Revisiting diesel fuel formulation from Petroleum light and middle refinery streams based on optimized engine behavior

International audienceThe share of diesel fuel in European transport sector, which currently represents over 50% of total 11 demand, is increasing, requiring massive imports of this product, while at the same time, gasoline fuels are 12 today in surplus. In terms of air pollutant emissions, gasoline and kerosene streams have shown potential 13 in achieving lower emissions in Compression Ignition (CI) engines, particularly nitrogen oxides (NOx) 14 and particulates. A new fuel formulation approach through the use of light fractions within diesel 15 technology could consequently address both questions of energy demand balance and reduction of diesel 16 engines pollution footprint. In this study, a fuel formulation for a Diesel engine is optimized to achieve 17 lower pollutants emissions and higher engine efficiency. The fuel matrix is based on seven refinery 18 streams representative of gasoline (Hydrotreated Straight-Run Gasoline HSRG, Hydrotreated Fluid 19 Catalytic Cracking HFCC and Reformate REF), kerosene (Hydrotreated Straight-Run Kerosene HSRK 20 and Hydrocracked Kerosene HCKK) and diesel cuts (Hydrotreated Straight-Run Diesel HSRD and 21 Hydrocracked Light Diesel HCKLD). A D-Optimal mixture design is applied to build, a 12-run, 7-factor fuelmatrix and the fuels are thoroughly optimized on two engine conditions at light and mid-load representativeof typical vehicle running conditions. The results show a high sensitivity and a good correlation ofthe engine efficiency and pollutants emissions with the volumetric contribution of each refinery streamto the fuel composition. The optimum fuel composition varies across the range of engine operatingpoints. At light load for example, the addition of up to 50 vol% of gasoline streams (HSRG and HFCC) todiesel streams demonstrates a good potential to simultaneously reduce NOx and particulate emission

Paternal Uniparental Isodisomy of Chromosome 6 Causing a Complex Syndrome Including Complete IFN-gamma Receptor 1 Deficiency

Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial disease (MSMD) is a rare primary immunodeficiency associated with clinical disease caused by weakly virulent mycobacterial species. Interferon gamma receptor 1 (IFN-γR1) deficiency is a genetic etiology of MSMD. We describe the clinical and genetic features of a seven-year-old Italian boy suffering from MSMD associated with a complex phenotype, including neonatal hyperglycemia, neuromuscular disease, and dysmorphic features. The child also developed necrotizing pneumonia caused by Rhodococcus equi. The child is homozygous for a nonsense mutation in exon 3 of IFNGR1 as a result of paternal uniparental disomy (UPD) of the entire chromosome 6. This is the first reported case of uniparental disomy resulting in a complex phenotype including MSMD

Biomimétismes

Le biomimétisme est souvent présenté comme une solution à la crise écologique que traversent les sociétés humaines. Pour ses défenseurs, cette approche pourrait instaurer, ou restaurer, un rapport moins destructeur à l’environnement, en adoptant des démarches et des processus de fabrication imitant la nature. Mais au moment d’esquisser les idées directrices pour de nouveaux modèles d’actions individuelles et collectives, il convient de réfléchir aux conceptions de la nature, de la vie et de la technique associées à ces pratiques, et pas seulement dans les sociétés occidentales. Plutôt que de considérer l’imitation de la nature et de la vie comme un mécanisme universel, il s’avère crucial de réfléchir aux fondements anthropologiques du biomimétisme ou – pour insister sur la diversité des pratiques – des « biomimétismes ». Les textes rassemblés dans ce numéro explorent l’inventivité des sociétés, présentes et passées, lorsqu’elles cherchent dans leur environnement une source d’inspiration pour fabriquer des objets et organiser leur existence collective selon des finalités variées