Solubility of Natural Gas in Diesel Fuel

The solubility of commercially available natural gas in commercially available diesel fuel at room temperature and defined pressure is investigated experimentally. The gas phase is considered to be pure methane. The use of Henry's law to model the solubility is discussed. Solubility is given in terms of the mole fraction and the volumetric mass concentration of dissolved gas and the corresponding Henry's coefficients. The solubility is compared to that of pure methane in pure hexadecane, which is similar to diesel fuel with respect to the mean carbon number.     

Thermodynamic and Experimental Investigations of High-Temperature Refractory Corrosion by Molten Slags

Corrosion mechanisms between MgO refractory substrates and FeNi slags were investigated. The FeNi slags taken into consideration represent a simple synthetically mixed slag with specific oxides and a real slag from a ferroalloy producer. The MgO refractory substrates with the specimens of FeNi slag were heated in a hot-stage microscope at 10 K/min from room temperature to three different temperatures 1573 K, 1723 K, and 1923 K (1300 °C, 1450 °C, and 1650 °C). The experiments were carried out under a controlled gas atmosphere that simulates the relevant process conditions. The corrosion mechanisms of each system were followed by scanning electron microscope analyses. The results obtained showed that slag corrosion dominates, with a pronounced partial dissolution of refractory fines forming Mg-silicates of type forsterite. It was also observed that iron oxide present in the slag diffused into the coarse refractory grains forming magnesiowustite. Finally, the results obtained were compared with those predicted by FACTSAGE software to understand the corrosion mechanisms and draw implications for improving the refractory performance and lifetime.     

The influence of third-body particles on wear rate in unicondylar knee arthroplasty: a wear simulator study with bone and cement debris

The reduced intraoperative visibility of minimally invasive implanted unicondylar knee arthroplasty makes it difficult to remove bone and cement debris, which have been reported on the surface of damaged and retrieved bearings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the influence of bone and cement particles on the wear rate of unicompartmental knee prostheses in vitro. Fixed bearing unicompartmental knee prostheses were tested using a knee-wear-simulator according to the ISO standard 14243-1:2002(E) for 5.0 million cycles. Afterwards bone debris (particle size 671 ± 262 μm) were added to the test fluid in a concentration of 5 g/l for 1.5 million cycles, followed by 1.5 million cycles blended with cement debris (particle size 644 ± 186 μm) in the same concentration. Wear rate, knee-kinematics and wear-pattern were analyzed. The wear rate reached 12.5 ± 1.0 mm³/million cycles in the running-in and decreased during the steady state phase to 4.4 ± 0.91 mm³/million cycles. Bone particles resulted in a wear rate of 3.0 ± 1.27 mm³/million cycles with no influence on the wear rate compared to the steady state phase. Cement particles, however, lead to a significantly higher wear rate (25.0 ± 16.93 mm³/million cycles) compared to the steady state phase. The careful removal of extruded cement debris during implantation may help in reducing wear rate. Bone debris are suggested to have less critical influence on the prostheses wear rate.     

Partitioning of MCHP‐TES system run time to incorporate transient system behaviour: a comprehensive exergy‐based analysis using simulation

By combining heat and power generation, mini‐combined and micro‐combined heat and power systems (MCHP) provide an efficient, decentralised means of power generation that can complement the composition of the electricity generation mix. Dynamic tools capable of handling transient system behaviour are required to assess MCHP efficiency beyond a mere static analysis based on steady‐state design parameters. Using a simulation of a cogeneration system, we combine exergetic definitions for different operational system states to quantify the overall system efficiency continuously over the whole period of operation. The concept of exergy allows direct comparison of different forms of energy. A sensitivity analysis was performed where we quantified the effect on MCHP overall performance under varying engine rotational speed, thermal energy storage size and fluid storage temperature in a range of MCHP simulations. We found that the exergetic quantity of natural gas used by the MCHP decreased slightly at higher engine speeds (?2% to ?4%). While the total amount of electricity generated is almost constant across the range of different engine output, more thermal exergy (up to +21%) can be recovered when the engine is operating at elevated speeds. Furthermore, selection of specific optimal thermal storage fluid temperatures can aid in improving system efficiency. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.