Patent activity on water pollution and treatment in China—a scientometric perspective

This research intends to investigate the patent activity on water pollution and treatment in China (1985–2007), and then compares the results with patents data about Triadic patents, South Korea, Brazil and India over the same periods, patents data were collected from Derwent World Patents Index between 1985 and May 2008. For this study, 169,312 patents were chosen and examined. Total volume of patents, technology focus, assignee sector, priority date and the comparison with other countries are analyzed. It is found that patents on water pollution and treatment filed at China have experienced a remarkable increase and the increase rate of patents filed at China change simultaneous with the percentage of domestic applications. However, the number of high quality Triadic patents with priority country as China remains small. Furthermore, in addition to individual patent assignees, both Chinese universities and enterprises also play important roles in patent activity of water pollution and treatment. In addition, the pattern of South Korea’s development can provide short-term implications for China and the regularity in Triadic patents’ development can provide some guidance to China’s long-term development. In contrast, the development pattern of Brazil and India is less influential to China’s development. Furthermore, China’s technology focuses on water pollution and treatment seem to parallel global and triadic patent trends. This research provides a comprehensive picture of China’s innovation capability in the area of water pollution and treatment. It will help China’s local governments to improve their regional S&T capability and will provide support the National Water Pollution Control and Treatment Project in China.     

Challenges for composites into the next millennium — a reinforcement perspective

This paper summarises the current level of technology within the manufacturing processes of filament winding, fibre placement, pultrusion and advanced textile preforming. It also examines the current problems within each of these manufacturing techniques and the areas of predicted future development.     

The hidden cost of road maintenance due to the increased weight of battery and hydrogen trucks and buses—a perspective

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Decarbonisation of transport emissions is essential to meet climate targets. For road transport, currently available technologies are battery electric...     

Synthesis and characterization of bionanoparticle—Silica composites and mesoporous silica with large pores

A sol-gel process has been developed to incorporate bionanoparticles, such as turnip yellow mosaic virus, cowpea mosaic virus, tobacco mosaic virus, and ferritin into silica, while maintaining the integrity and morphology of the particles. The structures of the resulting materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, small angle X-ray scattering, and N₂ adsorption-desorption analysis. The results show that the shape and surface morphology of the bionanoparticles are largely preserved after being embedded into silica. After removal of the bionanoparticles by calcination, mesoporous silica with monodisperse pores, having the shape and surface morphology of the bionanoparticles replicated inside the silica, was produced,. This study is expected to lead to both functional composite materials and mesoporous silica with structurally well-defined large pores. Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

API patent abstracting and indexing — Cooperative efforts in historical perspective

The article describes the cooperative efforts of American petroleum companies which led first to the initiation in 1954 of the Central Abstracting and Indexing Service (CAIS) of the API and subsequent cooperation with Derwent in producing in 1972 the API Patent Alert Abstracts Service covering selected chemicals and polymer patents. The API alerting bulletins contain about 25 000 abstracts of which CAIS indexes only about 8000 under their indexing selectivity rules. The cooperation has made possible the construction of high quality indexing of abstracts covering the petroleum processing and product patents. The development of the API indexing philosophy, based on keywords and terms, is described along with future developments aimed at automatic indexing.     

Challenges to integrating planning and policy-making with environmental assessment on a regional scale – a multi-institutional perspective

Abstract

Regional environmental assessment (EA) requires the participation of policy- and plan-making institutions to formulate, implement and monitor regional environmental management strategies. However, there is little understanding of what effective integration is in the context of regional EA and from the perspectives of planners and policy-makers involved. This paper seeks to explore how institutional actors perceive cross-domain integration vis-à-vis their own involvement in regional EAs. Thirty-eight participants from four regional EA initiatives in Canada shared their perspectives in an online survey. Three types of silo effects are identified: (1) institutional – intricately linked to factors such as coordination, goals and expectations, leadership and capacity; (2) disciplinary – characterized by limited communication and scepticism around data sharing; and (3) transactional – tendency of actors to emphasize individual narrow perspective rather than collective social and environmental outcomes. Additional findings reveal the importance of learning and multiple domain expertise as opportunities for enhancing cross-domain integration in regional EA practice. Finally, the study concludes that proactive consideration of potential silo effects is necessary for improved regional EA outcomes, and to facilitate more effective regional resource governance.     

