Application of the methylene blue test to cement raw materials

Characterisation of raw materials for Portland cement manufacture by use of the methylene blue adsorption method is discussed. The method is shown to be a simple, convenient ‘rule of thumb’ procedure. It provides a guide to the quantity and type of argillaceous minerals present in a given raw material sample.     

Wear in check valves due to flow induced motion

Experiments showing the frequency and amplitude of the flow induced motion of the gate for a 2- and a 4-in. swing check valve have been performed. The gate motion is due to turbulence in approach flow. We have found the dominant turbulent frequency of the approach flow is about half the natural frequency of the valves. The valves appear to be almost critically damped. Because of this, the valves respond almost as they would to a static force of the magnitude characteristic of the turbulent fluctuation in the flow. Both the dimensionless exciting force and the damping ratio have been found to be independent of valve size so the above statements are true for larger valves also. The recommended valve oscillation amplitudes and frequencies are used to calculate the wear at the shaft and at the stop. For an unpegged check valve, such as one of the 10-in. valves which was used at the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station, it was found that shaft bearing wear would amount to 0.27 in.³/year and stop wear to 0.03 in.³/year.     

Top-Seeded Melt-Growth of YBa2Cus3Ox Crystals for Neutron Diffraction Studies

We have grown cubic centimeter-size crystals of YBa₂Cu₃O _x suitable for neutron studies, by a top-seeded melt-growth technique. Growth conditions were optimized with an eye toward maximizing phase purity. It was found that the addition of 2% Y₂BaCuO₅ and 0.5% Pt (by mass) were required to prevent melt loss and to obtain the highest crystallinity. A neutron diffraction study on a mosaic of six such crystals found that the final Y₂BaCuO₅ concentration was 5%, while other impurity phases comprised less than 1% by volume. The oxygen content was set to x = 6.5, the crystals were detwinned, and then carefully annealed to give the well-ordered ortho-II phase. The neutron study determined that 70% of the mosaic's volume was in the majority orthorhomic domain. The neutron (006) and (110) rocking curve widths were ～1° per crystal and ～2.2° for the mosaic, and the oxygen chain correlation lengths were >100 Å in the a- and b-directions and ～50 Å in the c-direction.     

High-resolution electron microscopy of the twinning and intergrowth in Ca4Al6SO16 and Ca3SrAl6SO16

The microstructures of unhydrated calcium aluminosulphate Ca₄Al₆SO₁₆ and Ca₃SrAl₆SO₁₆ have been studied by high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). The results showed that twinning and twinned slabs could be introduced taking the [1 1 2] direction as the twin axis so that it seems to be coincident with the law of twinning formed in body-centred cubic structures. A previously reported superlattice with a repeat period twice that of the fundamental structure along the 〈1 1 0〉 direction has also been found in both matrix and twin variants. The close intergrowth of Ca₃SrAl₆SO₁₆ and another phase, possibly Sr₃Al₂O₆ existing as an inclusion between these two twin variants, was determined and clearly revealed by electron diffraction and HREM images. The coherent interphase boundaries and orientation relationship between them can also be deduced.     

Determination of molecular weight distributions of tert-octylphenol ethoxylate surfactant polymers by laser desorption Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography

Triton polymers are commercial surfactants whose molecular weight distributions are conventionally determined by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). However, in the case of the important octylphenol ethoxylates [p-C8H17-C6H4-O-(CH2CH2O)n-H], HPLC cannot resolve individual oligomers of high molecular weight Triton surfactants (e.g., greater than 2000 u or so; u = unified atomic mass unit). In this paper, we show that laser desorption Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (LD/FT/ICR/MS) provides a simple and accurate measure of such Triton surfactant molecular weight distributions up to at least 3500 u, based on a single-shot laser pulse measurement of a few seconds duration. Comparison of LD/FT/ICR/MS and HPLC molecular weight distributions of low molecular weight surfactants shows that laser desorption/ionization produces minimal fragmentation and thus offers an accurate measure of the relative abundances of the neutral oligomers, without the need for prior chromatographic separation of the components. Moreover, for all Triton polymer molecular weight distributions (700-3000 u), LD/FT/ICR/MS provides much more highly resolved profiles of oligomer relative abundances. Finally, LD/FT/ICR/MS reveals the presence of poly(ethylene oxide) side products of the polymerization process, which are not observed by HPLC with conventional ultraviolet absorption detection.     

A Note on PIN Polynomials and PRIN Rational Functions

This brief presents a necessary and sufficient condition for testing positive, real, imaginary, and negative rational functions. A related term, the positive, imaginary, and negative polynomial, is defined and two necessary and sufficient conditions for testing it are given.