All issues

Technical carbon (soot) is a product obtained by thermal decomposition (pyrolysis) of hydrocarbons (usually oil) in a stream of heat carrier gas. Technical carbon is widely used as a reinforcing component in the production of rubber and plastic masses. Tire production uses 70% of all carbon produced. In furnace carbon production, the liquid hydrocarbon feedstock is injected into the natural gas combustion product stream through nozzles. The raw material is atomized and vaporized with further pyrolysis. It is important for the raw material to be completely evaporated before the pyrolysis process starts, otherwise coke, that contaminates the product, will be produced. It is impossible to operate without mathematical modeling of the process itself in order to improve the carbon production technology, in particular, to provide the complete evaporation of the raw material prior to the pyrolysis process. Mathematical modelling is the most important way to obtain the most complete and detailed information about the peculiarities of reactor operation.

A three-dimensional mathematical model and calculation method for raw material atomization and evaporation in the thermal gas flow are being developed in the FlowVision software package PC. Water is selected as a raw material to work out the modeling technique. The working substances in the reactor chamber are the combustion products of natural gas. The motion of raw material droplets and evaporation in the gas stream are modeled in the framework of the Eulerian approach of interaction between dispersed and continuous media. The simulation results of raw materials atomization and evaporation in a real reactor for technical carbon production are presented. Numerical method allows to determine an important atomization characteristic: average Sauter diameter. That parameter could be defined from distribution of droplets of raw material at each time of spray forming.

In the last few years, significant progress has been observed in the field of rotating detonation engines for aircrafts. Scientific laboratories around the world conduct both fundamental researches related, for example, to the issues of effective mixing of fuel and oxidizer with the separate supply, and applied development of existing prototypes. The paper provides a brief overview of the main results of the most significant recent computational work on the study of propagation of a onedimensional pulsating gaseous detonation wave in a non-uniform medium. The general trends observed by the authors of these works are noted. In these works, it is shown that the presence of parameter perturbations in front of the wave front can lead to regularization and to resonant amplification of pulsations behind the detonation wave front. Thus, there is an appealing opportunity from a practical point of view to influence the stability of the detonation wave and control it. The aim of the present work is to create an instrument to study the gas-dynamic mechanisms of these effects.

The mathematical model is based on one-dimensional Euler equations supplemented by a one-stage model of the kinetics of chemical reactions. The defining system of equations is written in the shock-attached frame that leads to the need to add a shock-change equations. A method for integrating this equation is proposed, taking into account the change in the density of the medium in front of the wave front. So, the numerical algorithm for the simulation of detonation wave propagation in a non-uniform medium is proposed.

Using the developed algorithm, a numerical study of the propagation of stable detonation in a medium with variable density as carried out. A mode with a relatively small oscillation amplitude is investigated, in which the fluctuations of the parameters behind the detonation wave front occur with the frequency of fluctuations in the density of the medium. It is shown the relationship of the oscillation period with the passage time of the characteristics C₊ and C₀ over the region, which can be conditionally considered an induction zone. The phase shift between the oscillations of the velocity of the detonation wave and the density of the gas before the wave is estimated as the maximum time of passage of the characteristic C₊ through the induction zone.

Based on modified rescaled range scale computation algorithm, the technique of Hurst exponent and its characteristic time estimation is proposed. The approach of increase the accuracy and simplification automatic Hurst exponent calculation is developed. The Hurst exponent and characteristic time is calculated for power time sets of speech signals with various motor pathologies (aphasias and dysarthrias). Results is statistically analyzed, the correlation between Hurst exponent and characteristic time is estimated.

The biohydrochemical portrait of the White Sea is constructed on the CNPSi-model calculations based on long-term mean annual observations (average monthly hydrometeorological, hydrochemical and hydrobiological parameters of the marine environment) as well as on updated information on the nutrient input to the sea with the runoff of the main river tributaries (Niva, Onega, Northern Dvina, Mezen, Kem, Keret). Parameters of the marine environment are temperature, light, transparency, and biogenic load. Ecological characteristics of the sea “portrait” were calculated for nine marine areas (Kandalaksha, Onega, Dvinsky, Mezensky Bays, Solovetsky Islands, Basin, Gorlot, Voronka, Chupa Bay), these are: the concentration changes of organic and mineral compounds of biogenic elements (C, N, P, Si), the biomass of organisms of the lower trophic level (heterotrophic bacteria, diatomic phytoplankton, herbivorous and predatory zooplankton) and other ones (rates of substance concentration and organism biomass changes, internal and external substance flows, balances of individual substances and nutrients as a whole). Parameters of the marine environment state (water temperature, ratio of mineral fractions N < P) and dominant diatom phytoplankton in the sea (abundance, production, biomass, chlorophyll content a) were calculated and compared with the results of individual surveys (for 1972–1991 and 2007–2012) of the White Sea water areas. The methods for estimating the values of these parameters from observations and calculations differ, however, the calculated values of the phytoplankton state are comparable with the measurements and are similar to the data given in the literature. Therefore, according to the literature data, the annual production of diatoms in the White Sea is estimated at 1.5–3 million tons C (at a vegetation period of 180 days), and according to calculations it is ~2 and 3.5 million tons C for vegetation period of 150 and 180 days respectively.

