Unit Charge Research Articles

Innovative Policies for Energy Efficiency and the Use of Renewables in Households

Renewable energy sources (RES) are gradually becoming one of the key elements in the process of achieving energy efficiency worldwide. This trend can be observed in many developed Western economies—for example, in the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom. Hence, the role of innovative policies for promoting energy efficiency is becoming crucial in transition to the post-carbon economy. The shift to the carbon-free future make all actors to face forgoing commitments Nevertheless, customers and residential households are the first and the most important players in the pursuit of the energy-efficient future. Without them, carbon-free economy based on RES would never take the shape as envisaged. Our paper focuses on the innovative strategies and policies studying the effect and the scope of RES penetration into the households. We employ and empirical analysis of the effects from using RES in households using an example of the residential households in the northwest region of the United Kingdom (UK) with and without solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and electric vehicles (EV). We analyse the four scenarios that are aimed at analysing the system dynamics and providing differentiation between systems in terms of the varying values of the gross demand, tariffs, metered import, and the total revenue. Our results demonstrate that the solar PV leads to the transfer of costs and wealth regardless of the ownership of PV and EVs. Solar energy generation reduces the share of UK solar PV households per kWh costs of the distribution system which causes the augmenting of the per unit charges as well as to the changes in payments for the electricity that impoverishes less wealthy customer groups. It also becomes clear that with the increase of EV penetration, the existing energy efficiency schemes would have to be revised.

What Are We Missing by Not Measuring the Net Charge of Proteins?

The net electrostatic charge (Z) of a folded protein in solution represents a bird's eye view of its surface potentials-including contributions from tightly bound metal, solvent, buffer, and cosolvent ions-and remains one of its most enigmatic properties. Few tools are available to the average biochemist to rapidly and accurately measure Z at pH≠pI. Tools that have been developed more recently seem to go unnoticed. Most scientists are content with this void and estimate the net charge of a protein from its amino acid sequence, using textbook values of pKa . Thus, Z remains unmeasured for nearly all folded proteins at pH≠pI. When marveling at all that has been learned from accurately measuring the other fundamental property of a protein-its mass-one wonders: what are we missing by not measuring the net charge of folded, solvated proteins? A few big questions immediately emerge in bioinorganic chemistry. When a single electron is transferred to a metalloprotein, does the net charge of the protein change by approximately one elementary unit of charge or does charge regulation dominate, that is, do the pKa values of most ionizable residues (or just a few residues) adjust in response to (or in concert with) electron transfer? Would the free energy of charge regulation (ΔΔGz ) account for most of the outer sphere reorganization energy associated with electron transfer? Or would ΔΔGz contribute more to the redox potential? And what about metal binding itself? When an apo-metalloprotein, bearing minimal net negative charge (e.g., Z=-2.0) binds one or more metal cations, is the net charge abolished or inverted to positive? Or do metalloproteins regulate net charge when coordinating metal ions? The author's group has recently dusted off a relatively obscure tool-the "protein charge ladder"-and used it to begin to answer these basic questions.

Implementation of Fuzzy Logic Control on Battery Charging System

This paper presents the implementation fuzzy logic control on the battery charging system. To control the charging process is a complex system due to the exponential relationship between the charging voltage, charging current and the charging time. The effective of charging process controller is needed to maintain the charging process. Because if the charging process cannot under control, it can reduce the cycle life of the battery and it can damage the battery as well. In order to get charging control effectively, the Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC) for a Valve Regulated Lead-Acid Battery (VRLA) Charger is being embedded in the charging system unit. One of the advantages of using FLC beside the PID controller is the fact that, we don’t need a mathematical model and several parameters of coefficient charge and discharge to software implementation in this complex system. The research is started by the hardware development where the charging method and the combination of the battery charging system itself to prepare, then the study of the fuzzy logic controller in the relation of the charging control, and the determination of the parameter for the charging unit will be carefully investigated. Through the experimental result and from the expert knowledge, that is very helpful for tuning of the embership function and the rule base of the fuzzy controller.

Asymptotic and interpolation series for the Coulomb three-body systems with unit charges

Accurate mass-interpolation and mass-asymptotic formulas are derived for one- and two-center three-body ions with unit charges. The derived formulas are applied to predict accurate numerical values of the total energies of the ground (bound) $1^{1}S(L = 0)-$states in one-center atomic ions $X^{+} e^{-} e^{-}$ and analogous ground (bound) $1 s \sigma-$states in the two-center, quasi-adiabatic (or quasi-molecular) $X^{+} X^{+} e^{-}$ ions. We also discuss a few problems which currently remain unsolved for the $Q^{-1}$ expansions constructed for the ground (bound) states in few-electron atoms and ions.

Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) Observations of Stream Interaction Regions in 2007 - 2016: Relationship with Heliospheric Current Sheets, Solar Cycle Variations, and Dual Observations.

We have conducted a survey of 575 slow-to-fast stream interaction regions (SIRs) using Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) A and B data, analyzing their properties while extending a Level-3 data product through 2016. Among 518 pristine SIRs, 54% are associated with heliospheric current sheet (HCS) crossings, and 34% are without any HCS crossing. The other 12% of the SIRs often occur in association with magnetic sectors shorter than three days. The SIRs with HCS crossings have slightly slower speeds but higher maximum number densities, magnetic-field strengths, dynamic pressures, and total pressures than the SIRs without an HCS. The iron charge state is higher throughout the SIRs with an HCS than the SIRs without an HCS, by about 1/3 charge unit. In contrast with the comparable phases of Solar Cycle 23, slightly more SIRs and higher recurrence rates are observed in the years 2009 - 2016 of Cycle 24, with a lower HCS association rate, possibly attributed to persistent equatorial coronal holes and more pseudo-streamers in this recent cycle. The solar-wind speed, peak magnetic field, and peak pressures of SIRs are all lower in this cycle, but the weakening is less than for the comparable background solar-wind parameters. Before STEREO-B lost contact in October 2014, 151 SIR pairs were observed by the twin spacecraft. Of the dual observations, the maximum speed is the best correlated of the plasma parameters. We have obtained a sample of plasma-parameter differences analogous to those that would be observed by a mission at Lagrange points 4 or 5. By studying several cases with large discrepancies between the dual observations, we investigate the effects of HCS relative location, tilt of stream interface, and small transients on the SIR properties. To resolve the physical reasons for the variability of SIR structures, mesoscale multi-point observations and time-dependent solar-wind modeling are ultimately required.

Application of composite materials in inductive charging systems for electric vehicles

Inductive charging is a popular possibility to enhance the acceptance toward electric vehicles. It requires a charging unit, consisting of a copper coil and a ferrite layer, integrated in the vehic...

2D-2D growth of NiFe LDH nanoflakes on montmorillonite for cationic and anionic dye adsorption performance

NiFe layered double hydroxides nanoflakes decorated montmorillonite (MMT@NiFe LDH) was successfully prepared by a one-pot hydrothermal method. The 2D-2D growth MMT@NiFe LDH was utilized as an effective adsorbent for removal of anionic dye of methyl orange (MO) and cationic dye of methylene blue (MB). The mole ratio of Ni2+/Fe3+ could quite influence the interlayer spacing, surface area per unit charge and the ultrathin hexagonal laminated morphology of NiFe LDH decorated on the surface of MMT. Various characterization techniques were conducted to identify it, such as XRD, FT-IR, TG-DTA, BET, XPS and SEM. Under the optimal conditions, the Langmuir-fitted maximum adsorption capacities for MO and MB are 108.80 mg g−1 and 99.18 mg g−1, respectively. Adsorption kinetics for MO and MB are both verified to be fit in with pseudo-second-order model. This work suggests a facile pathway to synthesize desirable bifunctional adsorbent for cationic and anionic dyes, which provides the potential application for the actual wastewater purification.

Remediation of Perfluorooctylsulfonate Contamination by in Situ Sequestration: Direct Monitoring of PFOS Binding to Polyquaternium Polymers.

