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A high voltage DC power supply for the cathode of the 8.56 GHz CW klystron has been set up for electron cyclotron heating (ECH) in steady state tokamak operation on QUEST spherical tokamak. The power supply is equipped with an IGBT array and a reactor for fast shutoff of the voltage in 10 μs, where the influx of electric energy at the short circuit is limited to 5 J. AC switches also have been installed in the three-phase power lines. High voltage relays are useful to save electric energy consumption. Fast three-phase AC switching by IGBT-stack is applicable to reduce the electric load of the components of the klystron power supply.

A degradative solvent extraction at around 350°C for low-rank coal or biomass wastes upgrading and fractionation was proposed in our previous work. The extraction yield of low-rank coal is relatively lower than that of biomass. In this work the blends of low-rank coal and biomass were treated by this method at 350°C to investigate the interaction between them. The results showed that the yields and elemental compositions of the extracts obtained from the blends were slight different to the calculated results, which were calculated by assuming that there was no interaction between the coal and biomass. The slight promotion of yield was judged to be caused by the catalytic action of the minerals in the coal for thermal decomposition of biomass. It was worth to note that the elemental composition, molecular weight distribution, chemical structure, thermal decomposition behavior and thermoplastic behavior of the extracts obtained from low-rank coal, biomass and their blend, were rather similar to each other, independent of the properties of the raw feedstocks. Overall, the interaction between low-rank coal and biomass during the extraction was not significant. On the other hand, the proposed degradative solvent extraction method was fit not only by single low-rank coal and biomass but also by their blends to produce the product having similar physicochemical properties. This implied that an industrial system of degradative solvent extraction can use coal, biomass or their blends as feedstock at the same time without modification or adjustment.

The authors have proposed a degradative solvent extraction method to dewater, upgrade and separate low-rank coals to upgraded coal, high molecular weight extract (Deposit), low molecular weight extract (Soluble), and a little amount of liquid and gas products. For the practical application of this extraction method, the solvent must be recycled. Furthermore, the separation of the Soluble and solvent, which was implemented by distillation, consumed much energy and added the cost of the whole system significantly. In order to solve these issues, the utilization of the Soluble and solvent as the recycled mixture solvent was proposed and investigated in this work. The results showed that the yields of the Deposit increased by more than two times with the mixture solvent recycle, and got almost stable after 5–7 extraction cycles. This made up for the loss of the part of the extraction product (Soluble) to a large extent. Furthermore, the ratios of O/C, N/C, and S/C of the Deposit decreased with the mixture solvent recycle, indicating that the Deposit was further upgraded. The aromaticity and reactivity of the Deposit decreased and increased with the mixture solvent recycle, respectively. The Cal/Car of the Deposits ranged from 0.35 to 0.84. The ash content of the Deposit increased slightly from 0.25% to 0.29%, and then got almost constant after 4 times of the mixture solvent recycle. Only 0.2–0.4% of the main inorganic elements were transformed from raw coal to the Deposit. The main inorganic elements in the Deposit were Si, Al and Fe. The relatively high contents of some inorganic elements in the Deposit were caused by their high contents and existing form in the raw coal. Thus, it was showed that using the Soluble and solvent as recycled mixture solvent is a feasible way for the practical application of the degradative solvent extraction of low-rank coals.

The degradative solvent extraction (DSE) has been found to be an effective method to convert and upgrade biomass wastes into high-quality extracts with various applications. However, the reaction pathways and kinetics of this DSE process are still not clear and need to be clarified. Hence, in this study, the biomass was treated in 1-methylnaphthalene at various conditions (300–350 °C and 0–90 min) by the DSE method and separated into five products: residue (unreacted biomass), two extracts (deposit and soluble), liquid, and gas. A lumped reaction model was proposed to simulate this biomass DSE process. The kinetic parameters were estimated by the least squares fit based on the experimental data and the model, which was optimized by the MATLAB optimization program. The results showed that the proposed model was valid and well-capable of describing the biomass DSE process. It can be concluded that different conversion pathways existed at 300 and 350 °C. At 300 °C, the dominant reactions were the conversion ...

