We present a detailed analysis of the properties of twisted, force-free magnetospheres of non-rotating neutron stars, which are of interest in the modelling of magnetar properties and evolution. In ...our models the magnetic field smoothly matches to a current-free (vacuum) solution at some large external radius, and they are specifically built to avoid pathological surface currents at any of the interfaces. By exploring a large range of parameters, we find a few remarkable general trends. We find that the total dipolar moment can be increased by up to 40 per cent with respect to a vacuum model with the same surface magnetic field, due to the contribution of magnetospheric currents to the global magnetic field. Thus, estimates of the surface magnetic field based on the large-scale dipolar braking torque are slightly overestimating the surface value by the same amount. Consistently, there is a moderate increase in the total energy of the model with respect to the vacuum solution of up to 25 per cent, which would be the available energy budget in the event of a fast, global magnetospheric reorganization commonly associated with magnetar flares. We have also found the interesting result of the existence of a critical twist (φmax ≲ 1.5 rad), beyond which we cannot find any more numerical solutions. Combining the models considered in this paper with the evolution of the interior of neutron stars will allow us to study the influence of the magnetosphere on the long-term magnetic, thermal, and rotational evolution.
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•Process intensification in a two zone fluidized bed with H2 permselective membranes.•Concurrent CH4 dry reforming, catalyst regeneration and H2 separation are achieved.•70–85% of ...hydrogen is obtained as a pure (membrane permeate) stream.•Stable behaviour can be reached by modifying reactor configuration.•CH4 conversions and H2/CO ratios exceed the limits of conventional reactors.
Methane dry reforming of biogas can be a sustainable source of hydrogen but the development of this technology is hindered by limitations such as endothermicity and catalyst deactivation by coke. A two zone fluidized bed reactor coupling permselective Pd/Ag membranes counteracts them and allows to intensify the process obtaining a stable pure hydrogen production. Here we report the effect of operation variables (i.e., temperature, total bed height, nature and partial pressure of regenerative agent, relative height of the regeneration and reaction zones, and use of an activation period) on the yield to hydrogen and stability of the process. Hydrogen over-yields, compared with the conventional fluidized bed reactor, in the range of +200% to +100% were obtained for the entire interval of temperatures 475–575 °C whilst maintaining stable operation by continuous catalyst regeneration. Around 70% of it was pure hydrogen coming from the permeate side of the membranes. The proposed reactor configuration greatly increases both methane conversion and selectivity to hydrogen (expressed as H2/CO ratio), not only in relation to our own conventional reactor findings but also regarding other published results.
Biogas is a renewable resource obtained mainly from the anaerobic fermentation of agro-industrial and anthropogenic residues. The production of hydrogen by dry reforming of methane represents a ...potential application for this renewable energy carrier. This could play a positive contribution towards meeting the challenge of providing a global supply of energetically sustainable and environmentally friendly energy. This work combines a catalytic reaction, a separation and the catalyst regeneration in a single reactor. To this end, a two zone fluidized bed reactor (TZFBR) with hydrogen selective membranes has been employed (TZFBR + MB). The operating conditions for the process of dry reforming of biogas have been optimized experimentally, both in TZFBR and TZFBR + MB. Several catalysts were prepared (Ni/Al2O3, NiCe/Al2O3, NiCo/Al2O3), characterized and tested in reactions in both TZFBR and in TZFBR + MB. Finally, the influence of using oxygen or carbon dioxide as regenerating gases in the process has been studied. Experimental results show the feasibility of using CO2 for in situ catalyst regeneration, avoiding the potential problems associated with the use of O2.
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•Simultaneous dry reforming of CH4, catalyst regeneration and H2 separation.•Use of hydrogen selective membranes in a two-zone fluidized bed reactor.•Steady state operation was achieved, by counteracting catalyst deactivation.•Increased conversion and H2/CO ratio by using hydrogen selective membranes.•CO2 was used as regenerating gas for in situ removal of coke.
