Development and simulation studies of an unsteady state biofilter model for the treatment of cyclic air emissions of an α‐pinene gas stream

This paper describes the development and simulation of an unsteady state biofilter model used to predict dynamic behaviour of cyclically‐operated biofilters and compares it with experimental results obtained from three, parallel, bench‐scale biofilters treating both periodically fluctuating concentrations and constant concentrations of an α‐pinene‐laden gas stream. The dynamic model, using kinetic parameters estimated from the constant concentration biofilter, was able to predict the performance of cyclic biofilters operating at short cycle periods (ie, in the order of minutes and hours). Steady state kinetic data from a constant concentration biofilter can be used to predict unsteady state biofilter operation. At a 24 h cycle period, the dynamic model compared well with experimental results. For long cycle periods (ie, hours and days), removal efficiency decreased after periods of non‐loading: the longer the period of non‐loading, the poorer the biofilter's performance at the re‐commencement of pollutant loading. At longer time scales the model did not effectively predict transient behaviour, as adsorption and changes in kinetic parameters were not accounted for. Modelling results showed that similar biofiltration performance for the cyclic and constant concentration biofiltration of α‐pinene is expected for biofilters operating solely in the first order kinetics regime. Poorer performance for cyclic biofilters following Monod kinetics spanning the entire kinetics range is expected as the cycle amplitude increases. The most important parameters affecting the performance of a cyclically‐operated biofilter with short cycle periods are: amplitude of cyclic fluctuations, C_{g, max}/C_g, relative value of the half‐saturation constant in the Monod expression, K_s, and effective diffusivity of α‐pinene in the biofilm, D_e. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Ultrasound‐activated Knoevenagel condensation of malononitrile with carbonylic compounds catalysed by alkaline‐doped saponites

α,β‐Unsaturated nitriles have been synthesized by Knoevenagel condensation of a carbonylic compound with malononitrile, assisted by sonochemical irradiation. Two alkaline‐promoted clays (Li⁺‐ and Cs⁺‐exchanged saponites) have been employed as catalysts. The influence of the carbonylic compound (benzaldehyde or cyclohexanone) and the use of a solvent on the catalytic activity have been studied. Remarkable increase in the conversion values has been found when the reaction is activated by ultrasound, as compared with the thermal activation. In this green, solvent‐free procedure, α,β‐unsaturated nitriles have been produced in very high yields (97%) when the Cs⁺‐saponite is used as catalyst. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

酸催化二甘醇脱水环化反应研究

以硫酸、磷钨酸、ZRP-5分子筛为催化剂,研究了二甘醇(DEG)脱水环化的反应规律。结果表明,DEG发生分子内脱水环化反应,生成1,4-二氧六环(DOX),DEG分子间脱水不仅可以生成四甘醇、六甘醇等,同时可生成三甘醇、五甘醇等一系列的多甘醇(PEG)。不仅DEG可以脱水环化生成DOX,在反应中生成的PEG也同样可以进行生成DOX的反应。对于二甘醇(DEG)脱水环化反应,硫酸是性能优良的催化剂,反应可以在较低的温度下进行,馏出产物中DOX选择性大于95％。     

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of radiation induced segregation and precipitation

Kinetics of radiation induced segregation and precipitation in binary alloys are studied by Monte Carlo simulations. The simulations are based on a simple atomic model of diffusion under electron irradiation, which takes into account the creation of point defects, the recombination of close vacancy-interstitial pairs and the point defect annihilation at sinks. They can reproduce the coupling between point defect fluxes towards sinks and atomic fluxes, which controls the segregation tendency. In pure metals and ideal solid solutions, the Monte Carlo results are found to be in very good agreement with classical models based on rate equations. In alloys with an unmixing tendency, we show how the interaction between the point defect distribution, the solute segregation and the precipitation driving force can generate complex microstructural evolutions, which depend on the very details of atomic-scale diffusion properties.     

Use of a YAP1 overexpression cassette conferring specific resistance to cerulenin and cycloheximide as an efficient selectable marker in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Drug-resistance markers for yeast transformation are useful because they can be applied to strains without auxotrophic mutations. However, they are susceptible to technical difficulties, namely lower transformation efficiency and the appearance of drug-resistant mutants without the marker. To avoid these problems, we have constructed a phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) promoter-driven YAP1 expression cassette, called PGKp-YAP1. Yeast cells containing PGKp-YAP1 were resistant to cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor, and also to cerulenin, a fatty acid synthesis inhibitor, but not to other drugs tested. The transformation efficiency of PGKp-YAP1 using cerulenin selection was comparable to that using a URA3 auxotrophic marker when low concentrations of cerulenin were used. Non-transformed drug-resistant colonies did appear on the low-concentration cerulenin plates. However, these non-transformed colonies could easily be identified, based on their cycloheximide sensitivity and/or their resistance to aureobasidin A to which the transformants were sensitive. Therefore, the dual drug resistance of PGKp-YAP1 could be used as an effective selection for PGKp-YAP1 recipient cells. The PGKp-YAP1 marker was used to disrupt the LYS2 gene and to transform an industrial yeast strain, indicating that this marker can be used for efficient and reliable gene manipulations in any Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain.     

