AMERICA

Author: G. Scott　Samuelsen – The 20th century is a period of remarkable energy technology advances that society today embraces and expects as essential for the quality of life. In parallel, a conflict has evolved between the utilization of energy resources and the quality of the environment. The current paradigm is not sustainable and major changes are not only needed, but arguably obligatory for the 21st century. The breadth of the changes anticipated is remarkable, encompassing automobile fuel, the automobile power plant, the generation of electricity, the utilization of electricity, mobility in personal transport, and the design and operation of buildings. The recognition that these changes are essential has taken fifty years through an intertwined matrix of advancing technology, political process, public policy, economics, and social behavior. The efficacy with which these changes will occur depends on the extent to which this matrix can be managed.

Author: David E. Foster – This article gives an overview of the thermodynamic principles demonstrating that the maximum efficiency theoretically possible with a hydrocarbon fueled internal combustion engine is one hundred percent. From this basis the focus turns to articulating irreversibilities that naturally occur within the processes of converting the chemical energy in the fuel into shaft work. These losses are classified as losses that cannot be eliminated when using the current embodiment of internal combustion engines, and losses that in principle could be reduced through application of advanced technologies. Because power is obtained from the engine via unrestrained chemical reaction, i.e. combustion, we must accept a loss of work potential of between 20 and 25 percent of the fuel’s energy. Other losses, such as friction, heat loss and exhaust energy account for the balance of the useable energy that is not converted directly into shaft work. The interplay between combustion temperature, the ratio of specific heats of the combustion chamber gases, heat transfer and exhaust availability is presented as support for a postulate that the maximum pragmatic efficiency is most readily achieved through efforts to keep combustion temperatures low, which in turn maximizes the direct conversion of the fuel’s chemical energy into shaft work while minimizing the available energy lost to heat transfer and exhaust flow.

Author: Said Boumsellek; Jeffrey Spiegelman – Water vapor is known to play a significant role during thin film deposition in ALD, MOCVD, and sputtering processes. Such processes are commonly used to generate transparent conductive layers (TCO) and modify crystal structures via grain size or defect repair. The ability to supply water vapor free from atmospheric contaminants is critical to film integrity. A novel method for control and delivery of water vapor using ionic fluoro-polymer membranes has been tested and results are presented in this paper. One side of the membrane was exposed to ambient air and then de-ionized (DI) water. The other side of the membrane was exposed to high vacuum where a miniature mass spectrometric Residual Gas Analyzer (RGA) was used to monitor pressures of individual gas species. When the membrane was exposed to air the water-to-nitrogen ratio was 10:1 by volume. When the outer surface of membrane was submerged in water the ratio increased to 200:1. Separately on a humidity test stand and under a 20 sccm purge flow of dry nitrogen, 2.8x10^-3 sccm of water was added, raising the concentration of water to 1400 ppm from less than 1 ppm.

Author: Bryce Johnson – Increasingly stringent fuel economy standards are forcing automobile manufacturers to search for efficiency gains in every part of the drive train from engine to road surface. Safety mechanisms such as stability control and anti-lock braking are becoming more sophisticated. At the same time drivers are demanding higher performance from their vehicles. Hybrid transmissions and batteries are appearing in more vehicles. These issues are forcing the automobile manufacturers to require more from their test stands. The test stand must now simulate not just simple vehicle loads such as inertia and windage, but the test stand must also simulate driveline dynamic loads. In the past, dynamic loads could be simulated quite well using Service Load Replication (SLR*1). However, non-deterministic events such as the transmission shifting or application of torque vectoring from an on board computer made SLR unusable for the test. The only way to properly simulate driveline dynamic loads for non-deterministic events is to provide a wheel-tire-road model simulation in addition to vehicle simulation. The HORIBA wheel slip simulation implemented in the SPARC power train controller provides this wheel-tire-road model simulation. *1: Service load replication is a frequency domain transfer function calculation with iterative convergence to a solution. SLR uses field collected, time history format data.

