Numerical Simulation of Two-Phase Flow through Heterogeneous Porous Media

A mixed finite element method is combined to finite volume schemes on structured and unstructured grids for the approximation of the solution of incompressible flow in heterogeneous porous media. A series of numerical examples demonstrates the effectiveness of the methodology for a coupled system which includes an elliptic equation and a nonlinear degenerate diffusion–convection equation arising in modeling of flow and transport in porous media.     

Attempts to Rationalize the Chemical Reactivity of the 1–3 Dipolar Species Obtained when a Phosphite Reacts with Activated Ethylenic or Acetylenic Ketones or Esters

Abstract

- Addition of trivalent phosphorus compounds with α, β ethylenic ketones and esters leads to examples of prototropy or cyclisation or rearrangement with ring expansion from 5 to 7 atoms.

When trivalent phosphorus compounds react with acetylenic ketones and esters, the 1, 3 dipolar species can be trapped with an electrophilic reagent (aldehydes or the original acetylenic compound) or a protic reagent (alcohol, acid, amide, phenol, etc…) Ylides, phosphoranes, spirophos-phoranes and phospholes can be obtained.     

Charge Enhancement of Single-Stranded DNA in Negative Electrospray Ionization Using the Supercharging Reagent Meta-nitrobenzyl Alcohol

Charge enhancement of single-stranded oligonucleotide ions in negative ESI mode is investigated. The employed reagent, meta-nitrobenzyl alcohol (m-NBA), was found to improve total signal intensity (I_tot), increase the highest observed charge states (z_high), and raise the average charge states (z_avg) of all tested oligonucleotides analyzed in negative ESI. To quantify these increases, signal enhancement ratios (SER_1%) and charge enhancement coefficients (CEC_1%) were introduced. The SER_1%, (defined as the quotient of total oligonucleotide ion abundances with 1 % m-NBA divided by total oligonucleotide abundance without m-NBA) was found to be greater than unity for every oligonucleotide tested. The CEC_1% values (defined as the average charge state in the presence of 1 % m-NBA minus the average charge state in the absence of m-NBA) were found to be uniformly positive. Upon close inspection, the degree of charge enhancement for longer oligonucleotides was found to be dependent upon thymine density (i.e., the number and the location of phospho-thymidine units). A correlation between the charge enhancement induced by the presence of m-NBA and the apparent gas-phase acidity (largely determined by the sequence of thymine units but also by the presence of protons on other nucleobases) of multiply deprotonated oligonucleotide species, was thus established. Ammonium cations appeared to be directly involved in the m-NBA supercharging mechanism, and their role seems to be consistent with previously postulated ESI mechanisms describing desorption/ionization of single-stranded DNA into the gas phase.

Electrochemical method for sulphur dioxide removal from flue gases: Application on sulphuric acid plant in Tunisia

This article presents an electrochemical method for sulphur dioxide removal; the idea consists to couple the phenomenon of electrolysis upstream to the sulphuric acid plant. Otherwise, this proposition consists in modifying the hybrid cycle Westinghouse by the elimination of the sulphuric acid decomposition stage, which corresponds to 61% of the energy distribution of this cycle. The step of the decomposition is replaced by the exploitation of the quantity of sulphur dioxide emissions SO₂ stemming from the process of sulphuric acid H₂SO₄ production. The industrial complex of Gabès in South Tunisia is selected to be the case study complex. In fact, most industries are chemical oriented, the fast growing numbers of H₂SO₄ factories have resulted in fairly serious air pollution, especially sulphur dioxide SO₂ pollution. To confirm the efficiency of this process, a mass balance study was made on the sulphuric acid plant, which used a double contact/double absorption process; this study demonstrates that this new method can treat 8 t d^?1 of sulphur dioxide, recover 12 t d^?1 of sulphuric acid of title 50% and produce 6889 m³ d^?1 of the hydrogen. This idea can achieve economical and environmental benefits. It is concluded that the usage of this electrochemical process can significantly reduce the SO₂ air pollution in Gabès (South Tunisia) by the elimination of 46.94 t d^?1 of SO₂. The results obtained are ambitious for future application of the new process, which can succeed in the realisation of 3.92 million dollars of gain every day.     

