Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane on Pt–Sn impregnated monoliths

The oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane was studied over Pt–Sn impregnated monoliths at 1 bar, 600–900 °C and with different contents of oxygen, hydrogen and steam in the feed gas. As expected a decrease in oxygen in the feed led to a decrease in the conversion of ethane due to lower temperatures in the reactor. Adding steam to the feed showed no effect on the ethane conversion or the ethene selectivity. When the hydrogen/ethane ratio in the feed was varied from 0 to 0.5 at 700 and 850 °C, it resulted in a significant increase in the selectivity to ethene while the ethane conversion remained relatively unchanged. At 700 °C the selectivity increased from about 50% to 93% (carbon basis) with only a small decrease in the conversion of ethane. The results clearly show that both Pt and Sn have a catalytic effect. Pt caused the ethane conversion to rise and addition of Sn resulted in much better ethene selectivity. However, even though Sn alone showed some catalytic effect at lower temperatures, it cannot explain the great difference between the Pt and Pt–Sn catalysts. A reasonable assumption is therefore that there exist interactions between Pt and Sn that gives the Pt–Sn catalysts excellent properties for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, in particular upon addition of hydrogen.     

Small-scale hydrogen production from propane

Partial oxidation and oxidative steam reforming of propane were investigated over 0.01 wt.% Rh/Al₂O₃ foam catalysts. High selectivity to hydrogen was obtained for both reactions, but addition of steam to the reactant mixture gave higher selectivity to hydrogen. Stability tests over 7 h revealed that the catalytic activity of Rh was quite stable under partial oxidation conditions. Higher loss in Rh activity was observed when steam was present in the reactant mixture. FE-SEM images showed that Rh particle size and distribution are modified under partial oxidation and oxidative steam reforming conditions. However, these changes were more distinct on the catalyst used for oxidative steam reforming.     

Rheological and extrusion characteristics of glass fiber-reinforced polycarbonate

An experimental investigation of the rheological properties of glass fiber-reinforced polycarbonate melts and the extrusion of such compounds through capillary and slit dies is presented. The viscosity–shear rate function seems independent of instrument for cone-plate and capillary investigations. The presence of fibers increases the level of the viscosity. Normal stresses at fixed shear stress are also increased by the presence of fibers. The extrudate swell is decreased by the presence of fibers and surface roughness is increased. Fiber orientation increases and surface roughness decreases with increasing extrusion rate.     

Comparison of different flowability tests for powders for inhalation

A series of placebo powders for inhalation was characterized regarding bulk density and powder flowability using different techniques. The powders were of the ordered mixture type and were prepared by mixing a pharmaceutical carrier grade of lactose with different fractions of intermediate sized and fine (i.e., micronized) lactose. A modified Hausner Ratio was obtained by measurement of the poured and the compressed bulk densities. Other tests investigated were the angle of repose, the avalanching behaviour using the AeroFlow, and the yield strength using the Uniaxial tester. Furthermore, the relation between ordered mixture composition and flowability was examined.Of the methods investigated, the modified Hausner Ratio discriminates well between the investigated powders and seems to have the widest measuring range. It was also found that the poured and compressed bulk densities provide information about the packing of the particles in the powders. A good correlation was obtained between the modified Hausner Ratio and the angle of repose. The AeroFlow was suitable for powders with a low percentage of fine particles, but could not discriminate between the more cohesive powders. The Uniaxial tester, on the other hand, seems to be better suited for more cohesive powders.Regarding the powder composition, addition of micronized particles has a strong influence on the flowability of ordered mixtures, while intermediate sized particles have little impact on the powder flow.     

Single-stage flowing liquid film impactor for continuous on-line particle analysis

A single-stage “wet impactor” is presented, where the impaction occurs on a regenerated water surface. The developed impactor is equipped with an impaction liquid support plate of etched glass and a drain spout providing a continuous liquid flow covering the impaction area. Subsequent transport of the impaction liquid makes an on-line determination possible. With multiple nozzles (74 holes, 0.3 mm i.d.) and an air flow of 101/min the cut-off was determined to 0.41 ± 0.02 μm. The impactor was also investigated for its particle loss. The cut-off function, regarding the consequences of letting impaction occur in a liquid film is discussed and compared to conventional impactors. The analysis technique was tested in an ambient air measurement study with an ion chromatograph attached to the sampling system.     

Application of particle swarm optimization in epileptic spike EEG source localization

Surgical therapy has become an important therapeutic alternative for patients with medically intractable epilepsy. Correct and anatomically precise localization of an epileptic focus is essential to decide if resection of brain tissue is possible. The inverse problem in EEG-based source localization is to determine the location of the brain sources that are responsible for the measured potentials at the scalp electrodes. We propose a new global optimization method based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) to solve the epileptic spike EEG source localization inverse problem. In a forward problem a modified subtraction method is proposed to reduce the computational time. The good accuracy and fast convergence are demonstrated for 2D and 3D cases with realistic head models. The results from the new method are promising for use in the pre-surgical clinic in the future.     

Fixed-Parameter Complexity of Minimum Profile Problems

The profile of a graph is an integer-valued parameter defined via vertex orderings; it is known that the profile of a graph equals the smallest number of edges of an interval supergraph. Since computing the profile of a graph is an NP-hard problem, we consider parameterized versions of the problem. Namely, we study the problem of deciding whether the profile of a connected graph of order n is at most n−1+k, considering k as the parameter; this is a parameterization above guaranteed value, since n−1 is a tight lower bound for the profile. We present two fixed-parameter algorithms for this problem. The first algorithm is based on a forbidden subgraph characterization of interval graphs. The second algorithm is based on two simple kernelization rules which allow us to produce a kernel with linear number of vertices and edges. For showing the correctness of the second algorithm we need to establish structural properties of graphs with small profile which are of independent interest. A preliminary version of the paper is published in Proc. IWPEC 2006, LNCS vol. 4169, 60–71.     

Variational Segmentation of Image Sequences Using Region-Based Active Contours and Deformable Shape Priors

In this paper we address the problem of segmentation in image sequences using region-based active contours and level set methods. We propose a novel method for variational segmentation of image sequences containing nonrigid, moving objects. The method is based on the classical Chan-Vese model augmented with a novel frame-to-frame interaction term, which allow us to update the segmentation result from one image frame to the next using the previous segmentation result as a shape prior. The interaction term is constructed to be pose-invariant and to allow moderate deformations in shape. It is expected to handle the appearance of occlusions which otherwise can make segmentation fail. The performance of the model is illustrated with experiments on synthetic and real image sequences.