Scalable and Durable Brush Electrodes in Locally Enhanced Electric Field Treatment Systems for Water Disinfection

In natural brandy aging, it normally takes many years, resulting in low production efficiency and high cost. For shortening the aging time, electric field (EF) treatment was used to test and verify the effectiveness of accelerating the brandy aging process. In this paper, the effects of using an EF treatment on brandy stored in 5-L and 2-L oak barrels to simulate the natural aging process were investigated. The compounds of aldehydes, acids and esters were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results showed that after being treated by EF the content of most beneficial materials on brandy quality such as esters and β-phenethyl alcohol were increased while the increment of acids was reduced. The application of an EF treatment of 1 kV/cm to the oak barrels could probably enhance the chemical reaction and accelerate the aging process. The current study indicated that application of EF treatment directly on oak barrel maybe a promising and feasible technology for accelerating brandy maturation in the brandy industry.

Regulatory effects of bio-intensity electric field on transformation of human skin fibroblasts

Electromagnetic Environment Associated with Lightning Strikes to Tall Strike Objects

Making waves: Pathogen inactivation by electric field treatment: From liquid food to drinking water

Application of electric field treatment (EFT) for microbial control in water and liquid food

Objective: To investigate the regulatory effects of bio-intensity electric field on directional migration and microtubule acetylation in human epidermal cell line HaCaT, aiming to provide molecular theoretical basis for the clinical treatment of wound repair. Methods: The experimental research methods were used. HaCaT cells were collected and divided into simulated electric field group (n=54) placed in the electric field device without electricity for 3 h and electric field treatment group (n=52) treated with 200 mV/mm electric field for 3 h (the same treatment methods below). The cell movement direction was observed in the living cell workstation and the movement velocity, trajectory velocity, and direction of cosθ of cell movement within 3 h of treatment were calculated. HaCaT cells were divided into simulated electric field group and electric field treatment 1 h group, electric field treatment 2 h group, and electric field treatment 3 h group which were treated with 200 mV/mm electric field for corresponding time. HaCaT cells were divided into simulated electric field group and 100 mV/mm electric field group, 200 mV/mm electric field group, and 300 mV/mm electric field group treated with electric field of corresponding intensities for 3 h. The protein expression of acetylated α-tubulin was detected by Western blotting (n=3). HaCaT cells were divided into simulated electric field group and electric field treatment group, and the protein expression of acetylated α-tubulin was detected and located by immunofluorescence method (n=3). Data were statistically analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis H test,Mann-Whitney U test, Bonferroni correction, one-way analysis of variance, least significant difference test, and independent sample t test. Results: Within 3 h of treatment, compared with that in simulated electric field group, the cells in electric field treatment group had obvious tendency to move directionally, the movement velocity and trajectory velocity were increased significantly (with Z values of -8.53 and -2.05, respectively, P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the directionality was significantly enhanced (Z=-8.65, P<0.01). Compared with (0.80±0.14) in simulated electric field group, the protein expressions of acetylated α-tubulin in electric field treatment 1 h group (1.50±0.08) and electric field treatment 2 h group (1.89±0.06) were not changed obviously (P>0.05), while the protein expression of acetylated α-tubulin of cells in electric field treatment 3 h group (3.37±0.36) was increased significantly (Z=-3.06, P<0.05). After treatment for 3 h, the protein expressions of acetylated α-tubulin of cells in 100 mV/mm electric field group, 200 mV/mm electric field group, and 300 mV/mm electric field group were 1.63±0.05, 2.24±0.08, and 2.00±0.13, respectively, which were significantly more than 0.95±0.27 in simulated electric field group (P<0.01). Compared with that in 100 mV/mm electric field group, the protein expressions of acetylated α-tubulin in 200 mV/mm electric field group and 300 mV/mm electric field group were increased significantly (P<0.01); the protein expression of acetylated α-tubulin of cells in 300 mV/mm electric field group was significantly lower than that in 200 mV/mm electric field group (P<0.05). After treatment for 3 h, compared with that in simulated electric field group, the acetylated α-tubulin of cells had enhanced directional distribution and higher protein expression (t=5.78, P<0.01). Conclusions: Bio-intensity electric field can induce the directional migration of HaCaT cells and obviously up-regulate the level of α-ubulin acetylation after treatment at 200 mV/mm bio-intensity electric field for 3 h.

