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The autothermal reforming process for conversion of various hydrocarbons to hydrogen and the use of monolithic catalyst beds in the steam reforming of n-hexane are described.
Monolithic catalysts with higher available active surface areas and better thermal conductivity than conventional pellets beds, making possible the steam reforming of fuels heavier than naphtha, were examined. Performance comparisons were made between conventional pellet beds and honeycomb monolith catalysts using n-hexane as the fuel. Metal-supported monoliths were examined. These offer higher structural stability and higher thermal conductivity than ceramic supports. Data from two metal monoliths of different nickel catalyst loadings were compared to pellets under the same operating conditions. Improved heat transfer and better conversion efficiencies were obtained with the monolith having higher catalyst loading. Surface-gas interaction was observed throughout the length of the monoliths.
A general n step symmetry breaking pattern of SO(4K+2) down to SU sub C (3)xSU sub L (2)xU sub Y (1), which uses regular subgroups only, does not allow low energy left right symmetry restoration. In these theories, the smallest mass scale at which such restoration is possible is approximately one billion GeV as in the SO(10) case. The unification mass in SO(4K+2) GUTS must be at least as large as that in SU(5). These results assumed standard values of the Weinberg angle and strong coupling constant.
Annealing of radiation damage was observed for the first time in VPE-grown, 2- by 2-cm, n+/p/p+ GaAs shallow homojunction solar cells. Electrical performance of several cells was determined as a function of 1-MeV electron fluence in the range of 10 to the 13th power to 10 to the 15th power e-/sq cm and as a function of thermal annealing time at various temperatures. Degradation of normalized power output after a fluence of 10 to the 15th power 1-MeV electrons/sq cm ranged from a low of 24 to 31 percent of initial maximum power. Normalized short circuit current degradation was limited to the range from 10 to 19 percent of preirradiated values. Thermal annealing was carried out in a flowing nitrogen gas ambient, with annealing temperatures spanning the range from 125 to 200 C. Substantial recovery of short circuit current was observed at temperatures as low as 175 C. In one case improvement by as much as 10 percent of the postirradiated value was observed. The key features of these cells are their extremely thin emitter layers (approxmately 0.05 micrometers), the absence of any Al sub xGd sub 1-x As passivating window layer, and their fabrication by vapor phase epitaxy.
Studies of grown-in defects and defects produced by the one-MeV electron irradiation in Al sub 0.3 Ga sub 0.7As p-n junction solar cells fabricated by liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) technique were made for the unirradiated and one-MeV electron irradiated samples, using DLTS and C-V methods. Defect and recombination parameters such as energy level, defect density, carrier capture cross sections and lifetimes were determined for various growth, annealing, and irradiation conditions.
Progress in LEC (liquid encapsulated Czochralski) crystal growth techniques for producing high-quality, 3-inch-diameter, n- and p-type GaAs crystals suitable for solar cell applications is described. The LEC crystals with low dislocation densities and background impurities, high electrical mobilities, good dopant uniformity, and long diffusion lengths were reproducibly grown through control of the material synthesis, growth and doping conditions. The capability for producing these large-area, high-quality substrates should positively impact the manufacturability of highly efficiency, low cost, radiation-hard GaAs solar cells.
A new syndrome decoding algorithm for the (n, 1) convolutional codes (CC) that is different and simpler than the previous syndrome decoding algorithm of Schalkwijk and Vinck is presented. The new algorithm uses the general solution of the polynomial linear Diophantine equation for the error polynomial vector E(D). This set of Diophantine solutions is a coset of the CC space. A recursive or Viterbi-like algorithm is developed to find the minimum weight error vector cirumflex E(D) in this error coset. An example illustrating the new decoding algorithm is given for the binary nonsymmetric (2,1)CC.
The equilibrium strategy for N-person differential games can be found by studying a min-max problem subject to differential systems constraints. The differential constraints are penalized and finite elements are used to compute numerical solutions. Convergence proof and error estimates are given. Numerical results are also included and compared with those obtained by the dual method.
Experimental and analytical results are presented for choked flows of fluid nitrogen over a range of reduced inlet stagnation temperatures (from 0.67 to ambient) and reduced inlet stagnation pressures to 2. Flow rate and pressure profile comparisons are made between N aligned sequential orifice inlets, a 33-tooth labyrinth seal, a 3-step seal, a cylindrical seals and the classic venturi. Seal effectiveness appears strongly dependent on upstream losses and geometry configuration.
