JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING OF JAPAN
Online ISSN : 1881-1299
Print ISSN : 0021-9592
Volume 30, Issue 2
Displaying 1-28 of 28 articles from this issue
Research Papers
  • Tadahiro Murakata, Hiroaki Makabe, Yasushi Yamakage, Kenich Kobayashi, ...
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 195-201
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A novel method to immobilize lipase on inorganic particles or on an inorganic porous plate is proposed. The method consists of entrapment of lipase into polyion complex, followed by fixation of the complex on the inorganic supports. It was simpler and offered much saving in time, comparing with conventional entrapping and covalently binding methods. Both the lipases immobilized on the particles and the plate showed high catalytic activity for esterification in organic medium, and the activity depended on kinds of polyion complex and water contents in the immobilized-lipases. The immobilized-lipases sustained their activity up to a significantly high temperature of 60°C, which suggests that lipase and polyion complex interact to enhance thermal stability of lipase. Activity holding with repeated uses was also studied.
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  • Ryuji Kikuchi, Atsushi Tsutsumi, Kunio Yoshida
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 202-209
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The bubble and particle frequencies in a 2-D gas-liquid-solid three-phase reactor were measured with a novel optical transmittance probe using a narrow laser beam. The signals for the gas and solid phases were extracted separately based on the differences in the shape and voltage level of the signals. The power spectral densities of the extracted time series data for both phases were then calculated. All the power spectra were found to exhibit a continuous spectrum and exponential decay in the high-frequency region. Comparison between the power spectra of both phases indicates that these can be classified into three frequency regions: the low frequency region where most of the peaks were found to be common to both the gas and solid phases and no component intrinsic to the solid phase was found; the frequency region between 10 and 35 Hz where the components intrinsic to each of the gas and solid phases were found; and the region above 35 Hz where the components intrinsic to the solid phase were only observed. No significant change of the power spectrum intrinsic to the gas phase was observed with the gas velocity, whereas the component of the power spectrum of the solid phase, especially in the high-frequency region, showed a dependence on the gas velocity. These results indicate that although bubble rising motion affects the dominant frequency of the solid phase, the bubble dynamics were almost independent of the local solid flow structure.
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  • Masahide Sato, Takao Tsukada, Mitsunori Hozawa, Atsushi Shono
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 210-214
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The effects of coexisting Al ion on the extraction equilibrium and the extraction rate of Ga with 2-bromodecanoic acid (2BDA) have been studied. It was found that both distribution ratio and extraction rate of Ga increase when Al ion coexists. The results of the equilibrium experiment showed that Ga was coextracted with Al. The extraction equilibrium and equilibrium constant of Ga-Al mixed-metal calboxylate complex were determined, and experimental results could be explained by the formation of the complex. On the other hand, from the results of the initial Ga extraction rate experiment, there is no evidence of Ga-Al coextraction. Thus, the acceleration mechanism taking account of the equilibrium of hydroxide complex species in the aqueous phase is proposed and the tendency of experimental results can be explained by the model.
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  • Takao Tsukada, Junya Mayama, Masahide Sato, Mitsunori Hozawa
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 215-222
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A finite element computational technique for predicting the behavior of a compound drop which is composed of the shell and core phases and is suspended stationarily in a continuous phase under the influence of a uniform DC electric field has been developed, and then the effects of the electric field strength and the volume ratio of the core phase to the shell phase on the circulations induced in each phases and the drop deformations have been investigated. The computed results showed the different behavior of the compound drop from that of a single drop due to the existence of the core phase with different physical properties inside the drop.
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  • Satoru Watano, Hideo Takashima, Kei Miyanami
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 223-229
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
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    This paper describes a practical method for moisture control in fluidized bed granulation by means of a neural network. Wet granulation of pharmaceutical powder was conducted using an agitation fluidized bed, and moisture content was continuously measured by IR (infrared) moisture sensor. A neural network system for moisture control was developed using moisture content and its changing rate as input variables, and the moisture control characteristics were investigated by the neural network system with a back propagation learning. Good response and stability without overshoot were achieved by adopting the developed systems. This system also maintained favorable stability under various operating conditions.
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  • Tadaaki Sakano, Hajime Tamon, Takahiro Katai, Takashi Azumi, Morio Oka ...
