On the effect of spatial variances in historical rainfall time series to CSO performance evaluation.

Historical, high-resolution rain series are the backbone of modern combined sewer overflow (CSO) structure design. These rain series are the input to the computational estimation of the performance of the measures with respect to CSO pollution abatement. However, those historical precipitation measurements are available at only a few locations. Frequently rain series have to be used from gauging stations at a significant distance. In order to judge and to compensate for this influence an estimate between rain characteristics and combined sewer outflow (CSO) performance indicators would be useful. In this paper such correlations have been sought for a collection of 37 rain series covering large areas of Europe. It was found that the mean annual rain volume can explain most of the variances for the performance indicators Number of overflows and CSO volume. For explaining the spatial differences in the efficiency of the CSO structure another rain characteristic, i.e. the maximum event with a return period of one year, is to be used.     

TEM Studies of High Temperature Corrosion Behaviour of TiAl Intermetallics with Surface Modifications

The oxidation/sulphidation behaviour of a Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si alloy with a TiAl₃ diffusion coating was studied in an environment of H₂/H₂S/H₂O at 850^oC. The kinetic results demonstrate that the TiAl₃ coating significantly increased the high temperature corrosion resistance of Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si. The SEM, EDX, XRD and TEM analysis reveals that the formation of an Al₂O₃ scale on the surface of the TiAl₃‐coated sample was responsible for the enhancement of the corroison resistance. The Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si alloy was also modified by Nb ion implantation. The Nb ion implanted and as received sampels were subjected to cyclic oxidation in an open air at 800^oC. The Nb ion implantation not only increased the oxidation resistance but also substantially improved the adhesion of scale to the substrate.     

Kinetic Characteristics of Amino Acid Salt Crystallization in Methanol‐Water System

Nucleation and growth mechanisms and kinetics of crystals of an amino acid salt were investigated in a methanol‐water system by measuring and evaluating the induction time as a function of the supersaturation ratio and temperature in batch salting out crystallization experiments. Discrimination between the possible crystallization mechanisms, and estimation of the kinetic parameters were carried out using nonlinear parameter identification. The results concerning the growth mechanism obtained were checked additionally by measuring the induction time as a function of number density of seed crystals.     

Small–Capacity Modular Units. Experience in Startup and Management

A series of small–capacity units has recently been constructed in regions of oil field development and crude oil and gas condensate production to satisfy the requirements for such petroleum products as naphtha, diesel fuel, kerosene, and boiler fuel and to reduce costs for delivery of these products. There are almost no data in the technical literature, particularly in periodicals, on the construction and operation of small–capacity units. We attempt to generalize the experience of Orgeneftekhimzavody Trust in this area. We hope that this experience will be useful to specialists in the development and management of small–capacity plants.     

Field Static Load Test on Kao-Ping-Hsi Cable-Stayed Bridge

Field load testing is an effective method for understanding the behavior and fundamental characteristics of a cable-stayed bridge. This paper presents the results of field static load tests on the Kao-Ping-Hsi cable-stayed bridge, the longest cable-stayed bridge in Taiwan, before it was open to traffic. A total of 40 loading cases, including the unit and distributed bending and torsion loading effects, were conducted to investigate the bridge behavior. The atmospheric temperature effect on the variations of the main girder deflections was also monitored. The results of static load testing include the main girder deflections, the flexural strains of the prestressed concrete girder, and the variations of the cable forces. A three-dimensional finite-element model was developed. The results show that the bridge under the planned load test conditions has linear superposition characteristics and the analytical model shows a very good agreement with the bridge responses. Further discussion of deflection and cable forces of the design specifications for a cable-stayed bridge is also presented.     

Mining predecessor–successor rules from DAG data

Data mining extracts implicit, previously unknown, and potentially useful information from databases. Many approaches have been proposed to extract information, and one of the most important ones is finding association rules. Although a large amount of research has been devoted to this subject, none of it finds association rules from directed acyclic graph (DAG) data. Without such a mining method, the hidden knowledge, if any, cannot be discovered from the databases storing DAG data such as family genealogy profiles, product structures, XML documents, task precedence relations, and course structures. In this article, we define a new kind of association rule in DAG databases called the predecessor–successor rule, where a node x is a predecessor of another node y if we can find a path in DAG where x appears before y. The predecessor–successor rules enable us to observe how the characteristics of the predecessors influence the successors. An approach containing four stages is proposed to discover the predecessor–successor rules. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 21: 621–637, 2006.     

Comparison of total and faecal coliforms as faecal indicator in eutrophicated surface water.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of total coliforms (TC) and faecal coliforms (FC) using a membrane filtration method for precise monitoring of faecal pollution in Korean surface water. The samples were collected in Korea from both main rivers and their tributaries. Presumptive TC * FC were enumerated. The ratios of presumptive FC to TC were not constant, but varied widely, and TC were difficult to enumerate because of overgrowth by background colonies. For FC this was not the case. Seven hundred and three purified strains of presumptive TC * FC and their background colonies were biotyped using API 20E. Among 272 presumptive TC, non-faecal related species, Aeromonas hydrophila dominated (34.6%) and E. coli accounted for only 5.1%. In contrast, E. coli made up 89% of the 209 presumptive FC. Furthermore, of 164 background colonies on Endo Agar LES, 54.9% was A. hydrophila, while background colonies on m-FC Agar were few (58 strains), and despite their atypical colony appearance, most of them were biotyped as enteric bacteria. These results reveal that the detection of FC rather than TC using m-FC Agar is more appropriate for faecal pollution monitoring in eutrophicated surface water located in a temperate region.     

Special Effect Pigments Based on Silica Flakes

A new class of special effect pigments based on synthetically manufactured silica flakes coated with metal oxides was developed and introduced into the market. Silica flake pigments show extraordinary color effects such as improved interference and strong angle-dependent behavior. They can be used in automotive paints, industrial paints, plastics, and printing inks.     

Recovery of gold cyanide using inherently conducting polymers

Removal of gold from basic solutions containing [Au(CN)₂]^? has been demonstrated using the inherently conducting polymer polypyrrole. Polymers containing sulfonated aromatic dopants have been found to display a significant ability to remove gold from such solutions. Experiments performed in solutions containing both gold and copper cyanide complexes indicate that the recovery process is not highly selective. However, the polypyrroles used display significantly faster rates of gold recovery than activated carbon. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry