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January 2003 Meeting |
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Rapid Quantification Techniques to measure Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) in Combustion Environments |
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Date: | Tuesday, January 28, 2003 | |||||||
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Location: | Yale
University -- Mason Laboratory New Haven, CT |
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Speaker: | Dr.
Marco Castaldi Precision Combustion, Inc. |
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Agenda: | 5:30-6:30
PM Registration/Social Hour 6:30-7:30 PM Dinner 7:30-8:30 PM Presentation |
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Cost: | $10 ($5 Students and Emeritus) | |||||||
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Registration Deadline: |
Monday, January 27, 2003 | |||||||
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| Abstract:
Aromatic and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAH’s) are produced in minute quantities by most practical
combustion devices used today to generate electricity and power motor
vehicles and jet aircraft. Since some PAH isomers are more potent
carcinogens or toxins than others, their identification and formation
mechanisms within combustion systems must be known. Consequently, the
determination of the microstructures of flames, both premixed and
diffusion, is of considerable practical interest in the development of
clean, efficient combustion systems, because flames are one of the primary
sources of these toxic and hazardous air pollutants. These PAH’s are
generated in very small amounts but they are produced in a wide variety of
sources. For example, an incinerator processing about 50 tons of municipal
solid waste per day can produce 12 g/M3 of PAH’s, 5% of which
is benzo(a)pyrene (Siebert et al. 1991), and unleaded fueled vehicles
produce about 279 g/mile of naphthalene and 2.2 g/mile of pyrene (Siegl
and Chladek 1992). Yet, because of their accumulation and toxicity, even
trace amounts emitted can have an adverse effect on the environment.
Recently, a method of rapidly identifying and quantifying various PAH’s generated in flames has been developed. This method reduces the analysis time from days to hours and allows for the possibility of feedback control mechanisms to be implemented to help mitigate the emissions of PAH’s from combustion systems. The rapid quantification GC/MS technique will be presented with data from a variety of flames. This technique allowed various experiments to be done in a short time and allowed comparison of flames with various fuels, which led to surprising results. Because the PAH’s were produced in such minute quantities, a tracer verification technique had to be developed and employed to ensure the experiments were not biasing the results. A description of this tracer technique, with results, will be presented. Finally, a brief discussion will be presented on one method that was developed to further reduce the analysis time of these PAH species to minutes instead of hours. |
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| Biography: | |||||||||
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| Directions:
Interstate
95: Interstate
91:
Yale
University |
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