Flame acceleration in unconfined hydrogen/air deflagrations using infrared photography

Flame behavior and blast waves generated during unconfined hydrogen deflagrations were experimentally studied using infrared photography. Infrared photography enables expanding spherical flame behaviors to be measured and flame acceleration exponents to be evaluated. In the present experiments, hydrogen/air mixtures of various concentrations were filled in a plastic tent of thin vinyl sheet of 1 m³ and ignited by an electric spark. The onset of accelerative dynamics on the flame propagation was analyzed by the time histories of the flame radius and the stretched flame speed. The results demonstrated that the self-acceleration of the flame, which was caused by diffusional-thermal and hydrodynamic instabilities of the blast wave, was influenced by hydrogen deflagrations in unconfined areas. In particular, it was demonstrated that the overpressure rapidly increased with time. The burning velocity acceleration was greatly enhanced with spontaneous-turbulization.     

Photocatalytic Production of Methane and Hydrogen Through Reduction of Carbon Dioxide with Water Using Titania Pellets

This paper presents an experimental study on employing a pellet form of catalyst in photo-reduction of carbon dioxide with water. Water was first absorbed into titania pellets. Highly purified carbon dioxide gas was then discharged into a reactor containing the wet pellets, which were then illuminated continuously for 65 hours using UVC lamps. Analysing the products accumulated in the reactor confirmed that methane and hydrogen were produced through photo-reduction of carbon dioxide with water. No other hydrocarbons were detected. Increasing the temperature in the reactor has showed little change on the amount of methane produced.     

高效吸收氧化法处理炼油工业恶臭气体研究

以碳酸钠溶液为吸收液,对苯二酚为催化荆,研究了对炼油企业硫化氢恶臭气体的吸收氧化效果,考察了吸收氧化的影响因素、再生方法及再生效果。结果表明：高效氧化吸收法处理硫化氢恶臭气体效果很好,吸收液可循环使用。     

EGSB厌氧发酵垃圾渗滤液制氢的启动特性研究

利用厌氧膨胀颗粒污泥床(EGSB),对生活垃圾堆肥厂初期渗滤液的厌氧生物发酵制氢启动特性进行了研究,探讨了反应器对渗滤液中COD、总氮、总磷的去除效果和产氢能力.结果表明在中温35℃±1℃,有机负荷1.4~16.7 g/(L.d),pH为5.0~5.5的条件下,经过20 d的适应期后,EGSB反应器可以实现连续稳定产氢.在水力停留时间为30 h,液体上升流速为3.0 m/h的稳定运行阶段,最高产氢率为1 460 mL/(L.d),氢气含量为19%~33%,COD去除率为50%~70%,总磷、总氮的去除率稳定在40%~70%、32%~65%.液相末端发酵产物中乙醇和乙酸总含量占挥发性脂肪酸(VFA)总量的80%以上,发酵类型以乙醇发酵型为主.     

Hydrogen and transportation: alternative scenarios

If hydrogen (H₂) is to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and oil use, it needs to displace conventional transport fuels and be produced in ways that do not generate significant greenhouse gas emissions. This paper analyses alternative ways H₂ can be produced, transported and used to achieve these goals. Several H₂ scenarios are developed and compared to each other. In addition, other technology options to achieve these goals are analyzed. A full fuel cycle analysis is used to compare the energy use and carbon (C) emissions of different fuel and vehicle strategies. Fuel and vehicle costs are presented as well as cost-effectiveness estimates. Lowest hydrogen fuel costs are achieved using fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage. The fuel supply cost for a H₂ fuel cell car would be close to those for an advanced gasoline car, once a large-scale supply system has been established. Biomass, wind, nuclear and solar sources are estimated to be considerably more expensive. However fuel cells cost much more than combustion engines. When vehicle costs are considered, climate policy incentives are probably insufficient to achieve a switch to H₂. The carbon dioxide (CO₂) mitigation cost would amount to several hundred US$ per ton of CO₂. Energy security goals and the eventual need to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations could be sufficient. Nonetheless, substantial development of related technologies, such as C capture and storage will be needed. Significant H₂ use will also require substantial market intervention during a transition period when there are too few vehicles to motivate widely available H₂ refueling.

Study on the effect of explosion suppression equipment on hydrogen explosions

Hydrogen safety is a critical component of modern industrial safety production. In this study, a set of hydrogen explosion suppression equipment is designed independently. The suppression effects of the equipment on hydrogen explosions are studied at normal room temperature and pressure. The experimental results show that the actuation time of the equipment and the spraying mode of the suppressant are the main factors leading to the failure of the hydrogen explosion suppression equipment. The flame, with a hydrogen equivalence ratio of 0.7 and 1.0, spreads out of control when the suppressant touches the flame front. At this time, the addition of the suppressant enhances flame propagation and increases pressure. In addition, because the suppressant does not fully cover the developing flame, the hydrogen flame with the equivalence ratio of 0.5 eventually breaks through the suppressant cloud, and the explosion happens. However, when the initial flame is completely covered by the suppressant, the hydrogen explosion is suppressed by hydrogen explosion suppression equipment. This research provides a solid and reliable foundation for hydrogen explosion suppression equipment in industrial safety and production protection.     

