Editor-in-Chief
Takao Tsukada (Tohoku University)

Associate (Editor-in-Cheifs)
Manabu Shimada (Hiroshima University)
Masahiro Shishido (Yamagata University)

Editors
Ryuichi Egashira (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Jun Fukai (Kyushu University)
Choji Fukuhara (Shizuoka University)
Toshitaka Funazukuri (Chuo University)
Takayuki Hirai (Osaka University)
Jun-ichi Horiuchi (Kitami Institute of Technology)
Eiji Iritani (Nagoya University)
Yoshinori Itaya (Gifu University)
Noriho Kamiya (Kyushu University)
In-Beum Lee (Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTEC))
Kouji Maeda (University of Hyogo)
Hideyuki Matsumoto (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Nobuyoshi Nakagawa (Gunma University)
Masaru Noda (Fukuoka University)
Hiroyasu Ogino (Osaka Prefecture University)
Mitsuhiro Ohta (The University of Tokushima)
Eika (W. Qian Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology)
Yuji Sakai (Kogakuin University)
Noriaki Sano (Kyoto University)
Naomi Shibasaki-Kitakawa (Tohoku University)
Ken-Ichiro Sotowa (The University of Tokushima)
Hiroshi Suzuki (Kobe University)
Nobuhide Takahashi (Shinshu University)
Shigeki Takishima (Hiroshima University)
Yoshifumi Tsuge (Kyushu University)
Tomoya Tsuji (Nihon University)
Da-Ming Wang (National Taiwan University)
Takuji Yamamoto (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST))
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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The surface tensions of trans-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (HFO-1234ze(E)) alone and when mixed with difluoromethane (HFC-32) were measured using the differential capillary-rise method. Twenty-three data points for HFO-1234ze(E) were obtained in the temperature range 273–333 K. Twenty-six data points for the 50.00 mass% HFO-1234ze(E)+50.00 mass% HFC-32 mixture were obtained in the temperature range from 273–323 K. The experimental uncertainty of the surface tension was estimated to be 0.2 mN m⁻¹ for pure HFO-1234ze(E) and 0.3 mN m⁻¹ for the fluid mixture. Based on the obtained data, the surface tension correlations for HFO-1234ze(E) and the HFO-1234ze(E)+HFC-32 mixture were formulated. The correlations can represent the data with a standard deviation of 0.06 mN m^–1 for HFO-1234ze(E) and 0.18 mN m⁻¹ for the HFO-1234ze(E)+HFC-32 mixture.

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The liquid–liquid equilibria between coal tar absorption oil and water have been measured. The distribution coefficients of nitrogen heterocyclic compounds in absorption oil are larger than those of homocyclic compounds. The separation of absorption oil by emulsion liquid membrane is studied. Nitrogen heterocyclic compounds selectively permeate through liquid membrane relative to homocyclic compounds. For the emulsion liquid membrane permeation, the effects of membrane instabilities on the mass transfer rates are found to be so small that the mass transfer rates due to the membrane instabilities are negligible relative to the permeation rates in this study. The stirring rate and surfactant concentration are influential factors for the overall volumetric permeation coefficient and the coefficient increased with these parameters. The separation selectivities of the heterocyclic compounds relative to the homocyclic compounds are sufficiently large. The correlation between the overall volumetric permeation coefficient and distribution coefficient between the feed and membrane phases was obtained, and useful for designing a liquid membrane separation process.

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Succinic acid, which is a bio-based product produced by biomass conversion processes and utilized in biorefineries, has come into focus because of the concerns surrounding renewable and green energy sources. Large-scale application of succinic acid as a bio-based compound is receiving much attention to find potential production processes. Ionic liquids, which have negligible vapor pressure and whose solubility in the surrounding phases can be minimized by the appropriate selection of anions and cations, have potential application as supported ionic liquid membranes (SILMs) to separate succinic acid. We found that succinate successfully permeated through an SILM containing Aliquat 336 and observed the uphill transport. By examining the effects of pH and sodium chloride concentration on the permeability and distribution ratio, we explained the permeation mechanism of succinate using the solution-diffusion model. We found that the succinate di-anion reacted with quaternary ammonium salt in the membrane during the SILM process.

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Oxidative dehydrogenation of propane using Ni–Mo-based metal oxide catalysts (without or with dopants: zinc and boron) was investigated in this paper. The catalysts were prepared, tested, and characterized by BET, SEM, XRD, and FTIR techniques. Higher propylene yields were obtained with alumina-supported catalysts compared to silica-supported ones, which showed much higher selectivity when doped with boron at lower propane conversions. Propylene yield was found to increase with increasing reaction temperatures and/or decreasing propane-to-oxygen ratios due to the increase in propane conversion.

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This paper addresses ontologies of intentional and unintentional processes. Specifically, a methodology for developing processes ontologies is described. Typically, domain ontologies are developed in an ad-hoc fashion, without the reasons and justifications of the class structure. To resolve this issue, we propose a methodology based on Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) as a way to assist the development of a domain ontology. FCA is an analysis technique for knowledge processing based on applied lattice and order theory. The methodology is illustrated with the development of an explosion ontology.

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According to the nonlinearity of the temperature of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymerization reactors, a generalized predictive control (GPC) algorithm based on piecewise affine is proposed. Firstly, a dynamic equation for the polymerizing temperature is derived in accordance with the heat-balance mechanism. The piecewise affine model is based on the polymerizing temperature and conversion rate. The state space of each subsystem is described by an oval set. Next, LMI is used to design the controller and set up the Lyapunov function to analyze the system stability. Finally, the proposed piecewise affine model is applied to the generalized predictive control algorithm. Simulation and industrial application results show the validity and feasibility of the proposed strategy.

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An epoxy-group-containing vinyl monomer, glycidyl methacrylate, was graft-polymerized onto an electron-beam-irradiated porous sheet to form a graft chain. Graft chains can be categorized according to the formation site into the polymer brush extending from the pore surface of a porous sheet and polymer root penetrating into the polymer matrix of the porous sheet. The polymer brush and root of the porous sheet govern its protein adsorptivity and liquid permeability. The mole percentages of the polymer brush and the root were determined from the dependence of the degree of swelling on the molar conversion of epoxy groups into ion-exchange groups with water as the solvent during functionalization. This method enables us to better understand the manner in which polymer chains are grafted onto porous polymers and helps us to design porous polymers for protein purification and enzyme immobilization.

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