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Liquid water transport inside the gas diffusion layers (GDLs) plays a vital role in water management of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this study, an improved pseudopotential multiphase lattice Boltzmann model is firstly developed to realize the actual density and viscosity ratios in porous media. The proposed model is based on a non-orthogonal multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) LB model and a new improved wettability boundary condition. In terms of the relationship between capillary pressure Pc and saturation s, the proposed model shows a good agreement with the experimental data. Using the validated model, the effects of capillary pressures and contact angles of mixed wettability on the liquid water invasion process for Toray-090 GDLs with two Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) contents (10 wt% and 20 wt%) are studied. It is found that the liquid water shows capillary fingering behaviors and the liquid water saturation profiles along the through-plane direction of the GDLs become more non-uniform with increasing contact angle of PTFE.

In-situ combustion (ISC) for heavy oil recovery is a high-risk process and thus calls for a deep understanding of the coke combustion front. However, simulations for describing pore-scale coke combustion are challenging because of complicated combustion dynamics. This study proposes a multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) lattice Boltzmann (LB) method to simulate solid coke combustion in porous media at the pore scale. The MRT LB model can enhance numerical stability compared with the single-relaxation-time counterpart. This new LB model offers two major advances over existing LB models. First, thermal expansion effects are considered via temperature-dependent density, satisfying the low Mach number flow condition. Second, conjugate heat transfer and species conservation at the coke-fluid interface are modelled by a source term and a bounce-back scheme, respectively, without resorting to iterative methods. Simulations of pore-scale coke combustion are conducted to validate the superior performance of the developed LB model. The results show that this model can reproduce coke combustion dynamics and capture variations in isotherms from the fluid phase to the solid phase at the pore scale. In contrast, without considering effects of thermal expansion or conjugate heat transfer as in previous models, simulations would underestimate the burning temperature and even fail to predict instability caused by a high driving force. Moreover, using the proposed LB model, a parametric study is performed to assess the impact of the inlet air and porous structure on coke combustion. The findings suggest that inlet air temperature and driving force should be controlled within certain ranges, otherwise their influences may become negligible or even negative. Large porosity accelerates coke combustion and leads to a desired combustion front. Heterogeneous coke distribution affects pore-scale combustion details but not the overall combustion intensity, while a random matrix structure may influence combustion dynamics both locally and globally. As a whole, this study develops a reliable LB model to investigate pore-scale coke combustion, which contributes to advancing the knowledge base for heavy oil recovery using the ISC process.

The anode active material graphite in the waste lithium-ion battery was prepared into graphene oxide, which was used for preparation of graphene aerogel through hydrothermal reduction. Taking Congo red as the model dye contaminant, the effects of graphene aerogel input, initial concentration of pollutants, initial pH, temperature and adsorption time on the adsorption of Congo red were studied. The kinetics thermodynamics of adsorption process was analyzed. The experimental results showed that the adsorption rate was up to 99% under optimal condition. The adsorption process of Congo red by graphene aerogel was in accordance with the Freundlich isotherm adsorption model. The adsorption process was multi-molecular layer adsorption, and the quasi-second-order kinetic equation indicated that the adsorption could be chemical adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity was 53.91 mg g−1, and the adsorption activation energy was 72.49 kJ mol−1. Our results show that the strategy of using the recycled anode material for dye removal may have high environmental and economic benefits.

An anode material with Li4Ti5O12 nanocrystals entangled by carbon nanotubes is prepared by polymerization of titanium tetra-isopropoxide with ethylene glycol in the presentence of carbon nanotubes. The resulted polymer is hydrolyzed in LiOH/H2O solution, and then thermally decomposed to obtain the topic anode material. The characterizations show that the synthesis method yields a type of material that has both of high electronic conductivity and high lithium ion diffusion rate. The material has stable deep discharge capability (down to 0.01 V), high specific capacity (237 mAhg−1 at 0.30 Ag-1), and long cycling life time (254 mAhg−1 at 0.10 Ag-1, more than 500 discharge/charge cycles). High specific capacities of 258 and 158 mAhg−1 are obtained at current densities of 0.10 and 3.00 Ag-1, respectively. The deep discharge capability of the material offers an average voltage below 1.0 V (vs metal Li), which is lower than that of pristine Li4Ti5O12 (1.55 V).

As a knowledge organization and representation method, ontology that can store land cover spectral, texture, shape attributes and relationships derived from image analysis. With the knowledge organized in ontology, the efficiency of automatic or semi-automatic land cover information extraction for the large coastal area is supposed to be improved. Together with the help of GF-1 Wide Field of View (WFV) data, which covers almost 200 km width area, the more frequent monitoring and change detection for coastal area of Guangxi province are available. This study makes attempt to monitor the land cover of Guangxi coastal area using GF-1 WFV data with ontological method. The land cover ontology for this area is established first via image feature analysis. Using this ontology, automatic image extraction from GF-1 WFV data of subsequent monitoring time is realized. The results of this study reveal that, using ontology, land cover extraction can be completed in acceptable accuracy but with higher efficiency.

The high cost of high-resolution computational fluid/flame dynamics (CFD) has hindered its application in combustion related design, research and optimization. In this study, we propose a new framework for turbulent combustion simulation based on the deep learning approach. An optimized deep convolutional neural network (CNN) inspired by a U-Net architecture and inception module is designed for constructing the framework of the deep learning solver, named CFDNN. CFDNN is then trained on the simulation results of hydrogen combustion in a cavity with different inlet velocities. After training, CFDNN can not only accurately predict the flow and combustion fields within the range of the training set, but also shows an extrapolation ability for prediction outside the training set. The results from the CFDNN solver show excellent consistency with conventional CFD results in terms of both predicted spatial distributions and temporal dynamics. Meanwhile, two orders of magnitude of acceleration is achieved by using the CFDNN solver compared to a conventional CFD solver. The successful development of such a deep learning-based solver opens up new possibilities of low-cost, high-accuracy simulations, fast prototyping, design optimization and real-time control of combustion systems such as gas turbines and scramjets.

