Publications
126 results found
Yu J, Liu X, Millan M, 2023, A study on pyrolysis of wood of different sizes at various temperatures and pressures, Fuel, Vol: 342, ISSN: 0016-2361
In this work, three different particle sizes (0.5 ∼ 1 mm, 2 mm and 5 mm) of pine wood were pyrolyzed at the temperature range between 350 and 800 °C and pressures between 1 and 8 bar in a pressurised fixed bed reactor. A monolayer of different particle sizes of biomass samples was also pyrolysed at various pressures to assess by comparison the effect of intra-particle vs inter-particle secondary reactions on char formation. The relatively small particle and reactor size as well as the slow heating, enable assessing the effects of particle size and pressure in the absence of heat transfer limitations. The liquid and solid products were characterized by various techniques, including gel permeation chromatography (GPC), gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection (GC–MS), elemental analyser and Raman spectroscopy. The combustion reactivity of chars obtained at various conditions was tested by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Higher temperatures promote tar and gas yields at the expense of solid residues. The chars produced at higher temperatures show greater aromaticity and lower combustion reactivity. The larger particle size can decrease tar formation at 350 °C, while smaller particle sizes decrease tar yield through the inter-particle secondary reaction within the hot char bed at 500 °C and above. For larger particle sizes, a stronger intra-particle secondary process can make the chars more ordered, thus leading to a lower combustion reactivity. Higher pressure can hinder the vaporization of fragments and promote the formation of secondary chars, thus less tar and more char were obtained. Chars produced at higher pressures show a lower combustion reactivity due to the higher aromaticity of secondary chars. Therefore, higher temperature, larger particle size and higher pressure can all produce more ordered chars with lower combustion reactivity.
Wu Y, Chang W, Millan M, et al., 2023, Synergetic removal characteristics of mercury for ultra-low emission coal-fired power plant, Fuel, Vol: 332, ISSN: 0016-2361
The synergetic mercury removal by flue gas treatment process in coal-fired power plants is widely accepted, but there is a lack of a corresponding model to describe mercury transformations. In this work, a model for mercury transformations is established in a flue gas treatment process model using Aspen Plus. The concentrations, mass flow rates, and normalized emission factors of mercury, NOX, particulate matters (PM), and SO2 are investigated in a 660 MW coal-fired power plant. The mercury oxidation efficiency of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) unit is 56.9 %. The mercury removal efficiency of the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and wet flue gas desulphurization (WFGD) units are 53.5 % and 34.4 %, respectively. The ultra-low emission system achieves 63.3 % removal of mercury. Approximately 53.5 % of mercury is retained in the fly ash. The emission factor of mercury is 0.0131 mg/kWh and increases to 0.0265 mg/kWh when the load decreases from 100 % to 50 %. The emission factors of PM, SO2 and NOX are 7.1, 97.1, and 142.9 mg/kWh at full load, and 10.9, 97.4, 150.0 mg/kWh at 50 % load, respectively. The proposed flue gas treatment process model is considered a feasible approach for quantitative evaluation of multi-pollutants emissions at plant level.
Zhu HL, Chen Z, Pastor-Perez L, et al., 2023, How syngas composition affects catalytic steam reforming of tars: An analysis using toluene as model compound, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol: 48, Pages: 1290-1303, ISSN: 0360-3199
Tar removal by catalytic steam reforming has an important role to play in gasification hot gas treatment. Despite the importance of understanding the influence gas atmosphere has on this reaction, the effect of a full syngas mixture has not been comprehensively investigated. This study aims to bridge that gap by analyzing the effect of each component as well as their combinations on steam reforming of toluene as biomass gasification tar model over a Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. It has been found that H2, CO and CO2 have minor inhibitory effects, slightly decreasing the initial toluene conversion. On the other hand, while CO and CO2 do not lead to catalyst deactivation, H2 and CH4 deactivate Ni/Al2O3 by promoting coke deposition. Only 3 vol.% of CH4 can significantly increase deactivation, despite being insignificant with toluene or CH4 separately. The joint presence of CH4 and H2 causes further drops in conversion with time on stream.
