Formic Acid Production Via Methane Peroxide Oxidation Over Oxalic Acid Activated Fe-MFI Catalysts

Topics in Catalysis - The process of synthesis of formic acid via partial peroxide oxidation of methane over Fe-MFI zeolites, as well as the influence of the catalyst activation by oxalic acid on...     

Volume determination for bulk materials in bunkers

A simple model for the determination of the shape of large granular piles in complicated geometries is discussed. An eikonal formulation of the problem is proposed. Two distinct cases arise. In cylindrical geometries, i.e., if both container and possible obstacles have vertical walls, the problem is equivalent to a two‐dimensional travel time problem with obstacles, while in general geometries, this analogy breaks down. In the first case, classical one‐sided discretizations are generalized to handle obstacles without loss in accuracy. In the second case, a fast and efficient numerical method is proposed, implemented and tested. The discrete problems are solved through fast marching. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Remediation of contaminated soil with diesel by soil venting technique

Soil venting is an effective and widely used method to remediate soils contaminated with hydrocarbons. A set of experiments was conducted in a one-dimensional soil column test section to investigate the effect of preheating the air in a soil venting system. Diesel fuel, which was used as the only contaminant, was analyzed and modeled with 14 major components. Temperature readings from the thermocouples, located in the test section were recorded during the experiment and the composition of hydrocarbons in the effluent air was also monitored. The results show that the diesel components are removed according to their volatility with the higher volatility components being removed first. An increase in venting air flow rate or inlet air temperature can considerably speed up the process. The increase in inlet air temperature is very effective in increasing the removal rate of the heavier components. A one-dimensional, non-isothermal, complete mixing model was used to predict the evaporation rates of the contaminant components and temperature distribution in the test section. Model results have been found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Brain Metabolic Profile after Intranasal vs. Intraperitoneal Clomipramine Treatment in Rats with Ultrasound Model of Depression

Background: Molecular mechanisms of depression remain unclear. The brain metabolome after antidepressant therapy is poorly understood and had not been performed for different routes of drug administration before the present study. Rats were exposed to chronic ultrasound stress and treated with intranasal and intraperitoneal clomipramine. We then analyzed 28 metabolites in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Methods: Rats’ behavior was identified in such tests: social interaction, sucrose preference, forced swim, and Morris water maze. Metabolic analysis was performed with liquid chromatography. Results: After ultrasound stress pronounced depressive-like behavior, clomipramine had an equally antidepressant effect after intranasal and intraperitoneal administration on behavior. Ultrasound stress contributed to changes of the metabolomic pathways associated with pathophysiology of depression. Clomipramine affected global metabolome in frontal cortex and hippocampus in a different way that depended on the route of administration. Intranasal route was associated with more significant changes of metabolites composition in the frontal cortex compared to the control and ultrasound groups while the intraperitoneal route corresponded with more profound changes in hippocampal metabolome compared to other groups. Since far metabolic processes in the brain can change in many ways depending on different routes of administration, the antidepressant therapy should also be evaluated from this point of view.