Influence of composition of MgAl2O4 supported NiCeO2ZrO2 catalysts on coke formation and catalyst stability for dry reforming of methane

Dry reforming of methane was studied over Ni catalysts supported on γAl₂O₃, CeO₂, ZrO₂ and MgAl₂O₄ (670 °C, 1.5 bar, 16–20 l CH₄ ml_catalyst⁻¹ h⁻¹). It is shown that MgAl₂O₄ supported Ni catalysts promoted with both CeO₂ and ZrO₂ are promising catalysts for dry reforming of methane with carbon dioxide. Within a certain composition range, the simultaneous promotion with CeO₂ and ZrO₂ has great influence on the amount of coke and the catalyst service time. XRD analyses indicate that formation of crystalline Ce_xZr_1−xO₂ mixed oxide phases occurs on double promotion. In particular, incorporation of low amounts of Zr in the CeO₂ fluorite structure provides stable dry reforming catalysis. As shown with TPR, promotion leads to a higher reduced state of Ni. SEM, XRD and TPR analyses demonstrate that highly dispersed, doubly promoted Ni catalysts with a strong metal-support interaction are essential for stable dry reforming and suppression of the formation of carbon filaments.     

Effects of ad libitum milk intake on dairy calves

Conventional milk feeding for calves (by bucket twice daily at a total of 10% of body weight) was compared with feeding milk for ad libitum consumption from a nipple. Calves were weaned gradually between d 37 and 42 by diluting the milk with water, and body weight and feed consumption were followed until d 63. Calves fed ad libitum drank 89% more milk than calves fed conventionally during the preweaning period, but the ad libitum-fed calves ate only 16% as much calf starter and 17% as much hay. Consumption of starter and hay increased rapidly after weaning, and treatment differences disappeared. Probably as a result of the much higher intake of milk, the ad libitum-fed calves gained 63% more weight than the conventionally fed calves before weaning, resulting in a 10.5-kg weight advantage on d 35. During and immediately after weaning, the rate of weight gain slowed for both treatment groups, but recovered by approximaely d 49. There were no treatment differences in weight gains over the weaning or postweaning periods, and at the end of the experiment on d 63, the calves fed ad libitum maintained an advantage in mean (+/- SEM) body weight (89.07 +/- 2.47 kg vs 81.07 +/- 2.47 kg for the conventionally fed calves). Incidence of diarrhea was low and did not differ between treatment groups. We conclude that ad libitum nipple feeding of milk to dairy calves can allow for increased milk intake and weight gain with no detrimental effects on intake of solid food after weaning.     

Implementation of the waste reduction (WAR) algorithm utilizing flowsheet monitoring

Environmental metric software can be used to evaluate the sustainability of a chemical based upon data from the chemical process used to manufacture it. An obstacle to the development of environmental metric software for use in chemical process modeling software has been the inability to obtain information about the process directly from the model. There have been past attempts to develop environmental metrics that make use of the process models, but there has not been an integrated, standardized approach to obtaining the process information required for calculating metrics. As a result, environmental evaluation packages are largely limited to use in a single simulation package, further limiting the development and adoption of these tools.This paper proposes a standardized mechanism for obtaining process information directly from a process model using a strongly integrated interface set, called flowsheet monitoring. The flowsheet monitoring interface provides read-only access to the unit operation and streams within the process model, and can be used to obtain the material flow data from the process streams. This material flow data can then be used to calculate process-based environmental metrics. The flowsheet monitoring interface has been proposed as an extension of the CAPE-OPEN chemical process simulation interface set.To demonstrate the capability of the flowsheet monitoring interfaces, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) WAste Reduction (WAR) algorithm is demonstrated in AmsterCHEM's COFE (CAPE-OPEN Flowsheeting Environment). The WAR add-in accesses the material flows and unit operations directly from the process simulator and uses flow data to calculate the potential environmental impact (PEI) score for the process. The WAR algorithm add-in is included in the latest release of COCO Simulation Environment, available from http://www.cocosimulator.org/.     

Distribution characteristics of exhaust gases and soot particles in a wall-flow ceramics filter

An inhomogeneous soot distribution in a diesel particulate filter may deteriorate its behavior and result in higher pressure drops and fuel consumption. This will cause mechanical stresses on the filter due to temperature gradients resulting from the non-uniformly burning of soot during regeneration. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the flow distribution of the exhaust gas entering into a diesel particulate filter, the turbulent motion of diesel soot particles in the inlet header, and their deposition and distribution in the front surface of a diesel particulate filter. A Lagranian continuous random walk (CRW) model is developed to simulate soot particulate motion, which considers a succession of uncorrelated random forcing and drift corrections. The effects of particle inertia, turbulent fluctuation, and lift on the particle motion and trajectory are analyzed. Correlations of the uniformity index of the exhaust gas and soot particles with the flow rate, soot loading, and inlet expansion angle are evaluated. The results show that there is a two-peak phenomenon in the soot distribution at the front entrance of the filter, which is comprised of a peak in the central area due to inertia and a second peak in the periphery owing to diffusion and recirculation action. Exhaust flow rates and the inlet expansion angle have a major influence on the flow uniformity and soot uniformity, while soot loading has a slightly smaller effect on soot uniformity.     

