Rapid and efficient initiation of hydrocarbon/air mixtures has been identified as one of the critical and enabling technologies for Pulse Detonation Engines (PDEs). Although the NPS Rocket Propulsion Laboratory has successfully demonstrated fuel/air detonations in a valveless pulse detonation engine using ethylene, propane, and JP-10 fuels, past engine designs have relied upon a sensitive fuel/oxygen initiator unit. To realize the increased thermodynamic efficiencies of PDEs and thus compete with ramjets and other supersonic platforms, it is imperative to eliminate any need for supplementary oxygen in an air-breathing PDE design. This thesis examined ignition technologies and initiator designs which did not require auxiliary oxygen, including capacitive discharge systems and the developing technology of Transient Plasma Ignition (TPI). The current NPS pulse detonation engine architecture was modified to evaluate the various ignition strategies in a PDE operating on an ethylene/air mixture at simulated supersonic cruising conditions. Comparisons were based upon ignition success rate, ignition delay time, detonation wave speed, and Deflagration-to-Detonation (DDT) distance. Reliability and performance of the TPI system proved to be superior to conventional ignition systems. Furthermore, successful initiation of a PDE operating at a frequency of up to 40 hertz was demonstrated without the use of supplementary oxygen.

No description available.

A thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, December 1992. / The ethanol conversion to hydrocarbons over acidic catalysts proceeds with high activity and selectivity and has hence generated considerable interest. In this thesis an investigation of the use of a range of supports, loaded with metals as potential catalysts for the ethanol transformation reaction, is reported. In particular, Ti02 was investigated as a support and the addition of a secondary component to the catalyst was examined with respect to product selectivities. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / AC2017

Thesis (MTech (Environmental Health))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Environmental remediation of organic and inorganic contaminants such as hydrocarbons has been a research focus area of interest. Chemical surfactants have been extensively used for the remediation of contaminated sites for immobilisation of hydrocarbons from environmental matrices. The focus has been on the impact of chemical surfactants on the environment. These petroleum-based chemical surfactants have raised serious environmental concerns as: 1) they are toxic, 2) they deteriorate the environment owing to their non-biodegradability, 3) they are costly, and 4) most are not intended for environmental applications. As such, alternatives had to be found to mitigate concerns associated with the application of such synthetic surfactants in bioremediation. Biosurfactants produced by microorganisms are a potential alternative to these synthetic surfactants. They have minimal environmental impact, are biodegradable and can withstand extreme conditions. However, biosurfactants are associated with high production costs and low production yield. Currently, large-scale production of biosurfactants cannot be achieved. Most research focuses on improving production yield which will contribute to the reduction in production costs. A lichenysin lipopeptide biosurfactant producing Bacillus sp., which grew exclusively on Beta vulgaris agrowaste, was identified. The microorganism was found to be an effective emulsifier for high molecular weight hydrocarbons such as, lubricant oil and diesel. The aim of this study was to improve biosurfactant production yield from this Bacillus sp., including emulsification efficacy by optimising fermentation conditions by supplementing the broth with biocompatible nanoparticles synthesised using a green chemistry approach with B. vulgaris (B. vulgaris) extracts. This study also aimed at reducing production costs by using B. vulgaris agrowaste exclusively as the production medium, both for the biosurfactant and the nanoparticles.

No description available.

Thesis. 1977. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Bibliography : leaves 115-118. / M.S.

