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Osaka National Research Institute(ONRI), Japan

1. Project Name
 2. Duration
 3. Research Category 1
 4. Research Category 2
 5. Research Field
 6. Researchers
 7. Affiliation 1
 8. Affiliation 2
 9. Address
10. Country
11. Phone
12. Fax
13. Project Summary
14. Publications
15. International Joint Study with


1 Material System Development for Enhancing Ground Water Bioremediation
   (2)Activated Carbon Based System for Enhancing Ground Water Bioremediation
 2 1996-1999
 3 ground water, activated carbon fiber
 4 bioremediation, material system, enhancing, measurement
 5 chemistry, engineering, biology, ecology
 6 Takako HONJOH*, Kazuhiro FUJITA**, Shigeo TANASE*, Yoshihiro SAWADA**
 7 *;Ionic Chemistry Section,  **;High Temperature Materials Section,
   Energy Conversion Department
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan
11 81-727-51-9614
12 81-727-51-9622
13 The aim of this study is to investigate the material system development for 
   enhancing ground water bioremediation.  Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) have 
   high adsorptive properties and easy handling. When they are applied to 
   adsorbent for purification of ground water, direct purification treatment 
   will be possible using these advantages. New technology bioremediation, 
   which removes pollution by biological activity, may be one of the most 
   ecologically desirable method.  
   The cost may be lower than that of conventional methods, although improvement 
   of remediation speed and environmental influence of utilized microorganism 
   should be cared.
   For the development of the system mentioned above, various surface treatments,
    mechanical properties, surface characterization, bioremediation property for 
    organic chlorine compounds of ACFs are investigated in our institute.
14 
15 


1 Study on Low Temperature Catalysts for Oxidative Decomposition of
   Odor Compounds
 2 1996-2000
 3 air
 4 counter measures
 5 chemistry
 6 Tetsuhiko KOBAYASHI, Hiroaki SAKURAI, Masanori ANDO, Atsushi UEDA
 7 Catalysis Section, Department of Energy and the Environment
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan
11 81-727-51-9656
12 81-727-51-9630
13 In order to decompose and remove odor substances which are emitted in urban 
   living area, this research project aims at the development of high-performance
   novel catalysts.  Odor compounds such as ammonia and aminesare oxidatively 
   decomposed over the catalysts at low temperatures and are converted to 
   odorless and harmless compounds.  Especially, special catalytic function will 
   be developed with no evolution of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides which 
   may cause another pollution. 
   This catalyst can be applicable to the equipments for treating odor emitted 
   from food or fertilizer plants, and also to indoor air purification for 
   improving the living and working environments.
14 S. Tsubota et al., Application of Supported Gold Catalysts in Environmental 
   Problems, in "Environmental Catalysis", J.N.Armor ed., ACS, Washington DC, 
   1994.
15 


1 De-NOx Catalysts for Exhaust Gases of Low Fuel Consumption Engines
 2 1993-2000
 3 air
 4 counter measures, reaction mechanism
 5 chemistry
 6 Yasuhiro TAKENAKA, Tetsuhiko KOBAYASHI, Atsushi UEDA, Mitsutaka OKUMURA
 7 Catalysis Section, Department of Energy and the Environment
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan
11 81-727-51-9656
12 81-727-51-9630
13 The aim of this research is the development of novel catalytic technologies 
   for the removal of NOx emitted from lean-burn gasoline and diesel engines.
   We have found that gold exhibits good catalytic performances for the reduction
   of NO with propene in the presence of excess oxygen and moisture when gold is 
   supported on alumina and zinc with high dispersion. Especially, gold supported
   on alumina gave the highest conversion of NO to nitrogen as about 80% at 
   700K. The mechanical mixing of manganese oxide with Au/alumina appreciably 
   increased the conversion of NO to nitrogen. It reached over 90% at 
   temperatures between 623K and 723K. The roles of manganese oxide which was 
   mixed with Au/alumina should be concluded that it promots the NO oxidation.
14 1) Atsushi ueda et al., "Reduction of Nitrogen Monoxide with Propene over 
      Supported Gold Catalysts in the Presence of Excess Oxygen and Moisture", 
      Proceedings of the First World Congress of Environmental Catalysis, 
      p.253-256, Pisa (Italy), 1995. 
   2)Atsushi Ueda et al., Shokubai(Catalyst), 36, 112-118(1994).
15 


