Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of glyphosate (H1) and fluazifop- -P-butyl (H2) herbicides with adjuvants on the common reed without cutting and at two different cutting levels (10 and 30 cm). The adjuvants were urea, nitric acid and sulfonic acid. The relative importance value (RIV), leaf chlorophyll content and plant density were determined to assay the efficacy of herbicides. Glyphosate treatment only (H1a) was more effective than fluazifop-P-butyl (H2a) on reeds without cutting and at the 10 cm cutting level. However, no significant difference was observed between them at the 30 cm cutting level. A positive effect of plant cutting occurred on the efficacy of all herbicides applied alone or in a tank mix with adjuvants. Furthermore, the 10 cm cutting level was more effective in eradication of reeds than the 30 cm cutting level. The adjuvants significantly improved the efficacy of the recommended (Hb) and half recommended (Hc) herbicide rates in comparison to being used alone on uncut reeds. The reduction percentages were 94.5, 86.99, 76.61 and 69.94 for H1b, H1c, H2b and H2c treatments, respectively. However, the adjuvants did not improve the glyphosate effect at different levels of cutting. Conversely the reduction percentage of reeds was improved by the recommended rate of fluazifop-P-butyl with adjuvants (H2b) to 92.77% and 84.62% at 10 and 30 cm cutting levels, respectively.

Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) infesting many plants but Mentha viridis L., and Mentha piperita L., were low in number of infestation. Therefore the objective of this study was to identify the resistance of M. viridis and M. piperita plants against T. urticae by studying the external shape and internal contents of those plants. For morphological studies, dried leaves were covered with gold utilizing an Edwards Scan coat six sputter-coater. For histological studies, arrangements of Soft Tissue technique were used. For phytochemical studies, the plants were cut, dried and then high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used. While feeding the mites were collected from the area between oily glands, trichomes and respiratory stomata in both mint species. The most important leaf structures in aromatic plants are the oily glands found on the external part of the leaves (both upper and lower epidermis). The number of oil glands in M. viridis leaves was greater than in M. piperita; the trichomes on the epidermis of M. viridis were greater in number than in M. piperita; the spongy mesophyll in M. viridis was much thicker than in M. piperita. The essential oils in the leaves of both mint species contained 71 compounds representing 99.61% of the total oil constituents identified from M. viridis before infestation, and 90.95% after infestation, and about 99.65% from M. piperita before infestation, and 99.98% after infestation.

Development of new or upgrading of existing airplanes requires many different analyses, e.g., thermal, aerodynamical, structural, and safety. Similar studies were performed during re-design of two small aircrafts, which were equipped with new turboprop engines. In this paper thermo-fluid analyses of interactions of new propulsion systems with selected elements of airplane skin were carried out. Commercial software based numerical models were developed. Analyses of heat and fluid flow in the engine bay and nacelle of a single-engine airplane with a power unit in the front part of the fuselage were performed in the first stage. Subsequently, numerical simulations of thermal interactions between the hot exhaust gases, which leave the exhaust system close to the front landing gear, and the bottom part of the fuselage were investigated. Similar studies were carried out for the twin-engine airplane with power units mounted on the wings. In this case thermal interactions between the hot exhaust gases, which were flowing out below the wings, and the wing covers and flaps were studied. Simulations were carried out for different airplane configurations and operating conditions. The aim of these studies was to check if for the assumed airplane skin materials and the initially proposed airplane geometries, the cover destruction due to high temperature is likely. The results of the simulations were used to recommend some modifications of constructions of the considered airplanes.

Plate fin-tube heat exchangers fins are bonded with tubes by means of brazing or by mechanical expansion of tubes. Various errors made in the process of expansion can result in formation of an air gap between tube and fin. A number of numerical simulations was carried out for symmetric section of plate fin-tube heat exchanger to study the influence of air gap on heat transfer in forced convection conditions. Different locations of air gap spanning 1/2 circumference of the tube were considered, relatively to air flow direction. Inlet velocities were a variable parameter in the simulations (1– 5 m/s). Velocity and temperature fields for cases with air gap were compared with cases without it (ideal thermal contact). For the case of gap in the back of the tube (in recirculation zone) the lowest reduction (relatively to the case without gap) of heat transfer rate was obtained (average of 11%). The worst performance was obtained for the gap in the front (reduction relatively to full thermal contact in the average of 16%).

This work discusses the heat transfer aspects of the neonate’s brain cooling process carried out by the the device to treat hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. This kind of hypothermic therapy is undertaken in case of improper blood circulation during delivery which causes insufficient transport of oxygen to the brain and insufficient cooling of the brain by circulating blood. The experimental setup discussed in this manuscript consists of a special water flow meter and two temperature sensors allowing to measure inlet and outlet water temperatures. Collected results of the measurements allowed to determine time histories of the heat transfer rate transferred from brain to the cooling water for three patients. These results are then analysed and compared among themselves.