Context. Possible effects of magnetic fields in core collapse supernovae rely on an efficient amplification of the weak pre-collapse fields. It has been suggested that the magneto-rotational ...instability (MRI) leads to a rapid growth for these weak seed fields. Although plenty of MRI studies exist for accretion disks, the application of their results to core collapse supernovae is inhibited as the physics of supernova cores is substantially different from that of accretion discs. Aims. We address the problem of growth and saturation of the MRI in core collapse supernovae by studying its evolution by means of semi-global simulations, which combine elements of global and local simulations by taking the presence of global background gradients into account and using a local computational grid. We investigate, in particular, the termination of the growth of the MRI and the properties of the turbulence in the saturated state. Methods. We analyze the dispersion relation of the MRI to identify different regimes of the instability. This analysis is complemented by semi-global ideal MHD simulations, where we consider core matter in a local computational box (size ∼$1\,$km) rotating at sub-Keplerian velocity and where we allow for the presence of a radial entropy gradient, but neglect neutrino radiation. Results. We identify six regimes of the MRI depending on the ratio of the entropy and angular velocity gradient. Our numerical models confirm the instability criteria and growth rates for all regimes relevant to core-collapse supernovae. The MRI grows exponentially on time scales of milliseconds, the flow and magnetic field geometries being dominated by channel flows. We find MHD turbulence and efficient transport of angular momentum. The MRI growth ceases once the channels are disrupted by resistive instabilities (stemming from to the finite conductivity of the numerical code), and MHD turbulence sets in. From an analysis of the growth rates of the resistive instabilities, we deduce scaling laws for the termination amplitude of the MRI, which agree well with our numerical models. We determine the dependence of the development of large-scale coherent flow structures in the saturated state on the aspect ratio of the simulation boxes. Conclusions. The MRI can grow rapidly under the conditions considered here, i.e., a rapidly rotating core in hydrostatic equilibrium, possibly endowed with a nonvanishing entropy gradient, leading to fields exceeding $10^{15}~\mathrm{G}$. More investigations are required to cover the parameter space more comprehensively and to include more physical effects.
Instability of twisted magnetar magnetospheres Mahlmann, J F; Akgün, T; Pons, J A ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
12/2019, Letnik:
490, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
ABSTRACT
We present 3D force-free electrodynamics simulations of magnetar magnetospheres that demonstrate the instability of certain degenerate, high energy equilibrium solutions of the ...Grad–Shafranov equation. This result indicates the existence of an unstable branch of twisted magnetospheric solutions and allows us to formulate an instability criterion. The rearrangement of magnetic field lines as a consequence of this instability triggers the dissipation of up to 30 per cent of the magnetospheric energy on a thin layer above the magnetar surface. During this process, we predict an increase of the mechanical stresses on to the stellar crust, which can potentially result in a global mechanical failure of a significant fraction of it. We find that the estimated energy release and the emission properties are compatible with the observed giant flare events. The newly identified instability is a candidate for recurrent energy dissipation, which could explain part of the phenomenology observed in magnetars.
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•An alternative, aside from catalysts, for upgrading CO2 methanation reactors.•Side feeding CO2 leads to enhanced conversions and selectivities to CH4.•Thermal gradients along the bed ...are reduced by distributed feeding.•Proven influence of side distributed feeding on CO2 methanation performance.
It has been successfully demonstrated the effect of feeding reactants in distributed manner for the reaction of methanation of CO2. This operation mode has improved not only the selectivity towards CH4, but also the overall process performance. A fixed bed reactor, loaded with Ni-Mn based catalyst, was operated co-feeding both CO2 and H2, but alternatively feeding one of them through several lateral inlets. Preserving the same global W/FCO2 ratio, the side distribution of CO2 allowed to clearly increase the activity of the process (e.g., at 375 °C, the conversion with distributed feeding was around 35% higher than that for the conventional one: XCO2 = 0.12 vs. XCO2 = 0.09). Furthermore, a substantially lower selectivity towards non-desired CO was obtained at any conversion level (e.g., SCO = 0.45 vs. SCO = 0.70, when XCO2 = 0.10). In addition, a more homogeneous temperature profile could be achieved in the bed without increasing the severity of hot spots appearance. On the contrary, side distribution of H2 always led to similar or worse results than for the conventional co-feeding configuration.
Abstract
We extend our previous study of equilibrium solutions of non-rotating force-free magnetospheres of neutron stars. We show that multiple solutions exist for the same sets of parameters, ...implying that the solutions are degenerate. We are able to obtain configurations with disconnected field lines, however, in nearly all cases these correspond to degenerate higher energy solutions. We carry out a wide parametric search in order to understand the properties of the solutions. We confirm our previous results that the lower energy solutions have up to ∼ 25 per cent more energy than the vacuum case, helicity of the order of ∼5 (in some defined units), maximum twist of ∼1.5 rad and a dipole strength that is up to ∼ 40 per cent larger than the vacuum dipole. Including the degenerate higher energy solutions allows for larger theoretical limits of up to ∼ 80 per cent more energy with respect to the vacuum case, helicity of the order of ∼8 and a dipole strength that can now be up to four times that of the vacuum dipole, while the twist can be significantly larger and even diverge for configurations with disconnected domains. The higher energy solutions are probably unstable, therefore, it is unlikely that such magnetospheres exist under normal conditions in magnetars and high magnetic field pulsars.