1 Research and Development on the Reusing of Polymer Wastes 
 2 1994-1996
 3 wastes
 4 source, inventory
 5 chemistry, engineering 
 6 Hiromasa OGAWA, Yuko TANAKA, Muneaki YAMAGUCHI, Atsuyoshi NAKAYAMA,
   Norioki KAWASAKI
 7 Polymer Composites Section, Dept. of Organic Materials
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31, Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan
11 81-727-51-9525
12 81-727-51-9628
13 The aim of this study is to investigate material and chemical recycling 
   methods of polymer based products wastes. There are many kinds of poly-mer 
   based products, for example, plastics, synthetic fibers, synthetic rubbers. 
   And these products are made from many kinds polymers also. These products 
   are very light, bulky and not decompose in natural condi-tion. So, 
   there are many problems to treat these polymer based products wastes. 
   In this research, we are studing on (1) developent of material recycling 
   technology of commodity platics and (2) developent of chemical recyclable 
   polymers.
14 
15 


1 Acid Rain Monitoring System
 2 1996-2000
 3 air, water
 4 measurement, monitoring
 5 chemistry
 6 Kunishige HIGASHI, Shin-ichi WAKIDA, Masataka YAMANE, Sahori TAKEDA,
   Jun SHIROMA, Naohide TAIRA
 7 Environmental Chemistry Section, Department of Energy and the Environment
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan
11 81-727-51-9659
12 81-727-51-9629
13 The quick development in industry and economics in East Asia brings large 
   amount of emission of air pollutants, for examples, sulfur and nitrogen 
   dioxides, into the atmosphere, especially from coal burning power plants.
   Therefore, acid rain is very important environmental problem in East Asia 
   region.  In order to clarify and evaluate the effect of acid rain on the 
   acidification of natural and urban environment, the multilateral cooperative 
   research on development of an advanced acid rain monitoring system is carried.
   This cooperative research includes following contents; (1) study on 
   development of sensors for measuring the primary components of acid rain, 
   (2) fundamental study on development of automatic monitoring system for 
   measuring the acid rain components, and (3) study on development of the 
   prediction model for environmental influence of acid deposition,are carried 
   out among universities and institutions in APEC members. 
   ONRI is mainly engaged in the research on sensors. 
14 1) S.Wakida et al, A Preliminary Application of Highly Sensitive Nitrate 
      ISFETs to Acid-Rain Monitoring, Sensors and Actuators, B 24-25,222-224,
      1995.
15 Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics


1 Dynamic Behavior of Organic Substances in Lake Water and Their Origins
 2 1995-1997
 3 water
 4 measurement
 5 chemistry
 6 Kunishige HIGASHI, Shin-ichi WAKIDA, Masataka YAMANE, Sahori TAKEDA,
   Jun SHIROMA, Naohide TAIRA
 7 Environmental Chemistry Section, Department of Energy and the Environment
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan 
11 81-727-51-9659
12 81-727-51-9629
13 Water pollution with organic substances is continuing in many lakes.
   It is important to analyze a behavior of the organic substances to maintain 
   the lake water environment.  A development of effective separation methods 
   for the organic substances is required.  In this research, high performance 
   gel chromatography to measure molecular weight distribution of organic 
   substances and capillary electrophoresis of high resolution are studied.
   Fundamental analytical conditions were studied, and these methods were 
   applied to lake water or wastewaters. 
14 
15 


1 Removal of Trihalomethane Precursors from Refractory Colored Wastewater
 2 1995-1999
 3 water
 4 countermeasures
 5 chemistry
 6 Kunishige HIGASHI, Shin-ichi WAKIDA, Masataka YAMANE, Sahori TAKEDA,
   Jun SHIROMA, Naohide TAIRA
 7 Environmental Chemistry Section, Department of Energy and the Environment
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan
11 81-727-51-9659
12 81-727-51-9629
13 Colord wastewater discharged from factories especially in dyeing industry 
   contains refractory coloring compounds such as dyestuffs. Since these
   compounds usually show remarkably high trihalomethane forming potential, 
   much attention has been focused on their hazardous nature especially in the 
   source area of public water supply.  In this research, a novel electrolytic 
   decomposition method using solid polymer electrolyte(SPE) was studied. 
   As the SPE membrane and the anode, Nafion(du Pont) and ß-PbO2
   were used, respectively. Excellent decolorization was obtained for the 
   dyestuffs.  And decomposition characteristics were evaluated.
14 1) K.Higashi et al, Research Survey on Prevention of Pollution by Wastewater 
      Containing Dyestuffs No1, Mizushori gijutsu (Water Purification and Liquid 
      Wastes Treatment), 37, 187-200, 1996.
   2) K.Higashi et al, Research Survey on Prevention of Pollution by Wastewater 
      Containing Dyestuffs No2, Mizushori gijutsu (Water Purification and Liquid 
      Wastes Treatment), 37, 241-250, 1996.
15 