Measurements of electromagnetic fields are used for a wide range of applications. Often such measurements provide a non-destructive and non-intrusive way of obtaining information about the internal structure and other properties of the medium. Observations may be conducted across a very broad frequency range. Depending on the application domain, the frequency bands may range from the UHF band in biomedical engineering to the ULF band in geophysics. This thesis reports on several experiments where the electric and magnetic fields were measured on the surface of different media for the purpose of determining the electric properties of the material (electric conductivity and relative permittivity). A series of interference nulls were observed while measuring the electric field at UHF frequencies on the surface of a large, uniform sand dune. The source of the field was a transmitter buried in sand. The same pattern was observed after substituting the active transmitter with a passive scatterer exposed to a surface located electromagnetic transmitter. The scatterer then became a source of the electromagnetic field producing the interference pattern identical to the pattern observed in case of the active transmitter. Modelling of the surface electric field was done using known closed-form solutions for a uniform halfspace and by using an FDTD EM solver. Both approaches showed a close match with the measured fields. By varying the resistivity and the electric permittivity in the constructed models, it is demonstrated that the observed pattern (position of the nulls, nulls depth) depend on these electric properties. The inverse problem is posed with the goal of determining the electric properties of the material using the observed field. The inverse problem was solved, and the conductivity and relative permittivity of sand were determined. Two experiments conducted in different conditions showed the following results: conductivity 1×10-6 S/m and relative permittivity of 2.13 in dry conditions and conductivity 3×10-3 S/m and relative permittivity of 2.86 in wet conditions. Another experiment reports the measurements of the surface electric field on the top surface of a small three-dimensional concrete block at microwave frequencies (1 – 5 GHz). A copper rod was placed in concrete during sample manufacturing to serve as a scatterer. The FDTD solver was used for modelling and determining the inverse problem solution. At VLF frequencies, several experiments were conducted using surface impedance measurement equipment TranSIM. TranSIM allows registering amplitude of the electric and magnetic field in the time domain in the frequency range between 100 Hz – 50 kHz. The equipment was used to measure the EM fields produced by lightning strikes. Data collection was conducted on a site where the geology is known. The short-time Fourier transform was used to obtain the spectra of the electric and magnetic fields and the surface impedance was determined in the frequency range 0.5-20 kHz. Frequency sections of apparent resistivity were constructed along the measurement profiles and can be interpreted in terms of the geological sections. These experiments and subsequent data interpretation techniques represent a novel approach of determining electric properties of the material by observing the electromagnetic field on the surface of the media. Experiments conducted at UHF and microwave (S-band) frequencies utilize the innovative approach of using the field reradiated by a passive scatterer embedded in the material. Potential applications allow using that approach for non-intrusive data collection when a passive conductor is already present or can be put in the material during manufacturing. Experiments conducted at VLF frequency range utilize the data collection equipment developed at Griffith University by Mogensen and Thiel. Novel data collection and data processing approach of registering solitary short samples of electric and magnetic fields produced by lightning strikes is discussed. It is shown that the EM field observed in that way can be used consistently for creating a reliable geoelectric model of the media.

Sodium dodecyl sulfate assisted electric field treatment for deproteinization of chitosan

Electric field treatment was performed on a Ni-Cr-W-Mo superalloy to investigate the effects of electric field treatment on its corrosion behavior. The microstructure evolution and the elements distribution at grain boundaries of both annealing twins and high angle grains were examined. The results show that the corrosion resistance can be improved by the electric field treatment and both of the corrosion weight loss and corrosion rate are decreased with the increasing treating time. When the alloy is electric field treated at 1093 K for 600 min with 4 kVcm � 1 , the intergranular corrosion rate is 65.3 mmy � 1 with the decreasing ratio of 25.1% compared with the untreated one, and the immersion corrosion rate is 3.9 mmy � 1 with the decreasing ratio of 57.9% compared with the untreated one. The redistribution of elements between the original high angle grain boundaries and the annealing twins occurred by the formation and growth of the annealing twins during the electric field treatment, as well as the improvement of exhaustion of Cr and Mo elements at the grain boundaries. With the increasing treating time, a large amount of original high angle grain boundaries are replaced and the continuously distributed original grain boundaries are separated, which leads to the retardation the growth rate of the corrosion ditches. The corrosion resistance of the alloy is improved due to the changes of corrosion behavior of the grain boundary. Moreover, the promotion effect of electric field treatment on the atom diffusion rate decrease the exhaustion tendency of Cr and Mo elements on both sides of normal high angle grain boundary. Those can be considered as the reasons of improving the corrosion resistance after electric field treatment. (doi:10.2320/matertrans.MF200905) With the rapid development of the aerospace engineering, the alloying elements ratio of superalloy is increased to meet the demands for long-term service at elevated temperatures. Besides the excellent properties including the high-temper- ature strength and plasticity, the oxidation existence, high- temperature corrosion resistance and irradiation resistance of the alloy are also required. 1-3) The distribution and size of carbides at grain boundaries increase especially when the alloy was experienced long-term services. It is easy for the intergranular rupture to occur at the grain boundary under corrosive environment. Researches on nickel-base Ni-Cr- W-Mo and GH4586A superalloys after electric field treat- ment reveal that annealing twins occurred in alloys and the number of annealing twins increase with the increasing treated time. During the deformation, the crack propagation direction changes with the annealing twins, and this leads the increase of both the uniformity and work of plastic deformation. The plasticity can be improved greatly without strength changing. 4-7) The coherent twin boundary with low energy can be caused with electric field treatment on nickel-base super- alloys and the fraction of low energy boundary can be increased. This agrees with the Grain Boundary Design and Control-Grain Boundary Engineering (GBE). 8-12) It aims at preventing the intergranular rupture and intergranular corro- sion by obtaining low energy and coherent boundary with high fraction in polycrystalline. As conventional GBE techniques, such as deformation heat treatments including strain recrystallization and strain heat treatment can be used to increase the fraction of coherent grain boundary in austenite steel, nickel-base alloy, copper and aluminum alloys. In other words, it can be considered that the electric field treatment will become one of the GBE techniques for obtaining high fraction of coherent grain boundary with low energy. In the present study, the electric field was employed on a nickel-based Ni-Cr-W-Mo superalloy to investigate the effects of electric field on its corrosion resistance. The mechanisms were also discussed. The present work aims to study potential application for electric field treatment on the progress of research on superalloys. 2. Material and Experimental Procedures