The electrokinetic flow and accompanied electric conduction of a salt-free solution in the axial direction of a charged circular capillary are analyzed. No assumptions are made about the surface charge density (or surface potential) and electrokinetic radius of the capillary, which are interrelated. The Poisson-Boltzmann equation and modified Navier-Stokes equation are solved for the electrostatic potential distribution and fluid velocity profile, respectively. Closed-form formulas for the electroosmotic mobility and electric conductivity in the capillary are derived in terms of the surface charge density. The relative surface potential, electroosmotic mobility, and electric conductivity are monotonic increasing functions of the surface charge density and electrokinetic radius. However, the rises of the relative surface potential and electroosmotic mobility with an increase in the surface charge density are suppressed substantially when it is high due to the effect of counterion condensation. The analytical prediction that the electroosmotic mobility grows with increases in the surface charge density and electrokinetic radius agrees with the experimental results for salt-free solutions in circular microchannels in the literature.

A lack of clarity in the reaction mechanism of the aluminum nanoparticle (ANP) severely restricts its effective applications. By describing the physicochemical evolution of ANP burning in typical o...

Aluminum hydride (AlH3) has great potential for a variety of propulsion and energy-storage applications. In this study, the ReaxFF reactive force field molecular dynamics simulation is employed to ...

Through molecular dynamics simulations, head-on collision processes of two identical droplets with a diameter of 10.9 nm are elaborately scrutinized over a wide range of impact Weber numbers (from 6.7 to 1307) both in vacuum and in an ambient of nitrogen gas. As the impact Weber number exceeds a certain critical value, a hole or multiple holes in apparently random locations are observed in the disklike structure formed by two colliding droplets. We name this a new "hole regime" of droplet collisions, which has not yet been reported in previous studies. As the impact Weber number increases, the number of holes increases. The hole or holes may disappear unless a second critical impact Weber number is exceeded, when the merged droplet is likely to experience dramatic shattering. It is also found that the existence of ambient gas provides a "cushion effect" which resists droplet deformation, thus delaying or even preventing the appearance of hole formation and shattering regimes. Moreover, increasing ambient pressure suppresses hole formation. A model based on energy balance is proposed to predict droplet behaviors, which provides a more accurate estimate of the maximum spreading factor compared to previous models. Finally, we further extend the current nanoscale droplet collision regime map and analyze the similarities and dissimilarities between nano- and macroscale droplet collision. Our study extends the current understanding on nanodroplet collisions.

Enhanced recovery of shale gas with CO2 injection has attracted extensive attention as it combines the advantages of improved efficiency of shale gas recovery and reduced greenhouse gas emissions via CO2 geological sequestration. On the other hand, the microscopic mechanism of enhanced shale gas recovery with CO2 injection and the influence of the subsurface water confined in the shale nanopores remain ambiguous. Here, we use grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations to investigate the effect of moisture on the shale gas recovery and CO2 sequestration by calculating the adsorption of CH4 and CO2 in dry and moist kerogen slit pores. Simulation results indicate that water accumulates in the form of clusters in the middle of the kerogen slit pore. Formation of water clusters in kerogen slit pores reduces pore filling by methane molecules, resulting in a decrease in the methane sorption capacity. For the sorption of CH4/CO2 binary mixtures in kerogen slit pores, the CH4 sorption capacity decreases as the moisture content increases, whereas the effect of moisture on CO2 sorption capacity is related to its mole fraction in the CH4/CO2 binary mixture. Furthermore, we propose a reference route for shale gas recovery and find that the pressure drawdown and CO2 injection exhibit different mechanisms for gas recovery. Pressure drawdown mainly extracts the CH4 molecules distributed in the middle of kerogen slit pores, while CO2 injection recovers CH4 molecules from the adsorption layer. When the water content increases, the recovery ratio of the pressure drawdown declines, while that of CO2 injection increases, especially in the first stage of CO2 injection. The CO2 sequestration efficiency is higher under higher water content. These findings provide the theoretical foundation for optimization of the shale gas recovery process, as well as effective CO2 sequestration in depleted gas reservoirs.

In the classical multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) lattice Boltzmann (LB) method, the transformation matrix is formed by constructing a set of orthogonal basis vectors. In this paper, a theoretical and numerical study is performed to investigate the capability and efficiency of a non-orthogonal MRT-LB model for simulating multiphase flows. First, a three-dimensional non-orthogonal MRT-LB is proposed. A non-orthogonal MRT collision operator is devised based on a set of non-orthogonal basis vectors, through which the transformation matrix and its inverse matrix are considerably simplified as compared with those of an orthogonal MRT collision operator. Furthermore, through the Chapman-Enskog analysis, it is theoretically demonstrated that the three-dimensional non-orthogonal MRT-LB model can correctly recover the macroscopic equations at the Navier-Stokes level in the low Mach number limit. Numerical comparisons between the non-orthogonal MRT-LB model and the usual orthogonal MRT-LB model are made by simulating multiphase flows on the basis of the pseudopotential multiphase LB approach. The numerical results show that, in comparison with the usual orthogonal MRT-LB model, the non-orthogonal MRT-LB model can retain the numerical accuracy while simplifying the implementation.

The time changes of permittivity, damping and velocity of sound are studied for PbFe0.5Nb0.5O3 and PbFe0.5Nb0.5O3–7PbTiO3 single crystals in the electric fields of 0 < E < 6 kV/cm. The room-temperature local symmetry of these compounds is shown to be rather more monoclinic than rhombohedral, which is typical of other similar systems. No abrupt sound attenuation anomalies are observed upon the phase transition into the ferroelectric phase in the electric field. The effects seem to be far from the crystal symmetry changes and are attributed to the gradual transition of near-range monoclinic domains into long-range monoclinic domains, as well as to the emergence of the ferroelectric phase. The polarized phase induced in the electric field is only partially stable.