Yan F, Long X, Cui Z, et al., 2022, Stretching modification on mesophase-pitch-based fibers during carbonization process: From laboratory batch experiments to pilot continuous production, CARBON, Vol: 197, Pages: 52-64, ISSN: 0008-6223
Long X, Boldrin P, Zhang Y, et al., 2022, Towards integrated gasification and fuel cell operation with carbon capture: Impact of fuel gas on anode materials, Fuel, Vol: 318, ISSN: 0016-2361
Integrated gasification fuel cell technology is a promising option for processing solid fuels, which would enable high efficiencies to be reached in small-scale power generation. Among the different fuel cell types, solid oxide fuel cells present a good temperature match with fluidised bed gasification as well as greater versatility in terms of the fuel gas composition they can handle. However, their resistance to impurities in the gas needs to be addressed. The main objective of this work is to assess the impact on typical materials used in fuel cell anodes of the gases produced from a gasifier operating with a N2-free gasification agent, which would make the system carbon-capture ready. A laboratory scale continuous pressurised fluidised bed reactor has been modified to study CO2 and steam (concentration up to 40 mol%.) gasification of lignite at 850 °C. A second stage fixed bed reactor has been specially designed and constructed to study degradation of two SOFC anode materials (nickel/yttrium–stabilised zirconium oxide (Ni/YSZ) and nickel/gadolinium-doped ceria (Ni/CGO)) after exposure to real fuel gas at 765 °C. Under these conditions, which did not involve any gas cleaning/conditioning between stages, carbon deposition on the surface of anode materials was much smaller than in previous studies that used model tar compounds as feeds. Fuel gas from CO2/H2O gasification tended to deposit less carbon and sulphur on tested anode materials, particularly on Ni/CGO, than that from CO2 gasification. The anode materials converted a significant fraction of the fed tar to gas.
Ayala-Cortés A, Arcelus-Arrillaga P, Millan M, et al., 2022, Solar hydrothermal processing of agave bagasse: Insights on the effect of operational parameters, Renewable Energy, Vol: 192, Pages: 14-23, ISSN: 0960-1481
Hydrothermal processing of agave was performed using a batch solar reactor designed to operate with a coupling method where a concentrated solar system provides heat. This work analyzes the performance of a reactor and the main characteristics of the products at different operational parameters: temperature, biomass concentration and holding time under subcritical conditions. Experimental findings demonstrate that the solar heated reactor prototype allows reaching maximum reaction temperatures of 300 °C with stable pressures. Low heating rates reduced the propensity of the system to leak, which prevented variations in pressure throughout experiments. The most favorable conditions to improve the yields (up to 28%) and properties of the oil produced were 300 °C and no holding time at peak temperature (τ = 0 min), and an average constant direct normal irradiation of 745 ± 47 W/m2.
Yu J, Ramirez Reina T, Paterson N, et al., 2022, On the primary pyrolysis products of torrefied oak at extremely high heating rates in a wire mesh reactor, Applications in Energy and Combustion Science, Vol: 9
Torrefaction is a key process for biomass energy densification ahead of its utilisation in pyrolysis, gasification or combustion, and therefore the changes it originates have been the subject of multiple studies. Most of them employ low heating rates, in the range of thermogravimetric analysers (TGA), typically below 1 °C s−1 or high rates (100–1000 °C s−1) in reactors where tars undergo considerable secondary reactions following release from a particle and the temperature history of the sample is not well defined, such as entrained flow or fluidised beds. This study aims to analyse the behaviour of torrefied lignocellulosic biomass (oak) under fast pyrolysis in with very controlled temperature history and absence of secondary reactions between evolving volatiles and chars in a wire mesh reactor (WMR), which allows determination of primary products. To this end, oak was firstly torrefied in a grey-King reactor to provide samples from mild to severe torrefaction (210–300 °C). The raw and torrefied oaks were pyrolyzed/gasified, at 1000 °C s−1 and 850 °C in the WMR using He and CO2 atmospheres. All samples showed high volatile production, in excess of 80 wt.%, but with a clear drop with increasing torrefaction temperature. The char yields from the WMR in CO2 were lower than in He, reflecting a degree of char gasification. However, char deactivation at the higher torrefaction temperatures caused a sharp decrease in the extent of gasification from 32 wt.% for Raw Oak to 6 wt.% for oak torrefied at 300 °C (Oak-300). This is a consequence of the predominance of chemical effects such as enrichment of carbon, which increased from 46.5 wt.% for Raw Oak to 54.3 wt.% in Oak-300 and depletion of oxygen, which led to greater aromaticity and structural order in the char with torrefaction temperature, over physical changes observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealing increasing porosity.
