Fabrication of Ni-alumina Composite Membrane via Powder and Bulk Impregnation Method for Hydrogen Separation

This work reports two preparation methods of Ni-Al2O3 composite to be used as a hydrogen separation membrane. The first method was powder impregnation while the second method was soaking-drying-firing or bulk impregnation. In the first method, the 10 wt pct Nickel (II) nitrate hexahydrate solution was mixed with Al2O3 powder. The mixed powders were dried at 100℃ and uniaxially pressed into a disk shape at 7 MPa. The densification of composite membranes was accomplished by pressureless sintered at 900–1300℃....     

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.     

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.     

Drying of a Slip Casting for Tableware Product Using Microwave Continuous Belt Dryer

To demonstrate the potential of microwave drying in the ceramic industry, microwave demolding of tableware product by a continuous microwave belt drier has been investigated. This study focuses on the investigation of the effects of the irradiation time, sample size, microwave power and location of magnetron on overall drying kinetics. The results show that microwave drying has several advantages over the conventional method such as shorter processing time, volumetric dissipation of energy throughout a product, high energy efficiency, reduced amount of mold usage, and offering product quality. Further quantitative validation of experimental data could be very useful, especially in providing information for processing high-performance microwave drying for developing the ceramic industry in Thailand.     

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.     

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.     

Sex and cultural differences in perceived locus of control among students in five countries.

Administered the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control (I-E) Scale to more than 1,500 students in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, and the US. Scores were categorized by sex and country and analyzed by a #2 * 5 analysis of variance. A Sex main effect (p     

Drying of a Slip Casting for Tableware Product Using Microwave Continuous Belt Dryer

To demonstrate the potential of microwave drying in the ceramic industry, microwave demolding of tableware product by a continuous microwave belt drier has been investigated. This study focuses on the investigation of the effects of the irradiation time, sample size, microwave power and location of magnetron on overall drying kinetics. The results show that microwave drying has several advantages over the conventional method such as shorter processing time, volumetric dissipation of energy throughout a product, high energy efficiency, reduced amount of mold usage, and offering product quality. Further quantitative validation of experimental data could be very useful, especially in providing information for processing high-performance microwave drying for developing the ceramic industry in Thailand.