Experimental and Kinetic Modeling Study of Extinction and Ignition of Methyl Decanoate in Laminar Nonpremixed Flows

Methyl decanoate is a large methyl ester that can be used as a surrogate for biodiesel. In this experimental and computational study, the combustion of methyl decanoate is investigated in nonpremixed, nonuniform flows. Experiments are performed employing the counterflow configuration with a fuel stream made up of vaporized methyl decanoate and nitrogen, and an oxidizer stream of air. The mass fraction of fuel in the fuel stream is measured as a function of the strain rate at extinction, and critical conditions of ignition are measured in terms of the temperature of the oxidizer stream as a function of the strain rate. It is not possible to use a fully detailed mechanism for methyl decanoate to simulate the counterflow flames because the number of species and reactions is too large to employ with current flame codes and computer resources. Therefore a skeletal mechanism was deduced from a detailed mechanism of 8555 elementary reactions and 3036 species using 'directed relation graph' method. This skeletal mechanism has only 713 elementary reactions and 125 species. Critical conditions of ignition were calculated using this skeletal mechanism and are found to agree well with experimental data. The predicted strain rate at extinction is found to be lower than the measurements. In general, the methyl decanoate mechanism provides a realistic kinetic tool for simulation of biodiesel fuels

Crucial function of histone deacetylase 1 for differentiation of teratomas in mice and humans

Although histone deacetylases are generally known as pro-tumourigenic factors, loss of HDAC1 is here shown to promote proliferation and inhibit differentiation in a mouse teratoma model, at least partly via regulation of the transcription factor SNAIL1

Epigenetic Regulation of a Murine Retrotransposon by a Dual Histone Modification Mark

Large fractions of eukaryotic genomes contain repetitive sequences of which the vast majority is derived from transposable elements (TEs). In order to inactivate those potentially harmful elements, host organisms silence TEs via methylation of transposon DNA and packaging into chromatin associated with repressive histone marks. The contribution of individual histone modifications in this process is not completely resolved. Therefore, we aimed to define the role of reversible histone acetylation, a modification commonly associated with transcriptional activity, in transcriptional regulation of murine TEs. We surveyed histone acetylation patterns and expression levels of ten different murine TEs in mouse fibroblasts with altered histone acetylation levels, which was achieved via chemical HDAC inhibition with trichostatin A (TSA), or genetic inactivation of the major deacetylase HDAC1. We found that one LTR retrotransposon family encompassing virus-like 30S elements (VL30) showed significant histone H3 hyperacetylation and strong transcriptional activation in response to TSA treatment. Analysis of VL30 transcripts revealed that increased VL30 transcription is due to enhanced expression of a limited number of genomic elements, with one locus being particularly responsive to HDAC inhibition. Importantly, transcriptional induction of VL30 was entirely dependent on the activation of MAP kinase pathways, resulting in serine 10 phosphorylation at histone H3. Stimulation of MAP kinase cascades together with HDAC inhibition led to simultaneous phosphorylation and acetylation (phosphoacetylation) of histone H3 at the VL30 regulatory region. The presence of the phosphoacetylation mark at VL30 LTRs was linked with full transcriptional activation of the mobile element. Our data indicate that the activity of different TEs is controlled by distinct chromatin modifications. We show that activation of a specific mobile element is linked to a dual epigenetic mark and propose a model whereby phosphoacetylation of histone H3 is crucial for full transcriptional activation of VL30 elements

Progress in Applied CFD. Selected papers from 10th International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics in the Oil & Gas, Metallurgical and Process Industries

This work was focused on a commercial-size (2MWth.) circle-draft biomass gasifier. In this work a threedimensional transient CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model was established to simulate the circledraft biomass gasifier. The MP-PIC (multiphase particlein- cell) method was applied to simulate multiphase reactive flows in the gasifier. In the MP-PIC method, the Navier-Stokes equation coupled with the large-eddy simulation (LES) was applied to describe the gas phase. The particulate phase was described in a Lagrangian way by computing the trajectories of parcels of particles solving Newtonian equations of motion for each parcel. The mass and energy transport equations were coupled with the momentum equation to simulate mass and energy transfer in the circle-draft gasifier. The heterogeneous solid-gas and homogeneous gas-phase reaction kinetics were integrated with the transport equations to simulate biomass drying, gasification, combustion, and other gasphase reactions. The simulation results were compared with experimental data to validate the CFD model. The CFD model predicted gas species distribution, reaction zone temperatures, and producer gas composition in the circle-draft biomass gasifierpublishedVersio

CFD modeling of a commercial‐size circle‐draft biomass gasifier

This work was focused on a commercial-size (2MWth.) circle-draft biomass gasifier. In this work a threedimensional transient CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model was established to simulate the circledraft biomass gasifier. The MP-PIC (multiphase particlein- cell) method was applied to simulate multiphase reactive flows in the gasifier. In the MP-PIC method, the Navier-Stokes equation coupled with the large-eddy simulation (LES) was applied to describe the gas phase. The particulate phase was described in a Lagrangian way by computing the trajectories of parcels of particles solving Newtonian equations of motion for each parcel. The mass and energy transport equations were coupled with the momentum equation to simulate mass and energy transfer in the circle-draft gasifier. The heterogeneous solid-gas and homogeneous gas-phase reaction kinetics were integrated with the transport equations to simulate biomass drying, gasification, combustion, and other gasphase reactions. The simulation results were compared with experimental data to validate the CFD model. The CFD model predicted gas species distribution, reaction zone temperatures, and producer gas composition in the circle-draft biomass gasifie