A novel proton-gradient-transfer acid complexes as an efficient and reusable catalyst for fatty acid esterification

In this work, a series of novel proton-gradient-transfer acid complexes (PGTACs) were developed. Their physicochemical properties, including thermal stability, melting point, and Hammett acidity, were measured. The effects of catalyst loading, reaction temperature, and substrate expansion on the catalytic performance were systematically studied. It is found that the combination of bidentate N-heterocycle and H2SO4 (1:2 M ratio) could form simultaneously N–H covalent bond and N…H hydrogen bond, which makes the PGTACs excellent catalysts integrate the advantages of strong acids (high catalytic activity) and ionic liquids (phase separation) in the esterification reaction. Moreover, these PGTACs can be reused by convenient phase separation without obvious diminution of catalytic activity. It is concluded that these PGTACs are potential alternative candidates for esterification reaction in the process of industrial catalysis.     

Sorption-enhanced chemical looping oxidative steam reforming of methanol for on-board hydrogen supply

Hydrogen is an indispensable energy carrier for the sustainable development of human society. Nevertheless, its storage, transportation, and in situ generation still face significant challenges. Methanol can be used as an intermediate carrier for hydrogen supplies, providing hydrogen energy through instant methanol conversion. In this study, a sorption-enhanced, chemical-looping, oxidative steam methanol-reforming (SECL-OSRM) process is proposed using CuO–MgO for the on-board hydrogen supply, which could be a promising method for safe and efficient hydrogen production. Aspen Plus software was used for feasibility verification and parameter optimization of the SECL-OSRM process. The effects of CuO/CH3OH, MgO/CH3OH, and H2O/CH3OH mole ratios and of temperature on H2 production rate, H utilization efficiency, CH3OH conversion, CO concentration, and system heat balance are discussed thoroughly. The results indicate that the system can be operated in auto-thermal conditions with high-purity hydrogen (99.50 vol％) and ultra-low-concentration CO (<50 ppm) generation, which confirms the pos-sibility of integrating low-temperature proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (LT-PEFMCs) with the SECL-OSRM process. The simulation results indicate that the CO can be modulated in a lower concentration by reducing the temperature and by improving the H2O/CH3OH and MgO/CH3OH mole ratios.     

Variation along the shy–bold continuum in extremophile fishes (<Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Poecilia mexicana</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Poecilia sulphuraria</Emphasis>)

One potential trade-off that bold individuals face is between increased predation risks and gains in resources. Individuals experiencing high predation and hungry individuals (or individuals with low body condition) are predicted to show increased boldness. We examined one behavioral trait previously reported to be associated with boldness (the time individual fish needed to emerge from shelter) in various populations of mollies (Poecilia spp.). Our study system included several southern Mexican surface streams with high piscine predation and high food availability, sulfidic surface streams with high avian predation, in which the inhabiting fish show reduced body condition, and a sulfidic cave, where predation and body condition are low. Our comparison revealed very short times to emerge from the start box in populations from non-sulfidic streams. In sulfidic habitats (whether surface or cave), it took individual Poecilia mexicana considerably longer to emerge from the start box, and the same difference was also found in an independent comparison between P. mexicana and the closely related, highly sulfide-adapted Poecilia sulphuraria. Fish reared under common garden conditions (in the absence of predators and hydrogen sulfide) showed intermediate boldness scores to the extremes observed in the field. Our data thus indicate that (a) boldness is shaped by environmental conditions/experiential effects, but is not heritable, (b) predation affects boldness in the predicted direction, but (c) low body condition leads to reduced boldness. Extremophile Poecilia spp. spend most of their time surfacing to survive under sulfidic and hypoxic conditions, which exposes them to increased levels of predations, but the fish forage on the bottom. Hence, in this system, increased boldness does not increase foraging success. We argue that energy limitation favors reducing energetically costly behaviors, and exploring novel environments may be just one of them.     

Enhanced hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis through strategies of carbon recovery from alkaline/thermal treated sludge

• High hydrogen yield is recovered from thermal-alkaline pretreated sludge. • Separating SFL by centrifugation is better than filtration for hydrogen recovery. • The cascaded bioconversion of complex substrates in MECs are studied. • Energy and electron efficiency related to substrate conversion are evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate the biohydrogen production from thermal (T), alkaline (A) or thermal-alkaline (TA) pretreated sludge fermentation liquid (SFL) in a microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) without buffer addition. Highest hydrogen yield of 36.87±4.36 mgH₂/gVSS (0.026 m³/kg COD) was achieved in TA pretreated SFL separated by centrifugation, which was 5.12, 2.35 and 43.25 times higher than that of individual alkaline, thermal pretreatment and raw sludge, respectively. Separating SFL from sludge by centrifugation eliminated the negative effects of particulate matters, was more conducive for hydrogen production than filtration. The accumulated short chain fatty acid (SCFAs) after pretreatments were the main substrates for MEC hydrogen production. The maximum utilization ratio of acetic acid, propionic acid and n-butyric acid was 93.69%, 90.72% and 91.85%, respectively. These results revealed that pretreated WAS was highly efficient to stimulate the accumulation of SCFAs. And the characteristics and cascade bioconversion of complex substrates were the main factor that determined the energy efficiency and hydrogen conversion rate of MECs.