Combustion characteristics in the transition region of liquid fuel sprays

A number of important effects have been observed in the droplet size transition region in spray combustion systems. In this region, where the mechanism of flame propagation is transformed from diffusive to premixed dominated combustion, the following effects have been observed: (1) maxima in burning velocity; (2) extension of flammability limits; (3) minima in ignition energy; and (4) minima in NOx formation. A monodisperse aerosol generator has been used to form and deliver a well controlled liquid fuel spray to the combustion test section where measurements of ignition energy have been made. The ignition studies were performed on monodisperse n-heptane sprays at atmospheric pressure over a range of equivalence ratios and droplet diameters. A capacitive discharge spark ignition system was used as the ignition source, providing independent control of spark energy and duration. Preliminary measurements were made to optimize spark duration and spark gap, optimum conditions being those at which the maximum frequency or probability of ignition was observed. Using the optimum electrode spacing and spark duration, the frequency of ignition was determined as a function of spark energy for three overall equivalence ratios (0.6, 0.8, and 1.0) and for initial droplet diameters of 25, 40, 50, 60, and 70 micro m

Combustion characteristics in the transition region of liquid fuel sprays

A number of important effects were observed in the droplet size transition region in spray combustion systems. In this region, where the mechanism of flame propagation is transformed from diffusive to premixed dominated combustion, the following effects have been observed: (1) maxima in burning velocity; (2) extension of flammability limits; (3) minima in ignition energy; and (4) minima in NO(x) formation. Unfortunately, because of differences in experimental facilities and limitations in the ranges of experimental data, a unified description of these transition region effects is not available at this time. Consequently, a fundamental experimental investigation was initiated to study the effect of droplet size, size distribution, and operating parameters on these transition region phenomena in a single well controlled spray combustion facility

Field testing of staged combustion on a petroleum process heater

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Field testing of staged combustion on a petroleum process heater

repor

Common Origin of Four Diverse Families of Large Eukaryotic DNA Viruses

Comparative analysis of the protein sequences encoded in the genomes of three families of large DNA viruses that replicate, completely or partly, in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells (poxviruses, asfarviruses, and iridoviruses) and phycodnaviruses that replicate in the nucleus reveals 9 genes that are shared by all of these viruses and 22 more genes that are present in at least three of the four compared viral families. Although orthologous proteins from different viral families typically show weak sequence similarity, because of which some of them have not been identified previously, at least five of the conserved genes appear to be synapomorphies (shared derived characters) that unite these four viral families, to the exclusion of all other known viruses and cellular life forms. Cladistic analysis with the genes shared by at least two viral families as evolutionary characters supports the monophyly of poxviruses, asfarviruses, iridoviruses, and phycodnaviruses. The results of genome comparison allow a tentative reconstruction of the ancestral viral genome and suggest that the common ancestor of all of these viral families was a nucleocytoplasmic virus with an icosahedral capsid, which encoded complex systems for DNA replication and transcription, a redox protein involved in disulfide bond formation in virion membrane proteins, and probably inhibitors of apoptosis. The conservation of the disulfide-oxidoreductase, a major capsid protein, and two virion membrane proteins indicates that the odd-shaped virions of poxviruses have evolved from the more common icosahedral virion seen in asfarviruses, iridoviruses, and phycodnaviruses