改进缺陷,套刻和聚焦性能的第五世代浸没式曝光系统

论述了第五世代双扫描平台浸液式扫描曝光机的性能和进展。表明了在高速扫描状态下有生产价值的套刻和聚焦性能的实现。浸液式设备更多的关键部分与缺陷有关,而且该机的改进是通过有生产价值的缺陷水平方面来体现的。为了保持这种缺陷水平的改进效果,需要在圆片应用中进行专门稳定的测量。特加是边缘空泡除去(EBR)设计和圆片斜面良流线性是很重要的。     

Influence of Cr and Fe doping on the structure,magnetic and optical properties of nano CuCo2O4

Nano CuCo_2-xM_xO₄ (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, M = Cr or Fe) samples were synthesized by hydrothermal method. Synchrotron x-ray diffraction data obtained for the samples were subjected to phase analysis and manifested a single-phase cubic spinel structure for Cr-doped samples, while for Fe-doped samples two phases were identified. Cation distribution and cell parameter (a) were obtained from Rietveld X-ray diffraction analysis. FTIR analysis affirmed the formation of the cubic spinel and the cation distribution obtained. The nano nature of the samples and the particle morphology were examined by high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) with selected area electron diffraction (SAED). UV-diffuse reflectance revealed that all samples have two optical energy gaps. For all Fe doped samples, the optical band gaps decreased, while for Cr-content x = 0.1 the bandgaps increased then reduced for x = 0.2. Doped samples exhibited a blue or red shift depending on the kind and amount of the dopant ions. The PL intensity and the emitted colors depended on the kind and amount of the dopant ions. Magnetic measurements disclosed the paramagnetic nature of CuCo₂O₄, while a weak ferromagnetic is revealed for CuCo_2-xCr_xO₄ and a ferromagnetic nature for CuCo_2-xFe_xO₄. Lowering the bandgap upon doping could make better mobility of lattice oxygen and enhancing the catalyst reducibility. Thus, the Cr and Fe-doped samples are expected to have better catalytic activity than the pristine one.     

Characterization of Fluorescent Proteins with Intramolecular Photostabilization**

Genetically encodable fluorescent proteins have revolutionized biological imaging in vivo and in vitro. Despite their importance, their photophysical properties, i. e., brightness, count-rate and photostability, are relatively poor compared to synthetic organic fluorophores or quantum dots. Intramolecular photostabilizers were recently rediscovered as an effective approach to improve photophysical properties of organic fluorophores. Here, direct conjugation of triplet-state quenchers or redox-active substances creates high local concentrations of photostabilizer around the fluorophore. In this paper, we screen for effects of covalently linked photostabilizers on fluorescent proteins. We produced a double cysteine mutant (A206C/L221C) of α-GFP for attachment of photostabilizer-maleimides on the β-barrel near the chromophore. Whereas labelling with photostabilizers such as trolox, a nitrophenyl group, and cyclooctatetraene, which are often used for organic fluorophores, had no effect on α-GFP-photostability, a substantial increase of photostability was found upon conjugation to azobenzene. Although the mechanism of the photostabilizing effects remains to be elucidated, we speculate that the higher triplet-energy of azobenzene might be crucial for triplet-quenching of fluorophores in the blue spectral range. Our study paves the way for the development of fluorescent proteins with photostabilizers in the protein barrel by methods such as unnatural amino acid incorporation.     

A V-Nitrogenase Variant Containing a Citrate-Substituted Cofactor

Nitrogenases catalyze the ambient reduction of N₂ and CO at its cofactor site. Herein we present a biochemical and spectroscopic characterization of an Azotobacter vinelandii V nitrogenase variant expressing a citrate-substituted cofactor. Designated VnfDGK^Cit, the catalytic component of this V nitrogenase variant has an αβ₂(δ) subunit composition and carries an 8Fe P* cluster and a citrate-substituted V cluster analogue in the αβ dimer, as well as a 4Fe cluster in the “orphaned” β-subunit. Interestingly, when normalized based on the amount of cofactor, VnfDGK^Cit shows a shift of N₂ reduction from H₂ evolution toward NH₃ formation and an opposite shift of CO reduction from hydrocarbon formation toward H₂ evolution. These observations point to a role of the organic ligand in proton delivery during catalysis and imply the use of different reaction sites/mechanisms by nitrogenase for different substrate reductions. Moreover, the increased NH₃/H₂ ratio upon citrate substitution suggests the possibility to modify the organic ligand for improved ammonia synthesis in the future.