Method and apparatus for removing coarse unentrained char particles from the second stage of a two-stage coal gasifier

DOEpatents

Donath, Ernest E.

1976-01-01

A method and apparatus for removing oversized, unentrained char particles from a two-stage coal gasification process so as to prevent clogging or plugging of the communicating passage between the two gasification stages. In the first stage of the process, recycled process char passes upwardly while reacting with steam and oxygen to yield a first stage synthesis gas containing hydrogen and oxides of carbon. In the second stage, the synthesis gas passes upwardly with coal and steam which react to yield partially gasified char entrained in a second stage product gas containing methane, hydrogen, and oxides of carbon. Agglomerated char particles, which result from caking coal particles in the second stage and are too heavy to be entrained in the second stage product gas, are removed through an outlet in the bottom of the second stage, the particles being separated from smaller char particles by a counter-current of steam injected into the outlet.

The effect of char structure on burnout during pulverized coal combustion at pressure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, G.; Wu, H.; Benfell, K.E.

An Australian bituminous coal sample was burnt in a drop tube furnace (DTF) at 1 atm and a pressurized drop tube furnace (PDTF) at 15 atm. The char samples were collected at different burnout levels, and a scanning electron microscope was used to examine the structures of chars. A model was developed to predict the burnout of char particles with different structures. The model accounts for combustion of the thin-walled structure of cenospheric char and its fragmentation during burnout. The effect of pressure on reaction rate was also considered in the model. As a result, approximately 40% and 70% cenosphericmore » char particles were observed in the char samples collected after coal pyrolysis in the DTF and PDTF respectively. A large number of fine particles (< 30 mm) were observed in the 1 atm char samples at burnout levels between 30% and 50%, which suggests that significant fragmentation occurred during early combustion. Ash particle size distributions show that a large number of small ash particles formed during burnout at high pressure. The time needed for 70% char burnout at 15 atm is approximately 1.6 times that at 1 atm under the same temperature and gas environment conditions, which is attributed to the different pressures as well as char structures. The overall reaction rate for cenospheric char was predicted to be approximately 2 times that of the dense chars, which is consistent with previous experimental results. The predicted char burnout including char structures agrees reasonably well with the experimental measurements that were obtained at 1 atm and 15 atm pressures.« less

Life-Cycle Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Water Consumption – Effects of Coal and Biomass Conversion to Liquid Fuels as Analyzed with the GREET Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Qianfeng; Cai, Hao; Han, Jeongwoo

The vast reserves of coal in the U.S. provide a significant incentive for the development of processes for coal conversion to liquid fuels (CTL). Also, CTL using domestic coal can help move the U.S. toward greater energy independence and security. However, current conversion technologies are less economically competitive and generate greater greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than production of petroleum fuels. Altex Technologies Corporation (Altex, hereinafter) and Pennsylvania State University have developed a hybrid technology to produce jet fuel from a feedstock blend of coal and biomass. Collaborating with Altex, Argonne National Laboratory has expanded and used the Greenhouse gases, Regulatedmore » Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET®) model to assess the life-cycle GHG emissions and water consumption of this hybrid technology. Biomass feedstocks include corn stover, switchgrass, and wheat straw. The option of biomass densification (bales to pellets) is also evaluated in this study. The results show that the densification process generates additional GHG emissions as a result of additional biomass process energy demand. This process coproduces a large amount of char, and this study investigates two scenarios to treat char: landfill disposal (Char-LF) and combustion for combined heat and power (CHP). Since the CHP scenarios export excess heat and electricity as coproducts, two coproduct handling methods are used for well-to-wake (WTWa) analysis: displacement (Char-CHP-Disp) and energy allocation (Char-CHP-EnAllo). When the feedstock contains 15 wt% densified wheat straw and 85 wt% lignite coal, WTWa GHG emissions of the coal-and-biomass-to-liquid pathways are 116, 97, and 137 gCO2e per megajoule (MJ) under the Char-LF, Char-CHP-Disp, and Char-CHP-EnAllo scenarios, respectively, as compared to conventional jet fuel production at 84 gCO2e/MJ. WTWa water consumption values are 0.072, -0.046, and 0.044 gal/MJ for Char-LF, Char-CHP-Disp, and Char-CHP-EnAllo, respectively, as compared to conventional jet fuel production at 0.028 gal/MJ. To reach the break-even point of 84 gCO2e/MJ, under the assumptions of constant product yields and energy demands regardless of the share of biomass and coal feedstocks, 31 wt%, 23 wt%, and 53 wt% of the feedstock blend need to be biomass under the Char-LF, Char-CHP-Disp, and Char-CHP-EnAllo scenarios, respectively.« less

The hierarchical porous structure bio-char assessments produced by co-pyrolysis of municipal sewage sludge and hazelnut shell and Cu(II) adsorption kinetics.

PubMed

Zhao, Bing; Xu, Xinyang; Zeng, Fanqiang; Li, Haibo; Chen, Xi

2018-05-04

The co-pyrolysis technology was applied to municipal sewage sludge (MSS) and hazelnut shell with alkaline activating agent K 2 CO 3 under N 2 atmosphere. The innovative bio-char produced by co-pyrolysis had significant physical and chemical characteristics. The specific surface area reached 1990.23 m 2 /g, and the iodine absorption number was 1068.22 mg/g after co-pyrolysis at 850 °C. Although hazelnut shell was a kind of solid waste, it also had abundant cellulose resource, which could contribute to porous structure of bio-char during co-pyrolysis with MSS and decrease total heavy metals contents of raw material to increase security of bio-chars. Meanwhile, the residual fractions of heavy metals in bio-char were above 92.95% after co-pyrolysis at 900 °C except Cd to prevent heavy metals digestion, and the bio-char presented significant immobilization behavior from co-pyrolysis technology. Moreover, the yield and the iodine absorption number of bio-chars under different process variables were analyzed, and it was confirmed that appropriate process variables could contribute the yield and the iodine absorption number of bio-char and prevent to etch pore structure excessively to collapse. The changes of surface functional groups and crystallographic structure before and after co-pyrolysis were analyzed by FTIR and XRD, respectively. The hierarchical porous structure of bio-char was presented by SEM and N 2 adsorption-desorption isotherm. The Cu(II) adsorption capacity of the bio-char was 42.28 mg/g after 24 h, and surface functional groups acted as active binding sites for Cu(II) adsorption. Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order model can describe process of Cu(II) adsorption well.

Process for reducing sulfur in coal char

DOEpatents

Gasior, Stanley J.; Forney, Albert J.; Haynes, William P.; Kenny, Richard F.

1976-07-20

Coal is gasified in the presence of a small but effective amount of alkaline earth oxide, hydroxide or carbonate to yield a char fraction depleted in sulfur. Gases produced during the reaction are enriched in sulfur compounds and the alkaline earth compound remains in the char fraction as an alkaline earth oxide. The char is suitable for fuel use, as in a power plant, and during combustion of the char the alkaline earth oxide reacts with at least a portion of the sulfur oxides produced from the residual sulfur contained in the char to further lower the sulfur content of the combustion gases.

Gasification Characteristics of Coal/Biomass Mixed Fuels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mitchell, Reginald

2014-09-01

A research project was undertaken that had the overall objective of developing the models needed to accurately predict conversion rates of coal/biomass mixtures to synthesis gas under conditions relevant to a commercially-available coal gasification system configured to co-produce electric power as well as chemicals and liquid fuels. In our efforts to accomplish this goal, experiments were performed in an entrained flow reactor in order to produce coal and biomass chars at high heating rates and temperatures, typical of the heating rates and temperatures fuel particles experience in real systems. Mixed chars derived from coal/biomass mixtures containing up to 50% biomassmore » and the chars of the pure coal and biomass components were subjected to a matrix of reactivity tests in a pressurized thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) in order to obtain data on mass loss rates as functions of gas temperature, pressure and composition as well as to obtain information on the variations in mass specific surface area during char conversion under kinetically-limited conditions. The experimental data were used as targets when determining the unknown parameters in the chemical reactivity and specific surface area models developed. These parameters included rate coefficients for the reactions in the reaction mechanism, enthalpies of formation and absolute entropies of adsorbed species formed on the carbonaceous surfaces, and pore structure coefficients in the model used to describe how the mass specific surface area of the char varies with conversion. So that the reactivity models can be used at high temperatures when mass transport processes impact char conversion rates, Thiele modulus – effectiveness factor relations were also derived for the reaction mechanisms developed. In addition, the reactivity model and a mode of conversion model were combined in a char-particle gasification model that includes the effects of chemical reaction and diffusion of reactive gases through particle pores and energy exchange between the particle and its environment. This char-particle gasification model is capable of predicting the average mass loss rates, sizes, apparent densities, specific surface areas, and temperatures of the char particles produced when co-firing coal and biomass to the type environments established in entrained flow gasifiers operating at high temperatures and elevated pressures.« less

Characteristics of coking coal burnout

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nakamura, M.; Bailey, J.G.

An attempt was made to clarify the characteristics of coking coal burnout by the morphological analysis of char and fly ash samples. Laboratory-scale combustion testing, simulating an ignition process, was carried out for three kinds of coal (two coking coals and one non-coking coal for reference), and sampled chars were analyzed for size, shape and type by image analysis. The full combustion process was examined in industrial-scale combustion testing for the same kinds of coal. Char sampled at the burner outlet and fly ash at the furnace exit were also analyzed. The difference between the char type, swelling properties, agglomeration,more » anisotropy and carbon burnout were compared at laboratory scale and at industrial scale. As a result, it was found that coking coals produced chars with relatively thicker walls, which mainly impeded char burnout, especially for low volatile coals.« less

Structural evolution of maize stalk/char particles during pyrolysis.

PubMed

Fu, Peng; Hu, Song; Sun, Lushi; Xiang, Jun; Yang, Tao; Zhang, Anchao; Zhang, Junying

2009-10-01

The structural evolution characteristics of maize stalk/char particles during pyrolysis were investigated. The char was prepared by pyrolyzing at temperatures ranging from 200 to 900 degrees C. Maize stalk and chars were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, ultimate analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), helium density measurement and N(2) adsorption/desorption method. The char yield decreased rapidly with increasing temperature until 400 degrees C. As temperature increased, the char became progressively more aromatic and carbonaceous. The hydroxyl, aliphatic C-H, carbonyl and olefinic C=C groups were lost at high temperatures. Below 500 degrees C, the removal of volatile matter made pore opening. High temperatures led to the occurrence of softening, melting, fusing and carbon structural ordering. The aromatization process started at approximately 350 degrees C and continued to higher temperatures. The shrinkage of carbon structure occurred above 500 degrees C, which was concurrent with the aromatization process.

Subcellular distribution of trace elements and liver histology of landlocked Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) sampled along a mercury contamination gradient.

PubMed

Barst, Benjamin D; Rosabal, Maikel; Campbell, Peter G C; Muir, Derek G C; Wang, Xioawa; Köck, Günter; Drevnick, Paul E

2016-05-01

We sampled landlocked Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from four lakes (Small, 9-Mile, North, Amituk) in the Canadian High Arctic that span a gradient of mercury contamination. Metals (Hg, Se, Tl, and Fe) were measured in char tissues to determine their relationships with health indices (relative condition factor and hepatosomatic index), stable nitrogen isotope ratios, and liver histology. A subcellular partitioning procedure was employed to determine how metals were distributed between potentially sensitive and detoxified compartments of Arctic char livers from a low- and high-mercury lake (Small Lake and Amituk Lake, respectively). Differences in health indices and metal concentrations among char populations were likely related to differences in feeding ecology. Concentrations of Hg, Se, and Tl were highest in the livers of Amituk char, whereas concentrations of Fe were highest in Small and 9-Mile char. At the subcellular level we found that although Amituk char had higher concentrations of Tl in whole liver than Small Lake char, they maintained a greater proportion of this metal in detoxified fractions, suggesting an attempt at detoxification. Mercury was found mainly in potentially sensitive fractions of both Small and Amituk Lake char, indicating that Arctic char are not effectively detoxifying this metal. Histological changes in char livers, mainly in the form of melano-macrophage aggregates and hepatic fibrosis, could be linked to the concentrations and subcellular distributions of essential or non-essential metals. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of Acid Functional Groups and Lactones During the Thermal Degradation of Wood and Wood Components

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rutherford, David W.; Wershaw, Robert L.; Reeves, James B.

2008-01-01

Black carbon (pyrogenic materials including chars) in soils has been recognized as a substantial portion of soil organic matter, and has been shown to play a vital role in nutrient cycling; however, little is known concerning the properties of this material. Previous studies have largely been concerned with the creation of high-surface-area materials for use as sorbents. These materials have been manufactured at high temperature and have often been activated. Chars occurring in the environment can be formed over a wide range of temperature. Because it is extremely difficult to isolate black carbon once it has been incorporated in soils, chars produced in the laboratory under controlled conditions can be used to investigate the range of properties possible for natural chars. This report shows that charring conditions (temperature and time) have substantial impact on the acid functional group and lactone content of chars. Low temperatures (250?C) and long charring times (greater than 72 hours) produce chars with the highest acid functional group and lactone content. The charring of cellulose appears to be responsible for the creation of the acid functional group and lactones. The significance of this study is that low-temperature chars can have acid functional group contents comparable to humic materials (as high as 8.8 milliequivalents per gram). Acid functional group and lactone content decreases as charring temperature increases. The variation in formation conditions expected under natural fire conditions will result in a wide range of sorption properties for natural chars which are an important component of soil organic matter. By controlling the temperature and duration of charring, it is possible to tailor the sorption properties of chars, which may be used as soil amendments.

