Asahi Chemical & Industry (Japan)

An in-line mixing system mainly consists of an injecting part and a mixing part. We consider that the injecting part will be more important for highly reactive species, because some reactions terminate before the mixture reaches the static mixer. This issue has limited the applications of in-line mixing. In this study, we developed an improved injecting system to resolve this issue. We used a swirl f low ejector (SFE) in which a swirl driving f low is supplied from the entire inner circumferential surface and a suction f low is injected at the center of the channel. Through CFD simulations, we revealed that the suction f low is diffused by the swirl driving f low, and mixing proceeded rapidly. In the early step of mixing, the mixing time of the new system was around four times shorter than that of the conventional system. We also performed an experiment using reactive f luids that gel upon poor mixing, and we clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of the SFE. Finally, we found that the combined use of the SFE and the static mixer is the most effective approach.

The heat-treatment retention time effect of carbonized polyvinylidenechloride (PVDC) was investigated. Homogeneous PVDC with a crystallite size of 267 Å was used as a precursor material for an electric double-layer capacitor electrode. The P-120m material, which was heat treated for 120 min at 700 °C, shows a larger specific capacitance than any other material in this study. It shows the largest values reported up to now, reaching values as high as 100.2 F/g for a two-electrode system, which is equivalent to 400.8 F/g in a conventional three-compartment electrode system. It is difficult to distinguish the difference in the pore-size distribution by way of gas adsorption as the retention time is varied. However, the difference can be clarified using a novel method based on the analysis of transmission electron microscopy images. As the retention time for heat treatment increases, the pore size grows through the coalescence of small pores. Furthermore, a new concept for the electric double-layer capacitance is suggested on the basis of analysis of the transmission electron microscopy observations.

In regard to the grounds of small buildings, discussions were made on various issues and the evaluation method of the Swedish weight sounding test. Main conclusions obtained are summarized as follows. 1) If the maximum diameter of screw point has been worn down by 3mm, the Nsw value becomes larger in hard ground. 2) In hard ground, Nsw value obtained using an electric type testing machine becomes larger in comparison with that obtained using a manual type testing machine. 3) It is sufficiently possible to evaluate the friction force of rod circumferential surface by drawing it out.

ER fluids of three types, composed of liquid crystalline polymethylsiloxanes (LCSs) differing in the range of polysiloxane chain length and mesogenic group content diluted by polydimethylsiloxanes (DMSs) with or without phenyl groups, were prepared and the ER effect of each was investigated in terms of its temperature dependence and rise time. Type A fluid exhibited an ER effect with a short rise time but a strong temperature dependence. The ER effect of the Type B fluid showed little temperature dependence but a comparatively long rise time. The Type C fluid exhibited a short rise time, comparable to that of Type A, and a temperature independence similar to that of Type B. For all three types, the decay time of the ER effect was long. Investigation of the decay time for the Type A fluid showed that it was affected particularly by shear rate and DMS dilution ratio and also by temperature and DMS viscosity, and indicated that deformation by shear stress was necessary for a return of the fluid to its original non viscous structure.

The average voltages of LiNixMn2-xO4 in the 5-V region discontinuously increase from 4.58-4.59 V to 4.65-4.71 V with an increase in the Ni content. A slope analysis suggests that the prepared samples are nonstoichiometric and contains approximately a 1% cation vacancy and that the valences of Ni are 3+ for 0< x <0.06 and 2+ for x >0.1 The Ni valence results have been supported by the high-resolution X-ray fluorescence spectra data. These results suggest that the redox couples in LiNixMn2-xO4 change from Ni3+/Ni4+ to Ni2+/Ni4+ at x =0.057-0.089.