This paper reports the results of research involving observations of flow patterns during air-oil-water three-phase flow through a vertical pipe with an internal diameter of 0.03 m and a length of 3 m. The conductometric method based on the measurement of electrical conductivity of the gas-liquid-liquid system was used to evaluate the flow patterns. In the studies, a set of eight probes spaced concentrically in two tube sections (four probes per each) with a spacing of 0.015 m were used. The paper presents a theoretical description of the test method and the analysis of the measurement results for air-oil-water multiphase flow system. Results of this study indicate that the developed method of characterizing the voltage of the gas-liquid-liquid system can be an important tool supporting other methods to identify flow patterns, including visual observation.

Falling film, shell-tube type evaporators are commonly used heat exchangers for the production of fruit juice concentrate. The main problem in the design of the exchanger is a reliable estimation of wall heat transfer coefficients for all effects in real operating conditions. Most literature sources for the overall heat transfer coefficients are based on laboratory measurements, where the tubes are usually short, no fouling exists and the flow rate is carefully adjusted. This paper shows the heat transfer estimated in real industrial operating conditions, compared to literature sources. Paper is based on the author’s own experience in designing and launching several evaporators for juice concentrate production into operation. As a summary, the design heat transfer coefficients are provided with relation to sugar content in juice concentrate.

Micro-channel heat sinks are used in a wide variety of applications, including microelectronic devices, computers and high-energy-laser mirrors. Due to the high power density that is encountered in these devices (the density of delivered electrical power up to a few kW/cm2) they require efficient cooling as their temperatures must generally not exceed 100 ◦C. In the paper a new design for micro-channel heat sink (MCHS) to be used for cooling laser diode arrays (LDA) is considered. It is made from copper and consisting of 37 micro-channels with length of 9.78 mm, width of 190 μm and depth of 180 μm with the deionized water as a cooling medium. Mathematical and numerical models of the proposed design of the heat sink were developed. A series of thermofluid numerical simulations were performed for various volumetric flow rates of the cooling medium, its inlet temperature and different thermal power released in the laser diode. The results show that the LDA temperature could be decreased from 14 to 17% in comparison with earlier proposed design of the heat sink with the further drop in temperature obtained by applying indium instead of gallium arsenide as the soldering material between the LDA and MCHS interface. Moreover, it was found that the maximum temperature, and therefore the thermal resistance of the considered heat sink, could be decreased by increasing the coolant flow rate.

The paper describes experimental research on a resistojet type rocket thruster which was built as an actuator in the Attitude Control System of a model space robotic platform. A key element of the thruster is the heater responsible for increasing the temperature of the working medium in the thruster chamber and hence the specific impulse. This parameter describes the performance of the thruster, increases providing – for lower propellant consumption – the same propulsion effect (thrust). A high performance thruster means either total launch mass can be reduced or satellite lifetime increased, which are key commercial factors. During the first phase of the project, 7 different heating chamber designs were examined. The heater is made of resistive wire with resistivity of 9Ω/m. Power is delivered by a dedicated supply system based on supercapacitors with output voltage regulated in the range of 20–70 V. The experimental phase was followed by designing the chamber geometry and the heating element able to deliver both: maximum increase of gas temperature and minimum construction dimensions. Experiments with the optimal design show an increase in temperature of the working gas (air) by about 300 ◦C giving a 40% increase in specific impulse. The final effect of that is a 40% reduction in mass flow rate while retaining thrust at a nominal level of 1 N.

The paper presents a description of used methods and exemplary mathematical models which are classified into theoretical-empirical models of thermal processes. Such models encompass equations resulting from the laws of physics and additional empirical functions describing processes for which analytical models are complex and difficult to develop. The principle of developing, advantages and disadvantages of presented models as well as quality prediction assessment were presented. Mathematical models of a steam boiler, a steam turbine as well as a heat recovery steam generator were described. Exemplary calculation results were presented and compared with measurements.

Nowadays, the energy cost is very high and this problem is carried out to seek techniques for improvement of the aerothermal and thermal (heat flow) systems performances in different technical applications. The transient and steady-state techniques with liquid crystals for the surface temperature and heat transfer coefficient or Nusselt number distribution measurements have been developed. The flow pattern produced by transverse vortex generators (ribs) and other fluid obstacles (e.g. turbine blades) was visualized using liquid crystals (Liquid Crystal Thermography) in combination with the true-colour image processing as well as planar beam of double-impulse laser tailored by a cylindrical lens and oil particles (particle image velocimetry or laser anemometry). Experiments using both research tools were performed at Gdańsk University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Present work provides selected results obtained during this research.