Intumescent coatings with improved properties for high-rise construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ustinov, Andrey; Zybina, Olga; Tanklevsky, Leonid; Lebedev, Vasily; Andreev, Andrey

2018-03-01

The paper overviews the way of creating intumescent fire-protective compositions with improved properties by adding nano-and micro-sized supplements into them. Intumescent paints are inert at low temperatures, and at higher temperatures they expand and degrade to provide a charred layer of low conductivity materials. The modified intumescent paints are able to form a more stable charred layer than the classical paints. The stability of a charred layer is crucial if the fire safety in high-rise construction must be secured, because a weak charred layer will not provide a required fire endurance for steel bearing structures and they will break down in case of fire. The fire-protective properties of modified intumescent paints were estimated using an electrical furnace. Also the way of thermal decomposition of the paints was studied with thermogravimetric analysis. Results show that modified intumescent paints form a charred layer with improved fire-protective properties; it can serve as a thermal barrier for a longer period of time. Thermogravimetric analysis confirms this fact showing that the temperatures of full thermal decay in case of modified paints are higher than those of non-modified paints.

A volumetric ablation model of EPDM considering complex physicochemical process in porous structure of char layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Liu; Xiao-Jing, Yu; Jian-Ming, Ma; Yi-Wen, Guan; Jiang, Li; Qiang, Li; Sa, Yang

2017-06-01

A volumetric ablation model for EPDM (ethylene- propylene-diene monomer) is established in this paper. This model considers the complex physicochemical process in the porous structure of a char layer. An ablation physics model based on a porous structure of a char layer and another model of heterogeneous volumetric ablation char layer physics are then built. In the model, porosity is used to describe the porous structure of a char layer. Gas diffusion and chemical reactions are introduced to the entire porous structure. Through detailed formation analysis, the causes of the compact or loose structure in the char layer and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reaction between pyrolysis gas and char layer skeleton are introduced. The Arrhenius formula is adopted to determine the methods for calculating carbon deposition rate C which is the consumption rate caused by thermochemical reactions in the char layer, and porosity evolution. The critical porosity value is used as a criterion for char layer porous structure failure under gas flow and particle erosion. This critical porosity value is obtained by fitting experimental parameters and surface porosity of the char layer. Linear ablation and mass ablation rates are confirmed with the critical porosity value. Results of linear ablation and mass ablation rate calculations generally coincide with experimental results, suggesting that the ablation analysis proposed in this paper can accurately reflect practical situations and that the physics and mathematics models built are accurate and reasonable.

Overview of the CHarring Ablator Response (CHAR) Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amar, Adam J.; Oliver, A. Brandon; Kirk, Benjamin S.; Salazar, Giovanni; Droba, Justin

2016-01-01

An overview of the capabilities of the CHarring Ablator Response (CHAR) code is presented. CHAR is a one-, two-, and three-dimensional unstructured continuous Galerkin finite-element heat conduction and ablation solver with both direct and inverse modes. Additionally, CHAR includes a coupled linear thermoelastic solver for determination of internal stresses induced from the temperature field and surface loading. Background on the development process, governing equations, material models, discretization techniques, and numerical methods is provided. Special focus is put on the available boundary conditions including thermochemical ablation and contact interfaces, and example simulations are included. Finally, a discussion of ongoing development efforts is presented.

Overview of the CHarring Ablator Response (CHAR) Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amar, Adam J.; Oliver, A. Brandon; Kirk, Benjamin S.; Salazar, Giovanni; Droba, Justin

2016-01-01

An overview of the capabilities of the CHarring Ablator Response (CHAR) code is presented. CHAR is a one-, two-, and three-dimensional unstructured continuous Galerkin finite-element heat conduction and ablation solver with both direct and inverse modes. Additionally, CHAR includes a coupled linear thermoelastic solver for determination of internal stresses induced from the temperature field and surface loading. Background on the development process, governing equations, material models, discretization techniques, and numerical methods is provided. Special focus is put on the available boundary conditions including thermochemical ablation, surface-to-surface radiation exchange, and flowfield coupling. Finally, a discussion of ongoing development efforts is presented.

Effects of chemical form of sodium on the product characteristics of alkali lignin pyrolysis.

PubMed

Guo, Da-liang; Yuan, Hong-you; Yin, Xiu-li; Wu, Chuang-zhi; Wu, Shu-bin; Zhou, Zhao-qiu

2014-01-01

The effects of Na as organic bound form or as inorganic salts form on the pyrolysis products characteristics of alkali lignin were investigated by using thermogravimetric analyzer coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (TG-FTIR), tube furnace and thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA). Results of TG-FTIR and tube furnace indicated that the two chemical forms Na reduced the releasing peak temperature of CO and phenols leading to the peak temperature of the maximum mass loss rate shifted to low temperature zone. Furthermore, organic bound Na obviously improved the elimination of alkyl substituent leading to the yields of phenol and guaiacol increased, while inorganic Na increased the elimination of phenolic hydroxyl groups promoting the formation of ethers. It was also found the two chemical forms Na had different effects on the gasification reactivity of chars. For inorganic Na, the char conversion decreased with increasing the char forming temperature, while organic bound Na was opposite. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of Kinetics and Mathematical Models for High Pressure Gasification of Lignite-Switchgrass Blends

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Agrawal, Pradeep K.

The overall objective of the current project was to investigate the high pressure gasification characteristics of a feed containing both coal and biomass. The two feed types differ in their ash contents and ash composition, particularly the alkali content. Gasification of a combined feed of coal and biomass has the potential for considerable synergies that might lead to a dramatic improvement in process economics and flexibility. The proposed study aimed to develop a detailed understanding of the chemistry, kinetics, and transport effects during high pressure gasification of coal-biomass blend feed. Specifically, we studied to develop: (a) an understanding of themore » catalytic effect of alkali and other inorganic species present in the biomass and coal, (b) an understanding of processing conditions under which synergistic effects of the blending of coal and biomass might be observed. This included the role of particle size, residence time, and proximity of the two feed types, (c) kinetics of high pressure gasification of individual feeds as well as the blends, and (d) development of mathematical models that incorporate kinetics and transport models to enable prediction of gasification rate at a given set of operating conditions, and (e) protocols to extend the results to other feed resources. The goal was to provide a fundamental understanding of the gasification process and guide in optimizing the configurations and design of the next generation of gasifiers. The approach undertaken was centered on two basic premises: (1) the gasification for small particles without internal mass transfer limitations can be treated as the sum of two processes in series (pyrolysis and char gasification) , and (2) the reactivity of the char generated during pyrolysis not only depends on the pressure and temperature but is also affected by the heating rates. Thus low heating rates (10-50 °C/min) typical of PTGA fail to produce char that would typically be formed at high heating rates (~10 4 °C/sec), encountered in entrained flow gasifiers. The char morphology, also a function of the heating rate, would influence the transport rates during the char gasification phase. Thus, heating rate plays a critical role through which both, pyrolysis and char gasification, are interconnected. We utilized two complementary gasification experiments: PEFR (pressurized entrained flow gasifier) and PTGA (pressurized thermo-gravimetric analyzer). The PEFR allowed us to study gasification at pressures, temperatures, and heating rates relevant for coal-biomass gasifiers. The PTGA work was useful in understanding the basic chemistry of the evolution of various gaseous species during pyrolysis. These results helped improved our understanding of the chemistry and chemical changes during pyrolysis. The role alkali metals and other inorganics in char gasification using steam and/or CO 2 was investigated. Finally, the mathematical models for char gasification without the transport effects were developed at commercial operating conditions.« less

Chemical pyrolysis of E-waste plastics: Char characterization.

PubMed

Shen, Yafei; Chen, Xingming; Ge, Xinlei; Chen, Mindong

2018-05-15

This work studied the disposal of the non-metallic fraction from waste printed circuit board (NMF-WPCB) via the chemical pretreatments followed by pyrolysis. As a main heavy metal, the metallic Cu could be significantly removed by 92.4% using the HCl leaching process. Subsequently, the organic-Br in the brominated flame retardants (BFRs) plastics could be converted into HBr by pyrolysis. The alkali pretreatment was benefit for the Br fixation in the solid char. The Br fixation efficiency could reach up to 53.6% by the NaOH pretreatment followed by the pyrolysis process. The formed HBr could react with NaOH/KOH to generate the stabilized NaBr/KBr. Therefore, the integrated chemical pretreatment could be used for the eco-friendly disposal of the NMF-WPCB via pyrolysis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of current techniques for isolation of chars as natural adsorbents

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chun, Y.; Sheng, G.; Chiou, C.T.

2004-01-01

Chars in soils or sediments may potentially influence the soil/sediment sorption behavior. Current techniques for the isolation of black carbon including chars rely often on acid demineralization, base extraction, and chemical oxidation to remove salts and minerals, humic acid, and refractory kerogen, respectively. Little is known about the potential effects of these chemical processes on the char surface and adsorptive properties. This study examined the effects of acid demineralization, base extraction, and acidic Cr2O72- oxidation on the surface areas, surface acidity, and benzene adsorption characteristics of laboratory-produced pinewood and wheat-residue chars, pure or mixed with soils, and a commercial activated carbon. Demineralization resulted in a small reduction in the char surface area, whereas base extraction showed no obvious effect. Neither demineralization nor base extraction caused an appreciable variation in benzene adsorption and presumably the char surface properties. By contrast, the Cr2O 72- oxidation caused a >31% reduction in char surface area. The Boehm titration, supplemented by FTIR spectra, indicated that the surface acidity of oxidized chars increased by a factor between 2.3 and 12 compared to nonoxidized chars. Benzene adsorption with the oxidized chars was lower than that with the non-oxidized chars by a factor of >8.9; both the decrease in char surface area and the increase in char surface acidity contributed to the reduction in char adsorptive power. Although the Cr 2O72- oxidation effectively removes resistant kerogen, it is not well suited for the isolation of chars as contaminant adsorbents because of its destructive nature. Alternative nondestructive techniques that preserve the char surface properties and effectively remove kerogen must be sought.

Fıxed bed slow pyrolysıs of bıomass solıd waste for bıo-char

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Islam, M. N.; Ali, M. H.; Ahmad, I.

2017-06-01

Biomass solid waste in the form of rice husk particle is pyrolyzed in a fixed bed pyrolysis reactor. The reactor is made of stainless steel with dimensions of 76 mm in diameter and 90 cm in length. Rice husk is collected locally from Brunei-Muara district of Brunei Darussalam which is processed for pyrolysis. The particles are selected in the millimeter range. It is oven-dried at 105°C for 6 hours after being air-dried prior to pyrolysis. The reactor bed is heated by means of saw-dust in a biomass source heater. A temperature range of 390-410°C is maintained with an apperent vapor residence time of 30 min. Nitrogen gas is passed through the reactor system to make the atmosphere inert. A water-cooled condenser is used to derive bio-oil from the condensable vapors. The system is subjected to pyrolysis for a running time of 60 min. The products obtained are solid bio-char, liquid bio-oil and pyrolytic bio-gases. The solid char yield is found to be 45 by weight of solid biomass feedstock and the liquid product yield is found to be 29 by weight of solid biomass feedstock. The rest is gas flared into the atmosphere. The bio-char is retained in the reactor and collected at the end of the experimental run. The bio-char is found to be black in color retaining its original shape. The bio-char product is subjected to energy analysis for its higher heating value (HHV) by means of an oxygen bomb calorimeter. It is found to be 20.3 MJ/kg. The density of the bio-char is found to be 238.5 kg/m3 with an energy density of 4.85 GJ/m3.

Graphite fiber surface treatment to improve char retention and increase fiber clumping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paul, J. T., Jr.; Weldy, W. E.

1980-01-01

Composites containing carbon and graphite fibers can release fibers into the atmosphere during a fire. This release can potentially cause failure in some types of electrical equipment. Reduced fiber dispersion during and after combustion will reduce risks. Epoxidized char forming systems were synthesized which will react with commercially available surface treated carbon fiber. Fibers modified with these char formers retained adhesion in a specific epoxy matrix resin. Small scale combustion testing indicates that using these char former modified fibers in laminates will help to reduce the dispersement of fibers resulting from exposure to fire without sacrificing resin to fiber adhesion.

