Renewable Feedstocks: The Problem of Catalyst Deactivation and its Mitigation

Much research has been carried out in the last decade to convert bio‐based feedstock into fuels and chemicals. Most of the research focuses on developing active and selective catalysts, with much less attention devoted to their long‐term stability. This Review considers the main challenges in long‐term catalyst stability, discusses some fundamentals, and presents options for their mitigation. Three main challenges are discussed: catalyst fouling, catalyst poisoning, and catalyst destruction. Fouling is generally related to the deposition of insoluble components present in the feed or formed by degradation of the feed or intermediates. Poisoning is related to the deposition of electropositive contaminants (e.g. alkali and alkaline earth metals) on acid sites or of electronegative contaminants (e.g. N and S) at hydrogenation sites. Catalyst destruction results from the thermodynamic instability of most oxidic supports, solid acids/bases, and hydrogenation functions under hydrothermal conditions.     

Biofuels–Renewable Energy Sources: A Review

Biodiesel is biodegradable and nontoxic, and it significantly reduces toxic and other emissions when burned as a fuel. The advantages of biodiesel as diesel fuel are its portability, ready availability, renewability, higher combustion efficiency, non-toxicity, higher flash point, and lower sulfur and aromatic content, higher cetane number, and higher biodegradability. The major disadvantages of biodiesel are its higher viscosity, lower energy content, higher cloud point and pour point, higher nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions, lower engine speed and power, injector coking, engine compatibility, high price, and greater engine wear. The technical disadvantages of biodiesel/fossil diesel blends include problems with fuel freezing in cold weather, reduced energy density, and degradation of fuel under storage for prolonged periods. The sources of biodiesel are vegetable oils and fats. The direct use of vegetable oils and/or oil blends is generally considered to be unsatisfactory and impractical for both direct injection and indirect type diesel engines because of their high viscosities and low volatilities injector coking and trumpet formation on the injectors, higher level of carbon deposits, oil ring sticking, and thickening and gelling of the engine lubricant oil, acid composition. Biodiesel is obtained by transesterifying triglycerides with methanol. A popular variation of the batch transesterification process which needs high alcohol/acid ratio (several separation problems and high corrosivity and toxicity) is the use of continuous stirred tank reactors in series. This continuous process is heterogeneous and is based on reactive distillation. The key factor is the selection of the right and effective solid catalyst which leads to reduction of energy consumption and investments at all.     

Electrochemical Determination of Organic Compounds in Automotive Fuels

This article critically reviews the electroanalytical methods devoted for the determination of organic compounds in automotive fuels that can range from contaminants to additives typically introduced into liquid biofuels and liquid fossil fuels. Contaminants such as aldehydes and ketones in bioethanol, free fatty acids and glycerol in biodiesel, and sulfur and nitrogen organic compounds in gasoline and diesel fuel, and additives such as colour markers and antioxidants added to fuels were determined by electroanalytical methods. Special focus is given to electrodes, electrochemical techniques, and sample preparation strategies. Future directions of research on electroanalysis of liquid fuels are presented.     

Synthesis and catalytic performance of bimetallic NiMo- and NiW-ZSM-5/MCM-41 composites for production of liquid biofuels

