Doctrine of Desuetude –Addressing the Constitutional Minefield

Ever since India became independent in 1947, major reforms have taken place with respect to many aspects of our day-to-day life. Despite this, several of the laws so passed have not adequately led to the advancement of our country. In addition, statutes are often complex, and therefore cannot be understood by the common man. Ironically, the laws that are enacted for the betterment of the citizens are structured and compiled in such a manner, so as to lead to circuitous statutes laden with several technical terms, discouraging the same very people of the country from taking any legal recourse. The law commission has come out with many far-reaching reports to repeal numerous irrelevant laws, which have given rise to considerable confusion in the minds of citizens as well as the litigants. However, the government has not been very proactive on this front, taking shelter under Article 372 of our Constitution which provides the basis for the continuation of such redundant laws. Most of these laws no longer serve their original purposes, given the change in context. This article highlights the problems that are caused by such laws. Further, it gives an insight into the applicability of the doctrine of desuetude and how the judiciary has favoured its applicability to simplify matters relating to the functioning of these laws

Evaluation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Formation in Counterflow Diffusion Flames

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been heralded as mutagenic and carcinogenic substances and currently, their emissions are subject to regulatory control due to recently imposed stricter environmental regulations. Hence, it has become necessary to have a detailed understanding of their chemistry. In this work, a short review of the available PAH relevant counterflow diffusion flame datasets is presented. Following that, the reliability of four widely used PAH mechanisms and the revised PAH mechanism, within the scope of this work, is assessed by validating them against these collected experimental datasets. The formation of the first aromatic ring is investigated based on the performed reaction path analyses. The results show that the dominant reaction pathways for the formation of benzene are “even carbon atom” pathways (H-abstraction acetylene addition) and “odd carbon atom” pathways (recombination of propargyl radicals). The dominance of one pathway over the other was found to be strongly dependent on the fuel structure and its doping with other components

Mechanism Comparison for PAH Formation in Pyrolysis and Laminar Premixed Flames

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are known precursors of harmful carbonaceous particles. Accurate predictions of soot formations strongly rely on accurate predictions of PAHs chemistry. This work addresses the detailed kinetic modeling of PAH formation using two models: CRECK [8] and ITV [12], aiming to compare the model predictions with experimental data in olefin pyrolysis and laminar premixed flames. The two kinetic mechanisms are validated and compared highlighting similarities and differences in PAHs formation pathways. The validation highlights the critical role of resonance-stabilized radicals leading to the PAH formation

Variabilidad de rindes de trigo y fertilización nitrogenada

p.115-122En la primera parte del trabajo se presenta un modelo teórico de respuesta del cultivo de trigo a una serie de factores de producción. El objetivo del mismo es permitir la estimación del valor esperado de rinde, E (Y), y la varianza de rinde, V (Y), para cualquier nivel de uso de insumo. En la segunda parte se usa el modelo anterior para analizar el proceso de respuesta del cultivo de trigo al uso de fertilizante nitrogenado. Se utilizan datos experimentales correspondientes a la zona triguera II. Una función polinomial es ajustada a datos de ensayos llevados a cabo en la zona II Norte y en la zona II Sur. Una prueba estadística para detectar la presencia de heterocedasticidad (el Test de Park) permite estimar la influencia del nivel de fertilización nitrogenada sobre la variabilidad de rindes. Se concluye que (1) las dosis óptimas son considerablemente (30-50 por ciento) mayores en la zona II surque en la II Norte, (2) las diferencias (entre zonas) de dosis óptima son mayores cuanto menores son las relaciones de precio fertilizante-trigo y (3) la utilización de fertilizante nitrogenado no parece aumentad el riesgo económico de producción

Detailed chemical kinetic modeling of biofuels and their blends with conventional fuel components

Fuel components derived from non-edible biomass are regarded as sustainable substituents for conventional fuels. A major prerequisite for their application in engines, however, is the understanding of their detailed oxidation behavior, which strongly depends on the fuel structure. In the present work, the oxidation behavior of a group of bio-derived furans and tetrahydrofurans is investigated by developing their detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms. Furthermore, to identify potential fuel blends for the desired applications, a systematic optimization approach is proposed. The first part of this thesis is a detailed investigation of the effect of blending an octane booster, 2-methylfuran, with the more reactive primary reference fuel candidate, n-heptane. A detailed model comprising the chemistry relevant for 2-methylfuran and n-heptane was formulated, which predicts newly measured and literature data well. A non-linear mixing behavior was observed, and the detailed chemical analysis reveals no direct interaction between these two fuels, but the effect of 2-methylfuran as a radical scavenger is responsible for this trend. The second part of the thesis addresses the question, how a small change in molecular structure can lead to a substantial change in the reactivity. The oxidation behavior of two structural isomers, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran and 3-methyltetrahydrofuran, is investigated numerically and experimentally. The developed detailed chemical kinetic models show good agreement with experimental ignition delay measurements and flame data from the literature. The influence of molecular structure on ignition propensity was investigated by comparing the ignition delay times of these two components. A comparative reaction path analysis ensures that the location of the side chain is the decisive factor for their ignition propensity. The last part of the thesis focuses on the optimization of potential gasoline blending agents. For this purpose, a large database containing the physical and chemical properties of about 500 fuel components was established. In order to identify the potential candidates, a simple automatic tool was developed, whose main functions involve the physicochemical property calculation of the blends based on pre-defined blending rules and selecting the potential candidates for a set of constraints on these properties. Fuel candidates comprising the alcohol and ketone functional groups were observed to have good potential for blending with gasoline for superior efficiency

On the super adiabatic flame temperature (SAFT) of toluene primary reference fuels

Toluene primary reference fuel (TPRF) mixtures containing iso-octane (i-C8H18), n-heptane (n-C7H16), and toluene (C6H5CH3) are commonly used as gasoline surrogates. We report the occurrence of super adiabatic flame temperature (SAFT) during the premixed combustion of TPRF mixtures in air. Both 1-D premixed flame and 0-D (well-stirred) reactor configurations have been considered for chemical kinetic analysis with Cantera version 2.5.1. A recently developed detailed gasoline surrogate mechanism (C3MechV3.3) has been used for the 0-D reactor analysis. On the other hand, the flame structures have been simulated with a skeletal mechanism. To ensure accurate analysis, the mechanisms used in this work have been validated at SAFT relevant conditions against experimental data from literature. For the first time in literature, post-flame heat release and brute force reaction sensitivity analysis have been performed to identify important reactions contributing towards SAFT in TPRF surrogates. The degree of superadiabaticity for 1-D and 0-D cases have been expressed with non-dimensional parameters ξ1D and ξ0D respectively. The results show that ξ1D and ξ0D increase with the increase in iso-octane content in TPRF compositions, while n-heptane and toluene have minor influence on SAFT. Key chemical observations to the SAFT mechanism in gasoline surrogate mixtures include: 1) The competition between the exothermic reaction zone and the endothermic post-flame region causes SAFT. 2) Both 1-D flame and 0-D reactor analysis show that the reactions involving H, OH, and C3 species have major influence on SAFT. 3) Iso-octane augments SAFT as its β-scission product iso-butene (i-C4H8) influences the post-flame endothermicity and C3 species formation.Peer reviewe