Annealing-induced microstructural changes in yttria partially stabilized zirconia (YSZ) have been investigated by scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with computer simulation. It is shown that the high-temperature annealing results in the formation of voids in YSZ and structural ordering in the surrounding area of the voids. Atomic-scale Z-contrast imaging shows one-dimensional distortion of the cation sub-lattice by alternate arrangement of narrow and wide (100) planes of the cation sub-lattice along the [100] direction of the cubic ZrO2 structure. Such distortion of the cation sub-lattice is attributed to the 1/4[001] displacement of the oxygen atoms in the (100) plane, which is confirmed experimentally by annual bright field imaging along with the density-functional theory and computer simulations of the atomic-scale Z-contrast imaging and electron diffraction.

Based on the newly released Gaia DR2 star catalogue, the CCD images of Neptunian satellites taken by the telescopes at Xinglong Observatory of National Astronomical Observatory in 2006–2007 were re-reduced. A total of 174 satellite positions were derived, including 34 new observed positions of Triton, 28 new and 112 updated observed positions of Nereid. Thanks to the high-quality reference catalogue Gaia DR2 and more suitable plate models, the precision of the re-reduction for Nereid is more than doubled and the dispersions of these observations are better than 80 mas. Moreover, the comparisons show that for the Neptune system in the period 2006–2007, there are some systematic discrepancies between different planetary ephemerides such as INPOP17a with DE431 and EPM2017, and the discrepancy can reach as much as 50 mas, which is reflected in the calculation of (O C) residuals of Neptunian satellites.

This paper presents three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of lean premixed H2/air flames with equivalence ratios 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6, respectively. The initial Karlovitz number is around 2335 and the pressure is 20 atm, which is relevant to gas turbine conditions. The heat release in reaction zones under different equivalence ratios is examined statistically with the aim to extend our understanding of lean combustion under high-pressure conditions. With increasing equivalence ratio, the relative thickness of reaction zone (δf/δL) is increasing for both laminar and turbulent flames, but the extent of increase is reduced under high equivalence ratio. By examining the local structures of flame fronts, it is found that trenches and plateaus of local equivalence ratio are located on separate sides of the reaction zone edge. Due to the decreased Lewis number under high equivalence ratio, the trench ‘depth’ and plateau ‘height’ are reduced. For the flame under ultra-lean conditions, there are some spots with temperatures above adiabatic temperature. This is attributed to the high-fraction of radicals in these regions, which will promote heat release. Furthermore, the heat release rates of elementary reactions are investigated with the analysis of radical fractions and rate constants. When the mixture equivalence ratio varies, the local heat release is changed in different temperature windows due to the combined effects of radical fractions and reaction rate constants.

In the present study, the ReaxFF reactive molecular dynamics simulation method was applied to investigate the effect of a small nickel cluster (Ni13) on the formation of nascent soot from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) precursors. A series of NVT simulations was performed for systems of a Ni13 cluster and various PAH monomers, namely, naphthalene, anthracene, pyrene, coronene, ovalene, and circumcoronene, at temperatures from 400 to 2500 K. At low temperatures, the PAHs form soot particles via binding and stacking around nickel clusters. Larger soot particles are formed due to the early initiation of clustering provided by nickel compared to those observed in homogenous PAH systems. At 1200-1600 K, the PAH monomers show a chemisorption tendency onto the nickel surface, which results in incipient soot particles. Chemical nucleation was observed at 2000 K where nickel-assisted dehydrogenation and chemisorption of PAH led to the growth of stable soot particles, which did not occur in the absence of Ni-clusters. At a high temperature (2500 K), nickel significantly accelerates the ring-opening and graphitization of PAH molecules and increases the size of the fullerene-type soot as compared to that of homogenous systems.

This study employed the reactive force field molecular dynamics to capture atomic-level heat and mass transfer and reaction processes of an aluminum nanoparticle (ANP) oxidizing in a high temperature and pressure oxygen atmosphere, revealing detailed mechanisms for oxidation of ANPs. Temporal variations of temperature, density, mean square displacement, atom consumption rate, and heat release rate of ANPs have been systematically examined. In addition, the effects of environment on ANP oxidation were also evaluated. The results show that ANPs undergo four stages of preheating, melting, fast Al core, and moderate shell oxidations during the whole oxidation process. The Al core starts to melt from a core–shell interface with outward diffusion of core Al atoms into the shell. Intense reaction occurs between shell O and core Al atoms around the interface at the end of melting, leading to fast Al core oxidation. After complete oxidation of the Al core, the oxide shell continues to react with ambient O atoms. Both the initial environmental temperature and the equivalent pressure significantly influence the preheating. Conversely, the melting stage seems almost independent of any of them. However, fast Al core oxidation presents more sensitivity to the ambient equivalent pressure.

Biomass-derived carboxylic acids (e.g. acetic acid AcOH and formic acid FA) are a green and low-cost hydrogen source to replace hazardous H2 gas in in-situ hydrogenation processes. To date, bio-acids dehydrogenation has been mainly conducted using noble metal catalysts which would negatively impact the process economy, thus development of efficient non-noble metal catalysts for this purpose is highly desirable. In this study, the performance of transition metals supported on nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes was thoroughly evaluated by computational modelling based on Density Functional Theory (DFT). Results revealed that, out of the 10 selected transition metal candidates, molybdenum (Mo) was most active for binding AcOH and a combination of Mo and nitrogen doping significantly enhanced binding to the carboxylic acid molecules compared to pristine carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The newly designed Mo/N-CNT catalysts considerably facilitated the bio-acids decomposition compared to the non-catalytic scenarios by lowering energy barriers. FA distinctly outperformed AcOH in hydrogen donation over Mo/N-CNT catalysts, through its spontaneous cleavage leading to facile hydrogen donation.

