Analysis of volatile organic compounds released from the decay of surrogate human models simulating victims of collapsed buildings by thermal desorption–comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–time of flight mass spectrometry

Field experiments were devised to mimic the entrapment conditions under the rubble of collapsed buildings aiming to investigate the evolution of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the early dead body decomposition stage. Three pig carcasses were placed inside concrete tunnels of a search and rescue (SAR) operational field terrain for simulating the entrapment environment after a building collapse. The experimental campaign employed both laboratory and on-site analytical methods running in parallel. The current work focuses only on the results of the laboratory method using thermal desorption coupled to comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TD-GC × GC-TOF MS). The flow-modulated TD-GC × GC-TOF MS provided enhanced separation of the VOC profile and served as a reference method for the evaluation of the on-site analytical methods in the current experimental campaign. Bespoke software was used to deconvolve the VOC profile to extract as much information as possible into peak lists. In total, 288 unique VOCs were identified (i.e., not found in blank samples). The majority were aliphatics (172), aromatics (25) and nitrogen compounds (19), followed by ketones (17), esters (13), alcohols (12), aldehydes (11), sulfur (9), miscellaneous (8) and acid compounds (2). The TD-GC × GC-TOF MS proved to be a sensitive and powerful system for resolving the chemical puzzle of above-ground “scent of death”.     

Air-cooled gas-turbine discs: a review of recent research

The flow between corotating compressor or turbine discs and the flow between a turbine disc and an adjacent stationary casing can be respectively modelled by a rotating cavity and by a rotor-stator system. This paper reviews some of the recent experimental and theoretical work on flow and heat transfer in these two classes of rotating-disc systems. Comparisons between the theoretical and measured distributions of velocity, pressure, and Nusselt numbers are made for the rotating cavity with a superimposed radial flow of cooling air. For the rotor-stator system, some recent work on the fluid dynamics is outlined, and particular mention is made of the so-called “ingress problem” and of the use of pre-swirl air to improve the blade-cooling effectiveness.     

DSMC approach to nonstationary Mach reflection of strong incoming shock waves using a smoothing technique

The direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is applied to simulation of nonstationary Mach reflection of strong shock waves. Normally the DSMC method is very time consuming in solving unsteady flow field problems especially for high Mach numbers, because of the necessity of iterative calculations to eliminate the inherent statistical fluctuation caused by a finite sample size. A central weighted smoothing technique is introduced to process the DSMC results, so that the iteration time can be significantly reduced. In spite of some relaxations of the shock wave structure, the smoothing technique is verified to be useful to estima te the flow fields qualitatively and even quantitatively by using a relatively small sample size. The comparison between the present approach and the kineticmodel approach (Xu et al. 1991a, 1991b) on the application to unsteady rarefied flow fields was also carried out.This article was processed using Springer-Verlag T_EX Shock Waves macro package 1.0 and the AMS fonts, developed by the American Mathematical Society.     

Effect of the Intermolecular Potential on the Generalized Newton-Fourier Relations in the Problem of Gas Outflow into a Vacuum

Using the numerical method of direct statistical simulation (Monte-Carlo method), the effect of the intermolecular potential exponent on the dependence of the stress and the heat flux on the stress rate tensor components and the temperature gradient is analyzed for the nonequilibrium, spherically symmetric outflow of a monatomic gas into a vacuum. Analytical approximations of the constitutive relations are presented. The dependence of the macroscopic parameters on the distance from the source is found.     

Towards the reduction of matrix effects in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry without compromising detection limits: The use of argon-nitrogen mixed-gas plasma

The multivariate optimization of a mixed-gas plasma was conducted in an attempt to find conditions minimizing matrix effects without sacrificing the detection limits that are observed with an all argon plasma optimized for maximum sensitivity in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Compared to the latter, where 49.1 ± 7.1% (n = 17) analyte signal suppression resulted in the presence of 0.1 M Na, 3.8 ± 3.2% suppression (and 2.8 ± 2.1% enhancement in some cases) was observed in the optimized mixed-gas plasma with 0.13% v/v N₂ in the plasma gas and 0.11% in the central channel as a sheath gas around the nebulizer gas flow. Furthermore, improved detection limits were observed for Al, Co, Pd, and V with the optimized mixed-gas plasma compared to an argon plasma at maximum sensitivity. The robustness of this mixed-gas plasma was further demonstrated through the accurate determination of U and Mo in NASS-5 seawater certified reference material using a simple external calibration, without matrix-matching or internal standardization. Indeed, the result obtained for Mo (9.1 ± 1.9 μg/L) was within the 95% confidence interval of the certified value of 9.6 ± 1.0 μg/L, while that obtained for U (3.0 ± 0.2 μg/L) was close to the information value of 2.6 μg/L. Spatial profiling results suggest better energy transfer between the toroidal zone and the central channel in the mixed-gas plasma.     

