Fuel and emissions properties of Stirling engine operated with wood powder

From viewpoints of the environment and fuel cost reduction, small-scale biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plants are in demand, especially wood-waste fueled system, which are simple to operate and maintenance-free with high thermal efficiency similar to oil fired units. These are requested by wood and other industries located in mountainous region. To meet these requirements, a Stirling engine CHP system combined with simplified biomass combustion process with pulverized wood powder was developed.In an R&D project started in 2004 considering wood powder properties as a fuel, combustion performance and emissions in combustion flue gas were tested using combustion test apparatus with commercial size units. The wood powder combustion system was modified and optimized during the combustion test results, and the design of the demonstration plant combined with 55 kW_e Stirling engine power unit was considered. The demonstration plant was finally completed in March of 2006, and test operation has been progressed for the future commercial CHP system.In the wood powder combustion test, wood powder of less than 500 μm is mainly used, and a combustion chamber length of 3 m is applied. In these conditions, the air ratio can be reduced to 1.1 without increasing CO emission of less than 10 ppm and combustion efficiency of 99.9%. In the same conditions, NO_x emission is estimated to be less than 120 ppm (6% O₂ basis). Wood powder was confirmed to have excellent properties as a fuel for Stirling engine CHP system. This paper summarizes the wood powder combustion test, and presents the evaluation of the burner design parameters for the biomass Stirling engine system.     

Adhesion between polymer surface modified by graft polymerization and tissue during surgery using an ultrasonically activated scalpel device

In the field of surgery, achieving adhesion between a polymer implant and tissue poses a challenge considering that suturing is not appropriate for the stability of such implants. An ultrasonically activated scalpel that generates heat by mechanical vibration and promotes adhesion between a polymer implant and native tissue by pressing the two materials together has very good potential for application in the field. To determine the type of polymer that is suitable for the purpose, we investigated polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS) films, the surfaces of which were activated by corona discharge. Graft polymerization was then performed on the corona‐treated surfaces to vary their properties. The corona‐treated PE and PS films grafted with poly(acrylic acid), poly(methacrylic acid), poly(vinyl benzylacrylic acid), and poly(hydroxylethyl acrylate), respectively, adhered to the tissue when the ultrasonically activated scalpel was applied. The heat generated by the mechanical vibration and the applied pressure enabled the carboxyl or hydroxyl groups to bond with the proteins in the extracellular matrix. We therefore concluded that it was possible to integrate this technique in the development of new types of polymer devices that could be stably implanted in a living body. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40885.     

Response of Predatory Insect Scolothrips takahashii Toward Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles Under Laboratory and Field Conditions

We studied the response of a predatory thrips, Scolothrips takahashii, towards herbivore-induced plant volatiles emitted by Lima bean plants infested by two-spotted spider mites Tetranychus urticae (green form). Tests were conducted with a Y-tube olfactometer in the laboratory and with traps under field conditions. The odor of artificially damaged and uninfested Lima bean leaves was not more attractive than clean air in the Y-tube olfactometer. The predatory insects showed a greater preference for Lima bean leaves infested by the two-spotted spider mites than for either clean air or uninfested bean leaves. They showed the same preference towards infested leaves from which all spider mites and their visible products had been removed. Neither the spider mites themselves nor their products attracted the predators. In a satsuma mandarin grove, two traps with infested Lima bean plants as an odor source attracted 42 adult S. takahashii in 55 days, whereas no S. takahashii were trapped in two control traps with uninfested Lima bean plants during the same period. No S. takahashii were found during this period in the vicinity of either the sample traps or the control traps (5-m radius of each trap). These data showed that S. takahashii use herbivore-induced plant volatiles in their foraging behavior in natural ecosystems.     

In Situ Observation of Phase Separation of a Barium Borate Melt in a Stable Immiscibility Region under Microgravity

The precipitation of droplets was directly observed on a BaO–B₂O₃ melt in a drop shaft experiment. This is the first time that precipitation of droplets has been observed in a 4.5 s drop test. The melt film of 4BaOz96B₂O₃ (mol%) held on a platinum wire loop was heated above the critical tem-perature to produce uniformity and was cooled down to the phase separation temperature range. Phase separation of the melt was observed directly with a video camera. The IR image of the melt was simultaneously detected with a CCD array and was converted into a two-dimensional thermograph.     

