Many types of combustion system emit particles into the atmosphere which are known to be a major hazard due to their toxicity to human health, particularly the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. The smaller particles (less than about 100nm in size) are believed to be the most hazardous, as they can penetrate deep into the human lung. The purpose of this proposal is to gather scientific information on how the structure of fuel molecules affects the production of soot and particulates. During the next 10 to 20 years one can anticipate increasing interest in synthetic fuels which use molecules specifically developed to burn more efficiently and cleanly. The development of such molecules will require knowledge of how different molecular structures affect the production of harmful particulates and other emissions. Such clean fuels may be derived from fossil sources such as coal or increasingly from biomass (starches, sugars, and cellulosic materials) using chemical or biological conversion methods. The proposed project aims to determine in detail which features of a molecule's structure are responsible for producing more soot than others. The project relies on a new methodology which has not been used by the combustion research community previously to any significant extent. The methodology involves the replacement within a hydrocarbon molecule of selected commonplace 12C atoms with 13C atoms carrying a stable isotope label (extra neutron) which survives combustion intact, without altering the chemical and transport properties of the molecule. This label , which can be detected in the soot particles, provides a unique ability to determine which atoms or group of atoms of a molecule become soot particles. Two extensive series of experiments will be conducted, the first on a laminar diffusion flame and the second on a diesel engine. Unlike a diesel engine, the laminar flame allows the principal influences on soot formation to be chemical ones, by eliminating spray formation and evaporation and the effects of turbulent mixing and intermittent combustion. A laminar flame also allows readily the sampling and analysis of the contents of its envelope and it permits the introduction of controlled amounts of oxygen and other diluents at its base so as to study how these diluents affect soot formation. The second series of experiments will be on a diesel engine which represents a commonplace practical combustion system. Although the fuel spray in a diesel engine is less accessible, a diesel engine it is a truly realistic environment in which the pollutant particulate is formed. A total of 15, 13C-labelled fuel molecules have been selected to study the effect of their structure on soot and particulate formation. These 15 molecules have a wide range of structural features that could potentially affect soot and particulate formation and the 13C labelling method will allow the influences of these features to be evaluated. By the completion of the project it is envisaged that the knowledge gained could guide the production of future synthetic fuels so that the molecules they contain result in less soot and toxic particulates when combusted.

This research project aims to evaluate how salt deformation has influenced (a) the formation the Late Pleistocene Mississippi canyon and (b) the distribution of Plio-Pleistocene submarine channel-levee systems in time and space which cross, or are deflected, by active salt diapirs. We will develop improved models for channel and salt structure interaction to serve as analogues for the more economically significant deeper subsurface areas, where similar processes occur, but may be more poorly imaged due to lower resolution seismic data or location beneath extensive salt canopies. The aims will be achieved by mapping salt bodies, structures and sedimentary depositional environments on an extensive merged 3-dimensional seismic dataset from the NE Gulf of Mexico. The evolution of the salt structures and sedimentary deposits will be reconstructed through space and time with 3D structural reconstructions and construction of palinspastically restored sedimentary facies maps. The project directly addresses the important scientific problem of understanding how sedimentary systems interact with tectonic processes, which to date has been little studied in deforming slope/deepwater passive margin environments affected by salt tectonics. We think that there are a number of advantages to investigating this general problem within a slope and deepwater sedimentary environment, using subsurface data. Firstly the 3-dimensional nature of the high quality seismic datasets offers a 3D spatial resolution of structural and stratigraphic geometries that is complementary to outcrop studies. Secondly low amplitude eustatic sea-level fluctuations have less direct control on the sedimentary response to structural growth at a local scale in slope/deepwater settings. This contrasts with the added complexity of sea-level induced base-level changes when examining terrestrial and shallow marine systems. The project has economic importance as deepwater exploration off the continental margins continues to be the main focus for the major oil companies and the results will have direct applicability within the hydrocarbon industry and thus contribute to wealth creation of UK industry. More specifically the results will be useful to hydrocarbon activity in the UK sector of the North Sea where the oil companies seek to exploit remaining reserves in the North Sea salt basins.

