Two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitride for membrane separation

Recent years, membrane separation technology has attracted significant research attention because of the efficient and environmentally friendly operation. The selection of suitable materials to improve the membrane selectivity, permeability and other properties has become a topic of vital research relevance. Two-dimensional (2D) materials, a novel family of multifunctional materials, are widely used in membrane separation due to their unique structure and properties. In this respect, as a novel 2D material, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) have found specific attention in membrane separation. This study reviews the application of carbon nitride in gas separation membranes, pervaporation membranes, nanofiltration membranes, reverse osmosis membranes, ion exchange membranes and catalytic membranes, along with describing the separation mechanisms.     

Design and optimization of an integrated process for the purification of propylene oxide and the separation of propylene glycol by-product

It is difficult to separate the methanol and hydrocarbons in the propylene oxide (PO) purification process due to their forming azeotrope. As for this, a novel PO separation process, in that the deionized water is employed as extractant and 1,2-propylene glycol (MPG) that is formed from the PO hydrolysis reaction is recovered, is presented in this work. The salient feature of this process is that both the non-catalyzed reactions of PO hydrolysis to form MPG and dipropylene glycol (DPG) are simultaneously considered and MPG by-product with high purity is obtained in virtue of the deionized water as reflux liquid and side take-off in MPG column. In addition, the ionic liquid (IL) extractant is screened through the conductor-like screening model for segment activity coefficient (COSMO-SAC) and the comparisons of separation efficiency between the IL and normal octane (nC₈) extractant for the separation of PO and 2-methylpentane are made. With the non-random two-liquid (NRTL) thermodynamic model, the simulation and optimization design for the full flow sheet are performed and the effects of the key operation parameters such as solvent ratio, theoretical stages, feeding stage etc. on separation efficiency are detailedly discussed. The results show that the mass purity and the mass yield of PO can be up to 99.99% and 99.0%, and the condenser duty, reboiler duty and PO loss in the process with IL extractant can be decreased by 69.66%, 30.21% and 78.86% compared to ones with nC₈. The total annual cost (TAC) calculation also suggests that the TAC would be significantly reduced if using IL in replace of nC₈ for the investigated process. The presented results would provide a useful guide for improving the quality of PO product and the economic efficiency of industrial plant.     

Mechanism analysis of solvent selectivity and energy-saving optimization in vapor recompression-assisted extractive distillation for separation of binary azeotrope

Octane and p-xylene are common components in crude gasoline, so their separation process is very important in petroleum industry. The azeotrope and near azeotrope are often separated by extractive distillation in industry, which can realize the recovery and utilization of resources. In this work, the vapor–liquid equilibrium experiment was used to obtain the vapor–liquid equilibrium properties of the difficult separation system, and on this basis, the solvent extraction mechanism was studied. The mechanism of solvent separation plays a guiding role in selecting suitable solvents for industrial separation. The interaction energy, bond length and charge density distribution of p-xylene with solvent are calculated by quantum chemistry method. The quantum chemistry calculation results and experiment results showed that N-formylmorpholine is the best solvent among the alternative solvents in the work. This work provides an effective and complete solvent screening process from phase equilibrium experiments to quantum chemical calculation. An extractive distillation simulation process with N-formylmorpholine as solvent is designed to separate octane and p-xylene. In addition, the feasibility and effectiveness of the intensified vapor recompression assisted extraction distillation are also discussed. In the extractive distillation process, the vapor recompression-assisted extraction distillation process is globally optimal. Compared with basic process, the total annual cost can be reduced by 43.2%. This study provides theoretical guidance for extractive distillation separation technology and solvent selection.     

