two-dimensional (2D) numerical analysis was conducted based on a finite difference method on the largest cross-section of the dam using the results of instrument measurements and back analysis. These evaluations will be completed in the case that back analysis is carried out in order to control the degree of the accuracy and the level of confidence of the measured behavior since each of the measurements could be controlled by comparing it to the result obtained from the numerical model. Following that, by comparing the results of the numerical analysis with the measured values, it is... 

In this research, a palladium nanocatalyst was synthesised over a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) support and then applied for selective hydrogenation of acetylene in an ethylene-richflow stream. This material displayed a very promising selectivity toward ethylene production with increasing temperature, and also suppressed oligomer formation during acetylene hydrogenation. New operating conditions for selective hydrogenation of acetylene in an ethylene-richflow were introduced. This nanocatalyst gave a considerably higher yield, as high as 93%, than that previously obtained for ethylene production. It was postulated that the governing mechanism for acetylene hydrogenation over 0.5 wt.%... 

Two nanocatalysts of palladium over multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) were synthesized and their catalytic properties evaluated in selective hydrogenation of acetylene. Different procedures were applied to synthesize catalysts which resulted in two distinct average particle sizes of palladium (Pd) over the MWCNT. The resulting catalysts displayed dissimilar NH3-TPD behaviors as well as different selectivity performances at lower temperatures. While enhancement of the hydrogen transfer mechanism occurred upon the temperature increase, similar behaviors for the aforementioned materials were obtained. Furthermore, it was revealed that the catalytic performance at higher temperatures did not... 

In this paper, first, two new criteria, which are titled social welfare percent (SWP) and congestion cost percent (CCP), are defined for static transmission expansion planning in restructured power systems. Then by a simple example it will be shown that none of the already presented market-based criteria could completely and truly evaluate the transmission network expansion from market view. Hence the SWP and CCP criteria altogether are proposed to completely and truly evaluate the transmission network expansion. Then a least-investment cost expansion plan is searched that its SWP and CCP are in predefined acceptable limits. The results of applying of the proposed method are illustrated over... 

In this paper, first, two new criteria, which are titled social welfare percent (SWP) and congestion cost percent (CCP), are defined for static transmission expansion planning in restructured power systems. Then by a simple example it will be shown that none of the already presented market-based criteria could completely and truly evaluate the transmission network expansion from market view. Hence the SWP and CCP criteria altogether are proposed to completely and truly evaluate the transmission network expansion. Then a least-investment cost expansion plan is searched that its SWP and CCP are in predefined acceptable limits. The results of applying of the proposed method are illustrated over... 

In this research, a novel graphene-supported catalyst was prepared through which, a simultaneous chemical exfoliation of graphite and MoS2 powder performed preparing a new composite species and evaluated for the hydrodesulfurization reaction of naphtha and no sulfidation pretreatment was performed upon the catalyst. Also, the influences of the operating parameters such as temperature, and liquid hourly space velocity on HDS conversion evaluated. (Chemical Equation Presented)  

In this study, graphene materials have been synthesized with solid camphor (C10H16O) and methane gas as carbon precursors using atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique at a temperature range of 900-1000 °C for a period of 45 min over copper nanoparticles. Influence of the carbon precursors upon the shape, number of layers and yield of the synthesized graphene samples has been investigated. In this venue, the compounds synthesized were functionalized with oxygen groups and impregnated by cobalt and molybdenum active phases. Moreover, the total metal loading and Co/Mo weight ratio of prepared compounds were adjusted to their industrial nominal values of 10% and 0.33,... 

Nowadays automation in distribution systems is growing largely. Automated and remote controlled switches play prominent rules in automated distribution systems. By opening and closing these remote controlled switches in emergency states when a fault has been occurred we can manage fault and restoration process in order to minimize interruption time and costs. In the normal states feeder load management and power loss minimization can be controlled by these remote controlled switches. Finding optimum numbers and optimum locations for installing these switches is the main concern in this between. Up to now a number of algorithms have been developed for optimum switch placement. In this paper a... 

Monitoring embankment dams is of crucial importance. In earth dams, the pore pressures, earth pressures, and displacements occurring during construction and function are measured at the time of the first impounding and exploitation by installing essential instruments, and so the dam's performance is evaluated and analyzed. Scope of the present research is the evaluation of Siah-Sang Dam performance through the results of instruments and back analysis, conducted by FLAC software. The Mohr-Coulomb elasticplastic model has been considered as the behavioral model of the dam, and the effect of the upstream shell's materials deformation has been modeled at the time of the initial impounding.... 

In this study, the effects of geometry and operating conditions upon the thermal and hydraulic performance of Finned Microchannel Heat Sink (FMCHS) were investigated. Water and aluminum were considered as fluid and solid for the computational domain (30 mm × 0.8 mm × 0.8 mm). The Microchannel (MC) was supposed to have 0.65 mm height with an aspect ratio of 0.5. CFD analysis was applied for the assessments of four-types of micro-fins (i.e., conical, pyramidal, cylindrical and cubical). In order to evaluate the effects of height, diameter, the spacing of fins and Reynolds number on the overall performance of FMCHS, central composite design at five levels was used to generate design points.... 

Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) plant is a multivariable, nonlinear and non minimum phase system, which control of this plant, is very difficult. This paper presents a new approach to control of HVAC system. The proposed method is a hybrid of fuzzy logic and PID controller. Simulation results show that this control strategy is very robust, flexible and alternative performance. To evaluate the usefulness of the proposed method, we compare the response of this method with PID controller. The simulation results show that our method has the better control performance than PID controller  

A series of V2O5 catalysts supported on multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT), single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT), and graphene were synthesized by hydrothermal and reflux methods for oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP) to propylene. The catalysts were characterized by techniques including the BET surface area measurements, XRD, FTIR, H2-TPR, NH3-TPD, FESEM, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The performance of the catalysts and the supports were subsequently examined in a fixed bed reactor. The main products were propylene, ethylene and CO x. The vanadium catalyst supported on graphene with C/V molar ratio of 1:1 synthesized through the hydrothermal method had the best... 

Oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP) in a fixed-bed reactor over synthesized vanadia nanocatalysts was investigated physicochemically. Several vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) nanostructures including rod-, belt-, tube-, needle- and flower-like forms were successfully synthesized via reflux and hydrothermal processes utilizing different templates such as monoamines, diamines, aromatic and alcoholic amines. The morphologies of the obtained products were found to be sensitive to the types of templates used. Nanorods obtained were 1.4 μm in length and about 97 nm in width while the VO2(B) nanotubes were of about 76 nm average diameter and up to 1.2 μm long. The diameters of the V2O5 nanotubes... 

This article demonstrates the properties of open-cell flexible polyurethane foams incorporating multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Three different types of highly functionalized nanotubes having carboxyl, hydroxyl and amide functional groups were synthesized. Neat polyurethane foam and three nanocomposite foams filled with 0.1 wt% of treated nanotubes were prepared. It was found that thermal stability, mechanical properties and acoustic damping were improved significantly by incorporation of small amounts of nanotubes. The nanotubes modified with carboxyl groups were found to have much more influence compared to the other two functional groups, possibly due to better interfacial interaction and... 

Forced convective of a nanofluid that consists of water and Al2O3 in horizontal tubes has been studied numerically. Computed results were validated with existing well established correlation. Two-phase Eulerian model has been implemented for the first time to study such a flow field. A single-phase model and two-phase mixture model formulations were also used for comparison. The comparison of calculated results with experimental values shows that the mixture model is more precise. It is illustrated that the single-phase model and the two-phase Eulerian model underestimates the Nusselt number. Effects of nanoparticles concentration on the thermal parameters are also discussed  

Phase Change Memory (PCM) is an emerging memory technology that has the capability to address the growing demand for memory capacity and bridge the gap between the main memory and the secondary storage. As a resistive memory, PCM is able to store data based on its resistance values. The wide resistance range of PCM makes it possible to store even multiple bits per cell (MLC) rather than a single bit per cell (SLC). Unfortunately, PCM cells suffer from short lifetime. That means PCM cells could tolerate a limited number of write operations, and afterward they tend to permanently stick at a constant value. Limited lifetime is an issue related to PCM memory; hence, in recent years, many studies... 

Phase Change Memory (PCM) is one of the most promising candidates to be used at the main memory level of the memory hierarchy due to poor scalability, considerable leakage power, and high cost/bit of DRAM. PCM is a new resistive memory that is capable of storing data based on resistance values. The wide resistance range of PCM allows for storing multiple bits per cell (MLC) rather than a single bit per cell (SLC). Unfortunately, higher density of MLC PCM comes at the expense of longer read/write latency, higher soft error rate, higher energy consumption, and earlier wearout compared to the SLC PCM. Some studies suggest removing the most error-prone level to mitigate soft error and write... 

This study describes the activated carbon (AC) preparation for methane storage. Due to the need for the introduction of a model, correlating the effective preparation parameters with the characteristic parameters of the activated carbon, a model was developed by neural networks. In a previous study [Namvar-Asl M, Soltanieh M, Rashidi A, Irandoukht A. Modeling and preparation of activated carbon for methane storage: (I) modeling of activated carbon characteristics with neural networks and response surface method. Proceedings of CESEP07, Krakow, Poland; 2007.], the model was designed with the MATLAB toolboxes providing the best response for the correlation of the characteristics parameters and... 

In this paper, oxidation of H2S into elemental sulfur over synthesized aluminabased nanocatalysts was physiochemically investigated and the results were compared with a commercial Claus catalyst. The wet chemical, co-precipitation, and spray pyrolysis techniques were employed to synthesize several alumina nanostructures. Then, the SEM, XRD, and ASAP analysis methods were utilized to characterize in order to choose the best nanocatalyst. The sulfur and H2S contents were determined through the standard UOP techniques. Amongst the synthesized materials, Al2o3-supported sodium oxide prepared through the wet chemical, and Al2o3 nanocatalysts via spray pyrolysis methods were the most active... 

An acid treatment of the cordierite monolith followed by coating of the CNT onto it by means of catalytic decomposition of methane was performed. The resulting material utilized as the support for the CoMo catalyst. The characterization outcomes showed that the CNTs were distributed uniformly on the surface of the monolith leading to a high BET surface area and relatively good adhered mesoporous layer of CNTs. Moreover, the catalytic activity of the resulting catalysts determined in an HDS reaction of naphtha. It was concluded that the activity of the CoMo catalyst over the CNT coated monolithic support (FACNT) was higher than that of the CoMo deposited onto the acid-treated monolith and...