In the present research, the sodium ion transport across the endothelial glycocalyx layer (EGL) under an imposed electric field is investigated, for the first time, using a series of molecular dynamics simulations. The electric field is perpendicularly imposed on the EGL with varying strengths. The sodium ion molarity difference between the inner and outer layers of EGL, Δc, is used to quantify the sodium transport in the presence of the negatively charged glycocalyx sugar chains. Results suggest that a weak electric field increases Δc, regardless of whether the electric field is imposed perpendicularly inward or outward. By contrast, a strong electric field drives sodium ions to travel in the same orientation as the electric field. Scrutiny of the charge distribution of the glycocalyx sugar chains suggests that the electric field modifies the spatial layouts of glycocalyx atoms as it drives the transport of sodium ions. The modification in glycocalyx layouts further changes the inter-molecular interactions between glycocalyx sugar chains and sodium ions, thereby limiting the electric field control of ion transport. The sodium ions, in turn, alter the apparent bending stiffness of glycocalyx. Moreover, the negative charges of the glycocalyx sugar chains play an important role in maintaining structural stability of endothelial glycocalyx. Based on the findings, a hypothesis is proposed regarding the existence of a strength threshold of the electric field in controlling charged particles in the endothelium, which offers an alternative explanation for contrasting results in previous experimental observations.

A multiple-relaxation-time discrete Boltzmann model (DBM) is proposed for multicomponent mixtures, where compressible, hydrodynamic, and thermodynamic nonequilibrium effects are taken into account. It allows the specific heat ratio and the Prandtl number to be adjustable, and is suitable for both low and high speed fluid flows. From the physical side, besides being consistent with the multicomponent Navier-Stokes equations, Fick's law, and Stefan-Maxwell diffusion equation in the hydrodynamic limit, the DBM provides more kinetic information about the nonequilibrium effects. The physical capability of DBM to describe the nonequilibrium flows, beyond the Navier-Stokes representation, enables the study of the entropy production mechanism in complex flows, especially in multicomponent mixtures. Moreover, the current kinetic model is employed to investigate nonequilibrium behaviors of the compressible Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI). The entropy of mixing, the mixing area, the mixing width, the kinetic and internal energies, and the maximum and minimum temperatures are investigated during the dynamic KHI process. It is found that the mixing degree and fluid flow are similar in the KHI process for cases with various thermal conductivity and initial temperature configurations, while the maximum and minimum temperatures show different trends in cases with or without initial temperature gradients. Physically, both heat conduction and temperature exert slight influences on the formation and evolution of the KHI morphological structure.

Bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels ("bijels") represent a new class of soft materials made of a densely packed monolayer of solid particles sequestered at the interface of a bicontinuous fluid. Their mechanical properties are relevant to many applications, such as catalysis, energy conversion, soft robotics, and scaffolds for tissue engineering. While their stationary bulk properties have been covered in depth, much less is known about their behavior in the presence of an external shear. In this paper, we numerically study the dynamics of a bijel confined within a three-dimensional rectangular domain and subject to a symmetric shear flow sufficiently intense to break the material. Extensive numerical simulations reveal that the shear flow generally promotes the detachment of a sizable amount of particles from the fluid interface and their accumulation in the bulk. Fluid interfaces undergo large stretching and deformations along the flow direction, an effect that reduces their capability of entrapping particles. These results are supported by a series of quantitative indicators such as (i) curvature of the fluid interface, (ii) spatial distribution of the colloidal particles, and (iii) fluid flow structure within the microchannel. (c) 2020 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

The rheology of pressure-driven flows of two-dimensional dense monodisperse emulsions in neutral wetting microchannels is investigated by means of mesoscopic lattice simulations, capable of handling large collections of droplets, in the order of several hundreds. The simulations reveal that the fluidization of the emulsion proceeds through a sequence of discrete steps, characterized by yielding events whereby layers of droplets start rolling over each other, thus leading to sudden drops of the relative effective viscosity. It is shown that such discrete fluidization is robust against loss of confinement, namely it persists also in the regime of small ratios of the droplet diameter over the microchannel width. We also develop a simple phenomenological model which predicts a linear relation between the relative effective viscosity of the emulsion and the product of the confinement parameter (global size of the device over droplet radius) and the viscosity ratio between the disperse and continuous phases. The model shows excellent agreement with the numerical simulations. The present work offers new insights to enable the design of microfluidic scaffolds for tissue engineering applications and paves the way to detailed rheological studies of soft-glassy materials in complex geometries., 8 pages, 8 figures

Geological CO2 sequestration (GCS) is an essential building block of the global strategy to alleviate greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the climate change. Injecting CO2 into the shale formations can not only reduce carbon emissions but also enhance oil recovery (EOR). Rock wettability is of great importance to CO2 storage as it determines the efficiency of structural and residual trapping of CO2 and plays a crucial role in CO2-EOR. In this work, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are adopted to investigate the CO2-H2O-kerogen systems under various CO2 pressures. In a vacuum or under low CO2 pressures, kerogen surface is weakly water-wet thanks to the hydrogen bonding between H2O and kerogen. As CO2 pressure increases, kerogen wettability shifts from water-wet to CO2-wet, because more CO2 molecules accumulate at the H2O-kerogen interface and a distinct CO2 thin film emerges. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the O-containing functional groups preferably adsorb H2O molecules over CO2 through hydrogen bonding, which is responsible for the weakly water-wet tendency at low CO2 pressures. In contrast, the carbon skeleton of kerogen exhibits a stronger affinity to CO2, leading to the formation of CO2 thin film on the kerogen surface. The CO2 crowding close to the kerogen surface at high CO2 pressures gives rise to the CO2-wet state. This study provides, for the first time, the fundamental mechanism for the kerogen wettability transition from water-wet to CO2-wet. The work also indicates that wettability of the mature kerogen is more likely to be CO2-wet during GCS, which is unfavorable for capillary trapping of CO2, but is favorable for CO2-EOR.