Interpretable modeling of metallurgical responses for an industrial coal column flotation circuit by XGBoost and SHAP-A “conscious-lab” development

Surprisingly, no investigation has been explored relationships between operating variables and metallurgical responses of coal column flotation (CF) circuits based on industrial databases for under operation plants. As a novel approach, this study implemented a conscious-lab “CL” for filling this gap. In this approach, for developing the CL dedicated to an industrial CF circuit, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) were powerful unique machine learning systems for the first time considered. These explainable artificial intelligence models could effectively convert the dataset to a basis that improves human capabilities for better understanding, reasoning, and planning the unit. SHAP could provide precise multivariable correlation assessments between the CF dataset by using the Tabas Parvadeh coal plant (Kerman, Iran), and showed the importance of solid percentage and washing water on the metallurgical responses of the coal CF circuit. XGBoost could predict metallurgical responses (R-square > 0.88) based on operating variables that showed quite higher accuracy than typical modeling methods (Random Forest and support vector regression).     

页岩气测试平台积液原因及排液对策研究

在页岩气排液测试阶段,井口压力、温度较高,采出气中含有大量的饱和水,影响测试平台内工艺设备和采气管线的正常运行.基于此,对饱和水进行现场取样与测试分析,探究测试平台的积液原因.针对积液原因,提出了在波纹板分离器前安装间壁式换热器的方案,以降低波纹板分离器入口的气流温度和饱和水质量浓度,并采用Fluent软件对换热管内部...     

Separation of glycerol from FAME using ceramic membranes

International standards (e.g., ASTM D6751 and EN14214) limit the presence of free glycerol in biodiesel. The traditional water wash method for removing glycerol from crude fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) obtained in the production of biodiesel results in waste waters that cannot be readily discharged. To circumvent the water wash purification method, a membrane separation system using ceramic membranes was designed, constructed and tested for the removal of glycerol from crude FAME from a biodiesel production process. Ceramic membranes in the ultrafiltration (0.05 μm) and microfiltration (0.2 μm) ranges were tested at three different operating temperatures: 0, 5 and 25 °C. All runs separated glycerol from the crude FAME. International standards for glycerol content in biodiesel were met after 3 h when utilizing the ultrafiltration membrane setup at 25 °C with a concentration factor greater than 1.6.     

Electro-coalescence of an aqueous droplet at an oil-water interface

The coalescence of an aqueous droplet at an oil-water interface under an electric field has been investigated, with a view to quantify conditions that give rise to secondary droplet formation. Two patterns of drop-interface coalescence may occur: complete coalescence and partial coalescence. The former is obviously the desirable pattern for industrial coalescers. However in practice, the process of coalescence could actually produce smaller droplets, which become more difficult to remove, and hence undesirable. This is caused by either necking, due to extensive elongation of the droplet, or reaction to a fast and energetic coalescence and is referred to as partial coalescence. The volume of the droplets formed in this way has been analyzed as a function of the initial droplet size, electric field strength and the distance between the droplet and the interface. The expansion speed of the neck connecting the droplet and interface at the beginning of the pumping process has also been quantified. These results are useful in optimizing the electro-coalescence process.     

离子液体的应用进展

离子液体由于具有独特的物理化学性质而成为一种新型的绿色介质,近年来成为国际上研究的前沿和热点。它为开发新型绿色工艺,实现将传统重污染、高能耗工业过程的升级换代提供了新机遇。对离子液体应用的研究进展进行了综述,详细介绍了离子液体在催化科学、电化学、材料科学、环境科学和分离技术等领域的应用,并对其发展方向进行了展望。     

稀土元素的分离技术

对目前稀土元素分离过程中几种常用的分离技术进行了综述，使用得较多的仍然是溶剂萃取法和离子交换法，而且新方法也在不断地出现。     

模拟移动床色谱技术的应用研究进展

模拟移动床色谱技术是一种高效的现代化分离技术。该技术具有分离能力强、设备体积小、投资成本低、环境污染少、便于实现自动控制等优点,特别有利于分离热敏性物质及难分离的物系,近年来,越来越受到工业界和研究者的关注,研究不断深人,应用领域也不断扩大。对模拟移动床色谱技术在石化、食品、制药三大领域的应用研究进展进行了详细的介绍,以期为相关研究提供参考。