Jin Z, Cui Z, Long X, et al., 2021, Understanding the correlation between microstructure and electrochemical performance of hybridized pitch cokes for lithium-ion battery through tailoring their evolutional structures from ordered soft carbon to disordered hard carbon, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol: 887, ISSN: 0925-8388
Pitch-derived cokes (PCs) with different optical textures and microstructures were produced by thermo-polymerization and subsequent heat treatment of a mixture of graphitizable and non-graphitizable precursors (i.e., naphthalene pitch and C9 resin). The effects of weight fractions of C9 resin and heat-treating temperatures on the evolutional microstructure and electrochemical performance of different hybridized PCs used as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries were investigated. The results show that the macro-texture, microstructure and structural evolution of PCs could be controlled by facilely tailoring the synthetic precursors through pitch-resin co-polymerizing reaction. The versatile and tunable structure of PCs closely dominates the inserting and extracting capability of lithium ions in the resultant PCs. With the introduction of C9 resin in the pitches from 0 to 100 wt%, the microstructure of resulting PCs changes from a highly oriented lamellar texture to a fine-grained mosaic texture (i.e., from anisotropic soft carbon to isotropic hard carbon). In addition, the electrochemical performance (e.g., in the range of 200–370 mA h g−1 for the specific capacity) of the PCs varies according to the textural orientation, microcrystallite sizes and graphitization degrees. The relationship between preliminary microstructure and electrochemical performance of PCs with controllable microstructure and crystalline orientation has been studied to understand the importance of structure control. Furthermore, this work provides a new strategy to adjust the electrochemical performance of hybridized PCs through tailoring the liquid crystal development of texture-tunable pitch precursor synthesis.
Spiegl N, Long X, Berrueco C, et al., 2021, Oxy-fuel co-gasification of coal and biomass for negative CO2 emissions, Fuel, Vol: 306, Pages: 1-8, ISSN: 0016-2361
A novel process has been investigated to enable CO2 to be isolated as a concentrated stream from the exhaust of a power station, without the use of separate, downstream capture technology. In this concept, a fluidised bed gasifier is operated with pure O2 and CO2, recycled from the combusted fuel gas stream, combining the advantages of gasification, fluidised bed operation and use of oxygen. With the combination of CO2 capture and biomass as the feedstock, net negative emissions can be achieved. This is the fifth in a series of papers which investigate the underlying science of the concept. It studies the influence of the use of different coals and mixtures containing coal/biomass on the process performance. A continuously fed, laboratory scale spouted bed reactor has been used for this study, and Daw Mill coal (DM), German lignite (GL), Polish coal (PC) and Olive bagasse (OB) were used as fuels. Carbon conversions for DM and PC were around 20–30% and dominated by release by pyrolysis. High conversions (60–80%) were observed for GL and the char showed an appreciable gasification reactivity. Co-processing of OB with GL proved to be a good way to further improve the overall process performance and complete conversion was achieved under some conditions. Processing biomass with lignite, with CO2 capture, is a technically viable way of producing energy from a waste material with a negative process carbon footprint.
Cardoso A, Pastor-Perez L, Reina TR, et al., 2021, Lignin to Monoaromatics with a Carbon-Nanofiber-Supported Ni-CeO2-x Catalyst Synthesized in a One-Pot Hydrothermal Process, ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING, Vol: 9, Pages: 12800-12812, ISSN: 2168-0485
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Long X, Spiegl N, Berrueco C, et al., 2021, Emission of species of environmental and process concern during simulated oxy-fuel gasification, Fuel, Vol: 299, ISSN: 0016-2361
The release of species of environmental concern during simulated oxy-fuel gasification in a laboratory scale fluidised bed have been investigated. Fluidising gases containing a high partial pressure of CO2 and in some tests, steam, were used. The species considered are tars, H2S and NH3 and the aim has been to gain an understanding of the impact of the gasifer operating conditions on their release. This is part of a programme of work on the potential of oxy-fuel gasification as a means of enabling the use of coal to continue as a source of energy, whilst capturing the CO2 for sequestration to minimise the impact on climate change. It has been shown that the tars released during pyrolysis are efficiently destroyed during their passage through the hot, char containing bed. The measured emission of tar was very low, particularly when compared to a conventional fixed bed gasifier. The extent of S release as H2S depends on the fuel-S and ash-Ca contents, and on the operating conditions. Increasing the partial pressure of CO2, steam and raising the temperature increased the proportion of S released. Adding dolomite, to retain S, decreased the emission level at atmospheric pressure, provided the temperature was above 950 °C. The use of this method to reduce S emissions at elevated pressure would require careful consideration, as the high partial pressure of CO2 in the fluidising gas can prevent the calcination of the dolomite and therefore reduce its effectiveness. Steam was found to increase the proportion of fuel-N converted to NH3 and the concentration also depended on the bed temperature. A peak in the concentration was noted at 850 °C, due to the opposing impacts on increased release as the temperature was raised and increasing equilibration of NH3 to N2 and H2.
