Analysis and optimal design of an ethylene oxide reactor

In this work, a recently proposed multi-level reactor design methodology (Peschel et al., 2010) is extended and applied for the optimal design of an ethylene oxide reactor. In a first step, the optimal reaction route is calculated taking various process intensification concepts into account. The potential of each reaction concept can be efficiently quantified, which is the economic basis for the design of advanced reactors. Based on these results, a promising concept is further investigated and a technical reactor is designed. As an extension to the design method, reactor design criteria for external and internal heat and mass transfer limitations are directly included in the optimization approach in order to design the catalyst packing. The derived reactor concept is investigated with a detailed 2D reactor model accounting for radial concentration and temperature gradients in addition to a radial velocity profile.The example considered in this work is the production of ethylene oxide which is one of the most important bulk chemicals. Due to the high ethylene costs, the selectivity is the main factor for the economics of the process. A membrane reactor with an advanced cooling strategy is proposed as best technical reactor. With this reactor design it is possible to increase the selectivity of the ethylene epoxidation by approximately 3% compared to an optimized reference case.     

Chemical - Looping with oxygen uncoupling using Mn/Mg-based oxygen carriers - Oxygen release and reactivity with methane

Chemical-looping combustion with oxygen uncoupling (CLOU) is a method for combustion of solid and gaseous fossil fuels, which enables easy separation of carbon dioxide from the gaseous product mixture. In contrast to the related chemical-looping combustion (CLC) technology where gaseous or gasified fuels react directly with oxygen carriers, CLOU processes require oxygen carrier materials to be able to release oxygen in the fuel reactor and to regenerate by re-oxidation in oxygen-rich atmosphere in the air reactor at elevated temperature. Oxygen uncoupling properties and reactivities for methane combustion of 12 oxygen carrier particles, produced from mixtures of manganese and magnesium oxides with optional addition of titanium dioxide or calcium hydroxide, are investigated in a quartz batch reactor at 810 °C, 850 °C, 900 °C and 950 °C. All investigated oxygen carriers have oxygen release characteristics. The addition of calcium hydroxide facilitates oxygen release and combustion of methane, whereas addition of titanium dioxide does not have a pronounced effect on either oxygen uncoupling or reactivity of the oxygen carrier. In general, particles with greater extent of oxygen release have superior methane combustion properties.     

Synergistic flame retardant effects of activated carbon and molybdenum oxide in poly(vinyl chloride)

The synergistic effects of activated carbon (AC) and molybdenum oxide (MoO₃) in improving the flame retardancy of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) were investigated. The effects of AC, MoO₃ and their mixture with a mass ratio of 1:1 on the flame retardancy and smoke suppression properties of PVC were studied using the limiting oxygen index and cone calorimeter tests. It was found that the flame retardancy of the relatively cheaper AC was slightly weaker than that of MoO₃. In addition, the incorporation of AC and MoO₃ greatly reduced the total heat release and improved smoke suppressant property of PVC composites. When the total content of AC and MoO₃ was 10 phr, PVC/AC/MoO₃ had the lowest peak heat release rate and peak smoke production rate values of 173.80 kW m^?2 and 0.1472 m² s^?1, which represented reductions of 47.3 and 59.9%, respectively, compared with those of PVC. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis and gel content tests were used to analyze the flame retardant mechanism of AC and MoO₃, with results showing that AC could promote early crosslinking in PVC. Char residue left after heating at 500 °C was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, and the results showed that MoO₃ produced the most compact char, with the smallest and most organized carbonaceous microstructures. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Isothermal crystallization kinetics and subsequent melting behavior of β‐nucleated isotactic polypropylene/graphene oxide composites with different ordered structure

The effects of ordered structure on isothermal crystallization kinetics and subsequent melting behavior of β‐nucleated isotactic polypropylene/graphene oxide (iPP/GO) composites were studied using differential scanning calorimetry. The ordered structure status was controlled by tuning the fusion temperature (T_f). The results showed that depending on the variation of crystallization rate, the whole T_f range could be divided into three regions: Region I (T_f > 179 °C), Region II (170 °C ≤ T_f ≤ 179 °C) and Region III (T_f < 170 °C). As T_f decreased from Region I to Region III, the crystallization rate would increase substantially at two transition points, due to the variation of the ordered structure status. Calculation of Avrami exponent n indicated that the ordered structure induced the formation of two‐dimensional growing crystallites rather than three‐dimensional growing crystallites. Moreover, in the case of isothermal crystallization, the ordered structure effect (OSE) can also greatly increase the relative content of β‐phase (β_c). In Region II, OSE took place, resulting in evident increase of β_c, achieving 92.4% at maximum. The variation of the isothermal crystallization temperature (T_iso) had little influence on the T_f range (Region II) of the OSE. The higher T_f in Region II was more favorable for the formation of higher β_c. The ordered structure was favorable for the improvement of the nucleating efficiency of β‐nucleating agent (β‐NE), and was more effective for the improvement of lower β‐NE. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

A study on the effect of compositing silver oxide nanoparticles by carbon on the ‎electrochemical behavior and electronic properties of zinc‐silver oxide batteries ‎