Energy from thorium—An Indian perspective

Nuclear energy as a sustainable resource in India has been very clearly formulated in the three stage nuclear programme. The role of thorium as a potential fuel in the third stage of this programme has also been elucidated. With this aim there have been pioneering research efforts in all aspects of the thorium fuel cycle. Thorium being fertile and not accompanied by the fissile species requires the use of a fissile topping. There have been several studies in India on the use of thorium in different reactor systems from thermal to intermediate and fast spectrum, molten salt reactors, high temperature reactors, compact nuclear power packs and even Subcritical systems. In this paper, we present some of the research studies on use of thorium in thermal reactor systems. We give an overview of the neutronic properties of thorium and the bred fissile material and then proceed to show the performance potential in different reactor systems. We also present the innovative Indian reactor designs which utilize thorium, namely the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) and the Indian High Temperature Reactors.     

Optimal reactive power dispatch in a large power system with ac?dc and facts controllers

With the increased loading of existing power system, the problem of voltage stability and voltage collapse has become a major concern in power system planning and operation. The dependence of the system voltage profile on reactive power distribution forms the basis for reactive power optimisation. The technique attempts to utilises fully the reactive power sources in the system to improve the voltage profile and also to meet the reactive power requirements at the AC-DC terminals to facilitate the smooth operation of DC links. The method involves successive solution of steady-state power flows and optimisation of reactive power control variables with unified power flow controllers using linear programming technique. The proposed method has been tested on a real life equivalent 96-bus AC and a two terminal DC system.     

Evolution of stress and deformations in high-temperature polymer matrix composites during thermo-oxidative aging

This paper presents a model-based analysis of thermo-oxidative behavior in high-temperature polymer matrix composite (HTPMC) materials. The thermo-oxidative behavior of the composite differs from that of the constituents as the composite microstructure, the fiber/matrix interphase/interface behavior and damage mechanisms introduce anisotropy in the diffusion and oxidation behavior. Three-dimensional Galerkin finite element methods (GFEM) that model the thermo-oxidative layer growth with time are used together with homogenization techniques to analyze lamina-scale behavior using representative volume elements (RVEs). Thermo-oxidation-induced shrinkage is characterized from dimensional changes observed during aging in inert (argon) and oxidative (air) environments. Temperature-dependent macro-scale (bulk) mechanical testing and nano-indentation techniques are used for characterizing the effect of oxidative aging on modulus evolution. The stress and deformation fields in a single ply unidirectional lamina are studied using coupled oxidation evolution and non-linear elastic deformation analyses. Deformation and stress states are shown as a function of the aging time. While the thermo-oxidative processes are controlled by diffusion phenomenon in neat resin, the onset and propagation of damage determines the oxidative response of an HTPMC.     

Optimising durability of PTFE seals — mix and geometry — a good match

The use of PTFE and PTFE compounds as materials for seals provides additional security in terms of durability, friction, robustness and product design. Success is achieved by optimally matching the sealing material with the counter-rotational surface.     

Structure and formation of shot coke — a microscopy study

A series of shot cokes and sponge cokes from industrial delayed cokers was examined by scanning electron micrsocopy (SEM) and optical micrscopy (OM) of external, fractured internal and polished surfaces. Calcined cokes were etched with chromic acid solution and etching behaviour related to the optical texture of the cokes. The shot coke spheres have an inner structure of fine-grained mosaic and a smooth external skin, 50m thick, of coarse-grained mosaic and small domains. Sponge cokes can be heterogeneous with inclusions of well-ordered carbon within the matrix mosaics. It is considered that the feedstock leading to shot coke in the delayed coker forms a high viscosity fused pitch/ mesophase system which is subject to significant disturbance by volatile evolution. The paste-like system breaks up into fragments as a result of deep agitation by volatile release and movement through the system. The viscosity of the fragments is too high to permit their coalescence and reform a continuous system. Instead, they remain as fragments >1.0m diameter. Structure of cokes from delayed cokers and the associated manipulation of the system by the volatile evolution within the coker. These two factors are inter-related. Differences between cokes arise from differences between viscosities of the mesophase from the feedstock and control the balance between fragmentation and re-coalescence of the charge, as a result of manipulation by volatile release, leading to the two extremes of shot and needle coke.     

