Experimental investigation on combustion and unregulated emission characteristics of butanol-isomer/gasoline blends

Effects of butanol isomers on characteristics of combustion and emission were studied on PFI SI engine. Experiments were operated under the condition of 3 and 5 bar brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) engine loads and different equivalence ratios (φ=0.83-1.25) with engine speed of 1200 r/min using blends made of 70 vol.% gasoline and 30 vol.% butanol isomers (N30, S30, I30 and T30). The results indicated that compared with gasoline, all butanol isomer blends have higher cylinder pressure. N30 has the highest and most advanced peak pressure, and T30 shows a higher brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and lower brake thermal efficiency (BTE). N30 presents a lower UHC emissions and I30 has slightly higher CO emissions than other blends. For unregulated emissions, compared with gasoline, butanol isomer blends have higher acetaldehyde, and N30 produces a higher emission of 1,3-butadiene than other blends. A reduction in benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) has been found with butanol isomer blends.

Analysis for remedial alternatives of unregulated municipal solid waste landfills leachate-contaminated groundwater

A groundwater flow and solute transport model was developed using Visual Modflow for forecasting contaminant transport and assessing effects of remedial alternatives based on a case study of an unregulated landfill leachate-contaminated groundwater in eastern China. The results showed that arsenic plume was to reach the pumping well in the downstream farmland after eight years, and the longest lateral and longitudinal distance of arsenic plume was to reach 200 m and 260 m, respectively. But the area of high concentration region of arsenic plume was not to obviously increase from eight years to ten years and the plume was to spread to the downstream river and the farmland region after 20 years; while the landfill＇s ground was hardened, the plume was not to reach the downstream farmland region after eight years; when the pumping well was installed in the plume downstream and discharge rate was 200m3/d, the plume was to be effectively restrained; for leakage-proof barriers, it might effectively protect the groundwater of sensitive objects within an extent time range. But for the continuous point source, the plume was still to circle the leakage-proof barrier; when discharge rate of drainage ditches was 170.26 m3/d, the plume was effectively controlled; the comprehensive method combining ground-harden with drainage ditches could get the best effect in controlling contaminant diffusion, and the discharge rate was to be reduced to 111.43 m3/d. Therefore, the comprehensive remedial alternative combining ground-harden with drainage ditch will be recommended for preventing ground-water contamination when leachate leakage has happened in unregulated landfills.

The Spillover Effects of Environmental Regulations:A Perspective of Chinese Unregulated Firms'Tax Burden

Previous studies focus on the direct impacts of environmental regulations while paying less attention to spillover effects.Taking the Eleventh Five-year Plan in China as a quasi-natural experiment,our results show that environmental regulations significantly increase the tax burden of unregulated frms.Environmental regulations generate spillover effects on firms that should not be subjected to regulatory policies.Further channel analysis shows that the fiscal pressure of local governments caused by environmental regulations is a major channel for the increase in the tax burden of unregulated firms.Finally,according to the heterogeneity results,the spillover effects are more pronounced in small firms,non-state-owned enterprises,and provinces with stricter enforcement.Our findings emphasize the additional costs of environmental policies,and the government should consider these costs when formulatingpolicies.

Unregulated health care workers in the care of aging populations:Similarities and differences between Brazil and Canada

Introduction:The world’s population is rapidly aging.Unregulated health care workers(UH-CWs)are emerging as a potentially important workforce in the care of older adults.Objective:A review was conducted to identify the activities of UHCWs with respect to con-tributions and limitations.Methods:A systematic integrative literature review was conducted using online databases(LILACS,PubMed,EMBASE,CINAHL,and grey literature).The inclusion criteria were as fol-lows:(i)description of UHCW activities related to older adults;and(ii)description of UHCW activities performed in Brazil or Canada.Results:Eleven papers were included in this review.In both countries,UHCW activities included health promotion,mental health care,and rehabilitation.In Brazil,UHCWs performed integrated care,while in Canada UHCWs performed personal care and housekeeping.Conclusion:These results highlight the potential and limits of UHCWs who provide care for the aging population.Such information is important to health and social policy making and household decision making.

Methodological Approaches to Study Internet Financial Communication

The aim of this paper is to show how qualitative and quantitative approaches can be complementary to study internet financial communication in a thesis by papers and how grounded theory （GT） can be the link among the different papers of the thesis. The study context of our thesis was the unregulated markets of New York Stock Exchange （NYSE） Euronext Brussels and the problematic rose from this context： What is the voluntary effort of communication when there is no obligation of internet financial communication？ Four papers tried to answer this central question and other following research questions. To answer those research questions, several methodological approaches were used： content analysis of websites and scoring, linear regression, paired sample, and interviews. At the end of our thesis by papers, we discovered that GT was the general methodological travel among the papers： Every article had for vocation to try to answer the questions raised by the previous article.

