Structural and morphological studies, and temperature/frequency dependence of electrical conductivity of Ba0.97La0.02Ti1−xNb4x/5O3 perovskite ceramics

The frequency- and temperature-dependent conductivity of our polycrystalline perovskite ceramic systems with a composition of Ba0.97La0.02Ti1−xNb4x/5O3 (x = 5, 7 and 10, in mol%) was investigated.

Stagnant lid convection with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and the thermal evolution of icy worlds

SUMMARY Convection is an efficient process to release heat from planetary interiors, but its efficiency depends on the detailed properties of planetary mantles and materials. A property whose impact has not yet been studied extensively is the temperature dependence of thermal conductivity. Because thermal conductivity controls heat fluxes, its variations with temperature may alter heat transfer. Here, I assess qualitatively and quantitatively the influence of temperature-dependent thermal conductivity on stagnant lid convection. Assuming that thermal conductivity varies as the inverse of temperature $(k \propto 1/T)$, which is the case for ice Ih, the main component of outer shells of solar System large icy bodies, I performed numerical simulations of convection in 3-D-Cartesian geometry with top-to-bottom viscosity and conductivity ratios in the ranges 105 ≤ Δη ≤ 108 and 1 ≤ Rk ≤ 10, respectively. These simulations indicate that with increasing Rk, and for given values of the Rayleigh number and Δη, heat flux is reduced by a factor Rk0.82, while the stagnant lid is thickening. These results have implications for the structures and thermal evolutions of large icy bodies, the impact of temperature-dependent conductivity being more important with decreasing surface temperature, Tsurf. The heat fluxes and thermal evolutions obtained with temperature-dependent conductivity are comparable to those obtained with constant conductivity, provided that the conductivity is fixed to its value at the bottom or in the interior of the ice shell, that is, around 2.0–3.0 W m−1 K−1, depending on the body. By contrast, temperature-dependent conductivity leads to thicker stagnant lids, by about a factor 1.6–1.8 at Pluto (Tsurf = 40 K) and a factor 1.2–1.4 at Europa (Tsurf = 100 K), and smaller interior temperatures. Overall, temperature-dependent thermal conductivity therefore provides more accurate descriptions of the thermal evolutions of icy bodies.

Simulation of Nonlinear Heat Conduction in Perforated Material by Improved Moving Particle Semi-Implicit Method

An improved moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method is presented to simulate heat conduction with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity. Based on Taylor expansion, a modified Laplacian operator is proposed, and its accuracy in irregular particle distributions is verified. Two problems are considered: (1) heat conduction in a one-dimensional (1D) slab and (2) heat conduction in a perforated sector with different boundary conditions. Consistent results with a mesh-based method are obtained, and the feasibility of the proposed method for heat conduction simulation with temperature-dependent conductivity is demonstrated.

Development of Future Compact and Eco-Friendly HVDC Gas-Insulated Systems: Shape Optimization of a DC Spacer Model and Novel Materials Investigation

Testing and validating the electrical insulation performance of full-size compact high-voltage direct current (HVDC) gas-insulated systems, gas-insulated transmission lines (GIL) and gas-insulated switchgears (GIS) is very costly and take long time. Therefore, a reduced scale system was designed and constructed to study thoroughly the spacer’s performance when subjected to higher electric fields under HVDC with different shapes, made of new advanced materials, and housed in new SF6-free gas environment. Since the stationary DC electric field distribution along the spacer is controlled by spacer material conductivity and strongly depends upon its shape, this, the first part of two articles, proposes in a first step based on electric field calculations with COMSOL Multiphysics software, an optimized shape of a spacer model using a standard high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) alumina-filled epoxy material. Then, two novel types of materials were introduced and investigated: (i) modified filled epoxy material with a lower temperature-dependent conductivity than that of the standard HVAC material, which is interpreted by a lower thermal activation energy; and (ii) nonlinear resistive field grading material with a low nonlinearity coefficient, with and without the presence of a temperature gradient which occurs under operating service load. The numerical results show that, despite that the DC optimized profile of the spacer made of standard HVAC, alumina-filled epoxy is very effective in relaxing the electric field magnitudes along the spacer under uniform temperature—its distribution is significantly affected by the presence of a high temperature gradient causing the maximum electric field shifts along the spacer surface towards the earthed flange. Under this condition, the modified filled epoxy material with a weaker temperature-dependent conductivity results in a significant reduction of the electric field enhancement, representing thus a relevant key solution for HVDC GIL/GIS applications. Nonlinear resistive field grading material is also effective but seems unnecessary. The optimized DC spacer models are being fabricated for tests verification with C4-Perfluoronitrile (C4-PFN, 3MTM NovecTM 4710)/CO2 and Trifluoroiodomethane (CF3I)/CO2 gas mixtures in the reduced scale gas-insulated test prototype.

Structural and Impedance Enquiry on Biodegradable Blend Polymer Electrolytes of Cornstarch and Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone

Biopolymer based Solid polymer blend electrolytes had been prepared utilizing Cornstarch (CS) and Poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) by the technique of solution casting. The readied electrolytes were described by XRD, FTIR and Impedance investigation. The structural properties of CS and PVP blend Polymer Electrolytes (PEs) are dissected by XRD. The interaction among PVP and CS is considered by FTIR investigation. The electrical conductivity is calculated utilizing impedance analyser. The blend of 80wt% CS and 20wt% PVP is having the high conductivity (4.90217 x 10-9 S cm-1 ) and low activation energy (0.16 eV). The temperature dependent conductivity obeys the Arrhenius behaviour.