Background and Method: A study on the health impact of the Extra High Voltage Transmission power line, 500 kV (SUTETI) was carried out among 1750 people who have been living for more than 15 years around the tower in Jakarta and Tambun. The dependent variables were health impact based on identification of laboratory exams on blood chemistry, electrocardiogram, adult roentgen photo, bone photo roentgen of children, hypertension as well as mental emotional disorders using Cornell Medical Index (CMI) and Sleeping Disorders. The melatonin enzyme was measured trying to identify the association with electromagnetic field exposure and mental psychosomatics evidence. The independent or risk factors measured besides the socio demographic, duration of stay, length of stay at home, smoking were the respondents' annoyance and satisfaction living around the tower and the reasons of feeling not safe. At the same time the electromagnetic field was also measured separately. The personal electric and magnetic field doses were the function of length of stay inside the house and the electric field and magnetic field measured inside the house. The study location was divided into three zones, zone 1, 0-30 ms left and right sides from center of tower foot, zone 2, 30-70 ms and zone 3, 70-100 ms. Results and Conclusion: Study results reported the range of electric field measured , at one meter from the ground, showed the highest 3,2 kV/m just underneath the tower (10-30 m), declined to 0,5 kV/m about 70 m away from the center of the tower and steadily declined, about 70-100 m, the electric field became very small to 0,0 kV/m The magnetic field measured were, the highest 20-30 m, 534 mA/m ( 6,7x 10 -² mT), declined at the distance of 70 m to 110 mA/m ( 1,3 x 10 -² mT ), very small at a 100 m, 50 mA/m ( 6,3 x 10 -3 mT). Study results also revealed that there were no significant associations identified between adults roentgen results, children bone roentgen results, hypertension, mental emotional disorders/ CMI, sleeping disorders with electric and magnetic field dose . The logistic regression functions reported the magnetic field dose as a borderline determinant to electrocardiogram. People who lived 0-70 m had 7 times greater risk to suffer from emotional mental disorders than those living >70 m away from the tower even though mental emotional disorders was neither significant to electro field dose nor to magnetic field dose. The melatonin correlates positively with electromagnetic doses which mean melatonin was not suppressed by the electromagnetic exposures. Melatonin also neither associated with CMI nor with sleeping disorders. Keywords: Extra High Voltage Power Line Transmission (SUTETI), lab exams on blood chemistry, electrocardiogram /ECG, roentgen, bone roentgen in children, CMI, Sleeping disorders, melatonin, electric field dose, magnetic field dose