The rapid depletion of fossil fuels has attracted more attention being geared toward the fast pyrolysis of biomass to produce bio-oils. However, the produced bio-oils usually contain high water, oxygen, and acid contents and low calorific values, which have limited their wide application. Therefore, in this study, a novel two-stage method combining degradative solvent extraction with subsequent pyrolysis was proposed to improve the quality of derived bio-oils. The raw biomass was initially dewatered and deoxygenated using a degradative solvent extraction method to obtain a low-molecular-weight extract (named “Soluble”). The Solubles were then pyrolyzed at 500 °C to prepare bio-oils. The carbon contents and calorific values of bio-oils produced from the Solubles were as high as 90.09% and 44.63 MJ/kg, respectively, which were 1.5–2.0 times higher than those from the raw biomasses. In addition, the water and oxygen contents of bio-oils from the Solubles were significantly lower than the bio-oils from the ra...

The practical use of carbon fibers is limited by their high price mainly due to the high price of precursors. We have examined a high temperature solvent extraction method to prepare carbon fiber precursors from low-rank coals and biomass, using a lignite from Australia and rice straw. 1-methylnaphthalene at 350 °C was used for the extraction and some of the extract in the solvent was precipated at room temperature. The soluble fractions at room temperature were obtained for use as the precursors by solvent evaporation. They were spun into fibers by a centrifuge spinning system and were then were extracted by cyclohexane to increase the softening point, stabilized by a temperature-programmed thermal treatment in air from 80 °C to 330 °C and carbonized at 1 000 °C for 1 h in N 2 to obtain carbon fibers. The carbon and oxygen contents of the final carbon fibers were 92 and 6.0 wt%, respectively, similar to those of commercial carbon fibers. The fiber diameter was around 4-6 µm. The soluble fractions were found to be promising low-cost precursors for carbon fibers.

The plasma current is ramped up primarily by a 28 GHz electron cyclotron wave (ECW) in the Q-shu University experiment Steady-State Spherical Tokamak (QUEST), with multiple harmonic resonance layers from the second to the fourth stay in the plasma core. A steering antenna comprising two quasi-optical mirrors enhances the power density of ECWs. The ECW beam is injected obliquely from the low-field side where the parallel refractive index is N ∥ = 0.75 at the second-harmonic resonance layer. Analysis of the resonance condition has found that energetic electrons moving forward along the magnetic field resonate more effectively than those moving backward. Such symmetry breaking is consistent with the results of the current ramp-up experiment. The peak plasma current reaches I p > 70 kA, constantly injecting a beam of radio frequency power of 100 kW. Ray-tracing by the TASK/WR code demonstrates that the power of the 28 GHz extraordinary mode is absorbed by energetic electrons via single-pass cyclotron absorption.

We have recently proposed a novel and effective degradative solvent extraction method to upgrade and convert various types of biomass feedstocks into high-grade carbonaceous materials under rather mild conditions. The feasibility of this method has been preliminarily proven in our previous work. However, the conversion mechanism of this process remains unknown. Hence, in this study the conversion process of the degradative solvent extraction of biomass was investigated in detail. A typical biomass (fir sawdust) was treated in 1-methylnaphthalene at 350 °C with the residence time from 0 to 90 min. Three solid products, which were the fraction soluble in the solvent at room temperature (termed Soluble), the fraction soluble in the solvent at treatment temperature but insoluble at room temperature (Deposit) and the unextractable fraction (Residue), were obtained. The products were then characterized by various analysis methods in detail. The oxygen, carbon and minerals in the raw biomass were mainly recovered as CO2/H2O, Deposit/Soluble, and Residue, respectively. With the residence time increasing from 0 to 45 min, the soluble yields increased obviously but the deposit yields decreased significantly. The yield variations of the Solubles and Deposits obtained at residence time longer than 45 min were not significant. The chemical structure and properties of Solubles were independent of the residence time, while those of Deposits varied obviously with residence time. According to the results, the conversion process of the degradative solvent extraction of biomass was proposed. The process can be divided into two stages. The first stage took place at heating up stage from 250 to 350 °C and the beginning of the isothermal stage at 350 °C. In this stage, the thermal extraction, deoxygenation and aromatization reactions of the raw biomass occurred significantly. The main product was Deposit. The oxygen was removed as CO2 and H2O. At the second stage, the Deposit was further deoxygenated and converted into Soluble. In this stage, the Deposit underwent complex reactions, such as the cleavages of oxygen containing cross-links and slight aromatization reactions. The oxygen was mainly removed as H2O at the second stage.

