Sharif Digital Repository

In this work, the method of moments is used for solution of population balance equations appearing in modeling of emulsion polymerization (EP). The zero-one model without coagulation effect and the pseudo-bulk model including coagulation effect are investigated as two common approaches for modeling EP processes. The fixed quadrature method is used to close the set of moment equations, and the maximum entropy approach is applied to reconstruct the particle size distribution from a finite number of its moments. Comparing the results with those obtained by the high-precision finite volume technique indicates that, despite the low computational load of the moment method, it has an acceptable... 

This paper considers the modeling and control of a tubular fixed bed reactor with recycle stream for dimethyl ether (DME) production. For simulation purposes, a pseudo homogeneous model has been developed. By reactor simulation under steady state condition, effects of parameters such as feed rate, pressure and shell temperature are investigated. Using the steady state model, an optimizer that maximizes the reactor yield has been developed. For cooling the reactor, a steam drum that uses heat of reactions to produce steam was coupled with the reactor. Through dynamic simulation, system open loop response was obtained and two control loops were considered for controlling the reactor... 

In this work, simultaneous inferential control of particle size distribution (PSD) and molecular weight distribution (MWD) in a semi-batch emulsion polymerization reactor of styrene has been addressed. Using a comprehensive dynamic model for PSD and MWD predictions and performing a sensitivity analysis, it has been revealed that free surfactant and chain transfer agent (CTA) concentrations in the reactor are the most suitable candidates for inferential control of PSD and MWD, respectively. To control concentrations of these species in the reactor, their inlet feed flow rates are used as manipulated variables. It is assumed that the concentration of CTA is measured infrequently and therefore... 

Zeolite-based micromotors were developed to eliminate the biological and chemical contamination of water in a fast and efficient way. The motors consist of a silver-exchanged zeolite core and a partial catalytic coating. These porous engines showed rapid killing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria cells in a very short time, less than 7.5 minutes. The heavy metal uptake of the zeolitic motors during the first 20 minutes of contact was considerably higher than that of zeolite particles by 23% for Pb2+, 19% for Co2+, and 16% for Ni2+. Also, the maximum removal efficiency of the motors (at room temperature and for 6 hours) for Pb2+, Co2+, and Ni2+ was 93%, 87%, and 78%, respectively, higher than... 

Android apps continuously evolve to meet user expectations and thrive in the competitive environment of app stores. Hence, making informed decisions is crucial for the success of upcoming releases. In recent years, researchers have sought to aid developers in release planning by studying, analyzing, and modeling evolutionary information derived from tracking releases of various apps. They have demonstrated how the types of information provided on different platforms can effectively predict and assess the quality or success of an app. Nevertheless, this field needs a comprehensive dataset containing evolutionary information that tracks various releases of open-source Android apps. Existing... 

In this paper, the parameters of a 4D Lü hyper-chaotic system are identified via synchronization of two identical systems. Unknown parameters of the drive system are identified by an adaptive method. Stability of the closed-loop system with one state feedback controller is studied by using the Lyapunov theorem. Also the convergence of the parameters to their true values is proved. Then a fractional adaptation law is applied to reduce the time of parameter convergence. Finally the results of both integer and fractional methods are compared  

In this paper, model reference control of a fractional order system has been discussed. In order to control the fractional order plant, discrete-time approximation methods have been applied. Plant and reference model are discretized by Grünwald-Letnikov definition of the fractional order derivative using "Short Memory Principle". Unknown parameters of the fractional order system are appeared in the discrete time approximate model as combinations of parameters of the main system. The discrete time MRAC via RLS identification is modified to estimate the parameters and control the fractional order plant. Numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed method of model reference adaptive... 

In recent years axial flux permanent magnet (AFPM) machines have found industrial applications because of such characteristics as high power density, compact structure and disc-like shape. Like other electrical machines, prediction of flux density distribution in the air gap of AFPM is essential. In this paper, an analytical method for calculation of air gap flux density caused by armature reaction is presented. The solution is based on Maxwell's equations. Separation of variables method is applied to field equations and 2D distribution of magnetic flux density in the air gap calculated in term of Fourier series. The 2-D distribution of three-phase armature winding is modeled exactly.... 

The growing demand for efficient and biocompatible materials in laser-induced medical hyperthermia applications has led us to investigate a novel material known as the gold nanomatryoshka. This unique structure, composed of three superimposed layers (Au–SiO2–Au), offers significant advantages over conventional plasmonic structures, such as gold nanorods, due to its spherical geometry and potential for achieving the highest available density. In this study, our primary motivation is to explore the tunable optical absorption properties of the gold nanomatryoshka by adjusting the core radius and the thickness of its two outer layers (shells). By applying the Mie theory to calculate the... 

This study aims to identify underlying fundamental factors behind high-tech exports by the established and emerging countries, separately. The author also examines whether the two export patterns converge over time. Based on the gravity approach, a generalized method of moments panel estimator is applied to rigorously address the endogeneity problem in both static and dynamic versions of the model. In addition, the nonstationary and cointegrating features of variables are discussed. The author finds that high-tech exports from the emerging countries are mainly based on foreign direct investment inflows and participation in the international production chain, as well as a high degree of... 

