Student Number : 9707408V - MSc(Eng) research report - School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / This research is an investigation into the performance and combustion characteristics of a two-cylinder, four-stroke compression ignition engine fuelled on diesel and then on dimethyl ether (DME). Baseline tests were performed using diesel. The tests were then repeated for dimethyl ether fuelling. All DME tests were performed at an injection opening pressure of 210 bar, as recommended for diesel fuelling. The tests were all carried out at constant torque with incremental increases in speed and an improved method of measuring the DME flow rate was devised. It was found that the engine’s performance characteristics were very similar, regardless of whether the engine was fuelled on diesel or DME. Brake power, indicated power and cylinder pressure, during the highest loading condition of 55 Nm, were virtually identical for diesel and DME fuelling, with the most significant finding being that the engine was more efficient when fuelled on DME than when fuelled with diesel. Another interesting finding was that the energy release of diesel decreases with increasing load, whilst the energy release of DME increases with increasing load. At the highest loading condition of 55 Nm, the energy release of DME was approximately 210 joules higher than that of diesel. This investigation concluded that DME may definitely be a suitable substitute fuel for diesel.

Au début des années 2000, les instances aéronautiques ont exprimé le besoin de développer un nouveau système de radiocommunication aéronautique du fait de l'augmentation du trafic aérien et de la saturation croissante des capacités de communication radio entre les aéronefs et les stations de contrôle aérien. L'une des composantes de ce système, nommée L-DACS (" L-band Digital Aeronautical Communication System "), devrait opérer dans la bande L-aéronautique (960-1164 MHz), dans laquelle fonctionnent également de nombreux autres systèmes radioélectriques. La compatibilité radioélectrique (CRE) de L-DACS avec ces systèmes est un des facteurs principaux à prendre en considération dans le développement d'un tel système.L'objectif principal de cette thèse est d'identifier les principaux problèmes reliés à la CRE et d'en étudier les cas critiques. Ces travaux sont fondamentaux en aéronautique, puisque tout dysfonctionnement dans la communication ou dans les systèmes de radionavigation peut mettre en danger la sécurité du vol. Les conclusions de cette thèse contribueront à la normalisation du système L-DACS et à la finalisation de ses spécifications.Dans une première étape, on étudie l'état de l'art dans les communications aéronautiques et en CRE. On analyse en particulier les dernières spécifications des deux systèmes candidats L-DACS. Ensuite, on propose un algorithme de calcul de brouillage dans le but d'étudier la CRE dans le domaine fréquentiel, d'en identifier et d'en traiter les cas critiques. L'analyse fréquentielle étant insuffisante dans plusieurs cas, on propose alors une approche temporelle d'étude de CRE. Après en avoir présenté les avantages, on présente un exemple d'étude de l'effet d'un système L-DACS sur un récepteur DME (" Distance Measuring Equipment ") à l'aide d'un banc de test CRE aéronautique.Cette thèse a été réalisée en collaboration avec la Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile (DGAC), qui est un acteur principal pour la réglementation des communications et un affectataire de fréquence pour le spectre aéronautique en France. La thèse contribue aux études menées par la DGAC à l'échelle nationale et internationale.Dans les perspectives, on propose la poursuite de cette étude par une approche temporelle plus générale pour étudier la CRE entre des systèmes radioélectriques quelconques en tenant compte de paramètres supplémentaires liés à la dynamique des systèmes et aux propriétés de leurs technologies.

Due to overconsumption, fossil reserves are rapidly being depleted and various sources predict that they will not last until the end of 21st century. Moreover, the increase in the rate of global warming and the polluting matter emitted by the vehicles consuming fossil fuels has increased the search for renewable and clean energy sources. Alcohols and ethers, which contain fewer pollutants and have better burning properties, are commonly thought among clean fuel alternatives. Among the potential clean energy sources, dimethyl-ether is already in use in the automotive industries of many countries such as China and Japan, due to its low NOx and CO2 emissions, high cetane rating and efficient combustion characteristics, especially in diesel engines. In this work, dimethyl-ether synthesis is achieved using methanol dehydration reaction over solid acid catalysts. For this purpose, three different mesoporous MCM-41 type aluminum silicates have been synthesized with direct hydrothermal synthesis method and aluminum is added to the synthesized SBA-15 catalyst using impregnation method. Apart from the catalysts synthesized, different commercial catalysts such as aluminum oxide in different forms (&amp / #945 / and &amp / #947 / ), Nafion NR-50 and Nafion SAC-13 have also been tested in this reaction. These materials were characterized by methods such as XRD, EDS, SEM, and N2 physical adsorption and DRIFTS were also investigated in terms of paramters such as the conversion of methanol to products, selectivity and yield. The analyses have shown that AlSi1 is the most active of all the aluminum silicates synthesized in both 0.136 and 0.27 s.g/cm3 space times, with up to 80% methanol conversion in all temperatures tested. AlSi1 also has low by-product formation and similar to other aluminum silicates, its dimethyl-ether selectivity approaches 1 at 4000C. Among all synthesized catalysts, the dimethyl-ether yield was seen to be the highest for Al-SBA-15, which approaches 0.5 at 4000C for both space times. For all aluminum silicates synthesized, about 40% dimethyl-ether yield was obtained at the same temperature and space times. Among the aluminum oxides, &amp / #945 / -alumina was seen to be superior to others in &amp / #947 / forms in terms of conversion selectivity and yield, especially at low temperatures. As to Nafion catalysts, due to its much higher surface area and high Bronsted acidity, Nafion SAC-13 has shown higher activity compared to Nafion NR-50 for all temperatures and space times tested.

