Fusion Properties Research Articles

Evaluation of the fusion and agglomeration properties of ashes from combustion of biomass, coal and their mixtures and the effects of K2CO3 additives

This study investigated the ash fusion and agglomeration characteristics of a Chinese bituminous, “Neimongol” (NM) coal, soybean straw (SS) material and their blends, as well as the effects of high biomass blending ratio (20–80 wt%) and the addition of K2CO3 (0–20 wt%) on the ash agglomeration propensity of the mixtures in a muffle furnace at 815 °C. The ash fusion and agglomeration characteristics of the fuel blends and their modified behaviours based on the blending ratio and flux were examined using ash fusion temperature (AFT) analysis, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The results indicated that, compared to Neimongol coal ash (NMA), the contents of SiO2 and Al2O3 in soybean straw ash (SSA) were lower, and the contents of basic oxides were higher, which was the main reason for the lower AFT of SSA. The AFT curves for the NM/SS blends showed a “bathtub” shaped trend with increasing SS mass ratios. For a given coal/biomass blend, XRD analysis indicated that for blends without added K2CO3, mineral phases were dominated by arcanite and quartz; with increasing SS mass ratios, the diffraction intensity of quartz decreased obviously. With increasing the K2CO3 additions, the content of potassium feldspars and sylvine in ash increased, and the quartz content decreased. The EDX analysis confirmed that the K2CO3 addition made it possible for kyanite and mullite to react with K-bearing minerals and form low melting point eutectics. The SEM images revealed that the fused particles in SSA were coated with KCl, whereas the NMA particles mostly contained aluminosilicate minerals. As the K2CO3 addition increased, the morphologies of the ashes from blends changed from slightly agglomerated to seriously slagged, and the molten and solidified zone on the slag surface featured high contents of sylvine, quartz, and potassium aluminosilicates.

Abstract 3479: Functional significance of ESR1 fusions with diverse gene partners in endocrine therapy resistant breast cancer

Abstract Emerging evidence suggests that ESR1 fusion transcripts that produce functional fusion proteins in estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer play a role in acquired endocrine therapy resistance. We recently reported two in-frame ESR1 fusion transcripts, ESR1-YAP1 and ESR1-PCDH11X, identified in patients with endocrine therapy resistant breast cancer. Both ESR1 fusions generated stable in-frame, fusion proteins that were transcriptionally active, driving endocrine therapy resistant proliferation and also promoting an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) transcriptional program leading to metastasis in experimental models. Here, we extend our studies by examining properties of additional ESR1 fusions with diverse partner genes, ESR1-DAB2, ESR1-GYG1, ESR1-SOX9, ESR1-ARNT2, ESR1-PCMT1, and ESR1-ARID1B, all identified in endocrine-refractory breast tumors, to better understand the role of ESR1fusion gene formation in endocrine therapy resistance. Structurally, ESR1-ARNT2, ESR1-PCMT1, and ESR1-ARID1B fusions retain the first 6 exons of ESR1, therefore lacking ESR1 exons encoding the ligand-binding domain (LBD) that endocrine therapies recognize, but are instead fused in-frame to C-terminal sequences from partner genes, which follows the same fusion pattern of previously identified ESR1-YAP1, ESR1-PCDH11X, ESR1-DAB2, ESR1-GYG1, and ESR1-SOX9 fusions. ESR1-ARNT2, ESR1-PCMT1, and ESR1-ARID1B constructs, along with ESR1-DAB2, ESR1-GYG1, and ESR1-SOX9 constructs were stably expressed in an ER+ breast cancer cell line, T47D, and all produced stable fusion proteins. ESR1-ARNT2 and ESR1-SOX9 promoted hormone-independent and fulvestrant-resistant cell proliferation that was sensitive to cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors, palbociclib and abemaciclib. In addition, ESR1-ARNT2 induced hormone-independent activation of estrogen responsive genes (TFF1, GREB1, and PGR), and EMT genes (SNAI1 and VCAN) along with upregulation of Snail protein. These results indicate that ESR1-ARNT2 and ESR1-SOX9 have similar functional and pharmacological properties to our previously described ESR1-YAP1 and ESR1-PCDH11X fusions. These data further support a role for ESR1 fusions in driving not only endocrine therapy resistance but also activating the metastatic process. Ongoing studies are examining the ability of ESR1 fusions to induce EMT phenotypes and to determine structure function relationships of ESR1 fusions. Although the formation of ESR1 fusions likely confers resistance to all endocrine therapies that target the LBD, ESR1 fusion driven growth remained sensitive to CDK4/6 inhibitor treatment therefore providing rationale for testing ESR1 fusion detection in guiding treatment with CDK4/6 monotherapy. Citation Format: Jonathan T. Lei, Xuxu Gou, Sinem Seker, Vaishnaivi Devorakonda, Kimberly R. Holloway, Adrian V. Lee, Dan R. Robinson, Matthew J. Ellis. Functional significance of ESR1 fusions with diverse gene partners in endocrine therapy resistant breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3479.