It is well-known that too much tar formed is one of the most urgent problems for the biomass gasification process. In our previous work, it was found the pressurized torrefaction can effectively improve the fuel property of the biomass. In this paper, the effect of torrefaction pretreatments under atmospheric pressure (AP), gas pressure (GP), and mechanical pressure (MP) at 200–300 °C on biomass gasification was studied. It was found that the O/C value and higher heating value of the GP semi-char were as low as 0.27 and as high as 26.2 MJ/kg, respectively. The fixed carbon content of the GP semi-char was higher than those of the other two semi-chars. The GP torrefaction significantly reduced the tar formation during the biomass gasification compared to AP and MP torrefactions. Also, the H2 and CO yields of GP semi-char gasification were much higher than those of AP and MP semi-chars and raw biomass. Thus, the GP torrefaction was the most effective method for the gasification tar reduction and gasification...

The authors have recently proposed a novel degradative solvent extraction method that upgrades and fractionates various types of low-rank coals or biomass wastes into several different molecular weight fractions at around 350 °C. The lowest molecular weight fraction that was recovered as solid (termed soluble) by the yield of 19.4–71.7 wt % on a carbon basis had unique and almost raw-material-independent properties: almost free from ash and moisture, average molecular weight of around 300, carbon content of as high as 81.5–84.8 wt %, and oxygen content of as low as 6.5–12.1 wt %. In this work, the combination of the proposed extraction method and the liquefaction of the soluble under mild conditions was investigated as a two-stage liquefaction method to produce liquid fuel. A rice straw (RS) and a brown coal (LY) were extracted by the proposed extraction method to produce solubles by the yields of 31.5 and 21.7 wt %, respectively. The solubles produced were then liquefied at 400 °C using FeOOH/sulfur as t...

We have recently proposed a degradative solvent extraction method to upgrade and fractionate various types of low-rank coals by a nonpolar solvent at temperatures below 350 °C. The main products obtained are solvent-soluble fractions (extracts) and an insoluble fraction, which we call “upgraded coal (UC)”. The UC samples were prepared from eight low-rank coals and one bituminous coal in this work. It was found that the gasification reactivities of the UC chars prepared from seven coals of the eight low-rank coals were larger than those of the raw coal chars. The CO2 gasification rates of the UC chars prepared from an Australian brown coal, Loy Yang (LY/UC), and an Australian bituminous coal, Gregory (GR/UC), were surprisingly larger than the gasification rates of the corresponding raw coal chars by 2.4–1.9 times. The mechanism of gasification reactivity enhancement was examined from the viewpoints of the catalytic effect of coal inherent minerals, pore surface area, and carbon structure of the chars. The ...

Dehydration and upgrading are essential pretreatment methods for efficient utilization of low-rank coal. In previous works the authors employed degradative solvent extraction method to dehydrate and upgrade low-rank coals and fractionate them into several fractions. For further study of this method, two low-rank coals (MM and LY) were pretreated by acid washing for demineralization or acid washing and Na/Co ion-exchange. The pretreated and raw coals were then extracted by 1-methylnaphthalene (1-MN) at 350°C and fractionated into upgraded coal (UC), high molecular weight extract (deposit), low molecular weight extract (soluble), as well as a little H 2 O and gas products. The results show that both acid washing and ion-exchange enhance the yields and carbon contents of the two extracts. Ion-exchange obviously promotes the removal of oxygen-containing functional group during extraction. The yield of high molecular weight extract of demineralized MM increases from 3.5% to 9.5%, and the carbon content and oxygen content of low molecular weight extract of Na ion-exchanged LY are as high as 85.3% and less than 6.4%, respectively. Ion-exchange has a distinct influence on physical and chemical properties of the extracts. The influence of Na ion-exchange is especially remarkable. Thus, demineralization and ion-exchange have evident promotion for the degradative solvent extraction of low-rank coal.

