Editor-in-Chief:
Hiroyuki Honda (Nagoya University)

Associate Editors-in-Chiefs:
Manabu Shimada (Hiroshima University)
Takao Tsukada (Tohoku University)

Editors:
Ryuichi Egashira (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Jun Fukai (Kyushu University)
Choji Fukuhara (Shizuoka University)
Takayuki Hirai (Osaka University)
Masahiko Hirao (The University of Tokyo)
Jun-ichi Horiuchi (Kitami Institute of Technology)
Eiji Iritani (Nagoya University)
Yoshinori Itaya (Gifu University)
Hideo Kameyama (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology)
Masahiro Kino-oka (Osaka University)
Toshinori Kojima (Seikei University)
In-Beum Lee (Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTEC))
Kouji Maeda (University of Hyogo)
Shin Mukai (Hokkaido University)
Akinori Muto (Osaka Prefecture University)
Nobuyoshi Nakagawa (Gunma University)
Hiroyasu Ogino (Osaka Prefecture University)
Naoto Ohmura (Kobe University)
Mitsuhiro Ohta (The University of Tokushima)
Yuji Sakai (Kogakuin University)
Noriaki Sano (Kyoto University)
Masahiro Shishido (Yamagata University)
Richard Lee Smith, Jr. (Tohoku University)
Hiroshi Suzuki (Kobe University)
Shigeki Takishima (Hiroshima University)
Yoshifumi Tsuge (Kyushu University)
Tomoya Tsuji (Nihon University)
Da-Ming Wang (National Taiwan University)
Yoshiyuki Yamashita (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology)
Miki Yoshimune (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST))

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

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Outstanding Paper Awards Subcommittee of Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan has assessed the 132 papers published in volume 44 into 2011, and the editorial board finally selected the five papers for JCEJ Outstanding Paper Awards of 2011; those are the papers on “Application of Ionic Liquids to Extraction Separation of Rare Earth Metals with an Effective Diglycol Amic Acid Extractant,” “Relationship between Applied Static Magnetic Field Strength and Thermal Conductivity Values of Molten Materials Measured Using the EML Technique,” “Investigation of Combustion Possibility of Upgrade ECO Coal as a Blended Fuel of Bituminous Coal Fired Power Plant,” “Extraction Equilibria of Palladium(II) and Platinum(IV) with N,N-Di(2-ethylhexyl)aminomethylquinoline from Hydrochloric Acid,” and “Geometric Structure and Formation Condition of Corded Isolated-Mixing Region in Impeller Agitated Vessel.”

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By making use of information entropy, a new evaluation index of the mixing state of a local region in a mixing vessel in the case of multi-component mixing is presented. The newly defined index is more general than the old multi-component mixedness and has clear theoretical relationships with other mixing evaluation indices and separation evaluation indices which has been presented. Further, the usefulness of the newly defined index is clarified by application to an imaginary mixing situation which satisfies suitable conditions.

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It has been demonstrated that the pore size and surface charge density of microfiltration (MF) membranes can be determined from the streaming potential (SP) measured over a wide range of KCl concentrations using a microscopic model for the SP. The SP was measured for the MF membranes made of various materials and with various pore sizes. The absolute value of ζ_obs, which was obtained using the Helmholtz–Smoluchowski (HS) equation, reached a maximum value with increasing KCl concentration and could be assigned to a theoretical zeta potential, ζ_theory, at higher KCl concentrations. The SP versus conductivity plots showed unique curves reflecting changes in both the surface charge density and the behavior of the electric double layers (EDLs) in the pore, which will overlap at lower conductivity but be compressed at higher conductivity. The pore size and surface charge density were simultaneously determined by the analysis of this change in SP using the microscopic model for SP. In polycarbonate membranes the pore size obtained by this analysis showed a good linear relationship with the nominal pore size, which is almost equal to the morphological pore size determined by SEM image analysis, although the absolute value of the pore size obtained by this analysis was lower than the nominal pore size.

