Large‐scale Experimental Study on the Effects of Flooring Materials on Combustion Behavior of Thermoplastics

The effects of flooring materials on the combustion behavior of thermoplastics is investigated. Based on the ISO 9705 fire test setup, an experimental rig was designed. Full‐scale experiments of PP combustion were carried out using five flooring boards, namely gypsum, steel, wood, ceramic tile and PVC. The experimental results indicate that the flooring boards play an important role in the heat release rates of typical thermoplastics combustion. Specifically, the time for the sharp increase of heat release rate is generally later for the flooring boards with larger thermal conductivity, except for the case of PVC. Preliminary analyses suggest that the reason for the exception of PVC is the expansion and carbonization of PVC at high temperature. In addition, experimental results also show that the corresponding peak heat release rate of thermoplastics combustion would be generally smaller for the flooring board with a larger thermal mass, except for the case of gypsum. The primary cause for the exception of gypsum may be the heat absorption by the crystal water released from the gypsum during the burning of hot pool oil.     

The study of the stability of aqueous three-phase fire-resistant foam in typical liquidus hydrocarbons

The utilization of solid particles in aqueous foam has a great potential in improving fire fighting efficiency. In this study, aqueous foam supported by micro fly-ash (FA) was prepared and its stability in a specific type of oil was characterized. Firstly, different amount of FA was added to study the influence of FA concentration on foamability. It showed that within a specific extent, foam expansion ratio increased with the increasing of FA concentration. And compared with conventional foams, oil resistance of FA stabilized foams, which was investigated by analyzing drainage rate and evolution process with a self-made apparatus, was remarkably improved when FA concentration exceed 4.8wt.%. Secondly, SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ particles with different median sizes were used to study the effect of particle size on stability. However, the smaller hydrophilic particles didn’t behave better as expected. Moreover, the foam stability in three hydrocarbons was evaluated in the same way. The results indicated that the short chain hydrocarbons had much stronger detrimental effect to both two-phase foam and three-phase foam. But overall, the three-phase foam stabilized by FA exhibited much better oil resistance, so it can be used as a promising material for pool fire extinguishing and prevention.GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT     

Synthesis of the Aliphatic Subunit of the Macrolide LL‐Z 1640‐2 via Vasella Ring Opening of a 6‐Iodo‐4‐deoxy‐D‐mannose

The synthesis of the aliphatic subunit 9 of the macrolide LL‐Z1640‐2 (I), starting from a 4‐deoxy‐D‐mannose derivative 2a, is described. The procedure includes the first successful application of a Vasella ring opening reaction for a 4‐deoxypyranoside. Nucleophilic addition of an alkynyllithium reagent to the aldehyde 4 led to the propargylic alcohol 7, which was converted to the advanced building block 9 in two further steps.     

Bilevel optimization applied to strategic pricing in competitive electricity markets

In this paper, we present a bilevel programming formulation for the problem of strategic bidding under uncertainty in a wholesale energy market (WEM), where the economic remuneration of each generator depends on the ability of its own management to submit price and quantity bids. The leader of the bilevel problem consists of one among a group of competing generators and the follower is the electric system operator. The capability of the agent represented by the leader to affect the market price is considered by the model. We propose two solution approaches for this non-convex problem. The first one is a heuristic procedure whose efficiency is confirmed through comparisons with the optimal solutions for some instances of the problem. These optimal solutions are obtained by the second approach proposed, which consists of a mixed integer reformulation of the bilevel model. The heuristic proposed is also compared to standard solvers for nonlinearly constrained optimization problems. The application of the procedures is illustrated in case studies with configurations derived from the Brazilian power system.     

Steady-state solutions in a three-dimensional nonlinear pool-boiling heat-transfer model

We consider a relatively simple model for pool-boiling processes. This model involves only the temperature distribution within the heater and describes the heat exchange with the boiling medium via a nonlinear boundary condition imposed on the fluid-heater interface. This results in a standard heat-transfer problem with a nonlinear Neumann boundary condition on part of the boundary. In a recent paper [Speetjens M, Reusken A, Marquardt W. Steady-state solutions in a nonlinear pool-boiling model. IGPM report 256, RWTH Aachen. Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simul, in press, doi:10.1016/j.cnsns.2006.11.002] we analysed this nonlinear heat-transfer problem for the case of two space dimensions and in particular studied the qualitative structure of steady-state solutions. The study revealed that, depending on system parameters, the model allows both multiple homogeneous and multiple heterogeneous temperature distributions on the fluid-heater interface. In the present paper we show that the analysis from Speetjens et al. (doi:10.1016/j.cnsns.2006.11.002) can be generalised to the physically more realistic case of three space dimensions. A fundamental shift-invariance property is derived that implies multiplicity of heterogeneous solutions. We present a numerical bifurcation analysis that demonstrates the multiple solution structure in this mathematical model by way of a representative case study.     

A survey of experimental heat transfer data for nucleate pool boiling of liquid metals and a new correlation

The experimental data for heat transfer during nucleate pool boiling of saturated liquid metals on plain surfaces are surveyed and a new correlation is presented. The correlation is h = Cq^0.7p_r^m, where C and m are, respectively, 13.7 and 0.22 p_r < 0.001 and 6.9 and 0.12 for p_r > 0.001 (h is in W/m² K and q in W/m²). This correlation has been verified with data for K, Na, Cs, Li, and Hg from 17 sources over the reduced pressure (p_r) range of 4.3 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.8 × 10⁻². The correlation of Subbotin et al. was found unsatisfactory, but a modified correlation was developed that also gives good agreement with most of the data.     

New method for determination of trihalomethanes in exhaled breath: Applications to swimming pool and bath environments

A method for the estimation of the human intake of trihalomethanes (THMs), namely chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform, during showering and bathing is reported. The method is based on the determination of these compounds in exhaled breath that is collected by solid adsorption on Tenax using a device specifically designed for this purpose. Instrumental measurements were performed by automatic thermal desorption coupled to gas chromatography with electron capture detection. THMs in exhaled breath samples were determined during showering and swimming pool attendance. The levels of these compounds in indoor air and water were also determined as reference for interpretation of the exhaled breath results. The THM concentrations in exhaled breath of the volunteers measured before the exposure experiments showed a close correspondence with the THMs levels in indoor air where the sampler was located. Limits of detection in exhaled breath were dependent on THM analytes and experimental sites. They ranged between 170 and 710 ng m⁻³ in the swimming pool studies and between 97 and 460 ng m⁻³ in the showering studies. Application of this method to THMs determination during showering and swimming pool activities revealed statistically significant increases in THMs concentrations when comparing exhaled breath before and after exposure.     

考虑液面凹陷时金属熔化与蒸发的数值研究

将关于液面凹陷的Young-Laplace方程与关于金属溶池的流体力学方程组及关于金属蒸发的ＢＧＫ方程联立求解，在给定的电子枪加热条件下，获得了熔池流场和温度场图像及金属蒸气密度、速度和温度分布.数值计算结果表明，随电子枪功率增加，金属的蒸发速率增加，蒸气的密度增大、温度降低而速度升高.与假设液面为平面的情况相比，考虑液面凹陷后求得的液面温度较低，金属的蒸发速率较小，并且这种差别随电子枪功率的增加而扩大.因此对于高功率电子枪加热金属蒸发，必须考虑液面凹陷的影响才能得到符合实际的结果. 关键词： 液面凹陷 Young-Laplace方程 熔池 金属蒸发