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 230-238
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Selective recovering and adding back of the desirable odor components from the volatiles evolved from roasted and ground coffee beans in manufacturing of soluble coffee contribute to improve the flavor quality of the product. Surface-oxidized carbons were prepared and characterized to remove methyl mercaptan selectively from coffee volatiles. MSC 5A was ground and oxidized using O2 at 623 K, and H2O2 and HNO3 solutions. The pore volume and the specific surface area of the prepared carbons increased with the increase of the surface oxides. The oxidation by 13.2 N HNO3 was most effective for increasing the surface oxides, and the amount of methyl mercaptan adsorbed was around twice that of nontreated carbon. An interesting result was obtained in that the amount of methyl mercaptan adsorbed was further enhanced by a factor of more than five by co-adsorption of acetaldehyde on the oxidized carbon. It was demonstrated that the adsorption selectivity for methyl mercaptan was significantly improved in the quaternary system as a model of coffee volatiles. From characterization of the carbons after desorption at 373 K, it was found that the amounts of methyl mercaptan adsorbed reversibly and irreversibly were increased greatly by co-adsorption of acetaldehyde. It was elucidated that the enhancement of methyl mercaptan adsorption by acetaldehyde was caused by promotion of micropore filling with both adsorbates.
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  • Jun-ichiro Tsubaki, Hidetoshi Mori
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 239-245
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A single-parameter model has been developed for the prediction of transient behavior of granular filtration. The model is based on the experimental finding that the collection efficiency has a characteristic dependency on an increase in the pressure drop caused by retained deposits. Practical correlations are established relating the histories of filter performance with the extent of deposit and other relevant variables. It is demonstrated that the predicted results agree well with the experimental data conducted to determine the changes in effluent quality and the pressure drop necessary for the specified flow rate.
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  • Jea-Keun Lee, Hai-Soo Chun, Leslie W. Shemilt
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 246-252
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Rates of mass transfer between a liquid and a surface which is axially immersed in fluidized beds are measured. Liquid-solid and gas-liquid-solid beds of both inert and active conducting particles are considered. Variables used in the experiments are liquid superficial velocity, particle size, and gas superficial velocity. The wall-to-liquid mass transfer coefficients in liquid-solid fluidized beds are increased with the liquid superficial velocity and particle size. The liquid holdup at which the maximum mass transfer occurs, is decreased with particle size. The mass transfer coefficients in gas-liquid-solid fluidized beds are slightly decreased with the gas superficial velocity. The mass transfer coefficients in terms of Chilton-Colburn factor can be well correlated with the modified Reynolds number.
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  • Susumu Nii, Junichiro Suzuki, Katsuroku Takahashi
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 253-259
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Maximum throughputs were measured for a mixer-settler extraction column of 100 mm diameter, and the effects of agitation speed and the internal structure on throughput were examined. To elucidate these effects on the throughput, the pressure differences at various points in the column were also measured. The throughput increased linearly with the agitation speed and the value for the 100 mm column was 2.3 times as large as that for the 60 mm column. Large effects of the downspout diameter and the distance between the impeller and the riser on the throughput were observed. It was confirmed that the throughput could be determined from the balance among the pressure drop of fluid flow, the suction pressure induced by the lifter-turbine impeller, and the buoyant force. The pressure drop of fluid flow was given by the sum of the pressure drops through the downspout and across the drop coalescer, and the former was dominant. The suction pressure induced by the impeller was correlated with the tip velocity of the impeller. It was predicted by the calculation method derived here that a large throughput could be realized by use of large downspout pipes, and the throughput increased with the column diameter for the column of similar figures, but the increase was comparatively small for the agitation speed corresponding to a given average drop diameter. The throughput was also expected to increase with the increase in the interfacial tension, while the effect of the density difference between the dispersed and the continuous phases on the throughput might be comparatively small.
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  • Wei Chen, Masaaki Muraki
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 260-267
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Due to the processing time variability in batch processes, establishment of a scheduling system to generate robust schedules which have appropriate robustness and good production performance is required. In this paper, a fuzzy-set-based method to evaluate the robustness and detect the bottleneck of the schedule is proposed for this scheduling system. Because of the processing time variations and the interaction among tasks, several policies are investigated to calculate the task starting time by using fuzzy processing time. Then, a robustness measure in accordance with the degree of constraint satisfaction is developed. Since the proposed evaluation method enables explicit treatment of the robustness characteristics of current schedule, bottleneck and robustness distribution can also be obtained successfully. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by experiments with a multiproduct process model.
