ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF

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                  ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF
                        E-Mail Newsletter

                               No.6
             Issued by the Asian TOP Panel, June 2002.

           The Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society (CMES)
           The Institution of Engineers, Indonesia (PII)
           The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME)
           The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME)

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About the Asian TOP Panel (ATOP)
    On August 29, 2001, presidents of four engineering societies gathered　
in Japan to pave the way for stepped-up collaboration. They are Chinese　
Mechanical Engineering Society, Institution of Engineers Indonesia,
Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Korean Society of Mechanical
Engineers.
    They agreed to establish the Asian TOP Panel (ATOP), which is a　
voluntary body and open to any Asian engineering society and
institution. At the first meeting, they decided to issue monthly E-mail　
newsletter which you are reading now. It will carry short technical news　
of Asian countries, and be distributed to all individual members of the
ATOP societies and institutions.
    ATOP will meet every two years. The next meeting will be held in Korea
in 2003.

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[Contents]

(1)  Beijing Holds Int'l Exhibition on Elevators Equipment
(Source : CMES).
(2) The vehicles driven by water and iron (Source : JSME).
(3) Oil Cell For Home Use (Source : JSME).
(4) Solar Bird Project (Source : JSME).
(5) Three International Symposiums at Mechanical Engineering
Congress, 2002 Japan (MECJ-02) (Source : JSME).

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(1) Beijing Holds Int'l Exhibition on Elevators Equipment
The fifth China International Exhibition on Elevators Equipment and
Technology opened on Apr.17 in Beijing. More than 200 participants from 13
countries and regions including the United States, Germany, Japan, Canada,
France and Italy will attend the four-day exhibition, which will cover
elevator equipment, mainframes and appliances. Over 40 kinds of elevators
will be on show at the 26,000 square meter exhibition hall, all products of
the world-famous elevator manufacturers. A related forum and trade meeting
will also be held during the exhibition period. The exhibition is co-held
by the China Elevator Association, the Beijing Branch of the China Council
for the Promotion of International Trade and the China Electrical and
Mechanical Equipment Bidding Center.

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(2) The vehicles driven by water and iron

Tokyo Institute of Technology, Professor Kiyoshi Otsuka and his group
developed a new technology for supplying pure hydrogen to PEFC vehicles.
Otsuka and his group have proposed a simple, safe and environmentally
benign technology for the storage, transport and supply of hydrogen to PEFC
vehicles. The technology is based on a very simple redox reaction of
magnetite (Fe3O4 + 4H2 <==> 3Fe + 4H2O). The reduced iron oxide (Fe metal)
pellets is packed in the cassettes. The cassettes will be mounted on PEFC
vehicles. Addition of water into the cassettes would produce pure hydrogen
and regenerate Fe3O4. The hydrogen could be supplied directly to the PEFC
on board without any purification treatment of CO.
The theoretical amount of hydrogen being stored is 4.8weight% of Fe. This
corresponds to 4.2 kiloliter(STP) hydrogen to be produced per one litter of
Fe. The storage capacity of hydrogen is relatively high compared to the
hydrogen absorbing alloys easily obtained. The iron and iron oxide are
nontoxic and fuel is just water, there is no danger of explosion when the
vehicles collide. The weight of iron to be loaded and its volume are 105 kg
and 13.3 liter, respectively, for 500km drive for vehicles.
The redox performance of iron oxide was very much enhanced by the addition
of metal elements (3 mol%) such as Al, Ga, Cr, Mo, and Zr. The redox
reaction could be operated at a low temperature 300oC.
Otsuka and his group are developing more efficient materials based on iron
oxides as well as an unit apparatus with the cassette container and water
injection equipment.

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(3) Oil Cell For Home Use

Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Corporation developed small-size LPG Fuel Cell for
home use. This cell, generating one kilowatt, works at low temperature of
80C reducing possible harm to people, while providing the family with hot
water as a co-generation system.
The NMOC will place this product on the market in 2004 with moderate price
making it available for every family. The cost of power generation will
also low enough to compete with that of electric companies.
With the liberalizaion of power generation business, the competition of
fuel cell development will get hotter in Japan.

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(4) Solar Bird Project

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced a new project named "Solar Bard"
to supply individual electronic device such as cellular phone with
electricity directly from space.
Different from existing plans of solar power generation in space which will
equire huge space solar panel stretching 3-km and gigantic
microwave-receiving antenna, the Solar Bird will consist of 25 - 50
satellites unit. Each satellite will carry solar panel of some 300 meters
across. This new system will directly send microwave to each electronic
device on the ground, which is equipped with a microchip converting
microwave into electricity. MEC will launch several satellites by 2010 for
verification, and step up the project to create world market and
batteryless society in 2010s.

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(5) Three International Symposiums at Mechanical Engineering Congress, 2002
Japan (MECJ-02)

The following international symposiums will be held during the Mechanical
Engineering Congress, 2002 Japan (MECJ-02) sponsored by the Japan Society
of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) at the University of Tokyo.

* International Symposium on "Distributed Energy Systems in the 21st Century"
September 24 & 25, 2002
Organized by Thermal Engineering Division
Organizer: Prof. Nobuhide KASAGI at the University of Tokyo
<kasagi@thtlab.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
（For details: Takeshi KANEDA <kaneda@mri.co.jp> ）

* International Symposium on "Machine Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis"
September 25 & 26, 2002
Organized by Dynamics, Measurement & Control Division
Organizer: Prof. Takuzo IWATSUBO at Kobe University <iwatsubo@mech.kobe-u.ac.jp>

* International Symposium on "Cell Biomechanics & Tissue Engineering"
September 28, 2002
Organized by Bioengineering Division
Organizer: Prof. Tetsuya TATEISHI at the University of Tokyo
<tateishi@ingram.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp>

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Editor: Kikuo Kishimoto, International Affairs Committee
Published by The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Shinanomachi-Rengakan Bldg, Shinanomachi 35,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0016, Japan

FAX : 81-3-5360-3508
All Rights Reserved, Copyright C 2002
The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
URL:http//www.jsme.or.jp [English Version]