This study discusses results of experiments on hydrodynamic assessment of gas flow through backbone (skeletal) porous materials with an anisotropic structure. The research was conducted upon materials of diversified petrographic characteristics – cokes. The study was conducted for a variety of hydrodynamic conditions, using air. The basis for assessing hydrodynamics of gas flow through porous material was a gas stream that results from the pressure forcing such flow. The results of measurements indicate a clear impact of the type of material on the gas permeability, and additionally – as a result of their anisotropic internal structure – to a significant effect of the flow direction on the value of gas stream. In aspect of scale transfer problem, a method of mapping the flow geometry of skeletal materials has been developed and usefulness of numerical methods has been evaluated to determine pressure drop and velocity distribution of gas flow. The results indicate the compliance of the used calculation method with the result of experiments.

The coupled fluid/solid heat transfer computations are performed to predict the temperatures reached in the rotating disc systems. An efficient finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) thermal coupling technique is developed and demonstrated. The thermal coupling is achieved by an iterative procedure between FEA and CFD calculations. In the coupling procedure, FEA simulation is treated as unsteady for a given transient cycle. To speed up the thermal coupling, steady CFD calculations are employed, considering that fluid flow time scales are much shorter than those for the solid heat conduction and therefore the influence of unsteadiness in fluid regions is negligible. To facilitate the thermal coupling, the procedure is designed to allow a set of CFD models to be defined at key time points/intervals in the transient cycle and to be invoked during the coupling process at specified time points. The computational procedure is applied to predict heat transfer characteristics of a free rotating disc.

The paper presents the test results for the microstructure of ZnO varistors comprising high voltage gapless surge arresters. The tests were performed on varistors produced in different periods and by various manufacturers. The research was inspired by different characteristics of changes in values of current flowing through surge arresters as a function of changes in values of system voltage in a 220 kV substation, and the temperature in a multi-year cycle. Furthermore, the effects of varistor microstructure degradation following a failure of an unsealed surge arrester were investigated. The results provided the grounds for assessment of ZnO varistor microstructure parameters in terms of their durability and resistance to degradation processes.

We fabricated two different kinds of composite materials for absorbing microwave in a frequency range of 2 to 18 GHz using coaxial airline and thru-reflect-line (TRL) method. The composite materials having carbon nanotube (CNT) with carbonyl iron (CI) or iron oxide (Fe3O4) were fabricated by mixing each components. Magnetic properties were measured by SQUID equipment. Complex permittivity and complex permeability were also obtained by measuring S-parameters of the toroidal specimen dispersing CI/CNT and Fe3O4/CNT into the 50 weight percent (wt%) epoxy resin. The real permittivity was improved by mixing the CNT however, the real permeability was same as pure magnetic powders. The CI/CNT had a maximum value of real permittivity and real permeability, 11 and 1.4 at 10 GHz, respectively. The CNT composites can be adapted to the radar absorbing materials, band width 8-12 GHz.

This work presents the studies on the electrochemical process of thin palladium layers formation onto electrodeposited cobalt coatings. The suggested methodology consists of the preparation of thick and smooth cobalt substrate via galvanostatic electrodeposition. Cobalt coatings were prepared under different cathodic current density conditions from acidic bath containing cobalt sulphate and addition of boric acid. Obtained cobalt layers were analyzed by x-ray diffraction to determine their phase composition. Freshly prepared cobalt coatings were modificated by the galvanic displacement method in PdCl2 solution, to obtain smooth and compact Pd layer. The comparison of electrocatalytic properties of Co coatings with Co/Pd ones enabled to determine the influence of Palladium presence in cathodic deposits on the hydrogen evolution process.

In this paper are presented results of study fusion characteristics of the biomass ashes from the hydrolyzed lignin and the ashes from the coke breeze. The hydrolyzed lignin ashes were compared with the coke breeze ashes i.e. with a fossil fuel. These ashes were prepared in muffle furnace at the temperature of 550°C (hydrolyzed lignin) and 850°C (coke breeze). Biomass (the hydrolyzed lignin) represents the new fuels for sintering process and an attractive way to decrease CO2 emissions from the energy production. The characterization methods were the following: standard fuel characterization analyses, chemical and mineralogical composition of the ashes and phase analyses of the ashes of biomass and the coke breeze. These ashes were prepared by the same method. Characterisation of the ashes samples was conducted by means of X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Quantitative analysis of the crystalline and amorphous phases in each of the ash samples were carried out using the Rietveld method. The dominant phase of the ash from the coke breeze was mullite (Al6Si2O13). SiO2 is the dominant phase of the ash from the hydrolyzed lignin.