Bikane K, Yu J, Shankar R, et al., 2021, Early-stage kinetics and char structural evolution during CO2 gasification of Morupule coal in a wire-mesh reactor, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, Vol: 421, ISSN: 1385-8947
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- Citations: 11
Ayala-Cortés A, Arcelus-Arrillaga P, Millan M, et al., 2021, Solar integrated hydrothermal processes: A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol: 139, ISSN: 1364-0321
Hydrothermal processes are attractive options for the transformation of mixtures of biomass with large amounts of water, i.e. above 20wt%. At hydrothermal conditions, the special properties of water makes it an attractive reaction medium to obtain several bio-based platform chemicals or fuel gases, such as hydroxymethilfurfural or fufurals, syngas, hydrogen, methane, etc. However, one of the main challenges is that a large amount of energy is required to heat reactants (mixture of water and biomass), which is usually achieved by combustion of a fraction of the bio-oil product. Therefore, to reduce this consumption, their integration with an external renewable energy source, such as concentrated solar radiation has been proposed. This approach has been recently analyzed by several research groups as an option to have sustainable and economically attractive processes. This work provides an overview of the different experimental and theoretical strategies to incorporate concentrated solar technologies into hydrothermal processing of biomass, including the main challenges of such integration for process technical feasibility.
Daud ARM, Berrueco C, Hellgardt K, et al., 2021, Oxidative cracking of three to five-member ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in subcritical and supercritical water, The Journal of Supercritical Fluids, Vol: 167, Pages: 105050-105050, ISSN: 0896-8446
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are refractory structures common in heavy hydrocarbons. Thermal cracking in supercritical water (SCW) is limited but PAH can be completely oxidised if an oxidant is added. By restricting oxidant supply to substoichiometric amounts, this study aims to achieve partial oxidation as a route to useful chemicals, such as mono- and bi-aromatics. Oxidative cracking reactions of anthracene, pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene in subcritical and SCW were studied. PAH conversions well above 90 % were achieved along a fast heating ramp in a batch reactor. This quick initial oxidation took place predominantly in inner rings, weakening the aromatic structure and increasing cracking reactivity. This oxidation-cracking pathway became dominant in the SCW region, producing mostly oxygenated compounds with fewer aromatic rings. On the other hand, competing reactions leading to polymerization were favoured in the subcritical water region. PAH reactivity was found to follow the order anthracene > benzo[a]pyrene > pyrene.
Bikane K, Yu J, Long X, et al., 2020, Linking char reactivity to structural and morphological evolution during high pressure pyrolysis of Morupule coal, Chemical Engineering Science: X, Vol: 8
Understanding the influence of pressure on char physicochemical properties and reactivity during pyrolysis is principal for the design and optimisation of coal gasification technologies. This work investigated the pyrolysis behaviour of Morupule coal at various pressures and temperatures in a high-pressure wire-mesh reactor (HPWMR). The effect of pressure was pronounced at 600 and 800 °C, resulting in lower total volatile yields at higher pressures due to the repolymerisation of volatiles. Although graphitisation was limited during the heating period, an increase in the concentration of ordered structures was observed during holding at 1000 °C. Marked blowholes on the char surface suggested an explosive bubble transport phenomenon during pyrolysis. Chars produced during the ramping period under high pressure showed higher combustion reactivities than their low-pressure counterparts. However, prolonged holding at peak temperature produced chars of similar reactivity, with their CO2 gasification reactivity found to be independent of pyrolysis pressure.
