A four-bed mass recovery adsorption refrigeration cycle driven by low temperature waste/renewable heat source

The study deals with an advanced four-bed mass recovery adsorption refrigeration cycle driven by low temperature heat source. The proposed cycle consists of two basic adsorption refrigeration cycle. The heat source rejected by one cycle is used to power the second cycle. Due to the cascading use of heat and cooling source, all major components of the system maintain different pressure levels. The proposed cycle utilize those pressure levels to enhance the refrigeration mass circulation that leads the system to perform better performances. The performance of the proposed cycle evaluated by the mathematical model at equilibrium condition and compared with the performance of the basic two-bed adsorption refrigeration cycle. It is seen that the cooling effect as well as COP of the proposed cycle is superior to those of the basic cycle. The performances of the cycle are also compared with those of the two-stage cycle. Results also show that though the cooling effect of the proposed cycle is lower than that of two-stage cycle for heat source temperature less than 70 °C, the COP of the cycle, however, is superior to that of two-stage cycle for heat source temperature greater than 60 °C.     

Distinct effects of fatty acids on translocation of gamma- and epsilon-subspecies of protein kinase C

Effects of fatty acids on translocation of the gamma- and epsilon-subspecies of protein kinase C (PKC) in living cells were investigated using their proteins fused with green fluorescent protein (GFP). gamma-PKC-GFP and epsilon-PKC-GFP predominated in the cytoplasm, but only a small amount of gamma-PKC-GFP was found in the nucleus. Except at a high concentration of linoleic acid, all the fatty acids examined induced the translocation of gamma-PKC-GFP from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane within 30 s with a return to the cytoplasm in 3 min, but they had no effect on gamma-PKC-GFP in the nucleus. Arachidonic and linoleic acids induced slow translocation of epsilon-PKC-GFP from the cytoplasm to the perinuclear region, whereas the other fatty acids (except for palmitic acid) induced rapid translocation to the plasma membrane. The target site of the slower translocation of epsilon-PKC-GFP by arachidonic acid was identified as the Golgi network. The critical concentration of fatty acid that induced translocation varied among the 11 fatty acids tested. In general, a higher concentration was required to induce the translocation of epsilon-PKC-GFP than that of gamma-PKC-GFP, the exceptions being tridecanoic acid, linoleic acid, and arachidonic acid. Furthermore, arachidonic acid and the diacylglycerol analogue (DiC8) had synergistic effects on the translocation of gamma-PKC-GFP. Simultaneous application of arachidonic acid (25 MicroM) and DiC8 (10 microM) elicited a slow, irreversible translocation of gamma-PKC- GFP from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane after rapid, reversible translocation, but a single application of arachidonic acid or DiC8 at the same concentration induced no translocation. These findings confirm the involvement of fatty acids in the translocation of gamma- and epsilon-PKC, and they also indicate that each subspecies has a specific targeting mechanism that depends on the extracellular signals and that a combination of intracellular activators alters the target site of PKCs.     

Thermal and flammability properties of polypropylene/carbon nanotube nanocomposites

The thermal and flammability properties of polypropylene/multi-walled carbon nanotube, (PP/MWNT) nanocomposites were measured with the MWNT content varied from 0.5 to 4% by mass. Dispersion of MWNTs in these nanocomposites was characterized by SEM and optical microscopy. Flammability properties were measured with a cone calorimeter in air and a gasification device in a nitrogen atmosphere. A significant reduction in the peak heat release rate was observed; the greatest reduction was obtained with a MWNT content of 1% by mass. Since the addition of carbon black powder to PP did not reduce the heat release rate as much as with the PP/MWNT nanocomposites, the size and shape of carbon particles appear to be important for effectively reducing the flammability of PP. The radiative ignition delay time of a nanocomposite having less than 2% by mass of MWNT was shorter than that of PP due to an increase in the radiation in-depth absorption coefficient by the addition of carbon nanotubes. The effects of residual iron particles and of defects in the MWNTs on the heat release rate of the nanocomposite were not significant. The flame retardant performance was achieved through the formation of a relatively uniform network-structured floccule layer covering the entire sample surface without any cracks or gaps. This layer re-emitted much of the incident radiation back into the gas phase from its hot surface and thus reduced the transmitted flux to the receding PP layers below it, slowing the PP pyrolysis rate. To gain insight into this phenomena, thermal conductivities of the nanocomposites were measured as a function of temperature while the thermal conductivity of the nanocomposite increases with an increase in MWNT content, the effect being particularly large above 160 °C, this increase is not as dramatic as the increase in electrical conductivity, however.     

