Near-infrared combination and overtone bands of CH in CHX3, CHX(2)-CHX2, and CHX(2)-CX(2)-CHX2

In the present report we studied spectral characteristics of the near-infrared combination and overtone bands of CH vibrations of a CH sequence. The near-infrared bands of the CH in CHX3 (X, halogen), which were interpreted in terms of the CH stretching and CH deformation fundamentals without any ambiguity, typically showed how the frequency and intensity of a combination or an overtone depend on the vibrational excited state. In the CH-C-CH of CHX2CX2CHX2, the vibrations of one CH are isolated from those of the other CH, and the combination and overtone bands were similarly interpreted as those of the CH, although each of the combination bands was split into two because of non-degeneracy of the CH deformation. In the CH-CH of CHX2CHX2, the CH deformations only have coupled modes. The first combination showed four narrowly separate bands, which were reasonably interpreted on the basis of the CH stretching and the coupled CH deformation modes. We demonstrated that the first combination of coupled modes as well as the combination of up to, at least, the third order of isolated modes have the nature of the characteristic bands.     

Thermal conductivity of near-stoichiometric (U, Ce)C and (U, Pu, Ce)C solid solutions

The thermal conductivities of near-stoichiometric (U, Ce)C and (U, Pu, Ce)C solid solutions containing CeC up to 10 mol% were determined in the temperature range from 740 to 1600 K by the laser flash method. The thermal conductivity decreased with the cerium content in the solid solutions. The electrical resistivities were also measured for the purpose of analyzing the heat conduction mechanism. It was found that the decrease of electronic heat conduction caused by the addition of cerium resulted in decreasing the thermal conductivities of (U, Ce)C and (U, Pu, Ce)C compared with UC and (U, Pu)C.     

Ethanol and lactic acid production using sap squeezed from old oil palm trunks felled for replanting

Old oil palm trunks that had been felled for replanting were found to contain large quantities of high glucose content sap. Notably, the sap in the inner part of the trunk accounted for more than 80% of the whole trunk weight. The glucose concentration of the sap from the inner part was 85.2 g/L and decreased towards the outer part. Other sugars found in relatively low concentrations were sucrose, fructose, galactose, xylose, and rhamnose. In addition, oil palm sap was found to be rich in various kinds of amino acids, organic acids, minerals and vitamins. Based on these findings, we fermented the sap to produce ethanol using the sake brewing yeast strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Kyokai no.7. Ethanol was produced from the sap without the addition of nutrients, at a comparable rate and yield to the reference fermentation on YPD medium with glucose as a carbon source. Likewise, we produced lactic acid, a promising material for bio-plastics, poly-lactate, from the sap using the homolactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus lactis ATCC19435. We confirmed that sugars contained in the sap were readily converted to lactic acid with almost the same efficiency as the reference fermentation on MSR medium with glucose as a substrate. These results indicate that oil palm trunks felled for replanting are a significant resource for the production of fuel ethanol and lactic acid in palm oil-producing countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.     

An overview on oxyfuel coal combustion—State of the art research and technology development

Oxyfuel combustion is seen as one of the major options for CO₂ capture for future clean coal technologies. The paper provides an overview on research activities and technology development through a fundamental research underpinning the Australia/Japan Oxyfuel Feasibility Project. Studies on oxyfuel combustion on a pilot-scale furnace and a laboratory scale drop tube furnace are presented and compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions. The research has made several contributions to current knowledge, including; comprehensive assessment on oxyfuel combustion in a pilot-scale oxyfuel furnace, modifying the design criterion for an oxy retrofit by matching heat transfer, a new 4-grey gas model which accurately predicts emissivity of the gases in oxy-fired furnaces has been developed for furnace modelling, the first measurements of coal reactivity comparisons in air and oxyfuel at laboratory and pilot-scale; and predictions of observed delays in flame ignition in oxy-firing.     

Comparison of Klinkenberg-corrected gas permeability and water permeability in sedimentary rocks

We measured intrinsic permeability of sedimentary rocks from the western foothills of Taiwan by using nitrogen gas and distilled water as pore fluids in effective-pressure cycling tests at room temperature. The observed difference in gas and water permeabilities was analyzed in view of the Klinkenberg effect. This effect is due to the slip flow of gases at pore walls, which enhances gas flow when pore sizes are very small. Our experimental results showed that (1) gas permeability was larger than water permeability by several times to one order of magnitude, (2) gas permeability increased with increasing pore pressure, and (3) water permeability increased slightly as the pore-pressure gradient across the specimen increased. Results (1) and (2) can be explained quantitatively by an empirical power law in relation to the Klinkenberg constant b that is applicable in low permeable range. This correlation enables us to estimate water permeability from gas permeability. The Klinkenberg effect is important when permeability is lower than 10^?18 m² and at low pore-pressure differentials, and correction for the effect is essential to estimate water permeability from gas permeability measurement data. A simplified Bingham flow model for water can partially explain the trend of result (3), although non-Darcy flow behavior or inertial forces of water–rock interaction are needed to account for the observed deviation from Darcy's law.     

Formation of radioactive cesium microparticles originating from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident: characteristics and perspectives

ABSTRACT

Following identification of radioactive Cs microparticles (CsMPs) in aerosol samples from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP), numerous reports on CsMPs have been published. This paper reviews recent progress in the measurement and characterization of CsMPs by advanced analytical techniques, including advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and synchrotron X-ray analysis. These analyses revealed that the CsMPs contained Si, Fe, Zn, Cs, and minor quantities of U together with some fission products. Uranium in the CsMPs was identified as being in the form of uraninite and (U,Zr)O₂. Detailed advanced TEM analysis has clarified some of the processes resulting in the alteration of constituents of the nuclear fuels and containment vessel materials during this severe accident. In addition, a detailed report on the elemental compositions and structures of the fuel debris fragments collected inside and outside of the primary containment vessel²⁵ highlighted the fact that the fuel debris fragments contained nanoparticles with the U and Zr components having similar structures to that of the CsMPs. This similarity in structures has stimulated further research on the structure and elemental constituents, especially for U and Zr in the CsMPs, and has opened up new avenues for studying the chemical characteristics of the fuel debris.     

Efficiency-enhanced cost-volume filtering featuring coarse-to-fine strategy

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Cost-volume filtering (CVF) is one of the most widely used techniques for solving general multi-labeling problems based on a Markov random field (MRF). However...