This work presents a synthesis of bimetallic NiMo and NiW modified ZSM-5/MCM-41 composites and their heterogeneous catalytic conversion of crude palm oil( CPO) to biofuels. The ZSM-5/MCM-41 composites were synthesized through a self-assembly of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide( CTAB) surfactant with silica-alumina from ZSM-5 zeolite,prepared from natural kaolin by the hydrothermal technique. Subsequently,the synthesized composites were deposited with bimetallic NiMo and NiW by impregnation method. The obtained catalysts presented a micro-mesoporous structure,confirmed by XRD,SEM,TEM,EDX,NH_3-TPD,XRF and N_2 adsorption-desorption measurements. The results of CPO conversion demonstrate that the catalytic activity of the synthesized catalysts decreases in the series of NiMo-ZSM-5/MCM-41 NiW-ZSM-5/MCM-41 Ni-ZSM-5/MCM-41 Mo-ZSM-5/MCM-41 W-ZSM-5/MCM-41 NiMo-ZSM-5 NiW-ZSM-5 ZSM-5/MCM-41 ZSM-5 MCM-41. It was found that the bimetallic NiMo-and NiW-ZSM-5/MCM-41 catalysts give higher yields of liquid hydrocarbons than other catalysts at a given conversion. Types of hydrocarbon in liquid products,identified by simulated distillation gas chromatography-flame ionization detector( SimDis GC-FID),are gasoline( 150-200 ℃; C5-12),kerosene( 250-300 ℃; C5-20) and diesel( 350 ℃; C7-20).Moreover,the conversion of CPO to biofuel products using the NiMo-and NiW-ZSM-5/MCM-41 catalysts offers no statistically significant difference( P 0.05) at 95% confidence level,evaluated by SPSS analysis.     

From glycerol to value-added products

Today, industrial plants that produce glycerol are closing down and others are opening that use glycerol as a raw material, owing to the large surplus of glycerol formed as a by-product during the production of biodiesel. Research efforts to find new applications of glycerol as a low-cost feedstock for functional derivatives have led to the introduction of a number of selective processes for converting glycerol into commercially valued products. This Minireview describes a selection of such achievements and shows how glycerol will be a central raw material in future chemical industries.     

Recovery of Banana Waste-Loss from Production and Processing: A Contribution to a Circular Economy

Banana is a fruit grown mainly in tropical countries of the world. After harvest, almost 60% of banana biomass is left as waste. Worldwide, about 114.08 million metric tons of banana waste-loss are produced, leading to environmental problems such as the excessive emission of greenhouse gases. These wastes contain a high content of paramount industrial importance, such as cellulose, hemicellulose and natural fibers that various processes can modify, such as bacterial fermentation and anaerobic degradation, to obtain bioplastics, organic fertilizers and biofuels such as ethanol, biogas, hydrogen and biodiesel. In addition, they can be used in wastewater treatment methods by producing low-cost biofilters and obtaining activated carbon from rachis and banana peel. Furthermore, nanometric fibers commonly used in nanotechnology applications and silver nanoparticles useful in therapeutic cancer treatments, can be produced from banana pseudostems. The review aims to demonstrate the contribution of the recovery of banana production waste-loss towards a circular economy that would boost the economy of Latin America and many other countries of emerging economies.     

Sustainable production of biofuel precursors by aldol condensation with biomass-derived 5-methylfurfural

Renewable 5-methylfurfural was subjected to a ‘green’ base- catalyzed aldol condensation with a variety of ketones to afford the corresponding furan-containing α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds with high yields and selectivities. The products obtained can serve as precursors for the long- chained fuel-grade liquid bio-alkanes.     

THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WETLANDS AND WATERFOWL IN WESTERN CANADA: INCORPORATING CROPPING DECISIONS INTO A BIOECONOMIC MODEL

Abstract We extend an earlier bioeconomic model of optimal duck harvest and wetland retention in the Prairie Pothole Region of Western Canada to include cropping decisions. Instead of a single state equation, the model has two state equations representing the population dynamics of ducks and the amount of wetlands. We use the model to estimate the impact of climate change on wetlands and waterfowl, including direct climate effects as well as land use change due to biofuel policies aimed at mitigating climate change. The model predicts that climate change will reduce wetlands by 37–56% from historic levels. Land use change due to biofuel policies is expected to reduce wetlands by between 35% and 45% from historic levels, whereas direct climate effects will range from a reduction of 2–11%, depending on the future climate scenario. This result indicates that models that neglect the effect of land use changes underestimate the effect of climate change on wetlands. Further, wetlands loss is geographically heterogeneous, with losses being the largest in Saskatchewan.