In situ methods for the sequestration of perfluorooctyl-1-sulfonate (PFOS) that are based on PFOS binding to polyquaternium polymers were reported previously, providing an approach to immobilize and concentrate PFOS in situ. To apply these methods in real life, the concentrations of polymers that permit efficient sequestration must be determined. This is only possible if the stoichiometry and strength of PFOS binding to polyquaternium polymers are known. Here, we report on the use of fluorous-phase ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) to determine the equilibrium constants characterizing binding of PFOS to poly(dimethylamine-co-epichlorohydrin) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium) in simulated groundwater and in soil suspensions. We introduce a new method to interpret potentiometric data for surfactant binding to the charged repeat unit of these polyions by combining a 1:1 binding model with the ISE response model. This allows for straightforward prediction and fitting of experimental potentiometric data in one step. Data fit the binding model for poly(diallyldimethylammonium) and poly(dimethylamine-co-epichlorohydrin) chloride in soil-free conditions and in the presence of soil from Tinker Air Force Base. When the total PFOS concentration in a soil system is known, knowledge of these PFOS binding characteristics permits quantitative prediction of the mobile (free) and polymer-bound fractions of PFOS as a function of the concentrations of the polyquaternium polymer. Because the technique reported here is based on the selective in situ determination of the free ionic surfactant, we expect it to be similarly useful for determining the sequestration of a variety of other ionic pollutants.

Percent Change as a Measure of Price Escalation in Water and Energy Utilities

We advance the idea of using percent billing changes as a simple measure of price escalation. This simple yet underused metric may help evaluate rate structure design in public utilities. We illustrate how price escalation may generate useful insight for utility managers by analyzing rate structures from water utilities in British Columbia, Canada. We observe that increasing block rates may send weaker relative price signals to users than a simple constant unit charge, and that low volume users tend to receive the strongest relative price signals. Measuring price escalation may also allow one to quantify the distortions generated by fixed charges. We conclude that analysts may find it useful to include measures of price escalation in their portfolio of metrics to evaluate rate structures in energy and water utilities.

Capillary Zone Electrophoresis-Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Large-Scale Phosphoproteomics with the Production of over 11,000 Phosphopeptides from the Colon Carcinoma HCT116 Cell Line.

Phosphoproteomics requires better separation of phosphopeptides to boost the coverage of the phosphoproteome. We argue that an alternative separation method that produces orthogonal phosphopeptide separation to the widely used LC needs to be considered. Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) is one important alternative because CZE and LC are orthogonal for phosphopeptide separation and because the migration time of peptides in CZE can be accurately predicted. In this work, we coupled strong cation exchange (SCX)-reversed-phase LC (RPLC) to CZE-MS/MS for large-scale phosphoproteomics of the colon carcinoma HCT116 cell line. The CZE-MS/MS-based platform identified 11,555 phosphopeptides. The phosphopeptide data set is at least 100% larger than that from previous CZE-MS/MS studies and will be a valuable resource for building a model for predicting the migration time of phosphopeptides in CZE. Phosphopeptides migrate significantly slower than corresponding unphosphopeptides under acidic conditions of CZE separations and in a normal polarity. According to our modeling data, phosphorylation decreases peptide's charge roughly by one charge unit, resulting in dramatic decrease in electrophoretic mobility. Preliminary investigations demonstrate that electrophoretic mobility of phosphopeptides containing one phosphoryl group can be predicted with the same accuracy as for nonmodified peptides ( R2 ≈ 0.99). The CZE-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS were complementary in large-scale phosphopeptide identifications and produced different phosphosite motifs from the HCT116 cell line. The data highlight the value of CZE-MS/MS for phosphoproteomics as a complementary separation approach for not only improving the phosphoproteome coverage but also providing more insight into the phosphosite motifs.

Comments on abelian Higgs models and persistent order

A natural question about Quantum Field Theory is whether there is a deformation to a trivial gapped phase. If the underlying theory has an anomaly, then symmetric deformations can never lead to a trivial phase. We discuss such discrete anomalies in Abelian Higgs models in 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions. We emphasize the role of charge conjugation symmetry in these anomalies; for example, we obtain nontrivial constraints on the degrees of freedom that live on a domain wall in the VBS phase of the Abelian Higgs model in 2+1 dimensions. In addition, as a byproduct of our analysis, we show that in 1+1 dimensions the Abelian Higgs model is dual to the Ising model. We also study variations of the Abelian Higgs model in 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions where there is no dynamical particle of unit charge. These models have a center symmetry and additional discrete anomalies. In the absence of a dynamical unit charge particle, the Ising transition in the 1+1 dimensional Abelian Higgs model is removed. These models without a unit charge particle exhibit a remarkably persistent order: we prove that the system cannot be disordered by either quantum or thermal fluctuations. Equivalently, when these theories are studied on a circle, no matter how small or large the circle is, the ground state is non-trivial.

