Sharif Digital Repository

The vapor extraction process (or VAPEX) uses vaporized solvents injected into a horizontal well to form a vapor chamber within the reservoir. Vapor dissolves in the oil and enhances the oil production by decreasing the oil viscosity in heavy oil reservoirs. To evaluate the process we conduct a simulation study on an Iranian heavy oil reservoir called Kuh-e-Mond. In addition, a semi-analytical investigation of the VAPEX process has been performed. The idea is to perform VAPEX simulation for a laboratory model and find a methodology to compare the results of the simulator with the semi-analytical Butler's model. In particular, a semi-analytical dimensionless correlation for production rate... 

The vapor extraction process (or VAPEX) uses vaporized solvents injected into a horizontal well to form a vapor chamber within the reservoir. Vapor dissolves in the oil and enhances the oil production by decreasing the oil viscosity in heavy oil reservoirs. To evaluate the process we conduct a simulation study on an Iranian heavy oil reservoir called Kuh-e-Mond. In addition, a semi-analytical investigation of the VAPEX process has been performed. The idea is to perform VAPEX simulation for a laboratory model and find a methodology to compare the results of the simulator with the semi-analytical Butler's model. In particular, a semi-analytical dimensionless correlation for production rate... 

In this study, ZnO nanoparticles with 3 to 4 nm size and spherical shape have been prepared. For the first time, TEA (triethanolamine) as a surfactant has been used for the preparation of ZnO nanoparticles. The best concentration of each component was adjusted through comparison between different sol absorption spectra. The best sol regarding its optical property was subjected to analysis by photoluminescence spectroscopy. TEM micrograph and electron diffraction pattern of these particles were obtained to represent the morphology and crystalline phase of the particles, respectively. Experimental results have shown that the prepared zinc oxide nanoparticles by this method have higher... 

(GraphPresented) The quantum optimal control theory in conjunction with time dependent density functional theory is used to optimize the laser pulse shape for dissociation of nitrogen molecule. For several initial peak intensities and frequency ranges, the optimum shapes are produced and compared to determine the most efficient pulse. Ehrenfest molecular dynamics model is also used to test the dissociation process. The corresponding snapshots of density and time dependent electron localization function are presented. It is noticed that when the frequency ranges of laser pulses are doubled, it leads to 60% faster dissociation of N2 molecule  

The fragmentation dynamics of CH4 and H2CO molecules have been studied with ultra-short pulses at laser intensityof up to 1015Wcm-2. Three dimensional molecular dynamics calculations for finding the optimized laser pulses are presented based on time-dependent density functional theory and quantum optimal control theory. A comparison of the results for orientation dependence in the ionization process shows that the electron distribution for CH4 is more isotropic than H2CO molecule. Total conversion yields of up to 70% at an orientation angle of 30o for CH4 and 65% at 900 for H2CO are achieved which lead to enhancement of dissociation probability  

Security measurement models (SMMs) and quantitative security metrics (QSMs) are crucial pillars of systematic security measurement. How to design the enhanced SMMs and effective QSMs has been seriously considered in recent years. However, to the best of our knowledge, a desirable SMM has not yet been provided to measure the security effectiveness of a national-level network (NLN) due to its specific attributes. NLN has three main attributes, including plurality and diversity of network components, continuous changes, and simultaneous functionalities. These attributes cause three major challenges to designing a desirable SMM for NLN, including complexity, dynamic measurement, and... 

Security measurement models (SMMs) and their corresponding derived metrics form the main pillars of a systematic security measurement. Providing a desirable SMM is very challenging and has been investigated over the past two decades, so that numerous SMMs have been proposed and several surveys on SMMs have been performed. However, to the best of our knowledge, neither a systematic taxonomy nor a comprehensive comparison has yet been proposed for SMMs. This paper focuses on the comprehensive comparison of SMMs relying on a feature-based approach. The plurality and diversity of the compared SMMs enable us to deduce all the open issues. © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC  

Security measurement models (SMMs) and their corresponding derived metrics form the main pillars of a systematic security measurement. Providing a desirable SMM is very challenging and has been investigated over the past two decades, so that numerous SMMs have been proposed and several surveys on SMMs have been performed. However, to the best of our knowledge, neither a systematic taxonomy nor a comprehensive comparison has yet been proposed for SMMs. This paper focuses on the comprehensive comparison of SMMs relying on a feature-based approach. The plurality and diversity of the compared SMMs enable us to deduce all the open issues. © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC  

Sparse recovery in the context of the inverse problem has become an enormously popular technique in reconstructing various degraded images in various applications. One of the well-known techniques in modularizing these particular inverse problems is the Plug and Play Half-Quadratic-Splitting (PnP-HQS). This method has been demonstrated to achieve good results in the literature; however, it is still too plain to be fully exploited for reconstruction. In this regard, we introduce an augmented version of this technique dubbed “PnP-AugHQS” to efficiently utilize its capabilities in image reconstruction. We provide a comprehensive convergence analysis of the proposed algorithm to ensure its... 

In this report, crack-free nanostructured barium titanate thin films are prepared by a sol-gel processing method. Glacial acetic acid, barium acetate, titanium tetraisopropyl alkoxide, 2-propanol and deionized water are used as precursors for preparing stable precursor solution. Then very thin films (thickness=26 nm) are deposited on fused silica substrates. In order to prepare crack-free thin films of BaTiO3, much attention is given to solvent evaporation process and a controlled pre-drying process is developed. It is found that the control of the process, especially in the initial stage of drying process is crucial and important for preparation of the crack-free ultrathin nanostructured... 

The sol-gel process as a chemical route is widely used in the fields of materials science and engineering. Historically, the sol-gel techniques have been developed during the past 40 years as an alternative process for glasses and ceramics production [1]. It is reported that the sol-gel process had been introduced by Ebelman [2], who had prepared a transparent SiO2 thin film from slow hydrolysis of an ester of silicic acid in 1845. In comparison with other techniques such as CVD or sintering, the sol-gel technique is a very simple process with considerable advantages. This process is low cost, has high controllability and potential application for preparation of different materials and... 

TiO2nanocrystals were prepared by hydrolysis and peptisation of titanium isopropoxide under different pH values. The as-prepared powder of very fine anatase crystallites ranges from 8 nm in acidic solution of pH 3 to 10 nm in basic solution of pH 8. Heat treatment of the powders leads to grain growth and anatase - rutile transformation. Experimental results have shown that the anatase to rutile phase transformation in the heat-treated powders depend not only on primary crystallite size but also the presence of brookite phase. It is observed that in the powders with the same size the presence brookite phase would accelerate the anatase to rutile transformation. Furthermore it has been found... 

The deployment of flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) devices, despite miscellaneous benefits and applications, has been restricted mainly due to their large investment costs. Accordingly, the notion of distributed FACTS (D-FACTS) was recently proposed. Distributed static series compensators (DSSCs), as a new member of D-FACTS, are directly clamped to conductors of transmission lines. The possibility of controlling the compensation rate of DSSCs from the control center affords the active control of network power flow. This paper presents a comprehensive reliability model for the DSSC. The model is then reduced and a state-space representation is extracted for a transmission line with a...