With the aim at understanding the self-ignition mechanism of low-rank coals, low-temperature oxidation behaviors of three coals were investigated by measuring the weight change, gas formation rate, heat generation rate, and change of functional groups during the oxidation at the heating rate of 5 K/min in a helium stream containing 22% oxygen. Detailed examination of the initial stage of oxidation below 200 °C that will be closely related to the self-ignition clarified the following: the reactions occurring are the intake of oxygen into aliphatic carbons as peroxides and the decomposition of the peroxides forming carboxyls and H2O. For two low-rank coals tested, the former process was rapid enough and only the latter decomposition reaction of the peroxides to form carboxyl groups was observed, which resulted in the monotonous weight decrease and the H2O production. For a high-rank coal tested, the former process solely occurred below 140 °C and the former process was faster than the latter process below 2...

A launcher system for a round-trip interferometer, with a corrugated horn antenna and two quasi-optical mirrors, has been developed for the QUEST spherical tokamak experiment. The corrugated horn antenna has been designed using a three-dimensional (3D) electromagnetic simulator. At low power bench test, intensity and phase profiles at 0.1 m from antenna aperture show coaxial patterns as predicted by the 3D simulator, in agreement with the calculation results using an in-house developed Kirchhoff integral code. The designed waist sizes of the focused beam at a target position are 22 mm in the horizontal x direction and 43 mm in the vertical y direction. The beam reaches the target plate at QUEST's center-post and is reflected back along the line-of-sight round-trip. A well-focused beam of 32 and 36 mm in size (x, y) has been obtained at the target position. The HE11 mode excitation, beam transmission, and focusing properties are discussed for the prototype launcher system.

Eight kinds of low-rank coals including lignites and sub-bituminous coals were subjected to a degradative solvent extraction method that treats carbonaceous resources in a non-hydrogen donor at around 350 °C. The low-rank coals were separated into the residue which cannot be extracted by solvent at 350 °C (termed residue), the fraction which can be extracted at 350 °C but precipitates from solvent at room temperature (deposit), the fraction which is solvent soluble even at room temperature (soluble), and liquid fraction mainly consisting of water and gaseous products mainly consisting of CO2. The soluble fraction was finally recovered as solid by removing solvent. The moisture of the coals was completely removed without phase change, and the ash was almost completely concentrated in the residue. The carbon based yields of the three solid fractions were 19.4–31.2% as solubles, 4.2–16.8% as deposits, and 54.7–69.2% as residues when 1-methylnaphthalene was used as the non-hydrogen donor solvent. Overall, mor...

Eight types of biomass waste samples, microcrystalline cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin were subjected to a degradative extraction method that treats carbonaceous resources in a non-hydrogen donor at around 350 °C. The treated products were separated at 350 °C to recover the extract and residue (the latter was termed Residue). The extract was further separated into two fractions: a fraction that precipitates as a solid (termed Deposit(s)) and the soluble fraction (termed Soluble(s)) at room temperature. The carbon-based yields of the three fractions obtained from the biomass wastes were 36.8–71.6% Solubles, 4.4–10.6% Deposits, and 15.1–27.5% Residues. The remaining carbon was converted to CO2, CO, and a small amount of hydrocarbons that could not be separated from the solvent. Most of the ash was concentrated in the Residues, whereas the Solubles were almost completely free from ash. Surprisingly, the chemical and physical properties of the Solubles produced from the eight biomass waste samples were h...

Steel industries need to increase the use of low-grade coals in coke making due to the recent rapid increase in coking coal price. To do so, it is necessary to effectively use binders, and it is desired to develop a theory on how to mix coals and binders effectively. In this work the coal fractionation method proposed by the authors was applied to characterize coals and binders. Three different-rank coals and two binders (HPC developed by Kobe Steel and ASP) that were heat-treated at 400°C in advance were separated into several fractions having different molecular weight by sequential solvent extractions at different temperatures up to 350°C. The chemical and physical properties of each fraction were found to be almost independent of the coal and binder types. Then, it was clarified that the thermoplastic behaviors of the mixture of coals and binders can be explained by focusing on the relative abundance of the fractions in the mixture. It is therefore possible to determine an appropriate mixing ratio of coals and binders to realize the thermoplastic behavior required to obtain high-strength coke. This approach can be expected as a new mixing theory which is applicable even to low-grade coals and newly-developed binders.

