Hydrogen production from thermal decomposition of ammonia-contaminated acid gas using a detailed reaction mechanism

The increase in the production of acid gas consisting of H₂S, CO₂, and associated impurities such as ammonia and hydrocarbons from oil and gas plants and gasification facilities has stimulated the interest in the development of alternative means of acid gas utilization to produce hydrogen and sulfur, simultaneously. The present literature lacks a detailed reaction mechanism that can reliably predict the thermal destruction of NH₃ and its blend with H₂S and CO₂ to facilitate process optimization and commercialization. In this paper, a detailed mechanism of NH₃ pyrolysis is developed and is merged with the reactions of NH₃ oxidation and H₂S/CO₂ thermal decomposition from our previous works. The mechanism is validated successfully using different sets of experimental data on the pyrolysis and oxidation of NH₃, H₂S, and CO₂. The proposed mechanism predicts the experimental data on NH₃ pyrolysis remarkably better than the existing mechanisms in the literature. The mechanism is used to investigate the effects of NH₃ concentration (0–20%) and reactor temperature (1000–1800 K) on the thermal decomposition of H₂S and CO₂. A synergistic effect is observed in the simultaneous decomposition of NH₃ and CO₂, i.e., NH₃ conversion is improved in the presence of CO₂ and the decomposition CO₂ to CO is enhanced in the presence of NH₃. The presence of H₂S suppressed NH₃ conversion, while the conversion of H₂S remained unchanged with increasing NH₃ concentration at temperature below 1400 K due to the low conversion of NH₃ (up to 18%). At temperature above 1400 K, NH₃ conversion increased rapidly and it triggered a decrease in H₂S conversion as well as the yields of H₂ and S₂. The major reactions involved in the decomposition of H₂S, CO₂, and NH₃ and the production of major products such as H₂, S₂, and CO are identified. The detailed reaction mechanism can facilitate the design and optimization of acid gas thermal decomposition to produce hydrogen and sulfur, simultaneously.     

An integrated biodesulfurization process,including inoculum preparation,desulfurization and sulfate removal in a single step,for removing sulfur from oils

BACKGROUND: A single‐stage reactor, in which the growth of bacterial culture, induction of desulfurizing enzymes, and desulfurization reaction are carried out in a single step, was adopted to investigate desulfurization of dibenzothiophene (DBT) at high cell densities. Rhodococcus erythropolis, IGTS8 was used as the biocatalyst. Optimal conditions for bacterial growth and DBT desulfurization were investigated. RESULTS: Optimization of fermentation conditions was necessary to obtain high cell densities including controlling accumulation of acetate. Under optimal operating conditions, the maximum optical density at 600 nm (OD₆₀₀) was measured to be 26.6 at 118 h of cultivation. When biodesulfurization of DBT in model oil with a high cell density culture of IGTS8 was investigated, accumulation of sulfate was found to limit the extent of desulfurization. A sulfate removal step was added to obtain a single‐stage integrated biodesulfurization process. Sulfate removal was achieved via an aqueous bleed stream and use of a separation unit to recycle the organic phase. CONCLUSION: A proof of principle of a complete system capable of biocatalyst growth, induction, desulfurization and by‐product separation was demonstrated. This system enables simplification of the biodesulfurization process and has potential to lower the operating cost of the bioprocess. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

All Ag Nanoparticles Are Not the Same: Covalent Interactions between Ag Nanoparticles and Nitrile Groups Help Combat Drug- and Ag-Resistant Bacteria

Antimicrobial resistance has long been viewed as a lethal threat to global health. Despite the availability of a wide range of antibacterial medicines all around the world, organisms have evolved a resistance mechanism to these therapies. As a result, a scenario has emerged requiring the development of effective antibacterial drugs/agents. In this article, we exclusively highlight a significant finding reported by Zbořil and associates (Adv. Sci. 2021, 2003090). The authors construct a covalently bounded silver-cyanographene (GCN/Ag) with the antibacterial activity of 30 fold higher than that of free Ag ions or typical Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs). Ascribed to the strong covalent bond between nitrile and Ag, an immense cytocompatibility is shown by the GCN/Ag towards healthy human cells with a minute leaching of Ag ions. Firm interactions between the microbial membrane and the GCN/Ag are confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations, which rule out the dependence of antibacterial activity upon the Ag ions alone. Thus, this study furnishes ample scope to unfold next-generation hybrid antimicrobial drugs to confront infections arising from drug and Ag-resistant bacterial strains.     

