The feasibility and kinetics of vanadium (V) recovery from oxidative leaching of low-grade stone coal using MnO2 were investigated. Oxidative leaching processes (OLPs) were designed using response surface methodology (RSM) based on the central composite design (CCD) model. The results show that the order of factors that influence OLPs is leaching temperature > H2SO4 concentration > leaching time > MnO2 dosage. The interaction between leaching temperature and H2SO4 concentration on the OLP is the most significant. Vanadium leaching efficiency was 89.3% using 31% H2SO4 and 3% MnO2 at 90 °C for 7.9 h. The kinetics of V leaching from stone coal show that the leaching rate is controlled by chemical reaction through a layer according to the shrinking core model and the activation energy is 55.62 kJ/mol. A comparison of the SEM-EDS results of minerals before and after leaching confirms that the muscovite structure was significantly destroyed and V and aluminum (Al) were effectively dissolved... [more]

One of the challenges for single-screw micro-extrusion or additive manufacturing (AM), thus 3D printing, of polymers is controlling the melting efficiency so that energy and equipment costs can be minimized. Here, a numerical model is presented for AM process design, selecting acrylonitrile−butadiene−styrene (ABS) as viscoelastic reference polymer. It is demonstrated that AM melting is different compared to conventional melting due to variation in extrusion dimensions, leading to a different balance in heating by conduction and viscous heat dissipation as caused by the shearing between the melt layers in the associated film layer near the barrel. The thickness of this melt film layer is variable along the screw length, and it is shown that simplified models assuming an overall average value are too approximate. It is highlighted that the screw frequency, pitch angle and compression ratio are important process parameters to control the point of melt finalization. In addition, the power-... [more]

A novel auto-aspirated sparger is examined experimentally in a closed-loop reactor (CLR) at lab scale using particle image velocimetry, high-speed camera and oxygen mass transfer rate measurements. State-of-the-art 3D printing technology was utilized to develop the sparger design in stainless steel. An insignificant change in the bubble size distribution was observed along the aerated flow, proving the existence of a low coalescence rate in the constraint domain of the CLR pipeline. The studied sparger created macrobubbles evenly dispersed in space. In pure water, the produced bubble size distribution from 190 to 2500 μm is controlled by liquid flow rate. The bubble size dynamics exhibited a power-law function of water flow rate approaching a stable minimum bubble size, which was attributed to the ratio of the fast-growing energy of the bubble surface tension over the kinetic energy of the stream. Potentially, the stream energy can efficiently disperse higher gas flow rates. The oxygen... [more]

In the tight sandstone oil production stage, the migration of particles will not only block the oil path and throat, but also block the wellbore and damage the equipment. Based on the theory of non-Newtonian fluid, hydrodynamics, the extended Derjaguin Landau Verwey Overbeek (DLVO) theory and the JKR (the model of Johnson−Kendall−Roberts) contact theory, the mathematical model and quantitative analysis of the critical condition of the particle separation from the surface due to the influence of oil flow in the fracture environment are presented in this paper. A theoretical model with pressure gradient as the core parameter and particle size, crack size and various contact forces as variables is established. By adding the formula of non-Newtonian fluid and taking the consistency coefficient and fluidity index as the contrast relation, the change rule of particle migration under the influence of non-Newtonian fluid is obtained. Effective prevention and control measures for the purpose of... [more]

Do retired professional baseball players become effective coaches? Are Taiwanese coaches up to the job of coaching in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL)? What are the key coaching factors affecting a CPBL team’s performance in the regular-season? In this study, we examine the key coaching factors affecting the efficiency of CPBL teams from the perspective of efficiency and productivity, using network data envelopment analysis, truncated regression analysis, and bootstrapping methods to provide specific recommendations. We calculated the efficiency of each CPBL team from the 2014 to 2016 regular-seasons. First, the “ex-member” indicator had a significant negative impact on team performance, indicating that a coaching team consisting of coaches with different backgrounds or experience is advantageous to a team’s performance in games; and second, the “ex-professional player” indicator had a significant impact on team performance in the regular season, indicating that the valu... [more]