The article shows the relevance of research work in the field of creating control systems for unmanned vehicles based on computer vision technologies. Computer vision tools are used to solve a large number of different tasks, including to determine the location of the car, detect obstacles, determine a suitable parking space. These tasks are resource intensive and have to be performed in real time. Therefore, it is important to develop effective models, methods and tools that ensure the achievement of the required time and accuracy for use in unmanned vehicle control systems. In this case, the choice of the image representation model is important. In this paper, we consider a model based on the wavelet transform, which makes it possible to form features characterizing the energy estimates of the image points and reflecting their significance from the point of view of the contribution to the overall image energy. To form a model of energy characteristics, a procedure is performed based on taking into account the dependencies between the wavelet coefficients of various levels and the application of heuristic adjustment factors for strengthening or weakening the influence of boundary and interior points. On the basis of the proposed model, it is possible to construct descriptions of images their characteristic features for isolating and analyzing, including for isolating contours, regions, and singular points. The effectiveness of the proposed approach to image analysis is due to the fact that the objects in question, such as road signs, road markings or car numbers that need to be detected and identified, are characterized by the relevant features. In addition, the use of wavelet transforms allows to perform the same basic operations to solve a set of tasks in onboard unmanned vehicle systems, including for tasks of primary processing, segmentation, description, recognition and compression of images. The such unified approach application will allow to reduce the time for performing all procedures and to reduce the requirements for computing resources of the on-board system of an unmanned vehicle.

In the conditions of the development of modern economy, human capital is one of the main factors of economic growth. The formation of human capital begins with the birth of a person and continues throughout life, so the value of human capital is inseparable from its carriers, which in turn makes it difficult to account for this factor. This has led to the fact that currently there are no generally accepted methods of calculating the value of human capital. There are only a few approaches to the measurement of human capital: the cost approach (by income or investment) and the index approach, of which the most well-known approach developed under the auspices of the UN.

This paper presents the assigned task in conjunction with the task of demographic dynamics solved in the time-age plane, which allows to more fully take into account the temporary changes in the demographic structure on the dynamics of human capital.

The task of demographic dynamics is posed within the framework of the Mac-Kendrick – von Foerster model on the basis of the equation of age structure dynamics. The form of distribution functions for births, deaths and migration of the population is determined on the basis of the available statistical information. The numerical solution of the problem is given. The analysis and forecast of demographic indicators are presented. The economic and mathematical model of human capital dynamics is formulated on the basis of the demographic dynamics problem. The problem of modeling the human capital dynamics considers three components of capital: educational, health and cultural (spiritual). Description of the evolution of human capital components uses an equation of the transfer equation type. Investments in human capital components are determined on the basis of budget expenditures and private expenditures, taking into account the characteristic time life cycle of demographic elements. A one-dimensional kinetic equation is used to predict the dynamics of the total human capital. The method of calculating the dynamics of this factor is given as a time function. The calculated data on the human capital dynamics are presented for the Russian Federation. As studies have shown, the value of human capital increased rapidly until 2008, in the future there was a period of stabilization, but after 2014 there is a negative dynamics of this value.

Theoretical and experimental investigations of water vapor interaction with porous materials are carried out both at the macro level and at the micro level. At the macro level, the influence of the arrangement structure of individual pores on the processes of water vapor interaction with porous material as a continuous medium is studied. At the micro level, it is very interesting to investigate the dependence of the characteristics of the water vapor interaction with porous media on the geometry and dimensions of the individual pore.

In this paper, a study was carried out by means of mathematical modelling of the processes of water vapor interaction with suffering pore of the cylindrical type. The calculations were performed using a model of a hybrid type combining a molecular-dynamic and a macro-diffusion approach for describing water vapor interaction with an individual pore. The processes of evolution to the state of thermodynamic equilibrium of macroscopic characteristics of the system such as temperature, density, and pressure, depending on external conditions with respect to pore, were explored. The dependence of the evolution parameters on the distribution of the diffusion coefficient in the pore, obtained as a result of molecular dynamics modelling, is examined. The relevance of these studies is due to the fact that all methods and programs used for the modelling of the moisture and heat conductivity are based on the use of transport equations in a porous material as a continuous medium with known values of the transport coefficients, which are usually obtained experimentally.

