Many particulate processes are preferably implemented in circulating fluidized beds (CFB) over traditional low-velocity fluidization to take advantage of the many benefits of circulating systems. Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most successfully applied processes in CFB technology, with more than 350 FCC units in operation worldwide. Despite its extensive use, an understanding of the complex behaviour of these units is incomplete.<p> A theoretical and experimental evaluation of the fluidization behaviour was conducted in the CFB riser, standpipe, and stripper. Initially, an extension of the existing CFB in the Fluidization Laboratory of Saskatchewan was designed. The experimental program conducted in this study included an examination of the solids flow behaviour in the riser, interstitial gas velocity in the downcomer, and stripping efficiency measurements. The hydrodynamic behaviour of the stripper was modeled using Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX) CFD code.<p> The solids flow behaviour in the bottom zone of a high-density riser was investigated by measuring the local upwards and downwards solids flux. Solids circulation rates between 125 and 243 kg/(m2⋅s) were evaluated at a constant riser superficial gas velocity of 5.3 m/s. The effect of the riser superficial gas velocity of the local upflow at the riser centerline was also conducted at a solids circulation rate of 187 kg/(m2⋅s). The results show that there is little variation in the local net solids flux at radial locations between 0.00 ¡Ü r/R ¡Ü 0.87. The results indicate that a sharp regime change from a typical parabolic solids flux profile to this more radially uniform solids flux profile occurs at a gas velocity between 4.8 and 4.9 m/s.<p> To quantify stripping efficiency, the underflow of an injected tracer into the standpipe must be known. Quantification of the underflow into the standpipe requires knowledge of two main variables: the interstitial gas velocity and the tracer gas concentration profiles in the standpipe. Stripping efficiency was determined for stripper solids circulation rates of 44, 60, and 74 kg/(m2⋅s) and gas velocities of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 m/s. For most conditions studied, the interstitial gas velocity profile was found to be flat for both fluidized and packed bed flow. The stripping efficiency was found to be sensitive to the operating conditions. The highest efficiency is attained at low solids circulation rates and high stripping gas velocities.<p> In the numeric study, stripper hydrodynamics were examined for similar operating conditions as those used in the experimental program. Due to an improved radial distribution of gas and decreasing bubble rise velocity, mass transfer is deemed most intense as bubbles crest above the baffles into the interspace between disc and donut baffles. Stripping efficiency is thought to improve with increasing gas velocity due to an increased bubbling frequency. Stripping efficiency is thought to decrease with increasing solids circulation rates due to a lower emulsion-cloud gas interchange coefficient and a decreased residence time of the emulsion in the stripper.

Se ha tratado de encontrar nuevas aplicaciones para el catalizador usado de las Unidades de F.C.C. de Refinerías (en adelante CUR).Dadas las características de este residuo industrial inerte (distribución granulométrica, superficie específica elevada y relación Si: Al en su composición), se ha estudiado la posibilidad de: a) utilizarlo como materia prima, sustituyendo al caolín en la fabricación de fritas cerámicas; b) emplearlo como materia prima, sustituyendo al caolín que se adiciona a las suspensiones acuosas de esmaltes cerámicos para mantener la estabilidad de las mismas o sustituyendo a Si y Al, en la formulación de los esmaltes; c) como material de partida para la obtención de zeolita 4A.En primer lugar, se han comparado las propiedades de los vidriados obtenidos a partir de cuatro fritas industriales diferentes y las características de los vidriados que resultan de aplicar fritas análogas, que se han preparado en el laboratorio, sustituyendo el caolín, presente en las materias primas de éstas, por CUR. Los resultados obtenidos han sido valorados positivamente.Posteriormente, utilizando CUR en vez de caolín, se preparó una de estas fritas, fundiéndola en un horno semi-industrial y aplicándola posteriormente. Los vidriados obtenidos presentaron también buenas cualidades técnicas y estéticas.A continuación, se han comparado las propiedades de los vidriados obtenidos con un esmalte industrial, que se emplea para obtener recubrimientos vidriados en piezas de pavimento cerámico, con las propiedades de los vidriados resultantes de sustituir, en la composición de dicho esmalte: a) el caolín por CUR; b) parte de la mezcla SiO2-Al2O3 por CUR. Los vidriados obtenidos tienen, en ambos casos, propiedades adecuadas para ser utilizados como recubrimiento en piezas de pavimento cerámico.Finalmente, se ha puesto a punto un procedimiento mediante el cual se puede obtener zeolita 4A, con un grado de cristalinidad superior al 90%, a partir de CUR. Este método, desarrollado a escala de laboratorio, se ha ensayado en planta piloto, habiéndose logrado unos excelentes resultados. La zeolita 4A obtenida posee una capacidad de intercambio iónico análoga a la de la zeolita 4A comercial y un índice de blancura y distribución de tamaño de partícula que se encuentran dentro del límite recomendado para utilizarla como aditivo (para la captación de iones Ca2+) en la fabricación de detergentes.

