Combustion, background

Background Converting coal to combustible gas has been practiced commercially since the early nineteenth century. The first gas-producing companies were chartered in 1812 in England and in 1816 in the United States to produce gas for illumination oy the heating or pyrolysis of coal. This method of producing gas is still in use the gas is a by-product of the carbonization of coal to manufacture coke for metallurgical purposes. 

Background Indirect coal liquefaction differs fundamentally from direct coal hquefaction in that the coal is first converted to a synthesis gas (a mixture of H9 and CO) which is then converted over a catalyst to the final product. Figure 27-9 presents a simplified process flow diagram for a typical indirect coal hquefaction process. The synthesis gas is produced in a gasifier (see a description of coal gasifiers earlier in this section), where the coal is partially combusted at high temperature and moderate pressure with a mixture of oxygen and steam. In addition to H9 and CO, the raw synthesis gas contains other constituents (such as CO9, H9S, NH3, N9, and CHJ, as well as particulates. 

With this background of how combustion may be modified we now study in some detail a number of novel cycles previously listed. 

The methods described in this chapter are meant for practical application background information is given in Chapter 4. If a quantity of fuel is accidentally released, it will mix with air, and a flammable vapor cloud may result. If the flammable vapor meets an ignition source, it will be consumed by a combustion process which, under certain conditions, may develop explosive intensity and blast. 

The environmental occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is mainly associated with dispersion of oil products and with various types of combustion. For these chemicals a kind of pre-industrial background exists, due to forest fires or to domestic wood burning. The sediments of the deepest strata were certainly deposited in the nineteenth century, when no significant industrial activities had been initiated. The ratio between PAH concentrations found in the sediments dated to this century, and the deepest ones, vary from 1.7 to 30, increasing from the beginning of the... 

Children, like adults, are subject to low level -hexane background exposures associated with emissions from the combustion of motor fuels or heating oil or other uses of petroleum products. Some products used in the home, such as rubber cement, contain -hexane and could pose exposure risks to children from inhalation. In addition to inhalation exposures through the normal use of such products in poorly... 

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