ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF

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                  ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF
                        E-Mail Newsletter

                               No.20
             Issued by the Asian TOP Panel, August 2003

           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) Material Handling Show in China (Source : CMES)
(2) MHI, Mitsui to Set Up Car Air Conditioner Venture in China
    (Source : CMES)
(3) Heating Giant Invests in China (Source : CMES)
(4) Modine to Establish Base in China (Source : CMES)
(5) A new ice-slurry generator by using actively thermal-hydraulic
    controlling both supercooling and releasing of water (Source : JSME)
(6) A study of riding comfort of high-speed rail using newly developed
    Vehicle Dynamic Simulator (Source : JSME)
(7) Ultrasonic separation: Development of experimental apparatus
    (Source : JSME)
(8) Sewage sludge reduction system (RESER system) (Source : JSME)

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(1) Material Handling Show in China (Source : CMES)

Organized by the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society (CMES), the 8th
China International Material Handling & Logistics Technology Exhibition
is to be held on August 19-22, 2003. With about 8,000 square meters
exhibition space, the show has attracted over 150 exhibitors from a
dozen of countries and regions, such as USA, Germany, Singapore, Japan,
Korea, Italy, Austria, Canada, Switzerland, China as well as Hong Kong
SAR and Taiwan province. There are a lot of new advanced material
handling equipment, system and technology demonstrated. It is one of
the largest material handling shows in China with over 7,000
professional visitors. During the show, Material Handling Engineering
Forum is also to be held.

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(2) MHI, Mitsui to Set Up Car Air Conditioner Venture in China
    (Source : CMES)

Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Mitsui & Co will establish
a joint venture in Shanghai to make automotive air conditioners.
The firm, MHI Automotive Climate Control (Shanghai) Co, will be owned
70% by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, 20% by Mitsui and the remainder by
Mitsui China, a wholly owned Mitsui subsidiary.

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(3) Heating Giant Invests in China (Source : CMES)

Rettig Heating, the world's biggest water heating equipment and system
maker, intends to build its biggest overseas manufacturing base in
Tianjin, a major port city in North China, with a US$20 million
investment.
The first phase of the project is completed and the facilities will be
used mainly for warehouse, logistics and office purposes.
The second phase began earlier this month and will house a production
line to supply the Chinese market. The first product will be tailored
according to the requirements on water and heating systems in China
and they are the first foreign brand to do so.
The factory will be completed this year and begin operations in 2004.
It will have an annual capacity of 220,000 radiators.
The rapid growth of the construction market in China and especially in
Beijing, has been a major factor in Rettig Heating's decision to open
its first production base outside Europe.

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(4) Modine to Establish Base in China (Source : CMES)

U.S heat-transfer and heat-storage solutions provider Modine
Manufacturing Co. is planning to establish operations on the Chinese
mainland.
Modine will provide cooling products for electronics and
telecommunications to mainland customers through its Thermacore
International Inc. subsidiary.
It already operates a plant in Taiwan province.

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(5) A new ice-slurry generator by using actively thermal-hydraulic
    controlling both supercooling and releasing of water (Source : JSME)

    Daisuke MITO, Masayuki TANINO, Yoshiyuki KOZAWA, Akihiko OKAMURA
    Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., Ltd.

We have developed a new type ice-slurry generator that enables both
production of super-cooled water and releasing of its super-cooling
simultaneously in the closed piping system.
This article describes the outline of three kinds of elemental
technologies about the new type ice slurry generator.
The first technology is the trigger technology that invokes phase
change in the super-cooled water. For this means, we adopted the
irradiation of ultrasonic wave. The second is the intercepting
technology that enables separation of super-cooling state and phase
change in the closed piping system. For this means, we developed
thermal-hydraulic method using water film on the inside surface of
pipe. The third is the complete releasing technology that enables
smooth conveyance of the ice slurry without plugging in piping system.
This ice-slurry generator downsizes large scaled cold heat storage
systems. The new type ice storage system adopting this ice-slurry
generator is able to meet the requirements of the market, low-cost,
high-efficiency, and no-pollution of environment.

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(6) A study of riding comfort of high-speed rail using newly developed
    Vehicle Dynamic Simulator (Source : JSME)

    Kei SAKANOUE
    Technology Reserch and Development Department
    Central Japan Railway Company

Central Japan Railway Company newly introduced a testing device,
Vehicle Dynamic Simulator. One of the characteristics of this facility
is a lateral moving system that reproduces vibration of the train,
passing curve precisely. This system enables 28-meter-long lateral
move to reproduce centrifugal force. The riding comfort in curve is
very important issue for Tokaido Shinkansen, because the minimum
radius of curves is shorter than other high speed rail in Japan and in
the world such as ICE or TGV. Riding comfort is very basic measure for
railway system, which affects the structure and the maintenance
standards of tracks and rolling stock, running speed and level of
service.
Then our new simulator is an important tool for research on riding
comfort, and enables us to conduct studies on the index of riding
comfort for higher quality service of high speed rail.

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(7) Ultrasonic separation: Development of experimental apparatus
    (Source : JSME)

    Masanori SATO, Ultrasonic Brewery

Ultrasonic atomization is used for producing small particles of liquid.
It is known that there exists energy condensation in surface waves. We
have reported that ultrasonic separation occurs in surface waves
[M. Sato, K. Matsuura and T. Fujii: J. Chem. Phys., 114, 2382, (2001)]
and ultrasonic separation is progressing in distillation of ethanol.
We have developed the apparatus of ultrasonic separation for laboratory
use. Ultrasonic separation by ultrasonic atomization has some merits
in that the separation ability and the energy efficiency were excellent
comparing with distillation. The driving frequency of the ultrasonic
vibrator (diameter 20 mm) is 2.4 MHz and electric input is up to 20 W,
and the number of 16 vibrators is 1/20 scale of an industrial plant.
We used electrostatic method for gathering the mists. Electrostatic
voltage is controlled from -5,000V to -10,000V. A new separation
method of the ethanol-water solution using ultrasonic separation is
expected to be one of the most successful applications of nonlinear
ultrasonics.

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(8) Sewage sludge reduction system (RESER system) (Source : JSME)

    Akira SAITOH, Kobe Steel, LTD

Recently, many countermeasures for reduction of industrial waste are
developing. We introduce the new system which is called RESER system
for sewage waste.
This system consists of pre dewatering, thermall hydrolysis ,digestion
and post dewatering .
This system has three merits in comparison with the existing digestion
system.
1.high sludge reduction
2.space saving
3.high energy recovery
Now we are under demonstration stage with using demonstration plant
in Niigata.

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Editor: Chisachi Kato, 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 2003
The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
URL:http//www.jsme.or.jp/English/