The cause of the uneven carbonization process in wet coal charging in coke oven chamber

In the case of the wet coal charging process in coke oven chamber, it is known that the coking process is uneven and a local carbonization delay occurs. The reason was investigated through a laboratory-scale experiment and a quantitative estimation. A partial carbonization test in a test coke oven replicated the uneven plastic layer and local carbonization delay. It was revealed that most of the gas generated in the uncarbonized coal layer results from the evaporation of condensed water and that steam can break through the plastic layer in a test coke oven. Moreover, the order estimation implied that steam that generates in the uncarbonized coal layer and breaks through the plastic layer has sufficient heat capacity to cool the heating wall and delay the carbonization. It was also shown that the steam pressure peak measured in a commercial coke oven is much lower than the estimated steam pressure in this study assuming steam not breaking through the plastic layer. The above-mentioned results and quantitative investigation strongly support the ‘steam breaking through the plastic layer’ theory proposed by Dr. Rohde that an uneven carbonization process is caused by vaporized coal moisture breaking through the plastic layer at definite, unforeseeable points, which results in cooling of the wall by the steam flow.     

Changes in the thermomechanical behavior of epoxy glasses under the state of strain aging

Changes in thermomechanical behavior with structural relaxation taking place in epoxy glasses were studied. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements and thermostimulated strain recovery tests were performed for specimens deformed and then aged under fixed strain. In the course of heating, the specimens started to absorb thermal energy, whereas plastic strain was still stable. At higher temperatures, plastic strain started recovery, which was accompanied by exothermic behavior of the specimen. With an increase in the aging duration, the endothermic peak signified and moved to a higher temperature. These results indicated that the longer the aging duration was, the harder the plastic strain and strain energy were frozen in the glassy structure. This freeze‐strain phenomenon was observed for crosslinked epoxy glass, as well as polymeric glasses with linear molecular structures, aged under strain. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

NiCoFe/C cathode electrocatalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells

A direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC), which is less prone to ethanol crossover, is reported. The cell consists of PtRu/C catalyst as the anode, Nafion^® 117 membrane, and Ni–Co–Fe (NCF) composite catalyst as the cathode. The NCF catalyst was synthesized by mixing Ni, Co, and Fe complexes into a polymer matrix (melamine-formaldehyde resins), followed by heating the mixture at 800 °C under inert atmosphere. TEM and EDX experiments suggest that the NCF catalyst has alloy structures of Ni, Co and Fe. The catalytic activity of the NCF catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was compared with that of commercially available Pt/C (CAP) catalyst at different ethanol concentrations. The decrease in open circuit voltage (V_oc) of the DEFC equipped with the NCF catalysts was less than that of CAP catalyst at higher ethanol concentrations. The NCF catalyst was less prone to ethanol oxidation at cathode even when ethanol crossover occurred through the Nafion^®117 film, which prevents voltage drop at the cathode. However, the CAP catalyst did oxidize ethanol at the cathode and caused a decrease in voltage at higher ethanol concentrations.     

中国充电器标准化带来的变化

中国政府率先开始了手机充电器的标准化,其目的是让用户更换手机终端后可继续使用原来的充电器,从而通过削减废弃物达到保护环境的目的。     

Roles of the JAK-STAT system in signal transduction via cytokine receptors

JAK-STAT signaling pathways are known to play an essential role in the specific activation of interferon-inducible genes. Many cytokines interacting with the cytokine receptor superfamily also appear to activate these pathways. Recent evidence indicates that JAKs play an essential role(s) in cytokine receptor signaling, including both specific pathways linked to STATs and general pathways regulating cell growth and functions.     

