Based on the Pitzer and Harvie–Weare (HW) chemical model, the Pitzer models for the complex systems containing solid solutions were constructed by combining the equations for composition and solubility equilibrium constants of the solid solutions. According to the parameters, the composition of the solid solutions and the solubilities of the ternary systems NaCl–NaBr–H₂O, KCl–KBr–H₂O and Na⁺,K⁺//Cl⁻,Br⁻–H₂O at 313 K, the composition equations and solubility equilibrium constant equations of the solid solutions were fitted in the present study. Then, the solubilities of the systems were calculated to evaluate the accuracy of the new method for the solubility calculation for the systems containing solid solution. Comparisons between the calculated and experimental solubilities show that the predicted data agree well with the experimental results.

Acrylonitrile is an important raw material for the synthesis of polyacrylonitrile. The present study investigates the thermokinetic parameters of acrylonitrile by non-isothermal kinetic equations, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The interrupt-rescanning method verifies the autocatalytic characteristic of acrylonitrile. The activation energy E_a is calculated by the Ozawa–Flynn–Wall method. The pre-exponential factor, reaction order and autocatalytic constant are calculated by the least square method. The thermal hazard of acrylonitrile mixed with different comonomers or Fe⁺³ is also explored by DSC. From the experimental results, the free-radical cyclization is sensitive to the heating rate of DSC. The ionic cyclization reaction is significantly influenced by the comonomers and Fe⁺³ could significantly decrease the initial reaction temperature and peak temperature compared with pure acrylonitrile. Based on the reactivity risk method, the relative risk of acrylonitrile with different comonomers or Fe⁺³ is assessed.

The present study investigates the torque and horizontal load in eccentric mixing by measurement under various operating conditions. Time series data of torque and horizontal load were obtained, showing that torque and the horizontal load were periodically oscillating. Time-averaged torque in the laminar region and in the turbulence region increased proportionally with n and n², respectively. A power number Np [—] vs. Reynolds number Re [—] diagram was obtained. For various mixing liquids, Np-Re correlated with one curve. For Re<10, Np was independent of r_E. However, in the higher Re region, Np was proportional to r_E. The torque in eccentric mixing was estimated from this figure. The time-averaged horizontal load, F_avg, also increased with n. In the lower Re region, F_avg was proportional to n. However, for Re>10⁴, F_avg was proportional to the square of n. A dimensionless number related to the horizontal load, Np_Favg [—], was defined as Np_Favg=n F_avg d/ρ n³ d⁵. An Np_Favg-Re diagram almost correlated with one curve at each r_E and Np_Favg was proportional to r_E irrespective of Re. The horizontal load in eccentric mixing was estimated from this figure.

To examine the effect of cavitation on the vibration of a multi-stage pump, a five-stage diffuser centrifugal pump was selected to test the vibration characteristics under non-cavitation and cavitation conditions. Vibrations were monitored at six points (V1–V6). Results show that when cavitation occurs, the vibration characteristic frequencies of the six measuring points obviously increase, for 1.0Q_d (the design flow rate). The gap in the vibration velocity amplitude between the higher axial frequency harmonics and the main frequency becomes smaller, and the cavitation-induced vibration excitation is very obvious in all directions. When the flow rate is 0.8Q_d, peak values at the main vibration frequencies of the measuring points V1, V2 and V4 increase compared to those at 1.0Q_d. Vibration intensities when the flow rate is 1.2Q_d are larger than at 0.8Q_d, and vibration intensities at 1.0Q_d are the lowest of the three. At 0.8Q_d and 1.2Q_d, the maximum vibration intensities of the pump are 2.01 mm/s and 2.47 mm/s respectively, which is an increase of 87.85% and 111.11%, respectively.

ZnO nanostructures were prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in a double-tube furnace. The effects of the carrier gas and oxygen flow rates on the morphology and yield of the products are described. The concentration distributions of O₂ and Zn vapor were simulated by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software FLUENT. The experimental and simulation results revealed that the content of Zn was much greater than that of O₂ at different deposition positions and that the deposition reaction was mainly controlled by the O₂ concentration. The reaction occurred mainly on the outside of the inner tube with the increasing N₂ flow. In contrast, the reaction occurred mainly on the inside of the inner tube with the increasing O₂ flow. A reduction of the carrier gas flow rate and an increase of the O₂ flow rate were both conducive to a morphology transition of the ZnO nanostructure from needle-like tetrapodal to nail-like tetrapodal.

The solubilities of amorphous form, α-form, and β-form of taltirelin (TTL) in water, ethanol, 1-propanol, and 2-propanol were measured over temperatures ranging from 273.2 to 323.2 K under atmospheric pressure. The experimental data were modelled using the modified Apelblat model. The dissolution enthalpy and entropy of dissolution of TTL polymorphic form in pure solvents were also determined using the van’t Hoff equation. The results reveal that the dissolution of TTL in each solvent is an entropy-driven process.

