scholarly journals Stepped-Combustion 14C Dating of Bomb Carbon in Lake Sediment

Radiocarbon ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 893-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
J McGeehin ◽  
G S Burr ◽  
G Hodgins ◽  
S J Bennett ◽  
J A Robbins ◽  
...  

In this study, we applied a stepped-combustion approach to dating post-bomb lake sediment from north-central Mississippi. Samples were combusted at a low temperature (400 °) and then at 900 °. The CO2 was collected separately for both combustions and analyzed. The goal of this work was to develop a methodology to improve the accuracy of 14C dating of sediment by combusting at a lower temperature and reducing the amount of reworked carbon bound to clay minerals in the sample material. The 14C fraction modern results for the low and high temperature fractions of these sediments were compared with well-defined 137Cs determinations made on sediment taken from the same cores. Comparison of “bomb curves” for 14C and 137Cs indicate that low temperature combustion of sediment improved the accuracy of 14C dating of the sediment. However, fraction modern results for the low temperature fractions were depressed compared to atmospheric values for the same time frame, possibly the result of carbon mixing and the low sedimentation rate in the lake system.

Author(s):  
Isaac W. Ekoto ◽  
William F. Colban ◽  
Paul C. Miles ◽  
Ulf Aronsson ◽  
O¨ivind Andersson ◽  
...  

Low load carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions sources are examined in an optically accessible, light-duty diesel engine employing a late-injection, low-temperature combustion strategy. The study focus is to identify the cause of the rapid degradation in emissions and efficiency as injection timing is retarded. The in-cylinder progression of mixing and combustion processes is examined through ultraviolet planar laser-induced fluorescence (UV PLIF) imaging of hydrocarbon spatial distributions. Spectrally-resolved, deep-UV LIF measurements are also used to construct late-cycle spatial distributions of CO, C2, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons within the clearance volume. Engine-out emissions measurements and numerical results from both detailed chemistry homogeneous reactor and multidimensional simulations complement the measurements. The measured spatial distributions show that while most fuel accumulates on the bowl-pip during high-temperature heat-release, much of it is transported into the squish-volume by the reverse squish flow. Homogeneous reactor simulations further show that expansion cooling quenches reactions, preventing the transition to high-temperature heat-release for mixtures with an equivalence ratio below 0.6. Lean squish-volume mixtures, coupled with wall heat losses, severely inhibit squish volume fuel oxidation. Further retarding injection timing exacerbates quenching, resulting in a two-fold increase in UHC emissions and a 33% increase in CO, primarily from the squish-volume.


Author(s):  
Can Yang ◽  
Haocheng Xu ◽  
Tengyuan Long ◽  
Xiaobei Cheng

Low-temperature combustion (LTC) has advantages in reducing emissions and improving efficiency, at the expense of hard controllability. To improve its controllability, this paper proposes a two-stage stratified compression ignition (TSCI) strategy, which aims to decouple ignition and the following combustion as two-stage sequential high-temperature reactions, and couple them to external events like multiple injections, supercharge, etc. A trace amount of high reactivity fuel (HRF) is injected near the top dead center (TDC) and auto-ignited, initiating the combustion process, which controls ignition. The highly premixed charge (HPC), whose equivalent ratio, temperature, reactivity can be tuned as needed, control the combustion course after ignition. Based on the TSCI concept, one demonstrative multiple-injection strategy is suggested and tested on a single-cylinder ethanol/diesel dual-fuel engine. It is concluded from the experimental results that the TSCI combustion process presents two-stage sequential high-temperature reactions, which is different from any other LTC strategies. This sequential combustion shows good controllability. Within a certain range, the ignition phase is directly and linearly related to the ignition-oriented injection (IOI) event. With the advance of IOI timing, the ignition is advanced consequently. Increasing IOI quantity has the same tendency. As for HPC, when HPC reactivity is increased, the maximum pressure raising rate (MPRR) is increased and the whole combustion process is more concentrated.


Author(s):  
Stephen M. Walton ◽  
Carlos Perez ◽  
Margaret S. Wooldridge

Ignition studies of two small esters were performed using a rapid compression facility (RCF). The esters (methyl butanoate and butyl methanoate) were chosen to have matching molecular weights, and C:H:O ratios, while varying the lengths of the constituent alkyl chains. The effect of functional group size on ignition delay time was investigated using pressure time-histories and high speed digital imaging. The mixtures studied covered a range of conditions relevant to oxygenated fuels and fuel additives, including bio-derived fuels. Low temperature and moderate pressure conditions were selected for study due to their relevance to advanced low temperature combustion strategies, and internal combustion engine conditions. The results are discussed in terms of the reaction pathways affecting the ignition properties.


Author(s):  
Yilu Lin ◽  
Han Wu ◽  
Karthik Nithyanandan ◽  
Timothy H. Lee ◽  
Chia-fon F. Lee ◽  
...  

Bio-butanol, a promising alternative transportation fuel, has its industrial-scale production hindered significantly by high cost component purification process from acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) broth. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of using ABE-Diesel blends with high ABE percentages as an alternative transportation fuel. An optical-accessible constant volume chamber capable of controlling ambient temperature, pressure and oxygen concentration was used to mimic the environmental conditions inside a real diesel engine cylinder. ABE fuel with typical volumetric ratios of 30% acetone, 60% butanol and 10% ethanol were blended with ultra-low sulfur diesel at 80% vol. and were tested in this study. The ambient temperature was set to be at 1100K and 900K, which represents normal combustion conditions and low temperature combustion conditions respectively. The ambient oxygen concentrations were set to be at 21%, 16% and 11%, representing different EGR ratios. The in-cylinder pressure was recorded by using a pressure transducer and the time-resolved Mie-scattering image and natural flame luminosity was captured using a high-speed camera coupled with a copper vapor laser. The results show that the liquid penetration is reduced by the high percentage of ABE in the blends. At the same time, the soot formation is reduced significantly by increasing oxygen content in the ABE fuel. Even more interesting, a soot-free combustion was achieved by combining the low temperature combustion with the higher percentage ABE case. In terms of soot emission, high ABE ratio blends are a very promising alternative fuel to be directly used in diesel engines especially under low-temperature combustion conditions.


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