Fuel Research Method

The quantity of sulfur dioxide deposited may be measured by absorption on an alkaline surface (Liesegang bell jar method) or on a surface coated with lead peroxide (Fuel Research method). 

Measurement of octane numbers is carried out using a reference motor called CFR (Cooperative Fuel Research), referring to a series of studies conducted in 1928 in the United States in order to standardize the methods for characterizing motor fuels. 

Other synthetic methods have been investigated but have not become commercial. These include, for example, the hydration of ethylene in the presence of dilute acids (weak sulfuric acid process) the conversion of acetylene to acetaldehyde, followed by hydrogenation of the aldehyde to ethyl alcohol and the Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis. Synthetic fuels research has resulted in a whole new look at processes to make lower molecular weight alcohols from synthesis gas. 

AECL has evaluated some of the basic information and development requirements in some detail (24, 25) and has outlined the type of fuel recycle development program which would be required. It would involve research and development of thorium fuels and fuel fabrication methods, reprocessing, demonstration of fuel management techniques and physics characteristics in existing CANDU reactors and demonstration of technology in health, safety, environmental, security and economics aspects of fuel recycle. 

Houdry returned to the steel plant after the war. But he soon found a new subject that interested him even more than steel production fuels research. In 1922, the French government approached Houdry with a request that he look for a new method for converting coal into liquid fuels. Houdry discovered such a method but found that it was too expensive to use commercially. Nonetheless, he found that he was fascinated by the subject of fuel research, and he spent much of the rest of his life pursuing that subject. 

This test was developed by Amoco Research to aid in determining the low-temperature pumpability of distillate fuel. This method is summarized by Amoco as follows ... 

Octane Number—The octane rating of a motor fuel is defined in terms of its knocking characteristics relative to those of blends of isooctane (2.3,4-trimethylpentane) and n-heptane. and a rating of 100 to isooctane, The octane number of an unknown fuel is numerically equal to the volume percent ot isooctane in a blend with -heptane which has the same knocking tendency as the unknown fuel when both the unknown and the reference blend are run in a standard single-cylinder engine operated at specified conditions. Motor Method octane numbe-is are measured at moie- severe engine conditions and are numerically lower than those determined by the milder Research Method. The difference between the two numbers is termed sensitivity. 

The original CFR test conditions appear in the second column of Table 7.2. These constitute the Research method and assign the fuel a Research octane number (RON). It was found that typical fuel susceptibility to knock in practical engines did not correlate sufficiently well with this test and one with rather more severe conditions - the Motor method, giving the Motor octane number (MON) - now also is used. These conditions are given in the third column. The inlet manifold temperature and speed have been increased, spark timing advanced, and a shrouded inlet valve fitted to... 

Among the major governmental research centers, particular mention should be made of the following. The National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) at Poona is charged with the development of methods for the manufacture of a large number of chemicals, materials, and devices. Similarly, the Indian Institute of Petroleum at Dehra Dun, the Central Fuel Research Institute of Dhanbad, the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute at Bhatnagar, and the region research laboratories at Hyderabad, Jorhat, and Jamma provide support for development of the chemical industry. The emphasis is on research based on the immediate needs of the country. 

Octane numbers. The research method involves performance on a research engine at 600 rpm, simulating city driving, and the motor method at 900 rpm, simulating highway performance of the fuel. 

Well-publicized oil spills, such as that from the Exxon Valdez (in Alaska in 1989), have fueled research to develop cleanup methods that will help to preserve the fragile aquatic environment. 

Early applications of cryogenics targeted the need to liquefy gases. The success of this process in the late 1800 s paved the way for more study and research to apply cryogenics to developing life needs and products. Examples include applications in the auto and health care industries and in development of rocket fuels and methods of food preservation. Cryogenic engineering has applications related to commercial, industrial, aerospace, medical, domestic, and defense ventures. 

After launching such factory, the cost of the core will only be determined by the operating costs of spent fuel reprocessing and the costs of fuel assembly fabrication. If the pyro-electrochemical fuel reprocessing methods developed by the State Scientific Centre of the Russian Federation Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (SSC RIAR) are used, the contribution of fuel costs to the cost of SVBR-75/100 will be even less than in the basic variant using a once-through cycle with the uranium dioxide fuel. This will make it possible to improve considerably the NPP competitiveness. The abovementioned approach to the construction of capacities for reprocessing and fuel assembly fabrication presumes that the owner of the NPPs would also be the owner of the fuel cycle factories. 

With the knowledge of Pt catalyst degradation mechanisms introduced above, it is easy to understand that PEM fuel cell performance decline is a complicated event involving many parallel factors. The normal relevant operating conditions include temperature, RH, potential, and contaminant. The following subsections will provide more information on the investigation of current durability, as well as the specific research methods used to explore fuel cell degradation mechanisms. 

CO is easily oxidized on platinum, and the recovery of CO-poisoned anodes has been discussed in detail elsewhere (Gottesfeld, 1992). The CO may also be removed by fuel starvation methods discussed in the patent literature. Development of CO-tolerant electro catalysts is also an active area of research (Huang et al., 2007). Operation of FCs at >120°C also improves their CO tolerance. 

The experimental conditions used to determine the CFPP do not exactly reflect those observed in vehicles the differences are due to the spaces in the filter mesh which are much larger in the laboratory filter, the back-pressure and the cooling rate. Also, research is continuing on procedures that are more representative of the actual behavior of diesel fuel in a vehicle and which correlate better with the temperature said to be operability , the threshold value for the Incident. In 1993, the CEN looked at two new methods, one called SFPP proposed by Exxon Chemicals (David et al., 1993), the other called AGELFI and recommended by Agip, Elf and Fina (Hamon et al., 1993). 

---