Steam reforming of gasoline promoted by partial oxidation reaction on novel bimetallic Ni-based catalysts to generate hydrogen for fuel cell-powered automobile applications

Steam reforming of gasoline fuels combined with partial oxidation reaction on ZSM-5-supported Ni-based bimetallic catalysts and Al₂O₃-supported Ni-Re bimetallic catalysts with different Ni/Re ratios for hydrogen generation at a relatively lower reaction temperature was studied. The ZSM-5-supported Ni-Ce and Ni-Mo bimetallic catalysts exhibited a higher activity than the Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst for the oxidative reforming of gasoline. Steam reforming of gasoline to produce hydrogen was remarkably promoted by partial oxidation reaction by addition of molecular oxygen to the reaction system on ZSM-5-supported Ni-Ce catalyst. Al₂O₃-supported Ni-Re catalyst with suitable Ni/Re ratios exhibits unique high activity and sulfur tolerance because of the alloying of Ni with Re to form a new active sites for oxidative steam reforming of gasoline to generate hydrogen. The crystal structure of Al₂O₃-supported bimetallic Ni-Re catalyst and monometallic catalysts of Ni and Re were characterized by XRD method. Structured changes resulting from the alloying of Ni with Re were found.     

Hydrodynamic force between two hard spheres tangentially translating in a power-law fluid

The hydrodynamic interaction between two hard spheres tangentially translating in a power-law fluid is investigated. By considering the gap between the two spheres being sufficiently small such that the Reynolds’ lubrication theory applies, an analytical equation to the pressure in the gap is obtained using truncated Fourier series. To a good approximation, the pressure equation can be further simplified. The simplified approximate equation over-predicts the pressure for shear thickening fluid (n>1) but under-predicts the pressure for shear-thinning fluid (n<1). However, the errors in the predicted tangential force and moment are relatively small. In particular, for a Newtonian fluid, the accurate solution and the simplified approximate solution degenerate to the asymptotic solution of Goldman et al. [1967. Slow viscous motion of a sphere parallel to a plane wall-motion through a quiescent fluid. Chemical Engineering Science 22, 637-651.] and O’Neill and Stewartson [1967. On the slow motion of a sphere parallel to a nearby plane wall. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 27, 705-724.]. Both solutions predict that for shear thickening fluid (n>1), the hydrodynamic force converged in the inner region of the gap between the two spheres and the contribution from the outer region is sufficiently small. For shear thinning fluid (n<1), the contribution from the outer region is also significant.     

Synthesis of nonsharp distillation sequences via genetic programming

This paper addresses the application of Genetic Programming (GP) to the synthesis of multicomponent product nonsharp distillation sequences. Combined with the domain knowledge of chemical engineering, some evolutionary factors are improved, and a set of special encoding method and solving strategy is proposed to deal with this kind of problem. The system structural variable is optimized by GP and the continuous variable is optimized by the simulated annealing algorithm simultaneously. Because GP has an automatic searching function, the optimal solution can be found including distillation, splitting, blending and bypassing operations automatically without any superstructures of nonsharp distillation sequences. Three illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the effective computational strategies.     

Negative effect of [bmim][PF6] on the catalytic activity of alcohol dehydrogenase: mechanism and prevention

BACKGROUND: [bmim][PF₆] is a hydrophobic ionic liquid which could be considered as an environmentally friendly solvent for biocatalysis. In pure [bmim][PF₆], however, alcohol dehydrogenase from yeast (YADH) has no catalytic activity. The aim of the present work was (1) to quantitatively study the negative effect of [bmim][PF₆] on the catalytic activity of YADH and the related mechanism and (2) to made an attempt to lessen the negative effect of [bmim][PF₆] on YADH by microemulsifying [bmim][PF₆]. RESULTS: The activity of YADH in the homogeneous solution formed by H₂O, CH₃CH₂OH and [bmim][PF₆] decreased rapidly with the increase of the molar fraction of [bmim][PF₆]. The inhibitory effect of [bmim][PF₆] on YADH was probably caused by the competition of the imidazole group of [bmim][PF₆] with the coenzyme NAD⁺ for the binding sites on YADH. In a water‐in‐[bmim][PF₆] microemulsion, YADH was catalytically active due to the formation of the interfacial membrane of the nonionic surfactant TritonX‐100, which separated YADH from [bmim][PF₆] and avoided the direct inactivation of [bmim][PF₆] on YADH. Under optimal conditions, the activity of YADH was as high as 51 µmol L^?1 min^?1. CONCLUSION: [bmim][PF₆] was an inhibitor of YADH and its negative effect on YADH could be lessened by its microemulsification. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Studies of substrate specificities of lipases from different sources

Although lipases are widely applied in a wide variety of reactions, available information on the factors that are responsible for the substrate specificities of lipases from different sources is scarce. In this paper, nine lipase‐producing microorganism strains were isolated from oil‐containing samples. The properties of these enzymes, including pH optima, temperature optima, thermal stability, and pH stability, vary significantly with the different sources from which these lipases were isolated. The substrate specificities of the nine lipases, including fatty acid and positional specificities, were also studied. The fatty acid specificities of the nine lipases were observably different toward 15 substrates with different carbon chain lengths, different saturation degrees and different side chains. The lipases from S₃ Penicillium citrinum (PCL), MJ₁ Aspergillus niger (ANL), MJ₂ Aspergillus oryzae (AOL), YM Bacillus coughing (BCL), S₉ Geotrichum candidum (GCL), and S₁₁ Candida lypolytica (CLL) showed the strongest specificities to short‐chain esters, and the other lipases showed strong selectivity for medium‐ or long‐chain and branched esters. The positional specificities were examined by analyzing the hydrolytic products of triolein catalyzed by the nine lipases, using TLC. The lipases can be mainly classified into two groups by their specificities for the ester bond at position 2 of triglycerides; one group can selectively hydrolyze the ester bond at position 2 of the triglycerides, the other group cannot. All these nine lipases were divided into four groups by hierarchical clustering analysis on the basis of the results of fatty acid and positional specificities.     