Biochemical stability of sewage sludge chars and their impact on soil organic matter of a Mediterranean Cambisol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paneque, Marina; María De la Rosa, José; Aragón, Carlos; Kern, Jürgen; Knicker, Heike

2016-04-01

Transformation of sewage sludge (SS) into char achieves sludge hygienisation, which is necessary prior its application into agricultural soils. The pyrolysis of SS increases its stability in a degree which depends on the thermal treatment used. Thus, chars produced by using hydrothermal carbonization are typically more stable than normal soil organic matter (SOM), but less stable than chars from dry pyrolysis (Libra et al., 2011). Addition of highly-recalcitrant SS-chars to soil will likely increase its carbon sequestration potential; however the fertilizing properties of SS may be compromised due to its alteration during the pyrolysis. The main goal of this work was to investigate the biochemical recalcitrance of two 13C-enriched SS-chars once applied in a Mediterranean Cambisol as well as to evaluate their impact on the SOM quality and carbon stability. Thus, we studied the distribution of 13C between plants and soil after the addition of the 13C-enriched chars (2 atm%) to the soil. Therefore, we performed a greenhouse incubation experiment, using a Mediterranean Cambisol as matrix and tested the following treatments: control (soil alone), raw SS, SS-hydrochar, SS-pyrochar. The SS was produced in a pilot-scale waste-water plant and enriched with 13C by the addition of 13C-glucose during the treatment. The amendment was only applied to the upper 2 cm of the soil matrix where it accounted for 5% of its dry weight. Per pot, 25 seeds of Lolium perenne were sowed and incubated under controlled conditions. The biomass production as well as the concentration of 13C in leaves and roots was determined after 1, 2 and 5 months. The partitioning of the 13C between soil and plant and its transformation into bioavailable forms were monitored by stable isotopic mass spectrometry. The 13C-enrichment of the chars allowed the use of solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy as a means for the detection of chemical alterations of the chars during their aging. Libra J., Ro K., Kammann C., Funke A., Berge N., Neubauer Y., Titirici M., Fuhner C., Bens O., Kern J., Emmerich K. (2011) Hydrothermal carbonization of biomass residuals: a comparative review of the chemistry, processes and applications of wet and dry pyrolysis. Biofuels, 2 (1), 89-124.

Preparation and characterization of activated carbon from the char produced in the thermolysis of granulated scrap tyres.

PubMed

López, F A; Centeno, T A; Rodríguez, O; Alguacil, E J

2013-05-01

The char produced in the thermolysis of granulated scrap tyres has few market outlets, reducing the economic viability of the thermolytic process. This paper reports the potential of this char as a low-cost precursor of porous carbons. The tyre-derived char was demineralized in either alkaline or acidic media to reduce its ash, zinc, sulfur, and silica contents. The lowest impurity content was achieved with an HNO3/H2O treatment. The resulting demineralized char was then subjected to activation by KOH or CO2. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET)-specific surface area of the activated carbon produced by the KOH treatment was 242 m2/g, whereas that of the CO2-activated carbon was 720 m2/g. The textural properties of the latter product were similar to those of some commercial activated carbons. The use of tyre-derived char as a precursor of porous carbons could render the thermolytic treatment of scrap tyres more economically attractive. Char produced in thermolysis of granulated scrap tyres has a few market outlets; in this paper an alternative for its use is presented. The char was converted into activated carbon with textural properties similar to those of some commercial activated carbons. This process could render the thermolytic treatment of scrap tyres more economically attractive.

Effects of retorting factors on combustion properties of shale char. 3. Distribution of residual organic matters.

PubMed

Han, Xiangxin; Jiang, Xiumin; Cui, Zhigang; Liu, Jianguo; Yan, Junwei

2010-03-15

Shale char, formed in retort furnaces of oil shale, is classified as a dangerous waste containing several toxic compounds. In order to retort oil shale to produce shale oil as well as treat shale char efficiently and in an environmentally friendly way, a novel kind of comprehensive utilization system was developed to use oil shale for shale oil production, electricity generation (shale char fired) and the extensive application of oil shale ash. For exploring the combustion properties of shale char further, in this paper organic matters within shale chars obtained under different retorting conditions were extracted and identified using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. Subsequently, the effects of retorting factors, including retorting temperature, residence time, particle size and heating rate, were analyzed in detail. As a result, a retorting condition with a retorting temperature of 460-490 degrees C, residence time of <40 min and a middle particle size was recommended for both keeping nitrogenous organic matters and aromatic hydrocarbons in shale char and improving the yield and quality of shale oil. In addition, shale char obtained under such retorting condition can also be treated efficiently using a circulating fluidized bed technology with fractional combustion. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Critical analysis of pyrolysis process with cellulosic based municipal waste as renewable source in energy and technical perspective.

PubMed

Agarwal, Manu; Tardio, James; Venkata Mohan, S

2013-11-01

To understand the potential of cellulosic based municipal waste as a renewable feed-stock, application of pyrolysis by biorefinery approach was comprehensively studied for its practicable application towards technical and environmental viability in Indian context. In India, where the energy requirements are high, the pyrolysis of the cellulosic waste shows numerous advantages for its applicability as a potential waste-to-energy technology. The multiple energy outputs of the process viz., bio-gas, bio-oil and bio-char can serve the two major energy sectors, viz., electricity and transportation. The process suits best for high bio-gas and electrical energy production when energy input is satisfied from bio-char in form of steam (scheme-1). The bio-gas generated through the process shows its direct utility as a transportation fuel while the bio-oil produced can serve as fuel or raw material to chemical synthesis. On a commercial scale the process is a potent technology towards sustainable development. The process is self-sustained when operated on a continuous mode. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Calo, J.M.; Suuberg, E.M.; Hradil, G.

This project is concerned with the study of the nature and behavior of ''active sites'' in char gasification. The research strategy involves use of model chars produced from the phenol-formaldehyde family of resins. These materials have been chosen since they have structural features similar to those in coals, but are much ''cleaner'' in that the concentration of potentially catalytic impurities can be maintained at low levels. It should be borne in mind that the objective of this work is to study non-catalytic gasification processes. In the previous quarterly report, we presented evidence that low temperature oxygen chemisorption does not providemore » a site-specific titration of active sites in chars; the uptake of oxygen by a cleaned char surface was unquestionably shown to be a function of temperature and oxygen partial pressure, and the importance of these variables differs from char to char. The fact that ''active surface area'' (ASA) determined by various arbitrary methods does seem to generally correlate with reactivity, seems to suggest that reactivities under various gasification and chemisorption conditions are correlated but that mechanisitic inferences cannot necessarily be drawn from such data. In the present report, we have extended the study of low temperature oxidation of chars, considering mass loss as well as oxygen uptake, since the two processes are essentially inseparable under a wide range of conditions. This work represents more than a simple attempt at trying to learn more about the oxygen chemisorption technique; rather it offers the opportunity to study the mechanism of oxygen attack on char under conditions that allow for better understanding of the fundamental processes. For these reasons, this work was performed in the pyrogasifier reactor (developed for CO/sub 2/ gasification reactivity studies), and complements the ongoing work in the TGA apparatus. 6 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.« less

SEM-EDX and isotope characterization of the organic sulfur in macerals and chars in Illinois Basin coals

USGS Publications Warehouse

Demir, I.; Harvey, R.D.; Hackley, Keith C.

1993-01-01

Two samples of the Herrin (Illinois No. 6) Coal and one sample of the Colchester (Illinois No. 2) Coal from the Illinois Basin were studied to evaluate the spatial distribution of organic sulfur within macerals occurring next to pyrite grains, both in the raw coal and their chars. The chars were produced by pyrolysing the coal at 250-550??C in a nitrogen atmosphere. Representative splits of the coals and their chars were mounted in epoxy and polished for optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Determinations of organic sulfur concentrations were made at 996 locations within macerals, mostly vitrinite, around 115 grains of pyrite and at 50 locations around 5 pores in chars. The pyrite considered here is restricted to the disseminated type within macerals. On the average, the organic sulfur content increased near pyrite grains after the coals were charred at 550??C, indicating that some of the pyritic sulfur released during charring was retained within the organic matrix rather than being emitted to the atmosphere. One of the coal samples and its chars were isotopically characterized by chemically separating the pyritic and organic sulfur fractions, followed by analyzing the isotopes of the sulfur forms with a Nuclide 6-60 ratio mass spectrometer. The sulfur isotope (??34S) data confirmed the movement of pyritic sulfur into the macerals after charring to 550??C. About 18% of the organic sulfur that remained in the 550??C char had originally been pyritic sulfur in the untreated coal. ?? 1993.

System and method for producing substitute natural gas from coal

DOEpatents

Hobbs, Raymond [Avondale, AZ

2012-08-07

The present invention provides a system and method for producing substitute natural gas and electricity, while mitigating production of any greenhouse gasses. The system includes a hydrogasification reactor, to form a gas stream including natural gas and a char stream, and an oxygen burner to combust the char material to form carbon oxides. The system also includes an algae farm to convert the carbon oxides to hydrocarbon material and oxygen.

Formation of nanocarbon spheres by thermal treatment of woody char from fast pyrolysis process

Treesearch

Qiangu Yan; Hossein Toghiani; Zhiyong Cai; Jilei Zhang

2014-01-01

Influences of thermal treatment conditions of temperature, reaction cycle and time, and purge gas type on nanocarbon formation over bio-chars from fast pyrolysis and effects of thermal reaction cycle and purge gas type on bio-char surface functional groups were investigated by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and temperature programmed reduction methods....

Intumescent formulations based on lignin and phosphinates for the bio-based textiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandlekar, N.; Cayla, A.; Rault, F.; Giraud, S.; Salaün, F.; Malucelli, G.; Guan, J.

2017-10-01

This study investigates new intumescent formulations based on lignin and phosphinates to improve the flame retardant properties of Polyamide 11, while preserving the bio-based characteristics of this latter. Lignin has the advantage of being a bio-based compound and can be effectively used as carbon source for the design of intumescent systems in combination with other flame retardant additives. Metal phosphinates belong to a novel class of phosphorus flame retardants. Despite their increasing use, there is lack of scientific understanding as far as their fire retardancy mechanism is considered, especially in char forming polymeric materials. In this context, Polyamide 11 was melt blended with lignin and metal phosphinates. The possibility of melt spinning the prepared blends were assessed through melt flow index (MFI) tests; thermogravimetric (TG) analyses and cone calorimetry tests were exploited for investigating the thermal stability and the combustion behaviour of the obtained products, respectively. MFI results indicate that some formulations are suitable for melt spinning processes to generate flame retardant multifilament. Furthermore, the combination of lignin and phosphinates provides charring properties to polyamide 11. Finally, cone calorimetry data confirmed that the designed intumescent formulations could remarkably reduce PHRR through formation of protective char layer, hence slowing down the combustion process.

EVALUATION OF TRADITIONAL CHARCOALS AND GASIFIER BIOCHARS AS SUSTAINABLE LOW-COST ADSORBENTS FOR WATER TREATMENT SERVING DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES

EPA Science Inventory

This research will break new ground in elucidating connections between principal char manufacture variables and the development of enhanced sorption characteristics in the char product. These variables include feedstock identity (biomass precursor) and form (i.e., whole log...

Integration of behavioral tests and biochemical biomarkers of terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber (Isopoda, Crustacea) is a promising methodology for testing environmental safety of chars.

PubMed

Madžarić, Suzana; Kos, Monika; Drobne, Damjana; Hočevar, Matej; Jemec Kokalj, Anita

2018-03-01

We investigated how different carbonized materials, or chars (olive mill pomace biochar (BC) and urban greens pruning residues hydrochar (HC)) affect an important member of soil fauna, the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber. The selection behavior of isopods towards chars after a 48 h exposure was studied in (i) soil-char amended tests with single and multiple choices, and (ii) tests with chars offered as pure material. Finally, we exposed the isopods to char-amended soils for a period of 14 days to follow the effect on food consumption, body mass and activities of enzymes that are commonly altered upon stressor exposure (acetylcholinesterase, AChE, and glutathione S-transferase, GST). We showed that isopods are able to select between char amended and un-amended soil and different forms of char amendments: a clear preference for BC, and avoidance of HC were evidenced. The preferences remained the same when the chars were sterilized leading to the conclusion that initial microorganism composition was not the reason for selection, but selection was governed by other chars' physico-chemical properties. It remains to be elucidated which of these properties were the dominant reason for the selection. We also showed that isopods intentionally use BC as food at a similar rate to alder leaves. Medium-term exposure to HC resulted in adverse effects on isopods because it led to reduced feeding and growth, in addition to increasing GST activity, although no alterations in AChE activity were found. We suggest that behavioral tests with P. scaber could be used as a fast, reliable and economically feasible screening method for determining the safety of chars for the soil environment. Results represent significant contribution in the field of char toxicity testing, highlighting the importance of tests with isopods as important members of soil meso fauna, with the aim of influencing environmental policies and quality standards. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbial oxidation of pyrrhotites in coal chars

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, K.W.; Risatti, J.B.

1988-01-01

The ability of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans to oxidize pyrrhotite minerals occurring in coal chars was investigated, to evaluate the feasibility of microbial char desulphurization. Bio-oxidation of pyrrhotites in chars produced by two different processes was demonstrated conclusively. Microbial removal of sulphur from a char and its parent coal proceeded at the rate of 3.5% and 12% day-1, respectively with a total of 48% and 81% removal after 27 days. The pH of shake flask cultures containing the coal dropped naturally to a final value of 2.2, while the pH of cultures containing the corresponding char rose and had to be lowered artificially with additional acid. Amending char cultures with elemental sulphur to increase acidity upon bio-oxidation and prevent precipitation of ferric iron was successful; however, the extent of pyrrhotite removal, as demonstated by X-ray diffraction analysis, was not improved. As yet, there is no explanation for the failure of microbial removal of pyrrhotitic sulphur to go to completion. ?? 1988.