1 Study on the Hydrocarbon Synthesis from CO2 and H2
 2 1994-1998
 3 global change, air
 4 counter measures
 5 chemistry
 6 Yoshie SOUMA, Masahiro FUJIWARA, Hisanori ANDO, Qiang XU
 7 Synthetic Chemistry Section, Department of Energy and the Environment
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan
11 81-727-51-9652
12 81-727-51-9629
13 The aim of this study is to fix CO2 by the reaction with hydrogen in order to 
   solve global warming. CO2 is converted to hydrocarbons by hybrid or Fe-type 
   catalysts. Methane was obtained in 95 % yield by LaNi5alloy catalyst.
14 1) Masahiro FUJIWARA et.al., Hydrocarbon Synthesis from Carbon Dioxideand 
      Hydrogen over Cu-Zn-Cr Oxide/Zeolite Hybrid Catalysts, J. Chem. Soc.Chem.
      Commun. 767-768, 1992.
   2) Masahiro FUJIWARA et.al., Development of Composite Catalysts Made of 
      Cu-Zn-Cr Oxide/Zeolite for the Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide, Appl.
      Catal. A, 121, 113-124, 1994.
15 CNRS, University of Strasbourg, France


1 Development of Efficient Biorecycling Process for Waste Biodegradable
   Plastics and Assessment of its Environmental Acceptability
 2 1996-2000
 3 wastes, biodegradable polymers
 4 measurement, synthesis
 5 chemistry
 6 Sei-ichi AIBA, Atsuyoshi NAKAYAMA, Norioki KAWASAKI
 7 Functional Polymer Section, Department of Organic Materials
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan
11 81-727-51-9522
12 81-727-51-9628
13 The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of synthetic 
   biodegradable polymers and their degraded products on the natural environment.
   Mechanism of biodegradation in various environments, survey of microbes, 
   identification and their accumulation of degraded products, 
   their acute toxicity to living things containg microbes and cells, 
   fate of metals used for production of polymers are studied.
   From consideration of these results, the complete safety of novel synthetic 
   biodegradable polymers and plastics would be verified.
14 1) Atsuyoshi NAKAYAMA, Takashi HIGASHI, Jun IYODA, Minoru UKITA, 
      Kazuko HAYASHI, and Noboru YAMAMOTO, Biodegradability of Copolymers of 
      epsilon-Caprolactone with Lactams, Chem. Express, 8, 181-184 (1993). 
   2) Atsuyoshi NAKAYAMA, Norioki KAWASAKI, Ioannis ARVANITOYANNIS, Jun IYODA,
      and Noboru YAMAMOTO, Synthesis and Degradability of a Novel Aliphatic 
      Polyester: Poly(beta-methyl-delta-valerolactone-co-L-lactide),Polymer, 
      36, 1295-1301 (1995). 3)Atsuyoshi NAKAYAMA, Norioki KAWASAKI, 
      Ioannis ARVANITOYANNIS, Seiichi AIBA, and Noboru YAMAMOTO, Synthesis and
      Biodegradation of Poly(gamma-butyrolactone-co-L-lactide), J. Environ. 
      Polym. Degrad., 4, 205-211 (1996).
15 1) Sustainable Technology Division, National Risk Management Research 
      Laboratory, The Environmental Protection Agency (USA)
   2) Polymer Materials Division, National Institute of Technology and Quality
      (Korea)


1 Utilization of Polysaccharides from the Waste of Marine Products
 2 1995-1997
 3 Wastes, biopolymers
 4 utilization
 5 chemistry
 6 Sei-ichi AIBA
 7 Functional Polymer Section, Department of Organic Materials
 8 ONRI, AIST, MITI
 9 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577
10 Japan
11 81-727-51-9522
12 81-727-51-9628
13 Prawns are cultivated in an enormous amount in Southeast Asia including 
   Thailand.  Prawn shell waste is discarded and therefore causes an 
   environmental problem.  The shells contain chitin, a polysaccharide, which 
   can be converted into various highly valuable materials.  This project is 
   designed to prepare chitin, chitosan and their derivatives from prawn shells 
   and to explore their potential in practical use such as a flocculant, heavy 
   metal adsorbent and paper additive.
14 1) Sei-ichi Aiba, Studies on chitosan: 6. Relationship between N-acetyl 
      group distribution pattern and chitinase digestibility of partially 
      N-acetylated chitosans, Int. J. Biol. Macromol., 15, 241-245 (1993). 
   2) Sei-ichi Aiba, Preparation of N-acetylchitooligosaccharides from 
      lysozymic hydrolysates of partially N-acetylated chitosans, Carbohydr. 
      Res., 261, 297-306 (1994). 3)Sei-ichi Aiba, Preparation of 
      N-acetylchitooligosaccharides by hydrolysis of chitosan with 
      chitinase followed by N-acetylation, Carbohydr. Res., 265, 323-328 (1994).
15 Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research