Ferroelectrics are a class of electromechanically coupled materials which possess an electric dipole polarization that can be permanently reoriented by applied electric and mechanical stress fields. Their reorientable polarization results in complex, nano- to micrometer scale domain structures whose evolution under electric and mechanical stress fields alters the material's overall time-dependent electrical and viscoelastic properties. To understand domain structure evolution, in-situ microscopy of domain switching processes in ferroelectric thin films, single crystals and nanoparticles have been well-studied in the past. However, domain evolution in bulk polycrystals is less well understood as their local stress and electric field environment differs from thin specimens. This work seeks to understand ferroelectric domain evolution in bulk ferroelectric perovskite polycrystals using a combination of a recently-developed electromechanical characterization technique, Broadband Electromechanical Spectroscopy (BES), and theoretical-computational predictions. A constitutive material model for polycrystalline ferroelectrics is first developed and applied to simulate barium titanate single crystals and polycrystals. Simulated polarization, strain and energy dissipation hysteresis curves show good qualitative agreement to experimental data and demonstrate that macroscale properties can be efficiently predicted from microscale physics to some extent. The microstructural origins of fatigue behavior in bulk polycrystalline lead zirconate titanate (PZT) are investigated using a combination of macroscale electrical and viscoelastic property characterization via BES, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging of microstructure. The evolution of electrical and viscoelastic properties during bipolar electrical fatigue show differences in the effects of electrical vs. mechanical fatigue processes, and the latter is verified through SEM imaging and measurement of microcracks. Finally, the same electromechanical BES characterizations are performed on specimens of bulk polycrystalline barium titanate (BT). Results reveal stark qualitative differences in electrical and viscoelastic responses from PZT despite both materials being perovskite ferroelectrics. A growth vs. nucleation hypothesis is proposed to explain the observed results, guided by preliminary imaging of domain microstructure. In summary, the BES is a powerful tool to elucidate domain switching processes within bulk ferroelectric specimens, while a computational method which bridges the micro- and macroscale further adds to the diagnostic toolbox of understanding bulk ferroelectric domain switching mechanisms. This opens the pathway to designing future applications which make use of the unique electrical and viscoelastic properties of ferroelectric switching.

In the marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) survey, the receivers are usually placed at the seafloor. The resistivity contrast between the seawater and seafloor sediments is large, which can cause difficulties in numerical modeling of CSEM fields at receiver locations. In this paper, we present an improved interpolating method for calculating electric and magnetic fields at the seafloor with a resistivity contrast. This method is applied to the 2. 5 dimensional (2. 5D) frequency-domain CSEM modeling with towed transmitters and receivers located at the seafloor. Considering the discontinuity of the normal electric fields, we use the normal current electric density for interpolation. We simulate the 2. 5D marine CSEM responses by the staggered finite-difference (SFD) method with Fourier transform to the strike direction. The final SFD equations are solved by the direct solver MUMPS (MUltifrontal Massively Parallel Sparse direct Solver). To avoid the source singularities, the secondary-field approach is used and the primary fields excited by the electric dipole source can be calculated quasi-analytically for the one-dimensional (1D) layered background model. We focus on interpolating of electric and magnetic fields in the wavenumber domain to the receiver locations at the seafloor interface between the conductive seawater and resistive seafloor formation. The secondary electric and magnetic fields are used for interpolation instead of the total fields for high numerical accuracy. After performing the inverse Fourier transform to the wavenumbers, the electric and magnetic fields in the space domain are obtained. To check the accuracy of our 2. 5D marine CSEM SFD modeling algorithm with the improved receiver interpolating technique, we compare our results with both the 1D analytical results and the adaptive finite element results. The SFD numerical results are approved to be accurate. We also compare the numerical accuracy between our improved interpolation scheme and others, i.e., the conventional linear interpolation and the rigorous interpolation. The proposed interpolation only utilizes the nodes below/above the seafloor interface, and is proved to be much more accurate than the other two interpolating methods used.

Electric field treatment of tumor technology is of great significance in the treatment of glioma, including direct current electric field and alternating electric field. Direct current electric field affects the migration of glioma cells, and can be used as a new clue for the treatment of glioma. While alternating electric field can inhibit the proliferation and invasion of glioma cells, and induce apoptosis, and can obviously prolong the survival period of patients with glioma and improve their quality of life. Key words: Glioma; Electromagnetic fields; Intermediate frequency alternating electric field

The microbial inactivation and specific energy of a pulsed electric field treatment system are dependent on the electric field distribution and treatment time since they have opposite behaviour in relation to these parameters, featuring a problem of multi-objective optimisation. This study proposes a computational methodology capable of providing Pareto optimal solutions for these two objectives, using a coupled electrical-thermal model, solved by COMSOL, which has been integrated to a multi-objective algorithm NSGA-II implemented in MatLab. The simulations were run for a computational design of experiment with the following variables: applied voltage, treatment time and the internal electrode radius (three levels for each one). In the post-processing analysis, the Pareto curves were plotted for two typical microorganisms of grape juice: E. coli and S. aureus, providing a set of solutions in terms of the log of the survival rate versus the specific energy. The methodology enables the decision maker to select the best solution from the Pareto curves as a function of a required microbial inactivation and energy features.

Effects of electric field treatments on phenol compounds of brandy aging in oak barrels