Improvement of gas meter performance using polymer materials

The measuring elements of both dry‐ and wet‐type gas meters are composed of a diaphragm and rotary drum. In this article an explanation on the principle of measuring and the structure of the gas meter for each of these two types was discussed. Such applications were made as follows: synthetic rubber was used for the measuring diaphragm, engineering plastic was employed instead of metal for the measuring drum, and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) was used for the casing, respectively. As a result, an improvement in the gas resistance performance and productivity, which led to a lighter weight, more compactness and a lower cost of productions was achieved. Also the influence of the solubility of the measured gas to the plastic on the measured valve was discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wavelength-Dependent Transient Characteristics Caused by Gain Saturation in Highly Nonlinear Fiber-Based Raman Amplifiers

We have investigated the transient characteristics of discrete Raman Amplifiers and found that the response time caused by gain saturation is dependent upon the wavelength, which corresponds to the effective length of the pump light.     

Differential pulse voltammetric determination of P(V) following adsorptive accumulation of alpha-[PMo(12)O(40)](3-) on a polypyrrole-modified glassy carbon electrode

On the basis of the formation and pre-concentration of an α-Keggin-type [PMo₁₂O₄₀]³⁻ complex, a novel voltammetric method was developed for the determination of trace levels of P(V). The α-[PMo₁₂O₄₀]³⁻ complex was formed by heating a 5×10⁻⁴ M Mo(VI)-0.2 M HCl-40% (v/v) CH₃CN system containing a trace amount of P(V) at 70 °C for 30 min. During the electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole in the α-[PMo₁₂O₄₀]³⁻ solution, the α-[PMo₁₂O₄₀]³⁻ complex was accumulated into the polypyrrole film on a glassy carbon electrode. The differential pulse voltammetric peak current due to the α-[PMo₁₂O₄₀]³⁻ complex incorporated in the polypyrrole film was linearly dependent on the P(V) concentration in the range of 5×10⁻⁹-5×10⁻⁷ M; a detection limit of 2×10⁻⁹ M was achieved.     

Vortex shedding from a ring in shear flow

Vortex shedding from a bluff ring in a linear shear flow has been investigated experimentally. The shedding frequency, measured using a hot wire in various positions within the near wake of the ring, was found to be remarkably insensitive to a mean flow shear parameter, , defined by (d/U _o).U/y, where d is the mean ring diameter and U _o is the undisturbed upstream velocity on the ring axis; even for = 0.41, corresponding to a velocity variation of about ±24% across the outer ring diameter, the Strouhal number was only about 5% lower than in uniform flow. However, the strong axisymmetric shedding which dominates the flow for = 0 is significantly affected by shear. Indeed, spatial correlation measurements demonstrated that the shedding actually becomes anti-symmetric at the highest values of . The implication of these results is that vortex flowmeters constructed using a ring as the shedding body would be relatively unaffected by changes in the upstream mean flow profile.     

Back-to-back correlations of high-p(T) hadrons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We investigate the suppression factor and the azimuthal correlation function for high p(T) hadrons in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200 GeV by using a dynamical model in which hydrodynamics is combined with explicitly traveling jets. We study the effects of parton energy loss in a hot medium, intrinsic k(T) of partons in a nucleus, and p (perpendicular) broadening of jets on the back-to-back correlations of high p(T) hadrons. Parton energy loss is found to be a dominant effect on the reduction of the awayside peaks in the correlation function.     

Analysis of one-and two-particle spectra at RHIC based on a hydrodynamical model

We calculate the one-particle hadronic spectra and correlation functions of pions based on a hydrodynamical model. Parameters in the model are so chosen that the one-particle spectra reproduce experimental results of √s= 130 AGeV Au + Au collisions at RHIC. Based on the numerical solution, we discuss the space-time evolution of the fluid. Two-pion correlation functions are also discussed. Our numerical solution suggests the formation of the quark-gluon plasma with large volume and low net baryon density.     

Asymmetric oxidation of sulfides under solvent-free or highly concentrated conditions

The aluminium(salalen) complex was found to be an efficient catalyst for the asymmetric oxidation of sulfides under solvent-free or highly concentrated conditions, in which an only 0.002-0.01 mol% catalyst loading was sufficient to obtain optically active sulfoxides in high yield with high enantioselectivity.     

Lipase‐Catalyzed Transesterification of Polyesters to Ester Copolymers

Lipase‐catalyzed intermolecular transesterification between two different polyesters has been carried out using in toluene. The transesterification of poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) and (1,4‐butylene adipate) took place via catalysis of lipase from Candida antarctica to give an ester copolymer. ¹³C NMR analysis showed that the resulting polymer was not a mixture of the starting polyesters, but a copolymer consisting of both units. The reaction temperature and solvent amount greatly affected the microstructure of the ester copolymer. Under appropriate conditions, the random copolymer was formed. The enzymatic transesterification has been monitored by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and ¹³C NMR. Ester copolymers were enzymatically obtained from PCL and other poly(α,ω‐alkylene dicarboxylate)s and their microstructure depended on the polyester structure.