The working principle and motion process of an aviation wet clutch are analyzed. The initial velocity before the friction pair engaged is solved. The transient Reynolds equation is modified, and an oil film bearing capacity model and a micro-convex bearing capacity model are derived. The film thickness equation between N friction pairs and a pressure-plate is derived. A dynamic engaged model of springs, pistons, friction pairs, and pressure plates are established. The torque balance equation is established of two pairs of friction pairs. The friction torque, rate of change in the oil film, and law of relative change in speed are obtained. The results demonstrate that the spring preload and the viscosity of the lubricating oil have a significant influence on the engagement characteristics. Increasing the quality of the friction plate will reduce the time of engagement, whereas the quality of the friction plate has slight effect on the friction torque characteristics and oil film thickne... [more]

The main objective of the present paper is to compare, by means of a problem leading to a closed-form solution, the qualitative behavior of solutions based on three strain hardening laws: Swift’s law, Ludwik’s law, and Voce’s law. The boundary value problem involves the maximum friction law as one of the boundary conditions. Such features of the solutions as nonexistence and singularity are emphasized. An important feature of Swift’s and Ludwik’s laws is that the equivalent stress approaches infinity as the equivalent strain approaches infinity. On the contrary, Voce’s law involves saturation stress as one of the constitutive parameters. This qualitative difference in the equivalent stress behavior as the equivalent strain approaches infinity results in the qualitative difference in solutions’ behavior. In particular, Swift’s and Ludwik’s hardening laws are compatible with the regime of sticking independently of other conditions. In the case of Voce’s law, the solution under sticking c... [more]

Cavitation will cause abnormal flow, causing a series of problems such as vibration, noise, and erosion of solid surfaces. In severe cases, it may even destroy the entire system. Cavitation is a key problem to be solved for hydraulic machinery and underwater robots, and the attack angle is one of the most important factors affecting the cavitation. In order to systematically study the impact of the attack angle on the hydrofoil cavitation, the hydrofoils of NACA 4412 with different attack angles were selected to study the collapse process and hydraulic characteristics such as pressure, velocity, vortex, and turbulent kinetic energy during cavitation. The results showed that when the cavitation number was the same, the process of cavity collapse was greatly affected by the attack angle. The length of the cavity collapse area was positively correlated with the attack angle. As the attack angle increased, the volume of the falling bubbles increased, resulting in a larger pressure peak cau... [more]

Grid turbulence is considered to be a canonical case of turbulent flow. In the presented paper, the flow structure is analyzed from the point of view of mixing properties, where vortical structures and their properties play a significant role. That is why the effect of various length-scales in turbulence is studied separately. The experimental study uses the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) method. The original method for spatial spectrum evaluation is applied. Results on vortex spatial spectrum and isotropy are presented. The scaling of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) is measured; furthermore, the TKE is decomposed according to the length-scales of the fluctuations. By this method, we found that the decay of TKE associated with the smallest length-scales is more sensitive to the Reynolds number than that at larger length-scales. The TKE at the largest investigated length-scales decays more slowly. The turbulence decay-law is studied for various Reynolds numbers. The second and fourth s... [more]

The aerodynamic performance of a counter-rotating ducted fan in hover mode is numerically analyzed for different rotor spacings and duct diffusion angles. The design of the counter-rotating fan is inspired by a custom-designed single rotor ducted fan used in a previous study. The numerical model to predict the aerodynamic performance of the counter-rotating ducted fan is developed by adopting the frozen rotor approach for steady-state incompressible flow conditions. The relative angle between the front and the rear rotor is examined due to the usage of the frozen rotor model. The results show that the variation of thrust for the different relative angles is extremely low. The aerodynamic performances are evaluated by comparing the thrust, thrust coefficient, power coefficient, and figure of merit (FOM). The thrust, thrust coefficient, and FOM slightly increase with increasing rotor spacing up to 200 mm, regardless of the duct diffusion angle, and reduce on further increase in the rotor... [more]