Long X, Spiegl N, Berrueco C, et al., 2020, Fluidised bed oxy-fuel gasification of coal: Interactions between volatiles and char at varying pressures and fuel feed rates, Chemical Engineering Science: X, Vol: 8, Pages: 1-11, ISSN: 2590-1400
Fluidised bed gasification is a versatile technology in terms of load flexibility and ability to process various fuels. However, fluidised bed gasification processes are usually air-blown, making integration with CO2 capture difficult and expensive. Operation of a fluidised bed gasifier with O2/recycled CO2 mixtures has been proposed as a route to overcome this drawback. In this work, the effect of pressure and fuel feed rate on the extent of gasification of German lignite in a CO2 rich atmosphere has been examined in a fluidised bed reactor (FBR). A 19% decrease in carbon conversion with increasing pressure from 5 to 20 bara was observed. The higher fuel feeding rates needed to maintain the gasification agent to coal ratio in the FBR at high pressures produces a larger concentration of tars in the reactor, which seems to cause deposition, by intra and inter particle reaction, on the char and reduces its reactivity.
Chen Z, Kukushkin R, Yeletsky P, et al., 2020, Coupling hydrogenation of guaiacol with in-situ hydrogen production by glycerol aqueous reforming over Ni/Al2O3 and Ni-X/Al2O3 (X = Cu, Mo, P) catalysts, Nanomaterials, Vol: 10, ISSN: 2079-4991
Biomass-derived liquids, such as bio-oil obtained by fast pyrolysis, can be a valuable source of fuels and chemicals. However, these liquids have high oxygen and water content, needing further upgrading typically involving hydrotreating using H2 at high pressure and temperature. The harsh reaction conditions and use of expensive H2 have hindered the progress of this technology and led to the search for alternative processes. In this work, hydrogenation in aqueous phase is investigated using in-situ produced hydrogen from reforming of glycerol, a low-value by-product from biodiesel production, over Ni-based catalysts. Guaiacol was selected as a bio-oil model compound and high conversion (95%) to phenol and aromatic ring hydrogenation products was obtained over Ni/γ-Al2O3 at 250 °C and 2-h reaction time. Seventy percent selectivity to cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone was achieved at this condition. Hydrogenation capacity of P and Mo modified Ni/γ-Al2O3 was inhibited because more hydrogen undergoes methanation, while Cu showed a good performance in suppressing methane formation. These results demonstrate the feasibility of coupling aqueous phase reforming of glycerol with bio-oil hydrogenation, enabling the reaction to be carried out at lower temperatures and pressures and without the need for molecular H2.
Puron H, Pinilla JL, Saraev AA, et al., 2020, Hydroprocessing of Maya vacuum residue using a NiMo catalyst supported on Cr-doped alumina, Fuel, Vol: 263, ISSN: 0016-2361
Mesoporous alumina was doped with Cr using a co-precipitation method to prepare a support for hydrocracking catalysts. Ni and Mo were then impregnated on Cr-doped mesoporous alumina (NiMo/Al2O3-Cr). Catalytic activity was tested in hydrodeasphaltenisation (HDA), hydrodesulfurisation (HDS) and hydrodemetallisation (HDM) of Maya vacuum residue in a batch reactor and compared with NiMo supported on mesoporous alumina not doped with Cr (NiMo/Al2O3). Following activation and initial carbon deposition, experiments involving contact of the catalysts with fresh feed were performed. Greater HDA extent and maltene to asphaltene ratios were obtained with NiMo/Al2O3-Cr than NiMo/Al2O3 despite a larger amount of coke deposits. Significant activity of both NiMo/Al2O3-Cr and NiMo/Al2O3 towards HDS and HDM were also observed. Alumina textural properties remained relatively unaffected by the co-precipitation of Cr. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the catalysts contained Cr3+ and after reduction all Ni was present in metallic state at least in the near-surface region, while Mo6+ was reduced to Mo4+ and Moδ+ (0 ≤ δ ≤ 3) to a larger extent in NiMo/Al2O3-Cr. Lower reduction temperatures in the presence of Cr were determined, suggesting a larger number of metal sites available in reduced form at operating conditions. It was found that Cr aided metal dispersion in catalyst synthesis and coke dispersion during reaction. Spent catalysts showed reductions in surface area and pore volume. However, while spent NiMo/Al2O3 catalysts had a decrease in average pore diameter (APD), NiMo/Al2O3-Cr maintained the fresh material APD, which may explain the sustained catalytic activity.