In this paper, we have proposed a quasi-static model of a multi-agent system as police agents with and without non-holonomic constraints for agents' motion. We also consider an active thief agent which has stochastic dynamic equation of motion. Our control purpose is that these police agents pursue the thief agent and the geometrical center of them aims the thief agent current position. Also in the motion of the police agents for surrounding the thief, the unity of the swarm should be preserved and collision between them should be avoided. Police agents do not have all of the dynamic states of the thief agent's motion andalso those that are available and observable for the police agents are... 

Macroporous styrene-divinylbenzene copolymers with different degree of crosslinking were prepared by suspension polymerization in presence of different binary mixtures of toluene and heptane, as diluent. Specific surface area, bulk and apparent densities, and pore volume of the resulting beads were determined experimentally. Applying the least square method to the experimental data, correlations for prediction of these properties were obtained. Effects of divinylbenzene concentration, diluent to comonomer volume ratio, and composition of the diluent mixture were considered in developing the aforementioned correlations. The influence of the reaction recipe on porous structure of the samples... 

In the present study, bubble-driven magnesium-based micromotors were fabricated through a shading method, and the potential of magnetic guidance of magnesium-based Janus micro/nanomotors through functionalization with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) was investigated for the first time. SPIONs had physical electrostatic attraction with the positively charged magnesium spheres due to negative charges on their surfaces. It was also found that upon applying a field gradient, the micromotors’ velocity increased by 13% unlike other magnetically navigated spherical magnesium-based micromotors which only show a change in direction. In this work the cytotoxicity of the moving... 

In this study, a novel hybrid hydrogel based on chitosan, acrylic acid and amine-functionalized nanosilica was prepared and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. This hydrogel nanocomposite was used for removal of Co2+, Cu2+, Pb2+ and Zn2+ ions from aqueous solution. The metal ion adsorption was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The adsorption behavior showed that the presence of modified nanosilica enhanced the porosity of the hydrogel network and affected its adsorption capacity in response to different parameters such as nanosilica content, metal ion concentration, adsorbent content,... 

Ultrasonic metal welding is a solid-state welding process being widely employed for joining the interconnections of lithium-ion batteries in hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Examining the microstructure of the joint is of crucial importance to evaluate the performance. This analysis allows a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena influencing the joint strength. In this study, ultrasonic welding was utilized to join copper to aluminum sheets of 0.3 mm thickness, and then the macro- and microstructural characteristics of the weld cross-section and interface were thoroughly investigated. Finally, the microstructural changes at different values of ultrasonic welding parameters were... 

As a solid-state welding method, ultrasonic welding of metals is widely used in different industries to produce high-performance materials such as lithium-ion batteries. This research aims to investigate and optimize the variables of ultrasonic metal welding to reach a maximum joint strength. The influence of welding time, welding pressure, and oscillation amplitude on the maximum load of tensile-shear and T-peel tests of dissimilar ultrasonic metal welding of aluminum 1050 and copper (purity above 99.9%) having a thickness of 0.3 mm has been investigated. Design Expert software and response surface method (RSM) have been used to obtain the optimal mode of welding parameters and check their... 

Urease-powered nano/micromotors can move at physiological urea concentrations, making them useful for biomedical applications, such as treating bladder cancer. However, their movement in biological environments is still challenging. Herein, Janus micromotors based on black TiO2 with urease asymmetric catalytic coating were designed to take benefit of the optical properties of black TiO2 under near-infrared light and the movement capability in simulated bladder environments (urea). The black TiO2 microspheres were half-coated with a thin layer of Au, and l-Cysteine was utilized to attach the urease enzyme to the Au surface using its thiol group. Biocatalytic hydrolysis of urea through urease... 

Effects of initiator and surfactant concentrations and temperature on styrene conversion and polymer particle size distribution (PSD) in a batch emulsion polymerization are investigated through simulation and experimental studies. The detailed model based on population balance (zero-one model), accounting for nucleation, growth and coagulation phenomena has been used for prediction of particle size distribution. In checking the effect of initiator concentration on final PSD, it was noticed that when critical micelle concentration (CMC) is kept constant, the model cannot predict PSD very well. Thus, a correlation for calculating critical micelle concentration has been proposed and... 

In the past 10 years Iran has been emerging as a major car producer in the world. However, due to delays in economic reforms, Iranian car exports have not increased as much as production. This paper presents a first estimation of the Iranian export potential in the car industry. Based on new theoretical developments of the gravity equation, an empirical bilateral trade model is proposed. It includes sectoral variables (car production, import tariffs), as well as other original variables, such as expectations and hysteresis. We then develop a dataset which includes the 40 major car-exporting countries in the world, 34 importing countries, a 10-year time period as well as four car production... 

In this work, a new control strategy for controlling the particle size distribution (PSD) in emulsion polymerization has been proposed. It is shown that the desired PSD can be achieved by controlling the free surfactant concentration which in turn can be done by manipulating the surfactant feed rate. Simulation results show that the closed-loop control of free surfactant concentration results in a better control of PSD compared to open-loop control strategy, in presence of model mismatch and disturbances. Since the on-line measuring of ionic free surfactant concentration is difficult, conductivity which is related to it is measured instead and used for control purposes. The closed-loop...