Engineering Commons^™

Ultrathin Microporous Metal Oxide Coatings: Preparation By Molecular Layer Deposition, Characterization And Application, Zhuonan Song

Theses and Dissertations

Molecular layer deposition (MLD), a gas phase deposition technique, was applied to deposit conformal organic-inorganic hybrid coatings by conducting a series of sequential, self-limiting surface reactions on substrates with exquisite thickness control at the sub-nanometer level. Obtained organic-inorganic hybrid coatings can subsequently be converted into porous coatings by removing the organic compound. Potential of functional coatings and membranes prepared by MLD was explored for applications from adsorptive separation, water purification, to gas storage.

We demonstrated a new concept, pore misalignment, to continuously fine tune the molecular-sieving “gate” of 5A zeolite by adjusting the external porous Al2O3 MLD coating thickness. For …

Pvdf Membranes With Stable, Ultrathin Graphene Oxide (Go) Functional Coatings For Antifouling Oil/Water Separation Under Cross-Flow Condition, Lei Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Oil/water separation plays an important role in industrial wastewater treatment and environment protection. For the treatment of oily wastewater, especially for removing oil droplets with sizes in the micrometer range, ultrafiltration (UF) membrane technology is considered the most efficient method due to its high separation efficiency and relatively simple operational process. However, caused by the deposition of the oil droplets onto the membrane surface and into the membrane pores, the fouling of UF membranes shortens their service time and degrades their separation performance in practical applications.

In this work, graphene oxide (GO) was utilized as a novel coating material to …

Green Synthesis Nanocomposite Membranes, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Vasile Smuleac, Rajender S. Varma, Subhas K. Sikdar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A nanocomposite membrane includes a macroporous polymer membrane having a plurality of pores. A plurality of metal nanoparticles are synthesized and immobilized within those plurality of pores. The nanoparticles are reduced and capped with a green reducing and capping agent such as green tea extract.

Synthesis, Structural Diversity, And Redox Control Of Cyclometalated Monoruthenium Complexes, Zhong-Liang Gong, Jiang-Yang Shao, Yu-Wu Zhong

Journal of Electrochemistry

Cyclometalated ruthenium complexes have received increasing attractions recently due to their excellent redox and photophysical properties. One structural feature of these complexes is that there is a ruthenium-carbon (Ru-C) σ bond presented in the molecule. Three common methods, namely, the “late metalation”, “early metalation”, and “transmetalation” methods, for the synthesis of cyclometalated ruthenium complexes are discussed and summarized. General strategies for the design of cyclometalating ligand and cyclometalated ruthenium complexes are introduced. By using different ancillary ligands, such as pyridine, imidazole, triazole, and pyrimidine, a great number of ruthenium complexes can be prepared. The presence of the Ru-C bond significantly …

Reduced Graphene Oxide (Rgo) Hollow Network Cages For High-Performance Electrochemical Energy Storage, Chi Zhang, Xu-Jun He, Gao-Ren Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

The reduced graphese oxide (RGO) hollow network cages were synthesized via zinc oxide (ZnO) template-assisted electrodeposition. The as-prepared RGO hollow network cages exhibited the multi-level architectures, from nano sheets, porous structures, networks, to 3D microscaled hollow cages, which can simultaneously optimize transport of electroactive species, utilization rate of electrode material, and super capacitive performance. Electrochemical measurements confirmed the superior performance of RGO hollow network cages for supercapacitors (SCs), such as high Csp (393 F⋅g^-1 at 1.0 A⋅g^-1), excellent rate capability (21.2% Csp loss from 1.0 to 20 A⋅g^-1), and superior cycling stability (< 1% Csp loss after 10000 cycles).

