Use of a membrane reactor to improve selectivity to intermediate products in consecutive catalytic reactions

Through modeling it has been shown that a concentric-tube catalytic membrane reactor can be used to increase the selectivity for the intermediate products of a consecutive reaction scheme. The reactants are fed to the tube-side of the reactor where the catalyst is also located. The wall of the tube is permeable, allowing the intermediate products to pass through to the annular space instead of undergoing further reaction. The annular space is swept by an inert gas flow and contains no catalyst. Both permselective and non-permselective membranes have been considered in both co-current and counter-current flow regimes. In contrast to most catalytic membrane reactor applications where reactions are reversible and thermodynamically limited, in the present study the reactions considered are irreversible and are under kinetic control.     

Search for spontaneous fission emitters in Atlantis II (Part I)

No evidence for spontaneous fission decay (and the implied presence of superheavy nuclides) has been found in a several kilogram precipitate gathered at the Atlantis-II site in the Red Sea. The sample was investigated with a neutron multiplicity counternon-destructively so that no chemical losses should have been sustained. Upper limits have been determined for possible superheavy element concentrations in the sample.     

Determination of selenium in pyrite by the atomic absorption-hydride generation technique

Summary Pyrite is digested in a (3 + 1) nitric-hydrochloric acid mixture. Nitrate is removed by warming the solution after addition of sulphuric acid. Strong hydrochloric acid is added to hydride prior generation to eliminate interference from iron. The result is compared with that obtained by neutron activation analysis. Standard deviation was in the range of 1–2 ppm.

---

Selenbestimmung in Pyrit über das Hydrid mit Hilfe der AAS

Zusammenfassung Die Pyritprobe wird mit Salpetersäure/ Salzsäure aufgeschlossen und anschließend werden die Nitrationen durch Erhitzen mit Schwefelsäure entfernt. Zur Hydriderzeugung wird starke Salzsäure zugesetzt, um Störungen durch Eisen zu verhindern. Die Ergebnisse wurden mit denen der Neutronenaktivierung verglichen, wobei sich gute Übereinstimmung ergab. Die Standardabweichung liegt im Bereich von 1–2 ppm.

     

Automated polarographic analysis : Part I. Design of flow-through cells and deaeration unit

The design of polarographic flow-through cells for automated analysis of discrete samples is discussed. A simple way of fitting the DME capillary into the cell is described, and the problems associated with the use of a mercury pool counter electrode are discussed. A platinum wire or gauze counter electrode downstream from the DME is more satisfactory. The reference electrode may be placed outside the flow cell, e.g. in the mercury waste bottle. A new method for the deaeration of sample solutions is also described; argon is bubbled through the solutions in the sample cups just before aspiration. The effect of various experimental parameters on the deaeration is described. Pump stoppage during sample shifts is advantageous. The adaptation of the deaeration method to commercial samplers is explained. The application of the proposed automated system for the determination of chlordiazepoxide is discussed.     

Charged particle spectra in16O induced nuclear collisions at the CERN SPS

Charged particle multiplicity distributions and pseudo-rapidity density distributions from¹⁶O induced nuclear collisions at 200 and 60A GeV are presented. The data were taken, using a minimumbias trigger, with the WA80 set-up at the CERN SPS. In this presentation we focus on how the yield of charged particles depends on the projectile energy, the mass number of the target nucleus and the energy measured in a uranium-plastic sampling calorimeter covering angles close to zero degrees. The data are compared to simulations from the event generator FRITIOF.     

Metastable states in the van der Waals-Maxwell theory

A slight modification of the recent Penrose and Lebowitz treatment of thermodynamic metastable states is presented. For the case of periodic boundary conditions, this modification allows the condition of metastability to be extended to all the metastable states in the van der Waals-Maxwell theory of the liquid-vapor phase transition, that is, for all states satisfyingf ₀()+1/2 ²>f(, 0+) andf₀()+x>0 wheref(, 0+) is the (stable) Helmholtz free energy density of the generalized van der Waals-Maxwell theory andf ₀() is the Helmholtz free energy density of a reference system with no long-range interaction, is a mean field-type term arising from a long-range Kac interaction, is the overall mean particle density, andx is any positive number. For the case of rigid-wall boundary conditions, a more restrictive condition is placed onx.     

Daily duration of vitamin D synthesis in human skin with relation to latitude, total ozone, altitude, ground cover, aerosols and cloud thickness

Vitamin D production in human skin occurs only when incident UV radiation exceeds a certain threshold. From simulations of UV irradiances worldwide and throughout the year, we have studied the dependency of the extent and duration of cutaneous vitamin D production in terms of latitude, time, total ozone, clouds, aerosols, surface reflectivity and altitude. For clear atmospheric conditions, no cutaneous vitamin D production occurs at 51 degrees latitude and higher during some periods of the year. At 70 degrees latitude, vitamin D synthesis can be absent for 5 months. Clouds, aerosols and thick ozone events reduce the duration of vitamin D synthesis considerably, and can suppress vitamin D synthesis completely even at the equator. A web page allowing the computation of the duration of cutaneous vitamin D production worldwide throughout the year, for various atmospheric and surface conditions, is available on the Internet at http://zardoz.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD.html and http://zardoz.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD-ez.html. The computational methodology is outlined here.     

Enhanced protein adsorption due to charge regulation

When a protein molecule approaches a charged surface, its protonation state can undergo dramatic changes due to the imposed electric potential. This has a large impact on adsorption strengths that may be enhanced by several kT. Using mesoscopic simulation techniques as well as analytical theories, we have investigated this regulation mechanism and demonstrate how it is influenced by salt concentration and solution pH. Using hisactophilin as a test case, we show how the binding to a lipid membrane is governed by small changes in pH and that this is intimately coupled to the charge regulation mechanism.