Apparent Kinetics of Co-Gasification of Biomass and Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO)

This communication reports the beneficial effects of co-gasification of biomass and residual oil to produce syngas. In this regard, various blends of glucose (a biomass surrogate) to vacuum gas oil (VGO) have been employed to investigate the synergic effects on the gasification process. The non-isothermal co-gasification experiments were conducted in a thermogravimetric analyzer at different heating rates and gasifying agents. The analysis showed that the co-gasification rate increased with the increase of glucose content in the feedstock. The presence of the oxygen in the biomass molecules helped the overall gasification process. The maximum gasification rate of 42.70 wt/min (DTG_max) was observed with 25 wt% glucose containing sample. The use of gasifying agents appeared to have some influence, especially during high temperature gasification of the glucose-VGO blends. At a same gasification temperature, the co-gasification rate of glucose-VGO blends were found to be 125.7 wt/min and 98.59 wt%/min for N₂ and CO₂, respectively. The kinetics of the co-gasification of glucose-VGO blends was conducted based on modified random pore model using TGA experimental data and implemented in MATLAB. The estimated activation energy and rate constants were found to be consistent to the observed co-gasification rates. The apparent activation energies of co-gasification of VGO/biomass blends with different weight percentages shows values ranging 60.56–48.25 kJ/mol. The kinetics analysis suggested that the addition of biomass helped to increase the reaction rate by lowering the activation energy required for accomplishing the reactions compared with petroleum carbonaceous feedstocks. The reaction rate constants isotherms are plotted to show that the k-values are exhibiting similar trends at moderate heating rates between 20 and 60 °C/min. This remark arises due to the nature of the reactions involved which are considered to be inherently similar in this range of heating rate.     

Hydrothermal Synthesis of NiCo-layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets Decorated on Biomass Carbon Skeleton for High Performance Supercapacitor

Afacile hydrothermal strategy is adopted to synthesize the composite of NiCo-layered double hydroxide(NiCo-LDH) with biomass carbon as substrate for supercapacitor electrodes. The prepared NiCo@BC was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electronic microscopy(SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, and electrochemical tests. The SEM images demonstrated that numerous NiCo-LDH nanosheets directly grew on the surface of biomass carbon uniformly. Electrochemical tests indicated that the NiCo@BC electrode exhibited good capacitive behavior with a specific capacitance of 606.4 F/g at the current density of 0.5 A/g. In addition, the composite electrode showed excellent cyclic stability of 87.1% even after 1000 cycles. These results manifest that NiCo@BC nanocomposite is a promising candidate for the electrode material for future supercapacitor practical applications.     

重金属生物吸附的研究进展

本文综述了重金属生物吸附的机理、影响生物吸附的物理化学因素和生理条件、生物吸附动力学、生物吸附过程的数学模型化、生物细胞的固定化和从生物量上回收被吸附的重金属等方面的研究进展。     

Analysis of biomass sugars using a novel HPLC method

The precise quantitative analysis of biomass sugars is a very important step in the conversion of biomass feedstocks to fuels and chemicals. However, the most accurate method of biomass sugar analysis is based on the gas chromatography analysis of derivatized sugars either as alditol acetates or trimethylsilanes. The derivatization method is time consuming but the alternative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method cannot resolve most sugars found in biomass hydrolysates. We have demonstrated for the first time that by careful manipulation of the HPLC mobile phase, biomass monomeric sugars (arabinose, xylose, fructose, glucose, mannose, and galactose) can be analyzed quantitatively and there is excellent baseline resolution of all the sugars. This method was demonstrated for standard sugars, pretreated corn stover liquid and solid fractions. Our method can also be used to analyze dimeric sugars (cellobiose and sucrose).     

生物质催化转化制取芳香化合物

利用分子筛催化剂(NaZSM-5、HZSM-5、ReY和HY)研究了木屑上催化裂解制取芳香物(苯、甲苯、二甲苯)的反应过程,发现HZSM-5催化剂具有最高的生物质裂解制备芳香化合物的活性. 在450 oC、 载气流速为300 mL/min和催化剂/木屑比为2的优化反应条件下,芳香化合物的产率和选择性分别达到26.5%和62.5C-mol%.     