Developments Of Photo-Assisted Fuel Cells, Ling-Ling Zhang, Shao-Jun Dong

Journal of Electrochemistry

The exploitation and utilization of fossil fuels have led to serious energy crisis and environmental pollution. In this case, the development of renewable energy is an alternative to traditional energy consumption. Fuel cells (FCs) can convert chemical energy into electricity via the electrochemical reaction, which is green and environment-friendly. Photo-assisted FCs integrate photo-responsive components into FCs, leading to the dual routes of energy conversion including light energy to electricity and chemical energy to electricity, and thus, improving the energy utilization efficiency. The development of photo-assisted FCs is significant for practical application and promising to solve the coming energy crisis. In …

Wet Air Oxidation For Industrial Wastewater And Sludge Treatment: First Results Of A New Research Program In Quebec, Jean-François Vermette, Sophie Girard, Patrick Desjardins

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Introduction

Sub-critical water technologies, in particular wet air oxidation (WAO), have been developing across Europe in recent decades. This process is now used at the industrial scale for the effective treatment of wet organic material, mainly sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), and is done with energy self-sufficiency [1, 2]. In WAO, hot pressurised water (200-350 ˚C, 30-200 bars) is enriched with oxygen or air to initiate exothermic oxidation of organic material, mostly into CO₂ and H₂O. Since the operating temperature is much lower than typical incineration, no gaseous emissions of NO_X, dioxins or furans …

How To Reduce The Energy Costs Of Food And Dairy Products To Spray Drying?, Pierre Schuck, Anne Dolivet, Serge Méjean, Romain Jeantet

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

The most frequently used technique for dehydration of dairy products is spray drying. This is an effective method to preserve biological products as it does not involve prolong exposure of materials to severe heat treatment. Due to the variety and complexity of the concentrates to be dried, a more rigorous understanding of spray-drying based on physico-chemical and thermodynamic properties is necessary. At the same time, the current state of the art did not allow easy determination of the parameters of spray-drying of dairy products prior to drying, except from performing several complex and expensive experiments with pilot-scale spray-dryer. Nevertheless, recent …

Oxygen/Steam Charcoal Gasification In A Fluidized Alumina Bed, Rui Moreira, Rui Vaz, António Portugal, Noemí Gil-Lalaguna, Fernando Bimbela, José Luis Sánchez

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Mixtures of oxygen and steam were used as gasifying agents to produce a gas stream with high hydrogen content. The effects of the equivalence ratio (ER) and steam to carbon ratio (S/C) on gasification performance were studied at 900 ºC. The highest hydrogen yield (0.412 Nm³/kg charcoal) and apparent energy efficiency (33.43%) were achieved using a mixture that had a S/C ratio of 0.625 and an ER equal to 0.3 (pure oxygen). The results showed that the carbon conversion improved when the ER and the S/C ratio were augmented, and that the production of tars increased when the …

Bio-Oils From Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis Of Cellulose Using A Multi Mode Batch Reactor, Marco Frediani, Piero Frediani, Luca Rosi, Mattia Bartoli

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

The end of fossil fuels era is becoming day by day [1] however the request of raw materials and fuels from industry is growing every year [2]. As a consequence research for renewable resource to supply oil is became very attractive [3]. Biomasses are very promising sources to satisfy the growing request of energy and raw materials [4-6] and in the same time to reduce the environmental impact due to their production [7]. Cellulose is particular interesting among different available biomasses because it is not interfere with the availability of …

Development Of A Mobile 100 Kg/H Plant For Pyrolysis Using A Mechanically Fluidized Reactor, Dhiraj Kankariya, Stefano Tacchino, Dominic Pjontek, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Current pyrolysis processes perform the thermal decomposition of biomass into a liquid bio-oil, bio-char and non-condensable gases, at around 500 °C, without the addition of oxygen gas. The bio-oil is a complex mixture of many components that is used either as a substitute for fuel oil or for applications such as liquid smoke and bio-phenol resins that do not require pure chemicals.

The large-scale mechanical fluidized reactor (MFR) is a new technology for the pyrolysis of biomass developed by ICFAR, which does not require a sand bed and, thus, provides an undiluted solid char residue, which is essential to realize …

Technological Breakthrough And Innovation In The Production Of Whey Powders, With 30-40% Reduction In Energy Costs, Pierre Schuck, Anne Dolivet, Serge Méjean, Gaelle Tanguy, Daniel Garreau, Corrado Vezzani, Romain Jeantet

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

There are two essential stages in the elimination of water for the production of whey and permeate powders: concentration by vacuum evaporation followed by spray drying. These two operations alone represent 25% of the energy consumed by the French dairy industry, the major part of which is due to the drying stage. Indeed, 96.7% of the whey water is removed during the vacuum evaporation/concentration stage, whereas drying, which removes only 3.3% of the water, requires 31% of the total energy used over the entire process.