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A series of sulfo-group-bearing mesoporous silica (SBA-15) catalysts were prepared using a one-step hydrothermal synthesis method. The effect of preparation conditions on the structure and acidic nature of the prepared solid acid catalysts was investigated. The characterization results of the prepared solid acid catalysts indicate that most of the sulfur atoms in mercaptan were oxidized and converted into sulfo groups through a reaction with hydrogen peroxide and that the SBA-15 structure was retained in all the catalysts after the oxidation. The catalytic performance of the prepared solid acid catalysts in the saccharification of cellulose and rice straw was investigated; an autoclave was used for the saccharification. A maximum glucose yield of 27% and a maximum total monosaccharide yield of 21% were obtained when the saccharification of cellulose and rice straw was carried out using a MPS-D catalyst, respectively.

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We investigated the addition of chromium to alumina-supported Pt catalysts and its effect on catalytic activity in methane combustion. The Pt and Cr binary alumina-supported catalysts exhibited much higher activity than those without Cr. Alumina-supported Cr catalysts contain two chromium species, Cr³⁺ and Cr⁶⁺. From XPS analysis, it was found that more Cr⁶⁺ species existed in the binary catalysts than in the single alumina-supported Cr catalysts. Pt species in the binary catalysts may promote Cr oxidation. Since Cr⁶⁺ species are known to be more active than Cr³⁺ species in oxidation reactions, the increase in Cr⁶⁺ in the binary catalysts may contribute to their higher activity compared with the Pt/Al₂O₃ catalyst.

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Microreactors with parallel microchannels are widely used in the chemical industry to expand the production rate of microreactors. Although this provides compact reactor architecture at reasonably high throughput, a sophisticated monitoring system is necessary to diagnose blockages in the microreactor to ensure stable and efficient operation. We propose a method to estimate the blockage degree of microchannels when blockages occur in two microchannels simultaneously. The method involves comparing measured pressure data, and pressure data calculated using the pressure drop model at the sensor locations closest to the identified blocked microchannels. We applied this method to estimate the degree of blockage of a microreactor with ten microchannels. The results of CFD simulations showed that the method made it possible to accurately estimate the blockage degree using fewer pressure sensors than there are microchannels.

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Considerable attention has been given to carbon dioxide for its impact on climate change. Due to carbon dioxide being emitted from various chemical and petrochemical plants, the gases in geographically scattered places should be gathered, transported and sequestrated. The carbon dioxide disposal network resulting therefrom is a recently emerging issue that should be urgently addressed in the chemical industry in view of the continuously strengthened regulations. This paper proposes a mathematical modeling framework involving carbon capture and storage in order to obtain decision information such as how much captured CO₂ to be held at which sites, and where to be sequestered. The applicability of the proposed framework is demonstrated with potential carbon dioxide networks in Korea, along with some remarks.

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Mice are important laboratory animals used in biological and medical studies. Pathogen infections in laboratory mice are detected using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which requires a large quantity of serum. A low serum requirement is important for more frequent and detailed analyses for infections. A new serology monitoring system with a 16-microchannel microfluidic chip was developed to identify anti-pathogen antibodies in 0.2 µL of mouse serum; the system indicates infections caused by 6 important murine pathogens: Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium, Sendai virus, mouse hepatitis virus, Mycoplasma pulmonis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, and ectromelia virus. To avoid non-specific adsorption of mouse sera to the microchannel, a polyvinyl alcohol-based blocking method was developed. To equalize the sensitivities of different antigens, the quantities of pathogen antigens deposited were optimized through precision spotting by using the electrospray deposition method. A comparative study with the conventional ELISA method was carried out, and the developed microfluidic chip system was able to simultaneously and specifically detect antibodies against the above mentioned 6 pathogens with good linearity (R²=0.955–0.966) in 12 min with a lower serum quantity (1/13), reaction time (1/16), and antigen quantities (1/19–1/2,800) than the conventional ELISA. Validation using a serum panel (n=501) also showed good agreement with previous results.