Author: Norm Newberger; Bryce Johnson – The hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is becoming a sustainable vehicle architecture with the US government pouring 14.4 billion[1] into stimulus projects that support drivetrains of new vehicles that are hybrid or battery powered (BEV). Both the series hybrid and BEV have 100% of propulsion energy coming from electricity. The series hybrid uses an internal combustion engine (ICE) to power a generator that produces electricity. The parallel hybrid powers the vehicle by a mechanical combination of electric motors and ICE. In all cases, the drivetrain needs an electric motor, a traction battery and an auxiliary method of obtaining electricity. These auxiliary power units (APU) are typically a downsized, highly efficient ICE or fuel cells for a zero emissions alternative. Horiba’s Virtual Engine (VE) and Virtual Battery (VB) are HIL[2] products that allow electric motor based drivetrain development without waiting for the new battery pack and ICE to become available. Relevant product features for HEV development are discussed in terms of form, function, and verification with data.

Author: Masanobu Akita; Tim Nevius – Direct measurement of engine exhaust volume is often required in determining vehicle or engine mass emissions. The most accurate exhaust flowmeters use ultrasonic transducers to measure exhaust gas velocity with 1% accuracy. Available ultrasonic exhaust meters are limited to exhaust gas temperatures of less than 400 degrees centigrade. These exhaust meters are not suitable for use with diesel engines, because the exhaust gas temperatures can exceed 600 degrees centigrade under heavy loads, or when Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) regeneration occurs. A new type of ceramic ultrasonic transducer that is rated for exhaust gas temperatures greater than 600 degrees C is being developed. An ultrasonic exhaust flowmeter with these high-temperature transducers can be applied to diesel engine and emission tests without limitations for engine size or load.

Author: Peter A. DeBarber; Hiroshi Mizutani – HORIBA has developed the INM-700, a low cost, low-maintenance, in situ instrument for simultaneously monitoring NOx and O2 concentrations aimed at industrial applications. The INM-700 is based on a novel use of a solid-state zirconium oxide sensor strategy. Using this new configuration, the instrument eliminates the drawbacks such as sample handling and conditioning and time lags associated with more conventional extractive sampling methods. In this paper, we review the development and testing of the HORIBA INM- 700 in preparation for deployment on selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units on coal-fired power plants. We describe the sensor technology developments and modifications implemented to integrate the instrument to the SCR application. We show data to track NOx and O2 concentrations at a typical power plant and compare that data to conventional extractive methods. The HORIBA INM-700 data tracks plant history data sets and demonstrates this innovative and affordable approach to industrial process monitoring.

Author: Dan Mudd; Koji Imamura; Bill White; Alex Kramer – This paper recounts the evolution of a design for a primary mass flow standard (PMFS) targeted at measuring flows down to the 0.0012 grams per minute*1 level of gas with a target accuracy of 0.1% of reading. It describes the basic concept of direct mass-flow measurement, identifies external factors that can corrupt the mass measurement and recounts system-design revisions intended to reduce the corrupting influences. A formal uncertainty analysis of the PMFS is not presented as the project is still evolving. However the core task of achieving the needed PMFS stability and noise levels at low-flow levels is discussed for a series of four evolving prototypes, each showing continuing performance improvements. *1: 0.0012 Grams per minute is equals 1 standard cubic centimeter, 1 sccm, of N2. A sccm is a mass flow term equal to one cubic centimeter per minute of a gas at 0 °C and 1 atm.

Author: Jim Knowles; Terry K. Johnson – The HORIBA Medical ABX Pentra DX120 is a complete hematology platform featuring Complete Blood Count (CBC), Nucleated Red Blood Cell (NRBC) count, and Reticulocyte (Retic) count at an approximate throughput of 120 CBC samples per hour. Multiple measurement modalities are used by the system including cell counting by electronic impedance variation, hemoglobin measurement by absorbance spectrophotometry, White Blood Cell (WBC) population differential by optical light scatter and impedance measurements, and measurement of Reticulocytes and NRBC using thiazole orange stain and orthogonal fluorescence with an argon laser.