Increasing prices of crude oil derived transportation fuels ascended the researches on seeking alternative fuels, in last decades. Moreover, the increasing rate of global warming, because of high greenhouse gas emissions initiated new research for environment-friendly clean alternative fuels. Due to its low NOx emission, good burning characteristics and high cetane number, dimethyl ether (DME) attracted major attention as a transportation fuel alternative. Two possible pathways have been proposed for DME production. One of these pathways is DME synthesis through conventional methanol dehydration. More recently, direct DME synthesis in a single step has attracted significant attention of researchers and fuel producers. Catalysts having two active sites are required for direct DME synthesis from synthesis gas. The aim of this work was to synthesize novel bifunctional direct DME synthesis catalysts and test their activity in a high pressure fixed bed flow reactor. Bifunctional mesoporous catalysts were synthesized by using one-pot hydrothermal synthesis, impregnation and physical mixing methods. These materials were characterized by XRD, EDS, SEM, N2 physisorption and diffuse reflectance FT-IR (DRIFTS) techniques. Characterization results of the catalysts synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal synthesis procedures in basic and acidic routes showed that pH value of the synthesis solution was highly effective on the final physical structure and chemical nature of the catalysts. Increase in the pH value promoted the incorporation of Cu, Zn and Al into the mesoporous MCM-41 structure. Also, effects of Na2CO3 addition on the catalyst structure during the hydrothermal synthesis procedure were investigated. The characterization results showed that metals were incorporated into the catalyst structure successfully. However, surface area results showed that loaded metals blocked the pores of MCM-41 and decreased the surface area of the catalysts. Effects of zirconium (Zr) metal with different weight ratios were also investigated. Results showed that Zr loading increased the surface area of the catalyst. A high pressure fixed bed flow reactor was built and the catalyst testing experiments were performed between the temperature range of 200-400&deg / C, at 50 bars. The activity results of the catalyst synthesized by impregnation method showed that no DME was formed over this catalyst / however it showed promising results for production of methanol and ethanol. Selectivity values of these alcohols were between 0.35 and 0.2. Formation of methane and CO2 indicated the occurrence of reverse dry reforming reaction. Incorporation of Zr into the catalyst structure at neutral synthesis condition caused significant activity enhancement, giving CO conversion values of about 40% at 400&deg / C. Product distribution obtained with this catalyst indicated the formation of DME, ethanol, methanol as well as CH4 and CO2. Highest DME selectivity (60%) was observed with the catalyst prepared by physical mixing of commercial methanol reforming catalyst with silicotungstic acid incorporated methanol dehydration catalyst having W/Si ratio of 0.4.

The diploma thesis deals with concepts of various key tasks for flights operated by device navigation, while these tasks are designed under the requirements of the regulation JAR-FCL 1. The work also includes explanation of the principles of operation of selected radio navigation devices, which are demonstrated in various roles, making these tasks serve well as a possible teaching material for navigation subjects. Part of the work also includes the evaluation of the simulator FlitePro for the purposes of its certification as a training device.

Yes / In this study, a novel single-step synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME) based on CO2-enhanced biomass gasification was proposed and simulated using ASPEN PlusTM modelling. The exergetic and environmental evaluation was performed in comparison with a conventional system. It was found that the fuel energy efficiency, plant energy efficiency and plant exergetic efficiency of the CO2-enhanced system were better than those of the conventional system. The novel process produced 0.59 kg of DME per kg of gumwood with an overall plant energy efficiency of 65%, which were 28% and 5% higher than those of conventional systems, respectively. The overall exergetic efficiency of the CO2-enhanced system was also 7% higher. Exergetic analysis of each individual process unit in both the CO2-enhanced system and conventional systems showed that the largest loss occurred at gasification unit. However, the use of CO2 as gasifying agent resulted in a reduced loss at gasifier by 15%, indicating another advantage of the proposed system. In addition, the LCA analysis showed that the use of CO2 as gasifying agent could also result in less 21 environmental impacts compared with conventional systems, which subsequently made the CO2-22 enhanced system a promising option for a more environmental friendly synthesis of bio-DME. / Part of this work is sponsored by Ningbo Bureau of Science and Technology under its Innovation Team Scheme (2012B82011) and Major R&D Programme (2012B10042).

