Feasibility of Ni/Ti and Ni/GF cathodes in microbial electrolysis cells for hydrogen production from fermentation effluent: A step toward real application

The low cost, low over-potential loss, good catalytic properties for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), high corrosion stability, commercially available, and could be applied in pH-neutral solution and ambient temperature are important properties for the cathode materials when it is applied in microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) technology. This study has two-pronged objectives: the first is to investigate the feasibility of titanium (Ti) and graphite felt (GF) coated with nickel (Ni), and the second is to generate hydrogen from the fermentation effluent (FE). The electrodeposition (ED) method was used to deposit Ni catalyst onto Ti (Ni/Ti) and GF (Ni/GF) surfaces. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy were used to characterize the cathode morphology and element composition. The catalytic properties of Ni/Ti and Ni/GF could be evaluated using the linear sweep voltammetry tests. The maximum volumetric H₂ production rates of MEC using Ni/Ti and Ni/GF cathodes were obtained at 0.39 ± 0.01 and 0.33 ± 0.03 m³ H₂ m⁻³ d⁻¹ respectively. The Ni/Ti and Ni/GF cathodes could be used as alternative cathodes while producing hydrogen from FE.     

Hydrogen production employing Cu(BDC) metal–organic framework support in methanol steam reforming process within monolithic micro-reactors

Cu(BDC) metal–organic framework (MOF) was used as a support for the copper (Cu) catalyst applied in the methanol steam reforming (MSR) process at low temperatures (130–250 °C) with a feed WHSV = 9.2 h^?1 within the monolithic reactor. Also, the effects of diverse promoters were examined on the catalytic activities of the Cu/X–Cu(BDC) (X = Ce, Zn, Gd, Sm, La, Y, Pr) catalysts. Results showed that the Ce/Sm–Cu(BDC) supports exhibited highest activities, lowest reduction temperatures and largest specific surface areas, which caused highest distributions of the active copper metal nanoparticles on the supports. The reactor tests displayed that the activities of Cu/X–Cu(BDC) (X = Ce, Zn, Gd, Sm, La, Y, Pr) catalysts followed the order X = Ce > Sm > Y > La > Pr > Cu(BDC) > Zn > Gd. The highest activities of Ce and Sm containing catalysts were attributed to the presence of CeO₂ and Sm₂O₃ caused the oxygen vacancies on the catalyst surface which had positive effects on the methanol reforming process. The time-on-stream stability tests showed the highest resistance of the Cu/Ce–Cu(BDC) catalyst to the carbon formation during 32 h. Consequently, the Cu/Ce–Cu(BDC) with the highest stability, methanol conversion and carbon monoxide selectivity could be used in practical industrial applications.     

Visualization of natural convection heat transport using heatline method in porous non-isothermally heated triangular cavity

Natural convection heat transfer in a porous media filled and non-isothermally heated from the bottom wall of triangular enclosure is analyzed using finite difference technique. Darcy law was used to write equations of porous media. Dimensionless heatfunction was used to visualize the heat transport due to buoyancy forces. Three different boundary conditions were applied for the vertical and inclined boundaries of triangular enclosures as Case I; both vertical and inclined walls were isothermal, Case II; vertical wall was adiabatic and inclined one was isothermal, Case III; vertical wall is isothermal and inclined one is adiabatic. A cosine function was utilized to get non-isothermal wall condition. The study was performed for different aspect ratios (0.25 ? AR ? 1.0) and Darcy-modified Rayleigh numbers (100 ? Ra ? 1000). It was observed that heat transfer enhancement was formed when vertical and inclined walls were isothermal while bottom wall was at non-uniform temperature. Heat transfer from bottom wall did not vary when the value of aspect ratio was higher than 0.50. In addition, heatline visualization technique was a useful technique for non-isothermally heated and porous media filled triangular enclosures.     

Prediction of flow fields and temperature distributions due to natural convection in a triangular enclosure using Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN)

Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) were used to predict the natural convection thermal and flow variables in a triangular enclosure which is heated from below and cooled from sloping wall while vertical wall is maintained adiabatic. Governing equations of natural convection were solved using finite difference technique by writing a FORTRAN code to generate database for ANN and ANFIS in the range of Rayleigh number from Ra = 10⁴ to Ra = 10⁶ and aspect ratio of triangle AR = 0.5 and AR = 1. Thus, the results obtained from numerical solutions were used for training and testing the ANN and ANFIS. A comparison was performed among the soft programming and Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) codes. It is observed that although both ANN and ANFIS soft programming codes can be used to predict natural convection flow field in a triangular enclosure, ANFIS method gives more significant value to actual value than ANN.     