Author: Francis Ndi; Fran Adar; Salvatore H. Atzeni – Spectral Imaging encompasses a broad range of techniques for scientific image analysis, the end result of which is the production of both the image as well as the spectral composition of a scene of interest. A review of the typical implementations of spectral imaging is discussed in this article. Particular emphasis is placed on the manner of data acquisition, a distinction that frequently determines the suitability of one technique over another for a given application. Our new Simultaneous Hyperspectral Imaging camera is discussed. Its key feature is the ability to collect all spectral and image data in one shot. This feature makes our camera particularly suited to spectral imaging of dynamic scenes in the field as well as in laboratory and industrial environments.

Author: Salvatore H. Atzeni; Linda M. Casson – The role of the detector in optical spectroscopy has evolved over the years, as advances in technology, driven by application requirements, have made the detector much more than simply a transducer at the end of an optical arrangement. Earlier instruments generally consisted of a relatively high-cost spectrometer and a low-cost detector such as a photomultiplier tube (PMT). Thus, the detector was an accessory to the spectrometer. As detector technologies improved, the capability, complexity and expense of the detector increased, placing a lower emphasis on the capabilities of the spectrometer, whose design and capabilities remained relatively constant during the same time period. Today, many researchers accept the notion that the detector is the heart of a spectroscopic system, and the optical subsystem is more of an accessory to the detector. The evolving role of the detector, from an accessory to a key component, was driven by rapid advances in technology as well as cost reduction of complex technologies. In many cases, modern spectroscopic instruments are designed as an integrated system in which the detector is an integral part of the spectrometer or spectrograph, making it possible to optimize the spectroscopic system performance at even lower cost. In this Article, we discuss some common detector choices, their roles in the spectroscopic detection arena, and salient points related to selection, advantages and key performance metrics. Examples of HORIBA Jobin Yvon, Inc. detector products and technologies are provided to illustrate sample implementations that address common application requirements.

Author: Emmanuel Leroy – HORIBA Scientific manufactures several pieces of equipment that perfectly fit into the area of material research applied to photovoltaic technologies, with capabilities that extend from the lab into the fab, to serve the needs of the research community and industry alike. A review of the status of different solar cell technologies is presented here, as well as an overview of our Scientific division technologies of interest to provides background information about applicable techniques. Several typical current applications are then presented, and future potential areas of interest are identified.

Author: Adam M. Gilmore – Water quality is one of the most significant global environmental concerns, making it one of the most important areas of research for HORIBA’s fluorescence instruments. This article describes how our Fluorolog and FluoroMax spectrofluorometers and FluorEssence analysis software facilitate sensitive identification and quantification of natural and man-made sources of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) components important to water quality. The article focuses on the method of excitation-emission mapping (EEM) which simultaneously measures the excitation (absorbance) and emission spectra for all fluorescent components in a water sample. The article emphasizes the most important aspect of the EEM method, which is the accurate correction of both the instrument’s spectral response and the influence of the light-absorbance properties of the sample as required for component identification and quantification. The future of water-quality fluorescence analysis is discussed in light of recognized potential applications and recent efforts to institute international standards for EEM methodology.

Author: Michael C. Pohl – Digital Image Analysis is one of the fastest growing methods for determining particle size and shape. The Dynamic version of this technique as seen in the HORIBA Camsizer-L is gaining in popularity very rapidly. This instrument has been applied to many fields including glass beads, fertilizer, expanded polymers and soils and sediments. The capability to determine size and shape in one measurement in five minutes or less is very attractive. A logical extension of the work on soils and sediments is to migrate to samples originating from volcanic eruptions. This article will explore the proper measurement of these samples and how the data can be used to construct plume dispersal models.