The site preference of some transition metals during B2-type ordering has been investigated in the ternary Cu0.5(Zn1–xMx)0.5 alloys with M = Ti, V, Ag, Au, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, W, Re or Pt (x ≤ 0.01). The statistic-o-thermodynamical theory combined with the electronic theory of alloys has been used to calculate the partial ordering energies, partial short range order parameters and the order-disorder transformation temperatures. The values of partial short range order parameters have been used to determine the site preference of the metal M. The analysis shows that the metals M can be divided into two groups with regard to lattice site occupancy. One group comprising of Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, W, Re or Pt was found to prefer Zn sublattice sites, while the second group of Ti, V, Ag or Au atoms prefer Cu sublattice sites. It is found that order-disorder transformation temperature and the site preference of metal M both depend strongly on the partial ordering energies and ternary alloying addition of metal M.

In this study, the combined effect of Zr and Si on isothermal oxidation of Ti for 25 and 50 h at 820°C, which is the temperature related to exhaust valves operation, was investigated. Si addition into Ti-5mass%Zr alloy led to a distribution of silicide Ti5Si3 phase formed by a eutectic reaction. The Ti sample containing only Zr showed more retarded oxidation rate than Ti-6Al-4V, the most prevalent Ti alloy, at the same condition. However, while a simultaneous addition of Zr and Si resulted in greater increase of oxidation resistance. The oxide layer formed after the addition of Zr and Si comprised TiO2, ZrO2, and SiO2.

Macroporous silica fibers having spherical cavities were fabricated by electrospinning using the spinning solution prepared from the mixed dispersion of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and polystyrene nanospheres as precursor and sacrificial templates, respectively, by injection through metallic nozzle. By applying electric field, the electro-spun fibers obtained by evaporation-driven self-assembly were collected on flat substrate or rotating drum, followed by the removal of the templates by calcination. The sound absorption coefficient of the porous fibers was measured by impedance tube, and the measured value was larger than 0.9 at high frequency region of incident waves. The surface of the resulting fibers was modified using fluorine-containing silane coupling agent to produce superhydrophobic fibrous materials to prevent the infiltration of humidity.

In this study, variations in the contact resistance of electroplated Au-Fe alloy layers with Fe content were investigated. The contact resistance of electroplated Au-Fe alloy layers that were subject to thermal aging at 260°C in the atmosphere, tended to increase significantly with an increase in the Fe content. Through an analysis method employing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS/ ESCA) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), Ni oxides, such as NiO and Ni2O3, on the surface of the thermally aged electroplated Au-Fe alloy layers were observed. It is believed that the Ni oxide existing on the surface diffused from the underlying electroplated Ni layers to the surface through the grain boundaries in the electroplated Au-Fe layers during the thermal aging. As the Fe content in the electroplated Au-Fe layers increased, the grain size decreased. As the grain size decreases, more Ni oxide was detected on the surface. Therefore, with a rise in the Fe content, more Ni diffuses to the surface via grain boundaries, and more Ni oxide is formed on the surface of the electroplated Au-Fe layers, increasing the contact resistance of the electroplated Au-Fe alloy layers.

In this research, we investigated the effects of reduction atmospheres on the creation of the Mo-Si-B intermetallic compounds (IMC) during the heat treatments. For outstanding anti-oxidation and elevated mechanical strength at the ultrahigh temperature, we fabricated the uniformly dispersed IMC powders such as Mo5SiB2 (T2) and Mo3Si (A15) phases using the two steps of chemical reactions. Especially, in the second procedure, we studied the influence of the atmospheres (e.g. vacuum, argon, and hydrogen) on the synthesis of IMCs during the reduction. Furthermore, the newly produced IMCs were observed by SEM, XRD, and EDS to identify the phase of the compounds. We also calculated an amount of IMCs in the reduced powders depending on the atmosphere using the Reitveld refinement method. Consequently, it is found that hydrogen atmosphere was suitable for fabrication of IMC without other IMC phases.

The effect of cobalt aluminate inoculant addition and melt-pouring temperature on the structure and mechanical properties of Ni-based superalloy was studied. The first major move to control the quality of investment cast blades and vanes was the control of grain size. Cobalt aluminate (CoAl2O4) is the most frequently utilized inoculant in the lost-wax casting process of Ni-based superalloys. The inoculant in the prime coat of moulds and pouring temperature play a significant role in grain size control. The finest surface grains were obtained when the internal surface of shell mould was coated with cobalt aluminate and subsequently pouring was at 1480°C. The influence of selected casting parameters and inoculant addition on mechanical properties was investigated on the basis of tensile, creep and hardness testing. The effect of grain refinement on mechanical properties were consistent with established theories. Tests conducted at ambient temperature indicated a beneficial effect of grain refinement both on tensile strength and hardness. In contrast at elevated temperature during creep, the reverse trend was observed.