Developing an Approach for Calculating Theoretical Minimum Hydrogen Consumption during Catalytic Hydrotreating of Diesel.

Identifying the unnecessary H2 consumption existing in diesel hydrotreating process and calculating theoretical minimum H2 consumption are extremely critical for reducing H2 consumption in consideration of carbon reduction and resource utilization improvement. In this work, chemical reactions happened during diesel hydrotreating were categorized into hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodenitrogenation (HDN), saturation of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs), saturation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), hydrogenation of olefins (HGO) and hydrocracking reactions (HCR). Then, in order to gain insights into where and how much H2 can be reduced, the ideal molecular compositions of the products were analyzed when theoretical minimum H2 was achieved for each type of reactions, which can give a genuine value of average relative molecular weight and average number of moles of H2 consumed per mole of reactants, leading to the establishment of method for calculating theoretical minimum H2 consumption. Additionally, the above method was used to calculate theoretical minimum H2 consumption of five diesel feedstocks with different properties to study the influence of content of S, N and PAHs in the feed on theoretical minimum H2 consumption. This method can provide guidance for experiments of H2 consumption reduction, and also help the refineries to save potential costs of H2.

A simulator for percutaneous hepatic microwave thermal ablation under ultrasound guidance.

The purpose of this study was to provide a simulation therapy environment for microwave thermal ablation (MWA) under the guidance of ultrasound, and to present an inexpensive and portable simulator built on real patient-based pre-operative computed tomography (CT) data. We established an experimental simulation system for teaching MWA and present the results of a preliminary evaluation of the simulator's realism and utility for training. The system comprises physical elements of an electromagnetic tracking device and an abdominal phantom, and software elements providing three-dimensional (3D) image processing tools, real-time navigation functions and objective evaluation function module. Details of the novel aspects of this system are presented, including a portable electromagnetic tracking device, adoption of real patient-based pre-operative CT data of liver, operation simulation of MWA, and recording and playback of the operation simulation. Patients with liver cancer were selected for evaluation of the clinical application value of the experimental simulation system. A total of 50 consultant interventional radiologists and 20 specialist registrars in radiology rated the simulator's hardware reality and overall ergonomics. Results show that the simulator system we describe can be used as a training tool for MWA. It enables training with real patient cases prior to surgery, and it can provide a realistic simulation of the actual procedure.

[Research on integrated application of tumor magnetic induction hyperthermia treatment planning system and modern medical information systems].

Magnetic induction hyperthermia becomes a very important tumor treatment method at present. In order to ensure a successful operation, doctors should make hyperthermia treatment planning before surgery. Based on Integration Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) framework and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medcine (DICOM) standard, we proposed and carried out a network workflow integrated with modern medical information systems for the dissemination of information in magnetic induction hyperthermia like accurate accessing patient information and radiology image data, storing processed images, sharing and verifying hyperthermia reports. The results proved that our system could not only improve the efficiency of magnetic induction hyperthermia treatment planning, but also save medical resources and reduce labor costs.

Preoperative surgery planning for percutaneous hepatic microwave ablation.

A novel preoperative surgery planning method is proposed for percutaneous hepatic microwave ablation. An iterative framework for necrosis field simulation and 3D necrosis zone reconstruction is introduced here, and the necrosis model is further superimposed to patient anatomy structures using advanced GPU-accelerated visualization techniques. The full surgery planning is performed by the surgeon in an interactively way, until the optimal surgery plan is achieved. Experiments have been performed on realistic patient with hepatic cancer and the actual necrosis zone are measured in postoperative CT images for patient. Results show that this method is relative accurate for preoperative trajectory plan and could be used as an assistant to the clinical practice.