The reduction rate of iron ore can be enhanced dramatically when iron ore/carbon composites (IOC) are prepared so as to maximize the interfacial area and to realize intimate contact between iron ore particles and carbon. An idea realizing this concept in practical blast furnace operation was proposed in this paper. Low grade iron ore that contains a large amount of goethite, FeOOH, was chosen as an iron ore, and brown coal derivative was chosen as a thermoplastic carbonaceous material for preparing IOC sample. Goethite, FeOOH, has layered structures combined by hydrogen bonds associated with OH groups. When FeOOH is heated up to 250 to 300°C, the OH groups are removed as H2O, leaving flat pore spaces of 0.8 nm wide between 20 nm thick Fe2O3 layers. The pore spaces are, however, closed over 300°C by the sintering of the Fe2O3 layers. The idea proposed is to insert the thermoplastic carbonaceous material into the pore space of 0.8 nm wide while the pore spaces are opened and to carbonize it to form carbon in the pore space below 500°C. This IOC is expected to realize intimate contact between the Fe2O3 layers and the carbon, and to enhance the reduction rate of the Fe2O3 dramatically. The validity of this idea was verified by preparing IOC samples using reagent grade FeOOH and a thermoplastic resin. Then it was shown that the IOC sample prepared from a low grade iron ore, SF. Robe River, and a thermoplastic extract deriving from a brown coal can realize the idea practically.

Decreasing the thermal reserve zone temperature is believed to increase the energy efficiency of blast furnace iron-making. To do so, either the direct reduction reaction rate or the coke gasification reaction rate must be significantly increased below 1000°C in CO-lean atmosphere. An iron ore/carbon composite (IOC) has been proposed as a new raw material that can enhance the reduction rate of iron ore. In this paper the possibility of the reduction rate enhancement was examined by preparing a kind of ideal IOC sample consisting of nano-sized Fe2O3 particles (10–70 nm in diameter) and a carbon material prepared from a thermoplastic resin. The nano-sized Fe2O3 particles in the IOC sample were surprisingly reduced to Fe in a few minutes at as low as 650°C in an inert atmosphere. This was realized by increasing the interfacial area between the Fe2O3 particles and carbon and by establishing intimate contact between the two. The carbon in the IOC sample was also completely gasified in less than 10 minutes at as low as 750°C in a CO2 atmosphere. The dramatic enhancement of the gasification rate was found to be realized by the enhancement of one of the direct reduction reactions, the reaction between Fe3O4 particles and carbon, by the aid of in-situ XRD measurement. This suggested that the enhancement of both the reduction reaction rate and the gasification reaction rate is realized by the same mechanism. These new findings will give a clue for designing IOC samples applicable to the blast furnace iron-making.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic disorder that typically results in fibrosis of the skin and multiple internal organ systems. Although the precise mechanism is unknown, overproduction of extracellular matrix proteins, including collagens and fibronectins, and aberrant immune activation might be involved in the pathogenesis. The soluble cluster of differentiation 21 (sCD21) represents the extracellular portion of the CD21 glycoprotein that is released by shedding from the cell surfaces into plasma. sCD21 binds complement fragments and activates monocytes through binding to membrane CD23. The present study was undertaken to investigate the serum levels of sCD21 in patients with SSc. Serum sCD21 levels were reduced with age both in patients with SSc and normal controls. Serum sCD21 levels in patients with SSc were significantly decreased compared to those in control subjects. When we divided patients with SSc into limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) and diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc), patients with lcSSc had lower levels of serum sCD21 than those with dcSSc. Moreover, the prevalence of pulmonary fibrosis in the patients with dcSSc inversely correlated with serum sCD21 levels. Our finding may support the notion that B-cell activation is involved in the mechanism for pulmonary fibrosis and skin sclerosis.

