Performance assessment of stacked air-cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connections

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are playing an important role in the context of sustainable energy development. They represent a sustainable approach to harvest electricity from biodegradable materials. However, harvesting energy from MFCs represents a critical issue because of the low output voltage and power produced. Realizing stacked configurations may involve an increase in MFCs performances in terms of output voltage, current and electric power. In this paper, two stacked configurations under different electrical connection modes have been designed, developed, modeled and tested. The stacked MFCs consist of 4 reactors (28 mL x4) that are connected in series, and parallel-series modes. Three different tests have been carried out, which involves: 1) performing the polarization and power curves by applying decreasing resistances; 2) assessment of the electric behavior of each reactor over time at a fixed resistance, 3) performing the polarization and power curves by applying increasing resistances. Moreover, a numerical model for predicting the transient behavior of the electrical quantities for one reactor, has been developed and validated by using the experimental data. As expected, the results highlighted that the parallel-series configuration assures the highest volumetric power density compared to the series configuration, reaching the maximum value of 1248.5 mW/m3 (139.8 µW) at 0.291 mA. Eventually, by comparing the numerical and the experimental data, it has been demonstrated that the developed model is able to predict the reactor’s electrical trend with a good accuracy.

Development of the “literary evolution” concept by Yuri Tynyanov in the works of Sergei Averintsev

Since the concept of “literary evolution” proposed by Yuri Tynyanov could not be applied to the late Soviet official literature, Sergei Averintsev using this concept examined the relationship between philosophy, sophistry, rhetorics and everyday consciousness in classical Greece. Tynyanov's theory of “parallel series” turned out to be productive for the reconstruction of the tasks of the ancient philosopher and for the interpretation of Plato's dialogues. According Averintsev, Plato acted within the sophistic field, creating irreducible terminology and untranslatable phrases as a moment of the entire further evolution of Western literature. Consideration of Russian formalism as the context of Averintsev's thought proves his contribution to the discussion of Platonism as a tool for posing philosophical problems and of the perspective of philosophy in the postcolonial discussion.

Modeling Battery Connections in the Electronic Lab

The paper deals with the modeling of the processes of charge-discharge of battery assemblies taking into account their degradation. The results of simulating the cyclic operation of battery assemblies in the Electronics Workbench electronic laboratory are presented, possible schemes of inclusion are given, and options for re-switching batteries during operation are considered as well as connecting additional elements to extend the life of the connection. The simulation took into account the presence of one defective battery in the assembly. The operation of the assembly with a defective battery and a reference battery was compared. As a result of the analysis of parallel-serial and serial-parallel battery connections, the first one is considered preferable. For an assembly with a parallel-serial connection, the time parameters of operation remained almost unchanged, but the differences in the voltages of the defective and other batteries changed more than twice as compared with a serial-parallel connection. The changes in charge, voltage and current of assemblies with a degraded battery and a reference battery are analyzed. Timing diagrams are shown for batteries connected in parallel and in series with defective batteries. Power losses in a defective battery are reduced by choosing a parallel-series assembly, while switching a connection from a serial-parallel connection to a parallel-series one does not lead to compensation for the degradation of battery parameters. Changing the switching time intervals in a wide range does not contribute to increasing the capacity of a defective battery. Degradation of battery parameters leads to sharper surges in voltage, charge and current. The additional power recharge of the defective battery maintains the performance of the entire assembly. Recharge can be performed by connecting in parallel a defective additional battery or a capacitor, which is equivalent to replacing a degraded battery with a new one.

A Joint Optimization Model of Production Scheduling and Maintenance Based on Data Driven for a Parallel-Series Production Line

The maintenance of a production line is becoming more important with the development of demanding higher operational efficiency and safety in industrial system. However, a production line often operates under dynamically operational and environmental conditions and the production scheduling is also a very important factor for the maintenance of a production line. First, this paper proposes an integrated data-driven model that coordinates maintenance planning decisions with production scheduling decisions to solve the problem of scheduling and maintenance planning for a parallel-series production line. The degradation information is considered, and the total cost is to be minimized in the proposed model. Also, the total cost is related with production process and maintenance considering reliability of equipment. Then, in order to better describe the relationship between production and maintenance, the accumulative processing time of equipment is used as the input of its failure function. Also, an ability factor is developed to control its reduced level by adopting preventive maintenance. Finally, a case study is used to demonstrate the implementation and potential applications of the proposed model. The long-term wear test experiments are conducted at a research laboratory facility of Shanghai Pangyuan Machinery Co., Ltd. The result proves that the proposed method is feasible and efficient to solve the joint decision-making problem for a parallel-series production line with multivariety and small batch production. The proposed model in this paper is suitable for semiconductor manufacturing.

