Ni catalysts supported on nanosheet and nanoplate γ-Al_2O_3 for carbon dioxide methanation

Nanosheet(S) and nanoplate(P) γ-Al_2O_3 were synthesized by simple hydrothermal methods and employed as supports for Ni catalysts in CO_2 methanation.Both of the nanostructured Ni/Al_2O_3 catalysts displayed good activity.In comparison,the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst showed higher CO_2 conversion than the Ni/Al_2O_3-P counterpart at the reaction temperature ranging from 250 to 400 °C.The physical and chemical properties of the catalysts were systematically characterized by N2 sorption,X-ray diffraction(XRD),high resolution-transmission electron microscopy(HR-TEM),hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction(H2-TPR) and CO_2 temperature-programmed desorption(CO_2-TPD) techniques.Higher specific surface area and stronger metal-support interactions were confirmed on the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst,which may lead to smaller particle size of Ni nanoparticles.Moreover,the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst possessed more abundant weak and medium basic sites,which would benefit the activation of CO_2.The smaller Ni size and more suitable basic sites may rationalize the superior activity of the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst.Besides,the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst exhibited excellent stability at 325 °C for 40 h.

A Novel Route to Prepare Nanocomposites in Larger Scale

A novel route to prepare nanocomposites was illustrated through preparing overbased calcium petroleum sulfonate lubricating oil detergent, where the rotating packed bed （RPB） was used as reactor in place of conventional reaction vessel. The results showed that the carbonation efficiency is improved, the raw materials consumption is reduced, and the dispersibilities, sizes and morphologies of nano-sized CaCO3 particles in overbased detergent are enhanced. It is deduced reasonably that this route can be extensively applied to nanocomposites preparation in appropriate conditions and would be a platform technology in this field.

A two-stage blade-packing rotating packed bed for intensification of continuous distillation

A two-stage blade-packing rotating packed bed(TSBP-RPB) was designed and developed for the intensification of continuous distillation. The mass transfer parameters of the TSBP-RPB were investigated using a chemisorption system. Continuous distillation experiments were conducted in the TSBP-RPB by the methanol–water binary system. Experimental results showed that values of the effective interfacial area and liquid-side mass transfer coefficient of the TSBP-RPB were 93–337 m^2·m^(-3) and 0.05–0.19 cm·s^(-1), respectively. The height of equivalent theoretical plate(HETP) of the TSBP-RPB ranged from 1.9 to 10 cm. Moreover, the TSBP-RPB is easy to be manufactured, which shows great potential for the application of continuous distillation.

Study on the catalytic degradation of sodium lignosulfonate to aromatic aldehydes over nano-CuO:Process optimization and reaction kinetics

As one of the few renewable aromatic resources,the research of depolymerization of lignin into highvalue chemicals has attracted extensive attention in recent years.Catalytic wet aerobic oxidation(CWAO)is an effective technology to convert lignin like sodium lignosulfonate(SL),a lignin derivative,into aromatic aldehydes such as vanillin and syringaldehyde.However,how to improve the yield of aromatic aldehyde and conversion efficiency is still a challenge,and many operating conditions that significantly affect the yield of these aromatic compounds have rarely been investigated systematically.In this work,we adopted the stirred tank reactor(STR)for the CWAO process with nano-CuO as catalyst to achieve the conversion of SL into vanillin and syringaldehyde.The effect of operating conditions including reaction time,oxygen partial pressure,reaction temperature,SL concentration,rotational speed,catalyst amount,and NaOH concentration on the yield of single phenolic compound was systematically investigated.The results revealed that all these operating conditions exhibit a significant effect on the aromatic aldehyde yield.Therefore,they should be regulated in an optimal value to obtain high yield of these aldehydes.More importantly,the reaction kinetics of the lignin oxidation was explored.This work could provide basic data for the optimization and design of industrial operation of lignin oxidation.