The blast furnace campaign length is today usually restricted by the hearth life, which is strongly related to the drainage and behavior of the coke bed in the hearth, usually referred to as the dead man. Because the hearth is inaccessible and the conditions are complex, knowledge and understanding of the state of the dead man are still limited compared to other parts of the blast furnace process. Since a number of publications have studied different aspects of the dead man in the literature, the purpose of the current review is to compile the findings and knowledge in a comprehensive document. We mainly focus on contributions with respect to the dead man state, and those assessing its influence on the hearth performance in terms of liquid flow patterns, lining wear and drainage behavior. A set of common modeling approaches in this specific furnace area is also briefly presented. The aim of the review is also to deepen the understanding and stimulate further research on open questions... [more]

Slurry concentration and wire speed affect the yield and machining quality of ceramics (Al2O3) that are produced using wire-saw machining (WSM). This study determines the effect of slurry concentration and wire speed on the material removal rate (MRR), the machined surface roughness (SR), the kerf width, the wire wear and the flatness for swinging and non-swinging WSM. The experiments show that swinging WSM results in a higher machining efficiency than non-swinging WSM. WSM with swinging also achieves a peak MRR at a medium slurry concentration (25 wt%) and a higher wire speed (5.6 m/s) using the cutting conditions for the experimental region. However, slurry concentration and wire speed have no significant effect on the machined SR, the kerf width, the wire wear or the flatness for WSM with swinging mode.

In order to study the internal flow characteristics of centrifugal pumps with a split impeller under gas-liquid mixed transportation conditions, this paper conducted a steady calculation of the flow field in the centrifugal pump under the conditions of different inlet gas volume fractions based on the Eulerian-Eulerian heterogeneous flow model, using air and water as the working media and the Schiller Nauman model for the interphase resistance. This paper takes a low specific speed centrifugal pump as the research object, through the controlling variables, using the same pump body structure and pump body geometric parameters and setting three different arrangements of long and short blades (each plan uses the same long and short blades) to explore the influence of the short blade arrangement on the low specific speed centrifugal pump performance under a gas-liquid two-phase flow. The research results show that, under pure water conditions, the reasonable arrangement of the short blade... [more]

The chaotic mixing process in a continuous mixer plays an important role and has an essential influence on the performance of prepared materials. To reveal how a polymeric drop experienced the chaotic mixing and give more specific analysis about the chaotic mixing, the morphology development of a single drop was traced and recorded with an on-line visualization system. The drop would undergo elongation deformation, reorientation, and folding process, which were the typical signs of chaotic mixing. The elongation deformation was an important precondition for drop experiencing the reorientation and folding process and mainly existed in the region near the barrier, rotor tip clearance, and wedgelike region. The reorientation and folding process mostly appeared in the region near the rotor flat and interaction window. Besides, the erosion process of the drop was observed at the initial stage under lower rotor rotation speed. The chaotic mixing always held the dominant place in continuous m... [more]

Natural gas hydrates represent a valid opportunity to counteract two of the most serious issues that are affecting humanity this century: climate change and the need for new energy sources, due to the fast and constant increase in the population worldwide. The energy that might be produced with methane contained in hydrates is greater than any amount of energy producible with known conventional energy sources; being widespread in all oceans, they would greatly reduce problems and conflicts associated with the monopoly of energy sources. The possibility of extracting methane and simultaneously performing the permanent storage of carbon dioxide makes hydrate an almost carbon-neutral energy source. The main topic of scientific research is to improve the recovery of technologies and guest species replacement strategies in order to make the use of gas hydrates economically advantageous. In the present paper, an experimental study on how salt can alter the formation process of both methane a... [more]

