Carbon layer open tubular capillary columns

Capillary columns coated with Carbopack materials, which provide separation by a mixed partition/adsorption mechanism or by adsorption alone, have recently been developed. The reproducibility of the columns is demonstrated and applications shown in which they provide separations which are either unique or are faster than can be achieved with the wall coated open tubular capillary columns currently available.     

The application of immobilized liquids for open tubular liquid chromatography

Summary The applicability of immobilized silicone phases, as reversed phase retentive layers in 5–25μm fused silica capillaries for open tubular liquid chromatography (OTLC) has been investigated. Various types of silicone phases have been tested, of which vinyl containing gums show the most promising features, to create a stable retentive layer in fused silica capillaries. Diffusion coefficients of solutes in the immobilized silicone phases were determined by static measurement and found to be in the order of 5–27 · 10⁻¹² m²/s. These relatively small diffusion coefficients form the main drawback of the immobilized silicone phases, because this seriously hinders the use of thick layers of the stationary phase which is preferred in OTLC to avoid mass overload.     

Multi-objective optimization of the cavitation generation unit structure of an advanced rotational hydrodynamic cavitation reactor

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) has been widely considered a promising technique for industrial-scale process intensifications. The effectiveness of HC is determined by the performance of hydrodynamic cavitation reactors (HCRs). The advanced rotational HCRs (ARHCRs) proposed recently have shown superior performance in various applications, while the research on the structural optimization is still absent. The present study, for the first time, identifies optimal structures of the cavitation generation units of a representative ARHCR by combining genetic algorithm (GA) and computational fluid dynamics, with the objectives of maximizing the total vapor volume, $V_{\mathit{vapor}}$ , and minimizing the total torque of the rotor wall, ${\overrightarrow{M}}_z$ . Four important geometrical factors, namely, diameter (D), interaction distance (s), height (h), and inclination angle (θ), were specified as the design variables. Two high-performance fitness functions for $V_{\mathit{vapor}}$ and ${\overrightarrow{M}}_z$ were established from a central composite design with 25 cases. After performing 10,001 simulations of GA, a Pareto front with 1630 non-dominated points was obtained. The results reveal that the values of s and θ of the Pareto front concentrated on their lower (i.e., 1.5 mm) and upper limits (i.e., 18.75°), respectively, while the values of D and h were scattered in their variation regions. In comparison to the original model, a representative global optimal point increased the $V_{\mathit{vapor}}$ by 156% and decreased the ${\overrightarrow{M}}_z$ by 14%. The corresponding improved mechanism was revealed by analyzing the flow field. The findings of this work can strongly support the fundamental understanding, design, and application of ARHCRs for process intensifications.     

Gravity-flow open tubular cation chromatography

We describe ion chromatography (IC) on open tubular cation exchange columns with a controllable capacity multilayered stationary phase architecture. The columns of relatively large bore (75 microm id) are fabricated by coating fused-silica capillaries with multiple layers of poly(butadiene-maleic acid) (PBMA) copolymer and crosslinking the deposited layers by thermally initiated radical polymerisation. Column capacity increases in a predictable manner with increase in the number of successively coated layers. Gravity flow with a modest head (< 2 m) can provide the desired separations within a reasonable period. We provide a minimalist configuration where no suppression is used, the sample is injected hydrodynamically as in CE, and detection is accomplished by an inexpensive homebuilt contactless conductivity detector or a capacitance to voltage digital converter. A 1 m long 75 microm bore column coated with two layers of PBMA allows gravity-flow open tubular IC to separate four alkali cations in < 10 min with a 1 mM tartaric acid (TA) eluent. Simultaneous separation of alkali and alkaline earth metal cations can be accomplished in less than 25 min using 1.75 mM pyridinedicarboxylic acid as an eluent. Contactless conductometric detection (C(4)D) allows LODs down to 150 nmol/L, corresponding to 30 fmol injections. Analysis of real water samples is demonstrated.     

严重事故专用卸压阀排放能力需求

二代加百万千万级核电站严重事故下卸压过程中高温流体流经卸压阀,可能造成流道变形,甚至造成阀杆下落使得排放流道封闭,造成卸压失败。对严重事故专用卸压阀在卸压过程中可能经历的高温流体状态进行谱分析,获得了不同卸压能力下阀门经受的高温流体状态。开展了高温可能引起的阀门流道变形对卸压效果的影响分析。第二类阀门虽然存在阀门流道变形的可能,但能够获得较长严重事故处置时间,从优化严重事故对策的角度,严重事故专用卸压阀推荐采用第二类阀门排放能力450～600 t/h范围。     

核电和物理学

20世纪三四十年代,原子物理学家们发现中子轰击铀原子核的裂变现象并首次实现可控裂变链式反应,把世界带进了原子能时代.半个世纪以来核电已达到全世界电力的16%.目前99%以上都是热中子反应堆核电站.在大规模发展核电的情况下,比如说百GWe,必须加快快中子增殖反应堆的发展和推广,方无核燃料匮乏之虞.     

