A system for exciting Rubidium atoms to Rydberg states has been constructed to study the interactions between them and metal surfaces. This thesis describes a method to reach the f Rydberg series using diode lasers. Since the diode lasers need to be frequency stabilized for this excitation, a transfer cavity stabilization method was implemented using the Pound-Drever-Hall technique. To obtain the necessary frequency modulation the diode laser was current modulated at ∼ 6 MHz. A noise cancellation circuit was used to suppress detection of the accompanying residual intensity modulation.

To adhere to the current requirements for NOx and CO emissions in combustion systems, modern land and air based gas turbine engines often operate in the fuel lean regime. While operating near the lean blow out (LBO) limit does reduce some harmful emissions, combustor stability is sacrificed and extinction becomes a major concern. To fully understand the characteristics of lean operation, an experimental study was conducted to map the time averaged flow field in a typical industrial, counter-swirling, liquid fuel combustor. This study examined two steady-state operating conditions, both near the lean extinction limit for this swirl burner. Using an LDV/PDPA system, 2-D mean and fluctuating velocities, as well as Reynolds stresses, were measured throughout the combustor. These measurements were taken for both the non-reacting and reacting flow fields, enabling a direct analysis of the result of heat addition and increased load on a turbulent swirling flow field. To further understand the overall flow field, liquid droplet diameter measurements were taken to determine the fuel spray characteristics as a function of operating pressure and rated spray angle. Chemical composition at the combustor exit was also measured, with an emphasis on the concentrations of both CO and NOx emissions. This large database of aerodynamic and droplet measurements improves understanding of the swirling, reacting flow field and aids in the accurate prediction of lean blow-out events. With this understanding of the lean blow-out limit, increased fuel efficiency and decreased pollutant emissions can be achieved in industrial combustors, especially those used for thrust in the airline industry.

The overall goal of this study is to evaluate the ability of novel nanostructured adsorbent media (NTAs, iron sulfides (FeS2 and FeS)) to remove arsenic, selenium and mercury from ash and scrubber pond effluents. The NTAs aim to enhance arsenic removal from solution compared to conventional adsorbents. The iron sulfides are expected to produce stable residuals for ultimate disposal after removing As, Se and Hg from solution, so that removal of these compounds from wastewaters will not result in contamination of soils and groundwaters. Methods for reliably and economically producing these materials were developed. The synthesized NTAs and iron sulfides were characterized by surface analysis techniques such as XRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDS, TEM, XPS, AFM and N2-adsorption. These analyses indicated that Ti(25)-SBA-15 has highly ordered hexagonal mesopores, MT has interparticle mesopores, pyrite (FeS2) forms crystalline, nonporous rectangular nanoparticles (<500 nm), and mackinawite (FeS) forms amorphous, nonporous nanoparticles (<100 nm). Kinetic and equilibrium tests for As(III, V) removal were conducted with NTAs over a range of pH (4, 7, 9.5). The rates of arsenic uptake were very fast and followed a bi-phasic sorption pattern, where sorption was fast for the first 10 minutes, and then slowed and was almost completed within 200 minutes. Distinct sorption maxima for As(III) removal were observed between pH 7 and pH 9.5 for MT and between pH 4 and pH 7 for Ti(25)-SBA-15. The amount of As(V) adsorbed generally decreased as pH increased. In addition, a surface complexation model (SCM) based on the diffuse layer model (DLM) was used to predict arsenic adsorption envelopes by NTAs under various environmental conditions. The SCM for As(III, V) adsorption by NTAs demonstrated the role of mono- and bidentate surface complexes in arsenic adsorption. A batch reactor system was employed in an anaerobic chamber to conduct experiments to characterize both the removal of As, Se, Hg from solution and their subsequent reactions with iron sulfides. Experiment variables for removal experiments included: contaminant valence state (As(V), As(III), Se(VI), Se(IV), Hg(II)); adsorbent/reactant type (FeS, FeS2); adsorbent/reactant concentration; pH (7, 8, 9, 10); and competing ion (SO42-) concentration (0, 1, 10 mM). Experimental variables for reaction experiments were reaction time (up to 30 days) at pH 8 and oxidation states of contaminants. In addition, the stability of iron sulfides (FeS2, FeS) combined with target compounds was investigated by measuring the ability of the target compounds to resist release to the aqueous phase after removal. These experiments showed that iron sulfides were good adsorbent/reactants for target contaminants in spite of the presence of sulfate. This was particularly true at intermediate concentrations of target compounds. The experiments also demonstrated that iron sulfides interacted with target contaminants in such a way to improve their resistance to being released back to solution as pH was changed. Therefore, this study demonstrates the ability of novel nanostructured adsorbent media to remove arsenic, selenium and mercury from ash and scrubber pond effluents and the ability of iron sulfides to produce residuals that are stable when disposed in landfills.

