Effect of hydrogen-diesel fuel co-combustion on exhaust emissions with verification using an in–cylinder gas sampling technique

AbstractThe paper presents an experimental investigation of hydrogen-diesel fuel co-combustion carried out on a naturally aspirated, direct injection diesel engine. The engine was supplied with a range of hydrogen-diesel fuel mixture proportions to study the effect of hydrogen addition (aspirated with the intake air) on combustion and exhaust emissions. The tests were performed at fixed diesel injection periods, with hydrogen added to vary the engine load between 0 and 6 bar IMEP. In addition, a novel in–cylinder gas sampling technique was employed to measure species concentrations in the engine cylinder at two in–cylinder locations and at various instants during the combustion process.The results showed a decrease in the particulates, CO and THC emissions and a slight increase in CO2 emissions with the addition of hydrogen, with fixed diesel fuel injection periods. NOx emissions increased steeply with hydrogen addition but only when the combined diesel and hydrogen co-combustion temperatures exceeded the threshold temperature for NOx formation. The in–cylinder gas sampling results showed higher NOx levels between adjacent spray cones, in comparison to sampling within an individual spray cone

The influence of straight vegetable oil fatty acid composition on compression ignition combustion and emissions

This paper presents experimental studies carried out on a modern direct injection compression ignition engine supplied with a range of straight vegetable oils to investigate the effect of oil fatty acid composition on combustion and emissions. Seven oils, those of corn, groundnut, palm, rapeseed, soybean, sunflower and the micro-algae species Chlorella protothecoides were tested, with all of the fuels heated to 60°C, at constant injection timing and constant ignition timing at a constant engine speed of 1200 rpm. All of the vegetable oils exhibited a duration of ignition delay within ±0.6 CAD of that displayed by a reference fossil diesel, but displayed much reduced rates of peak heat release rate. The duration of ignition delay was found to increase with an increasing carbon to hydrogen ratio of the vegetable oils, implicating the fatty acid alkyl chain as the primary driver of low temperature reactivity. Peak heat release rates decreased with decreasing vegetable oil viscosity, suggesting a significant degree of fuel cylinder wall and piston bowl impingement. At both injection timings, emissions of NOx were lower for all of the vegetable oils relative to the reference fossil diesel, while those of CO, THC and particulate matter were higher and sensitive to the injection timing

A High Stellar Obliquity in the WASP-7 Exoplanetary System

We measure a tilt of 86+-6 deg between the sky projections of the rotation axis of the WASP-7 star, and the orbital axis of its close-in giant planet. This measurement is based on observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect with the Planet Finder Spectrograph on the Magellan II telescope. The result conforms with the previously noted pattern among hot-Jupiter hosts, namely, that the hosts lacking thick convective envelopes have high obliquities. Because the planet's trajectory crosses a wide range of stellar latitudes, observations of the RM effect can in principle reveal the stellar differential rotation profile; however, with the present data the signal of differential rotation could not be detected. The host star is found to exhibit radial-velocity noise (``stellar jitter') with an amplitude of ~30m/s over a timescale of days.Comment: ApJ accepted, 9 pages, 9 figure

Algal biomass and diesel emulsions: An alternative approach for utilizing the energy content of microalgal biomass in diesel engines

The use of algal biomass for the production of sustainable biofuels has attracted significant interest due to the fast reproduction rates and high lipid content of many microalgal species. However, existing methods of extracting algal cellular lipids are complex and expensive, with regards to both energy input and economic costs. This work explores an alternative method of utilizing the energy content of microalgae through the preparation of wet algal biomass slurry/fossil diesel emulsions containing up to 6.6% wt/wt algae biomass, using a specific surfactant combination, for direct injection diesel engine combustion of microalgae without prior biomass drying or lipid extraction. A high lipid containing green microalgae, Chlorella sorokiniana, was used to produce algal biomass for the study. The preparation of wet algal slurry/diesel emulsions from algae grown under standard conditions, and also those under conditions intended to increase cellular lipid content or growth rates was investigated, and in all cases a surfactant pack of Span80, CTAB and butanol was found to produce a stable emulsion. A correlation between the engine work produced during combustion of the emulsions in a modern direct injection compression ignition and the lower heating value of the wet slurry emulsions was found, with no evidence of individual algae cells persisting to the engine exhaust. Engine exhaust emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter were lower for all of the wet algal slurry/diesel emulsions relative to a reference fossil diesel tested under similar conditions, while in the case of the emulsion prepared from algal biomass to which a flocculating agent had been added, emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) were found to increase significantly

Image guidance in neurosurgical procedures, the "Visages" point of view.