Measuring the eye's mechanical properties in vivo and with minimally invasive techniques can be the key for individualized solutions to a number of eye pathologies. The development of such techniques ...largely relies on a computational modelling of the eyeball and, it optimally requires the synergic interplay between experimentation and numerical simulation. In Astrophysics and Geophysics the remote measurement of structural properties of the systems of their realm is performed on the basis of (helio-)seismic techniques. As a biomechanical system, the eyeball possesses normal vibrational modes encompassing rich information about its structure and mechanical properties. However, the integral analysis of the eyeball vibrational modes has not been performed yet. Here we develop a new finite difference method to compute both the spheroidal and, specially, the toroidal eigenfrequencies of the human eye. Using this numerical model, we show that the vibrational eigenfrequencies of the human eye fall in the interval 100 Hz-10 MHz. We find that compressible vibrational modes may release a trace on high frequency changes of the intraocular pressure, while incompressible normal modes could be registered analyzing the scattering pattern that the motions of the vitreous humour leave on the retina. Existing contact lenses with embebed devices operating at high sampling frequency could be used to register the microfluctuations of the eyeball shape we obtain. We advance that an inverse problem to obtain the mechanical properties of a given eye (e.g., Young's modulus, Poisson ratio) measuring its normal frequencies is doable. These measurements can be done using non-invasive techniques, opening very interesting perspectives to estimate the mechanical properties of eyes in vivo. Future research might relate various ocular pathologies with anomalies in measured vibrational frequencies of the eye.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Scientific codes are an indispensable link between theory and experiment; in (astro-)plasma physics, such numerical tools are one window into the universe’s most extreme flows of energy. The ...discretization of Maxwell’s equations – needed to make highly magnetized (astro)physical plasma amenable to its numerical modeling – introduces numerical diffusion. It acts as a source of dissipation independent of the system’s physical constituents. Understanding the numerical diffusion of scientific codes is the key to classifying their reliability. It gives specific limits in which the results of numerical experiments are physical. We aim at quantifying and characterizing the numerical diffusion properties of our recently developed numerical tool for the simulation of general relativistic force-free electrodynamics by calibrating and comparing it with other strategies found in the literature. Our code correctly models smooth waves of highly magnetized plasma. We evaluate the limits of general relativistic force-free electrodynamics in the context of current sheets and tearing mode instabilities. We identify that the current parallel to the magnetic field (
j
∥
), in combination with the breakdown of general relativistic force-free electrodynamics across current sheets, impairs the physical modeling of resistive instabilities. We find that at least eight numerical cells per characteristic size of interest (e.g., the wavelength in plasma waves or the transverse width of a current sheet) are needed to find consistency between resistivity of numerical and of physical origins. High-order discretization of the force-free current allows us to provide almost ideal orders of convergence for (smooth) plasma wave dynamics. The physical modeling of resistive layers requires suitable current prescriptions or a sub-grid modeling for the evolution of
j
∥
.
Tiger beetles are a popular group of insects amongst amateur naturalists, and are well-represented in museum and private collections. New species descriptions plateaued in the 19
th
century, but ...there is a recent resurgence of discoveries as integrative taxonomy methods, guided by molecular systematics, uncover “cryptic” tiger beetle diversity. In this paper, we describe a new species using multiple data types. This new species,
Eunota mecocheila
Duran and Roman
n. sp.
, is in the tribe Cicindelini, and is described from specimens collected in saline muddy ditches in northern Mexico. This species is closely related to
E
.
circumpicta
(LaFerté-Sénectère, 1841), but is separated based on morphological differences, geographic range, and genetic differentiation. Little is known about the biology or distribution of this species and it has only been collected from two sites in the state of Coahuila. Given the location of this new species, and its genetic divergence from its closest relative,
E
.
circumpicta
, we discuss the historical biogeography that may have led to isolation and speciation. The male and female dorsal, lateral and frontal habitus and the male aedeagus are shown.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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