Modelling of discontinuities through dipole distribution

An indirect boundary element method using dipole distribution is employed in order to model discontinuities inside the flow region. The problem of flow under a dam is treated with a sheet-pile in its foundation. The discontinuity across the sheet-pile is demonstrated, a general boundary element procedure for a mixed problem is outlined and the coefficients of the linear system are given in analytical form. Very good agreement with existing analytical results is obtained.     

Synthesis,Spectral Properties,and Crystal Structure of {Methoxo[4-phenylbutane-2,4-dione(p-nitrobenzoyl) hydrazonato(2-)]oxovanadium(V)}

The hydrazino complex {methoxo[4-phenylbutane-2,4-dione(p-nitrobenzoyl)hydrazonato(2-)]oxovanadium(V)}, VO(p-NO₂bhbzac)OCH₃, (1), has been prepared by the direct reaction of bis(benzoylacetonato) oxovanadium(IV), VO(bza)₂, with p-NO₂-C₆H₄C(O)NHNH₂, p-NO₂bh, in CH₃OH. The resulting compound contains benzoylacetone-(p-NO₂)benzoyl hydrazone as tridentate Schiff base-type ligand and OCH₃ group as Lewis base, both ligated to vanadium. The crystals are orthorhombic, with Z = 8, space group Pbca, a = 11.699(5) Å, b = 14.035(5) Å, c = 22.564(5) Å, R1 = 0.0756 and wR2 = 0.1302. The crystal structure demonstrated the square-pyramidal geometry of the VO_oxo(ONO)O coordination sphere with the oxo ligand at the apical position. The electronic absorption spectra revealed a ligand-to-metal charge-transfer (LMCT) band in the near UV region at _max = 23,700 cm^–1 (B = 5640 dm³ mol^–1 cm^–1) in CH₃CN, _max = 23,420 cm^–1 (B = 5550 dm³ mol^–1 cm^–1) in DMSO, and _max near 26,950 (sh) cm^–1 (B = 10,550 dm³ mol^–1 cm^–1) in CH₂Cl₂. The FT-IR spectra of (1) show the characteristic strong (V = O) stretching vibration at 993 cm^–1 and support the view that the oxovanadium complex is pentacoordinated and monomeric.     

Solubilities of cinnamic acid esters in binary mixtures of ionic liquids and organic solvents

The solubilities of three cinnamic acid esters, namely, methyl ferulate, methyl p-coumarate, and methyl sinapate, have been measured in mixed solvent systems of tert-butanol with 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([BMIM][PF₆]), 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIM][BF₄]) and 1-methyl-3-octyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([OMIM][BF₄]) at 303.15 and 321.15 K, and in mixed solvent systems of ethyl acetate with [BMIM][BF₄] and [OMIM][BF₄] at 303.15 K. In eight cases, out of the 22 data sets, an additive behaviour of the solubility was observed, positive deviations from additivity were observed in six cases, a positive synergistic effect in five cases, and, finally, negative deviations from additivity in the remaining three cases. Prediction of the solubilities of the solutes in the various ternary systems was performed with the NRTL and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models. The binary interaction parameters of the models between solute and solvent molecules were taken from the literature. When the parameters between the solvent molecules are fitted to literature data, satisfactory predictions are not always obtained. On the other hand, very good predictions are obtained when only one of the two interaction parameters between the two solvent molecules is fitted to one single point of the solubility isotherm and the other interaction parameter is set equal to zero.     

Influence of thermal degradation in the physicochemical properties of fish oil

Physicochemical and thermal analyses were undertaken to evaluate the influence of the temperature on the oxidation of sea fish oil once its polyunsaturated fatty acids deteriorate rapidly. Fish oil displayed four decomposition steps in synthetic air atmosphere and only one step in nitrogen atmosphere. The first step started at 189 and 222 °C for oxidizing and inert atmospheres, respectively. An OIT value of 53 min was measured at 100 °C. After the degradation process the peroxide index and the iodine index reduced from 35.38 to 9.85 meq × 1000 g^?1 and from 139.79 to 120.19 gI₂ × 100 g^?1, respectively. An increase of the free fatty acids amount from 0.07 to 0.17% was observed while viscosity increased from 57.2 to 58.0 cP. Absorption at 272 nm also increased. The thermogravimetric and spectroscopic techniques are reproducible and versatile being an option for characterization of edible oil oxidation.     