Polygon subdivision for pocket machining process planning

This paper presents a new approach to improve tool selection for arbitrary shaped pockets based on an approximate polygon subdivision technique. The pocket is subdivided into smaller sub-polygons and tools are selected separately for each sub-polygon. A set of tools for the entire pocket is obtained based on both machining time and the number of tools used. In addition, the sub-polygons are sequenced to eliminate the requirement of multiple plunging operations. In process planning for pocket machining, selection of tool sizes and minimizing the number of plunging operations can be very important factors. The approach presented in this paper is an improvement over previous work in its use of a polygon subdivision strategy to improve the machining time as well as reducing the number of plunges. The implementation of this technique suggests that using a subdivision approach can reduce machining time when compared to solving for the entire polygonal region.     

Iodine‐Mediated Copper‐Catalyzed Efficient α‐C(sp2)‐Thiomethylation of α‐Oxoketene Dithioacetals with Dimethyl Sulfoxide in One Pot

The direct α‐Csp² H functionalization and thiomethylation of α‐oxoketene dithioacetals (DTAs) has been accomplished with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in the presence of iodine and a copper(I) salt for the first time. A prerequisite is the in situ iodination of the α‐Csp² atom of dithioacetals that could offer other reaction channels. The operationally simple one‐pot protocol includes region‐defined consecutive iodination and sulfenylation of the challenging α‐Csp² H bond of dithioacetals employing cheap and readily available reagents. DMSO here plays a dual role as thiomethyl source and solvent.

     

A reaction mechanism for gasoline surrogate fuels for large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

This work aims to develop a reaction mechanism for gasoline surrogate fuels (n-heptane, iso-octane and toluene) with an emphasis on the formation of large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Starting from an existing base mechanism for gasoline surrogate fuels with the largest chemical species being pyrene (C₁₆H₁₀), this new mechanism is generated by adding PAH sub-mechanisms to account for the formation and growth of PAHs up to coronene (C₂₄H₁₂). The density functional theory (DFT) and the transition state theory (TST) have been adopted to evaluate the rate constants for several PAH reactions. The mechanism is validated in the premixed laminar flames of n-heptane, iso-octane, benzene and ethylene. The characteristics of PAH formation in the counterflow diffusion flames of iso-octane/toluene and n-heptane/toluene mixtures have also been tested for both the soot formation and soot formation/oxidation flame conditions. The predictions of the concentrations of large PAHs in the premixed flames having available experimental data are significantly improved with the new mechanism as compared to the base mechanism. The major pathways for the formation of large PAHs are identified. The test of the counterflow diffusion flames successfully predicts the PAH behavior exhibiting a synergistic effect observed experimentally for the mixture fuels, irrespective of the type of flame (soot formation flame or soot formation/oxidation flame). The reactions that lead to this synergistic effect in PAH formation are identified through the rate-of-production analysis.     

An Approach for Estimation of Cathode Voltage Drop in an Aluminum Reduction Cell with an Inclined Carbon Block and a Copper Insert

Numerical models of a cathode block assembly in a Hall–Hèroult cell, comprising of liquid aluminium, carbon block, current collector, ramming paste and a copper insert were built and the finite element method simulations were carried out to model the cathode voltage drop (CVD), the current distribution and, the effect of geometrical parameters on the CVD. The objective of the study was to quantify the drop in the CVD for different cathode assembly design. Flat- and inclined-interface carbon block top-surface and a copper insert versus the conventional insert-free designs were simulated with a myriad of other geometrical parameters to optimise the design. The results informed about the optimum insert positioning to about 75 mm from the collector base and the energy saving possibilities due to reduction in the CVD with a cathode design with inclined-interface carbon block and copper insert in the collector bar.     

经改造的DDS功能用作波物率发生器

一般情况下,可以用一个现有的振荡器,为一个UART产生一个波特率时钟.振荡器频率必须作分频,而分频会带来波特率误差.表1表示当用一个8 MHz晶振和一个普通的二进制分频器生成特率时,产生误差的百分比.     

Assessment of relative impacts of various geo-mining factors on methane dispersion for safety in gassy underground coal mines: an artificial neural networks approach

Neural Computing and Applications - Dispersing methane to a safer level is crucial for mines safety as methane has been the greatest contributor of explosion hazard in underground coal mines...