Japanese steel industries, which are importing all coal resources required, are facing the necessity of increasing usable coal resources. They are to increase the kinds and amounts of usable coal and to develop the technologies for upgrading low rank coals such as subbituminous coal and brown coal as substitutes. In this work we have developed methods for upgrading brown coal. The methods involve the fractionation of brown coal using sequential thermal solvent extraction, dewatering and upgrading of brown coal using hydrothermal treatment, and co-pyrolysis of upgraded brown coal and plastic derived wax. The fractionation method successfully fractionated an Australian brown coal into six fractions, some of which are expected as binders for cokemaking because of their thermal plasticity. The hydrothermal upgrading/extraction method can not only removes water from brown coal but also separates the coal into extract of low molecular mass compounds and upgraded coal having lower hydrophilicity and spontaneous combustibility and higher calorific value than the raw coal. Addition of the upgraded coal to the coking coals was found to enhance the gasification reactivity of the resulting coke. Co-pyrolysis of the upgraded coal and waxes formed from waste plastics was also investigated as one of the methods for further upgrading the hydrothermally upgraded coal. It was found that the waxes effectively removed oxygen atoms from the upgraded coal and tended to be retained as a solid carbon in the coke through co-pyrolysis. It is shown that these methods enable to produce binders for cokemaking and substitute of slightly/noncaking coal.

In this work, two extracts (Soluble and Deposit) were produced by degradative solvent extraction of biomass wastes from 250 to 350°C. The feasibilities of using Soluble and Deposit as additives for coke-making were investigated for the first time. The Soluble and Deposit, having significantly higher carbon content, lower oxygen content and extremely lower ash content than raw biomasses. All Solubles and most of Deposits can melt completely at the temperature ranged from 80 to 120°C and 140 to 180°C, respectively. The additions of Soluble or Deposit into the coke-making coal significantly improved their thermoplastic properties with as high as 9°C increase of the plastic range. Furthermore, the addition of Deposit or Soluble also markedly enhanced the coke quality through increasing coke strength after reaction (CSR) and reducing coke reactivity index (CRI). Therefore, the Soluble and Deposit were proved to be good additives for coke-making.

Background Treatment options for progressive IgA nephropathy are limited. Methods We performed a small, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of prednisolone (PSL, 30 mg/dL, gradually tapered to 5 mg/dL over two years) plus 50 mg/day of losartan (LST, an angiotensin II receptor blocker) or PSL alone on IgA nephropathy. We separated 38 patients (age, 33 ± 11 years; creatinine clearance, 103 ± 31 mL/min; proteinuria, 1.6 ± 0.5 g/day) into two groups that were treated with either PSL plus LST or PSL alone, and compared the proteinuria and creatinine clearance after two years. Baseline and histopathological data did not significantly differ between the two groups. Results Two years of treatment in both groups significantly decreased proteinuria compared with baseline, and PSL plus LST (from 1.6 ± 0.6 to 0.3 ± 0.1 g/day, p < 0.05) was more effective than PSL alone (from 1.6 ± 0.3 to 0.5 ± 0.1 g/day, p < 0.05). Creatinine clearance in both groups was similar at the start of study but significantly differed at the end of the study (PSL plus LST, 104.3 ± 36.4 to 100.4 ± 38.9 mL/min; PSL alone, 103.4 ± 28.5 to 84.8 ± 34.3 mL/min, p < 0.05). Conclusions Combined therapy with PSL plus LST appears to be more effective than PSL alone in reducing proteinuria and protecting renal function in patients with IgA nephropathy.

A unique “nano-reactor” concept was presented for producing nano-sized materials that cannot be produced in a macro-reactor. The concept utilizes nano-space of porous materials such as activated carbon and activated alumina as a kind of “nano-reactor”. The reactant adsorbed in the nano-space was subjected to reaction in such a manner that most of reaction will be completed in the nano-space. The validity of this concept was examined by utilizing two pyrolysis reactions forming carbon and TiO 2 from volatile compounds. The rapid heating as large as 3000 K/s and a high pressure of 2 MPa were employed as the means to complete the pyrolysis reaction within the nano-space. The carbon yield reached as high as 0.89 when anthracene adsorbed on an activated carbon was pyrolyzed, and the TiO 2 yield reached a value as high as 0.60 when TTIP adsorbed on the activated carbon was pyrolyzed. The carbon produced by this nano-reactor was a nano-graphite consisting of 2–3 graphene layers of less than 2 nm in diameter, and TiO 2 produced were fine particles of 5–8 nm in diameter. Such products were significantly different from those that are obtained when the same reactions were carried out in the bulk phase. Thus the “nano-reactor” concept was validated.