Hydrogen sulfide removal by catalytic oxidative absorption method using rotating packed bed reactor

Using catalytic oxidative absorption for H_2S removal is of great interest due to its distinct advantages. However,traditional scrubbing process faces a great limitation in the confined space. Therefore, there is an urgent demand to develop high-efficiency process intensification technology for such a system. In this article, H_2S absorption experimental research was conducted in a rotating packed bed(RPB) reactor with ferric chelate absorbent and a mixture of N_2 and H_2S, which was used to simulate natural gas. The effects of absorbent p H value, gas–liquid ratio, gravity level of RPB, absorption temperature and character of the packing on the desulfurization efficiency were investigated. The results showed that H_2S removal efficiency could reach above 99.6% under the most of the experimental condition and above 99.9% under the optimal condition. A long-time continuous experiment was conducted to investigate the stability of the whole process combining absorption and regeneration. The result showed that the process could well realize simultaneous desulfurization and absorbent regeneration, and the H_2S removal efficiency kept relatively stable in the whole duration of 72 h. It can be clearly seen that high gravity technology desulfurization process, which is simple, high-efficiency, and space intensive, has a good prospect for industrial application of H_2S removal in confined space.

High-gravity technology intensified Knoevenagel condensation-Michael addition polymerization of poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (n-butyl cyanoacrylate) for blood-brain barrier delivery

Poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(n-butyl cyanoacrylate)(PEG-PBCA)is a remarkable drug delivery carrier for permeating blood-brain barrier.In this work,a novel high-gravity procedure was reported to intensify Knoevenagel condensation-Michael addition polymerization of PEG-PBCA.A series of PEG-PBCA containing different block ratios were synthesized with narrow molecular weight distribution of polydispersity indexes less than 1.1.Furthermore,the reaction time reduced 60%compared to conventional stirred tank reactor process.Chemical structures of as-prepared polymers were characterized.In vitro drug delivery performance was evaluated.The cytotoxicity of PEG-PBCA to brain microvessel endothelial cells(BMVEC)decreases with the extension of the PEG chain and the shortening of the PBCA chain.The polymer cellular uptake to BMVECs was better after improving hydrophilicity by PEG block.Results of bloodbrain barrier permeability demonstrated that medium length of PBCA chain and short PEG chain are favorable for hydrophobic Nile red permeation,while long PEG chain and short PBCA chain are beneficial to delivery water-soluble doxorubicin hydrochloride(Dox).The average apparent permeability coeffi-cient increased 1.7 and 0.25 times than that of raw Nile red and Dox,respectively.High-gravity intensi-fied condensation polymerization should have great potential in brain drug delivery system.

Sulfonation of 1,4-diaminoanthraquinone leuco by chlorosulfonic acid:Kinetics and process intensification

The work herein employed a rotating packed bed(RPB)to intensify the sulfonation process of 1,4-diaminoanthraquinone leuco(DL)in an attempt to improve the yield of the product 1,4-diaminoanthra quinone-2-sulfonic acid(DSA).First,the effects of operating conditions in a stirred tank reactor(STR),including stirring speed,chlorosulfonic acid/DL molar ratio(η),solvent/DL mass ratio(ζ),reaction temperature and dropping speed of chlorosulfonic acid,on the yield of DSA were investigated.The yield of DSA can reach 87.34%under the optimal operating conditions:stirring speed of 500 r·min^(-1),ηof 4.5,ζof 7,reaction temperature of 150℃,dropping speed of 0.61 ml·min^(-1).In addition,the kinetics of the sulfonation process via the shrinking core model revealed that the reaction is controlled by diffusion via a product layer under the reaction temperature of 140℃.Furthermore,the RPB was employed to intensify the mass transfer between liquid and solid phases during the sulfonation reaction process.The results showed that the DSA yield of 92.69%obtained by RPB was 5.35%higher than that by STR,indicating that RPB can significantly intensify the mass transfer in the liquid-solid phase sulfonation reaction process.