It is found that the coupling between the solar wind and polar geomagnetic activity cause the annual and semiannual variation of auroral electrojet. The wavelet spectrum of the SuperMAG index, SML and SMU shows that both of the semiannual and annual variations are permanent features, and spectral power of the annual period of SML and SMU are stronger than that of the semiannual period. Due to coupling of the annual variation and the semiannual variation of SML, the diurnal variation of SML in summer months is not well correlated with results anticipated from the previous principle hypotheses [McIntosh, 1959; Russell and McPherron, 1973; Svalgaard, 1977; Cliver et al., 2000; Newell et al., 2013]. The annual/semiannual variation of SML and SMU is typically coupled together and is dependent on the local time and latitudinal variations of ionospheric conductivity and the electric field. A new index, the annual-corrected SMO index (SMO*), was suggested to indicate the semiannual variation of the westward auroral electrojet (SML). The seasonal-UT distribution of SMO* has good correlation with that predicted by the equinoctial hypothesis [McIntosh, 1959; Svalgaard, 2011].

Spring-Autumnal asymmetry (SA asymmetry) from years 1873–2010 in the geomagnetic activity is investigated based on the geomagnetic indices (aa, Ap and Kp). Results have shown that in general the SA asymmetry of the geomagnetic activity appears to be alternation, except for the interval during which the change of dominant solar dipole magnetic field polarity occurs. Our study implies that both the polarity of the main solar dipole field and the north-south asymmetry of the sunspot area in the two solar hemispheres control the strength of the south component (Bs) of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near the Earth and the resulting SA asymmetry of the geomagnetic activity in the corresponding seasons. A simple sector structure model is devised to establish the relationship between the polarity of solar main dipole magnetic field, the IMF Bs component and the corresponding SA asymmetry in the geomagnetic activity. This is confirmed by examining the solar wind parameters from the spacecraft observations during the recent decades.

When boiling occurs in a liquid flow field, the phenomenon is known as forced-convection boiling. We numerically investigate such a boiling system on a cylinder in a flow at a saturated condition. To deal with the complicated liquid-vapor phase-change phenomenon, we develop a numerical scheme based on the pseudopotential lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The collision stage is performed in the space of central moments (CMs) to enhance numerical stability for high Reynolds numbers. The adopted forcing scheme, consistent with the CMs-based LBM, leads to a concise yet robust algorithm. Furthermore, additional terms required to ensure thermodynamic consistency are derived in a CMs framework. The effectiveness of the present scheme is successfully tested against a series of boiling processes, including nucleation, growth, and departure of a vapor bubble for Reynolds numbers varying between 30 and 30000. Our CMs-based LBM can reproduce all the boiling regimes, i.e., nucleate boiling, transition boiling, and film boiling, without any artificial input such as initial vapor phase. We find that the typical boiling curve, also known as the Nukiyama curve, appears even though the focused system is not the pool boiling but the forced-convection system. Also, our simulations support experimental observations of intermittent direct solid-liquid contact even in the film-boiling regime. Finally, we provide quantitative comparison with the semi-empirical correlations for the forced-convection film boiling on a cylinder on the Nu-Ja diagram., 23 pages, 21 figures

Accurate fuel combustion modelling is a matter of immense importance to design clean combustors and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants. In this Brief Communication, we present the effects of internal dynamics of one n -heptane molecule which are controlling chemical kinetics of hydrogen abstraction reactions through multi-pathway reaction dynamics. It is established that the slope of Arrhenius plots dramatically changes in comparison with the harmonic single static pathway approach in the temperature range of 200–3000 K. We apply a combination of the multiple conformation statistical thermodynamic approach and variational transition-state theory (VTST) to obtain dynamic multi-path rate coefficients (k MP-T-VTST and k MP-LH-VTST ). Compared with single-path VTST (k SP-H-VTST ) results, the thermal reaction rate coefficients obtained from our MP-VTST calculations differ considerably due to the fact that tunnelling and cross-conformational effects in the reactions, and the anharmonic and quasi-harmonic contributions in multiple conformer molecules cannot be ignored or simplified.

Sugarcane is one of the most important crops in Guangxi, China. As the development of satellite remote sensing technology, more remotely sensed images can be used for monitoring sugarcane crop. With the help of Three Line Camera (TLC) images, wide coverage and stereoscopic mapping ability, Chinese ZY-3 high resolution stereoscopic mapping satellite is useful in attaining more information for sugarcane crop monitoring, such as spectral, shape, texture difference between forward, nadir and backward images. Digital surface model (DSM) derived from ZY-3 TLC images are also able to provide height information for sugarcane crop. In this study, we make attempt to extract sugarcane crop from ZY-3 images, which are acquired in harvest period. Ortho-rectified TLC images, fused image, DSM are processed for our extraction. Then Object-oriented method is used in image segmentation, example collection, and feature extraction. The results of our study show that with the help of ZY-3 TLC image, the information of sugarcane crop in harvest time can be automatic extracted, with an overall accuracy of about 85.3 %.

Nereid is one of the most distinctive natural satellites that we know in the Solar system. The orbit of Nereid is highly eccentric and inclined with respect to the equator of its primary, Neptune. Studying Nereid is one of the inspiring ways to acquire better knowledge of the Solar system. Due to its faintness, the ground-based observations of Nereid have been limited and the observation precisions in the past were generally not high. A total of 150 new observed positions of Nereid in the period 2012–2017 were collected by the 0.8 m reflecting telescope at Xinglong station of National Astronomical Observatory and the 2.4 m reflecting telescope at Lijiang station of Yunnan Astronomical Observatory. Thanks to the high-quality reference catalogue Gaia DR1 and suitable processing methods for images, the precision of our new observations of Nereid is 2–3 times higher than those of the previous observations, and the dispersions of our observations are better than 70 mas.