A New Control Strategy for Plug-in Electric Vehicle of DC Microgrid with PV and Wind Power Integration

This paper presents a plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging unit supplied by PV, wind and the battery in an autonomous mode of DC microgrid (MG) system. With the traditional control methods of PEV, the EV is charged without considering generation and the load limits. The control strategy proposed for PEV in this article is to increase the maximum rate of charging capacity of an EV only if generation exceeds the load demand using new current-loop control technique. The variation of photovoltaic irradiance, DC and AC loads, battery charging and discharging characteristics are considered which are directly coupled to a medium voltage DC bus. This tends to be an attractive option for increasing the efficiency and operation of electric vehicle charging station. The power reference based droop controller is designed for the battery to provide an efficient power management of a DC MG system by regulating the DC link voltage with less deviation. The effectiveness of the proposed MG system with Escape Ford EV vehicle has been validated by MATLAB/Simulink. The reported simulation results show that the approach presented is capable of governing the PEV charging unit and regulation of DC bus voltage.

Влияние электромиграции на зарождение вакансионных островков на поверхности Si(100) при сублимации

AbstractBy means of in situ ultrahigh vacuum reflection electron microscopy, the nucleation of vacancy islands on wide terraces of the Si(100) surface is investigated. The temperature dependence of the displacement of a vacancy island nucleation center is determined in the process of heating a sample with a dc electric current. On the basis of a theoretical model, the effective electric charge of addimers is estimated in the direction across dimer rows of the surface. The effective charge has a positive sign and does not exceed 15 units of the elementary charge in the temperature range of 1020–1120°C.

Integrated Simulation of the Gas-Turbine Cogeneration System Operating on the Biogas Fuel

The integrated system of a change in the pipeline water temperature was suggested to measure the reverse pipeline water temperature and the gas temperature to maintain the operation of biogas plant using the thermal pump that uses the fermented wort as a low potential energy source. For this purpose, we developed the architecture of gas-turbine cogeneration system that is based on the integrated dynamic subsystem that includes the biogas plant, the heat pump, the gas turbine cogeneration plant and the heat utilization plant. Other units that are included into the composition of gas turbine cogeneration system are the discharge and charge units and functional efficiency estimation unit that interact in agreement with the dynamic subsystem. Reference and functional estimates of a change in the temperature of pipeline water were obtained on the basis of mathematical simulation of the dynamics of heat utilization plant. Control systems of the working capacity and the identification of the state of heat utilization plant were developed using the suggested mathematical description. The discharge-charge of biogas plant, the fermented wort draining and the loading of fresh material maintain the charge -discharge of gas turbine cogeneration system. Decision making after a change in the number of plates of the heat utilization plant allows for the coordination of production and consumption of the electric energy and the heat. It results in the decrease of the cost price of energy production by 20 to 30 % with an increase in the marketable value of the biogas plant by 15 %.

The doubly charmed pseudoscalar tetraquarks [formula omitted] and [formula omitted

The mass and coupling of the doubly charmed JP=0− diquark–antidiquark states Tcc;s¯s¯++ and Tcc;d¯s¯++ that bear two units of the electric charge are calculated by means of QCD two-point sum rule method. Computations are carried out by taking into account vacuum condensates up to and including terms of tenth dimension. The dominant S-wave decays of these tetraquarks to a pair of conventional Ds+Ds0⁎+(2317) and D+Ds0⁎+(2317) mesons are explored using QCD three-point sum rule approach, and their widths are found. The obtained results mT=(4390±150)MeVandΓ=(302±113MeV) for the mass and width of the state Tcc;s¯s¯++, as well as spectroscopic parameters m˜T=(4265±140)MeV and Γ˜=(171±52)MeV of the tetraquark Tcc;d¯s¯++ may be useful in experimental studies of exotic resonances.

Efficient regeneration of activated carbon electrode by half-wave rectified alternating fields in capacitive deionization system

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising technology for water desalination. An excellent desorption rate guarantees re-adsorption performance of CDI electrode in the following cycles. In this paper, we reported for the first time that the use of half-wave rectified alternating current (HWAC), a periodically changing electric field, improved electrodesorption in CDIs. Up to 90% of adsorbed NaCl can be released from activated carbon electrodes after HWAC (1.2 V, 1 kHz, 90 min) than 78% of direct current (DC, 1.2 V) powered systems, corresponding to a 79% current efficiency than 71% of DC. This was attributed to the elimination of capacitance in pores as well as the agitation of ions by the periodically changing electric field. Energy consumption per unit charge release decreased by 68% from 145 ± 11 J/(mmol e−) of DC to 46 ± 3 J/(mmol e−) of HWAC. Electrodesorption of MgSO4 and the mixture of NaCl/MgSO4 have similar results, indicating that the energy-saving strategy of HWAC was not affected by ionic charge or radius. These findings demonstrated that HWAC was a highly efficient waveform for maximizing the ion desorption from porous electrodes with a low energy requirement.