Effects of Nb and Mo on the microstructure and properties of 420 stainless steel processed by laser-powder bed fusion

Niobium (Nb) and molybdenum (Mo) are conventionally added to stainless steels to improve their mechanical and corrosion properties. However, the effects of Nb and Mo addition on the processing and properties in laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) have not been well investigated, especially in the context of 420 stainless steel. In this study, 420 stainless steel pre-alloyed with Nb (1.2 wt.%) and Mo (0.57 wt.%) was processed by L-PBF and characterized in terms of its physical, mechanical and corrosion properties as well as microstructure. The addition of Nb and Mo did not significantly affect the densification of 420 stainless steel when printed over an energy range of 28–75 J/mm3 and a maximum density of 99.3 ± 0.02% theoretical at 63 J/mm3 was achieved. In mechanical tests, L-PBF 420 stainless steel specimens exhibited higher mechanical properties in the presence of Nb and Mo. After heat treatment, the UTS of 420 stainless steel with Nb and Mo improved to 1750 ± 30 MPa and elongation to 9.0 ± 0.2%, much higher than previously reported properties achieved in L-PBF and exceeding wrought 420 stainless steel. The tempering of martensite phases as well as the presence of nanoscale NbC were found to correlate with improved mechanical properties. In electrochemical tests, 420 stainless steel exhibited slightly better corrosion properties with the addition of Nb and Mo.

A Scaffold- and Serum-Free Method to Mimic Human Stable Cartilage Validated by Secretome.

A stabilized cartilage construct without signs of hypertrophy in chondrocytes is still a challenge. Suspensions of adipose stem/stromal cells (ASCs) and cartilage progenitor cells (CPCs) were seeded into micromolded nonadhesive hydrogel to produce spheroids (scaffold- and serum-free method) characterized by size, immunohistochemistry, fusion, and biomechanical properties. After cell dissociation, they were characterized for mesenchymal cell surface markers, cell viability, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Both targeted and nontargeted (shotgun mass spectrometry) analyses were conducted on the culture supernatants. Induced ASC spheroids (ø = 350 μm) showed high cell viability and CD73 downregulation contrasting to CD90. The transforming growth factor (TGF)-β3/TGF-β1 ratio and SOX9 increased (p < 0.05), whereas interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, RUNX2, and ALPL decreased. Induced ASC spheroids were able to completely fuse and showed a higher force required to compression at day 14 (p < 0.0001). Strong collagen type II in situ was associated with gradual decrease of collagen type X and a lower COLXA1 gene expression at day 14 compared with day 7 (p = 0.0352). The comparison of the secretome content of induced and non-induced ASCs and CPCs identified 138 proteins directly relevant to chondrogenesis of 704 proteins in total. Although collagen X was absent, thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), described as antiangiogenic and antihypertrophic, and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), a biomarker of chondrogenesis, were upregulated in induced ASC spheroids. Our scaffold- and serum-free method mimics stable cartilage acting as a tool for biomarker discovery and for regenerative medicine protocols. Impact Statement Promising adult stem cell sources for cartilage regeneration include adipose stem/stromal cells (ASCs) from subcutaneous adipose tissue. Our main objective was the development of a reproducible and easy-to-handle scaffold- and serum-free method to obtain stable cartilage from induced ASC spheroids. In addition to targeted protein profiling and biomechanical analysis, we provide the first characterization of the secretome composition for ASC spheroids, providing a useful tool to monitor in vitro chondrogenesis and a noninvasive quality control of tissue-engineered constructs. Furthermore, our secretome analysis revealed a potential novel biomarker-thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), known by its antiangiogenic properties and recently described as an antihypertrophic protein.

