Effect of metal oxide/alumina on catalytic deoxygentation of biofuel from physic nut residues pyrolysis

Rapid catalytic thermal conversion of Physic nut (Jatropha curcas) residues for upgrading the released vapors was performed using analytical pyrolyzer-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry at 873 K. Conditioning of the evolved vapor product is required since the main vapor products formed without catalysts typically contained around 60% fatty acids, while the total hydrocarbon yields were only 12%. Catalysts tested were alumina (Al₂O₃) alone and modified by 5 wt% impregnation with various transition metal salts and then calcined to metal oxides. A significant decrease in the proportion of oxygenated compounds (including acids) from 73% without a catalyst to less than 10% with, and an increased conversion to hydrocarbons of more than 70% was obtained with the metal/Al₂O₃ catalysts at a Jatropha:catalyst (J:C) ratio of 1:10. The product selectivity was greatly increased as the J:C ratio was increased from 1:1 to 1:10. The total hydrocarbon selectivity of the metal/Al₂O₃ catalysts was increased in the order of Pd > Ni > Ce > Ru > La > none > Co > Mo, with the highest proportion of total hydrocarbons obtained being 75%. In addition, only a low yield (<2%) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was obtained from the conversion of Jatropha curcas residues. However, these catalysts adversely promoted N-containing compounds, suggesting that a further denitrogenation process is necessary. Nevertheless, the overall performance of these transition metal/Al₂O₃ catalysts is acceptable and they can be considered as good candidates for bio-oil upgrading.     

Energy management of fuel cell/solar cell/supercapacitor hybrid power source

This study presents an original control algorithm for a hybrid energy system with a renewable energy source, namely, a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and a photovoltaic (PV) array. A single storage device, i.e., a supercapacitor (ultracapacitor) module, is in the proposed structure. The main weak point of fuel cells (FCs) is slow dynamics because the power slope is limited to prevent fuel starvation problems, improve performance and increase lifetime. The very fast power response and high specific power of a supercapacitor complements the slower power output of the main source to produce the compatibility and performance characteristics needed in a load. The energy in the system is balanced by d.c.-bus energy regulation (or indirect voltage regulation). A supercapacitor module functions by supplying energy to regulate the d.c.-bus energy. The fuel cell, as a slow dynamic source in this system, supplies energy to the supercapacitor module in order to keep it charged. The photovoltaic array assists the fuel cell during daytime. To verify the proposed principle, a hardware system is realized with analog circuits for the fuel cell, solar cell and supercapacitor current control loops, and with numerical calculation (dSPACE) for the energy control loops. Experimental results with small-scale devices, namely, a PEMFC (1200 W, 46 A) manufactured by the Ballard Power System Company, a photovoltaic array (800 W, 31 A) manufactured by the Ekarat Solar Company and a supercapacitor module (100 F, 32 V) manufactured by the Maxwell Technologies Company, illustrate the excellent energy-management scheme during load cycles.     

Effect of CaO–ZrO2 addition to Ni supported on γ-Al2O3 by sequential impregnation in steam methane reforming

Ni catalysts supported on (CaO–ZrO₂)-modified γ-Al₂O₃ were prepared by sequential impregnation. The effects of varied CaO to ZrO₂ mole ratios at 0, 0.20, 0.35, 0.45, and 0.55 on the activity and stability of the modified Ni catalysts were studied. As a result of using CaO–ZrO₂ as a promoter, each catalyst contained CaO–ZrO₂ at only 5%. γ-Al₂O₃ used as support was modified by CaO–ZrO₂ before the deposition of nickel oxide. The addition of CaO–ZrO₂ at an optimum ratio was expected to improve the stability of Ni catalysts due to the decrease of carbon formation resulting from carbon gasification. All the fresh catalysts were characterized by ICP, XRD, BET surface area, TGA in H₂, and TPR before catalytic testing in steam methane reforming at 600 °C. The spent catalysts were examined by TEM and TGA to observe the catalysts deactivation. The identification of CaO–ZrO₂ phases indicated that CaO and ZrO₂ reacted with each other to be monoclinic solid solution ZrO₂, CaZr₄O₉, CaZrO₃, and CaO corresponding to the phase diagram of CaO–ZrO₂. The existence of CaZrO₃ for 0.55 mol ratio of CaO/ZrO₂ enhanced activity in steam methane reforming because oxygen vacancies in CaZrO₃ greatly preferred the water adsorption creating the favorable conditions for carbon gasification and, then, water gas shift. The prominence and continued existence of these two reactions on the Ni catalysts leads to the particular increase of H₂ yield. Moreover, the increasing amount of CaZrO₃ in the Ni catalysts significantly improved carbon gasification. However, the Ni catalysts with CaZrO₃ showed whisker carbon after catalytic testing; this carbon specie has not been tolerated in steam methane reforming. Therefore, these results significantly differed from the hypothesis.     