Magnetic separation of carbon-encapsulated Fe nanoparticles from thermally-treated wood char

Treesearch

Sung Phil Mun; Zhiyong Cai; Jilei Zhang

2013-01-01

Wood char,a by-product from the fast-pyrolysis process of southern yellow pine wood for bio-oil production, was carbonized with Fenano particles (FeNPs) as a catalyst to prepare carbon-encapsulated Fe nanoparticles. A magnetic separation method was tested to isolate carbon-encapsulated Fe nano particles from the carbonized char. X-ray diffraction pattern clearly shows...

Power and Limitations of Anhydrosugars to Trace Historical Natural and Anthropogenic Inputs of charcoal BC to Aquatic Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Louchouarn, P.; Kuo, L.; Brandenberger, J. M.; Andresen, C. S.; Kjaer, K. H.; Dalton, M.

2011-12-01

Plant-derived chars are the solid residues from incomplete combustion of plant materials. They are an important constituent in the black carbon (BC) continuum, an array of diverse pyrogenic organic materials ranging from slightly charred biomass (low temperature) to highly condensed refractory soot (high temperature). The characterization and quantification of plant-derived chars in environmental samples is a challenging process due to the heterogeneous nature of these substances. Most of the BC methods using oxidative approaches that seek to remove non-BC materials are limited in their potential to identify and quantify plant-derived chars because of their relative labilities compared to the condensed BC forms such as soot. Anhydrosugars, such as levoglucosan and its isomers (mannosan and galactosan), have generated considerable interest in recent years in BC research because they are exclusive thermal degradation products of cellulose/hemicellulose and are produced in different proportions in chars and smokes from low temperature combustion of different plant species permitting some source discrimination in environmental samples (e.g. softwoods vs. hardwoods; gymnosperms vs. angiosperms). We show here a synthesis of several years of work using levoglucosan in diverse environments to reconstruct local to large-scale environmental change from climate-driven wildfires to human and accidental fires. For example, in the Hood Canal (WA), the striking consistency between the fluxes of levoglucosan, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) Index, and the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), suggests that climate oscillations may play a role in the historical wildfire activities and thus influence the inputs of char-BC to the Puget Sound. Similarly, peaks in anhydrosugars in a sediment core from Lake Copenhagen record large-scale accidental fires in the city of Copenhagen during the early and late 18th Century, and help constrain the geochronology of the core beyond the limit of the 210Pb dating potential (late 19th Century). Despite these "successes" in sedimentary systems, the application of anhydrosugars to reconstruct historical char-BC inputs to aquatic systems is fraught with both methodological and conceptual issues. For one, anhydrosugars analysis in sediments suffers from more interferences than similar analyses in atmospheric particles. Secondly, and most significantly, the rapid turnover of anhydrosugars in aquatic systems mean that only a small fraction of the original tracers encapsulated in the inner pores of char particles is preserved in sedimentary systems, thus complicating the potential for a direct transfer function between the presence of anhydrosugars and original fluxes of char-BC to aquatic environments.

Low-calorie bread baked with charred cellulose granules and wheat flour to eliminate toxic xanthene food dye in the alimentary canal.

PubMed

Tabara, Aya; Yamane, Chihiro; Seguchi, Masaharu

2012-01-01

We baked low-calorie bread by mixing charred cellulose granules with wheat flour, using the charred cellulose granules to eliminate toxic xanthene food dyes contained in processed foods from the alimentary canal. The size of the charred cellulose granules played an important role in determining good breadmaking properties in respect of the bread height (mm) and specific volume (SV, cm3/g). Charred cellulose granules with a diameter above 270 μm were blended with wheat flour at 10% to obtain bread with a lower caloric content (1020 kcal/gram of bread) than the control bread (1126 kcal) made solely from wheat flour. The charred cellulose granules taken out from the bread adsorbed toxic xanthene food dyes at around pH 6.5, such that toxic food dyes taken into the alimentary canal were excreted in the feces with the non-digestible cellulose granules.

An evaluation of the efficacy of various coal combustion models for predicting char burnout

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McConnell, Josh; Goshayeshi, Babak; Sutherland, James C.

Coal combustion is comprised of several subprocesses including devolatilization and heterogeneous reactions of the coal char with O 2, CO 2, H 2O and potentially several other species. Much effort has been put forth to develop models for these processes which vary widely in both complexity and computational cost. This work investigates the efficacy of models for devolatilization and char reactions at either end of the complexity and cost spectrums for a range of particle sizes and furnace temperatures and across coal types. The overlap of simulated devolatilization and char consumption is also examined. In the gas phase, a detailedmore » kinetics model based on a reduced version of the GRI 3.0 mechanism is used. The Char Conversion Kinetics and an n th-order Langmuir-Hinshelwood models are considered for char oxidation. The Chemical Percolation and Devolatilization and a two-step model are considered for devolatilization. Results indicate that high-fidelity models perform better at representing particle temperature and mass data across a wide range of O 2 concentrations as well as coal types. A significant overlap in devolatilization and char consumption is observed for both char chemistry and devolatilization models.« less

An evaluation of the efficacy of various coal combustion models for predicting char burnout

DOE PAGES

McConnell, Josh; Goshayeshi, Babak; Sutherland, James C.

2016-11-22

Coal combustion is comprised of several subprocesses including devolatilization and heterogeneous reactions of the coal char with O 2, CO 2, H 2O and potentially several other species. Much effort has been put forth to develop models for these processes which vary widely in both complexity and computational cost. This work investigates the efficacy of models for devolatilization and char reactions at either end of the complexity and cost spectrums for a range of particle sizes and furnace temperatures and across coal types. The overlap of simulated devolatilization and char consumption is also examined. In the gas phase, a detailedmore » kinetics model based on a reduced version of the GRI 3.0 mechanism is used. The Char Conversion Kinetics and an n th-order Langmuir-Hinshelwood models are considered for char oxidation. The Chemical Percolation and Devolatilization and a two-step model are considered for devolatilization. Results indicate that high-fidelity models perform better at representing particle temperature and mass data across a wide range of O 2 concentrations as well as coal types. A significant overlap in devolatilization and char consumption is observed for both char chemistry and devolatilization models.« less

Comparative Performance of Three Magnesium Compounds on Thermal Degradation Behavior of Red Gum Wood.

PubMed

Wu, Yiqiang; Yao, Chunhua; Hu, Yunchu; Zhu, Xiaodan; Qing, Yan; Wu, Qinglin

2014-01-24

The effect of basic magnesium carbonate (BMC), magnesium hydroxide (MH), and magnesium chloride hydrate (MCH) on thermal degradation of red gum wood was studied using cone calorimetry, Thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) analysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization. The results showed common fire retardation actions of the three compounds by releasing incombustible gas and/or water vapor to dilute combustible gas in the flaming zone, and by converting to MgO, which had a satisfactory protective wall effect on the wood. Individually, BMC absorbed heat from the wood at the pre-decomposition stage and, thus, slowed down wood pyrolysis process. It slightly increased the char yield by charring in both the charring stage and the char calcination stage. MH lost water at about 270 °C, close to the temperature at which wood thermally degraded. MH rendered wood char quickly, and the compact char layer impeded further carbonization and burning of inner wood. MCH promoted charring with Mg 2+ as a Lewis acid, and increased wood char yield. MCH also released Cl· free radical and HCl at 167 °C, which easily coordinated with combustion reaction radical, and slowed down, even inhibited, the combustion chain reaction.

Comparative Performance of Three Magnesium Compounds on Thermal Degradation Behavior of Red Gum Wood

PubMed Central

Wu, Yiqiang; Yao, Chunhua; Hu, Yunchu; Zhu, Xiaodan; Qing, Yan; Wu, Qinglin

2014-01-01

The effect of basic magnesium carbonate (BMC), magnesium hydroxide (MH), and magnesium chloride hydrate (MCH) on thermal degradation of red gum wood was studied using cone calorimetry, Thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) analysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization. The results showed common fire retardation actions of the three compounds by releasing incombustible gas and/or water vapor to dilute combustible gas in the flaming zone, and by converting to MgO, which had a satisfactory protective wall effect on the wood. Individually, BMC absorbed heat from the wood at the pre-decomposition stage and, thus, slowed down wood pyrolysis process. It slightly increased the char yield by charring in both the charring stage and the char calcination stage. MH lost water at about 270°C, close to the temperature at which wood thermally degraded. MH rendered wood char quickly, and the compact char layer impeded further carbonization and burning of inner wood. MCH promoted charring with Mg2+ as a Lewis acid, and increased wood char yield. MCH also released Cl· free radical and HCl at 167°C, which easily coordinated with combustion reaction radical, and slowed down, even inhibited, the combustion chain reaction. PMID:28788480

Thermochemical tests on resins: Char resistance of selected phenolic cured epoxides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keck, F. L.

1982-01-01

Curing epoxy resins with novalac phenolic resins is a feasible approach for increasing intact char of the resin system. Char yields above 40% at 700 C were achieved with epoxy novalac (DEN 438)/novalac phenolic (BRWE 5833) resin systems with or without catalyst such as ethyl tri-phenyl phosphonium iodide. These char yields are comparable to commercially used epoxy resin systems like MY-720/DDS/BF3. Stable prepregs are easily made from a solvent solution of the epoxy/phenolic system and this provides a feasible process for fabrication of same into commercial laminates.

Sugarcane vinasse CO2 gasification and release of ash-forming matters in CO2 and N2 atmospheres.

PubMed

Dirbeba, Meheretu Jaleta; Brink, Anders; DeMartini, Nikolai; Lindberg, Daniel; Hupa, Mikko

2016-10-01

Gasification of sugarcane vinasse in CO2 and the release of ash-forming matters in CO2 and N2 atmospheres were investigated using a differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analyzer (DSC-TGA) at temperatures between 600 and 800°C. The results showed that pyrolysis is the main mechanism for the release of the organics from vinasse. Release of ash-forming matters in the vinasse is the main cause for vinasse char weight losses in the TGA above 700°C. The losses are higher in N2 than in CO2, and increase considerably with temperature. CO2 gasification also consumes the carbon in the vinasse chars while suppressing alkali release. Alkali release was also significant due to volatilization of KCl and reduction of alkali sulfate and carbonate by carbon. The DSC measured thermal events during heating up in N2 atmosphere that correspond to predicted melting temperatures of alkali salts in the char. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synergistic Effect of Co-utilization of Coal and Biomass Char: An Overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paiman, M. E. S.; Hamzah, N. S.; Idris, S. S.; Rahman, N. A.; Ismail, K.

2018-05-01

Global concerns on impact of greenhouse gases emission, mostly released from coal-fired power plant, and the depletion of fossil fuel particularly coal, has led the production of electricity from alternatives resources such as co-utilization technologies. Previous studies proved that the co-utilization of coal and biomass/biomass chars has significantly reduced the emission of greenhouse gases either during the pyrolysis, combustion or gasification process in laboratories, pilots as well as in the industrial scales. Interestingly, most of the studies reported the presence of synergistic effect during the co-utilization processes particularly between coal and biomass char while some are not. Biomass chars were found to have porous and highly disorder carbon structure and belong to the class of most reactive carbon material, resulting to be more reactive than those hard coal and lignite. Up to date, microwave assisted pyrolysis is one of the best and latest techniques employed to produce better quality of biomass chars and it is also reduce the processing cost. Lot of works has been done regarding on the existence of synergistic effects during its co-utilization. However, the knowledge is limited to thermal and product characteristics so far. Even so, the specific reasons behind its existence are yet to understand well. Therefore, in this paper, the emphasis will be given on the synergistic effects on emission characteristics of co-utilization of coal and biomass chars so that it can be apply in energy-based industries to help in reduction of the greenhouse gases emission.

Near-extinction and final burnout in coal combustion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hurt, R.H.; Davis, K.A.

The late stages of char combustion have a special technological significance, as carbon conversions of 99% or greater are typically required for the economic operation of pulverized coal fired boilers. In the present article, two independent optical techniques are used to investigate near-extinction and final burnout phenomenas. Captive particle image sequences, combined with in situ optical measurements on entrained particles, provide dramatic illustration of the asymptotic nature of the char burnout process. Single particle combustion to complete burnout is seen to comprise two distinct stages: (1) a rapid high-temperature combustion stage, consuming about 70% of the char carbon and endingmore » with near-extinction of the heterogeneous reactions due to a loss of global particle reactivity, and (2) a final burnout stage occurring slowly at lower temperatures. For particles containing mineral matter, the second stage can be further subdivided into: (2a) late char combustion, which begins after the near-extinction event, and converts carbon-rich particles to mixed particle types at a lower temperature and a slower rate; and (2b) decarburization of ash -- the removal of residual carbon inclusions from inorganic (ash) frameworks in the very late stages of combustion. This latter process can be extremely slow, requiring over an order of magnitude more time than the primary rapid combustion stage. For particles with very little ash, the loss of global reactivity leading to early near-extinction is clearly related to changes in the carbonaceous char matrix, which evolves over the course of combustion. Current global kinetic models used for the prediction of char combustion rates and carbon burnout in boilers do not predict the asymptotic nature of char combustion. More realistic models accounting for the evolution of char structure are needed to make accurate predictions in the range of industrial interest.« less

Leaching of major and trace elements from paper-plastic gasification chars: an experimental and modelling study.

