Active long pulse shaping technique of pulsed CO2 laser using multi-pulse discharge control

We describe the pulse forming of pulsed CO₂ laser using multi-pulse superposition technique. Various pulse shapes, high duty cycle pulse forming network (PFN) are constructed by time sequence. This study shows a technology that makes it possible to make various long pulse shapes by activating SCRs of three PFN modules consecutively at a desirable delay time with the aid of a PIC one-chip microprocessor. The power supply for this experiment consists of three PFN modules. Each PFN module uses a capacitor, a pulse forming inductor, a SCR, a high voltage pulse transformer, and a bridge rectifier on each transformer secondary. The PFN modules operate at low voltage by driving the primary of HV pulse transformer. The secondary of the transformer has a full-wave rectifier, which passes the pulse energy to the load in a continuous sequence.We investigated various long pulse shapes as different trigger time intervals of SCRs among three PFN modules. As a result, we could obtain laser beam with various pulse shapes and durations from about 250 to 1000 μs.     

Existence and uniform decay for Euler–Bernoulli beam equation with memory term

In this article we prove the existence of the solution to the mixed problem for Euler–Bernoulli beam equation with memory term. The existence is proved by means of the Faedo–Galerkin method and the exponential decay is obtained by making use of the multiplier technique combined with integral inequalities due to Komornik. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characteristics of major dioxin/furan congeners in melted slag of ash from municipal solid waste incinerators

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in slag of fly ash from three municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerators were analyzed to observe any changes in characteristics and distribution of their congeners by melting process. Actual concentration and Toxic Equivalent (TEQ) concentration profiles of 17 major congeners of PCDDs/PCDFs for gas, fly ash and melted slag were compared. The distributions of PCDDs/PCDFs in different streams macroscopically showed similarities with the generally known profiles for emission gas from a municipal waste incinerator. The total concentrations of PCDDs/PCDFs in off-gas and fly ash have been known to be a function of incineration conditions and of air pollution control device utilization; however, their normalized distributions were independent of such conditions. The concentrations of PCDDs/PCDFs in the melted slag of fly ash were not related to the concentrations of PCDDs/PCDFs congeners in fly ash but were rather a function of the melting furnace type and operation. The total amount of PCDDs/PCDFs in the melted slag of fly ash contained almost 150–27,000 times less dioxin than that in fly ash, however, the TEQ of dioxin in the slag was reduced by 435–43,500 times, which could enable them to be utilized as recycled construction materials. In normalized TEQ concentration profiles of 17 congeners of PCDDs/PCDFs, the ratio of PCDFs to PCDDs changed from 1.32 to 2.19 by melting, which showed relatively higher portion of furans left in melted slag than those in fly ash. By comparing reduction ratios of different congeners, PCDDs (dioxins) were relatively easier to destruct than PCDFs (furans) during melting process. The most difficult congener to destruct could be octa-chlorinated dibenzofuran (OCDF) among major congeners. For slag cooling methods, dioxin concentration in TEQ of slow cooled slag by air was four times higher than that of fast cooled slag by water. Thus cooling by water is more appropriate with the added beneficial effect of producing granules/particles, which can be utilized as roadbed materials.     

Effect of plant matrix and fluid ethanol concentration on supercritical fluid extraction efficiency of schisandrin derivatives

An investigation of the effect of plant matrix on the supercritical fluid extraction efficiency of five schisandrin derivatives is reported, exhibiting a great difference with respect to extraction efficiency depending on the matrix. Pure supercritical CO2 at 60 degrees C and 34.0 MPa cannot fully recover schisandrin derivatives from the leaves as much as from the other matrices. Only 36.9% of these compounds are extracted from leaves of Schisandra chinensis by supercritical CO2 in comparison with organic solvent extraction. However, more than 80% of schisandrin derivatives are obtained from both stem and fruit parts. Ethanol addition also shows a different effect depending on plant matrix; that is, CO2 modified with 10% ethanol could enhance the yield of schisandrin derivatives from leaves by four times when compared with that of pure CO2, but it has little effect on both stems and fruits.     

Metal ion separations with proton-ionizable crown ethers and their polymers

Abstract

Lipophilic crown ethers with pendent proton-ionizable groups are novel complexing agents for use in metal ion separations by solvent extraction. For a series of structurally related, lipophilic dibenzocrown ether carboxylic acids, the efficiency and selectivity of competitive alkali metal cation extraction for aqueous solution into chloroform is found to be strongly influenced by the crown ether ring size and the lipophilic group attachment site. Reaction of dibenzocrown ether carboxylic acids with formaldehyde in formic acid produces condensation polymers which possess both ion-exchange and cyclic polyether binding sites for metal ion complexation. These resins exhibit excellent exchange kinetics for competitive alkali metal cation sorption from aqueous solution and subsequent stripping and may be used in concentrator columns for the recovery of these metal ions from very dilute aqueous solution. Cation selectivity in the sorption and stripping steps is controlled by the structure of the crown ether monomer unit.