Efficacious Electrochemical Oxygen Evolution from a Novel Co(II) Porphyrin/Pyrene-Based Conjugated Microporous Polymer.

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is energetically challenging from the platform of making many photovoltaic devices such as metal-air batteries and water splitting systems because of its poor kinetics even when precious metals are used. Herein, a Co(II)-porphyrin/pyrene-comprised conjugated microporous polymer Co-MPPy-1 has been developed which shows efficient OER in alkaline medium. The material was characterized by Fourier transform infrared, solid-state 13C cross-polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance, N2 volumetric adsorption/desorption analysis, scanning electron microscopy, ultra high resolution-transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and other physical studies. Co-MPPy-1 showed Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of ∼501 m2 g-1. Co-MPPy-1 achieved a current density of 1 and 10 mA/cm-2 at 340 and 420 mV, respectively. The turnover frequency calculated for the OER is 0.43 s-1. The heterogeneity of this electrocatalyst was tested by chronoamperometric measurement and 1000 cycle recyclability test with retainment of the excellent electrochemical catalytic activity. This can be attributed to the presence of high density of Co(II) porphyrin unit and efficient charge transport in the π-conductive conjugated polymeric backbone.

Kaolinite Clay Mineral Reactivity Improvement through Ionic Liquid Functionalization

AbstractSince the intercalation of 1‐ethylpyridinium chloride in the interlayer space of kaolinite in 2005, several other ionic liquids (ILs) have been successfully intercalated. Unlike other clay minerals that display charged structural units, kaolinite is almost neutral. ILs intercalation in kaolinite results in both the cation and the anion in the interlayer space. The confinement of ILs in this two‐dimensional polarized space is of numerous interests, with certainly the most important to be discovered. Moreover, kaolinite interlayer space is decorated by a dense network of hydroxyl functions that can be easily functionalized. Recent study demonstrates that it is possible to synthesize ILs from simple organic molecules whose cations can be permanently grafted into the interlayer space of kaolinite. This review presents the results obtained in kaolinite functionalization by ILs, by focusing on the synthesis, applications and potential perspectives offered by these new nanohybrid materials.

Internal clusterization in the Coulomb few-body systems and stability of the five- and six-body systems with unit charges

Stability of the bound ground states in the six five-body muonic $a b \mu e_2$ ions (or $(a b \mu e_2)^{-}$) and ten six-body $a b c \mu e_2$ quasi-molecules is investigated. The notations $a, b, c$ stand for the bare nuclei of three hydrogen isotopes - protium ($p$), deuterium ($d$) and tritium ($t$). All these systems are the Coulomb five- and six-body systems with unit charges. It is found that the ground bound $S(L = 0)-$states are stable in all six five-body $a b \mu e_2$ ions and in ten six-body $a b c \mu e_2$ quasi-molecules. As follows from accurate variational computations of the five-body $a b \mu e_2$ ions their internal structure is similar to the internal structure of the negatively charged hydrogen ion H$^{-}$. Analogously, we show that the internal structures of the six-body neutral $a b c \mu e_2$ quasi-molecules are similar to the structure of the two-center H$_{2}$ molecule which contains two heavy hydrogen nuclei and two bound electrons.

A New Photovoltaic Energy Sharing System between Homes in Standalone Areas

Today, global energy consumption is dominated by fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas. The intensive consumption of these energy sources gives rise to greenhouse gas emissions and therefore an increase in CO2 emissions. Photovoltaic energy has persistently been considered as a green and pollution-free renewable energy source to overcome greenhouse effect and energy crisis. This paper describes a new method of photovoltaic energy sharing in standalone micro-grids using photovoltaic panels. This approach is based on automatic electrical energy sharing depending on the state of charge (SOC) of the electrical storage unit using by each home and on the electrical power consumption of each home.The monitoring system is connected to each home in micro-grid, it manage each home’s energy use, and assigns more energy to a large energy-consuming home. This architecture contributes to reducing total energy lost.