IMAGING OF PARTICLE MOTION IN FLUID-SOLID SYSTEMS USING A GAMMA CAMERA

A new approach is presented for the characterization of particle motion in fluid-solid systems based on dynamic imaging with a gamma scintillation camera. A two-dimensional spouted bed of 200-500 micron diameter anion exchange resin beads was used as a test system. One or several beads were radiolabeled with the 140 keV gamma emitting radionuclide 99m-Tc pertechnetate, and particle velocity, panicle path, the spatial distribution of particle residence times, and local bed density were determined from the measured temporal and spatial distributions of particle activity. While care must be exercised in the interpretation of data when the scale for changes in the spatial distribution of activity approaches the limits of camera resolution, the method is quantitative, non-invasive, and well suited to the study of systems having symmetry in one spatial dimension.     

基于混沌免疫粒子群优化和广义回归神经网络的回采工作面瓦斯涌出量预测模型

为提高回采工作面绝对瓦斯涌出量预测的精度和效率,提出了将混沌免疫粒子群优化(CIPSO)算法与广义回归神经网络(GRNN)相耦合的绝对瓦斯涌出量预测模型。该方法采用CIPSO对GRNN的光滑因子进行动态优化调整,减少了人为因素对GRNN网络输出结果的影响,并采用优化后的网络建立瓦斯涌出量预测模型。通过对某煤矿瓦斯涌出量数据的仿真实验结果表明:基于CIPSO-GRNN的回采工作面绝对瓦斯涌出量模型比BP神经网络、Elman网络预测模型具有更好的预测精度和收敛速度,证明了该方法的有效性和可行性。     

Measurement of the size, shape and orientation of convex bodies

Different types of solid bodies (particles) with specific shape and size are needed for industrial processes. For spherical particles, ‘sizer’ measurements are usually reported as sphere diameters. For non-spherical particles, particle shape and especially orientation must be taken into account. Particles of a specific shape will present different views when looked at from different directions.We have employed a Camsizer^® instrument to measure the distribution of projected area under different physical conditions for solid cylindrical particles:

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Under ‘ideal’ conditions, corresponding to a uniform distribution of particle orientation, measurements agreed with predictions. The celebrated theorem of Cauchy applies only to this case.

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For two other situations, measured and predicted results differed. However, from the experimental data it was possible to infer the particle orientations and hence theoretically predict the projected area distribution. Excellent agreement between theory and practice was then restored.

     

THE EFFECT OF PRECIPITATION PARAMETERS ON PREPARATION OF LITHIUM FLUORIDE (LIF) NANO-POWDER

Lithium fluoride powder (LiF) is a white powder with a density of 2.64 gr/cm³ and a melting point of 848°C. This powder has several applications such as flux, glaze, soldering, and aluminum melting process, but one of the most important uses of this powder is its application in dosimetry. The commercial powders currently used for this purpose have average sizes of 5 to 10 micrometers; the objective of this research is to produce LiF powder with nano-metric particle size. In this study, the reaction of LiOH + HF → LiF + H₂O has been selected from among several reactions that were able to produce LiF powder, and some precipitation parameters such as temperature, time, agitation type, and supersaturation degree have been controlled. The morphology, phase analysis, and particle size distribution of the resulting powders were analyzed by SEM, XRD, and LPSA. Finally, lithium fluoride nano-powder was synthesized at a temperature of 25°C, pH about 2-3, reaction time less than 1 s, and agitation by ultrasonic bath.     

Investigation into the effect of carboxylic acid monomer on particle nucleation and growth in emulsifier-free emulsion copolymerization of styrene-butadiene-acrylic acid

Latexes of carboxylated styrene-butadiene rubber were prepared via batch emulsion copolymerization with different amounts of acrylic acid in the absence of emulsifier. The effect of acid monomer was investigated in the particle formation and growth. It was observed that the amount of acrylic acid strongly affected the particle formation. The number of particles and thus polymerization rate increased with increasing of the acid content. There was no significant difference in the polymerization rate per particle in all experiments. The results show that in this case particle growth process is less dependent on the acrylic acid amount in comparison with its influence on nucleation stage and then particle number. Several parameters such as polymerization rate and number of latex particle per unit volume of the aqueous phase were calculated. Attempt was made to evaluate the average number of growing chain per particle. Also average particle diameter of the above carboxylated SBR latexes was obtained through some calculations from the direct measurement of average particle diameter in the swollen state by light scattering technique for the first time.     