Structural and micro structural studies of PbO-doped SnO2 sensor for detection of methanol,propanol and acetone

In the present work the structural information of PbO-doped SnO2 thick film sensor has been investigated with X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Initially, SnO2 powder was derived using sol-gel process and was subsequently doped with PbO and ground up to nanosized particles. A suitable gas sensor structure was fabricated on 1′′×1′′ alumina substrate using thick film technology. The necessary paste for screen printing was also developed. SEM results showed sol-gel derived powder gets more agglomerated in the thick film form. The sensitivity of the sensor has been investigated at different temperatures (150 ?C?350 ?C) upon exposure to methanol, propanol and acetone, yielding a maximum at 250 ?C for acetone with 1 wt% PbO-doping while at 350 ?C for propanol with 3 wt% PbO-doping of the sensor. The reduction of particle size to nanometers (validated through XRD) leads to a dramatic improvement in sensitivity of sensors for the chosen organic vapors. The results also correlate well with the microstructural properties of the material and the dopant.     

Density functionals and model Hamiltonians: Pillars of many-particle physics

Density-functional theory (DFT) and model Hamiltonians are conceptually distinct approaches to the many-particle problem, which can be developed and applied independently. In practice, however, there are multiple connections between the two. This review focuses on these connections. After some background and introductory material on DFT and on model Hamiltonians, we describe four distinct, but complementary, connections between the two approaches: (i) the use of DFT as input for model Hamiltonians, in order to calculate model parameters such as the Hubbard U and the Heisenberg J. (ii) The use of model Hamiltonians as input for DFT, as in the LDA + U functional. (iii) The use of model Hamiltonians as theoretical laboratories to study aspects of DFT. (iv) The use of special formulations of DFT as computational tools for studying spatially inhomogeneous model Hamiltonians. We mostly focus on this fourth combination, model DFT, and illustrate it for the Hubbard model and the Heisenberg model. Other models that have been treated with DFT, such as the PPP model, the Gaudin–Yang δ$\delta$-gas model, the XXZ chain, variations of the Anderson and Kondo models and Hooke’s atom are also briefly considered. Representative applications of model DFT to electrons in crystal lattices, atoms in optical lattices, entanglement measures, dynamics and transport are described.     

强点火作用下C3HF7对甲烷-空气爆炸的抑制

为解决瓦斯输送过程中的爆炸安全问题,探索寻找绿色环保且阻火性能优越的新型抑爆剂,开展了当量比下甲烷-空气预混气体爆炸传播过程中的七氟丙烷抑爆效果研究。实验采用长径比L/D=108的水平管道爆炸特性测试系统,研究了在强点火作用下不同体积分数的七氟丙烷对9.5%甲烷-空气预混气体最大爆炸压力、最大压力上升速率和火焰传播速度的影响。实验结果显示:将2.5 m长的管段作为七氟丙烷抑爆区时,七氟丙烷阻断9.5%甲烷-空气预混气体爆炸火焰传播的最小体积分数为5%;当七氟丙烷的体积分数为1%~4%时,不仅无法阻断爆炸火焰的传播,而且与对照组相比,会使火焰传播速度加快;当七氟丙烷的体积分数为1%~6%时,爆炸源及管道末端处的爆炸压力峰值随着七氟丙烷体积分数的增加而逐渐减小;当七氟丙烷的体积分数为3%时,抑爆区处的爆炸压力峰值与对照组相比增幅为10.9%。     

一种低功耗瓦斯传感器在煤矿中的应用

比较了目前矿井中常用的瓦斯传感器的优缺点.介绍与剖析了UL264气体传感器的性能,并对其作为矿井瓦斯传感器进行了探讨.