In the present study, the decolourization efficiencies of LP-Hg lamp, XeCl and KrCl excilamps at the same power density were compared for the decolourization of dyes in water by UV and UV/H₂O₂ processes in a batch reactor. Laboratory prototypes of XeCl and KrCl excilamps and a commercial LP-Hg lamp were studied as UV sources. Methylene Blue and Eliamine Blue dyes were used as model pollutants. The effect of the initial concentrations of dye and H₂O₂ in the TOC removal and kinetic parameters were also studied. The ratio of dye decolourization to the electric power consumption of the KrCl excilamp and LP-Hg lamp for the decolourization of Methylene Blue and Eliamine Blue were evaluated. As a result, the KrCl excilamp showed significantly higher decolourization efficiencies than LP-Hg lamp and XeCl excilamp, but the dye removal rate was significantly slower for Methylene Blue than for Eliamine Blue with this lamp. The KrCl lamp can be an alternative to conventional LP-Hg lamp for the decolourization of dyes by photodegradation, but it depends on the type of dye treated. The addition of H₂O₂ in a concentration between 0.05 and 0.09%v/v increases significantly the efficiency of the decolourization of Methylene Blue, and further increase does not lead to a higher increase in conversion. The experimental data were fitted to the one phase decay kinetic model with good agreement and the kinetic parameters were reported. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

This paper proposes new closed expressions of self-impedance using the Method of Moments with the Point Matching Procedure and piecewise constant and linear basis functions in different configurations, which allow saving computing time for the solution of wire antennas with complex geometries. The new expressions have complexity $O\left(1\right)$ with well-defined theoretical bound errors. They were compared with an adaptive numerical integration. We obtain an accuracy between 7 and 16 digits depending on the chosen basis function and segmentation used. Besides, the computing time involved in the calculation of the self-impedance terms was evaluated and compared with the time required by the adaptative quadrature integration solution of the same problem. Expressions have a run-time bounded between 50 and 200 times faster than an adaptive numerical integration assuming full computation of all constant of the expressions.

The Class-E with finite feed inductance is a high-efficiency power amplifier that generally uses complex, long, and iterative design procedures. In this paper, we detail a design methodology that is based on an analytical model of this amplifier. This methodology explores the power amplifier design by the use of a symbolic mathematical tool, which was developed in the software Maple™. This approach helps to understand the Class-E circuit topology and it offers a fast and easy design procedure without having to examine, in-depth, the model analytical equations.

Bicycles are rapidly gaining popularity as a sustainable mode of transportation around the world. Furthermore, the smart bicycle paradigm enables increased use through the Internet of Things applications (e.g., GPS tracking systems). This new paradigm introduces energy autonomy as a new challenge. The energy harvesting technology can capture the energy present in the cycling environment (e.g., kinetic or solar) to give this autonomy. The kinetic energy source is more stable and dense in this environment. There are several wheel kinetic harvesters on the market, ranging from low-complexity dynamos used to power bicycle lights to smart harvester systems that harvest kinetic energy while braking and cycling and store it for when it is needed to power sensors and other electronics loads. Perhaps the hub and the “bottle” dynamos are the most commercially successful systems because of their cost-effective design. Furthermore, the bottle generator is very inexpensive, yet it suffers from significant energy losses and is unreliable in wet weather due to mechanical friction and wheel slippage in the wheel/generator contact. This paper proposes a cost-effective bicycle harvester based on a novel kinetic-electromagnetic transducer. The proposed harvester allows for the generation and storage of harnessed kinetic energy to power low-power electronics loads when the user requires it (e.g., cell phone charging, lighting). The proposed harvester is made up of a power processing unit, a battery, and an optimized transducer based on a Halbach magnet array. An extensive full-wave electromagnetic simulation was used to evaluate the proposed transducer. Circuit simulation was also used to validate the proposed power unit. The proposed harvester generates a simulated output power of 1.17 W with a power processing unit efficiency of 45.6% under a constant bicycle velocity of 30 km/h.

In this paper, a novel SIBO (Single-Inductor Bipolar-Output) DC/DC Boost converter is proposed to power OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) microdisplays. The proposed topology merges a conventional SISO (Single-Inductor Single-Output) DC/DC Boost converter and a switched capacitor inverter to produce a SIBO converter without both the cross-regulation effect and the unbalanced output voltages. Moreover, its control circuit and efficiency are almost the same as the conventional SISO Boost converter. Therefore, the novel converter maintains the power density, the small form factor, and the high efficiency of its conventional counterpart. The proposed converter was analyzed under continuous-conduction mode operation using the moving average operator and charge conservation principle. As a result, the authors proposed an equation set with the main averages and ripples of the circuit variables expressed as analytical functions of the circuit components, the input voltage, and the duty cycle. Both the functionality of the proposed converter and the accuracy of the developed equation set were analyzed by extensive simulations. The simulation performed using ideal components was characterized by a mean absolute percentage error of 0.774% with a standard deviation of 1.566%. These results confirm the high accuracy of the proposed equation set. Furthermore, the non-ideal model simulation confirms the functionality of the proposed converter in “real” operation conditions. Under simulation with non-ideal components, the result statistics were a mean absolute percentage error of 7.36% with a standard deviation of 6.91%. Therefore, the converter design using the proposed ideal model could be a good start point of a converter optimization process based on more complex component models and assisted by computer-aided design tools.

In this article different control methods for a ladder multilevel converter (two cells) are evaluated. An analysis of the classical average model allows to chose a set of operation points and construct an uncertain model. Moreover, the necessary disturbance variables and performance masks are defined. All this information is used to design an H ∞ “mixed sensitivity” and μ (DK) robust control laws for the Ladder multilevel converter. The performance and robustness as voltage regulators of the different controllers are compared through simulation with a classical PI control law.