In this study, the effect of compositing silver oxide nanoparticles by carbon on the electrochemical behavior and electronic properties of zinc‐silver oxide batteries have been investigated. For this purpose, firstly four silver oxide electrodes containing 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt% carbon powder were produced by powder metallurgy method. For the next step, all four silver oxide electrodes were sintered at 500°C for 10 minutes. Afterward and in order to investigate the microstructure, phase and elemental analysis of the electrodes were carried out using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X‐ray Diffraction (XRD), and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. Moreover, in order to investigate the effect of compositing silver oxide nanoparticles by carbon on the electrochemical behavior and electronic properties of zinc‐silver oxide, electrochemical tests (potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and electric discharge test in 1.4 wt%KOH electrolyte were carried out respectively. The microstructural observations revealed that increasing carbon content in the silver oxide electrodes results in increasing the apparent porosities in these electrodes. Investigating the phase and elemental analysis results showed that by increasing the content of carbon in the silver oxide electrode, the amount of Ag₂O and AgO phases in this electrode reduces and also the extent of pure silver formation increases. Investigations on the results of electrochemical tests showed that increasing carbon content results in the reduction of corrosion resistance in silver oxide electrodes. Moreover, the results of electric discharge test revealed that the silver oxide electrode containing 10wt% carbon yields the highest energy efficiency in the zinc‐silver oxide batteries.     

Bismuth niobate thin films for dielectric energy storage applications

Low‐temperature processed bismuth niobate (BNO) thin films were explored in this work as a potential candidate for high‐energy density capacitors. The BNO samples were fabricated by the chemical solution deposition method followed by a series of ultraviolet (UV) exposure and heat treatments. A UV treatment prior to the final pyrolysis step was found to be useful in eliminating bound carbon. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) demonstrated that the residual carbon could be effectively removed at 350°C after UV exposure. Following a heat treatment at 450°C, the energy storage density of the BNO thin film reached 39 J/cm³ with an efficiency of 72%. Furthermore, 350°C and 375°C treated BNO samples showed high‐temperature stability such that the efficiencies of the films remained above 97% up to 150°C at 10 kHz under 1 MV/cm applied field.     

Zn-Mg复合氧化物催化大豆油甘油解合成单甘酯

采用共沉淀法制备了一系列不同Zn、Mg物质的量比的Zn-Mg复合氧化物,将其用于催化大豆油甘油解合成单甘酯(MG),采用XRD、氮气吸附-脱附仪、SEM、TEM对Zn-Mg复合氧化物结构与性能进行了表征,并测定了催化剂的表面碱强和碱量。优化了合成单甘酯的工艺条件,并考察了Zn-Mg复合氧化物的重复使用性能。结果表明,改变Zn、Mg物质的量比不仅可以调控Zn-Mg复合氧化物的碱强与碱量,还可以调控其比表面积、孔容等结构参数;不同Zn、Mg物质的量比复合氧化物的催化活性变化趋势与其碱强度(H)在15.0H17.2间碱量变化趋势相一致;n(Zn)/n(Mg)=0.1时,复合氧化物(ZM0.1)具有最好的催化甘油解反应活性;使用该催化剂合成单甘酯的适宜条件为:n(甘油)∶n(大豆油)=3∶1,反应温度210℃,反应时间2 h,催化剂用量为大豆油质量的0.6%,该条件下大豆油转化率达95.6%,单甘酯收率为58.5%。ZM0.1催化剂重复使用4次时大豆油转化率仍达80.9%。     

氧化石墨烯固定化α-淀粉酶

以石墨粉为原料,使用改进Hummer法制备氧化石墨烯,采用沉积法固定化α-淀粉酶,并对固定条件进行优化。分别采用NaOH-CH₂ClCOOH法和HNO₃-H₂SO₄法制备羧基化氧化石墨烯,并将其用于固定化α-淀粉酶。结果表明,沉积法固定化酶的最适宜温度为65 ℃,最适宜pH=7.0。连续催化反应9次后,固定化酶活力仍能保持初始固定化酶活力的47.81%。经比较发现,NaOH-CH₂ClCOOH法更有利于羧基化氧化石墨烯的制备,该方法制备的羧基化氧化石墨烯产率为HNO₃-H₂SO₄法的1.2倍。     

氧化石墨烯/碱式硫酸铝掺杂聚醚砜/聚酰胺复合纳滤膜的制备及其性能

先由氧化石墨烯（GO）、硫酸铝和尿素通过水热法制得氧化石墨烯/碱式硫酸铝（GO-BAS）复合物,继与哌嗪（PIP）溶液共混作为水相;均苯三甲酰氯（TMC）溶于正己烷作为有机相;采用界面聚合法使两相单体在聚醚砜（PES）基膜表面形成聚酰胺（PA）功能层,制得氧化石墨烯/碱式硫酸铝复合物掺杂的聚醚砜/聚酰胺（PES-PA-GO-BAS）复合纳滤平板膜,并在较低的工作压力（0.3 MPa）下对其进行性能研究。其对无机盐溶液的截留率依次为：Na₂SO₄（91.08%） > MgSO₄（83.42%） > MgCl₂（68.97%） > NaCl（17.62%）;纯水通量可达24.19 L·m^-2·h^-1,较之聚酰胺纳滤膜提高了近60%,且具备良好的稳定性和耐碱性。