One possible way to reduce energy consumption would be for the product to enter the …

Integrating Batch Pyrolysis And Fractional Condensation (2d Mfr) To Get High-Value Products From Biomass, Mohammad Hossain, Chiara Barbiero, Ian Scott, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Agricultural crop residues are a source of inexpensive biomass to convert into bioproducts. The recovery of valuable chemicals from plant waste would partly solve the disposal issue and offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic chemical production. One approach to separate and concentrate valuable chemicals from biomass is pyrolysis using a batch reactor process. A mechanically fluidized reactor (MFR) was developed to pyrolyze biomass from ambient to temperatures near 600 °C, forming gases that are then condensed in an ice-chilled condenser to form a bio-oil. The bio-oil produced by the MFR can be separated within temperature ranges, termed one-dimensional …

Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis Of Kraft Lignin At Reduce Pressure In A Multimode Oven, Mattia Bartoli, Marco Frediani, Luca Rosi, Piero Frediani

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Lignin is the third-most abundant natural polymer after cellulose and hemicellulose[1] and the only renewable source of aromatics in nature. Moreover lignin is the most relevant waste from industry of paper and bioethanol[2]. Nowadays the common way to dispose it is combustion but the possibility to recovery aromatic moiety from thermochemical conversion of lignin has been received a grown attention. In this field the most promising approach is pyrolysis[3] and particularly interesting is use of microwave (MW) like heating source[4]. Microwave assisted pyrolysis (MAP) was successfully applied in the treatment of plastic …

Production Of Glycerol 1,2-Carbonate From Glycerol With Aid Of Ionic Liquid As Catalyst, Nor Asrina Sairi, Zati Ismah, Yatimah Alias, Rozita Yusoff, Mohamed Kheireddine Taieb Aroua,

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

The surplus formation of glycerol (glycerine or 1,2,3-propanetriol) during biodiesel production has led to a major concern. Glycerol price has dropped and it exerts a great impact on the refined glycerol market. This has triggered an extensive research focus to find an innovative way to revalorize glycerol and transform to value-added chemicals. Yet, it is undeniably a necessary move towards achieving greener and sustainable processes. For instance, glycerol 1,2-carbonate (4-hydroxymethyl-1, 3-dioxolan-2-one) is currently one of the most celebrated glycerol derivatives that captured arising scientific and industrial attentions due to its extensive potential applicability. This cyclic ester of glycerol with carbonic …

Development And Industrial Application Of Novel Non-Cr Passivity For Electrolytic Manganese, Siming Chen, Dongping Duan, E Zhou, Ting Li

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

No abstract provided.

Sox Trapping Performances Of Cuo Based Silica Mesoporous Adsorbents For Desulfurization Of Industrial Flue Gas Stream, Sophie Dorge, Marc Berger, Habiba Nouali, Laure Michelin, Ludovic Josien, Matthieu Vierling, Michel Molière, Emmanuel Fiani, David Habermacher, Joël Patarin, Jean-François Brilhac, Pierrick Gaudin

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

In the present work, CuO/SBA-15 SOx regenerable adsorbents were elaborated. Synthesis conditions were controlled in order to obtain highly dispersed Cu²⁺ species assumed to be Cu-O-Si species. Materials were evaluated as SOx adsorbents through multicycle adsorption/regeneration experiments. Their performances decrease along cycles due to copper species sintering and there is an optimal copper loading for a maximal SOx adsorption efficiency.

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract.