Optimal allocation of a coherent system with statistical dependent subsystems

This paper studies the optimal allocation policy of a coherent system with independent heterogeneous components and dependent subsystems, the systems are assumed to consist of two groups of components whose lifetimes follow proportional hazard (PH) or proportional reversed hazard (PRH) models. We investigate the optimal allocation strategy by finding out the number $k$ of components coming from Group A in the up-series system. First, some sufficient conditions are provided in the sense of the usual stochastic order to compare the lifetimes of two-parallel–series systems with dependent subsystems, and we obtain the hazard rate and reversed hazard rate orders when two subsystems have independent lifetimes. Second, similar results are also obtained for two-series–parallel systems under certain conditions. Finally, we generalize the corresponding results to parallel–series and series–parallel systems with multiple subsystems in the viewpoint of the minimal path and the minimal cut sets, respectively. Some numerical examples are presented to illustrate the theoretical findings.

Investigating Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cells Performance under Different Serially and Parallelly Connected Configurations

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have recently attracted more attention in the context of sustainable energy production. They can be considered as a future solution for the treatment of organic wastes and the production of bioelectricity. However, the low output voltage and the low produced electricity limit their applications as energy supply systems. The scaling up of MFCs both by developing bigger reactors with multiple electrodes and by connecting several cells in stacked configurations is a valid solution for improving these performances. In this paper, the scaling up of a single air-cathode microbial fuel cell with an internal volume of 28 mL, has been studied to estimate how its performance can be improved (1523 mW/m3, at 0.139 mA). Four stacked configurations and a multi-electrode unit have been designed, developed, and tested. The stacked MFCs consist of 4 reactors (28 mL × 4) that are connected in series, parallel, series/parallel, and parallel/series modes. The multi-electrode unit consists of a bigger reactor (253 mL) with 4 anodes and 4 cathodes. The performance analysis has point ed out that the multi-electrode configuration shows the lowest performances in terms of volumetric power density equal to 471 mW/m3 at 0.345 mA and volumetric energy density of 624.2 Wh/m3. The stacked parallel/series configuration assures both the highest volumetric power density, equal to 2451 mW/m3 (274.6 µW) at 0.524 mA and the highest volumetric energy density, equal to 2742.0 Wh/m3. These results allow affirming that to increase the electric power output of MFCs, the stacked configuration is the optimal strategy from designing point of view.

Ultimate effect of non-identity of capacitive elements of high-voltage arm on frequency characteristics of voltage divider (analytical research)

Purpose. Determination in the analytical form of the maximum limiting influence of the non-identity of the capacitive elements of the high-voltage arm on the amplitude-frequency characteristic and phase-frequency characteristic of the voltage divider with parallel-series connection of R-, C-elements of the high-voltage arm. Methodology. Based on the previously developed theory of broadband voltage dividers with parallel-series connection of R-, C-elements, analytical expressions for amplitude-frequency and phase-frequency characteristics of the voltage divider are obtained and investigated taking into account the limit case of non-identical capacitive elements of high-voltage arm. Results. The nature of the dependencies of the frequency characteristics of the broadband voltage divider on the value of the tolerance of the capacitive elements of the high-voltage arm, the division factor of the voltage divider in a wide range of frequency changes is determined. Simplified approximating expressions for the maximum values of frequency characteristics of the voltage divider are proposed and their error is determined. Originality. For the first time in the analytical form the limiting influence of non-identity of capacitive elements of a high-voltage arm of a voltage divider on its frequency characteristics is considered. A mathematical model of this influence is constructed and the limit values of frequency characteristics of the voltage divider are determined. Practical value. It is recommended to introduce into the normative documentation of broadband voltage dividers the corrected value of the division factor, which allows to significantly reduce the deviation of the actual value of the division factor of the voltage divider from the normalized value in a wide range of frequency changes.