Improvement in discharge characteristics and energy yield of ozone generation via configuration optimization of a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge reactor

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) has been widely employed in ozone generation.However,the technology still exhibits relatively low energy yield (E_(Y)) referring to its theoretical value.In this work,E_(Y)of ozone generation was improved by optimizing the mesh number,electrode length,and dielectric material in a coaxial DBD reactor with two wire mesh electrodes.Meanwhile,the discharge characteristics were investigated to elucidate the effect of reactor configuration on E_(Y).Results showed that the discharge characteristics were improved by increasing the mesh number,electrode length,and relative permittivity.When the mesh number was increased from 40 to 100,an improvement of approximately 48%in E_(Y) was obtained.Additionally,higher E_(Y) values were obtained using corundum as the dielectric material relative to polytetrafluoroethylene and quartz.Ultimately,E_(Y) in the optimal DBD reactor could reach 326.77 g·(k W·h)^(-1).Compared with the reported DBD reactor,the coaxial DBD reactor with the mesh electrode and the dielectric material of corundum could effectively improve E_(Y),which lays a foundation for the design of high-efficiency coaxial DBD reactor.

Preparation of lithium carbonate by microwave assisted pyrolysis

Investigations were conducted to purify crude Li_(2)CO_(3)via direct carbonation with CO_(2)at atmospheric pressure and pyrolysis with both water bath heating method and microwave heating method.The reaction kinetics of LiHCO_(3)pyrolysis was studied and the effect of different operating conditions including initial concentration of LiHCO_(3)solution,pyrolysis temperature and stirring speed on the purity of Li_(2)CO_(3)was investigated to obtain the optimal operating conditions.Results showed that the effect law is similar in the two pyrolysis processes.The purity of the Li_(2)CO_(3)increases firstly and then decreases with the increase of the initial concentration of LiHCO_(3)solution and the stirring speed,while the purity of Li_(2)CO_(3)first decreases and then increases with the increase of pyrolysis temperature.The product yield increases with the increase of initial concentration of LiHCO_(3)solution and pyrolysis temperature and is essentially unaffected by the stirring speed.Under the optimal operating conditions,the purity of Li_(2)CO_(3)can reach up to 99.86%and 99.81%in water bath heating and microwave heating process,respectively.In addition,the pyrolysis rate of microwave assisted pyrolysis is 6 times that of water bath heating process,indicating that the microwave heating technology can significantly improve pyrolysis efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

Intrinsic kinetics of catalytic hydrogenation of 2-nitro-4-acetylamino anisole to 2-amino-4-acetylamino anisole over Raney nickel catalyst

The catalytic hydrogenation of 2-nitro-4-acetylamino anisole(NMA)is a less-polluting and efficient method to produce 2-amino-4-acetamino anisole(AMA).However,the kinetics of catalytic hydrogenation of NMA to AMA remains obscure.In this work,the kinetic models including power-law model and Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson(LHHW)model of NMA hydrogenation to AMA catalyzed by Raney nickel catalyst were investigated.All experiments were carried out under the elimination of mass transfer resistance within the temperature range of 70–100°C and the hydrogen pressure of 0.8–1.5 MPa.The reaction was found to follow 0.52-order kinetics with respect to the NMA concentration and 1.10-order kinetics in terms of hydrogen pressure.Based on the LHHW model,the dual-site dissociation adsorption of hydrogen was analyzed to be the rate determining step.The research of intrinsic kinetics of NMA to AMA provides the guidance for the reactor design and inspires the catalyst modification.

Preparation of polypyrrole/TiO2 nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic performance

A simple in situ method was developed to synthesize polypyrrole （PPy）/TiO2 nanocomposites hav- ing high photocatalytic activity under simulated solar light. The structure and morphology of the PPy/TiO2 nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction （XRD）, transmission electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The visible light photocatalytic properties of the nanocomposites were demonstrated by Rhodamine B degra- dation and by the production of methanol from CO2. The XRD analysis showed that the coating of PPy did not change the crystallinity of the TiO2. The UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra indicated that the light adsorption range of the TiO2 was enlarged after modification. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy anal- ysis confirmed the presence of PPy and TiO2 in the nanocomposite catalyst. The RhB degradation using the nanocomposites was increased by 41% and the methanol yield was enhanced by 34 wt% in comparison with those obtained with pure TiO2. The improvements were considered to originate from the increased separation efficiency of hole-electron pairs from TiO2 and the enhancement of the light adsorption range by the introduced PPy.