Crosslinked acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives. 3. Effect of adherend on film formation

The reaction of isocyanate in pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) films adhered on to various adherends having different surface tensions was monitored by depth profiling using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy.In the latter stages of crosslinking reaction, unreacted isocyanate and its derivatives exist more in the bulk of the PSA than in the interfaces between PSA and adherends which are Teflon sheet and PE film having relatively lower surface tensions. In the case of using stainless steel having relatively higher surface tension as adherend, opposite segregation was observed compared to Teflon and PE.From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), it was revealed that N atoms exist more in surface than in bulk when stainless steel is used as adherend. We conclude that polyisocyanates migrate in the PSA film in order to minimize the magnitude of interfacial free energy between the PSA and the adherend, which leads to the change of surface tension of PSA film.     

Feasibility study on cellular network analysis with patterned cell culture microdevice

In order to realize cellular network analysis on a chip-based system, our group has been developing a patterned cell culture microdevice with pillars in an array for tapping cells into space surrounded by the pillars. The pillar structures has advantages to trap both adhesive and non-adhesive cells and to precisely control positions of cells and distances between cells for understanding effects of various cell patterns on functions of a cellular network such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and network formation. In this paper, HeLa cell cultivation with the patterned cell culture microdevice having a pillar array fabricated by dry film of thick negative photoresist SU-8 on a glass substrate was executed as a feasibility study on a cellular network analysis. The results revealed that the device performance was found to be enough to culture HeLa cells for more than 48 h. In addition, relative extensibility of blocks of multiple cells compared with single cells tapped on the device was observed. Thus, the patterned cell culture microdevice proposed here could be applicable to analysis of cellular functions.     

Improvement of strength distribution inside slab concrete by vacuum dewatering method

The strength and hardness of concrete slab surface is considered significantly affected by bleeding of concrete. It has been reported that dewatering by vacuum processing is quite effective to obtain high density of concrete. The method, however, has not been successfully used for the concrete work in the field of building construction, compared with that of civil engineering works in Japan. In the present study, firstly the state of the art concerning vacuum dewatering method is reviewed and the newly improved vacuum dewatering method is introduced. Then the effect of the proposed method on concrete properties of slab is examined by a series of experiments in order to find more reasonable and effective way in the application of the proposed method.     

Properties of bifunctional phosphonate fibers derived from chloromethylstyrene grafted polyolefin fibers

Bifunctional fibers containing phosphonate and sulfonate were derived from chloromethylstyrene grafted polyolefin fibers (PPPE-g-CMS) by phosphorylation and subsequent sulfonation reactions. It was clarified that phosphorylation of PPPE-g-CMS by Arbusov reaction is more suitable than one by the reaction with PCl₃ in the presence of AlCl₃, because the latter damaged fibers and gave phosphinate groups in addition to phosphonate ones. Then, bifunctional fibers containing phosphonate and sulfonate groups were prepared by sulfonation of monofunctional phosphonate fibers obtained via Arbusov reaction with chlorosulfonic acid. The metal ion selectivity of the bifunctional fibers was governed by both phosphonate and sulfonate groups. In addition, bifunctional fibers gave much more excellent kinetic performances in column-mode uptake of Cu(II) than the monofunctional phosphonate fibers and resin.     

Separation of PRMMC into matrix alloy and reinforcements by nozzle filtering method

The SiC_P/Al–4 mass%Cu alloy composites fabricated by a low-pressure infiltration process (LPI process) were remelted and separated by nozzle filtering method. In the separation process, the PRMMC specimen was placed in a container with a small nozzle at the bottom. The molten PRMMC was forced to flow out through the nozzle by applying a certain pressure of Ar gas. Most of the molten matrix alloy flowed out through the nozzle and the remainder in the container consisted of SiC particles and a part of the matrix alloy. The particle volume fraction of the remainder was higher than that of the original PRMMC and the remainder would work as a filter to separate SiC particles from the matrix alloy melt. When nozzle tip angle was ranged from 60° to 120°, about 80% of matrix alloy in the PRMMC was separated and few SiC particles were observed in the separated matrix alloy. The surface of recovered SiC particles became slightly roughened due to the reaction with the molten matrix during the separation process. However, this is not expected to affect their reuse.