Performance of a diesel engine with water emulsified diesel prepared with optimized process parameters

An attempt has been made to produce stable water–diesel emulsion with optimal formulation and process parameters and to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine using this stable water–diesel emulsion. A total of 54 samples were prepared with varying water/diesel ratio, surfactant amount and stirring speed and water separation was recorded after 24 and 48 hr of emulsification. The recorded data were used in artificial neural network (ANN)-particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique to find the optimal parameters to produce water–diesel emulsion for engine testing. The predicted optimal parameters were found as 20% water to diesel ratio, 0.9% surfactant and 2200 rpm of stirrer for a water separation of 14.33% in one day with a variation of 6.54% against the actual value of water separation. Water–diesel emulsion fuel exhibited similar fuel properties as base fuel. The peak cylinder gas pressure, peak pressure rise rate and peak heat release rate for water–diesel were found higher as compared to diesel at medium to full engine loads. The improved air-fuel mixing in water–diesel emulsion enhanced brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of engine. The absorption of heat by water droplets present in water–diesel emulsion led to reduced exhaust gas temperature (EGT). With water–diesel emulsion fuel, the mean carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) emissions reduced by 8.80, 39.60, and 26.11%, respectively as compared to diesel.     

Animal agency in wildlife conservation and management

Wildlife conservation and management (WCM) practices have been historically drawn from a wide variety of academic fields, yet practitioners have been slow to engage with emerging conversations about animals as complex beings, whose individuality and sociality influence their relationships with humans. We propose an explicit acknowledgement of wild, nonhuman animals as active participants in WCM. We examined 190 studies of WCM interventions and outcomes to highlight 3 common assumptions that underpin many present approaches to WCM: animal behaviors are rigid and homogeneous; wildlife exhibit idealized wild behavior and prefer pristine habitats; and human–wildlife relationships are of marginal or secondary importance relative to nonhuman interactions. We found that these management interventions insufficiently considered animal learning, decision-making, individuality, sociality, and relationships with humans and led to unanticipated detrimental outcomes. To address these shortcomings, we synthesized theoretical advances in animal behavioral sciences, animal geographies, and animal legal theory that may help conservation professionals reconceptualize animals and their relationships with humans. Based on advances in these fields, we constructed the concept of animal agency, which we define as the ability of animals to actively influence conservation and management outcomes through their adaptive, context-specific, and complex behaviors that are predicated on their sentience, individuality, lived experiences, cognition, sociality, and cultures in ways that shape and reshape shared human–wildlife cultures, spaces, and histories. Conservation practices, such as compassionate conservation, convivial conservation, and ecological justice, incorporate facets of animal agency. Animal agency can be incorporated in conservation problem-solving by assessing the ways in which agency contributes to species’ survival and by encouraging more adaptive and collaborative decision-making among human and nonhuman stakeholders.     

Preconcentration of cadmium and copper ions on magnetic core–shell nanoparticles for determination by flame atomic absorption

Magnetic core–shell nanoparticles modified by (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxy silane were prepared and used as adsorbent for the extraction and preconcentration of cadmium and copper ions. The ions were desorbed with nitric acid followed by determination with flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The extraction conditions were investigated systematically. The method was applied for the determination of Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions in different water samples. The accuracy was also evaluated through analysis of certified reference material.     

Exploration of spatial morphometry and socioeconomic variables in modelling urban land use change

The incorporation of land use (LU) data with socioeconomic data is a main issue in modelling. This is as a result of difference in data model and scale. This study proposed and tested the change–pattern approach, which allows the incorporation of these data sets in modelling LU change. Focusing on LU dynamics for a selected part of the Thames Gateway within the City of London, the approach tested two different methods of input selection for the modelling operations. Variables selected from these two methods serve as inputs into several neural networks tested in order to identify the direction of change for each of the LU types within the study area. The result shows that direction of LU change across the study area could be identified when spatial morphology of the area and socioeconomic variables are considered. Some classes of change could be identified fairly accurately using landscape metrics indicating level of fragmentation, extent of LU patches, shape complexity of LU patches in combination with some socioeconomic variables.     