A novel amphipathic block copolymer coating forming micelle-like aggregates for separation of steroids in open tubular capillary electrochromatography

A new amphipathic block copolymer, poly(tert-butyl acrylate)₁₂₇-block-poly(glycidyl methacrylate)₈₆, was developed for the coating in open tubular capillary electrochromatography. The self-assembly characters of the coating, which could form micelle-like aggregates under proper conditions, were observed by atomic force microscopy. Compared with bare capillary, this coating could act as surfactant and lead to improve the separation of steroids. In addition, the influence of pH, buffer concentration and organic solvents on the separation was investigated. The best separation of the three model steroid analytes could be achieved using 20.0 mM borate buffer at pH 10.5. For covalent bonding, the coating showed good repeatability and stability with RSD of u_EOF less than 3.3%. Then, this proposed method was well validated with good linearity (≥0.999), recovery (91.0-94.0%) and repeatability, and was successfully used for separation of steroids in spiked serum samples, which indicated that this new OT-CEC method could provide a potential tool to determine steroids in real biological system without interference.     

Z箍缩驱动聚变-裂变混合能源堆总体概念研究

中国工程物理研究院提出的Z箍缩驱动聚变-裂变混合能源堆(Z-FFR)概念,采用Z箍缩热核聚变产生的大量中子驱动次临界裂变堆而释放能量,集成了"局部整体点火"聚变靶、"先进次临界能源堆"等创新概念,在安全、经济、持久和环境友好等方面具有优良的品质,有望成为有效应对未来能源危机和环境气候问题的千年能源。简要回顾了国内外Z箍缩聚变能源(Z-IFE)的相关研究进展,介绍了中国工程物理研究院在Z-FFR方向的总体概念研究情况,从驱动器、聚变靶设计和次临界裂变堆三方面阐述了此能源系统的原理结构和运行特点,对其经济性进行了评估,同时提出了未来Z-FFR的发展路线图设想。     

Photocatalytic degradation of ammonia and butyric acid in plug-flow reactor: Degradation kinetic modeling with contribution of mass transfer

Photocatalytic treatment of polluted air by odorous contaminants – ammonia and butyric acid – is investigated in a plug-flow reactor covered by non-woven fiber textile coated with TiO₂. For the first time, the single-component degradation pathway of ammonia by photocatalysis at ambient condition is highlighted. It appears fundamentally different compared to the butyric acid degradation pathway. The ammonia degradation pathway highlights a possible auto-accelerated behavior of the reaction. The chemical degradation kinetics follows the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model, though observed oxidation rates depend upon flow conditions in the reactor. Thus, interpretation of degradation results through a model considering the Langmuir–Hinshelwood approach and mass transfer phenomenon is presented. This model succeeds with a pair of determined kinetic constants and mass transfer coefficients to describe experimental results for different flow rates and for both pollutants, though they present wide dissimilarities in their degradation pathways.     

Simulation of spray development and turbulent combustion processes in low and high speed diesel engines by the CMC-ISR model

Simulation is performed to analyse the characteristics of turbulent spray combustion in conventional low and high speed diesel engine conditions. Turbulence–chemistry interaction is resolved by the Conditional Moment Closure (CMC) model in the spatially integrated form of an Incompletely Stirred Reactor (ISR). After validation against measured pressure traces, characteristic length and time scales and dimensionless numbers are estimated at the locations of sequentially injected fuel groups. Conditional flame structures are calculated for sequentially evaporated fuel groups to consider different available periods for ignition chemistry. Injection overlaps the combustion period in the high rpm engine, while most combustion occurs after injection and evaporation are complete in the low rpm engine. Ignition occurs in rich premixture with the initial peak temperature at the equivalence ratio around 2–4 as observed in Dec [2]. It corresponds to the most reactive mixture fraction of the minimum ignition delay for the given mixture states. Combustion proceeds to lean and rich sides in the mixture fraction space as a diffusion process by turbulence. The mean scalar dissipation rates (SDRs) are lower than the extinction limit to show stability of diffusion flames throughout the combustion period.