Editor-in-Chief: Yoshiyuki Yamashita (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology)
Associate Editors-in-Chiefs:
Hiroyuki Honda (Nagoya University)
Takao Tsukada (Tohoku University)

Editors
Tomohiro Akiyama (Hokkaido University)
Georges Belfort (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Jun Fukai (Kyushu University)
Yutaka Genchi (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST))
Takayuki Hirai (Osaka University)
Masahiko Hirao (The University of Tokyo)
In-Beum Lee (Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTEC))
Eiji Iritani (Nagoya University)
Hideo Kameyama (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology)
Masahiro Kino-oka (Osaka University)
Toshinori Kojima (Seikei University)
Noriaki Kubota (Iwate University (Professor Emeritus))
Shin Mukai (Hokkaido University)
Akinori Muto (Okayama University)
Nobuyoshi Nakagawa (Gunma University)
Satoru Nishiyama (Kobe University)
Hiroyasu Ogino (Osaka Prefecture University)
Naoto Ohmura (Kobe University)
Mitsuhiro Ohta (Muroran Institute of Technology)
Hiroshi Ooshima (Osaka City University)
Noriaki Sano (Kyoto University)
Manabu Shimada (Hiroshima University)
Masahiro Shishido (Yamagata University)
Shigeki Takishima (Hiroshima University)
Richard Lee Smith, Jr. (Tohoku University)
Yoshifumi Tsuge (Kyushu University)
Da-Ming Wang (National Taiwan University)

Editorial office:
The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan
Kyoritsu Building, 4-6-19, Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo 112-0006, Japan
journal@scej.org

AIMS AND SCOPE:

Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan, an official publication of the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan, is dedicated to providing timely original research results in the broad field of chemical engineering ranging from fundamental principles to practical applications. Subject areas of this journal are listed below. Research works presented in the journal are considered to have significant and lasting value in chemical engineering.

Physical Properties and Physical Chemistry
Transport Phenomena and Fluid Engineering
Particle Engineering
Separation Engineering
Thermal Engineering
Chemical Reaction Engineering
Process Systems Engineering and Safety
Biochemical Food and Medical Engineering
Micro and Nano Systems
Materials Engineering and Interfacial Phenomena
Energy
Environment
Engineering Education

The Instructions for Contributors and other information are available through our website (http://www.scej.org/jcej/).

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In order to investigate the optimum geometric conditions for a heat transfer augmentation technique using visco-elastic fluid, flow visualization experiments have been performed in a cavity between rectangular ribs. The rib height, the rib length and the cavity size were changed in several steps while the mean velocity at narrow cross-sections was kept constant. From the results, it is expected that the case having small rib height, small rib length and large cavity size has an advantage for heat transfer augmentation. It is also found that the recirculation size is a simple function of contraction ratio and Weissenberg number.

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In this study, the liquid–liquid catalytic phase transfer reaction between benzyl chloride and sodium sulfide was investigated in an ultrasound-based capillary microreactor. The mass transfer performance in the multiphase reaction was evaluated in terms of the mass transfer coefficient and was compared to the performance of other systems namely, a capillary microreactor under silent conditions, a batch reactor with different speeds of agitation, an ultrasound-assisted batch reactor, and an ultrasound-assisted batch reactor with mechanical agitation.
In the batch reactor system, the mass transfer coefficient increased by a large factor when mechanical agitation was accompanied by ultrasound irradiation. However, the capillary microreactor was superior to the batch reactor system under different operation conditions.
In the case of the capillary microreactor, it was found that the mass transfer performance was enhanced by a greater degree under sonication conditions than under silent conditions. Under sonication conditions, the mass transfer performance was further enhanced by increasing the aqueous-to-organic phase flow rate ratio.

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In the chemical industry, the transfer of specialized human skills plays an essential role in the operation and management of any successful plant. The establishment of formal methods for the transfer of such skills is critical as it facilitates the introduction of a framework for the objective estimation of the methods' success. However, such methods cannot be easily identified. In this paper, a method to enhance the transfer of human skills and create production technique via reciprocal interaction through the plant's production support system (PSS) is presented. A metric for assessing the level of human skills is also proposed.

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The use of nickel-loaded brown coal char (Ni/BCC) as a catalyst for tar reforming has been studied under mild conditions in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed gasifier using steam as the gasifying agent and nitrogen as the product gas carriers. Characterization of the catalyst was performed in a fixed-bed reactor under various conditions such as Ni/BCC particle size in the range of 0.5 to 2 mm and pyrolysis temperature in the range of 823 to 1023 K in order to investigate the effect of both catalyst particle size and pyrolysis temperature on crystallite size of Ni/BCC. The Ni/BCC catalyst was consumed at various steam feed rate so as to determine the effect of steam feed rate on the size of the catalyst. The XRD pattern of the catalyst showed that the size of the Ni particles increases as the particle size of the catalyst decreases, pyrolysis temperature increases, and steam feed rate increases. SEM images and BET surface area were used to characterize the surface structure and surface area of the Ni/BCC catalyst, respectively. The space velocity and catalytic tar reforming temperature as a function of gas yields were investigated. The catalyst showed high and stable catalytic activity and produced a high-quality product gas with space velocities of 10000 and 4000 h⁻¹ at 923 and 873 K, respectively.

