Studies of photoconductivity in β-Apo-8′ carotenal

The photoconductive properties of a carotenoid polyene,β-Apo-8′ carotenal in polycrystalline form has been studied. The growth of the photocurrent shows an overshoot in the growth-time curve before steady state value is attained. This behaviour of photocurrent is proposed to be due to higher value of recombination coefficient than trapping coefficient. From the temperature dependence study it is observed that the steady state photocurrent, at first increases with increase of temperature, attains a maximum at a particular temperatureT _max and then decreases with temperature. TheT _max value agrees with the temperature above and below which steady state photocurrent is attained differently. Monomolecular and bimolecular recombination processes at two temperature regimes are proposed to account for the observed behaviour. The dependence of photocurrent with excitation light intensity and wavelength study provide information on the carrier generation processes. The fast decay of photocurrent have been observed at different temperatures and from this study the decay constant is calculated and it is found to be temperature independent.     

Development of Solar Drying

Importance of Solar Drying is increasing worldwide, especially in areas where the use of the abundant, renewable and clean solar energy is essentially advantageous. In the developing countries and in rural areas the traditional open-air drying methods should be substituted by the more effective and more economic solar drying technologies.

R&D needs should be considered in the basic research and experimental fields; in performance measurement; in the modelling-simulation-design and testing. The international co-operation of experts should be improved and more efforts would be needed in the policy and in the public information.     

Morphological and kinetics study of PEO/PVC blends

The kinetics of spherulite radial growth and the morphology of the compatible system PEO/PVC have been studied by optical microscopy. The usual spherulite radial growth behaviour has been found for compatible blends with PEO content higher than 70%. For lower composition, distortion of the usual spherulite morphology has been observed; the anomalies have been attributed to partial miscibility of the components.     

Hydrogen incorporation in Ni–P films prepared by electroless deposition

Electroless NiP films, with 12 to 16 wt % P, were deposited from a moderately acid solution. Thermogravimetric analysis indicates the presence of occluded hydrogen in the layers, which desorbs upon heating. The amount of incorporated hydrogen decreases when the pH of the solution or the nickel sulfate concentration is increased; by contrast it increases with hypophosphite concentration. Cyclic voltammetry, using an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, confirms the existence of parasitic reactions, namely the reduction of protons of the solvent during the cathodic process and oxidation of hydrogen during the dissolution of the layers. This behaviour is in qualitative agreement with the proposed reaction scheme.     

Kinetic behaviour of muscle LDH immobilized in nylon tubing

Immobilization was carried out of the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from rabbit muscle (EC 1.1.1.27), cross-linked through the bifunctional reactive glutar-aldehyde on to nylon tubing (1 m long, 53cm² internal surface area). Immobilized LDH inactivation kinetics are of first order (t_1/2 = 3·6 years, k = 5·4,e^?4 day^?1 to 5°C). The smaller effect of pH on activity than in the case of LDH in solution can be explained on the basis of limitation to proton diffusion towards the support. A limiting effect to free external diffusion of the substrate towards and products from the support was also observed, an effect which seems to determine the effective kinetic behaviour of immobilized LDH. The apparent optimum temperature is centred around 40°C, observing a clear inactivation (thermal denaturation) above this temperature. In the temperature range studied (10–40°C), the co-existence was seen of a kinetic control accompanied by another control, involving diffusional transport of substrates and products, on the global activity of the immobilized enzyme. This makes the Arrhenius profiles curvilinear. Both graphic and statistical non-linear regression analysis of the kinetic data—rate, v, versus substrate concentration [S]—carried out under conditions in which the diffusional limitations can be considered negligible (high recirculation flow rate), permitted investigation of the intrinsic kinetic behaviour of immobilized LDH. In this sense, it can be deduced that the rate equation to which these data seem to be fitted is of the polynomial quotient type in [S] of minimum degree 2:2. Although the diffusional limitations have a marked effect on the type of global kinetics shown by immobilized LDH, temperature was not found to affect its v[S] behaviour. The experimental evidence obtained thus indicates that the rate equation in the 10-40°C temperature range continues to be a rational equation of at least degree 2:2 in [S].     