This paper presents a new syndrome decoding algorithm for the (n,k) convolutional codes (CC) which differs completely from an earlier syndrome decoding algorithm of Schalkwijk and Vinck. The new algorithm is based on the general solution of the syndrome equation, a linear Diophantine equation for the error polynomial vector E(D). The set of Diophantine solutions is a coset of the CC. In this error coset a recursive, Viterbi-like algorithm is developed to find the minimum weight error vector (circumflex)E(D). An example, illustrating the new decoding algorithm, is given for the binary nonsystemmatic (3,1)CC.
Attention is given to the 'B versus n dilemma' associated with the near constancy of magnetic field strength based on H I Zeeman data over a range of gas densities. The problem is examined in terms of preferential mass flow along magnetic field lines resulting from the low thermal energy of these regions. Approximate relations have been found to scale the magnetic field strength in interstellar clouds. It is noted that the fiducial gas density for scaling the increasing magnetic field strength is 2-3 orders of magnitude above the average interstellar density often used to estimate B.
The condensation by homogeneous nucleation of ethanol (200 proof) and of n-propanol (99.98%) carried at small mole fraction in dry air (99.995%) was studied in the unsteady, isentropic expansion of a shock tube. Samples of the vapor at different partial pressures in dry air at room temperature were expanded into the liquid coexistence regime of the condensing species. A Kristler pressure transducer and Rayleigh light scattering were used to measure the pressure in the expansion and the onset of condensation. Condensation was observed at different locations between 0.15 and 1 m upstream of the diaphragm location, which correspond to different cooling rates of of the vapor samples about 50 to 10 C/ms.
The letter presents a new syndrome decoding algorithm for the (n, 1) convolutional codes (CC) that is different and simpler than the previous syndrome decoding algorithm of Schalkwijk and Vinck. The new technique uses the general solution of the polynomial linear Diophantine equation for the error polynomial vector E(D). A recursive, Viterbi-like, algorithm is developed to find the minimum weight error vector E(D). An example is given for the binary nonsystematic (2, 1) CC.
TIROS-N and NOAA-6 temperature soundings over North America during three days in January 1980, and synoptic analyses and numerical-model forecasts derived from them, are compared with conventional data and analyses from NMC's limited-area fine-mesh model (LFM). The collocated sounding comparison revealed significant errors, especially near the surface and the tropopause. Satellite-derived thermal gradients were found to be weak, and thickness-analysis difference fields to propagate eastward, suggesting that sounding errors are correlated with synoptic patterns. The same pattern of anomalies is seen in the model forecasts. More detailed determinations of the correlation detected here could be used to optimize the assimilation of satellite soundings to conventional data.
The log N-log S data acquired by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter Gamma Burst Detector (PVO) are presented and compared to similar data from the Soviet KONUS experiment. Although the PVO data are consistent with and suggestive of a -3/2 power law distribution, the results are not adequate at this state of observations to differentiate between a -3/2 and a -1 power law slope.
Direct current planar magnetron sputtering was used to deposit gold Schottky barrier electrical contacts on n-type GaAs of varying doping densities. The electrical character of the contact was determined from current voltage and electron beam induced voltage data. Without reducing the surface concentration of carbon and oxide, the contacts were found to be rectifying. There is evidence that energetic neutral particles reflected from the magnetron target strike the GaAs and cause interfacial damage similar to that observed for ion sputtering. Particle irradiation of the surface during contact deposition is discussed.
Deep level transient spectroscopy reveals that the main electron traps for one-MeV electron irradiated GaAs cells are E9c)-0.31, E(c)-0.90 eV, and the main hole trap is due to the level. Electron trap density was found to vary from 3/tens-trillion ccm for 2/one quadrillion cm 3/3.7 quadrillion cm for 21 sextillion cm electron fluence for electron fluence; a similar result was also obtained for the hole trap density. As for the grown-in defects in the Al(x)Ga(1-x)As p-n junciton cells, only two electron traps with energies of E(c)-0.20 and E(c)-0.34 eV were observed in samples with x = 0.17, and none was found for x 0.05. Auger analysis on the Al(x)Ga(1-x) As window layer of the GaAs solar cell showed a large amount of oxygen and carbon contaminants near the surface of the AlGaAs epilayer. Thermal annealing experiment performed at 250 C for up to 100 min. showed a reduction in the density of both electron traps.
The photovoltaic characteristics of p(+)-n junction solar cells fabricated on bulk GaAs by an open tube diffusion technique are presented in detail. Quantum efficiency measurements were analyzed and compared to computer simulations of the cell structure in order to determine material parameters such as diffusion length, surface recombination velocity and junction depth. From the results obtained it is projected that proper optimization of the cell parameters can increase the efficiency of the cells to close to 20 percent.