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In microreactors, which comprise extremely narrow channels, a fluid is in laminar flow. The flow is constant spatially and temporally, and therefore, reactant concentrations are defined spatially, resulting in constant reactions. Consequently, the concentrations of reaction intermediates generated in microreactors are also defined spatially and are always constant. Regulation of the concentrations of the reaction intermediates enables efficient control of the reactions. In the present study, we have developed a basic technique for reaction control in microreactors by Raman microscopic spectrometry, and showed that the concentrations of the reaction intermediates are spatially defined as unique values that are dependent on the reactant concentration.

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Nano-sized CeO₂ powders have been synthesized using three different methods of emulsion: (1) reversed micelle (RM); (2) emulsion liquid membrane (ELM); and (3) colloidal emulsion aphrons (CEAs) with the same starting materials. The powder was calcined at 500°C to obtain CeO₂. The effect of the preparation procedure on the crystallite size, surface area, and the morphology of the prepared powders have been investigated. The results show that CeO₂ powders prepared by different methods all possess the same cubic fluorite structure and highly crystalline. The average particle size and the specific surface area of the powders from the three methods are in the range of 4–10 nm and 5.32–145.73 m²/g, respectively. The CeO₂ powders synthesized by CEAs method are the smallest average particle size and the highest surface area. Finally, the CeO₂ prepared by the CEAs method using different cerium sources and surfactant types have been studied. It was found that the surface tensions of cerium solution and the type of surfactant affect the particle size of CeO₂.

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In industrial cooling crystallization, knowledge of scale formation is important because this phenomenon becomes a cause of decreased heat exchange coefficient and productivity loss. However, only a few studies investigating the dynamic change of scale formation have been reported. The present study focuses on crystallization and scale formation dynamics which occur during the cooling operation at the start-up of melt crystallization. Methacrylic acid containing 5 wt% of MeOH was linearly cooled with a cooling coil and the crystallization phenomenon was observed dynamically. During crystallization, five crystallization processes were newly observed: (i) nucleation in melt bulk, (ii) rapid formation of bulky scale on the surface, (iii) temperature increase and loss/disappearance of suspension crystals, (iv) dissolution of bulky scale, and (v) growth of dense layer scale. Since dynamic scale formation in the initial stage of start-up operation became clear, it is expected that these results will be useful for designing the start-up operation.

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The present study investigates the removal of As and Se oxoanions from solution by calcination products of Ca(OH)₂–Al(OH)₃ and CaCO₃–Al(OH)₃ mixtures with various Ca/(Ca+Al) molar ratios at 1273 K. In the calcination products obtained from the mixtures with Ca/(Ca+Al)=0.833, lime (CaO) and Ca–Al oxides were detected as the predominant and minor crystalline compounds, respectively. The calcination products were then immersed in solutions contained As and Se oxoanions to examine their removal efficiency at rather high pH (>11). The highest arsenite removal efficiencies were observed when the calcination product with Ca/(Ca+Al) molar ratio >0.7 was employed, while the arsenate removal efficiency was independent of the Ca/(Ca+Al) ratio. The selenate removal efficiency attained the peak value when the Ca/(Ca+Al) ratio was 0.7–0.8. The maximum removal amount per unit weight of the calcination products for arsenite, arsenate, selenite, and selenate were 6–9, 4, 6–8 and 1.4–1.9 mmol/g, respectively, which were considerably higher than previously reported values. Upon reaction with the calcination product, arsenite, arsenate and selenite formed hard-soluble Ca salts, Ca(HAsO₃), Ca₃(AsO₄)₂ with Ca₅(AsO₄)₃(OH) and CaSeO₃, respectively, where the quick lime (CaO) in the calcination product is an active component for removing these oxoanions. On the other hand, selenate was removed by forming ettringite substituted by selenate, Ca₆Al₂(SeO₄)₃(OH)₁₂·26H₂O, where the synergistic effect of Ca and Al compounds in the calcination product should be exhibited.

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