This paper gives an overview of the evolution of clinical neuroinformatics in the domain of neurosurgery. It shows how image guided neurosurgery (IGNS) is evolving according to the integration of new imaging modalities before, during and after the surgical procedure and how this acts as the premise of the Operative Room of the future. These different issues, as addressed by the VisAGeS INRIA/INSERM U746 research team (http://www.irisa.fr/visages), are presented and discussed in order to exhibit the benefits of an integrated work between physicians (radiologists, neurologists and neurosurgeons) and computer scientists to give adequate answers toward a more effective use of images in IGNS

The long-term evolution of the spin, pulse shape, and orbit of the accretion-powered millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658

We present a 7 yr timing study of the 2.5 ms X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658, an X-ray transient with a recurrence time of ~2 yr, using data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer covering 4 transient outbursts (1998-2005). We verify that the 401 Hz pulsation traces the spin frequency fundamental and not a harmonic. Substantial pulse shape variability, both stochastic and systematic, was observed during each outburst. Analysis of the systematic pulse shape changes suggests that, as an outburst dims, the X-ray "hot spot" on the pulsar surface drifts longitudinally and a second hot spot may appear. The overall pulse shape variability limits the ability to measure spin frequency evolution within a given X-ray outburst (and calls previous nudot measurements of this source into question), with typical upper limits of |nudot| < 2.5x10^{-14} Hz/s (2 sigma). However, combining data from all the outbursts shows with high (6 sigma) significance that the pulsar is undergoing long-term spin down at a rate nudot = (-5.6+/-2.0)x10^{-16} Hz/s, with most of the spin evolution occurring during X-ray quiescence. We discuss the possible contributions of magnetic propeller torques, magnetic dipole radiation, and gravitational radiation to the measured spin down, setting an upper limit of B < 1.5x10^8 G for the pulsar's surface dipole magnetic field and and Q/I < 5x10^{-9} for the fractional mass quadrupole moment. We also measured an orbital period derivative of Pdot = (3.5+/-0.2)x10^{-12} s/s. This surprising large Pdot is reminiscent of the large and quasi-cyclic orbital period variation observed in the so-called "black widow" millisecond radio pulsars, supporting speculation that SAX J1808.4-3658 may turn on as a radio pulsar during quiescence. In an appendix we derive an improved (0.15 arcsec) source position from optical data.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures; accepted for publication in Ap

New Measurements of Orbital Period Change in Cygnus X-3

A nonlinear nature of the binary ephemeris of Cygnus X-3 indicates either a change in the orbital period or an apsidal motion of the orbit. We have made extended observations of Cygnus X-3 with the Pointed Proportional Counters (PPCs) of the Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment (IXAE) during 1999 July 3-13 and October 11-14. Using the data from these observations and the archival data from ROSAT, ASCA, BeppoSAX and RXTE, we have extended the data base for this source. Adding these new arrival time measurements to the published results, we make a comparison between the various possibilities, (a) orbital decay due to mass loss from the system, (b) mass transfer between the stars, and (c) apsidal motion of the orbit due to gravitational interaction between the two components. Orbital decay due to mass loss from the companion star seems to be the most probable scenario.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Obliquities of Hot Jupiter host stars: Evidence for tidal interactions and primordial misalignments

We provide evidence that the obliquities of stars with close-in giant planets were initially nearly random, and that the low obliquities that are often observed are a consequence of star-planet tidal interactions. The evidence is based on 14 new measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect (for the systems HAT-P-6, HAT-P-7, HAT-P-16, HAT-P-24, HAT-P-32, HAT-P-34, WASP-12, WASP-16, WASP-18, WASP-19, WASP-26, WASP-31, Gl 436, and Kepler-8), as well as a critical review of previous observations. The low-obliquity (well-aligned) systems are those for which the expected tidal timescale is short, and likewise the high-obliquity (misaligned and retrograde) systems are those for which the expected timescale is long. At face value, this finding indicates that the origin of hot Jupiters involves dynamical interactions like planet-planet interactions or the Kozai effect that tilt their orbits, rather than inspiraling due to interaction with a protoplanetary disk. We discuss the status of this hypothesis and the observations that are needed for a more definitive conclusion.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; typos corrected, 2 broken references fixed, 26 pages, 25 figure