Arcelus-Arrillaga P, Pinilla JL, Millan M, 2020, CHAPTER 3: Catalytic Conversion of Fossil and Renewable Fuel Resources: Approaches Using Sub and Supercritical Water as a Reaction Medium, RSC Energy and Environment Series, Pages: 46-79
Access to energy is one of the main challenges society will face in the decades to come. Liquid fuels are expected to remain one of the main sources of energy, despite the depletion of conventional fossil fuel reserves. The development of cleaner technologies to transform unconventional energy resources such as heavy oil, biomass and organic residues into fuels is crucial to meeting the world's future energy demand. Water in hydrothermal conditions near or above the critical point can provide an efficient route to obtain fuels from unconventional sources in a clean and efficient way. For instance, due to its particular physicochemical properties, near-critical water and supercritical water are considered excellent solvents for catalytic organic chemical reactions. In hydrothermal processes, the addition of a catalyst has the purpose of increasing rates of reaction and product yields, suppressing the formation of solids, reducing re-polymerization of intermediate species and promoting cracking reactions. Successful implementation of catalytic processes in hydrothermal conditions requires the development of highly active catalysts that are stable under these conditions without deactivation. In this work, a thorough review of the literature on the application of catalytic hydrothermal processes for the conversion and upgrading of fossil and renewable unconventional fuel resources is presented.
Spiegl N, Berrueco C, Long X, et al., 2020, Production of a fuel gas by fluidised bed coal gasification compatible with CO<inf>2</inf> capture, Fuel, Vol: 259, ISSN: 0016-2361
A continuously fed, laboratory scale spouted bed gasifier has been used to study oxy-fuel gasification of German lignite. In this paper, the influence of different gasification agents and bed temperature on the process performance, during tests at atmospheric and elevated pressure are studied. Two gasification agents have been used, CO2 (with different CO2/C ratios) and mixtures of CO2/steam. The results show that despite the relatively slow CO2-char reaction, good gasification performance could be achieved with German lignite by adjusting the operating conditions at atmospheric pressure: complete carbon conversion, high energy conversion and a medium heating value fuel gas (8–10 MJ m−3). The CO2/C ratio was found to have a large effect on the gasification performance. Increasing the ratio increased the carbon conversion, but the CO2 conversion decreased. At 950 °C, maximum carbon conversion was already achieved with pure CO2, therefore using steam at this temperature could not increase the conversion, but did increase the H2/CO ratio in the fuel gas. At 850 °C, replacing 25% of CO2 with steam increased the carbon conversion to the level achieved at 950 °C without steam. Replacing more than 25% of CO2 with steam increased the H2/CO ratio further. Therefore, with the addition of steam, the operating temperature could be reduced from 950 °C to 850 °C while maintaining the gasification performance. The changes of gasification performance with steam addition at pressures up to 10 bara followed the same trends achieved at atmospheric pressure.
Durkin A, Millan-Agorio M, Guo M, 2020, Process Systems Design Framework for Resource Recovery from Wastewater, Editors: Pierucci, Manenti, Bozzano, Manca, Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, Pages: 1039-1044
Zhu HL, Pastor-Pérez L, Millan M, 2020, Catalytic steam reforming of toluene: Understanding the influence of the main reaction parameters over a reference catalyst, Energies, Vol: 13
Identifying the suitable reaction conditions is key to achieve high performance and economic efficiency in any catalytic process. In this study, the catalytic performance of a Ni/Al2O3 catalyst, a benchmark system-was investigated in steam reforming of toluene as a biomass gasification tar model compound to explore the effect of reforming temperature, steam to carbon (S/C) ratio and residence time on toluene conversion and gas products. An S/C molar ratio range from one to three and temperature range from 700 to 900 °C was selected according to thermodynamic equilibrium calculations, and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) was varied from 30,600 to 122,400 h-1 based on previous work. The results suggest that 800 °C, GHSV 61,200 h-1 and S/C ratio 3 provide favourable operating conditions for steam reforming of toluene in order to get high toluene conversion and hydrogen productivity, achieving a toluene to gas conversion of 94% and H2 production of 13 mol/mol toluene.
