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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.02.014 Byline: Kunihiro Fukui, Satoshi Kidoguchi, Naoki Arimitsu, Kenji Jikihara, Tetsuya Yamamoto, Hideto Yoshida Abstract: Waste incineration fly ash was successfully recycled to calcium phosphate hydrogel, a type of fast proton conductor. The crystallized hydrogel from incineration fly ash had a lower electric conductivity and a lower crystallinity than that from calcium carbonate reagent. However, the difference in electric conductivity between these crystallized hydrogels decreases with temperature. This was due to the presence of potassium in the incineration fly ash. The fuel cell with a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) using the calcium phosphate hydrogel membrane prepared from incineration fly ash was observed to generate electricity. The performance of this fuel cell was almost equal to that of a mixture of K.sub.2CO.sub.3 and CaCO.sub.3 reagents; further, the performance of the former was superior to the fuel cell with a perfluorosulfonic polymer membrane at temperatures greater than approximately 85 [degrees]C. Author Affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan Article History: Received 23 July 2008; Revised 26 January 2009; Accepted 21 February 2009

[Display omitted] • Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) filter degradation was assessed upon exposure to NO 2. • PPS damage increased with increasing NO 2 concentration and exposure time. • The PPS filter elastic modulus initially increased rapidly upon exposure to NO 2. • The tensile strength of PPS initially decreased significantly upon exposure to NO 2. • Higher NO 2 concentrations lowered the tensile strength more rapidly. The influence of NO 2 concentration and exposure time on the degradation of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) fabric filter at high temperature was investigated in detail. PPS fiber damage in the filter became more severe with increasing NO 2 concentration and exposure time. The elastic modulus of the PPS filter increased rapidly during the initial stage of exposure, and then increased more slowly to reach an almost constant value, nearly independent of NO 2 concentration. The tensile strength also decreased significantly during the initial stage, gradually attaining a constant value with increasing exposure time. Higher NO 2 concentrations resulted in rapid reducing of the tensile strength. Short exposure time to lower NO 2 concentrations caused the oxidation of S atoms in PPS to SO and O S O, whereas oxidation of benzene rings in PPS were induced only with longer exposure times and higher NO 2 concentrations. The model proposed in our previous paper accurately expresses the change in PPS conversion and reaction rate for every NO 2 concentration. An improved model that successfully estimated the degradation of tensile strength in both the machine direction and transverse direction, regardless of NO 2 concentration, was also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Biomass combustion ash can be utilized as the filler of glue for plywood. • The adhesion performance can be enhanced by decreasing the ash particle size. • The chemical structure of the adhesive layer is not affected by the filler type. • The adhesion performance is dominated by the denseness of the adhesive layer. • A glue with a lower viscosity yields a sparser adhesive layer. The feasibility of the effective utilization of combustion ash from a woody biomass power plant as a novel filler added to adhesives used in plywood production is investigated. For this, plywood was prepared with glues containing combustion ashes having different properties, and the adhesion performance of the glues was examined in detail and compared with that of a glue containing calcium carbonate powder as the filler. Through optical microscopy observations and analyses of the adhesive layer in the plywood, the relationship between the properties of the glue, the structure of the adhesive layer, and the adhesion performance was unraveled. Results revealed that the glue containing woody biomass combustion ash without the unburned carbon component shows a better and more homogeneous adhesion performance than that containing calcium carbonate powder. The adhesion performance could be enhanced more uniformly by decreasing the particle size of the filler. The study also indicated that the difference in the adhesion performance according to the kind of filler is not due to the difference in the chemical structure of the adhesive layer, but because of the difference in the denseness of the adhesive layer dominated by the viscosity of the glue. Thus, this study confirms that woody biomass combustion ash could be practically utilized as a filler substitute of calcium carbonate powder in glues for manufacturing plywood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]