To fulfil global energy demand and to mitigate economical, geopolitical and ecological challenges associated with fossil fuel utilisation, the energy sector is moving towards greater use of sustainable and environmentally friendly energy sources, including biofuels. The ideal transport biofuel would be hydrocarbons that are identical to fossil petroleum. However, to date characterised hydrocarbon biosynthetic pathways include a decarbonylation or decarboxylation reaction, which involves the loss of one carbon resulting in odd-numbered carbon chain hydrocarbons. This carbon loss decreases carbon efficiency for alkane production, which reduces microbial fuel economic competitiveness. Therefore, it is key that new pathways for alkane production are identified. The sulphate-reducing bacteria genus Desulfovibrio was previously reported to synthesise even-numbered carbon chain alkanes, which suggests an alternative route for alkane production without carbon loss. This investigation aimed to verify Desulfovibrio alkane biosynthesis and characterise the possible synthetic pathway. Ten Desulfovibrio strains, representing seven species, were screened for alkane synthesis using isotopically labelled growth media. The ability to produce alkanes within the Desulfovibrio genus was confirmed and was shown to be strain-specific under a set of culture conditions. The biogenic alkanes detected were octadecane (C18), nonadecane (C19) and eicosane (C20), with a predominance of even-numbered carbon chain alkanes. Fatty acid analysis of Desulfovibrio strains showed an alkane biosynthetic pathway was unlikely to involve a decarbonylation or decarboxylation step. A novel hypothesis was therefore proposed that alkane biosynthesis by Desulfovibrio follows a metabolic route, which has not previously been characterised, involving a series of reduction reactions from the fatty acid pool. The characterisation of the putative Desulfovibrio hydrogenation pathway for alkane biosynthesis was undertaken via a target-directed genome mining approach. The genomic DNA of nine Desulfovibrio spp. was purified, sequenced, de novo assembled and annotated. Seven of these nine genomes are unpublished to date. No homologs of previously characterised alkane biosynthetic enzymes from bacteria were in silico identified in the genomes and proteomes of alkane producing Desulfovibrio spp., suggesting that Desulfovibrio alkane biosynthetic pathway is likely to be catalysed by currently uncharacterised enzymes. The 16S rRNA-based phylogeny of Desulfovibrio spp. supported the hypothesis that the Desulfovibrio alkane biosynthetic pathway was acquired by a common ancestral strain via horizontal gene transfer. The ability of Desulfovibrio to produce alkanes was therefore hypothesised to be due to the presence of recruited genes encoding enzymes involved in alkane synthesis. A comparative genomic analysis intersecting six-alkane producing and four non-alkane producing Desulfovibrio genomes resulted in the in silico identification of 33 hypothetical proteins considered with high confidence to be exclusive to alkane producing Desulfovibrio strains. A novel hypothetical Desulfovibrio alkane biosynthetic pathway was proposed involving a V-type ATPase, an uncharacterised protein, named as a putative reductase in this investigation, and a putative methyltransferase, which were predicted to be exclusive to alkane producing Desulfovibrio spp. The inorganic phosphates resulting from the ATP hydrolysis catalysed by the V-type ATPase would be involved in a reaction with fatty alcohols to form alkyl phosphates, which are putative activated intermediates required for the hydrogenation route from fatty alcohols to alkanes. The putative reductase and the methyltransferase, predicted to share similar structural features with known alkane-binding proteins, would subsequently reduce alkyl phosphates to alkanes and to iso-alkanes respectively. Empirical investigation of the candidate molecular basis function in Desulfovibrio alkane biosynthesis was undertaken. The Desulfovibrio alkane biosynthetic pathway remains to be fully characterised.

A contaminação do ar e do meio ambiente por combustíveis derivados de petróleo tem sido objeto de crescente pesquisa no Brasil. Dentre os tipos de poluição ao meio ambiente, a poluição atmosférica é a que causa mais incômodo à população. Esta exerce efeitos sobre a saúde humana, causando desde simples irritações até câncer de pulmão. Dos poluentes mais perigosos encontrados nesses ambientes, são destaques os hidrocarbonetos e os compostos monoaromáticos como o benzeno, tolueno e xilenos (BTX), presentes nesses combustíveis, que são extremamente tóxicos à saúde humana. Para controle desses compostos orgânicos voláteis, é necessário quantificá-los e compará-los aos valores limites de tolerância legislados no Brasil. A utilização da técnica de cromatografia gasosa e da técnica de espectroscopia por infravermelho permite realizar essa tarefa de maneira relativamente simples e rápida. Portanto o objetivo deste trabalho foi apresentar a composição química de amostras de gasolina do tipo C comercializadas nos postos revendedores da Região Metropolitana do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Foram feitas análises quantitativas dos principais grupos químicos (parafínicos, olefínicos, naftênicos e aromáticos) e etanol por Cromatografia Gasosa de Alta Resolução e da composição de benzeno, tolueno e xileno (BTX) pela técnica de absorção no infravermelho. Os resultados foram comparados com os limites dados pela especificação da ANP (Portaria n 309) para a qualidade da gasolina, com o objetivo de se verificar se estão em conformidade com este agente regulamentador. Os resultados mostraram que todos os teores encontrados de olefínicos e aromáticos foram abaixo do limite especificado. Alguns postos apresentaram os teores de benzeno acima do limite especificado, indicando um nível de ação por parte da ANP principalmente pela ação tóxica do benzeno / The air contamination and the environment by fuels derived from crude oil has been object of increasing research in Brazil. Amongst the types of pollution to the environment, the atmospheric pollution is the one that cause more discomfort to the population. This exerts effects on the human health, causing since simple irritations until lung cancer. Among the most dangerous pollutants found in these environments are prominences the aliphatic hydro carbons and monoaromatic hydrocarbons compounds as benzene, toluene and xylems (BTX), present in these fuels that are extremely toxic to the human health. To control these volatile organic compounds, is necessary to quantify and to compare them with the tolerance limits value legislated in Brazil. The gas chromatography and infra-red ray spectroscopy techniques utilization allows realizing easily and fast these tasks. Therefore the objective of this work was to present the type C gasoline samples chemical composition commercialized on the gas station of the metropolitan region on Rio de Janeiro state. Had been made quantitative analyses for the main chemical groups (paraffins, olefins, naphthenics and aromatics) and ethanol by high resolution Gas Chromatography and the composition for benzene, toluene and xylem (BTX), by infra-red ray absorption technique. The results had been compared with the limits given by ANP specification (Portaria n 309) for the gasoline quality, with the objective to verify if they are in compliance with this regulatory agent. The results had shown that all amount founded for aromatics and olefinics had been below of the specified limit. Some gas station had presented amount for benzene above of the specified limit, indicating that ANP need to take some actions toward these gas station, mainly for the benzene toxicity action

No description available.

No description available.