Catalytic Property Of Olivine For Bio-Oil Gasification, Mohammad Latifi, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Introduction

Biomass is an attractive renewable source of fuel and energy. Thermochemical processes can convert biomass to a liquid bio-oil or to a syngas. The advantage of using bio-oil as an intermediate is that, in contrast with both raw biomass and gas, it can easily be produced in small distributed units, stored and transported. Not only can platform chemicals and clean fuels be produced from syngas, but hydrogen is itself an alternative fuel. A high hydrogen production is usually desired: for example, methanol production requires a syngas with a molar H₂/CO ratio of 2. Therefore, maximum hydrogen production …

Influence Of Pre-Treatment On Grass Pyrolysis For High Value Products, Chiara Barbiero, Charles Greenhalf, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Pyrolysis of biomass is a process which yields high quality, clean, and green products like bio-oil and bio-char. Bio-oil has a wide range of applications and also includes liquid fuels and raw chemical products. Therefore, it will be attractive to tailor the bio-oil properties to improve the yields of specific compounds that are economically interesting. In particular, pyrolytic sugar can be used for fermentation while phenolic compounds have an array of industrial applications such as adhesives; moreover, they can substitute petroleum-based phenols. However, it is difficult to achieve high yields of specific chemicals in the bio-oil without adequate biomass pre-treatments. …

Pyrolysis Of Residues From Well-Established Biochemical Processes For Biomass Conversion Into Liquid Fuel, Devon Barry, Cedric Briens, Franco Berruti

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

This project focuses on the pyrolysis of residues from well-established biochemical processes into liquid fuel. The residues examined come from two major conversion processes; wastewater treatment facilities, and biogas digesters. These processes produce low value, unconverted residues that are refractory to further biochemical conversion. Pyrolysis is an aggressive thermochemical conversion process that is ideally suited to such residues.

Currently, these residues are viewed as a low-value or waste products that must be disposed of. The environmentally friendly disposal of wastewater sludge is a common problem for many municipalities, where the sludge is often incinerated or disposed of in landfills. Anaerobic …

Adhesives From Biomass Pyrolysis, Dongbing Li, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Fast pyrolysis of waste biomass with high lignin content, such as birch wood, birch bark, hydrolysis lignin, kraft lignin or low-cost digestate from biogas production, provides oils that can be substituted for phenol in phenol-formaldehyde resins. Biomass fast pyrolysis was performed in a dedicated fluidized bed pyrolyzer that incorporated two crucial innovations: a fractional condensation train provided dry bio-oils with ~1% of moisture and much reduced acidity; autothermal pyrolysis with partial oxidation reduces operating and capital costs, as well as increasing the quality of the dry bio-oil. Dry bio-oil obtained from autothermal fast pyrolysis of kraft lignin can be used …

Performance And Emissions Of A Diesel Engine Fueled With Biodiesel Doped With A Renewable Antioxidant Additive, Alberto Gonzalo, Jorge Arroyo, Francisco Moreno, Mariano Muñoz, Carlos Monné, Ana Bautista, Noemí Gil-Lalaguna, Cristina Dueso, José Luis Sánchez

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

1. INTRODUCTION

Biodiesel is a mixture of alkyl esters obtained by transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats with a short chain alcohol (mainly methanol or ethanol) and catalyzed by acids or bases (usually NaOH or KOH) [1]. Final properties of the biodiesel are similar to those of petroleum derived-diesel. Therefore, biodiesel can be used in diesel conventional engines without significant modifications or mixed in any proportion with fossil diesel.

Some of the main drawbacks of biodiesel to be used as fuel are the low oxidation stability and poor cold flow properties (freezing point and flowability of the …

Hydrothermal Treatment Of Bio-Oil For The Production Of Biodiesel Antioxidants, Noemí Gil-Lalaguna, Ana Bautista, Lucía Botella, Alberto Gonzalo, José Luis Sánchez, Jesús Arauzo

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

1. INTRODUCTION

Fuel consumption is inevitable for industrial development and growth of any country. In the last years, diesel fuels have gained an increasingly important role in the transportation sector. However, the rapid depletion of crude oil resources, as well as the worldwide concern about the environmental damage related to the increase in the emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, has led to an increasing awareness about the development and use of renewable fuels. In this context, biodiesel appears as a good alternative to fossil diesel because of its renewable and biodegradable character, also being a non-toxic and clean fuel …

The Integrated Forest Biorefinery, An Example Of Green Engineering, Miyuru Kannangara, Mariya Marinova, Michel Perrier, Jean Paris

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

1. Introduction

Confronted by a steady decline in the demand for commodity papers, the pulp and paper industry has undertaken intensive R&D efforts to identify and develop new non paper products that could be manufactured from the forest biomass. The components of wood that can be separated and converted into new non paper products are the cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Celluloses and hemicelluloses are polymers of various sugars and lignin is a polymer of phenylpropane units. This paper treats the specific case of lignin and hemicellulose extraction from a Kraft pulping process. Two processes have been investigated for the extraction …