Solvolysis is one of the promising methods to convert lignin to different kinds of value-added aromatic chemicals in the solvent, sometimes employing a catalytic system and hydrogen. The process involving the cracking of the lignin macromolecule and repolymerization of the produced fragments is influenced by the heating method, experimental conditions, presence of catalyst, and solvent species. The inter-unit linkages in lignin can be selectively cleaved with the addition of the designed catalyst, facilitating the formation of the aromatic compounds. A favorable solvent system could improve the yield of specific aromatic compounds and inhibit the formation of polymerized compounds. This work aimed to provide a comprehensive review on lignin hydrogenolysis concerning the effect of the catalyst and solvent on the cleavage mechanism of typical inter-unit linkages and on the final product distribution. The limitations and forward routes for this area are addressed in order to emphasize the requirement for understanding the lignin hydrogenlitic depolymerization process for the production of aromatic platform chemicals.

The decay Z→bb¯ is reconstructed in pp collision data, corresponding to 2 fb−1 of integrated luminosity, collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of s=8 TeV. The product of the Z production cross-section and the Z→bb¯ branching fraction is measured for candidates in the fiducial region defined by two particle-level b-quark jets with pseudorapidities in the range 2.2 20 GeV and dijet invariant mass in the range 45

Available water stored in deep soil layers could increase the photosynthetic capacity of cotton. It was hypothesized that the photosynthesis of cotton would be enhanced by changing the fertilizer application depth under different deep-layer water conditions. We examined two deep-layer water levels, i.e., well-watered (W80) and not watered (W0), combined with surface application (F10) and deep application (F30) of basal fertilizer. Compared to W0, W80 resulted in increased leaf area (LA), photosynthetic pigment contents, maximal PSII efficiency (Fv/Fm), effective quantum yield of PSII (YII) and PSI (YI), electron transport rate of PSII (ETRII) and PSI (ETRI). W80 also increased the aboveground and root dry mass by 39 and 0.6%, respectively, and decreased the root/shoot ratio by 40–73%. Under the W0 condition, higher values of Fv/Fm, YII, YI, ETRII, and ETRI were measured for F10 compared to F30 after 69 d from emergence. Under the W80 condition, cotton plants with F10 showed higher LA, Fv/Fm, YII, YI, ETRII, and ETRI, but there were no significant differences in the photosynthetic pigments compared to F30. Our results suggest that sufficient water in deeper soil layers and the surface application of basal fertilizer could increase photosynthetic activity and efficiency, which promoted aboveground dry mass accumulation and partitioning towards reproductive organs.

The Nb-Si-Ta ternary system is thermodynamically assessed using the CALculation of PHAse Diagram approach based on the experimental measurements of the isothermal sections at 1100, 1200, and 1300 °C. The parameters for the thermodynamic assessment of all the phases in the system are optimized, following the reported literatures of the three relevant binaries Nb-Si, Nb-Ta and Si-Ta systems. The liquidus projection was calculated accordingly from the currently obtained thermodynamic description of the Nb-Si-Ta system. Comparison between the calculated results and the experimental investigations shows that the present modeling can finely describe the experimental information of the Nb-Si-Ta ternary phase diagram.

The observation of the decay $\varXi^{-}_{b}\to J/\psi\varLambda K^{-}$ is reported, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb detector in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8~\mathrm{TeV}$. The production rate of $\varXi_{b}^{-}$ baryons detected in the decay $\varXi_{b}^{-}\to J/\psi\varLambda K^{-}$ is measured relative to that of $\varLambda_{b}^{0}$ baryons using the decay $\varLambda_{b}^{0}\to J/\psi \varLambda$. Integrated over the $b$-baryon transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}

A modified coating system comprising a ceramic region, a metal-ceramic transition region (a region compounded with ceramic splats and NiAl splats) and a bond region is deposited by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). The micro-structure and phase composition are studied using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties, stress distribution and crack propagation are evaluated with a bending test. At the same time, the thermal shocking resistance of the modified coating system (MAT40 coating system) is also estimated. The results show that the cracks are deflected by small NiAl splats and cross long NiAl splats after the large tensile deformation of the NiAl splats during bending test. In addition, the crack extends along the boundary of the columnar grain in the ceramic splats. The appearance of the transition region makes a toughness increase and stress gradient decrease. Net macro-cracks are observed at the surface of the Al2O3-40 wt% TiO2 coating with a conventional dual layer structure system. However, in the modified coating system, we find almost no cracks after the 50th cycle of thermal shocking. In addition, the intergranular cracks taken place in the coating both under continuous thermal shocking circles and three bend test.

By introducing the concept of forming springback anti-coupled systems and considering the influence of the self damping effect, meanwhile establishing higher-order geometrical nonlinear equation of a high strength and low alloy (HSLA) steel plate, then a set of nonlinear dynamic springback governing equations of the plate are obtained. The finite difference method, Newmark method and iterative method are applied to solve the whole problem. Numerical results denote that the boundary conditions, thickness-length ratio of the plate and initial impact velocity of the impactor have great influence on the springback amount of the rectangular HSLA steel plate, besides the natural frequency is affected a lot by the boundary conditions and thickness-length ratio. The effect of higher-order geometrical nonlinearity on the springback amount of the plate can be ignored, considering the first-order geometrical nonlinearity is enough accurate for such similar nonlinear dynamic problems.