PubMed

Fuente-Cuesta, A; Lopez-Anton, M A; Diaz-Somoano, M; Zomeren, A van; Cieplik, M; Martínez-Tarazona, M R

2013-01-15

The control of soluble metal species in the sub-product leachate generated in electricity production processes is of great concern from an environmental and health point of view. Unlike fly ash, the leaching behaviour of char materials has received little attention. Yet, these solids are captured together with fly ashes in the particle control devices of power plants and are emitted in the same way as by-products. The present study was carried out using two char samples: (i) a raw char and (ii) the same type of char employed in a previous study so that it could serve as a sorbent for mercury species in gas phase. The char samples were by-products (residues) that had been generated during the gasification of plastic and paper waste. The leachates were analyzed for the following elements: Al, Ca, Si, Mg, Ba, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Mo and Hg. In addition, geochemical modelling of the leaching test results was employed to identify the underlying chemical processes that led to the release of toxic elements. The results showed that at alkaline pH values, sorption on the solid surfaces of the char was negligible due to the inorganic complexation of cations in the solution. When the char was used as mercury sorbent slight changes occurred on the reactive surface resulting in the modification of the binding of some elements. As the pH increased, complexation with dissolved organic matter played a more important role in the case of some elements such as Cu because of the greater concentration of dissolved organic matter in solution. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Physicochemical properties and gasification reactivity of the ultrafine semi-char derived from a bench-scale fluidized bed gasifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yukui; Zhang, Haixia; Zhu, Zhiping; Na, Yongjie; Lu, Qinggang

2017-08-01

Zhundong coalfield is the largest intact coalfield worldwide and fluidized bed gasification has been considered as a promising way to achieve its clean and efficient utilization. The purpose of this study is to investigate the physicochemical properties and gasification reactivity of the ultrafine semi-char, derived from a bench-scale fluidized bed gasifier, using Zhundong coal as fuel. The results obtained are as follows. In comparison to the raw coal, the carbon and ash content of the semi-char increase after partial gasification, but the ash fusion temperatures of them show no significant difference. Particularly, 76.53% of the sodium in the feed coal has released to the gas phase after fluidized bed gasification. The chemical compositions of the semi-char are closely related to its particle size, attributable to the distinctly different natures of diverse elements. The semi-char exhibits a higher graphitization degree, higher BET surface area, and richer meso- and macropores, which results in superior gasification reactivity than the coal char. The chemical reactivity of the semi-char is significantly improved by an increased gasification temperature, which suggests the necessity of regasification of the semi-char at a higher temperature. Consequently, it will be considered feasible that these carbons in the semi-char from fluidized bed gasifiers are reclaimed and reused for the gasification process.

Removal of lead (Pb2+) from aqueous medium by using chars from co-pyrolysis.

PubMed

Bernardo, Maria; Mendes, Sandra; Lapa, Nuno; Gonçalves, Margarida; Mendes, Benilde; Pinto, Filomena; Lopes, Helena; Fonseca, Isabel

2013-11-01

The effectiveness of chars from the co-pyrolysis of pine, used tires and plastic wastes for the removal of lead (Pb(2+)) from aqueous medium, was investigated. The chars were predominantly of macroporous nature, but the introduction of tires in the pyrolysis feedstock enhanced their mesoporous content as well as surface area. Pb(2+) sorption with the chars was a slow and unstable process in which sorption-desorption seems to be competing. The highest Pb(2+) removal (88%) was attained by the char resulting from the pyrolysis of a mixture composed by equal mass ratios of used tires and plastics, at 48 h of contact time. This char was also the one with the overall better performance for Pb(2+) sorption, achieving almost 100% of Pb(2+) removal on the study of the effect of adsorbent dose. Mixing the three raw materials for pyrolysis had no advantage for the resulting char concerning the removal efficiency of Pb(2+). The sorption mechanisms varied according to the pyrolysis feedstock: in chars from feedstock with pine, chemisorption involving complexation with oxygenated surface functional groups followed by cation exchange was the presumable mechanism. In tire rubber derived chars, cation exchange with Ca(2+), K(+), and Zn(2+) played the major role on Pb(2+) sorption. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pyrolysis for exploitation of biomasses selected for soil phytoremediation: Characterization of gaseous and solid products.

PubMed

Giudicianni, Paola; Pindozzi, Stefania; Grottola, Corinna Maria; Stanzione, Fernando; Faugno, Salvatore; Fagnano, Massimo; Fiorentino, Nunzio; Ragucci, Raffaele

2017-03-01

Biomasses to be used in the phytoremediation process are generally selected to match agronomic parameters and heavy metals uptake ability. A proper selection can be made greatly effective if knowledge of the properties of the residual char from pyrolysis is available to identify possible valorization routes. In this study a comparative analysis of the yields and characteristics of char obtained from slow pyrolysis of five uncontaminated biomasses (Populus nigra, Salix alba, Fraxinus oxyphylla, Eucalyptus occidentalis and Arundo donax) was carried out under steam atmosphere to better develop char porosity. Moreover, the dependence of the properties of solid residue on the process final temperature was studied for E. occidentalis in the temperature range of 688-967K. The results demonstrate that, among the studied biomasses, chars from P. nigra and E. occidentalis have to be preferred for applications regulated by surface phenomena given their highest surface area (270-300m 2 /g), whereas char from E. occidentalis is the best choice when the goal is to maximize energy recovery. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Method of making highly sinterable lanthanum chromite powder

DOEpatents

Richards, Von L.; Singhal, Subhash C.

1992-01-01

A highly sinterable powder consisting essentially of LaCrO.sub.3, containing from 5 weight % to 20 weight % of a chromite of dopant Ca, Sr, Co, Ba, or Mg and a coating of a chromate of dopant Ca, Sr, Co, Ba, or Mg; is made by (1) forming a solution of La, Cr, and dopant; (2) heating their solutions; (3) forming a combined solution having a desired ratio of La, Cr, and dopant and heating to reduce solvent; (4) forming a foamed mass under vacuum; (5) burning off organic components and forming a charred material; (6) grinding the charred material; (7) heating the char at from 590.degree. C. to 950 C. in inert gas containing up to 50,000 ppm O.sub.2 to provide high specific surface area particles; (8) adding that material to a mixture of a nitrate of Cr and dopant to form a slurry; (9) grinding the particles in the slurry; (10) freeze or spray drying the slurry to provide a coating of nitrates on the particles; and (11) heating the coated particles to convert the nitrate coating to a chromate coating and provide a highly sinterable material having a high specific surface area of over 7 m.sup.2 /g.

Formation of hydrothermal biochar and char stability in soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumert, Julia; Gleixner, Gerd

2010-05-01

The use of charcoal as an artificial soil additive is suggested to beneficially modify degraded soil, reduce greenhouse gas emission and improve crop yields. So far research has been mainly done using pyrolysis chars which are produced by dry pyrolysis of biomass. Here we used hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC). In this process wet biomass is converted to char at moderate temperatures (~200°C). Due to the exothermal carbonisation reaction this process is almost energy neutral, i.e. the energy needed to start the carbonisation equals the energy released during carbonisation. Different process parameters have been used to modify the properties of the produced chars. We examined the chemical and morphological properties of hydrothermally synthesized biochar. Cellulose, yeast and sucrose were used as model substances for a range of parent material types like organic and garden waste as well as residues from biogas production. By modifying the process conditions of hydrothermal carbonisation concerning temperature (180°C to 220°C) and duration (6 hours to 24 hours) we produced a variety of different biochars. Our findings suggest that the elemental composition and the thermal stability of resulting chars depend on the feedstock and production conditions. Functional group chemistry determined by NMR shows that the aromaticity of the product increases as a function of temperature whereas the amount of O-alkylic compounds declines, concurrently. Our results show that the properties of the biochar can be manipulated by the modification of process conditions. This opens the opportunity to adjust the charcoal to a given soil type.

Spinoff from a Mooncraft Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

Avco Specialty Materials' Chartek III fireproofing provides longterm fire protection for structural steel in high risk industrial applications such as structural conduits, pipes and valves of offshore platforms, and storage tanks used in hydrocarbon processing industry. In the presence of fire, Chartek III fire-proofing provides two kinds of protection. One of them is ablation, technique used on Apollo involving dissipation of heat by burnoff. The other is called intumescence or swelling. Heat causes the Chartek coating to swell to a thickness six times greater than when it was applied forming a protective blanket of char that retards transfer of heat to the steel structure. Mesh reinforcement keeps the char intact and reduces metal fatigue. Chartek provides fire protection for as much as two or three hours depending on the type of fire and the thickness of the coating applied.

Coal char oxidation kinetics in air medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slyusarskiy, K. V.; Jankovskiy, S. A.; Korotkikh, A. G.; Sorokin, I. V.

2017-01-01

Research on oxidation in air medium process of three different coal chars with various carbon content was presented. The anthracite, T-grade bituminous coal and 2B-grade lignite char powders with particle size less than 80 µm were studied. The coal char oxidation was studied by isothermal method using coupled TG-DSC analyzer Netzsch STA 449 Jupiter F3 in the temperature range 1000-1200 °C. Experiments were carried out at ambient pressure. Volumetric flow rate of oxidation medium into analyzer chamber was 250 ml/min and consisted of oxygen and argon with volumetric ratio 24:1. Based on experimental data, the average rate of carbon oxidation reaction values were defined at each temperature. Kinetic constants (frequency factor and activation energy) of reaction were defined as well via 1st order Arrhenius equation. Activation energy values are in good agreement with the data presented in the literature. Activation energy values for anthracite char are 1.6-1.7 times higher than those for bituminous coal and lignite chars, respectively.

Flame retardancy and thermal behavior of intumescent flame-retardant EVA composites with an efficient triazine-based charring agent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Bo; Ma, Wen; Wu, Xiao; Qian, Lijun; Jiang, Shan

2018-04-01

Intumescent flame retardant (IFR) EVA composites were prepared based on a hyperbranched triazine charring-foaming agent (HTCFA) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP). The synergistic effect of HTCFA and APP on the flame retardancy and thermal behavior of the composites were investigated through flammability tests, cone calorimeter measurements, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) including evolved gas analysis (TG-IR) and residue analysis (Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS), x-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)). The flammability test results showed HTCFA/APP (1/3) system presented the best synergistic effect in flame-retardant EVA composites with the highest LOI value and UL-94 V-0 rating. As for cone calorimeter results, IFR changed the combustion behavior of EVA and resulted in remarkable decrease of flammability and smoke product. TGA results showed the synergistic effect between APP and HTCFA could strengthen the char-forming ability of composites. TG-IR results indicated the melt viscosities and gas release with increasing temperature were well-correlated for EVA/IFR composite. The residue analysis results from SEM, LRS, FT-IR and XPS revealed IFR promoted forming more compact graphitic char layer, connected by rich P–O–C and P–N structures.

Pelletizing lignite

DOEpatents

Goksel, Mehmet A.

1983-11-01

Lignite is formed into high strength pellets having a calorific value of at least 9,500 Btu/lb by blending a sufficient amount of an aqueous base bituminous emulsion with finely-divided raw lignite containing its inherent moisture to form a moistened green mixture containing at least 3 weight % of the bituminous material, based on the total dry weight of the solids, pelletizing the green mixture into discrete green pellets of a predetermined average diameter and drying the green pellets to a predetermined moisture content, preferrably no less than about 5 weight %. Lignite char and mixture of raw lignite and lignite char can be formed into high strength pellets in the same general manner.

Numerical analysis of the transient response of an axisymmetric ablative char layer considering internal flow effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pittman, C. M.; Howser, L. M.

1972-01-01

The differential equations governing the transient response of the char layer of an ablating axisymmetric body, internal pyrolysis gas flow effects being considered, have been derived. These equations have been expanded into finite difference form and programed for numerical solution on a digital computer. Numerical results compare favorably with simplified exact solutions. The complete numerical analysis was used to obtain solutions for two representative body shapes subjected to a typical entry heating environment. Pronounced effects of the lateral flow of pyrolysis gases on the mass flow field within the char layer and the associated surface and pyrolysis interface recession rates are shown.

Studying the specific features pertinent to combustion of chars obtained from coals having different degrees of metamorphism and biomass chars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bestsennyi, I. V.; Shchudlo, T. S.; Dunaevskaya, N. I.; Topal, A. I.