Volpe R, Menendez JMB, Reina TR, et al., 2019, Free radicals formation on thermally decomposed biomass, FUEL, Vol: 255, ISSN: 0016-2361
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Yu J, Paterson N, Millan M, 2019, The primary products of cellulose pyrolysis in the absence of extraparticle reactions, FUEL, Vol: 237, Pages: 911-915, ISSN: 0016-2361
Almeida RSR, Taccini MM, 2019, Effect of Storage Time on the Chemical Characterization of Pyroligneous Liquor From Eucalyptus Wood, Waste and Biomass Valorization, Pages: 1-7, ISSN: 1877-2641
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. Abstract: This research focused on the effect of storage time on the chemical composition of the pyroligneous liquor (PL) produced during the pyrolysis of eucalyptus wood in a laboratory furnace at a relatively low heating rate (1 °C min−1) and a maximum temperature of 400 °C. The chemical compounds present in PL were identified through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This analysis was repeated over 19 months to observe changes in PL composition. Compounds such as 1,2-butanediol, 2-methoxytetrahydrofuran, 1,2-cyclopentanedione were only detected in the fresh PL and not after 11 or 19 months of storage. On the other hand, in PL stored for 11 and 19 months, new compounds were found, such as propanoic acid, butanediol, 5,9-dodecadien-2-one,6-10-dimethyl cyclopentanone, which were not observed in fresh PL. This suggests that PL from eucalyptus wood pyrolysis contains reactive compounds, mainly oxygenated, that interact during storage. Regarding the moment of stabilization of the qualitative composition of the PL, this research suggests that it is only reached after 11 months of storage. Phenol and furan derivatives were found to be stable, only reacting in their side chains without affecting the central ring. On the other hand, derivatives of tetrahydrofuran showed significant reactivity and tended to disappear with storage time. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
Ji G, George A, Skoulou V, et al., 2018, Investigation and simulation of the transport of gas containing mercury in microporous silica membranes, Chemical Engineering Science, Vol: 190, Pages: 286-296, ISSN: 0009-2509
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd This work investigates the effect of condensable Hg vapour on the transport of N2gas across cobalt oxide silica (CoOxSi) membranes. Experimental results suggest that Hg significantly affects N2permeation at 100 and 200 °C, though this effect is negligible at 300 °C. This effect was found to have a correlation with Hg adsorption on CoOxSi xerogels. In order to understand the Hg effect in the transport phenomena of N2permeation, the oscillator model was used to model gas transport through pores with different sizes. By including effective medium theory (EMT), the oscillator model fitted well the experimental results and gave good prediction of mass transfer in ultra-microporous materials with a tri-modal pore size distribution, such as silica membranes. It is postulated that Hg seeks lower level potentials in micro-pores, and therefore Hg molecules tend to block small pores (2.5–4 Å from 2.9 Å), or reduce the average pore size of larger pores (6.7–7.8 Å and 12–14 Å). Although N2permeation decreased with the presence of Hg, it did not decrease when the Hg load was increased by a factor of ten; this strongly suggests the adsorption of Hg molecules in the smaller pores (2.5–4.0 Å), or along the pore wall for the larger pore ranges (6.7–7.8 Å and 12–14 Å).
Yeletsky PM, Reina TR, Bulavchenko OA, et al., 2018, Phenanthrene catalytic cracking in supercritical water: effect of the reaction medium on NiMo/SiO<inf>2</inf> catalysts, Catalysis Today, ISSN: 0920-5861
© 2018 A series of NiMo/SiO2 catalysts was synthesized by sol-gel method for heavy oil upgrading in supercritical water (SCW). Phenanthrene was used as substrate as it represents polyaromatic structures present in asphaltenes. No phenanthrene conversion was observed in a blank (non‐catalytic) experiment. However, phenanthrene conversions up to 24% after 1 h of reaction in SCW at 425 °C and 230 bar were observed in the presence of NiMo/SiO2, underlining the role of the catalysts in the process. Conversion was found to be dependent mainly on Ni content and the Ni/Mo ratio in the catalysts. The liquid products obtained are thought to be the result of both oxidation and hydrogenation processes. Characterization of the fresh and spent catalysts using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was performed. It was revealed that catalysts are not completely stable in SCW, showing that NiMo intermetallic compounds formed the initial catalysts were decomposed, Mo0 and Ni0 were oxidised and the latter formed Ni2SiO4. In addition, MoO2 phase domain size in the catalysts increased and the surface of the spent catalysts appeared to be enriched with Ni and depleted with Mo.
