Understanding silica-supported metal catalysts: Pd/silica as a case study

Supported metal catalysts, particularly noble metals supported on SiO₂, have attracted considerable attention due to the importance of the silica–metal interface in heterogeneous catalysis and in electronic device fabrication. Several important issues, e.g., the stability of the metal–oxide interface at working temperatures and pressures, are not well-understood. In this review, the present status of our understanding of the metal–silica interface is reviewed. Recent results of model studies in our laboratories on Pd/SiO₂/Mo(1 1 2) using LEED, AES and STM are reported. In this work, epitaxial, ultrathin, well-ordered SiO₂ films were grown on a Mo(1 1 2) substrate to circumvent complications that frequently arise from the silica–silicon interface present in silica thin films grown on silicon.     

Oligo(ethylene oxide) side‐chain steric screening effects on conductimetric properties of grafted poly(4‐vinylpyridinium) salts in aqueous solutions

A set of poly[N‐oligo(ethylene oxide)yl 4‐vinylpyridinium tosylate] (P4VOEOOTs) has been prepared by spontaneous polymerization of 4‐vinylpyridine. This method gives a grafted polyelectrolyte having a positive charge on every backbone pyridinic moiety. The P4VP15Ts, P4VP164Ts, P4VP350Ts and P4VP750Ts aqueous solution conductivities were determined in the concentration range from 6 × 10^?4 to 10^?2 M at 25 °C. The variation of the conductivity versus concentration of the investigated system exhibits typical polyelectrolyte behaviour. The polyelectrolyte mobility was found to be dependent on the oligo(ethylene oxide) (OEO) side‐chain length. Manning's rod‐like model fails to describe these results. A simple steric effect is proposed to explain the influence of the OEO length. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Mass Transfer in a Flat Gas/Liquid Interface using non‐Newtonian Media

Gas/liquid mass transfer has been investigated using a stirred vessel gas/liquid contactor using non‐Newtonian media and carbon dioxide as absorbent and gas phase, respectively. The volumetric mass transfer coefficients at different operational variables have been determined. Non‐Newtonian media (liquid phase) were prepared as aqueous solutions of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose salt. The influence of the rheological properties, polymer concentration, stirring rate, and gas flow rate on mass transfer was studied for these liquid phases. Kinematic viscosity and density experimental data were used to calculate the average molecular weight corresponding to the polymer employed. The Ostwald model has been used to fit the rheological behavior of aqueous solutions of the polymer employed as absorbent phase. Reasonably good agreement was found between the predictions of the proposed models and the experimental data of mass transfer coefficients.     

A method of identifying latent human errors in work systems

Work system improvements are implemented in various manufacturing processes to prevent problems caused by human errors. However, they are almost always applied to problems which have already occurred. This paper examines a method of identifying latent human errors existing within the work systems beforehand. A procedure for applying failure mode and effect analysis to this identification problem was defined based on over 1000 empirical errors: a work system decomposition criterion and fundamental error modes for listing latent human errors, and then applied to three practical manufacturing processes in order to evaluate its effectiveness.     

Modeling of Diffusion in Capillary Porous Materials During the Drying Process

This paper presents a model of heterogenous diffusion in capillary porous materials during the process of drying. The governing heat and mass transfer equations have been established using the liquid as well as vapor flow. Two models have been presented. Model 1 does not consider the heat conduction while the model 2 has been established by considering the conduction. The developed models and the numerical solutions of the resulting differential equations can take into account the moisture and temperature dependent thermophysical properties of the product. All equations have been established in spherical coordinates but the programme written for the purpose of calculations can be used for other geometries also. Numerical calculations have been performed for gas concrete and tiles using model 1, while model 2 has been used for gas concrete only because of the lack of data for thermophysical properties of the tile. For gas concrete it was seen that conduction has only marginal effect on the drying process and the numerical predictions of the drying process were reasonably accurate.     

A new monitoring system for piping systems in fossil fired power plants

A CEC-funded project has been performed to tackle the problem of producing an advanced Life Monitoring System (LMS) which would calculate the creep and fatigue damage experienced by high temperature pipework components. Four areas were identified where existing Life Monitoring System technology could be improved:

1. 1. the inclusion of creep relaxation

2. 2. the inclusion of external loads on components

3. 3. a more accurate method of calculating thermal stresses due to temperature transients

4. 4. the inclusion of high cycle fatigue terms.

The creep relaxation problem was solved using stress reduction factors in an analytical in-elastic stress calculation. The stress reduction factors were produced for a number of common geometries and materials by means of non-linear finite element analysis. External loads were catered for by producing influence coefficients from in-elastic analysis of the particular piping system and using them to calculate bending moments at critical positions on the pipework from load and displacement measurements made at the convenient points at the pipework. The thermal stress problem was solved by producing a completely new solution based on Green's Function and Fast Fourier transforms. This allowed the thermal stress in a complex component to be calculated from simple non-intrusive thermocouple measurements made on the outside of the component. The high-cycle fatigue problem was dealt with precalculating the fatigue damage associated with standard transients and adding this damage to cumulative total when a transient occurred.

The site testing provided good practical experience and showed up problems which would not otherwise have been detected.     

Energy use in controlled temperature marine aquaculture

Temperature control offers benefits in land‐based marine aquaculture: stock growth rates may be enhanced by heating in winter; mortality rates in summer may be reduced by cooling. However, if the plant is not well designed, temperature control may create very large energy demands. This paper describes the application of temperature control in abalone aquaculture in New Zealand, with a focus on energy considerations in plant design. An abalone farm using a semi‐closed water conditioning system is used as a case study for which an energy model, based on a heat pump system, is developed. The model is used to determine the impact of plant design and tank conditions on the economics of the operation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

测定钠中杂质的手动阻塞计的研究

文章介绍了测定钠中杂质浓度的手动阻塞计的原理、装置和实验结果。为了减少测量误差,我们研究了影响准确测定阻塞温度的因素,并且找到了减少测量误差的办法。在同样的杂质饱和温度下,该阻塞计测得的高、低阻塞温度所对应的杂质浓度差是很接近的。对氧其差值为1.03ppm;对氢为0.0763ppm。     

软X射线对血液有形成分表面电荷的影响——2、淋巴细胞和血小板膜电荷的变化

软X射线不仅能引起红细胞表面电荷的变化,同时也能导致淋巴细胞和血小板表面电荷下降,表现为照射后它们的电泳率下降。低剂量范围内,这种电荷的变化是暂时性的,照后4小时降到最低点,24小时后恢复到对照的水平。细胞电泳率的下降与辐射剂量相关。淋巴细胞是一个复杂的细胞群,正常状态下,按细胞在电场中泳动速度的快慢,可分为两个组分:快峰为T细胞,慢峰为B细胞。软X射线照射以后,T和B细胞的电泳率皆减慢,频数分布峰值下降,离散度加大。血小板成分单一,电泳率较一致。 从照射浓集的血小板再加回自身血浆中电泳率的下降较照射血浆再加到血小板中的电泳率下降大得多;受照射的血小板在磷酸缓冲液中电泳率下降较在血浆悬液中严重得多;2000 rad照后,悬浮于血浆中的血小板电泳率能恢复,而悬浮于磷酸缓冲液中则不能恢复,三个方面来看,血浆中可能存在抗辐射因子。超氧化物岐化酶能有效地预防血小板电泳率的下降,从而可阻止血小板的凝聚。