Effect of hydrogen addition using on-board alkaline electrolyser on SI engine emissions and combustion

In this study, an electrolyser was used to supply hydrogen to the SI engine. Firstly, the appropriate operation point for the electrolyser was determined by adjusting the amount of KOH in the electrolyte to 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% by mass, and applying 12 V, 16 V, 20 V, 24 V and 28 V voltages. Tests were first carried out with the gasoline without the use of an electrolyser, followed by operating the electrolyser at the appropriate point and sending obtained H₂ and O₂ to the engine in addition to the gasoline. The SI engine was operated between 2500 rpm and 3500 rpm engine speeds with and without hydrogen addition. Cylinder pressure, the amount of gasoline, H₂ and O₂ consumed by the engine and the emission data were collected from the test system at the aforementioned engine speeds. Furthermore, indicated engine torque, indicated specific energy consumption, specific emissions and HRR values were calculated. According to the results obtained, improvement in ISEC values was observed, and CO and THC values were improved by up to 21.3% and 86.1% respectively. Even though the dramatic increase in NO_x emissions cannot be averted, they can be controlled by equipment such as EGR three-way catalytic converter.     

Porous medium based burner for efficient and clean combustion of ammonia–hydrogen–air systems

Due to its high hydrogen density and extensive experience base, ammonia (NH₃) has been gaining special attention as a potential green energy carrier. This study focuses on premixed ammonia–hydrogen–air flames under standard temperature and pressure conditions using an inert silicon-carbide (SiC) porous block as a practical and effective medium for flame stabilization. Combustion experiments conducted using a lab scale burner resulted in stable combustion and high combustion efficiencies at very high ammonia concentration levels over a wide range of equivalence ratios. Noticeable power output densities have also been achieved. Preliminary results of NO_x emission measurements indicate NO_x concentrations as low as 35 ppm under rich conditions. The remarkable capability of this specific burner to operate efficiently and cleanly at high ammonia concentration levels, which can easily be achieved by partial cracking of NH₃, is believed to be a key accomplishment in the development of ammonia fired power generation systems.     

Mechanical properties and water vapor permeation of vinyltriethoxysilane/methyl methacrylate copolymers

Methyl methacrylate (MMA) was copolymerized with vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) using ⁶⁰Co-γ-radiation at varying volume fractions of the liquid monomers in the feed. Thin copolymer films were prepared by casting tetrahydrofuran solutions of the copolymers on a mercury surface. The effect of the mole fraction of VTES in the copolymer on the glass transition temperatures, mechanical properties and water vapor permeabilities were investigated. Glass transition temperatures and mechanical properties decreased with increasing VTES content in the copolymer. However, the water vapor permeabilities were found to increase with the VTES content. The increased water vapor permeation was attributed to increased water solubility in the copolymers due to the presence of Si-O-bonds.     

Gamma‐rays induced copolymerization of vinyl triethoxy silane and methyl methacrylate: Their spectroscopic characterization

The γ‐ray–induced copolymerization of vinyl triethoxy silane (VTES) with methyl methacrylate (MMA) was developed to be used in the simultaneous preservation and consolidation of archeological artifacts. A detailed analysis was performed to characterize the copolymerization reaction and conversion. The copolymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and elemental analysis techniques. The mol fraction of VTES units in the synthesized copolymers were determined by elemental analysis of silicone pertaining to VTES segments using inductive coupling plasma spectroscopy (ICP). The effect of VTES mol fraction in the initial feed and the irradiation dose (6.5, 8.5, 10.0 kGy) on the yield of copolymerization was investigated. The yield of the copolymerization was found to decrease with increasing the VTES mol fraction in the monomer feed, and to increase with increasing the irradiation dose at each monomer composition. However, using the data obtained from the ICP measurements, the mol fraction of the VTES units in synthesized copolymers was determined to increase with increasing the VTES concentration in the initial monomer feed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 73: 141–147, 1999     

A preferred approach to the linearization of turbulent boundary-layer equations

An efficient procedure for solving the fully linearized form of the boundary-layer equations is described for turbulent flows. The procedure makes use of the so-called bordering algorithm and is applicable to problems in which the structure of the linearized system of equations deviates from the block triagonal matrix form which may be caused by boundary conditions.