Traditional analyses of agency output are typically performed at the institutional level, characterizing the agency in question as a unitary actor with a singular preference. I test these assumptions using a variety of statistical methods, including a dynamic linear model that estimates ideal points of FCC commissioners for every year, 1975-2000. Voting within the FCC is essentially unidimensional and commissioner preferences are stable over time. Aggregate analyses of the ideal points of individual commissioners suggest that FCC commissioner voting has become profoundly ideological only recently. Future agency research must carefully consider the time period of analysis and previous findings should be reexamined.

Many particulate processes are preferably implemented in circulating fluidized beds (CFB) over traditional low-velocity fluidization to take advantage of the many benefits of circulating systems. Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most successfully applied processes in CFB technology, with more than 350 FCC units in operation worldwide. Despite its extensive use, an understanding of the complex behaviour of these units is incomplete.<p> A theoretical and experimental evaluation of the fluidization behaviour was conducted in the CFB riser, standpipe, and stripper. Initially, an extension of the existing CFB in the Fluidization Laboratory of Saskatchewan was designed. The experimental program conducted in this study included an examination of the solids flow behaviour in the riser, interstitial gas velocity in the downcomer, and stripping efficiency measurements. The hydrodynamic behaviour of the stripper was modeled using Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX) CFD code.<p> The solids flow behaviour in the bottom zone of a high-density riser was investigated by measuring the local upwards and downwards solids flux. Solids circulation rates between 125 and 243 kg/(m2⋅s) were evaluated at a constant riser superficial gas velocity of 5.3 m/s. The effect of the riser superficial gas velocity of the local upflow at the riser centerline was also conducted at a solids circulation rate of 187 kg/(m2⋅s). The results show that there is little variation in the local net solids flux at radial locations between 0.00 ¡Ü r/R ¡Ü 0.87. The results indicate that a sharp regime change from a typical parabolic solids flux profile to this more radially uniform solids flux profile occurs at a gas velocity between 4.8 and 4.9 m/s.<p> To quantify stripping efficiency, the underflow of an injected tracer into the standpipe must be known. Quantification of the underflow into the standpipe requires knowledge of two main variables: the interstitial gas velocity and the tracer gas concentration profiles in the standpipe. Stripping efficiency was determined for stripper solids circulation rates of 44, 60, and 74 kg/(m2⋅s) and gas velocities of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 m/s. For most conditions studied, the interstitial gas velocity profile was found to be flat for both fluidized and packed bed flow. The stripping efficiency was found to be sensitive to the operating conditions. The highest efficiency is attained at low solids circulation rates and high stripping gas velocities.<p> In the numeric study, stripper hydrodynamics were examined for similar operating conditions as those used in the experimental program. Due to an improved radial distribution of gas and decreasing bubble rise velocity, mass transfer is deemed most intense as bubbles crest above the baffles into the interspace between disc and donut baffles. Stripping efficiency is thought to improve with increasing gas velocity due to an increased bubbling frequency. Stripping efficiency is thought to decrease with increasing solids circulation rates due to a lower emulsion-cloud gas interchange coefficient and a decreased residence time of the emulsion in the stripper.