KINETICS OF HYDROCARBON GAS GENERATION FROM MARINE KEROGEN AND OIL: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ORIGIN OF NATURAL GASES IN THE HETIANHE GASFIELD, TARIM BASIN, NW CHINA

In this paper we derive kinetic parameters for the generation of gaseous hydrocarbons (C_1‐5) and methane (C₁) from closed‐system laboratory pyrolysis of selected samples of marine kerogen and oil from the SW Tarim Basin. The activation energy distributions for the generation of both C_1‐5 (Ea = 59‐72kcal, A = 1.0×10¹⁴ s^?1) and C₁ (Ea = 61‐78kcal, A = 6.06×10¹⁴ s^?1) hydrocarbons from the marine oil are narrower than those for the generation of these hydrocarbons from marine kerogen (Ea = 50‐74kcal, A = 1.0×10¹⁴ s^?1 for C_1‐5; and Ea = 48‐72kcal, A=3.9×10¹³ s^?1 for C₁, respectively). Using these kinetic parameters, both the yields and timings of C_1‐5 and C₁ hydrocarbons generated from Cambrian source rocks and from in‐reservoir cracking of oil in Ordovician strata were predicted for selected wells along a north‐south profile in the SW of the basin. Thermodynamic conditions for the cracking of oil and kerogen were modelled within the context of the geological framework. It is suggested that marine kerogen began to crack at temperatures of around 120°C (or 0.8 %Ro) and entered the gas window at 138°C (or 1.05 %Ro); whereas the marine oil began to crack at about 140 °C (or 1.1 %Ro) and entered the gas window at 158 °C (or 1.6%Ro). The main geological controls identified for gas accumulations in the Bachu Arch (Southwest Depression, SW Tarim Basin) include the remaining gas potential following Caledonian uplift; oil trapping and preservation in basal Ordovician strata; the extent of breaching of Ordovician reservoirs; and whether reservoir burial depths are sufficiently deep for oil cracking to have occurred. In the Maigaiti Slope and Southwest Depression, the timing of gas generation was later than that in the Bachu Arch, with much higher yields and generation rates, and hence better prospects for gas exploration. It appears from the gas generation kinetics that the primary source for the gases in the Hetianhe gasfield was the Southwest Depression.     

Comparison of Two Drying Schedules for European Hophornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia Scop.) Lumber

Two types of conventional kiln-drying schedules (mild and harsh) based on moisture content (MC) were compared with regard to time, drying quality, and energy cost. The results were evaluated according to the classification of the European Drying Group. Proper drying periods of mild and harsh schedules were found to be 550 and 514 h, respectively. Evaluations in terms of drying quality indicated that better results were achieved with the mild schedule, especially when comparing drying defects and final MC. From an energy efficiency point of view, the harsh schedule, by saving 36 h of drying time, reduced electricity by 594 KWh and was therefore found to be $65 more profitable in this trial.     

Drying Characteristics of Barley Grain Dried in a Spouted-Bed and Combined IR-Convection Dryers

A study was performed to determine the drying characteristics and quality of barley grain dried in a laboratory scale spouted-bed dryer at 30, 35, 40, and 45°C and an inlet air velocity of 23 m/s^-1, and in an IR-convection dryer under an infrared radiation intensity of 0.048, 0.061, 0.073, and 0.107 W cm^-2 at an air velocity of 0.5 m/s^-1. The results show that the first, relatively short, phase of a sharp decrease in the drying rate was followed by the phase of a slow decrease. The time of barley drying depended on temperature of inlet air in a spouted-bed dryer and on radiation intensities in an IR-convection dryer. Barley drying at 45°C in a spouted-bed dryer was accompanied by the lowest total energy consumption. The average specific energy consumption was lower and the average efficiency of drying was higher for drying in a spouted-bed dryer. The effective diffusivities were in the range 2.20-4.52 × 10^-11 m² s^-1 and 3.04-4.79 × 10^-11 m²/s^-1 for barley dried in a spouted-bed and in an IR-convection dryer, respectively. There were no significant differences in kernel germination energy and capacity between the two drying methods tested.     

Models for the formation of poly(butylene terephthalate): effect of water on the kinetics of the titanium tetrabutylate-catalysed reactions: 3

In an effort to investigate the mechanism of catalysis of titanium tetrabutoxide on the polycondensation of poly(butylene terephthalate), alcoholysis and hydrolysis reactions were studied with the aid of model molecules. The retarding effect of water has also been taken into account. Appropriate kinetic equations are derived and discussed and the results compared with experimental data obtained at different molar ratios of reactants.     

Vinyl acetate monomer—a pilot plant study

The kinetics of the reaction of acetic acid and acetylene over zinc acetate-activated carbon catalyst was investigated over a wide range of process variables in a pilot reactor. Although various catalytic reaction mechanisms were postulated, the rate of reaction was most satisfactorily correlated by a mechanism of surface reaction between charged adsorbed acetic acid and acetylene, which assumes that the rate controlling step was the irreversible charged adsorption of acetylene and acetic acid.