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  • Takayuki Hirai, Tadashi Manabe, Isao Komasawa
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 268-273
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Photoreductive stripping of V in a liquid-liquid extraction process for separation of V and Mo was investigated. A halogen lamp or a low-pressure mercury lamp was used as a light source and 2-propanol was used as an OH radical scavenger. The pentavalent V was photoreduced to V(IV) and stripped selectively from tri-n-octylmethylammonium chloride (TOMAC)/benzene organic phase into HCl-NaCl aqueous phase. The separation factor of 170–250 was obtained by a single extraction-stripping process. The equilibrium relationship in the course of the stripping process was also investigated. The scheme of photoreductive stripping of V was formulated, taking the photoreduction in aqueous phase into consideration.
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  • Tomohisa Yoshioka, Minoru Miyahara, Morio Okazaki
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 274-284
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A new capillary condensation model for nano-scale pores is proposed. The effect of the pore wall potential on the condensation phenomenon was considered in the model. The critical relative pressure at which the condensation phase is formed can be related to the pore size by the model. The curvature dependency of the surface tension was also taken into account. This is a new model based on hydrostatic analysis, and its feature is non-uniformity of the condensation phase caused by the potential field exerted by the pore walls. We carried out adsorption simulations within slit-like pores in the range of 2–4 nm in width by using a Molecular Dynamics (MD) method. In the simulations, equilibrium vapor pressure for an adsorbed state was able to be calculated by counting the number of adsorbate particles which desorbed from the pore and reached a border plane with imaginary vapor phase. We used argon-like LJ particles as the adsorbate and the adsorbent consisted of LJ carbon-like walls. For various pore widths, we simulated the adsorption phenomena to obtain the adsorption equilibrium relation, from the state of the surface adsorption on a pore wall under a low relative pressure to the state of the condensation under a high relative pressure. Consequently, significant discrepancy in the critical relative pressure for capillary condensation from the value predicted by the Kelvin model was reaffirmed, while the proposed model predicted well the critical relative pressure for condensation in nano-scale pores. The validity of the proposed model was examined also from the aspects of the shape of gas-condensate interface and pressure distribution in the condensed phase, and gave fairly good agreement.
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  • Takeaki Akatsuka, Nobuo Furumatsu, Hirokazu Nishitani
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 285-292
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The chemical plant is a typical example of a combined continuous-process and discrete-event system. In this paper, a new method which can fulfill the functions necessary to achieve a combined continuous-process and discrete-event simulation is explained. The activities for plant operation are usually described by two types of models, i.e., continuous process and discrete event. However, it is more convenient to deal with the sequential control model as the third element since it contains an intermediate property between the discrete event and continuous process models. The simulation program provides the users many standard elements to build their customized models and a function of connecting these three models for total system simulation. It can be applied to a complicated plant operation system such as combined batch and continuous process plants, pipeless batch process plants, and textile mills.
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  • Guo-Tang Liu, Kunio Nagahama
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 293-301
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
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    An anthracene + phenanthrene mixture forms a solid-solution over the whole composition range. The solubility of anthracene + phenanthrene in supercritical carbon dioxide were measured for the mixture of pure solids and the solid solution at 35°C and between 10.6 and 24.6 MPa. The solubility data of the former were fitted by the Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR EOS), and those of the latter were correlated by the PR EOS and the Wilson equation for a solid phase.
    RESS (Rapid expansion from supercritical solution) experiments for pure anthracene, pure phenanthrene and the anthracene + phenanthrene mixtures were performed to study the influence of the operating conditions on the solid formation with emphasis on separation as well as morphology. In the case of RESS for pure compounds, a decrease in the solute concentration brought about an increase in particle size. Operating conditions have scarcely any influence for the mixtures. The particles produced from the CO2 solution containing anthracene and phenanthrene were all homogeneous crystals of the solid solution. It was confirmed on the based of observations by an optical microphotograph and an X-ray diffratometer. Most of the RESS experiments were carried out at an extraction temperature of 35°C and pressure of 17.0 MPa.
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  • Yongan Gu, Dongqing Li
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 302-309
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In this paper, equilibrium shapes of axisymmetric liquid solder joint menisci around a vertical cylinder on a horizontal plane substrate were calculated by numerically solving the Laplace equation of capillarity. The boundary conditions are the contact angles formed with the cylinder and with the substrate, subject to the prescribed liquid solder volume constraint. Numerical solutions were obtained by implementing the 4th-order Runge-Kutta technique and the Shooting Method simultaneously. For a given solder volume, the equilibrium shapes of axisymmetric solder menisci, the capillary height on the cylinder and the radius of the wetted circle on the substrate are sensitive to the contact angles. Except the vertical wetted area on the cylinder, the horizontal wetted area on the substrate and the cross-section area of the axisymmetric meniscus were found to be approximately linear functions of the liquid solder volume in a small range. Finally, the effects of cylinder radius on the equilibrium shapes and on the both wetted areas were studied.