To better understand consequences of classical assumptions regarding deformation mechanisms at the mesoscale, experimental observations of mesoscale deformation are presented. In light of actual micrographics of deformed polycrystals, the Von Mises criterion which states that 5 independent plastic deformation sources are needed at each material point to satisfy compatibility is studied, and the consequences of violating this assumption are presented through comprehensive parametric studies. From these studies, it can be concluded that not only are 5 independent plastic deformation sources not needed or observed at each point, but if less than 5 sources are allowed to be active a new physical understanding of a mechanism for kinematic hardening emerges. Furthermore, for enhanced subgrain rotation and evolution the Von Mises criterion must be violated. The second focus of this work is looking at studies, experiments, and models of mesoscale deformation in order to better understand controlling deformation length scales, so that they can be fed into a combined top-down, bottom-up, non-uniform crystal plasticity model that captures the variability provided by the mesoscale during deformation. This can in turn be used to more accurately model the heterogeneity provided by the response of each grain. The length scale intuited from insight into mesoscale deformation mechanisms through observation of experiments and analytical models is the free slip line length of each slip system, which informs non-uniform material parameters in a crystal plasticity model that control the yielding, hardening, and subsequent softening of each individual slip system. The usefulness of this non-uniform multiscale crystal plasticity model is then explored with respect to its ability to reproduce experimentally measured responses at different strain levels for different size grains. Furthermore, a "Mantle-Core" type model which combines both the non-uniform material parameter model and the limited slip model is created, in which the majority of plastic deformation is accommodated near the grain boundary under multi-slip, and uniform plastic deformation occurs in the bulk dominated by double or triple slip. These models are compared for similar levels of hardening, and the pole figures that result from their deformation are compared to experimental pole figures. While there are other models that can capture the heterogeneity introduced by mesoscale deformation at the grain scale, this combined top-down, bottom-up multiscale crystal plasticity model is by far one of the most computationally efficient as the heterogeneity of the mesoscale is does not emerge by introducing higher order terms, but rather by incorporating the heterogeneity into a simple crystal plasticity formulation. Therefore, as computational power increases, this approach will be among the first that will be able to perform accurate polycrystal level modeling while retaining the heterogeneity introduced by non-local mesoscale deformation mechanisms at the sub-grain scale.

La thèse traite du diagnostic de procédés et se divise en trois parties. La première partie présente une méthode de modélisation causale pour le diagnostic. La seconde partie présente les différentes méthodes mises en ouvre pour la détection, la localisation et l'identification de défauts. Pour effectuer la détection, nous comparons les variables du modèle causal aux mesures. Nous évaluons les apports d'une approche ensembliste et d'une approche par logique floue pour la prise en compte des incertitudes. La localisation est réalisée grâce à un algorithme de hitting-sets afin de déterminer l'ensemble des composants suspects. Ceci permet de focaliser l'identification de défauts sur un nombre réduit de composants. Cette identification utilise l'expertise sur les modes de défaillance, exprimée sous forme de bases de règles, chacune relative à un composant, et permettant d'aiguiller l'opérateur sur des actions et des vérifications à effectuer. La troisième partie présente l'application.

A key theoretical debate underlying the now defunct Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation known as the Fairness Doctrine is conflict over what constitutes the right to freedom of speech: a positive or negative conception. Similarly, since repeal of the Doctrine, other FCC measures to uphold the “public-interest” standard in broadcasting have relied on a positive conception of speech. This thesis demonstrates the history of this debate through court cases, news reports, scholarly articles and historical documents. It then is argued that the positive-right nature of these regulations is problematic philosophically, constitutionally and practically. The positive-right conception lends itself to an uncomfortable level of paternalism on the part of government regulators, a constitutional abridgement of negative-right speech and a tedious involvement of government in regulation that can lead to a chilling effect on speech. The conclusion then suggests further areas of research related to the topics covered in the thesis.