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Two plate-type anodic alumina supported Ru catalysts, Ru/Al and Ru/Ce–Al, has been employed to investigate activities in the kerosene steam reforming reaction. H₂ pre-reduction during the kerosene steam reforming was found not an essential procedure, in terms of activity and stability. In addition, the Ru/Ce–Al catalyst was more stable than Ru/Al without pre-reduction in the accelerated life test. In the 20 times of DSS operation over Ru/Ce–Al, no remarkable decline in kerosene conversion was observed, indicating that Ru/Ce–Al was tolerable to multiple cycles under such severe conditions without obvious deterioration. Under an electric heating pattern, the performance of catalyst Ru/Ce–Al was investigated. It showed that 100% of kerosene conversion would be obtained in just 15 min over the Ru/Ce–Al catalyst when the kerosene was introduced into the reactor. It also presented excellent stability during test and DSS operation, which indicates more promising lifetime for the Ru/Ce–Al catalyst in the wall-type reformer.

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Ketone compounds that are widely used in various manufacturing processes are known as high-priority toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The use of biofiltration systems for the removal of VOCs from a polluted air stream has attention because of the inherent advantages of these systems such as high removal efficiency and low installation and maintenance costs. In this study, a biofiltration system for the removal of ketone compounds (acetone, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)) was developed using laboratory scale three-layer biofilter beds packed with ceramic-type media (bed volume 5 L). The operating conditions were optimized on the basis of environmental parameters, and mixed cultures of microorganisms obtained from a sewage treatment plant were inoculated to induce microbial biofilm formation. This system was operated at an empty bed retention time (EBRT) of 15–30 s under nitrogen-deficient conditions, and 1 L of the nutrient solution was supplied every two weeks. During the operation time of approximately three months, the removal efficiency was found to be more than 97% at when the inlet acetone concentration was 110–720 ppm_v and 90% when the inlet MEK concentration was 91–591 ppm_v. These removal efficiencies corresponded to removal capacities of 31–93 g m⁻³ h⁻¹ and 16–85 g m⁻³ h⁻¹, respectively. The maximum elimination capacity for acetone and MEK was approaching to 300 g m⁻³ h⁻¹ and 200 g m⁻³ h⁻¹, respectively. By using GC/MS analysis, methanol was detected in the outlet stream when the biofilter was used for acetone removal, and methanol and acetone were detected in the outlet stream when the biofilter was used for MEK removal.

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Plate-type metal monolithic anodic alumina supported Ru catalysts prepared by impregnation method has been employed for the kerosene steam reforming. The characteristics of the catalysts were analyzed by ICP, BET, TG and FESEM. We found that although plate-type Ru/Al₂O₃ catalyst displayed favorable activity in the long-term stability test, coke deposition resistance should be further improved. In order to inhibit the coking during the reforming reaction, ceria was added to Al₂O₃ support to synthesize Ru/Ceria-Al₂O₃ catalysts. The results showed that ceria addition to the Ru/Al₂O₃ catalyst enhanced the catalyst stability, resulting from the lower content of coke formation on the catalyst surface. Furthermore, it showed that the content of ceria had a greater impact on the content of coke formation on the catalyst surface. If more ceria were contained in Ru/Ceria-Al₂O₃ catalyst, less coke would be formed over the catalyst surface during the reaction.

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A Two-step heating process for the crystallization of zeolite Na-Y from coal fly ash is investigated with emphasis on the change in the crystallinity of the synthesized zeolite Na-Y. Most of the Si and Al components are effectively transformed into zeolite Na-Y by the first conventional heating, and then the second microwave heating of synthesis mixture dissolves from coal fly ash, and the maximum crystallinity of zeolite Na-Y obtained is 95%. The first conventional heating also plays an important role in enhancing the nuclei formation that Si and Al in the synthesis mixture reacted to form ring-like structures for combining sodalites, and further to small zeolite Na-Y seeds. The second microwave heating increases the crystallization rates from small zeolite Na-Y nucleis to more zeolite Na-Y crystals. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the zeolite Na-Y crystallized by the two step heating process is 139.98 meq/100 g compared to 137.59 meq/100 g for commercial zeolite Na-Y. Test results showed that BET surface area and moisture absorption capacity of zeolite Na-Y synthesized from fly ash is about 839 m²/g and 0.3693 g H₂O/g sample, respectively, similar to commercial zeolite Na-Y.

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