Oxygen glow discharge experiment to remove deposited layers and to release trapped hydrogen isotopes in HT-7 superconducting tokamak

An experiment to remove re-deposited layers and to release hydrogen using a glow discharge in oxygen (O-GDC) has been performed in the HT-7 superconducting tokamak. In the absence of magnetic fields, the O-GDC wall conditioning had produced rapid, controlled co-deposit removal. Average removal rates, 5.2 × 10²² H-atoms/h, 5.65 × 10²¹ D-atoms/h and 5.53 × 10²² C-atoms/h, respectively, were obtained during 145 min O-GDC experiment in the pressure range 0.5-1.5 Pa. The corresponding removal rate of co-deposited films was ∼1.19 μm/day (26.5 g/day for carbon) based on an area of 12 m². Compared to thermo-oxidation and O-ICR experiment, high pressure O-GDC wall conditioning promoted the oxidation and improved the C and D atoms removal. In the O-GDC experiment, the removal rates of H-atoms and D-atoms as H₂O, HDO and D₂O were higher than that of H₂ and D₂ by factors of about 20 and 50, respectively. During the 145 min O-GDC experiment, about 14.5% O-atoms were converted into carbon oxides and hydroxides, and about 5.37 × 10²² O-atoms were adsorbed on the walls corresponding to a coverage of 4.5 × 10²¹ O/m² on an wall area of 12 m². In a 100 min helium glow discharge (He-GDC) following the O-GDC experiment, 1.53 × 10²² O-atoms, about 28.5% oxygen retained on the walls, were removed. The removal rate of H-atoms in He-GDC cleaning after O-GDC experiment was lower than that in He-GDC cleaning before O-GDC experiment, which indicates that the O-GDC wall conditioning had effectively reduced hydrogen retention on the walls.     

Formation of steady state size distribution of precipitates in alloys under cascade-producing irradiation

The effect of coherency loss on the development of precipitate size distribution under cascade-producing irradiation is considered. The nucleation of coherent precipitates, their growth followed by coherency loss and cascade-induced dissolution of large incoherent precipitates can occur simultaneously resulting in formation of a quasi-stationary size distribution of semicoherent precipitates. To describe this process we consider co-evolution of a mixed population of coherent, semicoherent and incoherent precipitates. Mathematically, the problem is formulated as a set of discrete rate equations of nucleation kinetics (the Master equation approach) which is also used for later stages of evolution. To solve the corresponding large set of equations (typically, more than 10⁵ equations) an efficient numerical method is developed. The simulation results obtained for material parameters and irradiation conditions typical for nuclear reactors show that the coherency loss affects considerably evolution of the precipitate population. Under certain irradiation conditions, both in solution-annealed alloys and in aged ones, the mean precipitate size and the number density during prolonged irradiation tend to steady state values, whereas the size distribution function of large precipitates narrows. The width of the quasi-stationary size distribution is controlled by cascade parameters. It was found that the asymptotic quasi-stationary state of the precipitate population may depend on initial state of the alloy.     

Model for Nanoscopic Domain Formation in Dipalmitoyl-PC/Dilauroyl-PC/Cholesterol Mixture

We describe the lyotropic liquid crystalline phase transitions in the lipid mixture dipalmitoil-PC/dilauroy-PC/cholesterol by 3D spin-1 lattice model. The formation of nanoscale domains with the characteristic size about 300 nm was studied in experiments on confocal fluorescence microscopy (CFM) (G. V. Feigenson and J. T. Buboltz, Biophys. J. 80, 2775 (2001)). The structure parameters of the lamellar vesicle in dipalmitoil-PC-rich phase, corresponding to these regions, are verified by numerical Monte Carlo simulations on the lattice. We point its superconductivity analogy properties at the region of phase stability for composition-dependent nanoscopic region.     

高阻值Cd1-xZnxTe晶体的生长及其性能测试

通过适当的工艺措施，采用Bridgman法生长了直径为30mm的X射线及γ射线探测器级的Cd.9Zn0．1Te晶锭．测试结果表明：该晶锭结晶质量良好，位错密度低，成分均匀，杂质含量低，红外透过率和电阻率都十分接近本征Cd.9Zn0．1Te的值．并从晶体的生长特性、缺陷和杂质的角度，分析了生长高性能晶体的条件，研究了生长Cdl-xZnxTe晶体的x值与缺陷和杂质浓度之间的关系．     

Decreasing miscibility with greater heterogeneity in ternary polymer blend: poly(cyclohexyl methacrylate), poly(α‐methyl styrene) and poly(4‐methyl styrene)

A ternary blend system comprising poly(cyclohexyl methacrylate) (PCHMA), poly(α‐methyl styrene) (PαMS) and poly(4‐methyl styrene) (P4MS) was investigated by thermal analysis, optical and scanning electron microscopy. Ternary phase behaviour was compared with the behaviour for the three constituent binary pairs. This study showed that the ternary blends of PCHMA/PαMS/P4MS in most compositions were miscible, with an apparent glass transition temperature (T_g) and distinct cloud‐point transitions, which were located at lower temperatures than their binary counterparts. However, in a closed‐loop range of compositions roughly near the centre of the triangular phase diagram, some ternary blends displayed phase separation with heterogeneity domains of about 1 µm. Therefore, it is properly concluded that ternary PCHMA/PαMS/P4M is partially miscible with a small closed‐loop immisciblity range, even though all the constituent binary pairs are fully miscible. Thermodynamic backgrounds leading to decreased miscibility and greater heterogeneity in a ternary polymer system in comparison with the binary counterparts are discussed. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry