Characteristics of fractionated drop-in liquid fuel of plastic wastes from a commercial pyrolysis plant.

Pyrolysis is a waste conversion technology to solve an increasing plastic waste issue worldwide. Waste plastic pyrolysis fuel from a commercial-scale pyrolysis plant (10 ton/day) was comprehensively investigated using distillation methods by separating the crude pyrolysis fuel to isolate the diesel-like pyrolysis fuel fraction (C9-C25 for fraction 2 + fraction 3, middle distillate). Other fractions were C5-C10 for the light distillate (fraction 1), and >C25 for the heavy distillate (fraction 4). The relationship between the fuel boiling point and liquid vapor temperature were found for designing a scaled-up oil separation process. The diesel grade pyrolysis fuel fraction comprised approximately 70-80% of the crude pyrolysis fuel, wherein it had values of 43-45 MJ/kg, 1-6 cSt, and 12-42 mgKOH/goil. Meanwhile, the elemental ratios of the crude pyrolysis oil improved to 0.1 for O/C and 1.9 for H/C after separation, close to petroleum fuels (0.0 O/C and 1.95 H/C). The highest relative chemical composition was the olefins (46% in fraction 1 and 41% in fraction 2), whereas the paraffin was approximately 15-20% in the light fraction. Finally, the potential CO2 reduction for the plastic waste-to-energy process was evaluated, revealing that a total of 0.26 tCO2/tonwaste of emissions could be avoided during the waste plastic pyrolysis process.

Effects of Thin-Film Thickness on Sensing Properties of SnO2-Based Gas Sensors for the Detection of H2S Gas at ppm Levels.

SnO2 thin-film gas sensors were easily created using the ion sputtering technique. The as-deposited SnO2 thin films consist of a tetragonal SnO2 phase and densely packed nanosized grains with diameters of approximately 20-80 nm, which are separated by microcracks. The as-deposited SnO2 thin film is well crystallized, with a dense columnar nanostructure grown directly onto the alumina material and the Pt electrodes. The grain size and thickness of SnO2 thin films are easily controlled by varying the sputtering time of the ion coater. The responses of the SnO2 thin-film sensors decrease as the SnO2 film thickness is increased, indicating that a negative association exists between the sensor response and the SnO2 film thickness due to gas diffusion from the surface. The SnO2 thin-film sensor, which was created by ion sputtering for 10 min, shows an excellent sensor response (Ra/Rg where Ra is the electric resistance under air and Rg is the electric resistance under the test gas) for detecting 1 ppm H2S at 350°C.

Improvement of H2S sensing properties of SnO2-based thick film gas sensors promoted with MoO3 and NiO.

The effects of the SnO2 pore size and metal oxide promoters on the sensing properties of SnO2-based thick film gas sensors were investigated to improve the detection of very low H2S concentrations (<1 ppm). SnO2 sensors and SnO2-based thick-film gas sensors promoted with NiO, ZnO, MoO3, CuO or Fe2O3 were prepared, and their sensing properties were examined in a flow system. The SnO2 materials were prepared by calcining SnO2 at 600, 800, 1,000 and 1,200 °C to give materials identified as SnO2(600), SnO2(800), SnO2(1000), and SnO2(1200), respectively. The Sn(12)Mo5Ni3 sensor, which was prepared by physically mixing 5 wt% MoO3 (Mo5), 3 wt% NiO (Ni3) and SnO2(1200) with a large pore size of 312 nm, exhibited a high sensor response of approximately 75% for the detection of 1 ppm H2S at 350 °C with excellent recovery properties. Unlike the SnO2 sensors, its response was maintained during multiple cycles without deactivation. This was attributed to the promoter effect of MoO3. In particular, the Sn(12)Mo5Ni3 sensor developed in this study showed twice the response of the Sn(6)Mo5Ni3 sensor, which was prepared by SnO2(600) with the smaller pore size than SnO2(1200). The excellent sensor response and recovery properties of Sn(12)Mo5Ni3 are believed to be due to the combined promoter effects of MoO3 and NiO and the diffusion effect of H2S as a result of the large pore size of SnO2.

Effects of textural properties on the response of a SnO2-based gas sensor for the detection of chemical warfare agents.

The sensing behavior of SnO(2)-based thick film gas sensors in a flow system in the presence of a very low concentration (ppb level) of chemical agent simulants such as acetonitrile, dipropylene glycol methyl ether (DPGME), dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), and dichloromethane (DCM) was investigated. Commercial SnO(2) [SnO(2)(C)] and nano-SnO(2) prepared by the precipitation method [SnO(2)(P)] were used to prepare the SnO(2) sensor in this study. In the case of DCM and acetonitrile, the SnO(2)(P) sensor showed higher sensor response as compared with the SnO(2)(C) sensors. In the case of DMMP and DPGME, however, the SnO(2)(C) sensor showed higher responses than those of the SnO(2)(P) sensors. In particular, the response of the SnO(2)(P) sensor increased as the calcination temperature increased from 400 °C to 800 °C. These results can be explained by the fact that the response of the SnO(2)-based gas sensor depends on the textural properties of tin oxide and the molecular size of the chemical agent simulant in the detection of the simulant gases (0.1-0.5 ppm).

Involvement of DNA-dependent protein kinase in regulation of the mitochondrial heat shock proteins.

Since DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) has been known to play a protective role against drug-induced apoptosis, the role of DNA-PK in the regulation of mitochondrial heat shock proteins by anticancer drugs was examined. The levels of basal and drug-induced mitochondrial heat shock proteins of drug-sensitive parental cells were higher than those of multidrug-resistant (MDR) cells. We also demonstrated that the development of MDR might be correlated with the increased expression of Ku-subunit of DNA-PK and concurrent down-regulation of mitochondrial heat shock proteins. The basal mtHsp70 and Hsp60 levels of Ku70(-/-) cells, which were known to be sensitive to anticancer drugs, were higher than those of parental MEF cells, but conversely these mitochondrial heat shock proteins of R7080-6 cells over-expressing both Ku70 and Ku80 were lower than those of parental Rat-1 cells. Also, the mtHsp70 and Hsp60 levels of DNA-PKcs-deficient SCID cells were higher than those of parental CB-17 cells. Our results suggest the possibility that mitochondrial heat shock protein may be one of determinants of drug sensitivity and could be regulated by DNA-PK activity.