Direct Decomposition of NO Over Alkaline Earth Metal Oxide Catalysts Supported on Cobalt Oxide

Spinel powders with addition of ZnO into Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ were synthesized from a mixed solution of nitrate salts in the presence of aqueous ammonium carbonate under hydrothermal conditions at 150 °C for 48 h. The crystallization of the spinel was promoted by an increase in reaction temperature and time. This powder was studied for the selective reduction of NO with hydrocarbons (CH₄, C₂H₄, and C₃H₆) in the presence of oxygen. High durability was observed for the reduction of NO by C₂H₄ in the presence of water vapor and sulfur oxides, maintaining a high stability over 100 h.     

Influence of fatty acids on the tocopherol stability in vegetable oils during microwave heating

Effects of 0, 0.05, 0.25, 0.50 and 1.0% levels of fatty acids (caproic, caprylic, capric and lauric) or hydrocarbons (decane and dodecane) on tocopherol stability in vegetable oils during microwave heating were determined by measuring tocopherol losses and carbonyl and anisidine values. The fatty acids showed similar prooxidant activities toward tocopherols in purified vegetable, oils when heated in a microwave oven. However, decane or dodecane, which had the same number of carbons as capric or lauric acid but no carboxylic group, did not show prooxidant activity. The shorter the chainlength and the higher the level of fatty acids, the greater was the reduction of tocopherols in the oils. The addition of low-molecular weight fatty acids resulted in greater acceleration in the oxidation of to pay attention to these free fatty acids produced in the oils when heated in a microwave oven.     

Experimental study of a doubly‐fed rotary frequency converter

Wind power generation using an unlimited, natural energy has been getting attention regarding environmental issues in recent years, and the installed capacity of wind power generation system is increasing at a rapid pace, resulting in deterioration of power quality especially in frequency and voltage. This fact will be a big problem in restricting large capacity of wind farms. This paper proposes a new frequency converter: rotary frequency converter (RFC) to moderate the electric output from wind generation, which is to be installed between a set of wind generators and a grid, providing a smoothed electric output, promoting the wind power generation introduction. This mainly consists of a synchronous machine and the adjustable‐speed machine. Independent controls of input/output voltage, active power, and reactive power offer electrical separation between the two networks. Experimental study of a prototype model and its characteristics, especially dynamic control, is discussed in this paper. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 170(4): 26–34, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20922     

Effects of a probiotic fermented milk beverage containing Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota on defecation frequency,intestinal microbiota,and the intestinal environment of healthy individuals with soft stools

The effects of drinking a fermented milk beverage that contains Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) at 40 billion bacterial cells/bottle for 4 weeks (probiotics, 1 bottle/day) on defecation frequency, intestinal microbiota and the intestinal environment of healthy individuals with soft stools were evaluated. Thirty-four healthy adults who had soft stools were randomised into 2 groups, and the effects of a regular 4-week intake of probiotics were evaluated by a placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group comparative design. Defecation frequency significantly decreased after the 4-week intake period compared with before the probiotic treatment. The stool quality significantly improved (hardened) compared to the placebo. Also, the water content of the stools was lower in the probiotic group than in the placebo group. Live LcS was recovered at 6.9 ± 1.3 and 7.2 ± 0.8 log₁₀ CFU per 1 g of stool after 2 and 4 weeks, respectively, of probiotic treatment. The number of bifidobacteria in the stools also increased significantly compared with the level before starting the probiotics. The organic acid levels (total, acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid) significantly increased compared with the level before intake in both the probiotic and placebo groups, but they returned to the original levels after the end of the intake period. These results suggest that probiotic fermented milk beverage has an intestine-conditioning effect by improving the frequency of defecation and stool quality and increasing the intrinsic bifidobacteria in healthy individuals with soft stool.     

Crystallographic Analysis of Proeutectoid Ferrite/Austenite Interface and Interphase Precipitation of Vanadium Carbide in Medium-Carbon Steel

To clarify the mechanism of interphase precipitation of vanadium carbide (VC) in a medium-carbon steel, orientation relationships (ORs) and plane orientations of ferrite/austenite interfaces were investigated. It was found that a large part of grain boundary ferrite holds near-K-S OR with at least one side of austenite adjacent to grain boundary regardless of V addition. By the V addition, a fraction of grain boundary ferrite holding near the K-S OR with both sides of austenite is decreased remarkably. Furthermore, only non-K-S ferrite/austenite interfaces migrate dominantly in the V-added alloy in contrast to the V-free alloy. Ferrite/austenite interface orientations are not fixed crystallographically but are randomly distributed in terms of ferrite and austenite orientations. Those results do not agree with the ledge mechanism originally proposed by Honeycombe. Thus, it is proposed that the ledge mechanism is extended to the non-K-S interface, which partially consists of coherent and less-mobile interfaces.     

