The dry removal process of sulphur dioxide from flue gases using aluminum oxide

Oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide and absorption on aluminum oxide pellet as a mean of removing sulfur dioxide from flue gas was studied in a packed bed reactor at various temperatures, residence times, SO2 inlet concentrations (ppm level), and particle sizes. Three different experiments were conducted: (i) sulfation with oxygen/ozone, (ii) sulfation with oxygen only in the presence of UV radiation ( 254 nm or 366 nm ), (iii) sulfation with oxygen only. In all the experiments substantial absorption of sulfur dioxide by alumina pellet was observed. Sulfation with oxygen/ozone give the highest absorption of SO2, followed by sulfation with oxygen in the presence of UV radiation, while sulfation with oxygen only had the lowest absorption. In all these experiments, the absorption of SO2 decreases with increasing SO2 concentration, increases with increasing residence time, and increases with decreasing particle size. At SO2 concentration of 8,352 ppm, residence time of 0.018 sec., and particle size of 0.3175 cm, sulfation with oxygen/ozone and sulfation with oxygen only in the presence of UV radiation attain maximum absorption at about 275°C, whereas sulfation with oxygen only attains maximum absorption at about 640°C

Isospin mass splittings of heavy baryons in HQS

In this paper, the electromagnetic mass differences of heavy hadrons are discussed, while ignoring the relevant hyperfine interactions. The effects of one-photon exchange interaction and up-down quark mass difference are parameterized. Two mass difference equations 2\Sigma_c^+ - (\Sigma_c^{++} + \Sigma_c^0) = 2\Sigma_b^0 - (\Sigma_b^+ + \Sigma_b^-) and (\Xi_{cc}^+ - \Xi_{cc}^{++}) + (\Xi_{bb}^- - \Xi_{bb}^{0}) =2(\Xi_{bc}^0 - \Xi_{bc}^{+}) for the heavy baryons are obtained. In addition, the masses of \Sigma_b^0, \Xi_b^0, and \Xi_{cc}^{++} are predicted based on the known experimental data.Comment: 13 pages, 1 table. one section added. version accepted by Phys.Rev.

The Impacts of Liberalization and Privatization in Taiwanese Electric Industry

Taiwanese electric industry with liberalization has been a rapid change in the management style and the working environment. The change of the working environment has made a notable impact on the working conditions and the job security of the employees. This paper presents a brief literature review of the influences of liberalization and privatization on workers attitudes and proposes six overarching factors of importance to workers. These factors are: (1) the safeguarding of workers’ rights and interests (2) compensation of potential loss (3) communication (4) leadership trusts and employee consultation (5) participation of employees and the labor union (6) encouragement to learn and to cultivate a second specialty. These factors are developed as a framework which could serve to help decision-makers and leaders with useful strategies in the privatization process

A SCADA System for Mobile Industry

Taiwanese mobile telecom industry encounters the difficult of operation and management due to the dispersing of mobile stations and telecom system in different areas. Therefore it is the important policy for mobile industry that how to draft an effective operation method and to drop the cost of management and human resource. The aim of this research is to study the operation and management cost reduction of the mobile industry through the supervisor control and data acquisition (SCADA) system application during globalization, privatization and liberalization competition. Results indicated that the SCADA system has been highly willing to mobile industry in the development of power supply quality and to drop the operation and management cost. Also this research aims at measuring the benefit on SCADA system and to provide decision-makers with useful operation and management strategies as reference

Overweight and Obesity-related Metabolic Disorders in Hospital Employees

BackgroundObesity is associated with metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases. This study investigated the relationship between overweight and obese status and the incidence of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and hyperuricemia.MethodsThis prospective cohort study comprised 1749 hospital employees who received baseline health check-ups in 1993. Data from the 1027 participants (832 women, 195 men; mean age, 36 ± 7 years) who repeated check-ups in 2003 were used in the analysis. Relative risks (RRs) for development of metabolic disorders during follow-up associated with different body mass index (BMI) categories at baseline as defined by Asia-Pacific recommendations and the Department of Health in Taiwan were calculated after adjustment for covariates.ResultsThe prevalence of overweight and obesity at baseline check-up were 17.6% and 14.5%, respectively. Obese subjects with baseline BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 had a significant multivariate-adjusted RR of 2.7 for hypertension, 14.8 for type 2 diabetes, 3.2 for hypertriglyceridemia, and 2.8 for hyperuricemia, compared to subjects with baseline BMI < 23.0 kg/m2. RR for diabetes was higher in women than in men, but RR for hypertriglyceridemia was higher in men. The risks of hypertension and hyperuricemia significantly increased for subjects with baseline BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2, while RRs for type 2 diabetes increased significantly for baseline BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2 and hypertriglyceridemia increased for baseline BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2. The risks attributable to obesity (baseline BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) were 23.0% for hypertension, 70.8% for diabetes, 27.9% for hypertriglyceridemia, and 24.1% for hyperuricemia.ConclusionThis study revealed that a high prevalence of overweight and obesity was associated with significantly increased risk of development of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia and hyperuricemia in hospital employees, suggesting the need for programs to improve weight management