Twisted fracton models in three dimensions

We study novel three-dimensional gapped quantum phases of matter which support quasiparticles with restricted mobility, including immobile "fracton" excitations. So far, most existing fracton models may be instructively viewed as generalized Abelian lattice gauge theories. Here, by analogy with Dijkgraaf-Witten topological gauge theories, we discover a natural generalization of fracton models, obtained by twisting the gauge symmetries. Introducing generalized gauge transformation operators carrying an extra phase factor depending on local configurations, we construct a plethora of exactly solvable three-dimensional models, which we dub "twisted fracton models." A key result of our approach is to demonstrate the existence of rich non-Abelian fracton phases of distinct varieties in a three-dimensional system with finite-range interactions. For an accurate characterization of these novel phases, the notion of being inextricably non-Abelian is introduced for fractons and quasiparticles with one-dimensional mobility, referring to their new behavior of displaying braiding statistics that is, and remains, non-Abelian regardless of which quasiparticles with higher mobility are added to or removed from them. We also analyze these models by embedding them on a three-torus and computing their ground state degeneracies, which exhibit a surprising and novel dependence on the system size in the non-Abelian fracton phases. Moreover, as an important advance in the study of fracton order, we develop a general mathematical framework which systematically captures the fusion and braiding properties of fractons and other quasiparticles with restricted mobility.

Mechanical properties of electro and butt fusion welded high-density polyethylene pipes

Abstract Electrofusion welding and butt fusion welding are common methods for joining polyethylene pipes used for water and gas distribution. Because of the wide use of these two methods in infrastructure engineering, welded pipe joints and pipe materials should be examined with the intent of reducing errors in projects. The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge of electrofusion and butt fusion welding methods and examine them in order to establish which offers the best performance for a specific engineering service project. Tensile and hydrostatic pressure tests are performed on un-welded and welded pipes for high-density polyethylene pipes. Additionally, a numerical analysis of the experimental results is conducted by employing the ANSYS program for tensile test samples. In tensile tests, according to the maximum average load, electrofusion welding values are larger than those of butt fusion welding and the elongations of the un-welded pipe at the fracture in butt fusion welding are greater than in electrofusion welding. For short-term hydrostatic pressure tests, the resistance in butt fusion welding for defects of roundness and alignment is better than that of electrofusion welding.

Fatigue behavior of additively manufactured 17-4 PH stainless steel: Synergistic effects of surface roughness and heat treatment

In this study, the synergistic effects of heat treatment and surface roughness on the microstructure and mechanical properties of laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) 17-4 precipitation hardening (PH) stainless steel (SS) were investigated under monotonic tensile and fatigue loading. Five different heat treatment procedures, with and without primary solution treating cycle, i.e. Condition A (CA), were applied on L-PBF specimens in both as-built and machined surface conditions. Monotonic tensile tests were conducted at a strain rate of 0.001 s−1 and, uniaxial fully-reversed (R = −1) strain-controlled fatigue tests were carried out at various strain amplitudes ranging from 0.001 to 0.004 mm/mm. The heat treatment procedures were found to have a significant effect on the microstructure and mechanical properties of L-PBF 17-4 PH SS with the CA thermal cycle improving the fatigue strength considerably. This is due to the more homogenized microstructure obtained after performing the CA thermal cycle. In addition, eliminating the effect of surface roughness by machining and polishing processes enhanced the fatigue strength of the material, somewhat comparable to the one of the wrought counterpart. Fractography analysis revealed surface micro-notches and internal pores as the primary crack initiating factors in the as-built and machined specimens, respectively.