Surgical treatment of ventricular tachycardia after surgical repair of tetralogy of Fallot. Relation between intraoperative mapping and histological findings

BACKGROUND: The mechanism of ventricular tachycardia (VT) after correction of tetralogy of Fallot (TF) is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the histopathology of the arrhythmogenic area detected by intraoperative mapping. METHODS AND RESULTS: The patients were three men who underwent radical surgery for TF at age 3, 3, or 5 years, respectively. VT developed at 8, 9, or 11 years, respectively, after surgery, and shock developed during VT in every case. The ECG revealed monomorphic VT in two cases and polymorphic VT in one case. Induction of VT resulted in a wide left-axis deviation-pattern QRS with cycle lengths varying between 260 and 330 milliseconds. The VT origin was identified at the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). A radical operation was performed with the patient under cardiopulmonary bypass. On epicardial mapping, delayed activation of the RVOT was recorded during sinus rhythm, and clockwise circus movement of the macroreentry current during VT on the right ventricular free wall was documented in each case. The VTs were treated successfully by surgical resection and cryoablation of the myocardium. In every patient, histology of the myocardial specimens showed degeneration, adiposis, fibrosis, inflammatory cell infiltration, and scattered myocyte islets. These lesions corresponded anatomically to the area of myocardium in which delayed activation was evident during epicardial mapping. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that patients with VT after radical correction of the TF have abnormal histopathological findings at the site of the prior right ventriculotomy scar. These lesions were noted within the region of delayed activation found during epicardial mapping and were found to be a part of the reentrant circuit.     

Temperature Profile of Anatase-TiO2Powder Compact during Microwave Heating

Anatase-TiO₂ cylindrical pellets were microwave sintered and partially transformed to rutile-TiO₂.The rutile concentration profile was determined as a function of location within the pellet. The rutile distribution in the microwavesintered pellets was different from that in pellets sintered by conventional fast firing. Temperature profiles within the pellets were estimated using the irreversible nature of the anatase-rutile transformation. The estimated temperature profile within each pellet was not uniform. In the axial direction, maximum temperature occurred in the middle of the pellet. In the radial direction, maximum temperature occurred at 1 mm below the surface of the cylinder wall. Analysis of the temperature profile indicated that, although heat flow occurred in the microwave-sintered pellet, the temperature profile did not change during a microwave exposure of 5–90 min.     

X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Investigation on the Low-Temperature Degradation of 2 mol% Y2O3-ZrO2 Ceramics

2 mol% Y₂O₃-ZrO₂ polycrystals were annealed in water and under vacuum to highlight the effect of the presence of H₂O on the low-temperature degradation transformation. The specimen surfaces with monoclinic phases transformed during annealing in the different environments were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with special interest on the electron binding energy change of the constituent ions of the 2 mol% Y₂O₃-ZrO₂ ceramics after the degradation transformation. It was found that no change occurred for the electron-bonding energies of core levels of zirconium ions after the transformation, whereas Y-OH bonds were formed during annealing in water. This result suggested a possibility that the preferred hydration of yttrium took place at the surface of Y₂O₃-partially-stabilized ZrO₂, which is likely to be the reason for the low-temperature degradation accelerated by the presence of H₂O.     

Permeation and separation of organic liquid mixtures through liquid-crystalline polymer networks

A side-chain liquid-crystalline polymer (LCP) was synthesized by the addition of the mesogenic monomer to poly(methyl siloxane) in presence of a Pt-catalyst. When an aqueous solution of 10wt% ethanol was permeated through a LCP membrane by pervaporation at various temperatures, the permeation rate increased with increasing temperature and drastically changed at glass-nematic (Tg) and nematic-isotropic (TNI) transition temperatures of the LCP membrane. The LCP membrane exhibited the waterpermselectivity in the glassy and liquid-crystalline states. The ethanol concentration in the permeate increased with increasing permeation temperature and the LCP membrane changed from the waterpermselectivity to the ethanol-permselectivity around TNI. These results suggested that the permselectivity was influenced by the change of the LCP membrane structure, that is, its state transformation. It was found that a balance of the orientation of mesogenic groups and flexibility of siloxane chains is very important for the permeability and selectivity.