2013-12-01

Better conditions for igniting low-reaction coal (anthracite) can be obtained, higher fuel burnout ratio can be achieved, and the problem of shortage of a certain grade of coal can be solved by firing coal mixtures and by combusting coal jointly with solid biomass in coal-fired boilers. Results from studying the synergetic effect that had been revealed previously during the combustion of coal mixtures in flames are presented. A similar effect was also obtained during joint combustion of coal and wood in a flame. The kinetics pertinent to combustion of char mixtures obtained from coals characterized by different degrees of metamorphism and the kinetics pertinent to combustion of wood chars were studied on the RSK-1D laboratory setup. It was found from the experiments that the combustion rate of char mixtures obtained from coals having close degrees of metamorphism is equal to the value determined as a weighted mean rate with respect to the content of carbon. The combustion rate of char mixtures obtained from coals having essentially different degrees of metamorphism is close to the combustion rate of more reactive coal initially in the process and to the combustion rate of less reactive coal at the end of the process. A dependence of the specific burnout rate of carbon contained in the char of two wood fractions on reciprocal temperature in the range 663—833 K is obtained. The combustion mode of an experimental sample is determined together with the reaction rate constant and activation energy.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yuan Zhang; Jin-hu Wu; Dong-ke Zhang

The cracking of oil refinery off-gas, simulated with a gas mixture containing methane (51%), ethylene (21.4%), ethane (21.1%), and propane (6.5%), over a coal char, petroleum coke, and quartz, respectively, has been studied in a fixed bed reactor. The experiments were performed at temperatures between 850 and 1000{sup o}C and at atmospheric pressure. The results show that the conversions of all species considered increased with increasing temperature. Ethane and propane completely decomposed over all three bed materials in the temperature range investigated. However, the higher initial conversion rates of methane and ethylene cracking at all temperatures were observed only overmore » the coal char and not on the petroleum coke and quartz, indicating a significant catalytic effect of the coal char on methane and ethylene cracking. Methane and ethylene conversions decreased with reaction time due to deactivation of the coal char by carbon deposition on the char surface and, in the later stage of a cracking experiment, became negative, suggesting that methane and ethylene had been formed during the cracking of ethane and propane. 16 refs., 13 figs., 2 tabs.« less

Ultrasonically assisted extraction of calcium and ash from char

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathumba, E. E.; Mbaya, R. K. K.; Kolesnikov, A.

2018-03-01

This study characterized and removed calcium and ash content from char to improve the chemical quality of char as reductant for titanium smelting application. Calcium in char can be classified in two parts: mineral matter and cationic metals associated with organic matrix. Virgin and chemically treated char was characterized by using ISO 1171, wet chemistry methods, ISO 19579, XRF, and B.E.T. methods. In this present work, demineralization of char with mild chemical leachants such as acetic acid, citric acid, gluconic acid and Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic acid with three different ultrasonic power input (150 W, 270 W and 300 W) and semi-dual frequency of 40 kHz tank was investigated. Actual power dissipated into the system was calculated from the calorimetric measurement. An optimum set of process parameters are identified and validated. The ultrasound technology was compared with soaking technology to determine the efficiency of ultrasound system for the removal of calcium. The removal of calcium was exponentially higher with ultrasonic treatment than without it. Results revealed that mild chemical reagents do not harm the carbon content of char. It is evident from the results that amongst the leachants used; acetic and citric acid has caused significant removal of mineral phases.

Integrated mild gasification processing at the Homer City Electric Power Generating Station site. Final report, July 1989--June 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Battista, J.J.; Zawadzki, E.A.

1993-07-01

A new process for the production of commercial grade coke, char, and carbon products has been evaluated by Penelec/NYSEG. The process, developed by Coal Technology Corporation, CTC, utilizes a unique screw reactor to produce a devolatilized char from a wide variety of coals for the production of commercial grade coke for use in blast furnaces, foundries, and other processes requiring high quality coke. This process is called the CTC Mild Gasification Process (MGP). The process economics are significantly enhanced by integrating the new technology into an existing power generating complex. Cost savings are realized by the coke producer, the cokemore » user, and the electric utility company. Site specific economic studies involving the Homer City Generating Station site in Western Pennsylvania, confirmed that an integrated MGP at the Homer City site, using coal fines produced at the Homer City Coal Preparation Plant, would reduce capital and operating costs significantly and would enable the HC Owners to eliminate thermal dryers, obtain low cost fuel in the form of combustible gases and liquids, and obtain lower cost replacement coal on the spot market. A previous report, identified as the Interim Report on the Project, details the technical and economic studies.« less

Char from sugarcane bagasse

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Unused sugarcane bagasse represents an underutilized resource in sugarcane growing regions of the world. This is a renewable resource that can be used in a thermochemical process to create chars, which could be incorporated back into agricultural activities. The practice is likely to improve soil ...

Removal of copper by oxygenated pyrolytic tire char: kinetics and mechanistic insights.

PubMed

Quek, Augustine; Balasubramanian, Rajashekhar

2011-04-01

The kinetics of copper ion (Cu(II)) removal from aqueous solution by pyrolytic tire char was modeled using five different conventional models. A modification to these models was also developed through a modified equation that accounts for precipitation. Conventional first- and second-order reaction models did not fit the copper sorption kinetics well, indicating a lack of simple rate-order dependency on solute concentration. Instead, a reversible first-order rate reaction showed the best fit to the data, indicating a dependence on surface functional groups. Due to the varying solution pH during the sorption process, modified external and internal mass transfer models were employed. Results showed that the sorption of copper onto oxygenated chars was limited by external mass transfer and internal resistance with and without the modification. However, the modification of the sorption process produced very different results for unoxygenated chars, which showed neither internal nor external limitation to sorption. Instead, its slow sorption rate indicates a lack of surface functional groups. The sorption of Cu(II) by oxygenated and unoxygenated chars was also found to occur via three and two distinct stages, respectively. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Production of carbon molecular sieves from Illinois coal

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lizzio, A.A.; Rostam-Abadi, M.

1993-01-01

Carbon molecular sieves (CMS) have become an increasingly important class of adsorbents for application in the separation of gas molecules that vary in size and shape. A study is in progress at the Illinois State Geological Survey to determine whether Illinois basin coals are suitable feedstocks for the production of CMS and to evaluate their potential application in gas separation processes of commercial importance. Chars were prepared from Illinois coal in a fixed-bed reactor under a wide range of heat treatment and activation conditions. The effects of various coal/char pretreatments, including coal demineralization, preoxidation, char activation, and carbon deposition, on the molecular sieve properties of the chars were also investigated. Chars with commercially significant BET surface areas of 1500 m2/g were produced by chemical activation using potassium hydroxide as the activant. These high-surface-area (HSA) chars had more than twice the adsorption capacity of commercial carbon and zeolite molecular sieves. The kinetics of adsorption of various gases, e.g., N2, O2, CO2, CH4, CO and H2, on these chars at 25??C was measured. The O2/N2 molecular sieve properties of one char prepared without chemical activation were similar to those of a commercial CMS. On the other hand, the O2/N2 selectivity of the HSA char was comparable to that of a commercial activated carbon, i.e., essentially unity. Carbon deposition, using methane as the cracking gas, increased the O2/N2 selectivity of the HSA char, but significantly decreased its adsorption capacity. Several chars showed good potential for efficient CO2/CH4 separation; both a relatively high CO2 adsorption capacity and CO2/CH4 selectivity were achieved. The micropore size distribution of selected chars was estimated by equilibrium adsorption of carbon dioxide, n-butane and iso-butane at O??C. The extent of adsorption of each gas corresponded to the effective surface area contained in pores with diameters greater than 3.3, 4.3 and 5.0 A??, respectively. Kinetic and equilibrium adsorption data provided complementary information on the molecular sieving capabilities and microstructure of the prepared chars. ?? 1993.

Experimental Study of Hydrogasification of Lignite and Subbituminous Coal Chars

PubMed Central

Gil, Stanisław

2015-01-01

The experimental facility for pressure hydrogasification research was adapted to the pressure of 10 MPa and temperature of 1300 K, which ensured repeatability of results and hydrogen heating to the process temperature. A hydrogasification reaction of chars produced from two rank coals was investigated at temperatures up to 1173 K, pressures up to 8 MPa, and the gas flow rates of 0.5–5 dmn 3/min. Reactivity of the “Szczerców” lignite char was found to be slightly higher than that of the subbituminous “Janina” coal char produced under the same conditions. A high value of the char reactivity was observed to a certain carbon conversion degree, above which a sharp drop took place. It was shown that, to achieve proper carbon conversion, the hydrogasification reaction must proceed at a temperature above 1200 K. PMID:26065028

The combustion of large particles of char in bubbling fluidized beds: The dependence of Sherwood number and the rate of burning on particle diameter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dennis, J.S.; Hayhurst, A.N.; Scott, S.A.

Particles of char derived from a variety of fuels (e.g., biomass, sewage sludge, coal, or graphite), with diameters in excess of {approx}1.5mm, burn in fluidized bed combustors containing smaller particles of, e.g., sand, such that the rate is controlled by the diffusion both of O{sub 2} to the burning solid and of the products CO and CO{sub 2} away from it into the particulate phase. It is therefore important to characterize these mass transfer processes accurately. Measurements of the burning rate of char particles made from sewage sludge suggest that the Sherwood number, Sh, increases linearly with the diameter ofmore » the fuel particle, d{sub char} (for d{sub char}>{approx}1.5mm). This linear dependence of Sh on d{sub char} is expected from the basic equation Sh=2{epsilon}{sub mf}(1+d{sub char}/2{delta}{sub diff})/{tau}, provided the thickness of the boundary layer for mass transfer, {delta}{sub diff}, is constant in the region of interest (d{sub char}>{approx}1.5mm). Such a dependence is not seen in the empirical equations currently used and based on the Frossling expression. It is found here that for chars made from sewage sludge (for d{sub char}>{approx}1.5mm), the thickness of the boundary layer for mass transfer in a fluidized bed, {delta}{sub diff}, is less than that predicted by empirical correlations based on the Frossling expression. In fact, {delta}{sub diff} is not more than the diameter of the fluidized sand particles. Finally, the experiments in this study indicate that models based on surface renewal theory should be rejected for a fluidized bed, because they give unrealistically short contact times for packets of fluidized particles at the surface of a burning sphere. The result is the new correlation Sh = 2{epsilon}{sub mf}/{tau} + (A{sub cush}/A{sub char})(d{sub char}/ {delta}{sub diff}) for the dependence of Sh on d{sub char}, the diameter of a burning char particle. This equation is based on there being a gas-cushion of fluidizing gas underneath a burning char particle; the implication of this correlation is that a completely new picture emerges for the combustion of a char particle in a hot fluidized bed. (author)« less

Method of making highly sinterable lanthanum chromite powder

DOEpatents

Richards, V.L.; Singhal, S.C.

1992-09-01

A highly sinterable powder consisting essentially of LaCrO[sub 3], containing from 5 weight % to 20 weight % of a chromite of dopant Ca, Sr, Co, Ba, or Mg and a coating of a chromate of dopant Ca, Sr, Co, Ba, or Mg; is made by (1) forming a solution of La, Cr, and dopant; (2) heating their solutions; (3) forming a combined solution having a desired ratio of La, Cr, and dopant and heating to reduce solvent; (4) forming a foamed mass under vacuum; (5) burning off organic components and forming a charred material; (6) grinding the charred material; (7) heating the char at from 590 C to 950 C in inert gas containing up to 50,000 ppm O[sub 2] to provide high specific surface area particles; (8) adding that material to a mixture of a nitrate of Cr and dopant to form a slurry; (9) grinding the particles in the slurry; (10) freeze or spray drying the slurry to provide a coating of nitrates on the particles; and (11) heating the coated particles to convert the nitrate coating to a chromate coating and provide a highly sinterable material having a high specific surface area of over 7 m[sup 2]/g. 2 figs.

Controls upon biomass losses and char production from prescribed burning on UK moorland.

PubMed

Worrall, Fred; Clay, Gareth D; May, Richard

2013-05-15

Prescribed burning is a common management technique used across many areas of the UK uplands. However, there are few data sets that assess the loss of biomass during burning and even fewer data on the effect of burning on above-ground carbon stocks and production of char. During fire the production of char occurs which represents a transfer of carbon from the short term bio-atmospheric cycle to the longer term geological cycle. However, biomass is consumed leading to the reduction in litter formation which is the principal mechanism for peat formation. This study aims to solve the problem of whether loss of biomass during a fire is ever outweighed by the production of refractory forms of carbon during the fire. This study combines both a laboratory study of char production with an assessment of biomass loss from a series of field burns from moorland in the Peak District, UK. The laboratory results show that there are significant effects due to ambient temperature but the most important control on dry mass loss is the maximum burn temperature. Burn temperature was also found to be linearly related to the production of char in the burn products. Optimisation of dry mass loss, char production and carbon content shows that the production of char from certain fires could store more carbon in the ecosystem than if there had been no fire. Field results show that approximately 75% of the biomass and carbon were lost through combustion, a figure comparable to other studies of prescribed fire in other settings. Char-C production was approximately 2.6% of the carbon consumed during the fire. This study has shown that there are conditions (fast burns at high temperatures) under which prescribed fire may increase C sequestration through char production and that these conditions are within existing management options available to practitioners. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distinct oxidative stabilities of char versus soot black carbon: Implications for quantification and environmental recalcitrance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elmquist, Marie; Cornelissen, Gerard; Kukulska, Zofia; Gustafsson, Örjan

2006-06-01

Sequestration in sediments of black carbon (BC) from vegetation fires and fuel combustion may constitute a significant sink of otherwise rapidly cycling carbon from the atmosphere-biosphere cycle. It also has the potential to provide a historical record of atmospheric BC loadings. Previous treatments of BC as one homogeneous entity are being replaced with the growing awareness of a BC combustion continuum, a range spanning from slightly charred biomass to soot and graphite. Here the relative recalcitrance of different BC forms is evaluated, and implications for both BC quantification and environmental stability are considered. The stabilities of four BC reference materials against thermal oxidation in air were quite distinct with T50%BC values (i.e., the temperature where 50% BC remained in the residue) of 444°C (diesel soot-BC), 388°C (n-hexane soot-BC), 338°C (wood char-BC), and 266°C (grass char-BC). The implications for BC quantification have been illustrated for a thermal oxidation (the CTO-375) method commonly applied to study BC in sediments. This technique measured BC:TOC ratios of 78.3 ± 1.3% for the diesel soot-BC and 45.3 ± 6.1% for n-hexane soot-BC, whereas no CTO375-BC was detected for the two analyzed char-BC materials. The greater lability of char-BC compared to soot-BC likely reflects higher accessibility to internal microporosity in char-BC, facilitating internal O2 transfer. Decreasing the temperature cutoff below 375°C to also include char-BC is not possible as thermograms of nonpyrogenic reference materials indicated that such material would then be artifactually quantified as BC. The presence of mineral oxides in the sediment matrix may lead to a catalytically mediated lowering of the activation energy for soot-BC oxidation but not for char-BC or nonpyrogenic organic material. Several recent studies combine to challenge the proposition of complete recalcitrance of BC. Particularly, the thermal lability of char-BC from grassland fires deserves further attention in order to improve the understanding of BC in the global carbon cycle.

