A Research Tapestry: Stories Woven into Stories

This autoethnography highlights the subjective nature of narrative research and illustrates the ways in which both micro and macro forces impact the research process. Through this article, I present a research tapestry in which the experiences, perspectives and stories of the participants weave together with my own experiences, perspectives and stories. I draw from my dissertation research, a narrative inquiry focused on the experiences of Haitian educational leaders working to create systemic change after the 2010 earthquake

Experimental study of the thermal stability of hydrocarbon fuels

The thermal stability of two hydrocarbon fuels (premium diesel and regular diesel) was determined in a flow reactor under conditions representing operation of an aircraft gas turbine engine. Temperature was varied from 300 to 750 F (422 to 672 K) for fuel flows of 2.84 to 56.8 liters/hr (corresponding to 6.84 x 0.00010 to 1.63 x 0.010 kg/sec for regular diesel fuel and 6.55 x 0.00010 to 1.37 x 0.010 kg/sec for premium diesel fuel); test times varied between 1 and 8 hr. The rate of deposition was obtained through measurement of weight gained by metal discs fixed along the channel wall. The rate of deposit formation is best correlated by an Arrhenius expression. The sample discs in the flow reactor were varied among stainless steel, aluminum and brass; fuels were doped with quinoline, indole, and benzoyl perioxide to yield nitrogen or oxygen concentrations of approximately 1000 ppm. The most substantial change in rate was an increase in deposits for brass discs; other disc materials or the additives caused only small perturbations. Tests were also conducted in a static reactor at temperatures of 300 to 800 F for times of 30 min to 2 1/2 hr. Much smaller deposition was found, indicating the importance of fluid transport in the mechanism

The Layers of Collequitable Learning: Learning Inquiry while Learning to Teach

This article is co-written by a high school teacher and a faculty member from a university-based teacher education program. The high school teacher is a graduate of the university\u27s master’s degree program, and this article is a reflection of the inquiry he engaged in while he was simultaneously a student and teaching fellow. By asking questions, engaging with literature, implementing new pedagogical strategies, and collecting and analyzing data with the support of faculty and his cohort of teacher education students, this teacher began to see the ways in which inquiry and teaching are inseparable. Specifically, through the inquiry process, he developed a deeper understanding of collaborative and equitable learning (which he came to call “collequitable learning”) and as he continued to develop his inquiry stance over the course of his first few years of teaching, he began to see deeper connections between his own collaborative learning and that of his students

A Comparative Study of the Formation of Aromatics in Rich Methane Flames Doped by Unsaturated Compounds

For a better modeling of the importance of the different channels leading to the first aromatic ring, we have compared the structures of laminar rich premixed methane flames doped with several unsaturated hydrocarbons: allene and propyne, because they are precursors of propargyl radicals which are well known as having an important role in forming benzene, 1,3-butadiene to put in evidence a possible production of benzene due to reactions of C4 compounds, and, finally, cyclopentene which is a source of cyclopentadienylmethylene radicals which in turn are expected to easily isomerizes to give benzene. These flames have been stabilized on a burner at a pressure of 6.7 kPa (50 Torr) using argon as dilutant, for equivalence ratios (?) from 1.55 to 1.79. A unique mechanism, including the formation and decomposition of benzene and toluene, has been used to model the oxidation of allene, propyne, 1,3 butadiene and cyclopentene. The main reaction pathways of aromatics formation have been derived from reaction rate and sensitivity analyses and have been compared for the three types of additives. These combined analyses and comparisons can only been performed when a unique mechanism is available for all the studied additives

Rich methane laminar flames doped with light unsaturated hydrocarbons. Part II: 1,3butadiene

In line with the study presented in the part I of this paper, the structure of a laminar rich premixed methane flame doped with 1,3-butadiene has been investigated. The flame contains 20.7% (molar) of methane, 31.4% of oxygen and 3.3% of 1,3-butadiene, corresponding to an equivalence ratio of 1.8, and a ratio C4H6 / CH4 of 16 %. The flame has been stabilized on a burner at a pressure of 6.7 kPa using argon as dilutant, with a gas velocity at the burner of 36 cm/s at 333 K. The temperature ranged from 600 K close to the burner up to 2150 K. Quantified species included usual methane C0-C2 combustion products and 1,3-butadiene, but also propyne, allene, propene, propane, 1,2-butadiene, butynes, vinylacetylene, diacetylene, 1,3-pentadiene, 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene (isoprene), 1-pentene, 3-methyl-1-butene, benzene and toluene. In order to model these new results, some improvements have been made to a mechanism previously developed in our laboratory for the reactions of C3-C4 unsaturated hydrocarbons. The main reaction pathways of consumption of 1,3-butadiene and of formation of C6 aromatic species have been derived from flow rate analyses. In this case, the C4 route to benzene formation plays an important role in comparison to the C3 pathway

Mechanisms for the formation of benzene in the atmosphere of Titan

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95336/1/jgre1586.pd

Combustion and pyrolysis reactions of alkylated polycyclic aromatic compounds: The decomposition of 13C methylarenes in relation to diesel engine emissions

The thermal decomposition of methylarenes labelled with 13C in the methyl group was investigated. This was conducted using both a direct injection diesel engine and a pyrolysis flow cell connected to a GC-MS. 2-[13C]methylnaphthalene and 9-[13C]methylphenanthrene were synthesized by means of the Corey-House coupling reaction and their identity and purity confirmed by mass spectrometry and NMR. GC-MS analysis of the aromatic fraction separated from the extract of the exhaust particulate collected from the engine operated with n-hexadecane doped with the labelled methylnaphthalene showed that the 13C was not redistributed among the methyl groups of higher PAH. However, with 9-[13C]methylphenanthrene in the fuel a significant amount was retained in the particulate, even though the principal in-cylinder reaction was dealkylation. Pyrolytic reactions of the 13C-labelled methyl arenes were studied in a micro-pyrolysis-GC-MS-apparatus and confirmed dealkylation as the predominant reaction. The detailed chemical mechanism of the pyrolysis was explained by a scheme involving two alternative radical transfer reactions

Long-Term Vegetation Dynamics and Post-Fire Establishment Patterns of Sagebrush Steppe

Thesis by Elizabeth Colket concerning Fire, Plant Communities, Monitoring and other subject