Thermal conductivity of fourteen liquids in the temperature range 298–373 K

New experimental data on the thermal conductivity of 14 organic liquids at atmospheric pressure are presented in the temperature range from 25 to 100°C. The liquids measured are five n-alkanes (C₆, C₇, C₈, C₁₀, C₁₂), cyclohexane, six aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, ethylbenzene, o-, m-, p-xylenes, isopropylbenzene) and two phenyl halides (chloro-, bromobenzenes). The measurements were performed by a transient hot-wire method on a relative basis. The thermal conductivity of toluene, which was selected as a reference liquid, was determined on an absolute basis with another transient apparatus. The precision of the present experimental results is within ±1.2%. The uncertainty of the thermal conductivity values is estimated to be within ±2%; this includes the uncertainty of the values of toluene as the reference liquid. The experimental results for each liquid are represented satisfactorily by a linear equation in temperature. At a reduced temperature T/T _c=0.5, thermal conductivity has a simple relation with the molar density for each homologous series of liquids.     

Study on a dual-mode, multi-stage, multi-bed regenerative adsorption chiller

In this paper, a detailed parametric study on a dual-mode silica gel–water adsorption chiller is performed. This advanced adsorption chiller utilizes effectively low-temperature solar or waste heat sources of temperature between 40 and 95 °C. Two operation modes are possible for the advanced chiller. The first operation mode will be to work as a highly efficient conventional chiller where the driving source temperature is between 60 and 95 °C. The second operation mode will be to work as an advanced three-stage adsorption chiller where the available driving source temperature is very low (between 40 and 60 °C). With this very low driving source temperature in combination with a coolant at 30 °C, no other cycle except an advanced adsorption cycle with staged regeneration will be operational. In this paper, the effect of chilled-water inlet temperature, heat transfer fluid flow rates and adsorption–desorption cycle time effect on cooling capacity and COP of the dual-mode chiller is performed. Simulation results show that both cooling capacity and COP values increase with the increase of chilled water inlet temperature with driving source temperature at 50 and 80 °C in three-stage mode, and single-stage multi-bed mode, respectively. However, the delivered chilled-water temperature increases with chilled-water inlet temperature in both modes.     

A study on the transverse edge effect of an eddy current brake with a solid steel secondary

The eddy current brake is a type of braking system used for railway vehicles. Because rail heating is a problem in this type of brakes, they have not been put to practical use in Japan. Therefore we proposed using a linear induction motor (LIM) for dynamic braking in the eddy current brake systems. In this paper, we investigate the transverse edge effect on an eddy current brake using an LIM with the solid steel rail as a secondary conductor. The objectives of this investigation are to clarify the transverse edge effect on a rail and to make it easier to determine the characteristics of such an eddy current brake. We find that the lateral surface of a solid steel rail must be considered as an electromagnetic overhang, and that the transverse edge effect of the rail is approximately the same as that of a simple U‐shaped steel plate or a wide, flat steel plate. These findings enable us to apply a simplified analysis method using a traditional modifying coefficient of the transverse edge effect, but from a new perspective. Because this simplified analysis method can easily evaluate the performance of eddy current brakes, it is useful in the early development stages of such brakes. © 2012 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

早稻田大学皮秒脉冲辐解装置

A compact pulse radiolysis apparatus using a BNL-type s-band photocathode RF gun is now under development at Waseda University. The laser pulse is used for excitation of the photocathode and for generation of white light, which is used for analyzing light in the pulse radiolysis.The system design is shown in Fig. 1. For absorption spectroscopy with wide wavelength region, the white-light continuum was used as analyzing light. The white light continuum was generated by focusing the high intense IR laser into the water cell. The available wavelength was 400-950 nm. Typical data obtained is shown in Fig.2 by using the system. We have performed a deconvolution technique to know the time resolution of our system. For this purpose, we have assumed the shapes of the electron pulse and the laser pulse as Gaussian distributions. Furthermore, the difference of velocity in a sample cell between the electron pulse and the laser pulse due to the refractive index of a sample was also taken into consideration and assuming that the hydrated electrons are formed as a step function and the response function is Gaussian.Thus, time resolution of the system was estimated by deconvolution of the experimental data.We have achieved a time resolution of about 26ps by measuring time profile of hydrated electrons in H2O.     

