Abrasive Wear Map of Polymer Tapes in Sand Dust Environment

To make clear the wear conditions of ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) tribosystem when servicing in Chi- nese sand dust environment, abrasive wear of two kinds of polymer tapes specified for ATM, PI (Polyimide) and PEN (Polyethylene-2, 6-naphthalenedicarboxylate), was investigated in simulated sand dust environment with ATM tape-scraper tribosystem under various conditions of loads and sliding distances. The surface profiles of worn tape were measured with a surface profiler in order to calculating the wear cross-section areas and the wear volumes. The specific wear rates of polymer tapes were calculated under load conditions of 0.6, 1 and 1.5 N, and wear mechanisms were in- vestigated with optical topography photos. As main results, the specific wear rates show stage variations in the wear process and the wear resistance of polymer tape shows good relationship with the mechanical deformation factors. In consideration of the service life, four wear models are generalized according to the magnitude of specific wear rates, which include no wear, mild wear, normal wear and severe wear model and the corresponding wear mechanisms for the four wear models are discussed with typical worn topographies. Based on the wear models and corresponding wear mechanisms, the abrasive wear maps of two polymer tapes servicing in sand dust environments are concluded for its industrial applications.

Optimization via response surface methodology of the synthesis of a dust suppressant and its performance characterization for use in open cut coal mines

To relieve dust pollution in open cut coal mines and reduce the hazards of coal dust pollution to the environment and workers we optimized the synthesis of a dust suppressant by graft copolymerization of environmentally friendly soy protein isolate with methyl methacrylate.This dust suppressant could effectively control dust pollution in open cut coal mines. The optimized conditions for graft copolymerization in this case were determined by a response surface experiment designed with Design-Expert 10 software. Characterization by scanning electron microscopy showed a significant morphology change of the dust suppressant and the generation of a rigid and dense layer on its surface after interacting with coal dust.The layer exhibited good bonding and dust suppression performance. The analysis with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the appearance of new absorption peaks near 1300, 1072, and 1631 cm, demonstrating effective graft copolymerization. The proposed dust suppressant exhibited excellent wind erosion resistance, with a resistance that exceeded 90% at a wind speed of 6.5 m/sec. The successful graft copolymerization and effective bonding and curing of the dust suppressant on coal dust were experimentally verified.This is of great significance to the control of coal dust pollution.

Multi-Source Characteristics of Atmospheric Deposition in Nanjing,China,as Controlled by East Asia Monsoons and Urban Activities

Atmospheric deposition, a major pathway of metals entering into soils, plays an important role in soil environment, especially in urban regions where a large amount of pollutants are emitted into atmosphere through various sources. In order to understand the characteristics of atmospheric deposition in urban area and its relation with natural and anthropogenic sources, a three-year study of atmospheric deposition at three typical sites, industrial zone(IN), urban residential area(RZ) and suburban forested scenic area(FA),was carried out in Nanjing, a metropolitan city in eastern China from 2005 to 2007. The bulk deposition rate and element composition of atmospheric deposition varied spatio-temporally in the urban zones of Nanjing. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb and Ca in the atmospheric deposits were strongly enriched in the whole Nanjing region; however, anthropogenic pollutants in atmospheric deposits were diluted by the input of external mineral dust transported from northwestern China. Source apportionment through principal component analysis(PCA) showed that the background atmospheric deposition at the FA site was the combination of external aerosol and local emission sources. The input of long-range transported Asian dust had an important influence on the urban background deposition, especially in spring when the continental dust from the northwestern China prevailed. Marine aerosol source was observed in summer and autumn, the seasons dominated by summer monsoon in Nanjing. In contrast, the contribution of local anthropogenic emission source was constant regardless of seasons. At the RZ and IN sites, the atmospheric deposition was more significantly affected by the nearby human activities than at the FA site. In addition, different urban activities and both the winter and summer Asian monsoons had substantial impacts on the characteristics of dust deposition in urban Nanjing.