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  • Kazunari Ohgaki, Shinya Nakano, Takuya Matsubara, Seiji Yamanaka
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 310-314
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    To evaluate the possibility of CH4 exploitation in linkage with CO2 isolation, the decomposition rates of CO2, CH4 and CO2-CH4 mixed gas hydrates were obtained under isothermal isobaric conditions. The decomposition rates of CO2 and CH4 pure gas hydrates are proportional to the total amount of gas hydrate and the fugacity difference from the equilibrium state under the conditions of three-phase coexistence. The rate constant of CO2 hydrate decomposition is larger by one order than that of CH4 hydrate. In the CO2-CH4 mixed hydrate decomposition, CH4 composition in the generated gas is substantially larger than the value calculated from the pure hydrate decomposition rate while CO2 remains selectively in the mixed gas hydrate.
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  • Jun-ichi Hata, Yoshimasa Toyo-oka, Masahito Taya, Setsuji Tone
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 315-320
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A suspension culture of photoautotrophic liverwort cells, Marchantia paleacea var. diptera, was carried out at 25°C in a bioreactor with external light irradiation. It was found that a series of incident light intensities to maximize the cell growth rate along with change in the concentration of the cells existed, based on the calculation in terms of the distribution of light intensity and the dependency of cell growth rate on light intensity in the bioreactor. In the batch culture of M. paleacea cells using the bioreactor, incident light intensity was controlled in the range of 30 to 122 W/m2, the values of which were adequately determined by the calculation according to given concentrations of the cells during the culture. In the culture associated with the light intensity control, the amount of the cells obtained at 312 h was 5.1 kg dry cell weight per unit volume of medium, and this value was 1.7 and 6.9 times as large as the amounts of the cells obtained at 312 h in the reference cultures at constant incident light intensities of 30 and 180 W/m2, respectively. Among the cultures under these conditions of incident light intensities of 30 to 122, 30 and 180 W/m2, a remarkable reduction in chlorophyll contents was observed in the cells cultivated at 180 W/m2.
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  • Takashi Aida, Ryuji Kawakami, Hiroo Niiyama
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 321-327
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Selective reduction of nitrogen monoxide with propane over alumina was investigated under the periodic operation of the reactant gas concentration. As expected in advance from the mechanism reported, time-averaged conversion under periodic operation exceeded that under steady operation in the range of the period tested. The averaged conversion curve showed a maximum against the period and discussion was made on the mechanism of the appearance of the maximum. It is proposed that the appearance of the periodic operation effect in the reaction system resulted from the consecutive formation of the oxidized hydrocarbon intermediate through NO2 and from the competitive consumption of the intermediate by NO and O2, which is fundamentally different from those of NO-CO reaction and CO oxidation over noble metal catalysts where self-poisoning adsorption of CO was proposed as the reasons. Simplified model calculations were made and the proposed mechanism of the periodic operation effect in the case was estimated.
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  • Masaaki Teramoto, Qingfa Huang, Takashi Watari, Yasunori Tokunaga, Ryo ...
    1997 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 328-335
    Published: 1997
    Released on J-STAGE: February 27, 2005
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A series of experiments on the facilitated transport of CO2 through supported liquid membranes impregnated with aqueous solutions of various amines as carriers was performed, and the effects of the reaction rate and the chemical equilibrium of the reaction between CO2 and amine on the permeability of CO2 were investigated. Four primary amines (monoethanolarnine (MEA), ethylenediamine (EDA), monoprotonated ethylenediamine (EDAH+), 2-amino-2-methyl-l-propanol (AMP)), one secondary amine (diethanolamine (DEA)) and two tertiary amines (triethanolamine (TEA), methyldiethanolamine (MDEA)) were used as the carrier. The feed gas was a mixture of CO2 and CH4. High CO2 permeabilities were obtained with the EDAH+ membrane due to its moderate chemical equilibrium constant Keq which is favorable for both fast absorption of CO2 at the feed side of the membrane and fast stripping at the sweep side. Low CO2 permeabilities were obtained with the tertiary amine and AMP membranes due to their low reactivity. The CO2 permeability through the MEA membrane, which has too large a Keq value at low temperature, increased with increasing temperature due to the decrease in Keq and also due to the increase in the reaction rate. The experimental results obtained with the MEA, DEA and EDAH+ membranes were simulated on the basis of the theory of facilitated transport.
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