Projection lithography to print thick resist patterns with triangular and semi-circular cross-section profiles

Patterning technology to print thick resist patterns with triangular and semi-circular cross-section profiles was investigated for applying to fabrication of light-guide plates and lens arrays, surface texturization of solar cells, and others. Positive novolac resist PMER P-LA900PM with an initial thickness of 10 μm was used and the patterns were mainly printed by the exposure light with a wavelength of 405 nm. At this wavelength, the light transmittance through the resist film was 0.5% and 80% before and after the exposure, respectively. Caused by this moderate transmittance characteristics, pattern sidewalls suitably inclined or roundly curved. When 400 μm line-and-space reticle patterns were printed using a projection exposure lens with a reduction ratio of 1/19 and a numerical aperture of 0.125, triangular patterns were obtained under the defocus conditions of around ?100 μm. The sidewall angle was widely controlled between 20° and 55° by mainly changing the exposure time. On the other hand, semi-circular profiles were obtained when patterns were printed at the defocus position of +100–200 μm. It was clarified that the circular radius depended only on the defocus position and did not depend on the exposure time. Patterns with circular radiuses of 9–34 μm were successfully obtained.     

Very high cycle fatigue properties of bearing steel under axial loading condition

It has been observed to appear a step-wise or duplex S–N curve under the test of rotary bending fatigue using high strength steel. This behavior was caused by the transition of fracture mode from surface-induced fracture to subsurface inclusion-induced fracture. The aim of this study is to clarify the S–N characteristic under an axial loading fatigue in the very high cycle fatigue regime. In order to investigate the mean-stress effects, fatigue tests were carried out in air at room temperature under three applied stress ratios of ?1, 0 and 0.5 using a hour-glass shaped specimen of high carbon–chromium bearing steel, JIS SUJ2. From the results, three types of fracture mode were observed on the fracture surface, such as surface-induced fracture, subsurface inclusion-induced fracture without granular bright facet (GBF) area and that with GBF area around an inclusion. Fatigue lifetime for transition in the fracture mode depended on the applied stress ratio. Shape of the S–N curve was a smooth and continuous under three testing conditions in spite of the occurrence on the three types of fracture. Detail discussion for fatigue fracture behavior was made through the observation of fracture surface and from point in view of the fracture mechanics. In addition, an effect of residual stress in the specimen surface layer on the transition of fracture mode was discussed and compared with the experimental results.     

Cloning, properties and tissue distribution of natriuretic peptide receptor-A of euryhaline eel, Anguilla japonica

During the course of cloning and characterization of natriuretic peptide receptor-A (NPR-A) from the euryhaline fish eel, Anguilla japonica, we identified a splice variant with unique structural properties that affect ligand-inducible intrinsic guanylate cyclase activity. The variant, generated from a splice between a cryptic donor site and the normal acceptor site, lacked nine amino acid residues (VFTKTGYYK) in the kinase-like regulatory domain. This deletion of a very short segment resulted in the complete loss of the ligand inducibility of the cyclase activity. The nine-amino acid segment may therefore be useful as a target for studies aimed at clarifying the mechanism of activation of the guanylate cyclase domain. Characterization of the normal form of eel NPR-A also led to the following interesting findings. Although eel NPR-A had a domain structure very similar to that of mammalian counterparts, it lacked the third cysteine residue in the extracellular domain which is conserved among mammalian NPR-A molecules. The eel receptor bound both amidated and nonamidated eel atrial natriuretic peptide (eANP) with high affinity but, when assayed for ligand-inducible cGMP generation, it responded efficiently only to physiological concentrations of the amidated ligand, suggesting that the biologically active form is the amidated eANP, and the nonamidated form acts as a partial antagonist; similarly, nonhomologous rat ligands behaved like antagonists toward the eel receptor in the concentration range 0.1-10 nm. The receptor message was found to be relatively abundant in the osmoregulatory organs such as the gill, kidney, intestine and urinary bladder.