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<p> Malic enzymes catalyze the oxidative decarboxylation of malate to pyruvate with the simultaneous reduction of a nicotinamide cofactor. It was previously reported that the nitrogen-fixing bacterium, Sinorhizobium meliloti, has two malic enzymes, a diphosphopyridine-dependent malic enzyme (DME) and a triphosphopyridine-dependent malic enzyme (TME). The dme gene is essential for symbiotic nitrogen-fixation in alfalfa root nodules and this symbiotic requirement cannot be met through increased expression of tme. In order to determine if a metabolic difference exists between the dme and tme mutants which might explain the symbiotic phenotypes, we conducted an analysis of intracellular and extracellular polar metabolomes. Differences noted between the intracellular profiles of the dme and tme mutant strains hinted at osmotic stress or a disturbance in central carbon metabolism. Extracellular studies indicated that dme mutant cells excreted at least 10-fold greater concentrations of both malate and fumarate. When considered together, the metabolic data implies that the DME enzyme is primarily responsible for the conversion of malate to pyruvate to generate acetyl-CoA whereas the TME enzyme must serve a secondary function within the cell.</p> <p> While the C-terminal 320 amino acid regions from both DME and TME are similar in sequence to phosphotransacetylase enzymes, enzyme assays with DME and TME proteins have failed to detect PTA activity. Here we report that the chimeric malic enzyme structure is conserved among various gram negative bacteria including Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Escherichia coli, Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Moreover these chimeric proteins are also present in the archaebacteria. Halobacterium salinarum and Haloarcula marismortui. To further our understanding of the functions of DME and TME in S. meliloti, we have fused protein domains from DME to an affinity tag consisting of strepII and a calmodulin binding peptide. To identify proteins interacting with this fusion, we expressed these protein fusion constructs in S. meliloti, prepared extracts containing the soluble proteins and passed these through tandem affinity chromatography columns. All proteins that coeluted with the fusion proteins appeared to be interacting with antibodies specific for the DME protein and so may have been aggregates or break-down products of DME.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Fossila drivmedel står idag för en överlägsen majoritet av den totala användningen av drivmedel som dagligen förburkas. Alternativ till de fossila drivmedlen krävs för att säkerställa tillgång i framtiden. Försvarsmakten har fått uppdrag från regeringen att utforska möjligheten att övergå till att driva sina fordon på förnyelsebara bränslen.Militära organisationer strävar efter ett enhetsdrivmedel, alltså ett gemensamt drivmedel som driver samtliga fordon och enheter. Största anledningen är den förenklade logistik som kan uppnås om endast ett drivmedel används.Detta arbete har sökt efter ett alternativt drivmedel som skulle kunna användas som enhetsdrivmedel inom Försvarsmakten. Detta för att lösa problematiken med att både byta till ett förnyelsebart drivmedel och ett enhetsdrivmedel i samma fas.Slutsatserna som dragit i detta arbete är att FT-bränslen har potential att användas som enhetsdrivmedel ur ett tekniskt perspektiv. Den höga flampunkt som FT-bränslen har skulle kunna innebära att även sjöfarkoster kan använda samma drivmedel som mark- och luftfarkoster. Dock saknas i dagsläget tillräcklig tillgänglighet och framställningen är i utvecklingsfasen. / Fossil fuels currently account for the vast majority of the total amount of fuel that isconsumed globally every day. Alternatives to fossil fuels are needed to ensuresufficient supply in the future. The Swedish Armed Forces have been tasked by theGovernment to investigate and examine the possibility of operating their vehicles onrenewable fuels.Military organizations strive for the use of a single fuel concept. A single fuel conceptmeans that only one kind of fuel is used in all vehicles and machines. The majorreason for this is the simplified logistics that can be achieved if only one fuel is used.This paper has sought an alternative fuel that can also be used as a single fuel in theSwedish Armed Forces. In order to solve the problem of changing to a renewable andto a single fuel in one single step.The main conclusion drawn in this paper is that Fischer-Tropsch fuels have thepotential to be a single fuel from a technical perspective. The high flashpoint ofFischer-Tropsch fuels could mean that they might also be used in navy vessels.However, there is currently insufficient availability and production is in thedevelopment stages.