By treatment with CrCl2, the radical populations of Kimmeridge and Bakken kerogens were significantly decreased. When both kerogens are mildly heated, anhydride formation at low temperatures can be detected by infrared spectroscopy only when radicals have been removed by CrCl2 treatment. The “native” kerogen radicals react with thermally formed carboxylic acid anhydrides to form esters and CO. Some of the observable kerogen radicals are persistent and reactive. The Acholla and Orr method for pyrite removal also reduces the radical population of these kerogens.

Infrared spectra confirm that, when heated to 200 °C, Bakken kerogens form anhydrides from carboxylic acids. The anhydrides in turn thermally decompose at temperatures below 250 °C. The thermal production of CO, the absence of CO2, and the low temperature of the anhydride decomposition are all consistent with a radical chain mechanism initiated by a kerogen radical. Anhydride decomposition occurs by addition of a radical to the anhydride carbonyl to form an ester and to liberate an acyl radical that rapidly loses CO to form an alkyl radical to continue the chain. This pathway is one of several by which kerogens thermally decarboxylate.

For some shales, the isolated organics have a lower H/C ratio than the H/C ratio of the whole rock, both being measured by combustion analysis. The primary cause of this is water produced by clay dehydroxylation during the combustion analysis of the rock that contributes to the rock's measured “hydrogen content”. Organics are also lost to the aqueous phases during dissolution of the minerals in aqueous HCl and HF.

The authors have recently presented a new coal extraction method by which various kinds of coals ranging from brown coals to bituminous coals could be extracted up to 80% of the parent coals in a flowing stream of tetralin or a coal derived oil, carbol oil, under 10 MPa at 350 °C. The extract obtained by this method was almost free from inorganic materials. In this study the effect of solvent recycling on the extraction behavior was examined to make the method practically applicable. The solvent recycling was found to be effective in enhancing the extraction yield and in decreasing further the inorganic fraction in the extract. The extract and residue obtained were characterized through various analyses. To examine how inorganic materials are removed by the extraction, the contents of inorganic elements, including harmful trace elements, in the extract were investigated. It was clarified that the presented method was effective in the removal of most of the inorganic elements including even harmful trace elements from coals, although the degree of removal was dependent on the kind of element.

We have recently presented a new coal solvent extraction method that enhances the extraction yield dramatically. The method extracts coal using a flowing stream of either tetralin or 1-methylnaphthalene under 10 MPa at 200 to 400°C. The extract yield reached 65 to 80% for bituminous coals at 350°C, and the extract was almost free from mineral matters. Thus, this method was found to be effective to recover clean fuels from bituminous coals under rather mild conditions. To extend the extraction method to low rank coals and to make the method practically applicable, coal derived oils, carbol oil and creosote oil, were used in addition to tetralin in this study. Twenty kinds of coals were subjected to the extraction by tetralin and the coal derived oils at 350°C. Almost all sub-bituminous coals and brown coals examined were surprisingly extracted by 80% in the carbol oil at 350°C. It was also found that the extract was almost free from mineral matters and that most of sulfur was retained in the coal through the extraction by tetralin, whereas most of sulfur including pyritic sulfur was transferred into the soluble fraction through the extraction by the carbol oil. Thus, it was clarified that the proposed method was effective to produce a large amount of clean fuels from low rank coals under rather mild conditions.

Possibility to convert the tar vapor in the hot coke oven gas (COG) to a synthesis gas was investigated. Tar condensed from an actual COG as well as model compounds such as benzene, naphthalene, and pyrene were used as the reactants. Experiments of the pyrolysis and catalytic steam reforming of the tar in a helium, a steam, and a simulated COG atmospheres were carried out. More than 80% of tar could be decomposed in several seconds by pyrolysis at temperature ≥1000°CThe coke yield reached 80% and the main gas products were methane and hydrogen. Coke deposition was reduced in the presence of steam by steam gasification of the coke. When the tar was pyrolyzed in the simulated COG, coke deposition from methane in addition to the deposition from the tar was observed at high temperature. The reverse shift reaction forming carbon monoxide and steam also occurred during the tar pyrolysis in the simulated COG. The coke formation was not reduced greatly even in the presence of the reforming catalysts.

