Numerical simulation of ignition of premixed air/fuel mixtures by microwave streamer discharge

A subcritical microwave streamer discharge is used to initiate ignition of premixed air/fuel mixture. The streamer is arising on the internal surface of the dielectric tube using a passive vibrator in a single-pulse regime at atmospheric pressure and temperature. The propagation speed of the combustion front in the quartz cylindrical tube filled by the air/propane mixture is analyzed numerically. The performed studies showed that the streamer discharge, which creates a multitude of ignition points, provides practically instantaneous ignition of the mixture in the entire volume of the tube, where the streamers reach. The results of numerical simulation are compared with the experimental data. Increasing the length of streamer discharge leads to increasing the flame propagation speed

Ignition of premixed air/fuel mixtures by microwave steamer discharge

A variety of methods exists for fast and efficient combustion of air-fuel mixtures. In this study, a microwave subcritical streamer discharge is used to ignite propane-air mixtures at atmospheric pressure. The streamer is initiated at the inner surface of a dielectric tube with the help of a passive half-wave vibrator. By creating a network of ignition lines, the streamer discharge forms the network of burning channels with large total surface area. This leads to the apparent speed of combustion propagation along the cylinder in excess of 100 m/s, which is more than 200 times the laminar flame propagation speed. The axial propagation of the combustion front in a cylindrical tube filled with the air/propane mixture is investigated by high speed video recording in visible light. A simple model is presented to explain observed results

Analysis of Sequence Variations in Several Human Genes Using Phosphoramidite Bond DNA Fragmentation and Chip-Based MALDI-TOF

The challenge in the postgenome era is to measure sequence variations over large genomic regions in numerous patient samples. This massive amount of work can only be completed if more accurate, cost-effective, and high-throughput solutions become available. Here we describe a novel DNA fragmentation approach for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery and sequence validation. The base-specific cleavage is achieved by creating primer extension products, in which acid-labile phosphoramidite (P-N) bonds replace the 5′ phosphodiester bonds of newly incorporated pyrimidine nucleotides. Sequence variations are detected by hydrolysis of this acid-labile bond and MALDI-TOF analysis of the resulting fragments. In this study, we developed a robust protocol for P-N-bond fragmentation and investigated additional ways to improve its sensitivity and reproducibility. We also present the analysis of several human genomic targets ranging from 100-450 bp in length. By using a semiautomated sample processing protocol, we investigated an array of SNPs within a 240-bp segment of the NFKBIA gene in 48 human DNA samples. We identified and measured frequencies for the two common SNPs in the 3′UTR of NFKBIA (separated by 123 bp) and then confirmed these values in an independent genotyping experiment. The calculated allele frequencies in white and African American groups differed significantly, yet both fit Hardy-Weinberg expectations. This demonstrates the utility and effectiveness of PN-bond DNA fragmentation and subsequent MALDI-TOF MS analysis for the high-throughput discovery and measurement of sequence variations in fragments up to 0.5 kb in length in multiple human blood DNA samples