Two Populations of Insulin Granules with Distinct Fusion Properties are Maintained by ABC Transporters ABCG1 and ABCA1

Release of insulin from pancreatic beta cells is ultimately triggered by increased intracellular calcium. Insulin is stored in secretory granules whose membranes are enriched in cholesterol and contain synaptotagmins that serve as calcium sensors for SNARE-mediated exocytosis. Previously, we showed that efficient storage and secretion of insulin rely on cholesterol-regulatory ATP binding cassette proteins, ABCG1 and ABCA1. Now, using stable cell lines that express proinsulin tagged with GFP and are deficient in either ABCG1 or ABCA1, we have addressed further the roles of the two transporters in secretion. We assessed the fusion of purified insulin granules to planar supported bilayers in vitro and the exocytotic response to graded cell depolarization in situ. For granules purified from control cells, titration of calcium during in vitro fusion uncovered two distinct populations of granules differing in calcium sensitivity. Strikingly, granules purified from ABCG1-deficient cells selectively lacked the high-sensitivity population while granules from ABCA1-deficient cells lacked the low-sensitivity population. Addition of cholesterol to cells before purification restored the missing granule populations. Comparative examination of our results to in vitro fusion of dense core vesicles from PC12 cells, in which we manipulated expression of synaptotagmin isoforms, enabled us to relate our high- and low-sensitivity granule populations to the presence of synaptotagmin-7 and −9, respectively. Our parallel efforts examining depolarization-driven exocytosis in cell culture using a bulk secretion assay and single vesicle TIRF microscopy showed that deficiency of ABCG1 selectively inhibited GFP release elicited by mild depolarizations while deficiency of ABCA1 inhibited release elicited by stronger depolarizations. Collectively, our data argue that insulinoma cells use ABCG1 and ABCA1 to maintain two populations of insulin granules with distinct synaptotagmin isoforms and consequently distinct fusion properties.

Fusion Properties of Gasified Fine Ash at High Temperature under Reducing Atmosphere. Part 2: Influence of Fe2O3

The slag blocking may occur during the equipment normal operation because of the iron phase separation in coal gasifier. However, as a kind of common fluxing material, the iron-based fluxes are alw...

Membrane Fusion Assays for Studying Entry Hepatitis C Virus into Cells.

The membrane fusion properties of HCV envelope glycoproteins can be evaluated using several assays. Fusion assays generally require contacts between glycoproteins expressed on a donor membrane, such as those from a cell or a viral particle, and an acceptor membrane that may or may not express cognate viral receptor, such as those from an indicator cell or a liposome. In this chapter, we describe three well-established methods in the field that use either cell surface expression of glycoproteins, HCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp), or cell culture-grown HCV (HCVcc) particles for donor membrane and cells or liposomes as acceptor membrane in which specific components can be included to monitor and quantify fusion. We provide details of cell-cell fusion assay, virus-liposome fusion assay, and finally virus-plasma membrane fusion assay. We also describe inhibitors that can block HCV envelope membrane fusion.

Comparison of Nano-Mechanical Behavior between Selective Laser Melted SKD61 and H13 Tool Steels

Using nanoindentation under various strain rates, the mechanical properties of a laser powder bed fusion (PBF) SKD61 at the 800 mm/s scan speed were investigated and compared to PBF H13. No obvious pile-up due to the ratio of the residual depth (hf) and the maximum depth (hmax) being lower than 0.7 and no cracking were observed on any of the indenter surfaces. The nanoindentation strain-rate sensitivity (m) of PBF SKD61 was found to be 0.034, with hardness increasing from 8.65 GPa to 9.93 GPa as the strain rate increased between 0.002 s−1 and 0.1 s−1. At the same scan speed, the m value of PBF H13 (m = 0.028) was lower than that of PBF SKD61, indicating that the mechanical behavior of PBF SKD61 was more critically affected by the strain rate compared to PBF H13. PBF processing for SKD61 therefore shows higher potential for advanced tool design than for H13.

