In order to investigate the antimicrobial effect of mixed ultra-fine ozone-rich bubble liquids in a range of low-temperatures (liquid-state and ice-state), we measured the viable bacterial count (VBC) on commercially fresh vegetables using test fluids (UPW; ultrapure water, UFB; mixed ultra-fine air-bubble water, SH; 200-ppm aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite, OZ; ozonated water, and OZ/UFB; mixed ultra-fine ozone-rich bubble water). In case of the liquid-state, no significant difference between VBC (=4.9 log cfu/g) of UPW and VBC (=5.2 log cfu/g) of UFB was obtained. For VBC=4.8 log/cfu/g of OZ, it was also found that the effect of OZ vanished after an experiment (10 min). On the other hand, the VBC (=4.0 log cfu/g) of OZ/UFB and VBC (=4.1 log sfu/g) of SH decreased by approximate one order of magnitude. Thus, the antimicrobial effect of OZ/UFB agreed with that of SH. In case of the ice-state, only sodium hypochlorite had antimicrobial effectiveness. For discussing the experimental results, we investigated storage property of ultra-fine bubbles, ozone-concentration on the elapsed times, and effect of freezing and thawing. Although the initial-concentration (=0.41 ppm) of ozone for OZ was reduced until the limitation of measurement (=0.26 ppm), a relatively high initial-concentration (=0.64 ppm) of ozone for OZ/UFB was exhibited. A long life-time (0.34 ppm at 240 min) of OZ/UFB was obtained. Moreover, particle distributions (maximum number density=1.3×10⁷ mL⁻¹) of ultra-fine bubbles at temperatures of 35.9°C and 45.4°C were one order of magnitude smaller than those (maximum number density=6.1×10⁷ mL⁻¹) at the temperature of 25.0°C. The high stability of ultrafine bubbles was confirmed, although they decreased by one order of magnitude.

The Vertical Combustor™ has characteristics that are significantly different from the conventional stoker furnace. In this study, a material/heat balance model was created using the operating data of the Vertical Combustor™, and the waste quality and the combustion reaction in the furnace were analyzed. Since the change in gas amount is mainly caused by water spraying and water evaporation, the mass balance model distinguishes between dry gas and water. The temperature inside the furnace was estimated by the mass balance and heat balance models, and the reliability of the model was shown because it matches with the measured value. It was possible to estimate the amount of water in the waste and the amount of heat generated by the waste, and it was shown that the amount of water generated by hydrogen combustion is large and that oxygen in the waste is consumed for combustion. Furthermore, in the Vertical Combustor™, the pyrolysis residue is burned and pyrolyzed at the bottom, and the pyrolysis gas is burned at the top of the waste layer, but the ratio of the amount of heat generated between the two is about 4 : 6.