Belgian Research Research Articles

A survey of five year intensive R&D work in Belgium on advanced alkaline water electrolysis

A Belgian hydrogen research programme, aimed at the development of a new concept in advanced alkaline water electrolysis, has been carried out at the Nuclear Research Centre (S.C.K./C.E.N.) Mol, under the auspices of the Commission of the European Communities. An inorganic ion-exchanger membrane, based on polyantimonic acid, has up to now shown its chemical stability for up to 10,000 hours in alkaline solutions at 120°C, and its ion conducting and gas separating properties under electrolysis for 5000 hours. Electrocatalysts based on non-noble metals, deposited onto a perforated nickel plate, have been investigated. Nickel sulphide at the cathode and spinel oxides based on nickel and/or cobalt at the anode were investigated. Multicells (1–5 kW) were assembled using the so called Inorganic-Membrane-Electrolyte (I.M.E.) Technology. Hydrogen is produced under pressure (0.3–0.5 MPa) and performances are measured at current densities up to 10 kAm −2 and temperatures up to 120° in 15 wt% NaOH. Cell voltages of 1.6 V at 90°C and 1.5 V at 120°C are obtained at 2 kAm −2. Due to the flat characteristic of the cell voltage-current density relationship, only a 0.2 V increase in cell voltage is observed when increasing the current density by a factor of 5 (from 2 kAm −2 to 10 kAm −5). Electrolyte concentrations could be lowered by a factor of two (from 30 wt% to 15 wt%) without any losses in cell performances, due to the intrinsic properties of the polyantimonic-acid based membrane. As a result of the successful laboratory research, a prototype electrolyser unit which produces 25 Nm 3 hydrogen per hour under 0.5 MPa pressure is under construction within the association Cobelcon (Consortium of Belgian Industries + S.C.K./C.E.N.).

Current Trends in Belgian Distribution Research

In this article, we want to report on evolutions in distribution and distribution research in Belgium. The purpose of the first part is to present some factual data on distribution in Belgium and to report on evolutions since the Second World War.

Belgian Research Prize Available

Belgian Research Prize Available

Why Belgium?

‘Why belgium?’ is the question that American and Belgian colleagues and friends have asked me recurrently since I began doing research in that society in 1959. Ever since then, Belgium has been one of the consistent sites of my sociological inquiry, reflection and analysis. (Zäire, Belgium's former colony in Central Africa, became another such site, beginning in 1962). With a mixture of real interest, conventional politeness, perplexity and, on the part of Belgians, a tinge of traditional irony, those who have followed my fieldwork have often wondered out loud what I was discovering and learning in that small society that could possibly preoccupy me for so many years. Through some of my publications on the sociology of Belgian medical science and research or, more accurately, on ‘Belgium through the windows of its medical laboratories’, I have implicitly responded to this question (1). And I have periodically speculated on it more privately in my fieldnotes, and in letters to friends. But I have never dealt with it in an explicit, public way. This article constitutes my first formal attempt to do so.

THE CYTOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF RUPTURED USING NILE BLUE SULPHATE STAINING.

BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & GynaecologyVolume 72, Issue 3 p. 342-346 THE CYTOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF RUPTURED MEMBRANES USING NILE BLUE SULPHATE STAINING I. Brosens M.D., I. Brosens M.D. Fellow of the Belgian Research Council (N.F.W.O.) Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W.I2Search for more papers by this authorH. Gordon M.B., F.R.C.S.(Ed.), M.R.C.O.G., H. Gordon M.B., F.R.C.S.(Ed.), M.R.C.O.G. Senior Registrar Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W.I2Search for more papers by this author I. Brosens M.D., I. Brosens M.D. Fellow of the Belgian Research Council (N.F.W.O.) Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W.I2Search for more papers by this authorH. Gordon M.B., F.R.C.S.(Ed.), M.R.C.O.G., H. Gordon M.B., F.R.C.S.(Ed.), M.R.C.O.G. Senior Registrar Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W.I2Search for more papers by this author First published: June 1965 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1965.tb01468.xCitations: 31AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume72, Issue3June 1965Pages 342-346 RelatedInformation