Modified utilization of semi-sectioned tubes as filler coated with MWCNTs–TiO2 in TIG arc welding to recover fusion lost mechanical properties of the weldment

The loss of mechanical properties in heat treatable aluminum alloys categories during arc fusion welding processes is a critical issue, which limits the direct application in contrast to different post-treatments methods. This work involved a strategy for the novel and distinctive formation of fillers using 3-mm-diameter (AA6061) tubes having MWCNTs and TiO2 nanoparticles coating on the inner surface. A series of experiments were conducted using TIG welding to evaluate the effect of welding current and composition of inside coating (MWCNTs–TiO2) contents on welding strength. Three gradually increasing current values (160 A, 180 A and 200 A) were selected and tested against three combinations of nanocomposite coatings that include 1 wt% MWCNTs–TiO2, 1.5 wt% MWCNTs–TiO2 and 2 wt% MWCNTs–TiO2. Acceptable qualified bonding between nanocomposite and inside surface is utmost important before conducting the experiments, Tape Test (ASTM-D3359-09e2) was performed for the assessment of bonding conditions and led to qualitatively exceptional bonding conditions after applying vacuum heating cycle. Tensile test results have demonstrated a significant improvement of 34.20–45.65% strength using innovative nanocomposite coated semi-sectioned tube in comparison to tube fillers without coating. Meanwhile, a beneficial gradually forming W-shape microhardness profile in contrast to conventional U and V shape profiles was achieved at 1.5 and 2 wt% of MWCNTs, and the uplift of hardness in the WZ region up to 86.51% subjected to increase high MWCNTs contents in combination with the current. Therefore, it is concluded to be a virtuous strategy for reinforcing mechanism of weldments to encounter some fusion property loss in aluminum alloys.

Activin A/BMP2 Chimera (AB204) Exhibits Better Spinal Bone Fusion Properties than rhBMP2.

ObjectiveTo compare the spinal bone fusion properties of activin A/BMP2 chimera (AB204) with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein (rhBMP2) using a rat posterolateral spinal fusion model. MethodsThe study was designed to compare the effects and property at different dosages of AB204 and rhBMP2 on spinal bone fusion. Sixty-one male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent posterolateral lumbar spinal fusion using one of nine treatments during the study, that is, sham; osteon only; 3.0 μg, 6.0 μg, or 10.0 μg of rhBMP2 with osteon; and 1.0 μg, 3.0 μg, 6.0 μg, or 10.0 μg of AB204 with osteon. The effects and property on spinal bone fusion was calculated at 4 and 8 weeks after treatment using the scores of physical palpation, simple radiograph, micro-computed tomography, and immunohistochemistry. ResultsBone fusion scores were significantly higher for 10.0 μg AB204 and 10.0 μg rhBMP2 than for osteon only or 1.0 μg AB204. AB204 exhibited more prolonged osteoblastic activity than rhBMP2. Bone fusion properties of AB204 were similar with the properties of rhBMP2 at doses of 6.0 and 10.0 μg, but, the properties of AB204 at doses of 3.0 μg exhibited better than the properties of rhBMP2 at doses of 3.0 μg. ConclusionAB204 chimeras could to be more potent for treating spinal bone fusion than rhBMP2 substitutes with increased osteoblastic activity for over a longer period.

