PVT Measurements on tetrafluoroethane (R134a) along the vapor-liquid equilibrium boundary between 288 and 373 K and in the liquid state from the triple point to 265 K

For the investigations of the gas-liquid phase equilibria, a new apparatus has been developed capable of simultaneously determining the pressure and the liquid and vapor densities using Archimedes' principle. The relative measurement uncertainties of the liquid and vapor densities of R134a (purity, 99.999%) at 313 K are 2×10^–4 and 7×10^–4, respectively (95% confidence level). For the measurements in the liquid region along nine quasi-isochores at pressures up to 5 MPa, an isochoric apparatus was used. The relative measurement uncertainty ofpv/(RT) is less than 1×10^–3. In addition to the investigation of the (p, v, T) properties, the temperature and pressure at the triple point and the vapor pressure between the triple point and 265 K were measured. On the basis of these data, a vapor pressure correlation has been developed that reproduces the measured vapor pressures within the uncertainty of measurement. The results of our measurements are compared with a fundamental equation for R134a, which is based on the measurements of other research groups.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

Gun Propulsion Concepts. Part II: Solid and Liquid Propellants

The present paper deals with both the conventional solid propellant and modern liquid propellant gun concepts. Solid propellant guns, known since the 14th century, are still being investigated, although this concept represents a relative mature technology. Thus any progress is predominantly a refinement of existing techniques. Comparatively, liquid propellant gun research and development address a rather new technique and invoke some improvements over conventional solid propellant systems. Especially, automatic system are easier to design, artillery zoning is more easily achieved, cartridge disposal is avoided, and high-energetic liquid propellants or special system designs offer higher performance. Therefore, the liquid propellant gun technology seems to be a near-term technology that, complementary to solid propellant gun concepts, might play a role in future armament.     

Investigation of Liquid Gun Propellants: Electrical ignition of LGP 1846

Progress achieved in the study of the electrical ignition of the hydroxylammonium nitrate(HAN)-based liquid gun propellant LGP 1846 is described. The goal of the work is to develop an igniter system suitable for regenerative liquid propellant guns. Several igniter configurations of the one- as well as the two-stage types designed by the Ballistic Research Laboratory and the Fraunhofer-Institut EMI-AFB, have been tested. Voltage and current as well as the pressure histories were recorded. Calculations of electrostatic field distributions discussed here were obtained by a finite element code implemented at Dynamit Nobel. The theoretical analysis yielded alternative electrode designs for future testing. In addition, a specially designed igniter chamber equipped with sapphire windows was used at EMJ-AFB to study the fundamentals of the electrical discharge by means of high-speed photography.     

The influence of condition-based maintenance on workforce planning and maintenance scheduling

Condition-based maintenance (CBM) is generally considered an attractive maintenance policy for a single component: it uses the operating condition of the component to predict a failure event and therefore tries to avoid any unplanned downtime and unnecessary maintenance activities. However, operations managers tend to be much more interested in optimising the performance of the entire asset-system, where the grouping of maintenance activities and the availability of maintenance workers may play a role. Therefore, this paper focuses on the impact of using either CBM or age-based replacement (ABR) in serial and parallel multi-component systems (1) without worker constraints, (2) with a single internal maintenance worker, and (3) with external maintenance workers with a significant response time. With an internal maintenance worker, the sequential execution of maintenance activities prevents efficiency gains in the serial configuration and here CBM performs better. Also in the parallel configurations, the efficiency under CBM is generally better than under ABR. However, with external maintenance workers, CBM is not able to group maintenance activities as well as ABR, which results in a lower efficiency in the serial configuration. CBM performs better than ABR with respect to total maintenance costs, while ABR results in a smoother maintenance plan.     

Binding of nucleotides by the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier as studied by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Thromboxane A2 (TXA2) is a potent inducer of vasoconstriction and platelet aggregation. Large scale expression of TXA2 synthase (TXAS) is very useful for studies of the reaction mechanism, structural/functional relationships, and drug interactions. We report here a heterologous system for overexpression of human TXAS. The TXAS cDNA was modified by replacing the sequence encoding the first 28 amino acid residues with a CYP17 amino-terminal sequence and by adding a polyhistidine tag sequence prior to the stop codon; the cDNA was inserted into the pCW vector and co-expressed with chaperonins groES and groEL in Escherichia coli. The resulting recombinant protein was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by affinity, ion exchange, and hydrophobic chromatography. UV-visible absorbance (UV-Vis), magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra indicate that TXAS has a typical low spin cytochrome P450 heme with an oxygen-based distal ligand. The UV-Vis and EPR spectra of recombinant TXAS were essentially identical to those of TXAS isolated from human platelets, except that a more homogenous EPR spectrum was observed for the recombinant TXAS. The recombinant protein had a heme:protein molar ratio of 0.7:1 and a specific activity of 12 micromol of TXA2/min/mg of protein at 23 degreesC. Furthermore, it catalyzed formation of TXA2, 12-hydroxy-5,8,10-heptadecatrienoic acid, and malondialdehyde in a molar ratio of 0.94:1.0:0.93. Spectral binding titrations showed that bulky heme ligands such as clotrimazole bound strongly to TXAS (Kd approximately 0.5 microM), indicating ample space at the distal face of the heme iron. Analysis of MCD and EPR spectra showed that TXAS was a typical low spin hemoprotein with a proximal thiolate ligand and had a very hydrophobic distal ligand binding domain.     

Measurement of the Specific Enthalpy of Vaporization on 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane in the Temperature Range from 180 to 240 K

An apparatus is described which is capable of measuring the enthalpy of vaporization in the temperature range from 100 to 250 K. The sample (R134a; purity, at least 99.999%) is located in the measuring cell at the saturated vapor pressure, p = p _s. A control circuit allows p to be kept constant by opening a motor-operated valve to a weighing cylinder after having switched on the electrical measuring cell heater. During the experiment, the temperature is kept constant within a 10mK. In the range 180 to 230 K, the data for R134a are compared with calculated values from the fundamental equation given by Tillner-Roth and Baehr, which is recommended by Annex 18 of the International Energy Agency (IEA) as an international standard. Good agreement within a standard uncertainty of 1.6×10^–3 is obtained. At temperatures of only 10 K above the triple-point temperature, the enthalpy of vaporization calculated from the Clausius–Clapeyron equation shows considerable uncertainty due to the determination of the small vapor pressure. It is chiefly in this range that it is advantageous to have the new apparatus.