The Petrochemical Industry is very important to the United Kingdom both as a major employer and exporter. Petrochemical facilities extend over very large areas and have extensive, complex infrastructure to transport and store chemicals and gases under high temperatures and pressures. The health and saftey of the workers and of nearby residents is of paramount importance and companies such as BP extend considerable effort and spend very large sums of money to ensure that their petrochemical facilities are as safe as possible. The current health & safety and pollution monitoring approaches at Petrochemical facilities involves the deployment of a large number of gas detectors as key locations around the petrochemical facility. These gas detectors while being extremely accurate are limited in the extent of the area that they can detect gas emissions coming from. Apart from missing gas leaks point-based detectors do not have the capability of identification patterns on infrastructure indicative of stress or weakening of restraining material. Currently available imaging based gas monitoring instruments are not capable of meeting the essential requirements of the Petrochemical industry. Both Thermal cameras with filters and filter-based snapshot systems can detect the presence of high concentrations of a number of gas species but have very poor sensitivity, they cannot differentiate different species from a complex gas and are severely affected by the presence of water vapour in the atmosphere. Imaging Fourier Transform Interferometers (FTIRs) have the potential to overcome the sensitivity and accuracy limitations of these other technologies but current systems are very expensive, very heavy and have a very high power supply requirement with consequent severe effects on the portability and deployment in environments with hazardous leaking gas. There is therefore an urgent need for the development of a low-cost, highly portable imaging FTIR system that can differentiate and quantify gas species at the sensitivity required by the Petrochemical industry. The proposed instrument will be a development of a mid-infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometer, based on a novel static optical configuration, that has been developed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL). This instrument, known as the micro Fourier Transform Spectrometer (microFTS), employs a simple optical arrangement to split and then recombine light to form a complex modulated interference pattern (known as an interferogram). The instrument is compact (50 mm by 50 mm by 30 mm), lightweight (~0.9 kg) and has a very high data acquisition time rate (~1 x 10-4 s-1). An important, additional component of the project will be the development of an easy-to-use gas identification and analysis software package which will enable the microFTS data to be processed into images showing both the presence and the concentration of the gas species of most importance to the Petrochemical industry. This project will involve collaboratoration with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The project will utilise new, state-of-the-art analytical facilities at NPL which will enable a comprehensive evaluation of the sensitivity of the new microFTS instrument in detecting the gas species of most importance to the Petrochemical industry (e.g. methane, carbon monoxide , carbon dioxide, ammonia, acetic acid), at a range of temperatures (both gas and background), concentrations and mixtures. The project will also involve extensive collaboration with BP. A series of extensive field-based evaluation campaigns of the microFTS instrument will be carried out at the BP facilities at Saltend, near Hull. The opportunity to evaluate the design and capabilities of the instrument in real situations under normal atmospheric conditions will be enbale to ensure that the instrument produced at the end of project is an instrument that industry would wish to uti

This study is aimed at understanding the effects of multiple spark discharges on spark-assisted Controlled Auto Ignition when used together with future renewable fuels. The general aim of the work is to overcome some of the control issues of CAI and potentially further widen the CAI operating map so as to allow practical use on future automotive spark ignition engines (used either alone or within an electric hybrid powertrain). The project will involve fundamental study of such combustion modes in both optical and thermal research engines using combinations of gasoline, hydrogen, ethanol and butanol fuels.

Understanding the mechanisms that lead to the breakup and evaporation of liquids is a key step towards the design of efficient and clean combustion systems. The complexity of the processes involved in the atomisation of Diesel fuels is such that many facets involved are still not understood. The morphological composition of a typical Diesel spray includes structures such as ligaments, amorphous and spherical droplets, but the quantity of fuel occupied by perfectly spherical droplets can represent a small proportion of the total injected volume. These relatively large non-spherical structures have never been thoroughly investigated and documented in high-pressure sprays, even though the increase in heat transfer surface area of deformed droplets is an influential factor for predicting the correct trend of evaporating Diesel sprays. The characterisation of fuel spray droplets is generally conducted using laser diagnostics that can measure droplet diameters with a high level of accuracy, but they are fundamentally unable to measure the size or shape of non-spherical droplets and ligaments. Hence the data obtained through these diagnostic techniques provide a partial and biased characterisation of the spray. The experimental bias towards spherical droplets is compounded by the complexity of modelling the heating and evaporation of deformed droplets. Consequently, theoretical models for liquid fuel atomisation and vaporisation are based on a number of simplifying hypotheses including the assumption of dispersed spherical droplets. Our proposal seeks to initiate a step change in the description of petroleum and bio fuel spray formation by developing diagnostics and numerical models specifically focused on non-spherical droplets and ligaments. Our approach will build upon recent advances with microscopic imaging to build novel diagnostics and algorithms that can measure the shape, size, velocity and gaseous surrounding of individual droplets and ligaments. This morphological classification, along with the velocity measurements, will be used to develop new phenomenological and numerical models for spray breakup, heating and evaporation. The models will then be implemented into computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes to simulate spray mixing under modern engine conditions, and generate information where optical diagnostics cannot be applied. These goals will be achieved by combining the expertise of the academic and industrial partners with that of international experts from the University of Bergamo, CORIA, and Moscow State University. The project's concerted approach, aimed at removing the experimental and numerical biases towards spherical droplets, will establish a unique world leading research capability with potential impact for numerous practical spray applications. The project would underpin research in areas that rely upon the atomisation or evaporation of liquids, including the efficient delivery of liquid fuel, pharmaceutical drugs, cryogens, lubricants and selective catalytic reductants.