The centrifugal acetone foots test applied to crude soybean oil. II. Rapid method compared with other measures of phosphatides content and refining loss

Summary Comparisons are made between eight methods of grading crude soybean oil with respect to a laboratory refining loss determination which closely simulates commercial wash kettle practice. This list of methods includes the five analysis factors, acetoneinsoluble, HCl heat break, centrifugal foots, phosphorus and ash contents, each combined with percentage of ffa and moisture and volatile. It includes the official A.O.C.S. cup loss, the Wesson loss, and the chromatographic absorption loss determinations. On 12 crudes on which laboratory wash extraction loss and losses determined from centrifugal foots values, from acetone-insoluble contents, and from HCl break values were available, the centrifugal foots values best predicted the refining loss. The standard deviations of each method from the wash extraction loss were, respectively, 0.21%, 0.27%, and 0.29%. On seven of these crudes on which all nine determinations were available, acetone insoluble content showed the best correlation, followed by centrifugal foots and HCl heat break. The centrifugal foots test generally gives zero or trace results on degummed oil. By use of this method however the refining loss grade of crude soybean oils may be estimated in as little as one hour of elapsed time, and it requires only 5 to 10 minutes of the operator's time.     

Biogeochemistry of organic and inorganic arsenic species in a forested catchment in Germany

Little is known about the fate and behavior of diffuse inputs of arsenic (As) species in forested catchments which often are the sources of drinking water. The objective of this study was to investigate the mobility and transformation of different As species in forest ecosystems to assess the environmental risk related to the diffuse pollution of As. We determined concentrations and fluxes in precipitation, litterfall, soil solutions (Oa horizon and 20- and 90-cm depth), and runoff of organic and inorganic As species and Astotal in a forest ecosystem in NE-Bavaria, Germany. The concentrations of Astotal were mostly <1 microg As L(-1) in aqueous samples and were highest in forestfloor percolates (7.6 microg As L(-1)). In litterfall, the concentrations of As species never exceeded 0.1 microg As g(-1). Arsenate and arsenite were the prevalent As species in all samples. Organic As species, comprising monomethylarsonic acid, dimethylarsinic acid, trimethylarsine oxide, arsenobetaine, and three unidentified organic As species, were mostly found in throughfall reaching up to 45% of Astotal. The total deposition of Astotal (calculated as throughfall + litterfall) was 5.6 g As ha(-1) yr(-1) with 16% contribution of litterfall. The annual Astotal fluxes were 30 g As ha(-1) yr(-1) for forest floor percolates, 8.0 g As ha(-1) yr(-1) at 20-cm soil depth, and 1.4 g As ha(-1) yr(-1) at 90-cm soil depth. The annual runoff of Astotal from the catchment amounted to 3.8 g As ha(-1) yr(-1). The annual fluxes of total organic As species was highest in total deposition (1.1 g As ha(-1) yr(-1)) and decreased largely with depth in the soil profile. The annual runoff of total organic As species was only 0.08 g As ha(-1) yr(-1). Significant correlations in soil solutions and runoff were found between Astotal and dissolved organic C and Fe. Correlations between Astotal concentrations in runoff and water fluxes were seasonally dependent and with a steeper slope in the growing season than in the dormant season. The elevated concentrations of organic As species in throughfall indicate microbial methylation of As in the phyllosphere, but no evidence for methylation in the soil was found. The mass balance of the catchment points out the strong retention and probable degradation or oxidation of organic As species and arsenite but also to mobilizable pools of Astotal and arsenate. The forest floor is presently a source, whereas the mineral soil is a sink for Astotal and arsenate. The As concentrations in runoff seem to be controlled by As mobilization from forest floor and riparian wetland soils during heavy rain events and superficial flow. The risk for excessment of the drinking water threshold concentrations of As in runoff and soil solutions is considered low at our site.     

New Two-Frequency Method and Devices for Electromagnetic Levitation Drip- and Leakage-Free Melting of Metals

A new method and devices for the electromagnetic levitation melting of metallic samples with greater weights and axisymmetrically stabilized positions is presented in this paper.The new method is applying two homogeneous magnetic fields of different frequencies,whose field lines are in absence of a charge horizontally and reciprocally normal in order to exert electromagnetic lift forces also on the axis of the levitated sample.Therefore the weight of the charge can be increased and the charge can be drip-and leakage-free melted.The method can be used in a melting furnace with or without a cold protective wall,as well as for the coreless induction valves applied for flow rate control,e.g.in the continuous casting of molten metals.The applicability of the method was experimentally examined and proved by tests conducted with three types of laboratory setups.     

Cross-section analysis of organic light-emitting diodes

The 'lift-out' technique using a focused ion beam microscope was applied to prepare cross-sectional specimens of organic light-emitting diodes for use in transmission electron microscopy. The focused ion beam equally thins the organic/inorganic hybrid devices despite the difference in material hardness of the compounds. This allowed to overcome preparation difficulties of conventional techniques such as ion thinning or ultra-microtomy. Two different samples were prepared and studied by both conventional transmission electron microscopy and analytical electron microscopy to display some of the investigation possibilities which become available with this sample preparation method.     

Selective electrosynthesis of p-methoxybenzaldehyde at spinel type CoMn2O4/titanium-composite anodes

Activated titanium anodes with a spinel coating of CoMn2O4 of about 1m thickness were developed. A relative stability in acid electrolytes was found. The novel anode was employed for the anodic oxidation of p-methoxytoluene (PMT) to p-methoxybenzaldehyde (PMB), which is of industrial interest. Batch type electrolyses with 30% theoretical conversion (4Fmol–1) were used fora parametric screening. The solvent/electrolyte-system was 1m H2SO4/5m H2O in methanol. Optimum results (60% selectivity, 50–60% current efficiency) were obtained at low concentrations of the educt (0.2m). A part of the current is consumed for the formation of the benzylmethylether, which can be further oxidized to PMB. It was proved that the novel anode operates according to the mechanism of heterogeneous redox catalysis with ter- and heptavalent manganese as the redox species. A turnover factor of >2000 is unusual for a spinel in acid solution.