Oxidation Processes for Alloys in the Ni – Zr System. Part 1. Structure of Ni – Zr Alloys. Oxidation Kinetics for Ni7Zr2

We have studied the synthesis conditions and crystal structures for one-phase intermetallic alloys Ni₅Zr, Ni₇Zr₂, and NiZr. We used the continuous weighing method to study the oxidation kinetics in air for the alloy Ni₇Zr₂ in the range 500-1000°C. We have shown that the oxidation process is described mainly by a parabolic law. The kinetic isotherms for the change in mass suggest that over time, the rate constant for parabolic oxidation K _p decreases due to improvement in the protective properties of the scale. The temperature dependence of the oxidation rate suggests a change in the oxidation mechanism for T > 800°C, due to changes in the defect structure of the ZrO₂ lattice.     

Development of catalysts for hydrogen generation from hydride compounds

Catalytic hydrolysis of NaBH₄ and NH₃BH₃ has been studied. It was shown that the nature of the support and the active component of the catalyst affect the H₂ generation rate. Despite similar sizes of rhodium particles formed on the surface of different supports (γ-Al₂O₃, TiO₂, carbon), their reactivity is different. Rh/TiO₂ with low rhodium concentration (1 wt.%) is the most active catalyst both in the hydrolysis of NaBH₄ and NH₃BH₃. The obtained results show that the rhodium chloride interaction with titania determines the reactivity of rhodium particles formed under action of NaBH₄ medium. TEM, DRS UV–vis and XPS were used to characterize the catalysts.     

Development of calibration models for quality control in the production of ethylene/propylene copolymers by FTIR spectroscopy,multivariate statistical tools,and artificial neural networks

Principal component regression (PCR), partial least squares (PLS), StepWise ordinary least squares regression (OLS), and back‐propagation artificial neural network (BP‐ANN) are applied here for the determination of the propylene concentration of a set of 83 production samples of ethylene–propylene copolymers from their infrared spectra. The set of available samples was split into (a) a training set, for models calculation; (b) a test set, for selecting the correct number of latent variables in PCR and PLS and the end point of the training phase of BP‐ANN; (c) a production set, for evaluating the predictive ability of the models. The predictive ability of the models is thus evaluated by genuine predictions. The model obtained by StepWise OLS turned out to be the best one, both in fitting and prediction. The study of the breakdown number of samples to be included in the training set showed that at least 52 experiments are necessary to build a reliable and predictive calibration model. It can be concluded that FTIR spectroscopy and OLS can be properly employed for monitoring the synthesis or the final product of ethylene–propylene copolymers, by predicting the concentration of propylene directly along the process line. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Laws of Formation of Electrospark Coatings from Alloys of the Ni – Cr – Al – Y System

The main parameters of electrospark alloying of steel 45 with anodes made from Ni – Cr – Al – Y alloys have been investigated. The anodes were fabricated by casting and hot pressing. The highest values of the mass transfer coefficient were observed in the case of electrospark alloying with hot-pressed alloys. Microstructure and x-ray phase analyses of electrospark coatings revealed the presence of solid solutions based on nickel, iron, chromium as well as intermetallic compounds. Coatings obtained by electrospark alloying with hot-pressed alloy are more wear-resistant than are coatings obtained by alloying with cast alloys.     

Influence of the surface conditions on permeation in the deuterium–MANET system

The condition of the surfaces is of crucial importance for the deuterium permeation through materials. In this work a study of the surface constants for the adsorption (σk₁) and release (σk₂) of deuterium under different surface conditions on the martensitic steel DIN 1.4914 (MANET) has been carried out. The growth of an oxide surface layer (Cr₂O₃) of about 25–30 nm in a MANET sample, heat treated in an oxidizing environment, compared to the bare MANET that have a ‘natural' oxide of about 5 nm has provoked a reduction of both the permeation rate and the recombination coefficient (about 3 orders of magnitude). In addition, the permeation governing process has changed from diffusion-limited to surface-limited. The measurements of the permeation rate of deuterium were performed by a gas-phase permeation technique over the temperature range 574–746 K and for deuterium driving pressures in the range from 3 to 10⁵ Pa.     