Al 2 O 3 -40 wt%TiO 2 (AT40) coating is a low-cost and widely applied ceramic coating. In this article, the phase distribution, micro-hardness and wear mechanism, as well as the spraying conditions optimization, are discussed. Interface defects. Phase distribution and phase composition were analysed using SEM and XRD. The results show that the pre-existing surface morphology mainly determines the phase distribution. Al 2 TiO 5 and γ-Al 2 O 3 are the main phases in the coating. In this experiment, the highest micro-hardness (1126.2 HV 0.2 ) was measured using a Vickers tester. Additionally, the wear rate of the highest micro-hardness coating is 0.0387 mg/N m, which is the lowest weight loss rate measured among all the samples. The wear mechanism for this sample is primarily scratches. In conclusion, the compact lamellar phase distribution decreases the number of interface defects, increases the hardness and determines the wear mechanism. Also, the phase distribution is affected by the spraying conditions.

Energetic ion distributions in the near-Earth plasma sheet can provide important information for understanding the entry of ions into the magnetosphere and their transportation, acceleration, and losses in the near-Earth region. In this study, 11 years of energetic proton and oxygen observations (> similar to 274 keV) from Cluster/Research with Adaptive Particle Imaging Detectors were used to statistically study the energetic ion distributions in the near-Earth region. The dawn-dusk asymmetries of the distributions in three different regions (dayside magnetosphere, near-Earth nightside plasma sheet, and tail plasma sheet) are examined in Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The results show that the energetic ion distributions are influenced by the dawn-dusk interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction. The enhancement of ion intensity largely correlates with the location of the magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause. The results imply that substorm-related acceleration processes in the magnetotail are not the only source of energetic ions in the dayside and the near-Earth magnetosphere. Energetic ions delivered through reconnection at the magnetopause significantly affect the energetic ion population in the magnetosphere. We also believe that the influence of the dawn-dusk IMF direction should not be neglected in models of the particle population in the magnetosphere.

A search for the rare two-body charmless baryonic decay B + → p Λ ¯ $$ {B}^{+}\to p\overline{\varLambda} $$ is performed with pp collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb−1, collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. An excess of B + → p Λ ¯ $$ {B}^{+}\to p\overline{\varLambda} $$ candidates with respect to background expectations is seen with a statistical significance of 4.1 standard deviations, and constitutes the first evidence for this decay. The branching fraction, measured using the B + → K S 0 π + decay for normalisation, is ℬ B + → p Λ ¯ = 2 . 4 − 0.8 + 1.0 ± 0.3 × 1 0 − 7 , $$ \mathrm{\mathcal{B}}\left({B}^{+}\to p\overline{\varLambda}\right)=\left(2.{4}_{-0.8}^{+1.0}\pm 0.3\right)\times 1{0}^{-7}, $$ where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.

The pseudopotential multiphase lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is a very popular model in the LB community for simulating multiphase flows. When the multiphase modeling involves a solid boundary, a numerical scheme is required to simulate the contact angle at the solid boundary. In this work, we aim at investigating the implementation of contact angles in the pseudopotential LB simulations with curved boundaries. In the pseudopotential LB model, the contact angle is usually realized by employing a solid-fluid interaction or specifying a constant virtual wall density. However, it is shown that the solid-fluid interaction scheme yields very large spurious currents in the simulations involving curved boundaries, while the virtual-density scheme produces an unphysical thick mass-transfer layer near the solid boundary although it gives much smaller spurious currents. We also extend the geometric-formulation scheme in the phase-field method to the pseudopotential LB model. Nevertheless, in comparison with the solid-fluid interaction scheme and the virtual-density scheme, the geometric-formulation scheme is relatively difficult to implement for curved boundaries and cannot be directly applied to three-dimensional space. By analyzing the features of these three schemes, we propose an improved virtual-density scheme to implement contact angles in the pseudopotential LB simulations with curved boundaries, which does not suffer from a thick mass-transfer layer near the solid boundary and retains the advantages of the original virtual-density scheme, i.e., simplicity, easiness for implementation, and low spurious currents., Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures

In this paper, an improved three-dimensional color-gradient lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is proposed for simulating immiscible multiphase flows. Compared with the previous three-dimensional color-gradient LB models, which suffer from the lack of Galilean invariance and considerable numerical errors in many cases owing to the error terms in the recovered macroscopic equations, the present model eliminates the error terms and therefore improves the numerical accuracy and enhances the Galilean invariance. To validate the proposed model, numerical simulation are performed. First, the test of a moving droplet in a uniform flow field is employed to verify the Galilean invariance of the improved model. Subsequently, numerical simulations are carried out for the layered two-phase flow and three-dimensional Rayleigh-Taylor instability. It is shown that, using the improved model, the numerical accuracy can be significantly improved in comparison with the color-gradient LB model without the improvements. Finally, the capability of the improved color-gradient LB model for simulating dynamic multiphase flows at a relatively large density ratio is demonstrated via the simulation of droplet impact on a solid surface., Comment: 9 Figures

In this paper, a new model for closing the sub-grid reaction rate is proposed based on the series expansion of the chemical source term around the filtered value. For validation, large eddy simulations of a bluff-body stabilised premixed flame are performed at three different grid resolutions, and results are compared with experimental data. Simulations neglecting the sub-grid contributions of the source term are also conducted to examine the relative sub-grid contribution. The results show that the series model reproduces correctly key characteristics such as flame anchoring, recirculation zones and shear layers. Statistically, good agreement with experimental data is obtained by the series model, in terms of time-averaged profiles of velocity and its fluctuations, and temperature as well as the size of the recirculation region. With increasing mesh refinement, the “no-model” approach results improve and the predictions are similar (albeit always worse) to those of the series model.

