H2 pressure swing adsorption for IGCC power plant and techno-economic analysis of integrating PSA to IGCC with carbon capture

Carbon capture and sequestration technologies emerge as the effectual remediation processes to reduce CO2 emissions from coal power plants. Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is a representative technology for utilizing coal as feedstock and is consequently playing a more important role to cover the global energy demand. The IGCC produces H2-rich mixture at high pressures (30-35 bar) after capturing CO2. It is reported that the high purity H2 recovered from the IGCC process can be economically supplied to a hydrogen turbine or fuel cell. And a PSA process is a strong candidate to produce high purity H2 from the IGCC effluent gas. However, due to higher operating pressure than the present H2 PSA processes, reducing the operating costs and efficiency has emerged as one of the key issues. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Continuous phase-shift lithography with a roll-type mask and application to transparent conductor fabrication

We report the development of a near-field optical nanolithography method using a roll-type phase-shift mask. Sub-wavelength resolution is achieved using near-field exposure of photoresist through a cylindrical phase mask, allowing dynamic and high throughput continuous patterning. As an application, we present the fabrication of a transparent electrode in the form of a metallic wire grid by using the roller-based optical lithography method. To fabricate a mesh-type metal pattern, a specific phase-shift mask was designed and critical experimental parameters were also studied. As a result, a transparent conductor with suitable properties was achieved with a recently built cylindrical phase-shift lithography prototype designed to pattern on 100 mm 2 of substrate area.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98604/1/0957-4484_23_34_344008.pd

Bioinspired reversible hydrogel adhesives for wet and underwater surfaces

Stable and reversible adhesion to wet surfaces is challenging owing to water molecules at the contact interface. In this study, we develop a hydrogel-based wet adhesive, which can exhibit strong and reversible adhesion to wet and underwater surfaces as well as to dry surfaces. The remarkable wet adhesion of the hydrogel adhesive is realized based on a synergetic integration of bioinspired microarchitectures and water-friendly and water-absorbing properties of the polymeric hydrogel. Under dry conditions, the microstructured hydrogel adhesive exhibits strong van der Waals interaction-based adhesion, while under underwater conditions, it can maximize capillary adhesion. Consequently, the hydrogel adhesive exhibits remarkable adhesion strengths for dry, moist, and submerged substrates. Maximum normal and shear adhesion strengths of 423 and 384, 492 and 340, and 253 and 21 kPa are achieved with the hydrogel adhesive for dry, moist, and submerged substrates, respectively. Our results demonstrate that strong wet and underwater adhesion can be achieved only with the hydrogel-based adhesive with simple microscale architecture

Effect of leaning angle of gecko-inspired slanted polymer nanohairs on dry adhesion

We present analysis of adhesion properties of angled polymer nanohairs with a wide range of leaning angles from 0?? to 45?? and ultraviolet (UV)-curable polyurethane acrylate (PUA) materials of two different elastic moduli (19.8 and 320 MPa). It is demonstrated that shear adhesion and adhesion hysteresis can be greatly enhanced by increasing the leaning angle of nanohairs both for soft and hard materials due to increased contact area and reduced structural stiffness.open211

Hippocampal sclerosis and encephalomalacia as prognostic factors of tuberculous meningitis-related and herpes simplex encephalitis-related epilepsy

AbstractBackgroundTuberculous meningitis (TBM) and herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) are common neurological diseases involving the brain parenchyma, and both can result in chronic epilepsy. Here, we identified possible variables affecting the prognosis of central nervous system (CNS) infection-related epilepsy.MethodsThe clinical seizure characteristics and demographic data of 20 TBM- and 55 HSE-related epilepsy patients were compared. Statistically significant prognostic variables were identified using multiple regression analysis.ResultsSex, age at infection, age at epilepsy onset, presence of seizures at the time of infection, latency period, and seizure characteristics between two groups were similar except for the pattern of brain lesions observed on the MRI and their overall prognosis. Patients with hippocampal sclerosis (HS) only comprised 30% and 52.7% of the TBM and HSE groups, respectively. Encephalomalacia had a positive effect in the HSE group while HS had a negative effect in this group, but no significant effects were found in the TBM group. Through a multiple regression analysis with a correction for group effects, HS was associated with a poor prognosis. However, encephalomalacia was concomitantly associated with a good prognosis. In addition, a short latency period, with a one-year interval, and being male were both associated with a good prognosis, while the age at the onset of epilepsy was associated with a poor prognosis.ConclusionsThis study suggests that HS and encephalomalacia could have mutual but contradictory effects on the prognosis of CNS infection-related epilepsy