Optimising the dewatering behaviour of clay tailings through interfacial chemistry, orthokinetic flocculation and controlled shear

The effect of shear on dewatering behaviour and particle interactions of Na-exchanged smectite and kaolinite clay dispersions has been investigated at pH 7.5, using hydrolysable Ca(II) and Mn(II) ions as coagulants and high molecular weight anionic and non-ionic polyacrylamide (PAM A and PAM N, respectively) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) flocculants. Metal ion addition enhanced the flocculation performance by dramatically reducing the magnitude of the particle zeta potential and, in the case of smectite pulp, suppressing osmotic swelling. Under optimum orthokinetic flocculation conditions of controlled agitation rate and duration, PAM A and PEO-based flocs settled faster than those of PAM N whilst kaolinite pulps produced higher sedimentation rates than smectite pulps. The settling rates are nearly an order of magnitude greater than those observed under standard flocculant-pulp mixing/flocculation methods of inversion and plunging. The difference in the flocculant behaviour is attributed to the more expanded conformation of PAM A and PEO polymer chains in contrast to PAM N, whilst the lower yield stresses, reflecting inter-particle bridging and floc network structure strength that are conducive to faster clarification, were displayed by kaolinite pulps. Following shear, similar consolidation enhancement of ≈ 5-7 wt.% solid for both pulps was achieved at an optimum agitation range of 100-200 rpm. This was accompanied by decreased yield stress in the case of PAM A-based pulps, indicating non-reversible disruption of polymer mediated particle and floc network structure. In contrast, the yield stresses of PAM N and PEO flocculated dispersions indicated similar and stronger particle interactions, respectively, upon consolidation following shear. The findings show clear links between effect of shear, interfacial chemistry and polymer structure on pulp particle interactions and dewaterability.     

Stabilization of PCC dispersions prepared directly in the mother-liquid after synthesis through the carbonation of (hydrated) lime

Various CaCO₃-based products are often used in the form of concentrated aqueous dispersions. This study investigates the stabilization of PCC dispersions prepared directly in the mother-liquid after the carbonation of (hydrated) lime through the adsorption of a commercial sodium polyacrylate dispersant. The results demonstrate that the composition of the mother-liquid, particularly the Ca²⁺ activity, profoundly influences virtually all processes pertinent to dispersion stabilization—from the initial charging of the CaCO₃ surface in base PCC dispersions, to the surface charge regulation and dispersion stabilization efficiency of the polyacrylate dispersing agent. Rising prominence of the counterion condensation effects in Ca²⁺ rich solutions limits the conditions conducive to the surface charge regulation through dispersant adsorption to an optimum pH range of about 8-11. Furthermore, dispersion stability analysis, based on the classical DLVO theory of colloid stability, and corroborated by experimental evidence in the form of particle size distribution analyses, also indicates that optimum stability conditions for such PCC dispersions are established with small dispersant doses (0.25-0.5% per dry weight) in the pH range of about 9-11.     

Pattern recognition for characterization of pharmaceutical powders

A large part of pharmaceutical manufacturing involves the use of particulate materials. It is well known that both particle size and shape affect the physical characteristics of tablets. An image processing and analysis algorithm based on the invariant image moment technique was developed in this work to determine the particle shape by comparing features (moments) extracted from templates to those extracted from each of the objects in the image. First it determines the particle shape (rectangle, circle, etc.) and then calculates its specific dimensions (diameter, aspect ratio).The statistical validation of the vision system obtained a repeatability of 0.0012 in and 0.5% relative standard deviation and accuracy within 0.1 to 0.9% of the average value considered as true value. Also the pattern recognition technique indicated high precision and accuracy for images containing particles with some level of contact between them. The shape recognition of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) indicated that particles of equant and acicular shape as defined by USP are predominant. The results suggest that image processing and analysis would be a suitable tool for pharmaceutical process analytical technologies (PAT) and process optimization.     

Pyrolysis of peat: Product yield and characterization

Pyrolysis of peat obtained from Yeniça?a, Bolu, Turkey was conducted in a fixed-bed tube furnace under various conditions, and variations in the structure of the char, tar and gas products were examined. The chars produced were studied by proximate and ultimate analyses. The maximum tar yield of 20.41% was obtained at a heating rate of 20 °C/min, a temperature of 450 °C, a sweeping gas flow rate of 100 ml/min and a 0.5–2.0 mm size range. The chemical composition of the tar was examined by elemental analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, ¹H-NMR spectroscopy and column chromatography. The chemical composition of the tar with dense aliphatic structure was established to be CH_1.22O_0.25N_0.02. The composition of the gases obtained at a heating rate of 20 °C/min for the 0.5–2.0 mm size range was examined by gas chromatography.