ON-SITE PRODUCTION OF ACTIVATED CARBON FROM KRAFT BLACK LIQUOR

EPA Science Inventory

A pilot plant was designed and constructed to produce char via the St. Regis hydropyrolysis kraft chemical recovery process and to produce activated carbon from the char. This report includes discussion of laboratory and prepilot work, the pilot plant, and presents operating resu...

Evaluation of a Technology-Based Adaptive Learning and Prevention Program for Stress Response-A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Wesemann, Ulrich; Kowalski, Jens T; Jacobsen, Thomas; Beudt, Susan; Jacobs, Herbert; Fehr, Julia; Büchler, Jana; Zimmermann, Peter L

2016-08-01

To prevent deployment-related disorders, Chaos Driven Situations Management Retrieval System (CHARLY), a computer-aided training platform with a biofeedback interface has been developed. It simulates critical situations photorealistic for certain target and occupational groups. CHARLY was evaluated as a 1.5 days predeployment training method comparing it with the routine training. The evaluation was carried out for a matched random sample of N = 67 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan (International Security Assistance Force). Data collection took place before and after the prevention program and 4 to 6 weeks after deployment, which included mental state, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, knowledge of and attitude toward PTSD, and deployment-specific stressors. CHARLY has been significantly superior to the control group in terms of psychoeducation and attitude change. As to the mental state, both groups showed a significant increase in stress after deployment with significant lower increase in CHARLY. For PTSD-specific symptoms, CHARLY achieved a significant superiority. The fact that PTSD-specific scales showed significant differences at the end of deployment substantiates the validity of a specifically preventive effect of CHARLY. The study results tentatively indicate that highly standardized, computer-based primary prevention of mental disorders in soldiers on deployment might be superior to other more personal and less standardized forms of prevention. Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Characterization and biodegradation of water-soluble biomarkers and organic carbon extracted from low temperature chars

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Norwood, Matt J.; Louchouarn, Patrick; Kuo, Li-Jung

This study demonstrates that wildfires/biomass combustion may be an important source of labile pyrogenic water-soluble organic matter (Py-WSOM) to aquatic systems. Spectroscopic analysis (of the solid char and Py-WSOM) with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that the Py-WSOM extracted from two low temperature chars (one wood, one grass) was dominated by polar moieties (-OH and C-O) derived from depolymerization and fragmentation of lignocellulose. Incubation experiments under aerobic conditions with unsterilized river water suggested that Py-WSOM and associated biomarkers may have turnover rates on the order of weeks to months, consistent with mixing and transport conditions of riverine systems. Formore » example, pyrogenic dissolved organic carbon (Py-DOC) had a half-life of 30-40 days. Turnover rate for the combustion biomarkers was shorter, with levoglucosan and free lignin phenols having a half-life around 3-4 days and polymeric lignin components 13-14 days. The latter observations contradict earlier studies on the biodegradation of dissolved lignin and point to the need for re-assessment of lignin degradation kinetics in well-mixed riverine systems, particularly when such lignin components are derived from thermally altered plant material that may exist in a form more labile than that in highly processed riverine DOM.« less

Effects of catalysts on combustion characteristics and kinetics of coal-char blends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Yingjie; Wang, Zhiqiang; Cheng, Xingxing; Liu, Ming; Ma, Chunyuan

2018-04-01

The effects of Fe2O3, CaO, and MnO2 on the combustion characteristics and kinetics of coal-char blends were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results indicated that catalysts exhibited positive effects on the combustion characteristics of coal-char blends, especially in the initial period of coal-char blends combustion. With catalysts addition (mass 1.5%), it could improves volatile matter release, and reduces ignition point, promotes char to begin burning under lower temperature. The ignition index (C) was increased, respectively, by 27% for Fe2O3, 6% for CaO, 11.3% for MnO2, and the combustion characteristic index ( S ) was increased respectively, by 29% for Fe2O3, 5% for CaO, 8.3% for MnO2. In addition, two kinetic models (R2 and F1) were adopted to calculate the kinetic parameters in different stage of combustion processes. The results showed that with Fe2O3 or CaO addition, the activation energy at second stage decreases from 86.0 KJ/mol to 76.92 KJ/mol and 75.12 KJ/mol, respectively. There are no obvious decreases at the third stage of samples combustion process.

Recovery of a Charred Painting Using Atomic Oxygen Treatment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rutledge, Sharon K.; Banks, Bruce A.; Chichernea, Virgil A.

1999-01-01

A noncontact method is described which uses atomic oxygen to remove soot and char from the surface of a painting. The atomic oxygen was generated by the dissociation of oxygen in low pressure air using radio frequency energy. The treatment, which is an oxidation process, allows control of the amount of material to be removed. The effectiveness of char removal from half of a fire-damaged oil painting was studied using reflected light measurements from selected areas of the painting and by visual and photographic observation. The atomic oxygen was able to effectively remove char and soot from the treated half of the painting. The remaining loosely bound pigment was lightly sprayed with a mist to replace the binder and then varnish was reapplied. Caution should he used when treating an untested paint medium using atomic oxygen. A representative edge or corner should he tested first in order to determine if the process would be safe for the pigments present. As more testing occurs, a greater knowledge base will be developed as to what types of paints and varnishes can or cannot be treated using this technique. With the proper precautions, atomic oxygen treatment does appear to be a technique with great potential for allowing very charred, previously unrestorable art to be salvaged.

Production and characterization of chars from cherry pulp via pyrolysis.

PubMed

Pehlivan, E; Özbay, N; Yargıç, A S; Şahin, R Z

2017-12-01

Pyrolysis is an eco-friendly process to achieve valuable products like bio-oil, char and gases. In the last decades, biochar production from pyrolysis of a wide variety of industrial and agricultural wastes become popular, which can be utilized as adsorbent instead of the expensive activated carbons. In this study, cherry pulp was pyrolyzed in a fixed bed tubular reactor at five different temperatures (400, 500,550, 600 and 700 °C) and three different heating rates (10, 100 and 200 °C/min) to obtain biochar. Proximate, ultimate, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, x-ray fluorescence, x-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were performed on cherry pulp and its chars to examine the chemical alterations after the pyrolysis process. Biochar yields were decreased with increasing pyrolysis temperature and heating rate, based on experimental results. Porous biochars are carbon rich and includes high potassium content. The aromaticity of biochars increased and O/C mass ratio reduced with an increase in the pyrolysis temperature as a result of the development of compact aromatic structure in char. Pyrolysis provides a promising conversion procedure for the production of high energy density char which has promising applications in existing coal-fired boilers without any upgrading. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulation of fluidized bed coal combustors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajan, R.

1979-01-01

The many deficiencies of previous work on simulation of fluidized bed combustion (FBC) processes are presented. An attempt is made to reduce these deficiencies, and to formulate a comprehensive FBC model taking into account the following elements: (1) devolatilization of coal and the subsequent combustion of volatiles and residual char; (2) sulfur dioxide capture by limestone; (3) NOx release and reduction of NOx by char; (4) attrition and elutriation of char and limestone; (5) bubble hydrodynamics; (6) solids mixing; (7) heat transfer between gas and solid, and solid and heat exchange surfaces; and (8) freeboard reactions.

Characteristics of activated carbon resulted from pyrolysis of the oil palm fronds powder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maulina, S.; Iriansyah, M.

2018-02-01

Activated carbon is the product of a charcoal impregnation process that has a higher absorption capacity and has more benefits than regular char. Therefore, this study aims to cultivate the powder of oil palm fronds into activated carbon that meets the requirements of Standard National Indonesia 06-3730-1995. To do so, the carbonization process of the powder of oil palm fronds was carried out using a pyrolysis reactor for 30 minutes at a temperature of 150 °C, 200 °C, and 250 °C in order to produce activated char. Then, the char was impregnated using Phosphoric Acid activator (H3PO4) for 24 hours. Characteristics of activated carbon indicate that the treatment of char by chemical activation of oil palm fronds powder has an effect on the properties of activated carbon. The activated carbons that has the highest absorption properties to Iodine (822.91 mg/g) were obtained from the impregnation process with 15% concentration of Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4) at pyrolysis temperature of 200 °C. Furthermore, the activation process resulted in activated carbon with water content of 8%, ash content of 4%, volatile matter 39%, and fixed carbon 75%, Iodine number 822.91 mg/g.

Torrefaction of agriculture straws and its application on biomass pyrolysis poly-generation.

PubMed

Chen, Yingquan; Yang, Haiping; Yang, Qing; Hao, Hongmeng; Zhu, Bo; Chen, Hanping

2014-03-01

This study investigated the properties of corn stalk and cotton stalk after torrefaction, and the effects of torrefaction on product properties obtained under the optimal condition of biomass pyrolysis polygeneration. The color of the torrefied biomass chars darkened, and the grindability was upgraded, with finer particles formed and grinding energy consumption reduced. The moisture and oxygen content significantly decreased whereas the carbon content increased considerably. It was found that torrefaction had different effects on the char, liquid oil and biogas from biomass pyrolysis polygeneration. Compared to raw straws, the output of chars from pyrolysis of torrefied straws increased and the quality of chars as a solid fuel had no significant change, while the output of liquid oil and biogas decreased. The liquid oil contained more concentrated phenols with less water content below 40wt.%, and the biogas contained more concentrated H2 and CH4 with higher LHV up to 15MJ/nm(3). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical characterization of chars developed from thermochemical treatment of Kentucky bluegrass seed screenings

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Char produced from the gasification of post-seed harvest Kentucky bluegrass residues could be recycled to a cropping system as a soil amendment if chemical characterization determined that the gasification process had not produced or concentrated deleterious chemical or physical factors that might h...

Behaviors of Char Gasification Based on Two-stage Gasifier of Biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taniguchi, Miki; Sasauchi, Kenichi; Ahn, Chulju; Ito, Yusuke; Hayashi, Toshiaki; Akamatsu, Fumiteru

In order to develop a small-scale gasifier in which biomass can be converted to energy with high efficiency, we planed a gasification process that consists of two parts: pyrolysis part (rotary kiln) and gasification part (downdraft gasifier). We performed fundamental experiments on gasification part and discussed the apropriate conditions such as air supply location, air ratio, air temperature and hearth load. The following results was found: 1) the air supply into the char bed is more effective than that into the gas phase, 2) we can have the maximum cold gas efficiency of 80% on the following conditions: air supply location: char layer, air temperature: 20°C, air ratio: 0.2. 3) As air temperature is higher, the cold gas efficiency is larger. As for the hearth load, the cold gas efficiency becomes higher and reaches the constant level. It is expected from the results that high temperature in the char layer is effective on the char gasification.

Fracture in Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agrawal, Parul; Chavez-Garcia, Jose; Pham, John

2013-01-01

This paper describes the development of a novel technique to understand the failure mechanisms inside thermal protection materials. The focus of this research is on the class of materials known as phenolic impregnated carbon ablators. It has successfully flown on the Stardust spacecraft and is the thermal protection system material chosen for the Mars Science Laboratory and SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Although it has good thermal properties, structurally, it is a weak material. To understand failure mechanisms in carbon ablators, fracture tests were performed on FiberForm(Registered TradeMark) (precursor), virgin, and charred ablator materials. Several samples of these materials were tested to investigate failure mechanisms at a microstructural scale. Stress-strain data were obtained simultaneously to estimate the tensile strength and toughness. It was observed that cracks initiated and grew in the FiberForm when a critical stress limit was reached such that the carbon fibers separated from the binder. However, both for virgin and charred carbon ablators, crack initiation and growth occurred in the matrix (phenolic) phase. Both virgin and charred carbon ablators showed greater strength values compared with FiberForm samples, confirming that the presence of the porous matrix helps in absorbing the fracture energy.

Pulsed Laser Annealing of Carbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abrahamson, Joseph P.