In this thesis, a system to locate an electrostatic discharge (ESD) event within an electronic device has been developed. ESD can cause a device to fail legally required radiated emissions limits as well as disrupt intended operation. The system used a fast oscilloscope with four channels, each channel attached to a high frequency near-field antenna. These antennas were placed at known locations in three dimensional space to measure the fields radiated from the ESD event. A Time-Difference-of-Arrival technique was used to calculate the location of the ESD event. Quick determination of the ESD event location provides developers with a tool that saves them time and money by eliminating the time-consuming and tedious method of general ESD mitigation within a product.

Microstructure changes that occur during the deformation and heat treatments involved in wrought processing of metals are of central importance in achieving the desired properties or performance characteristics in the finished products. However, thorough understanding of the evolution of microstructure during thermo-mechanical processing of metallic materials is largely hampered by lack of methods for characterizing reliably their local (anisotropic) properties at the sub-micron length scales. Recently, remarkable advances in nanoindentation data analysis techniques have been made which now make it possible to obtain quantitative information about the local mechanical properties of constituent individual grains in polycrystalline metallic samples. In this work, a novel approach that combines mechanical property information obtained from spherical nanoindentation with the complementary structure information measured locally at the indentation site, using Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD), is used to systematically investigate the local structure-property relationships in fcc metals. This work is focused on obtaining insights into the changes in local stored energies of polycrystalline metallic samples as a function of their crystal orientation at increasing deformation levels. Furthermore, using the same approach, the evolution of mechanical properties in the grain boundary regions in these samples is studied in order to better understand the role of such interfaces during deformation and recrystallization processes. The findings provide valuable information regarding development of stored energy gradients in polycrystalline materials during macroscopic deformation.

This thesis presents the results from Monte Carlo calculations on classical vector spins in face-centered-cubic (FCC) lattices. The goal of the study was to understand the effect of interlayer coupling, dilution of magnetic atoms in the lattice, and symmetry-changing strain. Experimental work by T. M. Giebultowicz et al. and J. A. Borchers et al. greatly inspired my work [1, 2]. J. A. Borchers's group studied NiO/CoO superlattices and observed that the magnetic order of CoO persisted above its Neel temperature due to the effect of interlayer coupling with NiO, which has a higher Neel temperature than CoO [1]. Simulating on a model of NiO/CoO bilayer reproduced the experimental results from Borchers et al. [1]. I concluded that exchange pinning on the NiO/CoO interface preserves the magnetic order of CoO above its Neel temperature significantly. Building on this initial result, a ferromagnet/antiferromagnet/ferromagnet (FM/AFM/FM) trilayer model was studied, where the ferromagnetic (FM) layers were antiferromagnetically coupled. First, I calculated the strength of the AF coupling as a function of the number of antiferromagnetic (AFM) spacer monolayers and concluded that the strength of AFM coupling decreases as the number of AFM spacer monolayers increases. Secondly, I added a uniaxial anisotropy to the model and obtained magnetization curves which exhibited hysteresis-like features with an external field and a first order magnetic transition. Lastly, I diluted the AFM spacer layer in the FM/AFM/FM trilayer by replacing magnetic spins with zero spins in the model. The dilution of AFM spacer layer caused fluctuations in the magnetization curves with external field but the strength of AFM coupling decreases as the number of AFM monolayers increases as in the nondiluted cases. The experimental results from T.M. Giebultowicz's group on MnSe/ZnTe superlattices by neutron scattering showed incommensurate helical spin order in MnSe, where MnSe layers were under tensile strain due to a small mismatching in the lattice parameter [2]. In addition, they observed that the pitch of the spin helix increased as the temperature increased [2]. I modeled the MnSe/ ZnTe system with Monte Carlo method and found that the pitch of the spin helix increased with temperature. In fact, the dependence of helix pitch on temperature was present regardless of the thickness of the sample, so I concluded that this pitch increase is not from the weakening of coupling of surface spins / Graduation date: 2013 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from Jan. 18, 2013 - July 18, 2013