Disclosed herein is a solar thermochemical reactor comprising an outer member, an inner member disposed within an outer member, wherein the outer member surrounds the inner member and wherein the outer member has an aperture for receiving solar radiation and wherein an inner cavity and an outer cavity are formed by the inner member and outer member and a reactive material capable of being magnetically stabilized wherein the reactive material is disposed in the outer cavity between the inner member and the outer member.

Provided in one embodiment is a method of identifying a stable phase of an ordering binary alloy system comprising a solute element and a solvent element, the method comprising: determining at least three thermodynamic parameters associated with grain boundary segregation, phase separation, and intermetallic compound formation of the ordering binary alloy system; and identifying the stable phase of the ordering binary alloy system based on the first thermodynamic parameter, the second thermodynamic parameter and the third thermodynamic parameter by comparing the first thermodynamic parameter, the second thermodynamic parameter and the third thermodynamic parameter with a predetermined set of respective thermodynamic parameters to identify the stable phase; wherein the stable phase is one of a stable nanocrystalline phase, a metastable nanocrystalline phase, and a non-nanocrystalline phase.

Provided in one embodiment is a method of identifying a stable phase of an ordering binary alloy system comprising a solute element and a solvent element, the method comprising: determining at least three thermodynamic parameters associated with grain boundary segregation, phase separation, and intermetallic compound formation of the ordering binary alloy system; and identifying the stable phase of the ordering binary alloy system based on the first thermodynamic parameter, the second thermodynamic parameter and the third thermodynamic parameter by comparing the first thermodynamic parameter, the second thermodynamic parameter and the third thermodynamic parameter with a predetermined set of respective thermodynamic parameters to identify the stable phase; wherein the stable phase is one of a stable nanocrystalline phase, a metastable nanocrystalline phase, and a non-nanocrystalline phase.

The present disclosure relates to a method of characterizing the thermal ageing of a part made of composite material, in particular a composite material having an organic matrix. The method includes taking from the part a sample of composite material, subjecting the sample to modulated temperature differential calorimetry, determining, from the curve representing the total heat flow component associated with irreversible phenomena, the temperature at which a local extremum appears, this local extremum being characteristic of the thermal ageing, and determining the thermal ageing of the composite material by comparing the temperature at which the local extremum appears with a reference chart.

The present disclosure relates to a method of characterizing the thermal ageing of a part made of composite material, in particular a composite material having an organic matrix. The method includes taking from the part a sample of composite material, subjecting the sample to modulated temperature differential calorimetry, determining, from the curve representing the total heat flow component associated with irreversible phenomena, the temperature at which a local extremum appears, this local extremum being characteristic of the thermal ageing, and determining the thermal ageing of the composite material by comparing the temperature at which the local extremum appears with a reference chart.

Disclosed is a method for predicting corrosion and spontaneous combustion of sulfur-related petrochemical equipment. The method solves the issues in the existing techniques that includes narrow predicting range, high workload in installation and maintenance, and time lag in predicting corrosion and spontaneous combustion inside equipment. The method comprises a step of a dual index system prediction, which includes a step of monitoring a temperature and a step of detecting SO.sub.2 gas generated by spontaneous combustion. The time when spontaneous combustion occurs can be accurately calculated by using a fitted quantitative relationship formula generated by the spontaneous combustion of corrosion products. The method has a low Labor cost. The method has a low labor cost and, does not require on-site gas detection to be carried out by means of manual detection, which both reduces the cost and ensures the detection accuracy.

Disclosed is a method for predicting corrosion and spontaneous combustion of sulfur-related petrochemical equipment. The method solves the issues in the existing techniques that includes narrow predicting range, high workload in installation and maintenance, and time lag in predicting corrosion and spontaneous combustion inside equipment. The method comprises a step of a dual index system prediction, which includes a step of monitoring a temperature and a step of detecting SO.sub.2 gas generated by spontaneous combustion. The time when spontaneous combustion occurs can be accurately calculated by using a fitted quantitative relationship formula generated by the spontaneous combustion of corrosion products. The method has a low Labor cost. The method has a low labor cost and, does not require on-site gas detection to be carried out by means of manual detection, which both reduces the cost and ensures the detection accuracy.

A microfluidic apparatus has a microchannel that includes at least one vertically oriented segment with a top section having a relatively wide opening and a bottom section having a relatively narrow opening. The top section is larger in volume relative to the bottom sections, and the middle sections taper down in at least one dimension from the top section to the bottom section. One or tens or hundreds of vertically-oriented segments may be provided, and they are fluidly coupled to each other. Each segment acts as a pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) cell, and the microchannel apparatus may be used to determine a parameter of a fluid containing hydrocarbons such as the dew point of the fluid or the liquid drop-out as a function of pressure.

A microfluidic apparatus has a microchannel that includes at least one vertically oriented segment with a top section having a relatively wide opening and a bottom section having a relatively narrow opening. The top section is larger in volume relative to the bottom sections, and the middle sections taper down in at least one dimension from the top section to the bottom section. One or tens or hundreds of vertically-oriented segments may be provided, and they are fluidly coupled to each other. Each segment acts as a pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) cell, and the microchannel apparatus may be used to determine a parameter of a fluid containing hydrocarbons such as the dew point of the fluid or the liquid drop-out as a function of pressure.

The material structure prediction apparatus includes a temperature calculator calculating temperatures at calculation points, based on a temperature condition, a nucleation count calculator calculating a nucleation count in the calculation target region, a precipitated phase generation point determining module determining, from the calculation points, a precipitated phase generation point, a grain growth calculator calculating a grain growth of the precipitated phase at the precipitated phase generation point, and a material structure prediction module predicting the structure of the material, based on the grain growth of the precipitated phase.