Search

The fibers from four wheat varieties (FT, XW 26, XW 45, and KW 1701) were selected and chemically modified with NaOH, epichlorohydrin, and dimethylamine to improve the adsorption capacity for anionic dye. The structure of the fibers with or without modification was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry. The modified products were studied from the aspects of adsorption capacities, adsorption kinetics, and thermodynamics to provide a reference for the utilization of wheat bran. By SEM, more porous and irregular structures were found on the modified fibers. The XRD results showed that the crystals from the original fibers were destroyed in the modification process. The changes in fibers' infrared spectra before and after modification suggested that quaternary ammonium salts were probably formed in the modification process. The maximum adsorption capacity of wheat bran fibers for Congo red within 120 min was 20 mg/g for the unmodified fiber (XW 26) and 93.46 mg/g for the modified one (XW 45). The adsorption kinetics of Congo red by modified wheat bran fiber was in accord with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model at 40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C, indicating that the adsorption process might be mainly dominated by chemisorption. The adsorption was more consistent with the Langmuir isothermal adsorption model, implying that this process was monolayer adsorption. The thermodynamic parameters suggested that the adsorption occurred spontaneously, and the temperature increase was favorable to the adsorption. As mentioned above, this study proved that the wheat bran fiber could possess good adsorption capacities for anion dye after chemical modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrocarbons as reductants show promising results for replacing NH3 in SCR technology. Therefore, considerable interest exists for developing low-temperature (<200 °C) and environmentally friendly HC-SCR catalysts. Hence, C2H4 was examined as a reductant using activated-carbon-supported MnOx-based catalyst in low-temperature SCR operation. Its sensitivity to Mn concentration and operating temperature was parametrically studied, the results of which showed that the catalyst activity followed the order of 130 °C > 150 °C > 180 °C with an optimized Mn concentration near 3.0 wt.%. However, rapid deactivation of catalytic activity also occurred when using C2H4 as the reductant. The mechanism of deactivation was explored and is discussed herein in which deactivation is attributed to two factors. The manganese oxide was reduced to Mn3O4 during reaction testing, which contained relatively low activity compared to Mn2O3. Also, increased crystallinity of the reduced manganese and the formation of carbon black occurred during SCR reaction testing, and these constituents on the catalyst's surface blocked pores and active sites from participating in catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selective catalytic reduction of NOx (deNOx) at temperatures less than or at 200 °C was investigated while using C2H4 as the reductant and mixed oxides of Fe and Mn supported on activated carbon; their activity was compared to that of MnOx and FeOx separately supported on activated carbon. The bimetallic oxide compositions maintained high NO conversion of greater than 80–98% for periods that were three times greater than those of the supported monometallic oxides. To examine potential reasons for the significant increases in activity maintenance, and subsequent deactivation, the catalysts were examined by using bulk and surface sensitive analytical techniques before and after catalyst testing. No significant changes in Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas or porosities were observed between freshly-prepared and tested catalysts whereas segregation of FeOx and MnOx species was readily observed in the mono-oxide catalysts after reaction testing that was not detected in the mixed oxide catalysts. Furthermore, x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy data detected cubic Fe3Mn3O8 in both the freshly-prepared and reaction-tested mixed oxide catalysts that were more crystalline after testing. The presence of this compound, which is known to stabilize multivalent Fe species and to enhance oxygen transfer reactions, may be the reason for the high and relatively stable NO conversion activity, and its increased crystallinity during longer-term testing may also decrease surface availability of the active sites responsible for NO conversion. These results point to a potential of further enhancing catalyst stability and activity for low temperature deNOx that is applicable to advanced SCR processing with lower costs and less deleterious side effects to processing equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of a chemical looping process to methane thermo-catalytic decomposition using activated carbon (AC) as a catalyst has been recognized as a promising technology for continuous high-purity H 2 production in a carbon constrained world. However, it usually needs an external heat supply for the endothermic decomposition reactions. By taking advantage of the chemical looping combustion (CLC) technology, this study proposed a deep regeneration approach using H 2 O and O 2 as regeneration agents to overcome the issues with maintaining catalytic activity and producing the heat needed for the endothermic reactions of H 2 production from methane. TG-DTA and bench scale fluidized bed experimental results indicate that a deep regeneration degree of 30% or above could completely reactivate the spent AC catalyst and simultaneously generate sufficient heat than required in the methane decomposition reaction. Characterization study implies that the deep regenerated AC catalyst could maintain its physical properties within a certain number of cycles. Based on the experimental results, the chemical looping methane thermo-catalytic decomposition process was further optimized and assessed by Aspen Plus ® thermodynamic simulation. The results indicate that heat and mass balances could be attained, and the circulation of the AC catalyst with a temperature difference of 262 °C between the decomposer and the regenerator enabling the process to run autothermally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]