Secondary aluminum dross (SAD) is an inevitable by-product from the secondary aluminum industry and has caused serious environmental issues. In this study, the effect of pretreatment operations on the subsequent acid leaching operation was studied by process mineralogy, a series of leaching experiments, XRD, and SEM. Leaching results showed that the leaching efficiency of Al in direct acid leaching was only 22.99%. Process mineralogy showed the complex intertexture and continuous network structure in the SAD. Pretreatment operations were extremely efficient in destroying the structure by physical and chemical interaction. Interestingly, by adding the grinding and water leaching operations, the leaching efficiency of total aluminum in the SAD reached approximately 28.70%. XRD results showed that nearly all metallic Al, AlN, and partial Al2O3 were leached by grinding−water leaching−acid leaching. The scanning electron micrographs showed that the residue particles mainly included some ins... [more]

Microbubbles with slow rising speed, higher specific area and greater oxygen dissolution are desired to enhance gas/liquid mass transfer rate. Such attributes are very important to tackle challenges on the low efficiency of gas/liquid mass transfer that occurs in aerobic wastewater treatment systems or in the aquaculture industries. Many reports focus on the formation mechanisms of the microbubbles, but with less emphasis on the system optimization and assessment of the aeration efficiency. This work assesses the performance and evaluates the aeration efficiency of a porous venturi-orifice microbubble generator (MBG). The increment of stream velocity along the venturi pathway and orifice ring leads to a pressure drop (Patm > Pabs) and subsequently to increased cavitation. The experiments were run under three conditions: various liquid velocity (QL) of 2.35−2.60 m/s at fixed gas velocity (Qg) of 3 L/min; various Qg of 1−5 L/min at fixed QL of 2.46 m/s; and free flowing air at variable Q... [more]

The origins and effects of the complex vortex structure near the volute outlet of a multi-blade centrifugal fan are investigated in this paper. Due to the wide blade and short blade channel, the airflow maintains a large radial velocity during the blade channel. This continuous radial partial velocity causes vortices to be generated at the region of volute outlet. Then, the secondary flow close to the impeller generate from the center to the sides in volute. It is obtained that the streamlines are divided into two parts (backflow and outflow) at volute outlet. Although the vortices near volute outlet region are complex, the main features of flow behavior caused by the vortex are understandable.

Under-race lubrication can increase the amount of lubricating oil entering a bearing and greatly improve lubrication and cooling effects. The oil-air two-phase flow characteristics inside a ball bearing with under-race lubrication play a key role in lubrication and cooling performance. The motions of ball bearing subassemblies are complicated. Ball spin affects the oil volume fraction. In this paper, the coupled level set volume of fluid (CLSVOF) method is used to track the oil-air two-phase flow inside the ball bearing with under-race lubrication. The influence of various factors on the oil volume fraction inside the ball bearing with under-race lubrication is investigated, particularly rotating speeds, inlet velocity and the size of oil supply apertures under the inner ring. The influence of the ball spinning is analyzed separately. The result demonstrates that, on account of the centrifugal force, lubricating oil is located more on the outer ring raceway at rotational speeds of 5000... [more]

The wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) process used to manufacture aluminum parts has a number of variables. This study focuses on the effects of the heat input and the current and voltage ratio on the deposition efficiency. The effects of the heat input and current and voltage ratio (V/A) on the bead geometry were analyzed, depending on the cross-sectional geometry of the deposition layers, for nine different deposition conditions. The deposition efficiency was also analyzed by analyzing the cross-sectional geometry of the thin-wall parts made of aluminum. The heat input range was about 2.7 kJ/cm to 4.5 kJ/cm; the higher the heat input, the higher the deposition efficiency. The maximum deposition efficiency achieved in this study was 76%. The current and voltage ratio was used to quantify the portion of voltage (V) in the total heat input (Q), and the effect on the bead geometry was analyzed. As the portion of voltage in the quasi heat input decreased by about 10%, it was found th... [more]