Fermionized parafermions and symmetry-enriched Majorana modes

Parafermion zero modes are generalizations of Majorana modes that underlie comparatively rich non-Abelian-anyon properties. We introduce exact mappings that connect parafermion chains, which can emerge in two-dimensional fractionalized media, to strictly one-dimensional fermionic systems. In particular, we show that parafermion zero modes in the former setting translate into 'symmetry-enriched Majorana modes' that intertwine with a bulk order parameter---yielding braiding and fusion properties that are impossible in standard Majorana platforms. Fusion characteristics of symmetry-enriched Majorana modes are directly inherited from the associated parafermion setup and can be probed via two kinds of anomalous pumping cycles that we construct. Most notably, our mappings relate $\mathbb{Z}_4$ parafermions to conventional electrons with time-reversal symmetry. In this case, one of our pumping protocols entails fairly minimal experimental requirements: Cycling a weakly correlated wire between a trivial phase and time-reversal-invariant topological superconducting state produces an edge magnetization with quadrupled periodicity. Our work highlights new avenues for exploring 'beyond-Majorana' physics in experimentally relevant one-dimensional electronic platforms.

Abstract 3776: Generation and formatting of an Affimer® biotherapeutic for the inhibition of the PD-L1/PD-1 pathway: Proof of concept in mouse

Abstract We have generated a range of potent Affimer antagonists to both human and mouse programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and have demonstrated that when formatted, possess the necessary affinity, pharmacokinetics (PK) and tissue penetration to modulate the immune system and demonstrate efficacy in mouse models. Affimer biotherapeutics are a new protein scaffold with great potential for the generation of biotherapeutics. Based on the human protease inhibitor Stefin A, the scaffold is small (12kDa), lacks any post translational modifications such as disulphide bonds and glycosylation. Large diverse phage display libraries have been created by engineering in two 9 amino acid peptide loops into the scaffold backbone. Using phage display, we have identified competitive binders to both mouse and human PD-L1 which are low single digit nM in affinity as determined by Biacore. By ELISA we have shown that the Affimer molecules identified compete against PD-1 and CD80 for the binding site on PD-L1 and bind to the target on a range of human cancer cell lines (e.g. lung adenocarcinoma cells), as demonstrated by FACs. Following formatting of the lead Affimer protein to the N-terminal Fc region of an IgG, we showed that we could further improve the affinity to give a KD of &amp;lt;40 pM as determined by Biacore. The PK properties of the Affimer-Fc fusion were determined in mouse dosed at 10 mg/kg and shown to have a terminal half-life of over 100 hours. When dosed in a tumor mouse model the Affimer-Fc fusion protein showed a statistically significant reduction in tumor volume when compared to a control antibody. We have demonstrated that the Affimer scaffold has all the necessary attributes to be developed as a therapeutic platform. The Affimer scaffold was well tolerated in vivo, demonstrated a potency and PK profile that ensured sufficient exposure in the animal to modulate the immune system to slow tumor progression in a relevant mouse model. Citation Format: Amrik Basran, Emma Stanley. Generation and formatting of an Affimer® biotherapeutic for the inhibition of the PD-L1/PD-1 pathway: Proof of concept in mouse [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3776.

Fabrication and Characterization of Fluorinated Polyimides (PI) Films with Improved Hydrophobic Property

There is a demand for composite films with excellent hydrophobic properties in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) physics experiments. In this paper, we prepared fluorinated polyimide hydrophobic films using spinning and plasma etching methods. The experimental results indicate that the water contact angle for the perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (PFTS) treatment polyimide (PI) film is 112.0[Formula: see text], which is larger than the pure PI film [Formula: see text]. The rap oil contact angle is 84.2[Formula: see text], which is also much larger than the contact angle of PI film [Formula: see text]. Moreover, the surface roughness of the prepared films was measured by white light interferometry (WLI). The surface roughness (Ra) of pure PI is 9.79[Formula: see text]nm, but with the application of FSiO2 particles, the Ra of the films increases to 65.05[Formula: see text]nm. After plasma treatment, the Ra of the PI/FSiO2 composite film increases to 186.71[Formula: see text]nm because plasma treatment can scratch the film surface and increase its roughness. However, treating the PI/FSiO2 composite film with the plasma and PFTS, the Ra is only 88.90[Formula: see text]nm. This decrease in Ra is due to the PFTS, which is able to reduce the surface roughness. The development of composite films, compared to pure PI films, could prove to be an extremely valuable material in ICF experiments.