Functionalized C-Glycosyl Compounds. III. Reaction of Tertiary Nucleophiles with Unsaturated Carbohydrates. Mechanism of the Anomerization

Abstract

Phenyl 2, 3-dideoxy-4, 6-di-O-benzyl-D-erythro-hex-2-enopyranoside 1α (or 1β) is alkylated regio- and stereospecifically at the anomeric center by stabilized tertiary nucleo-philes in the presence of Pd(0) as a catalyst, leading to the C-glycoside of α- (or β-) configuration. The observed loss of stereoselectivity using secondary stabilized nucleophiles is mainly due to a retro Michael reaction. The assignment of the α- (or β-) configuration at the anomeric center was accomplished using ¹³C NMR and NOE experiments.     

Estimating the distortion parameter of the proportional-hazard premium for heavy-tailed losses

The distortion parameter reflects the amount of loading in insurance premiums. A specific value of a given premium determines a value of the distortion parameter, which depends on the underlying loss distribution. Estimating the parameter, therefore, becomes a statistical inferential problem, which has been initiated by Jones and Zitikis [Jones, B.L., Zitikis, R., 2007. Risk measures, distortion parameters, and their empirical estimation. Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 41, 279–297] in the case of the distortion premium and tackled within the framework of the central limit theorem. Heavy-tailed losses do not fall into this framework as they rely on the extreme-value theory. In this paper, we concentrate on a special but important distortion premium, called the proportional-hazard premium, and propose an estimator for its distortion parameter in the case of heavy-tailed losses. We derive an asymptotic distribution of the estimator, construct a practically implementable confidence interval for the distortion parameter, and illustrate the performance of the interval in a simulation study.     

Physicochemical and thermal analysis of argan fruit residues (AFRs) as a new local biomass for bioenergy production

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - A detailed investigation of the physicochemical properties and thermal characteristics of argan fruit residues (AFRs) was carried out to identify their...     

Autotandem Catalysis: Inexpensive and Green Access to Functionalized Ketones by Intermolecular Iron-Catalyzed Amidoalkynylation/Hydration Cascade Reaction via N-Acyliminium Ion Chemistry

Iron-based catalysts were applied in cascade-type reactions for the synthesis of different carbonyl compounds. The reactions proceeded by a new iron-catalyzed cascade of alkynylation/hydration by using both the σ- and π-Lewis acid properties of iron salts. The alkynylation reactions of several endo and exocyclic acetoxylactams were achieved with three different catalysts including FeCl₃ ⋅ 6H₂O, FeCl₃, and Fe(OTf)₃ showing the efficiency of σ-Lewis acidity of iron (III) salts in catalyzing the alkynylation reaction. We also demonstrated that the reaction sequence could be shortened by the direct use of hydroxylactams, leading to an environmentally friendly protocol, avoiding the need to perform unnecessary lengthy steps. A combination of the hard/soft iron Lewis acid properties was then used to implement an unprecedented tandem intermolecular alkynylation/intramolecular hydration sequence allowing expedient access to a new carbonyl structures from trivial materials.     

Exotic Hadrons and Underlying Z2,3 Symmetries

The recent observation of higher quark combinations, tetraquarks and pentaquarks, is a strong indication of more exotic hadrons. Using Z₂ and Z₃ symmetries and standard model data, a general quark combination producing new hadronic states is proposed in terms of polygon geometries according to the Dynkin diagrams of  _n affine Lie algebras. It has been shown that Z_2,3 invariance is crucial in the determination of the mesonic or the baryonic nature of these states. The hexagonal geometry is considered in some details producing both mesonic and baryonic states. A general class of this family is also presented.