超声辅助微细磨料水射流冲蚀K9玻璃的实验研究

目的 提高微细磨料水射流对硬脆材料的加工能力,改善加工表面的形貌和质量.方法 引入超声振动作为辅助手段,使工件在垂直于加工表面方向作小振幅超声频振动.以K9玻璃为加工对象,利用自主设计搭建的超声辅助微细磨料水射流加工装置进行微孔冲蚀加工实验,并以无超声振动时的微孔加工实验作为对照.借助超景深三维显微镜对各实验条件下所加工的微孔进行观测,获取其尺寸和截面轮廓数据,研究超声振动对微孔尺寸、形貌的影响.结果 微孔的深度和顶部直径与射流压力的大小和加工时间的长短呈正相关.超声振动的引入,显著增加了微孔的深度,实验中深度的最大增幅达54.6％,但微孔顶部直径略有减小,最大降幅为8.2％,总体的材料去除量有所提升.塑性冲蚀作用主导了材料的去除过程,微孔的截面呈典型的"W"形.在引入超声振动后,"W"形截面形貌得到了改善,微孔中心凸起部分的材料得到更多的去除,底面平坦程度得到提升.结论 超声振动的引入增强了微细磨料水射流对K9玻璃的冲蚀性能,超声辅助微细磨料水射流加工技术可以实现对K9玻璃等硬脆材料的高质量、高效率加工.     

Power balance control technique of the modular three-phase ac to dc converter with fast transient response

This paper presents a power balance control technique for a modular three-phase ac to dc converter with nearly unity power-factor and fast transient response. The power balance control technique is used to obtain the three-inductor current compensator, thus, resulting in the output impedance and audio susceptibility become zero, that is, the output voltage of the converter presented in this paper is independent of variations of the dc load current and the source voltage. To improve the dynamic performance, minimal total harmonic distortion in the source current and inductor currents sharing, a proposed control method is employed in the voltage feedback loop. The proposed procedure of analysis is simple and effective. The implementation of this control circuit uses only analog circuitry. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the feasibility of the control strategy.     

Laser Ablation of PMMA in Air,Water, and Ethanol Environments

Liquid-assisted laser ablation technique has become an alternative method to reduce the thermal damage of work material induced by a laser. In this study, water and ethanol were employed as the liquid to aid the laser grooving of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) sheet. The whole workpiece was submerged in the liquid and ablated under the different laser powers. A clean and deep groove can be fabricated when the PMMA was machined in the ethanol, while the ablation in water can introduce the smallest heat-affected zone compared to the air and ethanol environments. To realize the laser grooving performance, the ablation models were also developed for the first time in this study.     

Influence of Al2O3 and TiO2 supports on catalytic performance of Ni and Co catalysts for gasification of glycerol waste

Since the constant increase in petroleum price, use of glycerol waste, which is a byproduct from biodiesel production, as a partial replacement for fossil fuels via thermochemical conversion waste to energy processes is more practical. Gasification reaction has attracted a lot of interest by producing syngas rich in CO and H2. This syngas can be converted to clean liquid fuels, such as methanol and Fischer-Tropsch oil. Nickel and Cobalt catalyst was widely used in steam reforming reaction. ethanol etc. The aim of this work is to prepare and characterize 5.0 and 10.0%wt of Ni and Co catalysts using the impregnation method on various supporters, such as alumina and titanium oxide （TiO2） and to evaluate their catalytic performance. The specific surface area of developed catalysts was measured. X-ray diffraction （XRD） was applied to determine phase and crystallized size of the catalysts. Examination of the morphology. elemental composition and distribution of metal on the catalysts support were carried out using scanning electron microscopy （SEMi and energy dispersion spectroscopy （EDS） and x-ray mapping. The catalytic performance of prepared catalysts was test at 700 and 900℃ temperature of reaction. 1.87% O2. The result showed that the synthesized nickel and cobalt catalysts via impregnation method using Al2O3 and TiO2 as the catalyst support were suitable for glycerol conversion.     