Investigation of performance and emission characteristics using ethanol-blended gasoline fuel as a flex-fuel in two-wheeler vehicle mounted on a chassis dynamometer

This study investigated the performance and emissions of flex fuels in a 110-cc BS6-compliant fuel-injected two-wheeler without ethanol adaptation adjustments.The tests were carried out under controlled conditions on a chassis dynamometer at 1000,2000 and 3000 r.p.m.using ethanol blends from 10%ethanol(E10)to 85%ethanol(E85).Parameters examined included brake power(BP)output,brake-specific fuel consumption(BSFC),peak in-cylinder pressure and exhaust temperature.Emissions,including carbon monoxide(CO),hydrocarbons(HC),nitrogen oxide(NOx)and unregulated emissions,were also assessed.As the percentages of the ethanol blend increased from E10 to E85,there was a noticeable improvement in power output.At 1000 r.p.m.,the BP ranged from 2.4 to 4.6 kW for different blends.The BSFC and the peak in-cylinder pressure followed a similar pattern,indicating enhanced performance and fuel efficiency with higher ethanol concentrations.Interestingly,using E85 at 1000 r.p.m.resulted in a significant 41.08%reduction in exhaust temperature compared with E10,although this difference decreased with higher blend percentages.Furthermore,replacing E10 with E85 at 1000 r.p.m.reduced CO and HC emissions by 9.17%and 38.34%,respectively.In contrast,NOx emissions increased at all r.p.m.levels with higher-ethanol blends,peaking at a 415 parts per million increase at 3000 r.p.m.However,unregulated emissions decreased significantly with increased r.p.m.and ethanol content.In summary,the use of flex-fuel blends in a two-wheeler resulted in a modest increase in BP output,improved fuel efficiency and lower CO and HC emissions.These findings are vital for optimizing ethanol blend utilization in two-wheeler engines under low-load conditions,considering both performance and environmental aspects.

Characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emissions from diesel engine retrofitted with selective catalytic reduction and continuously regenerating trap

Two after treatment units, selective catalytic reduction （SCR） and continuously regenerating trap （CRT）, were independently retrofitted to a diesel engine, with the objective to investigate their impact on the conversion/reduction （CR） of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）. The experiments were conducted under the European steady state cycle （ESC） first without any retrofits to get baseline emissions, and then with SCR and CRT respectively, on the same engine. The particulate matter （PM）-phase PAHs were trapped in fiberglass filters, whereas gas-phase PAHs were collected in cartridges, and then analyzed using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer （GC-MS）. Both PM-phase and gas-phase PAHs were greatly reduced with CRT showing respective CR of 90.7% and above 80%, whereas only gas-phase PAHs were abated in the case of SCR, with CR of above 75%. Lower molecular weight （LMW） PAHs were in abundance, while naphthalene exhibited a maximum relative contribution （RC） to LMW-PAHs for all three cases. Further, the CR of naphthalene and anthracene were increased with increasing catalyst temperature of SCR, most likely due to their conversion to solid particles. Moreover, the Benzo[a]Pyrene equivalent （BaPeq） of PAHs was greatly reduced with CRT, owing to substantial reduction of total PAHs.

Towards low emissions and high thermal efficiency of gasoline compression ignition engine under high loads by modulating the fuel reactivity and injection strategy

Gasoline compression ignition(GCI) is a practicable way to obtain low emissions and high thermal efficiency of gasoline-like fuels in internal combustion engines. In this paper, the research octane number(RON) and injection strategy were coordinated to optimize the GCI engine performance and emissions under high loads. The direct injection and port injection were used to achieve two injection strategies: direct injection(DI) and port injection plus direct injection(PIDI), and the primary reference fuels(PRF) with the RON of 60, 70, 80 and 90 were used. The results show that using lower RON fuels under high loads, DI mode can achieve higher efficiency, while PIDI mode can achieve lower combustion noise at an expense of slightly lower fuel economy. When the DI mode is converted to PIDI mode with a pre-injection ratio of 30%, using PRF70 under 12 bar and the exhaust gas recirculation(EGR) rate of 40%, the gross indicated thermal efficiency and the maximum pressure rise rate are reduced by 1% and by 2 bar/°CA, respectively, while the particle emissions also decrease significantly, thus achieving low emissions and high efficiency. However, under the same load and EGR rate, DI mode produces less regulated and unregulated emissions than PIDI mode. In addition, the effect of fuel RON was obvious, the lower RON fuels exhibit obvious three-stage heat release in PIDI mode, however, PRF90 with higher RON only exhibits two-stage heat release, and the peak value of the firststage heat release rate is also lower than those of other fuels.

Genotoxicity Induced by Low Dose and Mixed Exposure to Haloacetaldehydes,an Emerging Class of Drinking Water Disinfection By-products

Haloacetaldehydes(HALs)are the third largest disinfection by-products(DBPs)class by mass in drinking water.Most of them alone in high doses are more cytotoxic and genotoxic than regulated DBPs.However,the toxic effects of mixed exposure to HALs at environmentally relevant levels are still unknown.Given that genotoxicity is critical for risk assessment,we employed multiple genotoxic tests including the Salmonella typhimurium revertant mutation assay(Ames assay),the single cell gel electrophoresis(SCGE)assay,the cytoplasmic blocking micronucleus(CBMN)assay,and theγ-H2AX assay to investigate the genotoxicity of HALs based on the HALs concentrations and components detected in the finished drinking water of Shanghai,China.The results demonstrated the concentrations of HALs were low,ranging from 0.04µg/L to 4.47µg/L,and the total concentration was 10.85µg/L.Although the mutagenicity of HALs was negative even at 1000-fold concentrations in the real world,mixed exposure to 100 and 1000-fold concentrations HALs resulted in DNA and chromosomal damage in human hepotocyte(HepG2)cells.HALs significantly increased the levels of reactive oxygen species(ROS)andγ-H2AX and activated nuclear factor erythroid-derived factor 2-related factor 2(NRF2)pathway-related protein expressions in HepG2 cells.The antioxidant NAC could ameliorate NRF2 pathway-related protein expression and DNA damage caused by HALs,suggesting that the genotoxicity of mixed exposure to HALs involved cellular oxidative stress and NRF2 pathway activation.