Vapor liquid equilibrium modeling of alkane systems with Equations of State: “Simplicity versus complexity”

Two types of Equations of State (EoS), which are characterized here as “simple” and “complex” EoS, are evaluated in this study. The “simple” type involves two versions of the Peng–Robinson (PR) EoS: the traditional one that utilizes the experimental critical properties and the acentric factor and the other, referred to as PR-fitted (PR-f), where these parameters are determined by fitting pure compound vapor pressure and saturated liquid volume data. As “complex” EoS in this study are characterized the EoS derived from statistical mechanics considerations and involve the Sanchez–Lacombe (SL) EoS and two versions of the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (SAFT) EoS, the original and the Perturbed-Chain SAFT (PC-SAFT).

The evaluation of these two types of EoS is carried out with respect to their performance in the prediction and correlation of vapor liquid equilibria in binary and multicomponent mixtures of methane or ethane with alkanes of various degree of asymmetry. It is concluded that for this kind of systems complexity offers no significant advantages over simplicity. Furthermore, the results obtained with the PR-f EoS, especially those for multicomponent systems that are encountered in practice, even with the use of zero binary interaction parameters, indicate that this EoS may become a powerful tool for reservoir fluid phase equilibria modeling.     

A LES-CMC formulation for premixed flames including differential diffusion

A finite volume large eddy simulation–conditional moment closure (LES-CMC) numerical framework for premixed combustion developed in a previous studyhas been extended to account for differential diffusion. The non-unity Lewis number CMC transport equation has an additional convective term in sample space proportional to the conditional diffusion of the progress variable, that in turn accounts for diffusion normal to the flame front and curvature-induced effects. Planar laminar simulations are first performed using a spatially homogeneous non-unity Lewis number CMC formulation and validated against physical-space fully resolved reference solutions. The same CMC formulation is subsequently used to numerically investigate the effects of curvature for laminar flames having different effective Lewis numbers: a lean methane–air flame with Le_eff = 0.99 and a lean hydrogen–air flame with Le_eff = 0.33. Results suggest that curvature does not affect the conditional heat release if the effective Lewis number tends to unity, so that curvature-induced transport may be neglected. Finally, the effect of turbulence on the flame structure is qualitatively analysed using LES-CMC simulations with and without differential diffusion for a turbulent premixed bluff body methane–air flame exhibiting local extinction behaviour. Overall, both the unity and the non-unity computations predict the characteristic M-shaped flame observed experimentally, although some minor differences are identified. The findings suggest that for the high Karlovitz number (from 1 to 10) flame considered, turbulent mixing within the flame weakens the differential transport contribution by reducing the conditional scalar dissipation rate and accordingly the conditional diffusion of the progress variable.     

Prediction Helps Analytical Experimental Work for Environmental Purposes

 Analytical work, especially for environmental purposes, involves in the typical case determination of organic compounds in compartments, where their presence is very small. Identification of the appropriate experimental technique, whose range of applicability covers the concentration value involved, requires an estimate of this value. To this purpose, we present in this study a methodology for the prediction of the concentration of organic pollutants in the various environmental compartments (aquatic biota, air, sediment and soil) from the knowledge of the concentration in one of them. In case where the pollutant’s concentration is not available for any of the compartments, the proposed methodology can be used to estimate the maximum expected concentration in each one of them assuming that the water phase is saturated with the pollutant. The latter value can be obtained from a simple correlation presented here. The methodology is based on the correlation of the partition coefficients of pollutants among the various environmental compartments with two important thermodynamic quantities of pollutants: the octanol/water partition coefficient and the Henry’s law coefficient, which can be easily predicted by simple models presented here. Application of the methodology to field experimental data gives very satisfactory results at least for identifying the appropriate experimental technique.     

H2/air autoignition: The nature and interaction of the developing explosive modes

Appropriate algorithmic tools are employed for the analysis of the explosive modes developing during the autoignition of homogeneous mixtures. The ability of these tools to provide significant physical understanding is demonstrated in the case of the homogeneous ignition of a stoichiometric H₂/air mixture, modelled by two different chemical kinetics mechanisms. It is shown that the ignition process evolves in two stages. The first stage is characterised by the development of two explosive timescales (one fast and one slow), that lead the system away from equilibrium. As the end of the first stage is approached, the two explosive timescales converge, they merge and then they disappear. In the second stage only dissipative timescales develop, which drive the system all the way to equilibrium. It is shown that throughout the first stage the fast explosive timescale is generated by chain reactions. The slow explosive timescale is initially generated by an initiation reaction that produces the radicals required for the start-up of the fast mode, while later on it is generated by reactions that are responsible for the heat released. These findings are validated with sensitivity analysis results for the ignition delay time and are employed in order to clarify the discrepancies in the solution provided by the two different chemical kinetics mechanisms considered.