Cardoso A, Ramirez Reina T, Suelves I, et al., 2018, Effect of carbon-based materials and CeO<inf>2</inf>on Ni catalysts for Kraft lignin liquefaction in supercritical water, Green Chemistry, Vol: 20, Pages: 4308-4318, ISSN: 1463-9262
© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018. Kraft lignin (KL) is a by-product from cellulose production typically treated as a waste or used as a low-value fuel in heat and power generation in the pulp and paper industry. This study explores KL upgrading to monoaromatic compounds using supercritical water (SCW) as reaction medium. The effect of Ni-CeO2catalysts supported on carbon nanofibers (CNF) and activated carbon (AC) on the product distribution was investigated. These catalysts were prepared by a wet-impregnation method with acetone, and reduced Ni was observed without the use of H2. CNF presented a high degree of stability in SCW. Ni in its reduced state was still present in all spent catalysts, mainly when CNF were the support. While catalysts supported in AC led to high yields of char and gas, a 56 wt% yield of a light liquid fraction, recovered as dichloromethane (DCM)-soluble product and consisting mainly of (methoxy)phenols (>80 mol%), was obtained in a batch reactor at 400 °C, 230 bar, with Ni-CeO2/CNF as a catalyst. A short reaction time was key to avoid the formation of gas and char. This study demonstrates that high yields of DCM-soluble products from KL and low char formation can be obtained by using only SCW and catalysts, an alternative to widely reported approaches like the addition of organic co-solvents (e.g., phenol) and/or H2.
Bermudez JM, Garcia-Fayos J, Reina TR, et al., 2018, Thermochemical stability of La<inf>x</inf>Sr<inf>1-x</inf>Co<inf>y</inf>Fe<inf>1-y</inf>O<inf>3-Δ</inf>and NiFe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf>-Ce<inf>0.8</inf>Tb<inf>0.2</inf>O<inf>2-Δ</inf>under real conditions for its application in oxygen transport membranes for oxyfuel combustion, Journal of Membrane Science, Vol: 562, Pages: 26-37, ISSN: 0376-7388
© 2018 This work addresses the thermochemical stability of ceramic materials –typically used in oxygen transport membranes– under the harsh gas environments found in oxyfuel combustion processes. Specifically, a dual-phase NiFe2O4-Ce0.8Tb0.2O2-δ(NFO-CTO) composite and a single-phase La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ(LSCF) were studied. The effect of the main contaminants present in this kind of processes (CO2, SO2and H2O) has been tested. NFO-CTO composite remains stable under all the conditions studied whereas LSCF presents a poor stability in the presence of CO2and SO2. Regardless of the treatment, NFO-CTO conserves its crystalline structure, without giving rise to new species due to segregation or incorporation of sulphur and/or carbon. On the contrary, LSCF is prone to degradation in contact with CO2and SO2, segregating Sr in the form of SrCO3and SrSO4and Co and Fe in the form of CoO and Fe3O4. It is also shown that SO2interaction with LSCF is stronger than in the case of CO2. A concentration of just 2000 ppm of SO2in CO2is enough to subdue the formation of SrCO3, promoting the segregation of Sr only in the form of SrSO4. With the results presented in this work, it is possible to conclude that the NFO-CTO is a suitable candidate from the thermochemical viewpoint to be used as membrane material in 4-end modules for oxygen generation integrated into oxyfuel combustion processes whereas the use of LSCF should be dismissed.
Bizkarra K, Bermudez JM, Arcelus-Arrillaga P, et al., 2018, Nickel based monometallic and bimetallic catalysts for synthetic and real bio-oil steam reforming, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol: 43, Pages: 11706-11718, ISSN: 0360-3199
© 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC Catalysts based on Ni supported on alumina were studied for steam reforming (SR) of a synthetic bio-oil/bio-glycerol mixture and a real bio-oil. Catalyst tests were carried out in a continuous fixed bed reactor at atmospheric pressure and steam to carbon (S/C) ratio of 5.0. In the case of experiments with the bio-oil/bio-glycerol mixture the initial temperature was 1073 K, then it was successively changed to 973 K and 1073 K again to assess catalyst deactivation. Experiments with the bio-oil sample were run at 1073 K. First, the effect of modifications to the alumina support with CeO2 and La2O3 was studied in monometallic catalysts. Ni/CeO2–Al2O3 was identified as the catalyst more resistant to deactivation, likely due to its higher oxygen mobility, and selected for further tests. Then, bimetallic catalysts were produced by impregnation of noble metals (Pd, Pt or Rh) on the Ni catalyst supported on CeO2–Al2O3. Co-impregnation of Rh and Ni on the CeO2–Al2O3 support represented a further improvement in the catalytic activity and stability respect to the monometallic catalyst, leading to stable gas compositions close to thermodynamic equilibrium due to the favourable Rh–Ni interactions. Rh–Ni/CeO2–Al2O3 is therefore a promising catalyst to produce a hydrogen-rich gas from bio-oil SR.
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