Extended Hildebrand solubility approach applied to sulphadiazine, sulphamerazine and sulphamethazine in some {1-propanol (1) + water (2)} mixtures at 298.15 K

ABSTRACTExtended Hildebrand solubility approach (EHSA) was applied in this research to analyse the equilibrium solubility of sulphadiazine, sulphamerazine and sulphamethazine in some {1-propanol (1) + water (2)} mixtures at 298.15 K. Reported experimental solubilities and some fusion properties of these drugs were used for EHSA calculations. A good predictive character of EHSA (with mean deviations lower than 4.0%) was found by using regular polynomials in order five when correlating the interaction parameter (W) and the Hildebrand solubility parameter of solvent mixtures free of drug (δ1+2). Nevertheless, the predictive character of EHSA was almost the same as obtained when logarithmic drug solubilities (log x3) were correlated with δ1+2 by using a fifth-degree regular polynomial.

The Effect of Interfacial Polysilane Coating on Heat Fusion Properties of Polypropylene

The Effect of Interfacial Polysilane Coating on Heat Fusion Properties of Polypropylene

Study of wax disappearance temperature using multi-solid thermodynamic model

Wax deposition inside pipeline and process equipment is a major problem in oil industry. In this study, a multi-solid thermodynamic model was developed to predict wax disappearance temperature (WDT). Paraffinic–naphthenic–aromatic (PNA) analysis was performed and two correlations were introduced for fusion properties of these species. In addition, WDT of 12 Iranian oil and condensate samples were measured using viscometry and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. Experimental data of multi-component and ternary systems were utilized for validation of the model. It was observed that measured WDT by viscometry method is higher compared to DSC. Statistics analysis shows that DSC technique has lower average absolute relative error (AARE) and standard uncertainty compared to viscometry. Results show that the AARE of the model for ternary systems is 0.52% which is much lower among the previous developed thermodynamic models. In addition, AARE of the new model for 68 data was calculated about 0.23%, and R-square of model prediction was calculated about 0.97. The cumulative distribution function also indicates that P50 values are almost the same for model and experimental data. These results show that the model has a good accuracy. In addition, the accuracy of model increases as the average carbon number of oil mixtures increases. Finally, it was found that PNA analysis and distribution of each component in its sub-fractions have a considerable effect on the model accuracy.

Impact of complex reacting atmosphere on ash fusion characteristics and minerals conversion in coal combustion process

ABSTRACTThe surrounding atmosphere of coal particles changes continually during the combustion process in pulverized coal boilers. A part of noncombustible mineral composition in char will be melted under high temperature and then leads to the plugging of pores in char. The O2 molecule used for combustion is hard to diffuse into the inside of char. However, the investigation on ash fusion properties of coal in real combustion atmosphere is still ambiguous. In the present study, the ash fusion temperatures (AFTs) of high Fe coal and low Fe coal were tested under complex atmospheres, which simulated the real condition during coal particles combustion. The ash samples were prepared at 1373 K in the typical conditions and then analyzed by X-ray diffraction to explain the conversion of minerals. In addition, the chemical equilibrium compositions calculations were carried out to obtain the transformation of atmosphere-sensitive Fe species with the atmosphere change. Results indicated that the AFTs reached the lowest point in a weak reducing atmosphere (N2:CO:CO2 = 80%:5%:15%). The Fe2O3 species existed in the ash that prepared in oxidizing atmosphere were reduced due to small quality of CO in weak reducing atmosphere and then formed the Fe2+ compounds with lower melting temperature. If the concentration of CO increases, the Fe2+ compounds would be reduced continually, which would convert into elemental Fe with relatively high melting temperature. Compared with the low iron coal, the AFTs of the high iron coal reduced more obviously, when oxidizing atmosphere turned into weak reducing atmosphere.