Due to the current widespread use of lithium-ion batteries in a range of applications, significant amounts of metal-containing waste materials are generated. Typically, the recycling of transition metals from lithium-ion batteries involves leaching of Co²⁺ and Li⁺ from the LiCoO₂ anode and the electrolyte (e.g., LiPF₆, LiBF₄). Thus, we herein examined the application of slug flow to the extraction of Co²⁺ and Li⁺ from an aqueous solution into an organic (cyclohexane) phase containing di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) as the extraction reagent. The extraction equilibrium and extraction rate were then investigated to design a novel extraction process. In addition, a microchannel was employed to extract the Co²⁺ and Li⁺ ions from the aqueous phase. We found that the D2EHPA–Na solution (prepared from the partial exchange of H⁺ from D2EHPA with Na) was effective for extracting Co²⁺ and, at a mole fraction of D2EHPA–Na >10%, complete Co²⁺ extraction from the aqueous phase was achieved. In addition, the presence of co-existing ions did not significantly affect the extraction behavior of Co²⁺ and Li⁺. Furthermore, the volumetric mass transfer coefficients (k_La) of Co²⁺ and Li⁺ exhibited the same order as those previously reported for other slug flow extraction systems. Finally, the ion concentration and selectivity were successfully simulated using the k_La values and the simulation results were in good agreement with experimental data. Such simulation of the Co²⁺ yield and purity is essential for selecting optimal process design conditions.

Swirl flow membrane emulsification is a very high disperse phase flux method for high throughput production of emulsions. The extremely vigorous, turbulent flow eddies generated exert an extremely high radial drag force on the membrane wall, which prevents the transition of droplet formation from the dripping regime to the continuous outflow regime, at extremely high disperse flux emulsion production. In the presentstudy, the effects of surfactant, disperse phase flux, viscosity, and swirl flow velocity on the mean droplet diameter (D₅₀) and droplet size distribution coefficient (span) of an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion are analyzed. The results indicated that highly monodispersed emulsions could be prepared at very high dispersed phase fluxes of 2.0 to 15.6 m³ m⁻² h⁻¹. The most monodispersed emulsions produced were of D₅₀ of 33.4 µm and of span of 0.24, obtained at various process conditions. The emulsion D₅₀ and corresponding span decreased with swirl flow velocity until the critical velocity of 8.5 m/s, beyond which the D₅₀ decreased further while its corresponding span increased slightly. The increase of the dispersed phase viscosity resulted in anincrease of the emulsion D₅₀, while theincrease in viscosity ratio in respect to the continuous phase viscosity led to a decrease in D₅₀. The disperse flux had no significant effect on D₅₀ until the critical disperse flux of 11.7 m³ m⁻² h⁻¹, beyond which the inertial force became the dominant force of droplet formation and the D₅₀ increased drastically; although it could be counterbalanced at high surfactant concentration and at higher swirl flow velocities.

To evaluate the Pu partitioning behavior in a feed solution with a high concentration of Pu during the acid split process, a countercurrent experiment was carried out with a dissolver solution derived from irradiated fast reactor fuel. The experimental flowsheet was optimized to prevent Pu polymerization and third phase formation in the Pu partitioning section, and these phenomena were not observed during the operation of the centrifugal contactors. In the Pu partitioning section, some of the U and almost all the Pu was stripped with 0.3 mol dm⁻³ HNO₃ at 16°C, and the Pu content in the U/Pu product was 37.8%. The Pu content in the U/Pu product was 1.51 times higher than that in the feed solution. To further increase the Pu content in the U/Pu product, it might be necessary to strip Pu at a lower temperature. Concerning the decontamination performance, ¹³⁷Cs was decontaminated well in the product.

In this study, we designed a heat exhaust scheme for an underground cooling tower combined with a practical underground building to complete thermal performance tests on cross-corrugated organic paper filler to obtain an experimental correlation equation of the filler’s bulk mass coefficient. The results show that the scheme of this underground cooling tower meets the requirements of heat exhaust, but the system is challenged by high air resistance and low filler utilization. To overcome this problem, an experiment to determine the filler volume was conducted. Considering that the experimental process for determining the heat performance of traditional cooling tower filler is complicated and multiple physical quantities are required for strict control when performing a single factor experiment by using an analogy of the direct evaporative cooling process, we determined the relevance between the saturation efficiency and bulk mass coefficient in the evaporative cooling process and describe a new method to determine the bulk mass coefficient. The results of the calculation agree with the experimental results.

Dividing wall columns (DWCs) are one of the most popular units in the recent separation technology due to their high energy efficiency and low capital cost. This paper proposes a design method of DWC for separation of silane off-gas in the polysilicon manufacturing process, and the controllability of optimized process was investigated using dynamic simulation. The results show that the DWC can save 36% of the energy consumption and require smaller number of total stages. Especially, the total annual cost was reduced up to 17%. The method and concept proposed here will provide a basis for optimal design of other DWC systems.