Mountain permafrost — research frontiers and a special long-term challenge

Advanced methodologies such as core drilling, borehole logging/monitoring, geophysical tomography, high-precision photogrammetry, laser altimetry, GPS/SAR surveying, miniature temperature data logging, geotechnical laboratory analyses, numerical modelling, or GIS-based simulation of spatial distribution patterns in complex topography at regional to global scales have created a rapidly increasing knowledge basis concerning permafrost in cold mountain ranges. Based on a keynote presentation about mountain permafrost at CFG8 in Obergurgl 2012, a brief summary is provided concerning primary research frontiers and the long-term challenge related to the increasing probability of far-reaching flood waves in high-mountain regions originating at newly forming lakes as a consequence of large rock falls and landslides from destabilising steep rock walls with conditions of warming and degrading permafrost often in combination with de-buttressing by vanishing glaciers. Research is especially intense in the densely populated European Alps.     

Examining supply contracts under cost and demand uncertainties from supplier’s perspective: a real options approach

Supply contracts have been widely utilised by practitioners to mitigate supply chain risks and disruptions while maintaining flexibility and stability. It is, thus, not surprising that buyers’ economically rational decisions towards supply contracts have been well studied. Missing in the literature, however, is examination of potential values and risks of supply contracts from supplier’s perspective. Motivated by this literature vacancy, this paper, using a real options approach, investigates a supplier’s acceptance decision towards a supply contract with variable cost and supply demand uncertainties. Through analytical and numerical examinations, conditions under which it is economically viable for the supplier to accept the supply contract are derived. This study also uncovers the impacts of variable cost and supply demand uncertainties as well as contract duration on the supplier’s acceptance decision. Also, there exists a range of contract duration beyond which the supplier should reject the supply contract offered by the client. To facilitate the understanding of this duration range, the corresponding shortest and longest contract duration is derived through numerical examples.     

Mechanics of crack curving and branching — a dynamic fracture analysis

A comparative study on crack curving and branching criteria in dynamic fracture mechanics shows that the criteria based on advanced cracking concept correlated best with available experimental data. The crack branching criterion requires as a necessary condition, a critical dynamic stress intensity factor, K _Ib, and a sufficient condition involving the crack curving criterion. The criteria are used to predict crack curving and crack branching in dynamic photoelastic experiments involving Homalite-100 and polycarbonate fracture specimens, as well as bursting steel and aluminum pipes.

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Résumé Une étude comparative sur les eritères d'incurvation et d'arborescence d'une fissure en mécanique de rupture dynamique montre qu'un critère basé sur le concept de fissuration avancée présente la meilleure corrélation avec les données expérimentales disponibles. Le critère d'arborescence d'une fissure requiert comme condition nécessaire un facteur d'intensité de contrainte dynamique critique, K _Ib, et comme condition suffisante un critère tenant compte de l'incurvation de la fissure. Les critères sont utilisés pour prédire l'incurvation et l'arborescence d'une fissure au cours d'expériences photo-élastiques en condition dynamique mettant en oeuvre de l'Homalite 100 et du polycarbonate ainsi que des tubes d'acier et d'aluminium en cours d'explosion.

     

Rotary ultrasonic machining— a new cutting process and its performance

In conventional ultrasonic machining (USM), brittle materials are machined by using ultrasonic impacts on the workpiece, through a medium of abrasive slurry. In this paper a new cutting process that resulted due to introduction of an additional parameter, namely the rotation of the workpiece during the machining, is presented. This may be called ‘rotary ultrasonic machining’. The material removal rates (MRR) in rotary USM are up to four times those in conventional USM. The MRR increases with increase in speed of rotation of workpiece. An explanation for the superior performance of rotary USM is presented. The performance of rotary USM as a function of static load, abrasive grain size, concentration of abrasive slurry, diameter of tool and ratio of diameters of hollow tools, is studied and the parameters are optimized for minimum machining time or maximum material removal rate. Comparisons are made with conventional USM.