Strategy for improved NH2 detection in combustion environments using an Alexandrite laser.

A new scheme for NH2 detection by means of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) with excitation around wavelength 385nm, accessible using the second harmonic of a solid-state Alexandrite laser, is presented. Detection of NH2 was confirmed by identification of corresponding lines in fluorescence excitation spectra measured in premixed NH3-air flames and on NH2 radicals generated through NH3 photolysis in a nonreactive flow at ambient conditions. Moreover, spectral simulations allow for tentative NH2 line identification. Dispersed fluorescence emission spectra measured in flames and photolysis experiments showed lines attributed to vibrational bands of the NH2 A2A1←X2B1 transition but also a continuous structure, which in flame was observed to be dependent on nitrogen added to the fuel, apparently also generated by NH2. A general conclusion was that fluorescence interferences need to be carefully considered for NH2 diagnostics in this spectral region. Excitation for laser irradiances up to 0.2GW/cm2 did not result in NH2 fluorescence saturation and allowed for efficient utilization of the available laser power without indication of laser-induced photochemistry. Compared with a previously employed excitation/detection scheme for NH2 at around 630nm, excitation at 385.7nm showed a factor of ~15 higher NH2 signal. The improved signal allowed for single-shot NH2 LIF imaging on centimeter scale in flame with signal-to-noise ratio of 3 for concentrations around 1000ppm, suggesting a detection limit around 700ppm. Thus, the presented approach for NH2 detection provides enhanced possibilities for characterization of fuel-nitrogen combustion chemistry.

The evolution of multicomponent systems at high pressures: VI. The thermodynamic stability of the hydrogen-carbon system: the genesis of hydrocarbons and the origin of petroleum.

The spontaneous genesis of hydrocarbons that comprise natural petroleum have been analyzed by chemical thermodynamic-stability theory. The constraints imposed on chemical evolution by the second law of thermodynamics are briefly reviewed, and the effective prohibition of transformation, in the regime of temperatures and pressures characteristic of the near-surface crust of the Earth, of biological molecules into hydrocarbon molecules heavier than methane is recognized. For the theoretical analysis of this phenomenon, a general, first-principles equation of state has been developed by extending scaled particle theory and by using the technique of the factored partition function of the simplified perturbed hard-chain theory. The chemical potentials and the respective thermodynamic Affinity have been calculated for typical components of the H-C system over a range of pressures between 1 and 100 kbar (1 kbar = 100 MPa) and at temperatures consistent with those of the depths of the Earth at such pressures. The theoretical analyses establish that the normal alkanes, the homologous hydrocarbon group of lowest chemical potential, evolve only at pressures greater than approximately 30 kbar, excepting only the lightest, methane. The pressure of 30 kbar corresponds to depths of approximately 100 km. For experimental verification of the predictions of the theoretical analysis, a special high-pressure apparatus has been designed that permits investigations at pressures to 50 kbar and temperatures to 1,500 degrees C and also allows rapid cooling while maintaining high pressures. The high-pressure genesis of petroleum hydrocarbons has been demonstrated using only the reagents solid iron oxide, FeO, and marble, CaCO3, 99.9% pure and wet with triple-distilled water.