Cofactor regulation for the production of reduced metabolites, such as ethanol, plays an important role in the metabolic pathways of microorganisms. In this study, the intracellular NADH/NAD⁺ ratio in the ethanologenic strain Escherichia coli KO11 was increased by the overexpression of formate dehydrogenase from Mycobacterium vaccae. To avoid the generation of pyruvate-derived byproducts, genes coding for the lactate- and acetate-producing pathways were successfully deleted using genome editing based on the CRISPR-Cas9 system. In the culture of the constructed strain, the NADH regeneration system increased the intracellular NADH/NAD⁺ ratio in the presence of formate, leading to enhanced ethanol production; the amount of ethanol produced was 36% more than that produced by the original KO11 strain in culture for 24 h. A detailed investigation revealed that the transient pyruvate accumulation plays a key role in the enhanced ethanol production using the NADH regeneration system.

In Indomethacin crystallization, α-form crystals can be formed as spherical agglomerates by using anti-solvent crystallization in which NaCl aqueous solution is used as anti-solvent in the presence of a liquid–liquid phase separation. Since the spherical agglomerates were formed, it was considered that mother liquor is strongly affected purity of the spherical agglomerates. Therefore, new method is necessary to evaluate the amount of mother liquor in spherical agglomerates. The purpose of this present study is to propose removable factor ω which can evaluates the amount of removable mother liquor (mother liquor which is able to be removed by washing). The amount of removable mother liquor in spherical agglomerates which was obtained under the condition of different NaCl concentration and stirring speed was evaluated by using ω. From experimental results, it was found that ω decreased with the increase of NaCl concentration and the decrease of stirring speed. Furthermore, these experimental phenomena could be explained from the viewpoint of aggregate structure. So, it was confirmed that the evaluation method by using ω was reasonable. The new evaluation method could be proposed to evaluate the amount of removable mother liquor in spherical agglomerates which was obtained under the various operating conditions.

Crystallization methods with self-assembled monolayers or Langmuir monolayers that provide templates are called templated crystallization. Various interesting phenomena were reported in templated crystallization. Crystallization at the template interface has been investigated from a phenomenological perspective in previous studies. However, in order to develop industrial applications of templated crystallization, understanding the phenomena at the template interface is necessary. The objectives of this present study are investigation of the change in morphology of crystals at the template interface with elapsed time and elucidation of the mechanism of the morphology change. The glycine (crystalline substance)–L-leucine (template compound)–water system was used. Glycine crystalline particles were crystallized at the template interface, that is, the air-solution interface with L-leucine. Lengths along the crystallographic a axis and c axis of the crystals were measured by using microscope images. From the calculation results of the growth rate ratio, it was understood that the change in crystal morphology was the decrease in the growth rate ratio with time elapsed. In order to estimate the mechanism of the decrease in the growth rate ratio, the effect of the repulsive force was considered. According to these results, the mechanism of the change in crystal morphology was the correlation between the growth rate ratio and the normalized clearance between the crystals at the template interface.

The thermal dewetting behaviors of polystyrene (PS) nanocomposite thin films containing surface-modified CeO₂ nanoparticles synthesized by the supercritical hydrothermal method were observed using an optical microscope. Oleic acid and decanoic acid were used as the surface modifiers of nanoparticles, and cyclohexane and toluene were used as the solvents to prepare the thin films by spin-coating. The effect of surface modifier on the dewetting morphology and the critical surface energy of the substrate below which dewetting occurred was investigated. Dewetting was more effectively suppressed by oleic acid-modified nanoparticles than by decanoic acid-modified nanoparticles. The sizes of nanoparticle aggregates on the surface of nanocomposite thin films with 10 wt% oleic acid- and decanoic acid-modified nanoparticles were observed using a scanning probe microscope. It was speculated that the difference in the dewetting behaviors of nanocomposite thin films with different surface-modified nanoparticles was due to the interaction between the nanoparticles and PS, i.e., the difference in the affinity of the surface modifier of the nanoparticles to PS.

The present study investigates isolated extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) from algal blooms, and then concentrations of EPS and cationic ions in culture medium of disaggregated Microcystis aeruginosa were controlled by adding the EPS and cationic ions to make M. aeruginosa colonies under laboratory conditions. We examined the respective effects of Mg²⁺ ion, Ca²⁺ ion, and EPS on the colony formation, and subsequently the interaction of these factors was investigated to lower cationic ion concentration levels (i.e.<1000 mg/L for Ca²⁺) in our previous study. The results showed that M. aeruginosa formed colonies in the Ca²⁺+Mg²⁺ and the EPS+Ca²⁺+Mg²⁺ media, and large colonies were found only in the EPS+Ca²⁺+Mg²⁺ medium. Although M. aeruginosa required a high amount of Ca²⁺ ion (1000 mg/L) to form colonies in the previous study, the present work revealed that Mg²⁺ ion (250 mg/L) could decrease the Ca²⁺ ion concentration to 250 mg/L. Thermal analysis (TG/DTA analysis) of the EPS indicated that the EPS possessed surface functional groups such as carboxy groups. As the roles of cationic ions for the colony formation of M. aeruginosa, the present study suggests that Ca²⁺ ion contributes to the cross-linking reaction between negatively charged carboxy group on the EPS and M. aeruginosa cells, and Mg²⁺ ion acts as an agent capable of decreasing the Ca²⁺ ion concentration for the colony formation. It was also revealed that the EPS could induce the colony formation and expand the colony size of M. aeruginosa.