Volume Fractions of Proeutectoid Ferrite/Pearlite and Their Dependence on Prior Austenite Grain Size in Hypoeutectoid Fe-Mn-C Alloys

It has been generally believed that pearlite transformation in hypoeutectoid steels starts when the average carbon concentration in untransformed austenite reaches the A_cm line after the formation of proeutectoid ferrite. To test this concept experimentally, volume fractions of proeutectoid ferrite/pearlite and carbon contents in the austenite being transformed into pearlite were measured for the Fe-2Mn-0.3C alloy isothermally transformed in the temperature range 848 K to 898 K (575 °C to 625 °C). It was found that lamellar pearlite can form even when the average carbon content in untransformed austenite is much lower than the A_cm line. This peculiar observation is probably due to the two-dimensional diffusion of carbon, i.e., parallel to and normal to the austenite/pearlite interface, which enables lamellar cementite to grow continuously by supplying carbon atoms to its growth front. This results in proeutectoid ferrite fractions with respect to pearlite being much lower than those predicted by the lever rule. With decreasing prior austenite grain size, proeutectoid ferrite fractions with respect to pearlite were found to increase, but the thickness of proeutectoid ferrite was constant within the range of grain size investigated. This is due to the existence of the critical α/γ interface velocity only below which pearlite (actually cementite) can be nucleated at the migrating α/γ interface. Furthermore, the upper limit temperatures for pearlite formation in the Fe-1Mn-0.33C and Fe-2Mn-0.3C alloys were found to be well between the PLE/NPLE and PE A_e1 temperatures.     

Reduction of power fluctuation by distributed generation in micro grid

Renewable forms of energy such as wind power or photovoltaic energy are environmentally focused, but the fluctuation of the output power of such renewable forms of energy may cause excessive variation of the voltage or frequency of the grid. Increasing the amount of renewable energy would degrade the quality of the grid. Micro grids, in which dispersed power sources compensate variations in the generation of renewable energy, can expand the limits of installation of renewable forms of energy by maintaining the quality of the interconnected grid. This paper discusses the use of gas turbines to absorb power variations from wind generation and the loads. In order to control the output power, gas turbines must run under partial load, which results in lower efficiency. An evaluation of the micro grids is made with consideration of their efficiency, the installed capacity of wind power generation systems, and frequency stability for islanded operation. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 163(2): 22–29, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20462     

Overexpression of Aspergillus aculeatus cellobiohydrolase I in Aspergillus oryzae

To express the cbhI gene, encoding Aspergillus aculeatus cellobiohydrolase I (CBHI), in Aspergillus oryzae, a plasmid was constructed. The strain that displayed the strongest CBHI activity among the transformants produced about 941 mg/l in liquid culture. It was confirmed by a PCR method that the plasmid was integrated at the niaD locus.     

Fabrication of Fe-Co-C thin films using facing targets sputtering method

We report the fabrication of carbon-doped (0-9 at.%) Fe-Co thin films deposited using facing targets sputtering method. Adding carbon of 2.5 at.% has an effect on decreasing coercivity in the case that the internal stress is approximately zero. Further addition of carbon does not influence the soft magnetic properties, whereas the saturation flux density decreases down to 2 T. The lowest coercivity of 12 Oe in hard axis is obtained with the saturation flux density of 2.4 T and clear uniaxial anisotropy (anisotropy field: 200 Oe) in the (Fe₆₅Co₃₅)_97.5C_2.5 film. The Fe-Co-C film exhibits better frequency characteristics than Fe-C films due to higher anisotropy field and saturation flux density.     

A design method of a generalized predictive control system based on parametrization of two‐degree‐of‐freedom integral controllers

A new design method for a generalized predictive control (GPC) system based on parametrization of two‐degree‐of‐freedom integral controllers has been proposed. The objective is to guarantee stability of the control system without depending on the design parameters and to achieve low sensitivity against the plant perturbation and the disturbance. The design procedure consists of two steps. First, we design a basic integral controller for a nominal plant using the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) method and parametrize a class of two‐degree‐of‐freedom stabilizing controllers. Next, we tune the feedforward controller to incorporate the GPC method into our control structure. A numerical example is presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method by comparing it with the conventional GPC method. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 129(2): 62–70, 1999