Decontamination of oil-polluted soil by cloud point extraction

An extraction procedure based on cloud point phase separation of nonionic surfactants was used to remove oil contamination from soils. The detergent employed was Triton X-114, and its clouding behavior was monitored by means of a fluorescence probe. Changes in the I (1)I (3) ratio of pyrene indicated gradual dehydration of the detergent micelles upon heating. The rate of phase separation, and the volume and water content of the micellar phase were determined. In the practical clean-up, 85-98% of the oil present in the soil was found to enter the micellar phase of the separated washing liquid. A 15-min washing time with 3-5% detergent was found to be sufficient for this degree of contaminant removal from soil containing 0.009-0.017% oil, using a liquid:solid ratio of 5:2. The extraction efficiency decreased with increasing carbon content of the soil. The process holds promise for large-scale treatment of oil-polluted soils.     

Isomeric transitions between shape coexisting states in iodine isotopes withA=115, 119 and 121

Applying delayed- r.f. coincidences and generalized centroid-shift analysis, nanosecond isomers in some odd-A iodine isotopes are studied in-beam. The reactions¹⁰⁶Cd(¹²C,p2n) and^116,118Sn(⁶Li,3n) have been used. The following half-lives were determined:T _1/2(565 keV)=0.50±0.10 ns andT _1/2(837 keV) =0.90±0.20 ns in¹¹⁵I,T _1/2(687 keV)=5.50±0.50 ns andT _1/2(2418 keV)=4.0±0.50 ns in¹¹⁹I as well asT _1/2(812 keV)=0.35±0.20 ns andT _1/2(445 keV)<0.10 ns=">¹²¹I. A systematics of the absolute probabilities for the transitions deexciting theg _9/2 9/2⁺ and _11/2 11/2 ₁ ^– band heads in^115–125I is presented and discussed.Partly supported by the Bulgarian National Research Foundation under contracts PH14, and PH31 and Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Stabsabteilung Internationale Beziehungen     

Temperature measurements in CO2-laser-induced pyrolysis flames for SiC and ternary SiC/C/B powder synthesis by means of CARS

The hot luminescent reaction zones of CO₂-laser-induced pyrolysis flames using SiH₄/C₂H₂ gas mixtures with different silane to acetylene ratios and with and without diborane additives were investigated by means of H₂ Q-branch CARS spectroscopy, leading to spatial temperature profiles in gas flow direction. In the case of B₂H₆ additive to the stoichiometric SiH₄/C₂H₂ mixture a high temperature plateau ( 800–1000 K) of the reactant gas volume develops already several millimetres before reaching the CO₂-laser focus line. This precursor preheating zone could be explained by the catalytic effect of boron atoms or boron-containing intermediate species in the flame. A similar behaviour for acetylene-rich flames operating at half laser power was not observed.