Engineered personal computer

There are minimum requirements of PC configurations for various CAD applications. This area of development has more capability than what is reviewed here and because of its rapid advances whatever listing exists is continually outdated. 

For 3-D modeling and FEA applications, a Pentium 100 MHz processor running on a 32-bit Windows NT operating system works significantly better. The minimum memory requirement for Windows NT is 32 MB and the operating system requires 160 MB of hard-drive space. The system should have a 16-K internal cache with 256 K to 512 K of external cache for increased performance. The monitor for these applications should be 21 inch with 0.25 ultrafine dot pitch, high resolution (1600 x 1280), and 65,536 colors Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) local bus (a high-bandwidth, processor-independent bus) and a minimum 1-GB SCSI-2 hard drive are also required. 

IBM researchers have created what they say is the world s first logicperforming computer circuit within a single molecule. This development can lead into a new class of smaller and faster computers that consume less power than today s machines. They made a voltage inverter. It is one of three fundamental logic circuits that are the basis for today s computers from a carbon nanotube, a tube-shaped molecule of carbon atoms 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. 

IBM scientists presented this achievement at the 2001 National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago. It was the second major research development last year by IBM scientists using carbon nanotubes to make tiny electronic devices. Carbon nanotubes are the top candidate to replace silicon when current chip features just cannot be made any smaller a physical barrier expected to occur in about 10 to 15 years. Beyond this silicon nanotube electronics may then lead to unimagined progress in computing miniaturization and power. 

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The multiple advantages of our process reengineering are improvement of the acquisitioii/analysis speed (times 4), the low cost as this in house application is based on personal computers, the easy and minimal cost upgrades can be performed by engineers and technicians, and an immediate inspection feedback implementation. 

Sohd tantalum capacitors have a high volumetric capacitance which makes them attractive for use in miniaturized electronic systems like cellular telephones, hand-held video cameras, and personal computers. The insensitivity of their capacitance to temperature and their abiUty to operate at temperature extremes explains why these devices are used in such harsh environments as automobile engine compartments. Sohd tantalum capacitors are extremely rehable and, therefore, are often the capacitor of choice in critical appHcations like spacecraft electronics, pacemakers, and safety equipment. 

A process engineer s task is often to evaluate the performance of a compressor unit based on gas throughputs and terminal pressures. Since compressor stations are complex machines and operations, the analysis required is sophisticated and goes well beyond simple computations on a personal computer, although some preliminary evaluations can certainly be made. In this section we summarize the working expressions for standard compressor operations. Compressor operations can be categorized under three thermodynamic categories ... 

Human engineering. While the designer usually regards the problems of space limitations as being appearance related, they are most often the outcome of the ID s concern for human engineering, or the proper relationship of the product to the human body. For example, personal computers should be small enough to be carried by many people, coffee-cup handles should be comfortable to the hand, eyeglass frames should be easy on the ears, etc. 

The Engineering Sciences Data Unit has also published a method for estimating shell-side the pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient, EDSU Design Guide 83038 (1984). The method is based on a simplification of Tinker s work. It can be used for hand calculations, but as iterative procedures are involved it is best programmed for use with personal computers. 

The compact, flat profile of GM s fuel cell which is about the size of a personal computer frees designers from the structure imposed by making room for a large internal combustion engine. 

The results for physical properties are shown in Table 1-1. The results are presented in an easy-to-use tabular format which is especially applicable for rapid engineering usage with the personal computer or hand calculator. The tabulation is based on both experimental data and estimated values. 

The theory of X-ray scattering is highly practical It is an accurate theory, based on a few sound assumptions, and with implementations on personal computers it may be used to interpret the structures of advanced industrial materials and thereby to assist in process development and quality control. The characterisation scientist or engineer who has a good grasp of the theory will therefore be able to design better measurements and to interpret them more accurately. 

Advanced materials ate vital to daily life in our world of high technology [1,2]. The notebook computer I am drafting this very sentence on illustrates the marvel of advanced materials engineering. It is smaller than a typical issue of the Journal of Chemical Physics and weighs less than five pounds yet it outperforms the very much bulkier personal computers used only a few years ago, let alone the old IBM electric typewriters. 

A reaction simulation program, REACTION, which will run on a personal computer, and which is specifically adapted for the non-steady states prevailing in batch reactions, is described and illustrated by a typical reaction model. Among uses of the program for rapidly studying reaction engineering, process optimisation, control systems, scale-up and staff training requirements, are included thermal stability and process safety studies. 

The field of chemical kinetics and reaction engineering has grown over the years. New experimental techniques have been developed to follow the progress of chemical reactions and these have aided study of the fundamentals and mechanisms of chemical reactions. The availability of personal computers has enhanced the simulation of complex chemical reactions and reactor stability analysis. These activities have resulted in improved designs of industrial reactors. An increased number of industrial patents now relate to new catalysts and catalytic processes, synthetic polymers, and novel reactor designs. Lin [1] has given a comprehensive review of chemical reactions involving kinetics and mechanisms. 

The computer is now the preferred vehicle for solution of many heat-transfer problems. Personal computers with either local software or communication links offer the engineer ample power for the solution of most problems. Despite the ready availability of this computing power I have resisted the temptation to include specific computer programs for two reasons (1) each computer installation is somewhat different in its input-output capability and (2) a number of programs for microcomputers in a menu-driven format are already on the scene or soon to be available. The central issue here has been directed toward problem setup which can be adapted to any computational facility. 

Spread-sheet software has become an indispensible tool to engineers because of the availability on personal computers, ease of use, and adaptability to many types of problems. An example of spread-sheet application to a problem typical of chemical process design is presented later in this chapter. 

While many engineers on the international front are turning to FF for better gas-solids contacting (though each is primarily concerned with his or her own process needs), Z. Yu of Tsing Hua University (THU) has studied the common features of different processes. In Chapter 2 she provides a scheme for collocating the multifarious applications of fast fluidization that enables a researcher interested in using FF to have quick access to comparable techniques in different professions. The collocation chart she has prepared is supported by personal computer software. 

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