Diesel plasmatron reformer technology can provide substantial throughputs without the need of using a catalyst The use of the special plasma facilitates robust noncatalytic conversion of diesel fuel into hydrogen rich gas with hydrogen yields that could be sufficient for NOx trap regeneration applications. Higher yields can be obtained with the use of a catalyst. Plasmatron reformers could also...

The cause of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SALS) remains unknown. We attempted to find out if occupational exposure to toxicants plays a part in the pathogenesis of this disease. In an Australia-wide case-control study we compared the lifetime occupations of 611 SALS and 775 control individuals. Occupations were coded using country-specific as well as international classifications. Th...

The relationship between employment in occupations with potential exposure to motor exhaust and bladder cancer risk was examined based on interviews conducted with 1909 white male bladder cancer patients and 3569 population controls during the National Bladder Cancer Study, a population-based, case-control study conducted in ten areas of the United States. Our findings indicated that males usua...

INTRODUCTION VEHICLE engines have made remarkable progress since they first appeared and the operating range of engines in terms of rpm (revolutions per minute) and torque have expanded significantly. However, optimum engine design becomes difficult if the operation timing of the engine valves is fixed. For this reason, variable valve actuation has been used to optimize the valve timing in resp...

Constrained Nonlinear Predictive Control of Gasoline Low-Temperature Combustion — Combustion of a gasoline fuel with a high amount of recirculated exhaust gas is increasingly gaining interest. Such in part load conditions, a low combustion peak temperature can be achieved, which yields lowest emissions but suffers from instabilities of the process and a highly nonlinear behavior. These properti...

One of the aims of the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG) is to understand how to facilitate the introduction of technologies capable of making deep reductions in CO2 emissions, for example capture and geological storage of CO2. This technology faces a number of barriers to its introduction, such as the high cost of capture of CO2 from power plant. This high cost arises from the amount ...

In turbocharged engines with wastegate the exhaust pressure can change rapidly. A method to estimate the exhaust manifold pressure is presented for diagnosis of wastegate and turbocharger on spark-ignited engines. It does not require any extra sensors in the exhaust system after the calibration. A non-linear model is developed of the exhaust pressure. Estimates of the exhaust manifold pressure ...

This paper presents results of research on the use of plasma technology for printed circuit boards (PCB) processing for metals and energy recovery. In the Industrial Research Institute for Automation and Measurements, a test stand was built allowing experiments on plasma process with throughput of 800 kg per day. Brief examination of PCB waste was carried out, focusing on identification of its ...

Efficient fuel injection and exhaust gas cleaning systems are needed to promote the development of high-performance internal combustion decrease greenhouse emissions. Electronically controlled enable nearly unlimited control over system components whose operation is limited by inertia moving parts other physical phenomena. In present study, a novel technology for manufacturing magnetic cores wa...