NO{sub x} emissions of a jet diffusion flame which is surrounded by a shroud of combustion air

The present work reports an experimental study on the behavior of a jet flame surrounded by a shroud of combustion air. Measurements focussed on the flame length and the emissions of NO{sub x}, total unburned hydrocarbons, CO{sub 2}, and O{sub 2}. Four different fuel flow rates (40.0, 78.33, 138.33, and 166.6 cm/s), air flow rates up to 2500 cm{sup 3}/s and four different air injector diameters (0.079 cm, 0. 158 cm, 0.237 cm, and 0.316 cm) were used. The shroud of combustion air causes the flame length to decrease by a factor proportional to 1/[p{sub a}/p{sub f} + C{sub 2}({mu}{sub a}Re,a/{mu}{sub f}Re,f){sup 2}]{sup {1/2}}. A substantial shortening of the flame length occurred by increasing the air injection velocity keeping fuel rate fixed or conversely by lowering the fuel flow rate keeping air flow rate constant. NO{sub x} emissions ranging from 5 ppm to 64 ppm were observed and the emission of NO{sub x} decreased strongly with the increased air velocity. The decrease of NO{sub x} emissions was found to follow a similar scaling law as does the flame length. However, the emission of the total hydrocarbons increased with the increased air velocity or the decreased fuel flow rate. A crossover condition where both NO{sub x} and unburned- hydrocarbon emissions are low, was identified. At an air-to-fuel velocity ratio of about 1, the emissions of NO{sub x} and the total hydrocarbons were found to be under 20 ppm

Destruction of acid gas emissions

A method of destroying NO{sub x} and SO{sub x} in a combustion gas is disclosed. The method includes generating active species by treating stable molecules in a high temperature plasma. Ammonia, methane, steam, hydrogen, nitrogen or a combustion of these gases can be selected as the stable molecules. The gases are subjected to plasma conditions sufficient to create free radicals, ions or excited atoms such as N, NH, NH{sub 2}, OH, CH and/or CH{sub 2}. These active species are injected into a combustion gas at a location of sufficiently high temperature to maintain the species in active state and permit them to react with NO{sub x} and SO{sub x}. Typically the injection is made into the immediate post-combustion gases at temperatures of 475--950{degrees}C. 1 fig

Co-Occurrence of Sarcopenia and Frailty in Acutely Admitted Older Medical Patients:Results from the Copenhagen PROTECT Study

Background: Sarcopenia and frailty are often used interchangeably in clinical practice yet represent two distinct conditions and require different therapeutic approaches. The literature regarding the co-occurrence of both conditions in older patients is scarce as most studies have investigated the prevalence of sarcopenia and frailty separately. Objectives: We aim to evaluate the prevalence and co-occurrence of sarcopenia and frailty in a large sample of acutely admitted older medical patients. Design: Secondary analyses using cross-sectional data from the Copenhagen PROTECT study. Setting: Patients were included from the acute medical ward at Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark, between November 2019 and November 2021. Participants: Acutely admitted older medical patients (≥65 years). Measurements: Handgrip strength (HGS) was investigated using a handheld dynamometer. Lean mass (SMI) was investigated using direct-segmental multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analyses (DSM-BIA). Low HGS, low SMI, and sarcopenia were defined according to the recent definitions from the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2). The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) was used to evaluate frailty, with a value &gt; 5 indicating the presence of frailty. Patients were enrolled and tested within 24 hours of admission. Results: This study included 638 patients (mean age: 78.2±7.6, 55% female) with complete records of SMI, HGS, and the CFS. The prevalence of low HGS, low SMI, sarcopenia, and frailty were 39.0%, 33.1%, 19.7%, and 39.0%, respectively. Sarcopenia and frailty co-occurred in 12.1% of the patients. Conclusions: It is well-known that sarcopenia and frailty represent clinical manifestations of ageing and overlap in terms of the impairment in physical function observed in both conditions. Our results demonstrate that sarcopenia and frailty do not necessarily co-occur within the older acutely admitted patient, highlighting the need for separate assessments of frailty and sarcopenia to ensure the accurate characterization of the health status of older patients.</p

Purinergic receptor P2Y1 regulates polymodal C-fiber thermal thresholds and sensory neuron phenotypic switching during peripheral inflammation

We have recently found that following complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) induced inflammation that cutaneous polymodal nociceptors (CPM) lacking the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) are sensitized to heat stimuli. In order to determine possible mechanisms playing a role in this change, we examined gene expression in the L2/L3 sensory ganglia following CFA injection into the hairy hindpaw skin and found that G-protein coupled purinoreceptor P2Y1 expression was increased. This receptor is of particular interest as most CPMs innervating mouse hairy skin bind isolectin B4 (IB4), which co-localizes with P2Y1. Additionally, our recent findings have shown that cutaneous CPMs in P2Y1−/− mice, displayed significantly reduced thermal sensitivity. Together these findings suggested a possible role for P2Y1 in inflammation-induced heat sensitization in these fibers. To test this hypothesis, we utilized our in vivo siRNA technique to knockdown the inflammation-induced increase in P2Y1 expression and then examined the functional effects using ex vivo recording. We found that the normal reduction of heat thresholds in CPM fibers induced by CFA was completely blocked by inhibition of P2Y1. Surprisingly, inhibition of P2Y1 during inflammation also significantly increased the number of CPM neurons expressing TRPV1 without a change in the total number of TRPV1 positive cells in the L2 and L3 DRGs. These results show that the inflammation-induced enhanced expression of P2Y1 is required for normal heat sensitization of cutaneous CPM fibers. They also suggest that P2Y1 plays a role in the maintenance of phenotype in cutaneous afferent fibers containing TRPV1