Two-Stage Thermochemical Valorisation Of Sugar-Derived Humins, Paul De Wild

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

The majority of commercial bulk chemicals is still derived from fossil resources. The development of green biobased chemicals is high on the global research and development agenda. Lignocellulosic biomass and particularly the cellulose and hemicellulose fraction are considered interesting feeds for the production of key bulk chemicals to serve as building blocks for the chemical industry. Efficient chemo-catalytic conversion technologies for C5 and C6 sugars are under development to generate selected existing bulk chemicals, such as Levulinic acid (LA), caprolactam (CAP), butadiene (BD), furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a very promising platform chemical for the synthesis of a.o. novel monomers for …

Process For Removal And Recovery Of Phenolic Compounds From Switchgrass, Robert M. Counce, Nikki Labbé, Michelle L. Lehmann, Jack S. Watson, Jingming Tao

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Introduction

This paper describes a process for the separation and recovery of non-structural phenolic compounds from switchgrass. This process is proposed as a preliminary step of a biorefinery incorporating the organosolv process for biomass fractionation. The economics of such an addition to separate and recover phenolic compounds is then investigated.

Switchgrass has been selected as a dedicated feedstock for bioprocesses producing liquid fuels such as ethanol and advanced fuels. The University of Tennessee has been heavily involved in the development of switchgrass as one of the feedstocks for bioenergy production in the southeast (Tiller 2011). Biofuels have the potential to …

Marketable Bioproducts And Biomaterials From Research To Commercial Manufacture For Sustainability, Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions And A Circular Economy, Richard Jewell

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Enerkem produces clean fuels and green chemicals from waste with improved economics and greater sustainability than technologies that rely on fossil sources. Enerkem’s technology converts non-recyclable municipal solid waste, such as household garbage, into clean fuels and renewable chemicals.

Enerkem develops and delivers biorefineries in North America and globally, using internal process engineering groups to develop and build biorefineries that are modular and standardize plant fabrication and manufacturing.

The success of Enerkem’s process engineering acumen is demonstrated in Enerkems rollout of the world’s first commercial biorefinery to use municipal solid waste feedstock to produce methanol and ethanol. This facility, called …

Fundamental Study And Applications To Biomass Pyrolysis Of The Mechanically Fluidized Reactor, Valentina Lago, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Lignin has great potential for the production of aromatics currently derived from petroleum, since it is the most abundant source of aromatics in nature. At present, Kraft lignin is used as fuel within the pulping process but, alternatively, it could be converted to high-value chemicals using thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis. Kraft lignin, however, is a very cohesive and thermally sensitive powder with foaming and agglomerating tendency under reaction conditions. Consequently, a novel reactor design, designated as Mechanically Fluidized Reactor (MFR) has been developed to successfully process Kraft lignin.

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract.

Using The Jiggled Bed Reactor To Develop Activated Carbons From Biomass Residues, Anastasia Colomba, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Activated carbons are the most used adsorbent material. Their applications range from wastewater treatment, air purification, removal of contaminants and many others. According to “Global Activated Carbon Market Forecast & Opportunities 2017”, the demand for activated carbon is expected to increase more than 10% per year for the next 5 years to make it a $3 billion market by 2017. Current processes for the production of activated carbons from renewable resources do not provide valuable co-products. This presentation focuses on the conversion to activated carbon of the bio-char co-product of the pyrolysis process. Pyrolysis also provides valuable bio-oil, which is …

Catalyst Layer Design In Polymer Membrane Fuel Cells, Sarah Stariha

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

One of the biggest obstacles to commercializing polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells is the use of platinum as a catalyst. One way to overcome this obstacle is to replace platinum with non-platinum group metal (non-PGM) catalysts, particularly for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The most realistic method of estimating the performance of non-PGM catalysts is testing within membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs). One key issue is that non-PGM catalysts are not as active as platinum. One way to increase their performance is to optimize the catalyst layer composition, specifically the components responsible for ionic …