Optimization of Fixed-Bed Design for Natural Gas Mercury Removal by Sulfur Doped into Porous Activated Carbon

The present work reports the synthesis and application of sulfur doped into porous activated carbon for removing elemental mercury from natural gas using a bench-scale fixed-bed reactor. A series of experiments were carried out to investigate the optimization of Hg0 capture. Furthermore, our experimental results about optimum conditions to remove Hg0 were 1:10 of sulfur to activated carbon impregnation ratio, 350°C of impregnation temperature, and 3 hours of impregnation time. This research showed that the prepared adsorbents were capable to remove remarkable amount of Hg0 (23.615 mg/g) at high adsorption efficiency. This study may serve as reference on natural gas power plants for the removal of Hg0 using the same conditions.

Recycling of Alum from Water Treatment Residue and Reuse It as a Flocculating Agent for Raw Water Treatment

The chemical coagulation-flocculation technology is touted as one of the valuable techniques and widely used for wastewater treatment because of its simplicity and effectiveness. So far, a number of flocculants have been fabricated to ameliorate the flocculation process in water treatment such as alum, polyaluminium chloride. Despite its broad application in water treatment, accumulation of alum in sludge has been reported as the main source of a disposal problem. Furthermore, recent studies suggested that the presence of alum in sludge may lead to human health problems. Here in, we have used alkalization method to recover alum present in sludge collected from Kimisagara water treatment plant located in Kigali capital city of Rwanda. The recovered alum was used more than one time and showed excellent flocculation efficiency. Some physical parameters such as pH, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Conductivity and Turbidity were systematically tested and compared with those of World Health Organization (WHO) and Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) standards for drinking water. The results showed that alum present in sludge can be recovered and reused for multiple times.

Deep eutectic solvent-driven self-assembly of metal mercaptide complexes with enzyme-mimicking activities for detection of uric acid through one-step cascade catalytic reaction

This work presents a generic strategy to create a series of metal mercaptides complexes via coordination selfassembly between transition metals(Mn,Cu,Co,Fe,and Ni)and cysteine(Cys)by forming the sulfur-metal bridges.This strategy involves dissolving metal chlorides and Cys into deep eutectic solvents(DES),followed by the precipitation of metal mercaptides complexes(such as Cys-Mn)by adding water as an antisolvent,where DES serves as the solvent,shape directing,and capping agent,thereby preventing the formation of other metal impurities.Interestingly,the prepared complexes possess both laccase and peroxidase-like properties,allowing the design of a technique for the detection of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine(L-DOPA)and uric acid,respectively.The prepared Cys-Mn can linearly oxidize L-DOPA with its concentrations from 0.1 to 130μM and the detection limit was calculated to be 75.5 n M.Additionally,the Cys-Mn can mimic the activity of peroxidase towards oxidization of o-phenylenediamine at neutral p H,allowing single-step and one-pot cascade reactions for visual and fluorometric measurements of uric acid(UA)that could work in the range of 0.2-500μM UA with a detection limit of 0.06μM and 0.054μМ,respectively.The assay was successful in detecting UA in serum and urine samples with relative standard deviation(RSD)ranging from 7.3%to 10.2%and 3.0%-8.5%respectively,suggesting that it may prove useful in medical diagnostic testing.

Basic deep eutectic solvents as reactant, template and solvents for ultra-fast preparation of transition metal oxide nanomaterials

Developing a new type of deep eutectic solvents(DESs)is indispensable for expanding their application in various fields.Here,we report a series of new highly basic DESs.FT-IR,quantitative 1 H NMR,MD simulation and physical properties show that these basic liquids are made up of hydroxide acceptor of alkali metal hydroxides in which the hydrogen bonding interactions coordinate the donor.These DESs can be played three roles as new solvents,template and reactant for facile and ultra-fast preparation of transition metal oxide nanomaterials such as NiCo2 O4,MnCo2 O4,NiMn2 O4,CoCu2 O4 and Co3 O4 under mild condition.This work shows one of the low energy-intensive methods for nanomaterial preparation.These initial findings of basic deep eutectic solvents provide a potential applicability around the systematic development of transition metal oxide nanosheets.