Investigation on gasification of glycerol and palm shell mixed wastes by fluidization system

In this paper, gasification was utilized in order to produce syngas from crude glycerol and palm shell waste which are by-product of biodiesel production. Experiments were carried out in a fluidized bed quartz reactor using alumina ball with 1 mm diameter as fluidizing medium with equivalent ration of 0.05 with raw materials （mixed crude glycerol and palm shell wastes） at 10 g/min feed rate under 700℃ and 900℃. Glycerol and palm shell powder were fed separately to gasifier at different weight ratio varied from 100：0, 70：30, 50：50, 30：70, 0：100. Decomposition of crude glycerol resulted in much less char when compared with other biomass. From the results, it could be found that combustible gas productions increased with the increasing of crude glycerol fraction and temperature; syngas production was highest at 900℃with only glycerol in feed; gas production rate yields under optimum condition were 4.29% CO2, 8.70% CO, 10.48% H2, and 8.24% CH4 L/min; LHV and H2/CO at optimum condition were 4.87 MJ/m^3 and 1.20, respectively, which were sufficient for power utilization. Obtained H2/CO ratio also indicated that syngas from gasification of crude glycerol and palm shell waste should be suitable for further conversion to methanol and other chemical reagents, and thus closing the chemical recovery cycle of biodiesel production process to ensure the sustainahility status for the use of biodiesel as a prominent renewable energy source.     

Microwave vacuum dryer setup and preliminary drying studies on strawberries and carrots.

A laboratory scale microwave vacuum dryer with the ability to record temporal variation of mass and temperature of a drying product was designed and built. The initial study was set up to investigate the effect of the position of a vacuum pressure control valve at two vacuum pressure levels, 6.5 and 13.3 kPa, with a fixed microwave power input of 1.5 W/g. Then, strawberry halves and carrot cubes (10 x 10 x 10 mm) were used for a preliminary study to investigate the effect on drying product temperature and the effect of input microwave powers (1, 1.5 and 2 W/g) at a fixed level of vacuum pressure (6.5 kPa). The position of the valve which allows air to pass through the vacuum container was found to provide shorter drying time and reduced the occurrence of water vapor condensation. The product temperature at the end stage of drying under continuous microwave mode was too high to ensure quality for both dried strawberry halves and carrot cubes.     

Fuel Gas Upgrading Over La1−xCexCoO3 Mixed Oxide with Toluene as Model Compound

Perovskite-type mixed oxides La_1?xCe_xCoO₃ (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4) were synthesized by sol–gel method via polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as gelating agent. LaCoO₃ and CeO₂ phases were presented while intermediate phase, La(OH)₃, disappeared during LaCoO₃ transformation. Introduction of Ce decreased crystal size of catalyst from 22.18 to 13.38 nm. Particle size and specific surface area were in the range of 9.58–13.72 μm and 6.03–9.23 m²/g, respectively. The addition of Ce increased the reduction temperature which indicated the strong interaction between Co and perovskite structure. Catalytic activity was investigated by steam reforming of toluene at 500–800 °C. Conversions of carbon and hydrogen to CO, H₂, and CH₄ at steam per carbon ratio (S/C) of 2:1 were clearly higher than 4:1. Increasing S/C ratio to 4:1 inhibited syngas production efficiency by combustion and water–gas shift reaction. The presence of Ce in the catalyst did not improve activity of catalyst significantly. However the metal enhanced stability by promoting the formation of filamentous carbon on the surface such that the active sites are still accessible to the active gas during the experiment. After reforming, catalysts were transformed to La(OH)₃, Co⁰, and Ce₄O₇ phases and no significant deterioration in catalytic performance was detected after 6 h. In this study steam reforming of toluene over La_0.6Ce_0.4CoO₃ at 800 °C with S/C 2:1 yielded highest carbon conversion as CO and hydrogen conversion as H₂ of 64.42 and 63.23 %. The LHV and H₂/CO of produced gas at this optimum condition are 4.22 MJ/N m² and 2.91, respectively.