Based on the Lyapunov stability theorem, two different variable structure controllers are proposed in this thesis for two different classes of multi-variable descriptor systems subject to matched nonlinear perturbations. The integral variable structure controller is proposed first for solving the stabilization problems, and model reference variable structure controller is the second for solving the state tracking problems. Both proposed control schemes can guarantee the trajectories of the controlled systems to lie in the sliding surface from initial time, so that the properties of regularity, impulse free, and stability can be obtained. Two numerical examples are given for demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed control schemes.

controllers for discrete-time systems and time-delayed systems. By using bilinear transformation and orthogonal transformation, earlier research results obtained in the continuous-time case are extended to discrete-time situation. The complete set of stabilizing PID controllers for the discrete-time systems is thus obtained. Moreover, this set remains to be a union of convex sets when one particular parameter is fixed. Thus a method to design robust and non-fragile digital PID controllers is proposed by following a similar design procedure for the continuous-time systems. In order to find the stabilizing controller set for systems with time-delays, the relationship between the Nyquist Criterion and Pontryagin’s theory is investigated. The conditions under which one can correctly apply the Nyquist Criterion to time-delayed systems are derived. Then, the complete set of stabilizing PID controllers for arbitrary order LTI systems with time-delay up to a given value is obtained. Furthermore, the stability issue of a system with fixed-delay is also studied and a formula which provides complete knowledge of the distribution of the closed-loop poles is presented. Based on this formula, stabilizing P and PI controller sets for the system with fixed-delay can be computed.

Fe(II)-based degradative solidification/stabilization (Fe(II)-DS/S) technology is the modification of conventional solidification/stabilization (S/S). Inorganic pollutants are immobilized by Fe(II)-DS/S while organic pollutants are destroyed. Experimental studies were conducted to identify the active agents for Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) degradation as well as the conditions that enhance the formation of the active agents in the Fe(II)-DS/S system. PCE was chosen as a model chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon in this study. First, the conditions that lead to maximizing production of the active agents were identified by measuring the ability of various chemical mixtures to degrade PCE. Results showed that Fe(II), Fe(III), Ca, and Cl were the the important elements that affect degradation activity. Elemental compositions of the mixtures and the conditions affecting solid formation might be the important factors in determining how active solids are formed. Second, instrumental analyses (XRD, SEM, SEM-EDS) were used to identify minerals in chemical mixtures that have high activities. Results indicate that active agents for PCE degradation in Portland cement slurries and in cement extracts might be one of several AFm phases. However, systems without cement did not form the same solids as those with cement or cement extract. Ferrous hydroxide was identified as a major solid phase formed in systems without cement. Finally, the effect of using different types of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) on PCE degradation rate during Fe(II)-DS/S was examined and the solids were examined by instrumental analyses (XRD, SEM, SEM-EDS). Four different OPC (Txi, Lehigh, Quikrete, and Capitol) showed different PCE degradation behaviors. Pseudo first-order kinetics was observed for Capitol and Txi OPC and second-order kinetics was observed for Quikrete. In the case of Lehigh cement, pseudo first-order kinetics was observed in cement slurry and second-order kinetics in cement extract. Calcium aluminum hydroxide hydrates dominated solids made with Txi, Quikrete, and Lehigh cements and Friedel’s salt was the major phase found in solids made with Capitol cements. Fe tended to be associated with hexagonal thin plate particles, which were supposed to be a LDH.

On-going research at Texas A&M University indicated that soil stabilization using calcium chloride filter cake along with Class F fly ash generates high strength. Previous studies were conducted with samples containing calcium chloride filter cake and both Class C fly ash and Class F fly ash. Mix design was fixed at 1.3% and 1.7% calcium chloride and 5% and 10% fly ash with crushed limestone base material. Throughout previous studies, recommended mix design was 1.7% calcium chloride filter cake with 10% Class F fly ash in crushed limestone base because Class F fly ash generates early high and durable strength. This research paper focused on the strength increase initiated by greater than 1.7% pure calcium chloride used with Class F fly ash in soil to verify the effectiveness and optimum ratio of calcium chloride and Class F fly ash in soil stabilization. Mix design was programmed at pure calcium chloride concentrations at 0% to 6% and Class F fly ash at 10 to 15%. Laboratory tests showed samples containing any calcium chloride concentration from 2% to 6% and Class F fly ash content from 10% to 15% obtained high early strength however, optimum moisture content, different mix design, and mineralogy deposit analysis are recommended to evaluate the role and the effectiveness of calcium chloride in soil stabilization because of the strength decreasing tendency of the samples containing calcium chloride after 56 days.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1979.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-205). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.