A new non-evaporative coal dewatering method was presented, in which a bed of coal was contacted with a flowing non-polar solvent at less than 200 °C. Water in coal was released by thermal energy added and the released water was dissolved into solvent and was carried away from the coal bed. When the solvent was recovered at room temperature, most of water is separated from the solvent due to the decrease in the solubility of water in the solvent. Then the water is easily separated from the solvent by decantation. This method, therefore, removes water without causing phase change of water. When an Australian brown coal whose water content was 50% was treated by tetralin at 150 °C, the water content was reduced to less than 2%. This clarified that the presented method is more effective than the other methods from both the energy saving viewpoint and dewatering efficiency. The mechanism of dewatering was discussed based on the strength of hydrogen bonds formed between coal and water and the change in the solubility of water in the solvent with increasing temperature.

Contracture of phalanges (CP) is a frequent complication of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). The objective of this study was to examine the prevalance of CP in patients with SSc and investigate the clinical and laboratory features of SSc patients with CP. Three hundred and fifty patients with SSc were examined. CP was found in 164 of the 350 patients (47%) with SSc. The prevalence of oesophageal involvement, pulmonary fibrosis or heart involvement was significantly greater in the patients with CP than that in those without CP. Our study suggested that the presence of CP may be a marker of oesophageal involvement, pulmonary fibrosis and heart involvement.

Forms of hemophagocytic syndrome,which affects mainly children, vary from mild to very severe and often fatal. Wedescribe an adult patient with hemophagocytic syndrome in whom severe liver dysfunction developed.The condition continued to deteriorate despite treatment with plasma exchange,high-dose gamma globulin, and corticosteroid therapy. Treatment with cyclosporine (2.3 mg/kg/day) dramatically improved the conditionand normalized liver function. Cyclosporine reduced the serum levels of ferritin, interferon-T,interleukin-6, and soluble interleukin-2 receptor.These findings suggest that hemophagocytic syndrome accompanied with severe liver dysfunction results from hypercytokinemia,and cyclosporine is useful in preventing a fatal outcome during the acute phase.

A mini directly-heated reactor (mini-DHR) was constructed to measure the gasification rate handily under high CO2 pressure of ~ 2 MPa in the presence of other gases, such as CO and H2, at T = ~ 1,200°C. The mini-DHR was made of U-shaped SUS or Pt tubing of 3 mm I.D. The reactor itself was used as a heating element. An electric current of 75–150 A and a few volts were introduced to the reactor to heat up the reactor up to 900–1,200°C. About 1 mg of char was placed in a platinum mesh basket of 1.0 mm I.D. and 10 mm high. The basket with the char sample was placed just above a thermocouple in the reactor. The conversion of char, X, was estimated by weighing the remaining char sample. The X vs. t relationships obtained under various conditions were analyzed to formulate a gasification rate equation in the presence of both CO2 and CO for a char prepared from an Australian brown coal.

Peritoneal fibrosis is a serious complication in patients with severe chronic kidney disease who are undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). One of the pathological characteristics of peritoneal fibrosis is the infiltration of macrophages in the thickened submesothelial compact zone. In addition, infiltration of lymphocytes, including T and B lymphocytes, is observed in the fibrotic peritoneum. However, the relationship between lymphocyte infiltration and progression of peritoneal fibrosis remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of lymphocytes in the development of peritoneal fibrosis induced by chlorhexidine gluconate (CG) by comparing the histological changes observed in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice (largely lacking functional T and B lymphocytes) with those observed in wild-type (WT) mice. As expected, CG-injected WT mice showed a thickening of the submesothelial compact zone together with massive collagen deposition accompanied by increased numbers of infiltrating macrophages and T and B lymphocytes. In the peritoneum of SCID mice, the submesothelial compact zone was thicker and the number of macrophages and B lymphocytes was significantly higher than that observed in control immunodeficient and WT mice. In contrast, the number of T lymphocytes in the peritoneum of SCID mice was significantly lower than that in the peritoneum of WT mice. These results suggest that T and B lymphocytes modulate the process of peritoneal fibrosis via macrophage infiltration.