中国华南地区持续干期日数时空变化特征

利用华南地区46个地面气象站1960-2012年逐日降水数据,分析该地区各季节持续干期日数的时空分布特征。结果表明：1）近53年来,华南地区春季和夏季的持续干期日数呈波动下降趋势,下降速率分别为0.042和0.108 d·（10 a）-1;秋季和冬季的持续干期日数呈波动上升趋势,上升速率分别为1.911和0.118 d·（10 a）-1。广东省春季和夏季持续干期日数呈下降趋势,下降速率分别为0.171和0.243 d·（10 a）-1;秋季和冬季持续干期日数呈增加趋势,增加速率分别为1.737和0.32 d·（10 a）-1。广西省春、夏和秋季持续干期日数呈增加趋势,增加速率分别为0.109、0.046和2.117 d·（10 a）-1;冬季为减小趋势,减少速率为0.106 d·（10 a）-1。2）华南地区持续干期日数在春季呈从北向南逐渐增多的趋势,夏季呈自西南向东北逐渐增加的趋势,秋季呈自西向东逐渐增加的趋势,冬季呈从北向南逐渐增多的趋势。冬季的持续干期日数是4个季节中最长的,大致在20~44 d。3）华南地区春季持续干期日数变化倾向率在-1.20~1.00 d·（10 a）-1之间,增加趋势最明显的区域是广西省的南部地区,减少趋势最明显的区域是广东省的沿海地区;夏季在-1.00~0.60 d·（10 a）-1之间,呈增加趋势的区域主要位于广西省的中部和南部,呈减少趋势的区域位于广东省大部分地区和广西省的东部;秋季在0~3.50 d·（10 a）-1之间,整体呈现增加趋势,变化倾向率较大的区域主要位于广西省的中部和广东省的东北部沿海地区;冬季在-1.50~2.00 d·（10 a）-1之间,呈增加趋势的区域主要集中在广东省的中南部和东部地区,以及广西的东部边缘,呈减少趋势的区域主要集中在广东省的北部以及广西的中部和西北部地区。持续干期日数增加趋势最明显的季节是秋季。4）持续干期日数与降水量表现出负相关性,与气温和无降水日数表现为正相关性。降水量和无降水日数的变化对持续干期日数的变化起着重要的作用,而温度对持续干期日数的影响比较小。     

Limiting explosible concentration of hydrogen–oxygen–helium mixtures related to the practical operational case

This paper presents data on the limiting (minimum) concentrations of hydrogen in oxygen, in the presence of added helium, at elevated temperature and pressure related to the practical operational case. A 5 L explosion vessel, an ignition sub-system and a transient pressure measurement sub-system were used. Through a series of experiments carried out using this system, the limiting concentrations of hydrogen in oxygen and helium at different initial pressures and temperatures for the practical operational case were studied, and the influence of ignition energy and initial temperature on the limiting concentration of hydrogen in oxygen and helium was analyzed and discussed. The variation of ignition energy within the studied range is found to have a significant effect on the limiting concentration of hydrogen in oxygen and helium at lower initial temperature. However, when the ignition energy is higher than 32 mJ, the limiting hydrogen concentration remains almost changeless as the initial temperature increases from 21 °C to 90 °C. The limiting explosible concentration of hydrogen–oxygen–helium mixture decreases as the ignition energy increases when the initial temperature is lower. When the initial temperature is higher, the ignition energy has little effect on the limiting hydrogen concentration of hydrogen–oxygen–helium mixtures. When the initial temperature reaches 90 °C, the limiting hydrogen concentration remains almost changeless with an increase in ignition energy. The limiting explosible concentration of hydrogen in the mixtures, at the initial temperature of 21 °C and the ignition energy of 0.5 mJ, is 8.5% and that of oxygen is 11.25%.     

Thermodynamic method for the prediction of solid CO2 formation from multicomponent mixtures

The increase in GHG concentration has a direct effect on global climate conditions. Among the possible technologies to mitigate GHG emissions, CCS is being accepted to gain emission reduction. Such technology also involves cryogenic CO₂ capture processes based on CO₂ freeze-out or where the formation of solid CO₂ must be avoided. Captured CO₂ is usually transported in pipelines for the reinjection.The risk associated to the release of CO₂ is due to the changing temperatures and pressures the system may experience, which can lead to the deposition of solid CO₂ where it must be avoided. Prolonged exposure to dry ice can cause severe skin damage and its resublimation could pose a danger of hypercapnia. It is, thus, necessary to build up a tool able to predict the conditions in which CO₂ can freeze-out.A thermodynamic methodology based on cubic EoSs has been developed which is able to predict solid–liquid–vapor equilibrium of CO₂ mixtures with n-alkanes or H₂S which are usually found in equipment for acidic gas, mainly natural gas, treatment.The focus is a detailed analysis of the method performances when more than two components are present since, for such a case, literature does not provide significant modeling results.