[1] Reflectance spectroscopy of outer solar system bodies provides direct observations for interpreting their surface compositions. At Titan, the Cassini spacecraft revealed dark patches in the surface reflectance at 2 and 5 mm, interpreted as hydrocarbon lakes forming seasonally through a methane cycle. Whereas the composition of planetary materials in the solar system has been inferred from c...

The metabolic interaction of aromatic hydrocarbons with cellular constituents leads to the formation of hydrocarbon-protein conjugates. Such binding has been implicated in carcinogenesis by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (1). Previous evidence (2-4) has indicated that the hydrocarbon-protein conjugate can be a donor of the substituted cysteine moiety for mercapturic acid formation. S-ilrylcys...

In recent years, concerns over the impact of internal combustion engine hydrocarbon emissions on the environment have prompted tighter regulation on allowable emission levels. While much work has been done on reducing hydrocarbon emissions after they have entered the exhaust stream, less direct monitoring of the emission sources has been performed. An optically accessible four-stroke internal c...

Natural gas processing is a major industry in Alberta, Canada, and a significant source of fugitive emissions of both methane and volatile organic hydrocarbon (VOCs). This project investigated fugitive emissions at natural gas processing plants in Alberta using two complementary optical measurement methods. At five gas plants, the fugitive emissions of methane and hydrocarbons ethane and larger...

An automated analyser for total hydrocarbon contents and hydrocarbon composition (from methane to pentanes) was constructed and tested in both laboratory and field exploitation. It used two-channel analysis: continuous measurements of total hydrocarbon contents and periodic (90 or 150 s) composition analysis after separation of hydrocarbons on a gas chromatographic column. Flame ionization dete...

Anaerobic microbial hydrocarbon degradation is a major biogeochemical process at marine seeps. Here we studied the response of the microbial community to petroleum seepage simulated for 190 days in a sediment core from the Caspian Sea using a sediment-oil-flow-through (SOFT) system. Untreated (without simulated petroleum seepage) and SOFT sediment microbial communities shared 43% bacterial genu...

detection of oil-water contacts (owcs) is one of the primary tasks before evaluation of reservoir’s hydrocarbon in place, determining net pay zones and suitable depths for perforation operation. this paper introduces bayesian decision making tool as an effective technique in owc detecting using wire line logs. to compare strengths of the suggested method in detecting owc with conventional one, ...

The microalga Botryococcus braunii (B. braunii) can produce extracellular oil in the form of triterpenoid hydrocarbons up to 40 precent of their dry mass. These hydrocarbons with carbon chain lengths ranging from C30 to C40 including botryococcene, squalene and methylated squalenes, are ideal for the production of high quality liquid transport fuels and petrochemical alternatives. However, comm...

A single-layer graphene has been uniformly grown on a Cu surface at elevated temperatures by thermal processing of a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) film in a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) system under vacuum. The detailed chemistry of the transition from solid-state carbon to graphene on the catalytic Cu surface was investigated by performing in situ residual gas analysis while PMMA/Cu-foil s...

Air pollution in the city of Tehran has been a major problem for the past three decades. The direct effects of hydrocarbon contaminants in the air are particularly important such as their carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic effects which can be transported to other environments via dry and wet deposition. In the present study, rainwater samples were collected and analyzed for 16 polycyclic...