Hot Dates

The results of an analytic investigation on the influence of the thermal conductance of a sorption element (adsorber/desorber), evaporator, and condenser on the performance of a three-bed silica-gel-water adsorption chiller are presented with consideration given to the thermal capacitance ratio of the adsorbent and metal of the adsorber/desorber heat exchanger. The analysis was performed by using a cycle-simulation model developed by the authors. The chiller is driven by exploiting waste heat at a temperature 60 and 95°C with a cooling source at 30°C for air conditioning purpose. The results show that the cycle performance is strongly affected by the thermal capacitance ratio and sorption element thermal conductance due to several sensible heating/cooling requirements resulting from batched cycle operation. The model is somewhat sensitive to the thermal conductance of the evaporator, and the thermal conductance of the condenser is the least sensitive parameter.     

Adsorption Parameter and Heat of Adsorption of Activated Carbon/HFC-134a Pair

This article presents the adsorption isotherms of HFC-134a and activated carbon Maxsorb III measured using the constant-volume–variable-pressure method. The adsorption isotherms cover temperature ranges from 293 to 338 K and pressures up to 0.7 MPa. The trends of the experimental isotherms for activated carbon are found to be identical in all cases with previous studies except that the vapor uptake is slightly higher. The adsorption characteristic of the Dubinin–Ashtakov equation has been regressed from the experimental isotherms data and the maximum specific uptake is 2.15 kg of adsorbate adsorbed per kilogram of activated carbon. The heat of adsorption, which is concentration and temperature dependent, has also been extracted from the experiments.     

Penetration behavior of water solution containing radioactive species into dried concrete/mortar and epoxy resin materials

Penetration behavior of radionuclides such as ¹³⁷Cs into dried concrete material, dried mortar material and epoxy paint for a few dozen days was observed using a solution containing fission products extracted from irradiated fuels to obtain fundamental information on the radionuclide penetration rate and depth. Hardly any radionuclides could penetrate into the epoxy paint. The radionuclide solution penetrated into concrete and mortar materials to a depth of a few millimeters for a few dozen days. The penetration behavior observed near the surface of concrete and mortar materials was similar to the diffusion of nuclides in media such as water-saturated concrete, bentonite and cement materials.     

Hole burning in YSZ:Pr3+ and YSZ:Eu3+ with various Y2O3 concentration

We have measured the hole spectra in YSZ:Pr³⁺ and YSZ:Eu³⁺ with various Y₂O₃ concentrations at low temperature. The temperature dependence of the hole width which obtained from the hole spectra in YSZ:Pr³⁺ and YSZ:Eu³⁺ was similar to that for disordered materials.

However, the Y₂O₃ concentration dependence of the hole width in YSZ:Pr³⁺ was contrary to that for YSZ:Eu³⁺ at low temperature. The hole width was the widest in the case of YSZ:Pr³⁺ at 10 mol% Y₂O₃. On the contrary, it was the narrowest in the case of YSZ:Eu³⁺ at the same concentration of Y₂O₃. It was found that there are two states in YSZ, in which the degree of ordered differs from each other. Additionally, the Y₂O₃ concentration dependence of the hole width at low temperature has reflected the ionic conductivity of YSZ at high temperature. It is suggested that the ordering of local structure is responsible for the ionic conduction in YSZ.

© 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Fluoroscopic bone fragment tracking for surgical navigation in femur fracture reduction by incorporating optical tracking of hip joint rotation center

A new method for fluoroscopic tracking of a proximal bone fragment in femoral fracture reduction is presented. The proposed method combines 2-D and 3-D image registration from single-view fluoroscopy with tracking of the head center position of the proximal femoral fragment to improve the accuracy of fluoroscopic registration without the need for repeated manual adjustment of the C-arm as required in stereo-view registrations. Kinematic knowledge of the hip joint, which has a positional correspondence with the femoral head center and the pelvis acetabular center, allows the position of the femoral fragment to be determined from pelvis tracking. The stability of the proposed method with respect to fluoroscopic image noise and the desired continuity of the fracture reduction operation is demonstrated, and the accuracy of tracking is shown to be superior to that achievable by single-view image registration, particularly in depth translation.     

Study on an activated carbon fiber–ethanol adsorption chiller: Part I – system description and modelling

This article presents the transient modelling for a two-bed, activated carbon fiber (ACF)–ethanol adsorption chiller. This innovative adsorption chiller employs pitch based ACF of type A-20 as adsorbent which is a fibrous adsorbent having the advantages of fast adsorption rate, high porosity and ease of handling when compared with granular adsorbents and powdered adsorbents. Ethanol is used as refrigerant as it has no harm to environment, it is a non-toxic substance, moreover, ethanol has comparatively higher vapor pressure even at low temperature. This innovative system utilizes effectively low-temperature waste heat sources of temperature between 60 and 95 °C along with a coolant at 30 °C. We have found that, regardless of the initial mass distribution, the ACF–ethanol adsorption chiller is able to achieve the same cyclic-steady-state within three cycles or 1890 s.     

An ultrasonically levitated noncontact stage using traveling vibrations on precision ceramic guide rails

This paper presents a noncontact sliding table design and measurements of its performance via ultrasonic levitation. A slider placed atop two vibrating guide rails is levitated by an acoustic radiation force emitted from the rails. A flexural traveling wave propagating along the guide rails allows noncontact transportation of the slider. Permitting a transport mechanism that reduces abrasion and dust generation with an inexpensive and simple structure. The profile of the sliding table was designed using the finite-element analysis (FEA) for high levitation and transportation efficiency. The prototype sliding table was made of alumina ceramic (Al2O3) to increase machining accuracy and rigidity using a structure composed of a pair of guide rails with a triangular cross section and piezoelectric transducers. Two types of transducers were used: bolt-clamped Langevin transducers and bimorph transducers. A 40-mm long slider was designed to fit atop the two rail guides. Flexural standing waves and torsional standing waves were observed along the guide rails at resonance, and the levitation of the slider was obtained using the flexural mode even while the levitation distance was less than 10 microm. The levitation distance of the slider was measured while increasing the slider's weight. The levitation pressure, rigidity, and vertical displacement amplitude of the levitating slider thus were measured to be 6.7 kN/m2, 3.0 kN/microm/m2, and less than 1 microm, respectively. Noncontact transport of the slider was achieved using phased drive of the two transducers at either end of the vibrating guide rail. By controlling the phase difference, the slider transportation direction could be switched, and a maximum thrust of 13 mN was obtained.     

Reconstruction of bone fenestration on mandiblar by the guided bone regeneration methods with beta-TCP/PLGC membranes

Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) is a method for bone tissue regeneration. In this method, membranes are used to cover bone defects and to block the invasion of the surrounding soft tissues. It would provide sufficient time for the osteogenic cells from bone marrow to proliferate and form new bony tissues. In spite of the potential usefulness of this method, no appropriate materials for the GBR membrane have been developed. Here we design the ideal mechanical properties of the GBR membranes and created novel materials, which is the composite of beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) and block copolymer of L-lactide, glycolide, and epsilon-caplolactone (PLGC). In the animal experiments with the use of the GBR membranes for large bone defects, we observed significant enhancement in the bone regeneration after 12 weeks implantation and proved the effectiveness of the materials.