The solubilization, solution thermodynamics, solvation behavior and Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) of an anti-inflammatory medicine flufenamic acid (FFA) in various Carbitol + water mixtures were evaluated in this study. The experimental solubility of FFA in mole fraction (xe) was measured at T = 298.2−318.2 K and p = 0.1 MPa using a static equilibrium method. The xe values of FFA in various Carbitol + water mixtures were correlated with van’t Hoff, Apelblat, Yalkowsky−Roseman, Jouyban−Acree and Jouyban−Acree−van’t Hoff models. All the studied models showed good correlation with mean error values of less than 2%. The xe value of FFA was found to increase significantly with the increase in temperature and Carbitol mass fraction in all Carbitol + water mixtures evaluated. The maximum and minimum xe values of FFA were recorded in pure Carbitol (2.81 × 10−1) at T = 318.2 K and pure water (5.80 × 10−7) at T = 298.2 K, respectively. Moreover, the HSP of FFA was found to be more closed w... [more]

Long-timescale simulations of biological processes such as photosynthesis or attempts to solve NP-hard problems such as traveling salesman, knapsack, Hamiltonian path, and satisfiability using membrane systems without appropriate parallelization can take hours or days. Graphics processing units (GPU) deliver an immensely parallel mechanism to compute general-purpose computations. Previous studies mapped one membrane to one thread block on GPU. This is disadvantageous given that when the quantity of objects for each membrane is small, the quantity of active thread will also be small, thereby decreasing performance. While each membrane is designated to one thread block, the communication between thread blocks is needed for executing the communication between membranes. Communication between thread blocks is a time-consuming process. Previous approaches have also not addressed the issue of GPU occupancy. This study presents a classification algorithm to manage dependent objects and membra... [more]

Eco-innovation has gained considerable attention in academia as well as in industry due to its potential in mitigating environmental challenges and its positive correlation with firm performance. However, there are limited studies which have investigated the moderating relation of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2015 between eco-innovation and firm sustainability in their contribution to societal development. This research is supported by a resource-based theory which explores the core-competencies of firms and challenges the resources creating the competitive advantage of the firm without compromising on the social responsibility aspect of the firm. This study proposes a fishbone eco-innovation business model, which includes production (product, process, and technology) and non-production (organization and marketing) business activities mapped with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for societal development. This fishbone eco-innovation business mod... [more]

The effect of cascade aerodynamic optimization on turbomachinery design is very significant. However, for most traditional cascade optimization methods, aerodynamic parameters are considered as boundary conditions and rarely directly used as the optimization variables to realize optimization. Given this problem, this paper proposes an improved cascade aerodynamic optimization method in which an incidence angle and nine geometric parameters are used to parameterize the cascade and one modified optimization algorithm is adopted to find the cascade with the optimal aerodynamic performance. The improved parameterization approach is based on the Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) method, the camber line superposing thickness distribution molding (CLSTDM) method, and the plane cascade design method. To rapidly and effectively find the cascade with the largest average lift-drag ratio within a certain range of incidence angles, modified particle swarm optimization combined with the modifie... [more]

Complex composite structures manufactured using a low-pressure vacuum bag-only (VBO) method are more susceptible to defects than flat laminates because of the presence of complex compaction conditions at corners. This study investigates the contribution of multivariate processing parameters such as bagging techniques, curing profiles, and laminate structures on laminates’ shape conformation. Nine sets of laminates were produced with a concave corner and another nine sets with a convex corner, both with a 45° inclined structure. Three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to quantify thickness variation and spring effect of laminated composites. The analysis for concave and convex corners showed that the bagging techniques is the main factor in controlling the laminate thickness for complex shape applications. The modified (single) vacuum-bag-only (MSVB) technique appeared to be superior when compared to other bagging techniques, exhibiting the least coefficients of variation o... [more]