BACKGROUND: The endothelial glycocalyx plays a pivotal role in regulating blood flow, filtering blood components, sensing and transducing mechanical signals. These functions are intimately related to its dynamics at the molecular level. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to establish the relationship between the functions of the endothelial glycocalyx and its dynamics at the molecular level. METHODS: To establish such a relationship, large-scale molecular dynamics simulations were undertaken to mimic the dynamics of the glycocalyx and its components in the presence of flow shear stresses. RESULTS: First, motions of the glycocalyx core protein and the pertinent subdomains were scrutinised. Three-directional movements of the glycocalyx core protein were observed, although the flow was imposed only in the x direction. Such an observation contributes to understanding the glycocalyx redistribution as reported in experiments. Unsynchronised motion of the core protein subdomains was also spotted, which provides an alternative explanation of macroscopic phenomena. Moreover, the dynamics, root-mean-square-deviations and conformational changes of the sugar chains were investigated. Based on the findings, an alternative force transmission pathway, the role of sugar chains, and potential influence on signalling transduction pathway were proposed and discussed. CONCLUSIONS: This study relates the functions of the glycocalyx with its microscopic dynamics, which fills a knowledge gap about the links between different scales.

The cascaded lattice Boltzmann method decomposes the collision stage on a basis of central moments on which the equilibrium state is assumed equal to that of the continuous Maxwellian distribution. Such a relaxation process is usually considered as an assumption, which is then justified a posteriori by showing the enhanced Galilean invariance of the resultant algorithm. An alternative method is to relax central moments to the equilibrium state of the discrete second-order truncated distribution. In this paper, we demonstrate that relaxation to the continuous Maxwellian distribution is equivalent to the discrete counterpart if higher-order (up to sixth) Hermite polynomials are used to construct the equilibrium when the D3Q27 lattice velocity space is considered. Therefore, a theoretical a priori justification of the choice of the continuous distribution is formally provided for the first time.

Nonlinear SU(1,1) interferometers are fruitful and promising tools for spectral engineering and precise measurements with phase sensitivity below the classical bound. Such interferometers have been successfully realized in bulk and fiber-based configurations. However, rapidly developing integrated technologies provide higher efficiencies, smaller footprints, and pave the way to quantum-enhanced on-chip interferometry. In this work, we theoretically realised an integrated architecture of the multimode SU(1,1) interferometer which can be applied to various integrated platforms. The presented interferometer includes a polarization converter between two photon sources and utilizes a continuous-wave (CW) pump. Based on the potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) platform, we show that this configuration results in almost perfect destructive interference at the output and supersensitivity regions below the classical limit. In addition, we discuss the fundamental difference between single-mode and highly multimode SU(1,1) interferometers in the properties of phase sensitivity and its limits. Finally, we explore how to improve the phase sensitivity by filtering the output radiation and using different seeding states in different modes with various detection strategies.

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and large-eddy simulation (LES) are combined with a scalar subgrid-scale model to simulate the indoor air velocity field and harmful gas dispersion. The LBM-LES model is validated by comparing its results with published experimental and numerical simulation results. Taking a simplified chemical building as the scenario, the relative ventilation efficiency is evaluated based on the maximum harmful gas concentration, and configurations with centralized and distributed harmful gas sources with both mixing ventilation (MV) and displacement ventilation (DV) systems are considered. According to the results, if the density of the harmful gas is less than the air density, the DV system is more efficient than the MV system. The DV system is more stable than the MV system under fluctuating relative ventilation efficiency due to changes in the distance between the ventilation vents and in the distance between the centralized gas sources and the exhaust air vent.

Global climate change is happening but may be mitigated by the technology of geological carbon dioxide ( CO 2) sequestration. To gain comprehensive insights into this approach, we perform pore-scale simulations of displacement between two miscible fluids in porous media using a new multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann model. This study marks the first attempt to investigate viscous fingering dynamics in miscible displacement, considering the coexistence of viscosity contrast and dissolution reaction. Simulation results capture different fingering patterns that depend on dissolution (Damkohler number Da), diffusion (Peclet number Pe), and viscosity contrast (viscosity ratio R). From simulations of unstable viscous flows, dissolution is found to delay fingering onset, slow down fingering propagation, and inhibit or reinforce the late-stage fingering intensity. In simulations with stable viscosity contrasts, the displacement features fingering phenomena when dissolution is fast enough. In addition, we conduct a parametric study to assess the impact of Pe, R, and Da. The results suggest that increasing Pe or R destabilizes fingering, but increasing Da first suppresses and gradually intensifies fingering. Finally, for every fixed Da, we determine the phase boundary between stable and unstable regimes in a Pe–R phase plane. A unified scaling law is developed to approximate boundary lines obtained under different Da values. By comparing reactive and nonreactive cases, we classify four distinct regimes: stable, unstable, reactive stable, and reactive unstable. These pore-scale insights are helpful in understanding and predicting the displacement stability during the geological CO 2 sequestration, which is of importance to the pre-evaluation of the storage efficiency and safety.

The “Nose-like” ion spectral structures are characterized by the deep inward penetration of ions from the near-Earth plasma sheet and can extend to low L shells in the inner magnetosphere. The stationary “Nose-like” ion structures are believed to be driven by the stationary electric and magnetic field during quiet geomagnetic times. However, the global distribution picture, especially for each MLT, for both single and double stationary nose structures is still not reached. In this study, we statistically investigate the stationary “Nose-like” ion spectral structure based on 2 years of Van Allen probes observations. We find a clear MLT dependence of the number of stationary noses, with a higher occurrence of single-nose structures from 13 to 03 MLT, while a higher occurrence of double-nose structures from 03 to 13MLT. This is confirmed by calculating the backward drift time using backward tracing method based on the dipole magnetic field and Weimer 96 electric field model for each MLT. Simulation results indicate that the ion spectral gap, which is formed due to long drift time or existence of the ion forbidden region, controls the nose structure at different MLT during geomagnetic quiet times. A possible physical explanation of this MLT dependence can be a combination of the ion spectral gaps created by the region of long drift time in the dayside within the nose energy range and the persistent dawn-dusk asymmetries in the convection electric field.