Facial detection and location based on skin color and eye characteristic

This paper comes true a system of facial detection and location. Firstly, it realizes the facial detection of candidate region used skin color for the given image, and considers the influence of similar skin. Secondly, it realizes the location for eye region used the gray characteristic of eye and correction of central measurement, and makes further selection for facial candidate region. The end, it normalizes the facial image and makes it as front standard image, so realizes the facial characteristic location.     

Al2O3/TiB2/SiCw三元复合材料的力学性能及显微结构

以Al₂O₃为基体,SiC晶须和TiB₂颗粒两种增韧剂,采用热压烧结工艺制备了Al₂O₃/TiB₂/SiC_w三元复合陶瓷材料。研究了热压工艺参数对材料致密度的影响和晶须含量对该复合材料的力学性能和显微结构的影响。结果表明;随晶须含量的增加,该复合材料的热压温度和保温时间需要相应的增加;晶须拔出、裂纹偏转和晶须的桥接为该复合材料的主要增韧机理;随晶须含量的增加,该材料的室温断裂韧性增加;该材料的断裂韧性随温度的升高而呈增大趋势,并且晶须含量越高,材料的高温断裂韧性增幅越大。     

Transient Analysis for Magnetic Circuit of a Novel Synchronous Motor Basing on Controllable Flux

The paper refers to a novel permanent magnet motor with composite-rotor, to solve the difficulties of extend speed by “flux weakening”. The rotor is composed of two rotor segments: one is made of AINiCo magnet and the other of NdFeB. Relying on high coercive force and high remnant magnetic flux density quality of NdFeB, permanent magnet motor could get enough air gap magnetic fields. On the other way, by making using of low coercive force characteristics of AINiCo magnet, die permanent motor could be changed the orientation and strength of magnetization when applying a pulse of magnetizing (demagnetizing) current, thus magnetic flux in air gap could be varied over wide range. To achieve the aim, the paper analyzes magnetization process of permanent magnet and transient magnetic circuit in the motor, and then computes the distribution of air gap magnetic field in different magnetization by using finite element method. The numeral results show the validity of the scheme.     

Accumulation and Mixing of Oils in Jinghu Sag of Subei Basin： Constraints from Thermal Maturity Parameters

Oils in Jinghu sag are abundant with high content of polar compounds and have a low ratio of saturate to aromatic hydrocarbons and a high ratio of resin to asphaltene. The gross composition of oils in the Jinghu sag suggests typical immature to low mature characteristics. Some compounds with low thermal stability were identified. Light hydrocarbons, a carbon preference index, an odd even index, n-alkane and hopane maturity parameters show mature features and little differences in the maturity level among oils. Sterane isomerization parameters indicate an immature to low mature status of oil. Transfer of the sedimentary center during sedimentation has led to different thermal histories among subsags and thus generated oils with different maturities. On the basis of source analyses, four migration and accumulation patterns with different maturity can be classified. Combined with available information on mergers of source, reservoir and long distance oil lateral migration, mixing conditions were present in the Jinghu sag. Experimental results indicate that maturity variations are caused by mixtures of hydrocarbons with different maturity.     

Performance parameters of an ejector-absorption heat transformer

Ejector-absorption heat transformers (EAHTs) are attractive for increasing a solar-pond's temperature and for recovering low-level waste-heat. Thermodynamic analysis of the performance of an EAHT is complicated due to the associated complex differential equations and simulation programs. This paper proposes the use of artificial neural-networks (ANNs) as a new approach to determine the performance parameters, as functions of only the working temperatures of the EAHT, which is used to increase the solar pond's temperature under various working conditions. Thus, this study is helpful in predicting the performance of an EAHT where the temperatures are known. Scaled conjugate gradient (SCG) and Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) learning algorithms and a logistic sigmoid transfer-function were used in the network. The best approach was investigated for performance parameters with developed software using various algorithms. The best statistical coefficients of multiple determinations (R²-values) equal 0.99995, 0.99997 and 0.99995 for the coefficient of performance (COP), exergetic coefficient of performance (ECOP) and circulation ratio (F), respectively obtained by the LM algorithm with seven neurons. In the comparison of performances, results obtained via analytic equations and by means of the ANN, the COP, ECOP and F for all working situations differ by less than 1.05%, 0.7% and 3.07%, respectively. These accuracies are acceptable in the design of the EAHT. The ANN approach greatly reduces the time required by design engineers to find the optimum solution. Apart from reducing the time required, it is possible to find solutions that make solar-energy applications more viable and thus more attractive to potential users. Also, this approach has the advantages of high computational speed, low cost for feasibility, rapid turn-around, which is especially important during iterative design phases, and ease of design by operators with little technical experience.