Study of the Sonication/Ozone/Argon Process for Saturated Free Fatty Acids Degradation in Aqueous Solution

In the present work, study of the sonication process was investigated for saturated fatty acids degradation. Saturated fatty acids are the most hard-degradable compounds of FOG (fats, oils, and greases) wastewater contaminants. The influence of various conditions (probe immersion level into the liquid, simultaneous ultrasound irradiation and bubbling of Ar, O₂, air, and O₃) on the sonochemical and energy efficiency of the sonication process were studied. According to our experimental data and the state of the art, the most appropriate conditions were selected on purpose to decompose hydrophobic compounds, such as saturated free fatty acids. The most effective degradation treatment method for saturated free fatty acids was the simultaneous sonication (with high probe immersion level into the liquid) and argon bubbling (at low flow rate) under controlled temperature.     

Study of corrosion resistance improvement by metallic coating for overhead transmission line conductor

Applying anticorrosion grease and aluminum‐clad steel (AC) wires to ACSR have been adopted as general methods to protect overhead transmission line conductors and/or wires from corrosion. However, in some cases those means have been found to be ineffective on some transmission lines passing through acid atmosphere in the vicinity of a factory exhausting acid smoke. The corrosion caused by acid atmosphere is characterized by a higher speed in its progress as is well known. As means against such acid corrosion, application of high‐purity aluminum, selective removal of intermetallic compound in aluminum, and plastic coating wires have been reported before, and each has both advantages and disadvantages. In a former report, we found that a new type of anticorrosion grease shows an excellent property against acid atmosphere as well as in a salty condition. Here we present a new type of anticorrosion technology of applying high‐corrosion‐resistance aluminum alloy or zinc coatings on each component wire of a conductor that we succeeded in developing through a serial study of anticorrosion methods on overhead transmission lines. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 163(1): 41–47, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20365     

Intelligent management of distributed dynamic sensor networks

A universal solution for the management of dynamic sensor networks will be presented, covering both networking and application layers. A network of intelligent modules, overlaying the sensor network, collectively interprets mission scenarios in a special high-level language, which can start from any nodes and cover the network at runtime. The spreading scenarios are extremely compact, which may be useful for energy-saving communications. The code will be exhibited for distributed collection and fusion of sensor data, and also for tracking mobile targets by scattered and communicating sensors. This work was presented in part at the 12th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 25–27, 2007     

Transient behaviors of output power in fast-axial flow-type COlaser

Transient behaviors of output power were experimentally investigated with the parameters of discharge current I_dis, discharge length l, gas-flow velocity ν, and O₂ concentration for a compact dc discharged fast-axial flow (FAF) CO laser, and were theoretically explained, together with some empirical equations. Introducing the discharge time (t) dependence into the gas temperature and the concentration of O₂ and CO₂ molecules, based on the experimental data and the mass-spectrum analysis, respectively, the overall population density of CO molecule n _ν' toward an arbitrary vibrational level has been expressed as a function of t. Then, since the gain parameter can also be given as a function of t, together with the measured laser parameters such as the saturation intensity I_s, a measure of partial homogeneity m, and the Voigt function ψ, the transient behaviors of the output power as a function of t were well explained, being in good agreement with the experimental results and the calculations. From these analyses, it was found that control of the gas temperature rise and suppression of both the decrease of O₂ and the increase of CO ₂ concentrations are required to relax this unnecessary power reduction due to the transient behaviors     

Evaluation and Control of Iron and Steelmaking Slags through Electrochemical FeO Sensor

One of the greatest obstacles to the application of physical chemistry principles to the elucidation of slag‐metal reactions is a lack of knowledge of activities of the reacting species. To a large extent, oxygen potential of the slag phase governs iron and steelmaking practice. Without oxygen control by means of appropriate sensors, the behaviour of the other elements cannot be managed. In this paper, measurements of the FeO activity with various types of electrochemical FeO sensors will be described together with examples of their applications for improved strategies toward better practice for ladle metallurgy and sulphur and manganese distributions between slag and metal phases during steelmaking. Measurements of FeO activity have also been made in order to improve dephosphorization reactions. This type of work has led to significant reduction in volume of slag generated within the steelmaking vessel, which in turn, has important implications for refractory wear, metal yield, alloy recovery and improved productivity. Finally an on‐line sensor is described which permits the oxygen potential to be determined for both the metal phase and the slag phase during steelmaking in the BOF.     

Metabolism of administered triethylene tetramine dihydrochloride in humans

Triethylene tetramine dihydrochloride (trien 2HCl) has been used for the treatment of Wilson's disease, which is characterized by the accumulation of copper in various organs. We previously developed an HPLC system for analyzing trien, and found a trien metabolite in the urine when trien was orally given to humans. In this study, the metabolite was identified as 1-N-acetyltriethylene tetramine (acetyltrien) by FAB-MS and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Trien and acetyltrien were capable of combining with copper, iron and zinc. However, the chelating activity of acetyltrien was significantly lower than that of trien. When trien was given to healthy adults, the amount of trien excreted in the urine was about 1% of the administered trien, whereas that of acetyltrien was about 8%. Most of the trien was excreted within the first 6 hours after the administration, while acetyltrien was excreted for over 26 hours. The urinary copper, iron and zinc levels all increased in parallel with the trien excretion.     

The effect of strain on abnormal grain growth in Cu thin films

To understand a grain growth mechanism in Cu thin films that were deposited on rigid substrates by sputter deposition and subsequently annealed at various temperatures, microstructures of the Cu films with or without the rigid substrates were analyzed by x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electrical resistivity measurements. Significant grain growth (with bimodal grain size distribution) was observed during room-temperature storage in the Cu films deposited on the Si₃N₄ and rock salt substrates. However, in the free-standing Cu films, no grain growth was observed during room temperature storage. The present result suggested that the grain growth rates in the Cu thin films were strongly influenced by the existence of the rigid substrates, indicating stress (or strain) introduced in the films was a primary factor to induce the grain growth in the Cu films.     

The role of the nirQOP genes in energy conservation during anaerobic growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The nirQOP operon, which is located between the genes for nitrite reductase and nitric oxide reductase in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, encodes a putative ATP-binding protein and two putative transmembrane proteins. Phylogenetic analysis showed that NirO belongs to the family of subunit III of cytochrome oxidases but is distantly related to the other bacterial or mitochondrial proteins. P. aeruginosa strains that lacked the nirOP genes had all enzyme activities for denitrification and could grow under anaerobic conditions with nitrate or nitrite as an electron acceptor. However, the energy conservation efficiency of anaerobic respiration was lower in these strains than in strains harboring the nirOP gene.