Methanol formation on Cu/ZnO catalysts,measured by High Pressure DSC

The activity of copper containing catalysts for the formation of methanol from CO and H₂ is investigated with High Pressure DSC. The activity is measured at 40 atm. and 230 C. The DSC signal has been calibrated with melting experiments with tin under reaction conditions. Comparison with flow reactor measurements shows a good relation with the DSC experiments.

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Zusammenfassung Die Aktivität kupferhaltiger Katalysatoren bei der Bildung von Methanol aus CO und H₂ wurde mittels Hochdruck-DSC untersucht. Sie wurde bei 40 bar und 230 C gemessen.Die Eichung des DSC-Signals erfolgt mittels Schmelzen von Zinn unter Reaktionsbedingungen. Ein Vergleich mit Messungen im Strömungsreaktor zeigte eine gute Korrelation mit den DSC-Ergebnissen.

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We express our thanks to Dr. E. C. Kruissink and Drs. W. Glasz for delivery of the catalysts and measurement of the reactor activities.     

The determination of coal combustion kinetics with thermogravimetry

This investigation concerns the determination of the kinetics of coal combustion. It is not well possible to use an exact analytical formula for the rate equation. For that reason a stepwise method is proposed, giving the activation energy as function of the reaction parameter , without assumption of any specific rate equation.

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Zusammenfassung Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Kinetik der Kohleverbrennung. Für die Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit ist es jedoch nicht möglich, eine exakte analytische Gleichung anzuwenden. Aus diesem Grunde wird ein schrittweises Vorgehen vorgeschlagen, das die Aktivierungsenergie ohne Voraussetzung jeglicher spezifischer Geschwindigkeitsgleichungen als Funktion des Reaktionsparameters liefert.

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The authors wish to thank Mr. L. J. M. van der Valk for doing a lot of the experiments and Mr J. J. B. van, Hoist for making the drawings.     

Stigmergy in comparative settlement choice and palaeoenvironment simulation

Decisions on settlement location in the face of climate change and coastal inundation may have resulted in success, survival or even catastrophic failure for early settlers in many parts of the world. In this study, we investigate various questions related to how individuals respond to a palaeoenvironmental simulation, on an interactive tabletop device where participants have the opportunity to build a settlement on a coastal landscape, balancing safety, and access to resources, including sea and terrestrial foodstuffs, while taking into consideration the threat of rising sea levels. The results of the study were analyzed to consider whether decisions on settlement were predicated to be near to locations where previous structures were located, stigmergically, and whether later settler choice would fare better, and score higher, as time progressed. The proximity of settlements was investigated and the reasons for clustering were considered. The interactive simulation was exhibited to thousands of visitors at the 2012 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition at the “Europe's Lost World” exhibit. 347 participants contributed to the simulation, providing a sufficiently large sample of data for analysis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 59–73, 2016     

DSC Calibration During Cooling. A survey of possible compounds

A number of compounds is investigated for DSC calibration during cooling. Adamantane and Zn show fast reversible transitions and can be applied both for temperature and for heat calibrations. A third compound, namely 4,4’-azoxyanisole, has a liquid crystal to isotropic liquid transition at 409K. This compound can be used for temperature calibration. Heat calibration with this compound is more problematic because of the small heat effect and the construction of the baseline. Other compounds like NaNO₃, In, Hg and Pb, show a slight supercooling. Nevertheless they can be used for heat calibration. The use of large samples of NaNO₃ and In gives the possibility to construct the equilibrium onset temperatures of the cooling peaks, so these two compounds are also appropriate for temperature calibration on cooling. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

DSC Calibration During Cooling

A number of compounds are investigated for DSC calibration during cooling. Adamantane and Zn show fast reversible transitions and can be applied both for temperature and for heat calibration. A third compound, namely 4,4′-azoxyanisole, has a liquid crystal to isotropic liquid transition at 409 K. This compound can be used for temperature calibration. Heat calibration with this compound is more problematic because of the small heat effect and the construction of the baseline. Two other compounds, namely Hg and Pb, show a slight undercooling. Nevertheless they can be used for heat calibration, and possibly also for temperature calibration during cooling. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

DSC Investigation of some Testing and Calibration Compounds, Particularly During Cooling

Two compounds are described with interesting properties for use in DSC. The first compound is adamantane (C₁₀H¹⁶), with a reversible solid-solid transition at 208.62 K [1], suitable for DSC calibration at this low temperature [2]. The second compound is 4,4'-azoxyanisole (C₁₄H₁₄N₂O₃), with a liquid crystal range between 390 and 407 K [3]. This compound shows two transitions on heating, with a large heat effect at 390 K and a small heat effect at 407 K. For this reason, this substance is well suitable for testing the sensitivity and the resolution of DSC instruments [4]. For both compounds not only the heating, but also the cooling behaviour is investigated.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Decomposition of methanol vapour over solid catalyst,measured by DSC

The activity of copper containing catalysts for the formation of methanol from CO and H₂ is investigated by DSC measurement of the methanol decomposition. Calibration of the DSC signal can be performed by melting experiments with tin under reaction conditions. Comparison of catalysts is well possible by measurement of the standard activity at 240°, the apparent activation energy for the methanol decomposition reaction and the aging of the catalyst samples.

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Zusammenfassung In DSC-Messungen an der Zersetzung von Methanol wurde die Aktivität von kupferhaltigen Katalysatoren für die Bildung von Methanol aus CO und H₂ untersucht. Das DSC-Signal kann mittels Zinn-Schmelzexperimenten unter Reaktionsbedingungen kalibriert werden. Ein Vergleich der Katalysatoren ist ohne weiteres durch die Messung der Standardaktivität bei 240°C, der scheinbaren Aktivierungsenergie der Methanol-Zersetzungsreaktion und des Alterns der Katalysatorproben möglich.

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Dedicated to Professor Dr. H. J. Seifert on the occasion of his 60^th birthday     

DSC calibration below 0°C

Summary This contribution deals with the calibration of a DSC apparatus between −100 and 0°C using compounds with well-known temperature and heat of transition. Only a few suitable substances are mentioned in literature. For that reason another compound, adamantane, is proposed with a solid-solid transition at −64.56°C and a heat of reaction being 24.78 J/g.

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Zusammenfassung Unter Verwendung von Substanzen mit genau bekannten Umwandlungs-temperaturen und-w?rmen befa?te man sich mit der Kalibrierung von DSC-Ger?ten im Temperaturbereich von −100 bis 0°C. In der Literatur werden nur einige wenige geeignete solcher Substanzen erw?hnt. Aus diesem Grunde wird als weitere Substanz Adamantan mit einem Feststoff-Feststoff-Umwandlungspunkt bei −64.56°C und einer Reaktionsw?rme von 24.78 J/g vorgeschlagen.

     

Vapour pressure of DSC calibration substances

For a large number of DSC calibration substances the vapour pressure at room temperature or at transition temperature (whichever is the highest) is given. It is important to know the vapour pressure of substances, because a DSC measurement on a substance with a high vapour pressure requires encapsulation of the substance in a hermetically sealed crucible to prevent evaporation. Because the calibration procedure must be performed using the same type of sample pan as will be used during the actual measurements, the presented information allows one to decide which calibration substances and/or what type of sample pan should be used for calibration.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.