Microfluidic motion for a direct investigation of solvent interactions with PDMS microchannels

Solid surface/liquid interactions play an important role in microfluidics and particularly in manipulation of films, drops and bubbles, a basic requirement for a number of lab-on-chip applications. The behavior of solvents in coated microchannels is difficult to be predicted considering theories; therefore, experimental methods able to estimate the properties at the interface in real time and during the operational regime are amenable. Here, we propose to use an experimental setup to evaluate the effective dynamics of solvents inside PDMS microchannels. The influence of the solvent properties as well as of the channel wall’s wettability on the fluid movements was evaluated. Modification of the channel properties was achieved by introducing Teflon coatings that allow producing stable hydrophobic microchannel walls. The results were fitted according to Washburn-type power-law and compared with theoretical calculations of the parameter β that expresses the dependence of capillary dynamics on surface tension γ, liquid viscosity η, contact angles θ and the hydraulic radius R _H. A comparison between the calculated and the experimental values reveled that parameters other than the contemplated ones influenced the measurements. The main parameter that affects the flow of solvents such as water, methanol ethanol, dimethylformamide, acetonitrile and acetone was found to be the γ/η ratio. Considering these results, the investigation tool described here is believed to be promising to predict the dynamics of common organic solvents inside integrated functional fluidic devices and to accurately control solvent flow, particularly in capillary-driven pumpless systems, a basic requirement for widening the application range of PDMS lab-on-chip devices.     

Carbonaceous adsorbents from sewage sludge and their application in a combined activated sludge-powdered activated carbon (AS-PAC) treatment

In this study, waste biological sludge is converted to an adsorbent by chemical activation with sulphuric acid. The adsorbent obtained is then applied to the aerated vessel of an activated sludge process treating glucose and phenol to improve the quality of the treated effluent. The sludge-based carbonaceous adsorbent was found to be mesoporous in nature, with a good adsorption capacity for large molecular weight compounds and limited removal efficiency for smaller molecules such as phenol. The addition of carbon, either sludge-based or commercial, enhanced phenol removal from 58% to 98.7% and from 87% to 93% the organic matter removal as measured by the chemical oxygen demand (COD) when operated with feed concentrations of 100 mg phenol/l and 2500 mg COD/l. No differences were found between the activated sludge-activated carbon bench scale continuous reactors operating with either commercial or sludge-based adsorbents in spite of the higher adsorption capacity of the former. It is suggested that powdered adsorbent bioregeneration in the combined AS-PAC system may be impaired by the obstruction of pores due to bacterial growth, the effect being more important for the commercial activated carbon with a narrower pore size distribution.     

A low-cost real time virtual system for postural stability assessment at home

Background and objective

The degeneration of the balance control system in the elderly and in many pathologies requires measuring the equilibrium conditions very often. In clinical practice, equilibrium control is commonly evaluated by using a force platform (stabilometric platform) in a clinical environment.In this paper, we demonstrate how a simple movement analysis system, based on a 3D video camera and a 3D real time model reconstruction of the human body, can be used to collect information usually recorded by a physical stabilometric platform.

Methods

The algorithm used to reconstruct the human body model as a set of spheres is described and discussed. Moreover, experimental measurements and comparisons with data collected by a physical stabilometric platform are also reported. The measurements were collected on a set of 6 healthy subjects to whom a change in equilibrium condition was stimulated by performing an equilibrium task.

Results

The experimental results showed that more than 95% of data collected by the proposed method were not significantly different from those collected by the classic platform, thus confirming the usefulness of the proposed system.

Conclusions

The proposed virtual balance assessment system can be implemented at low cost (about 500$) and, for this reason, can be considered a home use medical device. On the contrary, astabilometric platform has a cost of about 10,000$ and requires periodical calibration. The proposed system does not require periodical calibration, as is necessary for stabilometric force platforms, and it is easy to use. In future, the proposed system with little integration can be used, besides being an emulator of a stabilometric platform, also to recognize and track, in real time, head, legs, arms and trunk, that is to collect information actually obtained by sophisticated optoelectronic systems.