Carbon Dioxide Separation with Supported Ionic Liquid Membranes

A practical form of CO2 capture at water-gas shift conditions in the IGCC process could serve the dual function of producing a pure CO2 stream for sequestration and forcing the equilibrium-limited shift reaction to completion enriching the stream in H2. The shift temperatures, ranging from the low temperature shift condition of 260°C to the gasification condition of 900°C, limit capture options by diminishing associative interactions which favor removal of CO2 from the gas stream. Certain sorption interactions, such as carbonate formation, remain available but generally involve exceptionally high sorbent regeneration energies that contribute heavily to parasitic power losses. Carbon dioxide selective membranes need only establish an equilibrium between the gas phase and sorption states in order to transport CO2, giving them a potential energetic advantage over other technologies. Supported liquid membranes take advantage of high, liquid phase diffusivities and a solution diffusion mechanism similar to that observed in polymeric membranes to achieve superior permeabilities and selectivites. The primary shortcoming of the supported liquid membranes demonstrated in past research has been the lack of stability caused by volatilization of the transport liquid. Ionic liquids, which possess high CO2 solubility relative to light gases such as H2, are excellent candidates for this type of membrane since they have negligible vapor pressure and are not susceptible to evaporation. A study has been conducted evaluating the use of ionic liquids including 1-hexyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bis(trifuoromethylsulfonyl)imide in supported ionic liquid membranes for the capture of CO2 from streams containing H2. In a joint project, researchers at the University of Notre Dame synthesized and characterized ionic liquids, and researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory incorporated candidate ionic liquids into supports and evaluated the resulting materials for membrane performance. Improvements to the ionic liquid and support have allowed testing of these supported ionic liquid membranes at temperatures up to 300°C without loss of support mechanical stability or degradation of the ionic liquid. Substantial improvements in selectivity have also been observed at elevated temperature with the best membrane currently achieving optimum performance at 75°C

Perfluorinated compounds: emerging POPs with potential immunotoxicity

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have been recognized as an important class of environmental contaminants commonly detected in blood samples of both wildlife and humans. These compounds have been in use for more than 60 years as surface treatment chemicals, polymerization aids, and surfactants. They possess a strong carbon-fluorine bond, which leads to their environmental persistence. There is evidence from both epidemiology and laboratory studies that PFCs may be immunotoxic, affecting both cell-mediated and humoral immunity. Reported effects of PFCs include decreased spleen and thymus weights and cellularity, reduced specific antibody production, reduced survival after influenza infection, and altered cytokine production. Immunosuppression is a critical effect associated with exposure to PFCs, as it has been reported to reduce antibody responses to vaccination in children. Mounting evidence suggests that immunotoxicity in experimental animals can occur at serum concentrations below, within, or just above the reported range for highly exposed humans and wildlife. Considering bioaccumulation and exposure to multiple PFCs, the risk of immunotoxicity for humans and wildlife cannot be discounted. This review will discuss current and recently published work exploring the immunomodulatory effects of PFCs in experimental animals and humans

Synthesis and reactivity ratios of regioisomeric vinyl-1,2,3-triazoles with styrene

The free radical reactivity ratios between styrene and different vinyl-1,2,3-triazole regioisomeric monomers in 1,4-dioxane at 65 degrees C have been established using nonlinear least square method. The results obtained for the reactivity ratio between regioisomers show exceptionally different polymerization behavior, highlighting the effects of the electronic and steric factors of these regioisomeric monomers. The experimental results highlight the effects of the electronic and sterics on the copolymerization behavior. In case of 1,4-vinyl-triazoles, it was found that without the steric effects, the reactivity is very similar to that of styrene and forms random copolymers. However, it was found that 1,5-vinyl-triazoles are more reactive than 1,4-vinyl triazoles. In the case of styrene-co-1,4-vinyl-1,2,3-triazoles, the reactivity ratios were calculated to be r(styrene): r(1-octyl-4-vinyl-triazole)=1.97:0.54, r(styrene) : r(1-benzyl-4-vinyl-triazole)=1.62:0.50, and r(styrene): r(1-methyl-4-vinyl-triazole)=0.90:0.87. On the other hand, reactivity ratios for styrene-co-1,5-vinyl-1,2,3-triazoles were found to be r(styrene): r(1-octyl-5-vinyl-triazole)=0.13:0.66 and r(styrene): r(1-benzyl-5-vinyl-triazole)=0.34:0.49. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3359-336

The magnetized steel and scintillator calorimeters of the MINOS experiment

The Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS) experiment uses an accelerator-produced neutrino beam to perform precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters in the "atmospheric neutrino" sector associated with muon neutrino disappearance. This long-baseline experiment measures neutrino interactions in Fermilab's NuMI neutrino beam with a near detector at Fermilab and again 735 km downstream with a far detector in the Soudan Underground Laboratory in northern Minnesota. The two detectors are magnetized steel-scintillator tracking calorimeters. They are designed to be as similar as possible in order to ensure that differences in detector response have minimal impact on the comparisons of event rates, energy spectra and topologies that are essential to MINOS measurements of oscillation parameters. The design, construction, calibration and performance of the far and near detectors are described in this paper. © 2008 Elsevier B.V

The magnetized steel and scintillator calorimeters of the MINOS experiment

The Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS) experiment uses an accelerator-produced neutrino beam to perform precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters in the "atmospheric neutrino" sector associated with muon neutrino disappearance. This long-baseline experiment measures neutrino interactions in Fermilab's NuMI neutrino beam with a near detector at Fermilab and again 735 km downstream with a far detector in the Soudan Underground Laboratory in northern Minnesota. The two detectors are magnetized steel-scintillator tracking calorimeters. They are designed to be as similar as possible in order to ensure that differences in detector response have minimal impact on the comparisons of event rates, energy spectra and topologies that are essential to MINOS measurements of oscillation parameters. The design, construction, calibration and performance of the far and near detectors are described in this paper

Measurement of neutrino velocity with the MINOS detectors and NuMI neutrino beam

The velocity of a ∼3GeV neutrino beam is measured by comparing detection times at the near and far detectors of the MINOS experiment, separated by 734 km. A total of 473 far detector neutrino events was used to measure (v-c)/c=5.1±2.9×10-5 (at 68% C.L.). By correlating the measured energies of 258 charged-current neutrino events to their arrival times at the far detector, a limit is imposed on the neutrino mass of mν<50MeV/c2 (99% C.L.). © 2007 The American Physical Society