Utilization of Shochu distillery wastewater for production of polyunsaturated fatty acids and xanthophylls using thraustochytrid

The industrial production of barley shochu, a distilled alcoholic beverage, results in distillery waste that is currently incinerated or disposed of in landfills, causing environmental pollution. The supernatant of distillery waste contains organic matter such as proteins ( approximately 2.5%) and amino acids ( approximately 0.2%). This study demonstrates that the utilization of distillery wastewater as a sole nitrogen source enables a marine thraustochytrid, Schizochytrium sp. strain KH105, to propagate and accumulate valuable lipids including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and astaxanthin. Under optimized culture conditions, the highest DHA and astaxanthin yields were obtained at 3.4 g/l and 7.7 mg/l, respectively, after 4 or 5 d of cultivation in a 3-l jar fermentor. The chemical oxygen demand of the wastewater was reduced by 35%. About 67% of crude protein content and 85% of total free amino acid content also decreased in the culture supernatant. The thraustochytrid therefore serves to upgrade the distillery by-product to one containing value-added lipids for functional foods as well as to regulate the environmental contamination.     

The interior coil inference method with the logic parts attaching algorithm for automatic regeneration of sequential control programs

For the replacement of old sequential controllers for plants by modern programmable controllers (PCs), we have developed the sequential control program automatic inductive regeneration (SPAIR) method and system from input–output signals and action specifications of a target controller. However, this method cannot regenerate the logic included in the interior coils. Therefore, we propose an efficient interior coil logic inference method for SPAIR using the Logic Parts Attaching Algorithm. In this method, the target logic of the interior coil is acquired by the selective attachment of logic parts. We confirmed its effectiveness through the application of the method to some original controllers including interior logic. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 137(1): 42–47, 2001     

Electrochemical reactions of surface-fluorinated petroleum coke electrodes in organic solvents

Electrochemical reactions of surface-fluorinated petroleum coke (petroleum coke heat-treated at 2800 °C: PC2800) electrodes have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry and XPS analysis. Three reduction peaks were observed at 2.31 V, 0.70-0.74 V and 0.46-0.59 V versus Li/Li⁺ in the first reduction curves of cyclic voltammograms. The peak at 2.31 V appeared only for PC2800 fluorinated at 500 °C. Two reduction peaks were also observed at 0.71 V and 0.59 V for surface-oxidized PC2800. The surface oxygen was increased through the electrode preparation process while the amount of surface fluorine was reduced by hydrolysis. The reduction peak at 2.31 V shows the reduction of fluorine bonded to basal plane of graphite, and those at 0.46-0.59 V are due to the reduction of ethylene carbonate (EC) as a solvent. The peak at 0.70-0.74 V would be also attributed to the reduction of EC on the hydrophilic sites of partly oxidized PC2800 surface.     

Control of the product ratio of CO2/(CO+CO2) and inhibition of catalyst deactivation for steam reforming of gasoline to produce hydrogen

Factors controlling the product ratio of CO₂/(CO+CO₂) and methods for inhibiting deactivation of catalyst for steam reforming of gasoline were studied. Syngas (H₂+CO) as major product was produced on Ni-Mo/Al₂O₃ and the major product on Ni-Re/Al₂O₃ was H₂ and CO₂ at the same reaction conditions. Hydrogen with a high CO₂/(CO+CO₂) ratio of about 92% was produced by coupling reaction of steam reforming and water gas shift on Ni-Re/Al₂O₃ catalyst at 805 K. The multifunctional activity of the bimetallic catalyst of Ni-Re/Al₂O₃ and the suitable reaction temperature were of crucial significance for the coupling reaction. Although no deactivation could be observed on both Ni-Mo/Al₂O₃ and Ni-Re/Al₂O₃ catalysts for steam reforming of sulfur-free fuels in about 200 h of time on stream, the activity and sulfur-tolerance of Ni-Re/Al₂O₃ was much better than the values of Ni-Mo/Al₂O₃ for steam reforming of sulfur-containing fuels because of the unique role of rhenium in the Ni-Re catalyst. The unique role of rhenium in Ni-Re catalyst was mainly because of alloying of rhenium with nickel to form bimetallic Ni-Re sites and interaction of rhenium with sulfur to form S-Re binds. The sulfur-tolerance of Ni-Re/Al₂O₃ for steam reforming of sulfur-containing gasoline was improved further by addition of a small amount of ZSM-5. The activity and sulfur-tolerance of Ni-Mo/Al₂O₃ was also enhanced by the addition of ZSM-5.     

Optimizing servo-signal design for a hard-disk drives

To improve the non-repeatable runout (NRRO), repeatable runout (RRO), and nonlinearity of the position signal in hard-disk drives (HDDs), we established criteria for the off-track direction and for the bit direction. Position-signal nonlinearity and NRRO degradation are largely due to the interaction between track width, erase band size, and the sensitivity distribution of the head. So one criterion is for position-signal sensitivity. The other criterion is for burst-bit density, which causes RRO degradation. Using these criteria to compare, theoretically and experimentally, the effectiveness with which the quality of the position signal could be maintained using amplitude and phase patterns confirmed that the phase pattern is superior to the amplitude pattern.     

Advanced material processing with nano- and femto-second pulsed laser

In order to apply laser processing to advanced material mold making, basic research is carried out. First, box-shaped hole processing is carried out by laser beam scanning. Second, suitable machining conditions are investigated in terms of laser spot size, scanning path, scanning speed and scan times. Finally, the comparison of nano- with femto-second laser-processed surfaces is carried out. The laser-processed surfaces and debris are observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a laser microscope, and are also analyzed using an electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), an X-ray diffractometer and a Vickers hardness tester.     

A design based on final-state control for residual vibrationless seeking in hard disk drives

A new design method - based on a final-state control (FSC) - for short-span seeking in a hard-disk drive (HDD) has been developed. The short-span seeking is performed by two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) control, which uses a feedforward (FF) control input along with a reference trajectory. The design method can directly generate the FF control input, whose derivative at a specified order is minimized and whose power spectrum amplitude is reduced at a specified frequency. The residual vibration caused by mechanical resonance can therefore be reduced by the generated FF control input. Test with a 2.5-in form-factor HDD experimentally confirmed that the developed seeking control significantly reduces the residual vibration in a HDD.