Automatic recognition of personal identity by biometric features is based on unique peculiarities or characteristics of people. Biometric identification process consist in making of reference templates and comparison with new input data. Iris pattern recognition algorithms presents high accuracy and low identification errors percent on practice. Iris pattern advantages over other biometric features are determined by its high degree of freedom (nearly 249), excessive density of unique features and constancy. High recognition reliability level is very important because it provides search in big databases. Unlike one-to-one check mode that is applicable only to small calculation count it allows to work in one-to-many identification mode. Every biometric identification system appears to be probabilistic and qualitative characteristics description utilizes such parameters as: recognition accuracy, false acceptance rate and false rejection rate. These characteristics allows to compare identity recognition methods and asses the system performance under any circumstances. This article explains the mathematical model of iris pattern biometric identification and its characteristics. Besides, there are analyzed results of comparison of model and real recognition process. To make such analysis there was carried out the review of existing iris pattern recognition methods based on different unique features vector. The Python-based software package is described below. It builds-up probabilistic distributions and generates large test data sets. Such data sets can be also used to educate the identification decision making neural network. Furthermore, synergy algorithm of several iris pattern identification methods was suggested to increase qualitative characteristics of system in comparison with the use of each method separately.

A promising method of increasing precipitation in arid climates is the method of creating a vertical high-temperature jet seeded by hygroscopic aerosol. Such an installation makes it possible to create artificial clouds with the possibility of precipitation formation in a cloudless atmosphere, unlike traditional methods of artificial precipitation enhancement, which provide for increasing the efficiency of precipitation formation only in natural clouds by seeding them with nuclei of crystallization and condensation. To increase the power of the jet, calcium chloride, carbamide, salt in the form of a coarse aerosol, as well as NaCl/TiO₂ core/shell novel nanopowder, which is capable of condensing much more water vapor than the listed types of aerosols, are added. Dispersed inclusions in the jet are also centers of crystallization and condensation in the created cloud to increase the possibility of precipitation. To simulate convective flows in the atmosphere, a mathematical model of FlowVision large-scale atmospheric flows is used, the solution of the equations of motion, energy and mass transfer is carried out in relative variables. The statement of the problem is divided into two parts: the initial jet model and the FlowVision large-scale atmospheric model. The lower region, where the initial high-speed jet flows, is calculated using a compressible formulation with the solution of the energy equation with respect to the total enthalpy. This division of the problem into two separate subdomains is necessary in order to correctly carry out the numerical calculation of the initial turbulent jet at high velocity (M > 0.3). The main mathematical dependencies of the model are given. Numerical experiments were carried out using the presented model, experimental data from field tests of the installation for creating artificial clouds were taken for the initial data. A good agreement with the experiment is obtained: in 55% of the calculations carried out, the value of the vertical velocity at a height of 400 m (more than 2 m/s) and the height of the jet rise (more than 600 m) is within an deviation of 30% of the experimental characteristics, and in 30% of the calculations it is completely consistent with the experiment. The results of numerical simulation allow evaluating the possibility of using the high-speed jet method to stimulate artificial updrafts and to create precipitation. The calculations were carried out using FlowVision CFD software on SUSU Tornado supercomputer.

Bioenergetic regularities determining the maximal biomass yield in aerobic microbial growth on various substrates have been considered. The approach is based on the method of mass-energy balance and application of GenMetPath computer program package. An equation system describing the balances of quantities of 1) metabolite reductivity and 2) high-energy bonds formed and expended has been formulated. In order to formulate the system, the whole metabolism is subdivided into constructive and energetic partial metabolisms. The constructive metabolism is, in turn, subdivided into two parts: forward and standard. The latter subdivision is based on the choice of nodal metabolites. The forward constructive metabolism is substantially dependent on growth substrate: it converts the substrate into the standard set of nodal metabolites. The latter is, then, converted into biomass macromolecules by the standard constructive metabolism which is the same on various substrates. Variations of flows via nodal metabolites are shown to exert minor effects on the standard constructive metabolism. As a separate case, the growth on substrates requiring the participation of oxygenases and/or oxidase is considered. The bioenergetic characteristics of the standard constructive metabolism are found from a large amount of data for the growth of various organisms on glucose. The described approach can be used for prediction of biomass growth yield on substrates with known reactions of their primary metabolization. As an example, the growth of a yeast culture on ethanol has been considered. The value of maximal growth yield predicted by the method described here showed very good consistency with the value found experimentally.