Synergistic co-removal of zinc(II) and cefazolin by a Fe/amine-modified chitosan composite

A novel Fe/amine modified chitosan composite (Fe/N-CS) was facilely synthesized and showed higher affinity to both Zn(II) and cefazolin (CEF) than its precursors. Synergistic co-adsorption of them by Fe/N-CS was observed in varied conditions. The adsorption amount maximally increased by 100.1% for Zn and 68.2% for CEF in bi-solute systems. The initial adsorption rate of Zn(II) also improved with CEF. The increasing temperature facilitated coadsorption. The results of the preloading tests, FTIR/XPS characterizations and DFT calculations suggested that (1) both polyamines and Fe sites participated in the adsorption of Zn(II) and CEF, (2) Zn(II) could serve as a new efficient site for CEF, forming [amine-Zn-CEF]/[FeOH-Zn-CEF] ternary complexes, and (3) the co-presence of CEF shielded the electrostatic repulsion between protonated amines and Zn(II), contributing to the enhancement of Zn(II) adsorption. Further, the ion strength exerted positive and negative influences on the adsorption of Zn(II) and CEF, respectively. Additionally, CEF and Zn(II) were successively recovered by 0.1 mol/L NaOH followed by 2 mmol/L HCl. Fe/N-CS could be stably reused five times. The findings imply that Fe/N-CS is promising for the highly efficient co-removal of concurrent heavy metals and antibiotics.     

A robust numerical model for characterizing the syngas composition in a downdraft gasification process

This study proposes a numerical model developed to characterize the chemical composition, heating value and temperature of the syngas produced by a downdraft gasifier fueled with residual biomasses. The process of gasification is essentially described through a global reaction that includes all the gaseous species and the yields of char and tar.The syngas chemical composition has been obtained solving a set of equations that are mass and energy balances, methanation and the water-gas shift reactions, which govern the gasification process. The proposed model was calibrated and validated through the comparison with two sets of experimental data. The comparison between the results of simulation and the experimental data has shown a very good agreement that allows pointing out the capability of the model to characterize the syngas composition and the temperature of the producer gas.Moreover, the performed sensitivity analysis shows the influence of moisture content and equivalent ratio on the chemical composition, equilibrium temperature and heating value of the producer gas.     

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of cellulosic biomass to acetic acid

Astrain of Clostridium thermoaceticum (ATCC 49707) was evaluated for its homoacetate potential. This thermophilic anaerobe best produces acetate from glucose at pH 6.0 and 59°C with a yield of 83% of theoretical. Enzyme hydrolysis of two substrates, a-cellulose and a pulp mill sludge, yielded 68% and 70% digestion, respectively. The optimum conditions for the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) were substrate dependent: 55°C, pH 6.0 for α-cellulose, and 55°C, pH 5.5 for the pulp mill sludge. In the SSF with α-cellulose, the overall yield of acetate was strongly influenced by the enzyme loading. In a fed-batch operation of SSF with α-cellulose, an overall acetic acid yield of 60 wt% was obtained. Among the factors limiting the yields were incomplete digestion by the enzyme and the end-product inhibition. In the SSF of pulp mill sludge, inhibitors present in the sludge severely limited bacterial action. A large accumulation of glucose developed over the entire process, changing the intended SSF operation into a separate hydrolysis and fermentation operation. Despite a long lag phase of microbial growth, a terminal yield of 85% was obtained with this substrate.     

Cellulose and hemicellulose hydrolysis models for application to current and novel pretreatment processes

Acids catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose to produce sugars that organisms can ferment to ethanol and other products. However, advanced low- and no-acid technologies are critical if we are to reduce bioethanol costs to be competitive as a pure fuel. We believe carbohy drate oligomers play a key role in explaining the performance of such hydrolysis processes and that kinetic models would help us understand their role. Various investigations have developed reaction rate expressions based on an Arrhenius temperature dependence that is first order in substrate concentration and close to first order in acid concentration. In this article, we evaluate these existing hydrolysis models with the goal of providing a foundation for a unified model that can predict performance of both current and novel pretreatment process configurations.