Optical investigation of fast pulsed discharge on surface of ceramics for environmental applications
Pulsed surface discharge on the surface of ceramics was investigated experimentally. Photon counting method was applied to clarify preceding phase of the discharges. The results indicated the effect of charge injection from electrodes. Pulsed surface discharge reactor for decomposition of nitrogen oxides utilizing honeycomb ceramics was proposed. Framing and streak observation was carried out with image converter cameras. Emission spectra from the discharge were investigated with spectrometer. Uniform surface discharges on honeycomb ceramics were successfully obtained utilizing pulsed power generator with a SI-thyristor.
Novel plasma reactor using honeycomb ceramics driven by a fast Si-thyristor for environmental applications
A novel plasma reactor using honeycomb ceramics for NO decomposition was proposed. Using rod-cylinder electrodes configuration with the honeycomb ceramics, a barrier discharge type reactor was fabricated with a PET sheet as an insulator. The uniform discharges in the honeycomb ceramics were successfully obtained using a high voltage pulse generator with a fast SI-thyristor. NO removal experiment in N/sub 2/ was carried out with the reactor. The surface condition of the ceramics greatly influenced the NO removal characteristic. The NO removal efficiency of the reactor was estimated to be 295 eV/molecule at the maximum NO removal rate.
The Role of Democratic Politics in Transforming Moral Convictions into Law
Professor Michael Perry's new book, Morality, Politics, and Law, is an ambitious attempt to address the extent to which moral and religious beliefs in a pluralistic society, such as ours, can legitimately influence law. He departs from the common opinion in legal circles that moral beliefs are a matter of taste or "values," and defends an older conception that it is possible to attain moral "knowledge." ' He also departs from the "liberal political-philosophical project," 2 which claims that it is possible (and desirable) for governments to steer a neutral course between competing moral understandings of the good. This, he suggests, is an illusion, and a disguise for the imposition of a particular moral structure without opportunity for open deliberation and reflection. Professor Perry brings some refreshing common sense to these riddles of moral philosophy. His "naturalist" approach has obvious roots in Aristotle-not a bad place to begin thinking about ethics. His dismissal of