This dissertation investigates laser heating of carbon materials. The carbon industry has been annealing carbon via traditional furnace heating since at least 1800, when Sir Humphry Davy produced an electric arc with carbon electrodes made from carbonized wood. Much knowledge has been accumulated about carbon since then and carbon materials have become instrumental both scientifically and technologically. However, to this day the kinetics of annealing are not known due to the slow heating and cooling rates of furnaces. Additionally, consensus has yet to be reached on the cause of nongraphitizability. Annealing trajectories with respect to time at temperature are observed from a commercial carbon black (R250), model graphitizable carbon (anthracene coke) and a model nongraphitizable carbon (sucrose char) via rapid laser heating. Materials were heated with 1064 nm and 10.6 im laser radiation from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and a continuous wave CO2 laser, respectively. A pulse generator was used reduce the CO2 laser pulse width and provide high temporal control. Time-temperature-histories with nanosecond temporal resolution and temperature reproducibility within tens of degrees Celsius were determined by spectrally resolving the laser induced incandescence signal and applying multiwavelength pyrometry. The Nd:YAG laser fluences include: 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, and 550 mJ/cm2. The maximum observed temperature ranged from 2,400 °C to the C2 sublimation temperature of 4,180 °C. The CO2 laser was used to collect a series of isothermal (1,200 and 2,600 °C) heat treatments versus time (100 milliseconds to 30 seconds). Laser heated samples are compared to furnace annealing at 1,200 and 2,600 °C for 1 hour. The material transformation trajectory of Nd:YAG laser heated carbon is different than traditional furnace heating. The traditional furnace annealing pathway is followed for CO2 laser heating as based upon equivalent end structures. The nanostructure of sucrose char after 5 seconds of isothermal annealing at 2,600 °C is comprised almost entirely of quasi-spherical closed shell particles that are free of sp3 and oxygen content. With additional time at temperature the particles unravel and propagative particle opening occurs throughout the material. The irregular pore structure found in the end product is a result of particle unraveling. The structures found in heat treated sucrose char believed to contain odd membered rings are not manufactured during the annealing process due to impinging growth of stacks. Thus, odd membered rings are likely present in the starting non-graphitizable char. Furnace annealing of cokes and chars produced from: oxygen containing compounds (polyfurfuryl alcohol and anthanthrone), from a five membered ring containing polyaromatic hydrocarbon (fluorene), and from sulfur containing decant oil and a blend of anthracene-dibenzothiophene were compared to furnace annealed anthracene coke and sucrose char. The majority of initial oxygen content evolved out during low temperature carbonization. The intermediate species formed after oxygen evolution dictated the resulting carbon skeleton and thus the graphitizability. Carbonization of anthanthrone resulted in a graphitizable coke. It is proposed that carbon monoxide loss from anthanthrone results in the formation of perylene. An obvious resemblance was observed in structure between heat treated sucrose and polyfurfuryl alcohol char as compared to heated treated char embedded with 5 membered rings via carbonization of fluorene. Thus, providing evidence that 5 membered rings are present in the virgin chars and are the cause of non-graphitizability. The heteroatom sulfur effects carbon structure in a different way as compared to oxygen. Sulfur is thermally stable in carbon up to ˜ 1,000 °C and thus plays little role in the initial low temperature (500 °C) carbonization. As such it imparts a relatively unobservable impact on nanostructure, but rather acts to cause micro-cracks upon rapid evolution in the form of H2S and CS2, upon subsequent heat treatment. Laboratory generated synthetic soot from benzene and benzene-thiophene were Nd:YAG laser and furnace annealed. Furnace annealing of sulfur doped synthetic soot results in cracks and rupturing due to the high pressures caused by explosive sulfur evolution at elevated temperature. Whereas Nd:YAG laser heating of the sulfur doped sample acted to induce curvature. The observed curvature is owed to annealing occurring simultaneously with sulfur evolution. The unset lamellae are strongly influenced by the defect formed upon sulfur evolution. Coke and char samples were prepared via carbonization in sealed tubing reactors. The extent of mesophase development was assessed by measuring the materials optical anisotropy with a polarized light microscope. Physical and chemical transformations from annealing were measured with electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and electron energy loss spectroscopy. Virgin samples and traditional furnace annealed samples available in bulk were analyzed with X-ray diffraction. The potential technological importance of laser annealing carbon is demonstrated as annealing can be performed continuously and rapidly. Examples of material processing and synthesis not possible via traditional furnace annealing are provided.

The influence of wildfire severity on soil char composition and nitrogen dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhoades, Charles; Fegel, Timothy; Chow, Alex; Tsai, Kuo-Pei; Norman, John, III; Kelly, Eugene

2017-04-01

Forest fires cause lasting ecological changes and alter the biogeochemical processes that control stream water quality. Decreased plant nutrient uptake is the mechanism often held responsible for lasting post-fire shifts in nutrient supply and demand, though other upland and in-stream factors also likely contribute to elevated stream nutrient losses. Soil heating, for example, creates pyrogenic carbon (C) and char layers that influence C and nitrogen (N) cycling. Char layer composition and persistence vary across burned landscapes and are influenced first by fire behavior through the temperature and duration of combustion and then by post-fire erosion. To evaluate the link between soil char and stream C and N export we studied areas burned by the 2002 Hayman Fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado, USA history. We compared soil C and N pools and processes across ecotones that included 1) unburned forests, 2) areas with moderate and 3) high wildfire severity. We analyzed 1-2 cm thick charred organic layers that remain visible 15 years after the fire, underlying mineral soils, and soluble leachate from both layers. Unburned soils released more dissolved organic C and N (DOC and DON) from organic and mineral soil layers than burned soils. The composition of DOC leachate characterized by UV-fluorescence, emission-excitation matrices (EEMs) and Fluorescence Regional Integration (FRI) found similarity between burned and unburned soils, underscoring a common organic matter source. Humic and fulvic acid-like fractions, contained in regions V and III of the FRI model, comprised the majority of the fluorescing DOM in both unburned and char layers. Similarity between two EEMs indices (Fluorescence and Freshness), further denote that unburned soils and char layers originate from the same source and are consistent with visual evidence char layers contain significant amounts of unaltered OM. However, the EEMs humification index (HIX) and compositional analysis with pyrolysis GCMS both indicate that C contained or leached from severely-burned char layers has higher aromaticity and thus chemical stability compared to C in unburned soils. Mineral soil (0-5 cm depth) beneath char layers in high severity portions of the Hayman Fire had significantly more soil N and C and lower pH. Potential net mineralization - an index of the supply of plant-available nitrogen - differed between the severely-burned areas and both unburned and moderately-burn areas. Negative net mineralization in unburned and moderately burned soils indicates immobilization or retention of inorganic N by soil microbes. In contrast, soils burned at high severity produced inorganic N sources available to plants, leaching and gas losses. Water soluble nitrate comprised a larger proportion of inorganic N leached from the char layer of high severity burns. Mineral soil in those areas had both higher water soluble nitrate and total inorganic N in leachate. Char layers that have persisted for fifteen years influence soil N turnover within the Hayman Fire affected area and may contribute to elevated N losses in streams burned at high severity. The chemical stability of soil char layers perpetuates their importance for C sequestration and N dynamics in burned landscapes.

Cow bones char as a green sorbent for fluorides removal from aqueous solutions: batch and fixed-bed studies.

PubMed

Nigri, Elbert M; Cechinel, Maria Alice P; Mayer, Diego A; Mazur, Luciana P; Loureiro, José M; Rocha, Sônia D F; Vilar, Vítor J P

2017-01-01

Cow bone char was investigated as sorbent for the defluoridation of aqueous solutions. The cow bone char was characterized in terms of its morphology, chemical composition, and functional groups present on the bone char surface using different analytical techniques: SEM, EDS, N 2 -BET method, and FTIR. Batch equilibrium studies were performed for the bone chars prepared using different procedures. The highest sorption capacities for fluoride were obtained for the acid washed (q = 6.2 ± 0.5 mg/g) and Al-doped (q = 6.4 ± 0.3 mg/g) bone chars. Langmuir and Freundlich models fitted well the equilibrium sorption data. Fluoride removal rate in batch system is fast in the first 5 h, decreasing after this time until achieving equilibrium due to pore diffusion. The presence of carbonate and bicarbonate ions in the aqueous solution contributes to a decrease of the fluoride sorption capacity of the bone char by 79 and 31 %, respectively. Regeneration of the F-loaded bone char using 0.5 M NaOH solution leads to a sorption capacity for fluoride of 3.1 mg/g in the second loading cycle. Fluoride breakthrough curve obtained in a fixed-bed column presents an asymmetrical S-shaped form, with a slow approach of C/C 0  → 1.0 due to pore diffusion phenomena. Considering the guideline value for drinking water of 1.5 mg F - /L, as recommended by World Health Organization, the service cycle for fluoride removal was of 71.0 h ([F - ] feed  ∼ 9 mg/L; flow rate = 1 mL/min; m sorbent  = 12.6 g). A mass transfer model considering the pore diffusion was able to satisfactorily describe the experimental data obtained in batch and continuous systems.

Synthesis and characterization of poly (dihydroxybiphenyl borate) with high char yield for high-performance thermosetting resins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shujuan; Xing, Xiaolong; Li, Jian; Jing, Xinli

2018-01-01

The objective of the current work is to synthesize novel boron-containing polymers with excellent thermal resistance, and reveal the structure and the reason for the high char yield. Thus, poly (dihydroxybiphenyl borate) (PDDB) with a more rigid molecular chain, was successfully synthesized using 4,4‧-dihydroxybiphenyl and boric acid. Structural characterizations of the prepared PDDB were performed via NMR, FTIR, XPS, and XRD analyses. The results reveal that PDDB consists of aromatic, Phsbnd Osbnd B and Bsbnd Osbnd B structures as well as a small number of boron hydroxyl and phenolic hydroxyl groups. PDDB shows good solubility in strong polar solvents, which is of great importance for the modification of thermosetting resins. TGA combined with DSC were employed to evaluate the thermal properties of PDDB, and increases in the glass transition temperature (Tg) and char yield were observed with increased boron content. Tg and char yield of PDDB (800 °C, nitrogen atmosphere) reached up to 219 °C and 66.5%, respectively. PDDB was extensively characterized during pyrolysis to reveal the high char yield of PDDB. As briefly discussed, the boron oxide and boron carbide that formed during pyrolysis play a crucial role in the high char yield of PDDB, which reduces the release of volatile carbon dioxide and carbon. This research suggests that PDDB has great potential as a novel modified agent for the improvement of the comprehensive performance of thermosetting resins to broaden their applicability in the field of advanced composites.

Crustacean derived calcium phosphate systems: Application in defluoridation of drinking water in East African rift valley.

PubMed

Wagutu, Agatha W; Machunda, Revocatus; Jande, Yusufu Abeid Chande

2018-04-05

Calcium phosphate adsorbents, derived from prawns and crabs shell biomass wastes have been developed using wet chemistry and low temperature treatment. The adsorbents were characterized by X-ray diffractometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Batch adsorption test were carried out to investigate their effectiveness in adsorption of fluoride from ground and surface waters. Adsorption capacities were compared with bone char and synthetic hydroxyapatite (CCHA). Results indicate that prawns derived adsorbent (PHA) formed hexagonal structure with phases identifiable with hydroxyapatite while crabs based adsorbent (CHA) formed predominantly monoclinic structure with crystalline phase characteristic of brushite. Vibrational analysis and kinetic studies predicted defluoridation occurred mainly by ion exchange and ion adsorption mechanisms. Defluoridation capacity of the adsorbents was found to be superior compared to bone char and CCHA. CHA was the most effective with efficiencies above 92% and highest capacity of 13.6 mg/g in field water with fluoride concentration of 5-70 mg/L. PHA had highest capacity of 8.5 mg/g which was still better than 2.6 mg/g recorded by CCHA and bone char. Adsorption was best described by pseudo 2nd order kinetics. The findings indicate that crustacean derived calcium phosphate systems have better potential for defluoridation than traditional bone char and synthetic systems. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ablation characteristics and reaction mechanism of insulation materials under slag deposition condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Yiwen; Li, Jiang; Liu, Yang

2017-07-01

Current understanding of the physical and chemical processes involved in the ablation of insulation materials by highly aluminized solid propellants is limited. The study on the heat transfer and ablation principle of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) materials under slag deposition condition is essential for future design or modification of large solid rocket motors (SRMs) for launch application. In this paper, the alumina liquid flow pattern and the deposition principle in full-scale SRM engines are discussed. The interaction mechanism between the alumina droplets and the wall are analyzed. Then, an experimental method was developed to simulate the insulation material ablation under slag deposition condition. Experimental study was conducted based on a laboratory-scale device. Meanwhile, from the analysis of the cross-sectional morphology and chemical composition of the charring layer after ablation, the reaction mechanism of the charring layer under deposition condition was discussed, and the main reaction equation was derived. The numerical simulation and experimental results show the following. (i) The alumina droplet flow in the deposition section of the laboratory-scale device is similar to that of a full-scale SRM. (ii) The charring layer of the EPDM insulator displays a porous tight/loose structure under high-temperature slag deposition condition. (iii) A seven-step carbothermal reduction in the alumina is derived and established under high-pressure and high-temperature environment in the SRM combustion chamber. (iv) The analysis using thermodynamic software indicates that the reaction of the alumina and charring layer initially forms Al4C3 during the operation. Then, Al element and Al2OC compound are subsequently produced with the reduction in the release of gas CO as well with continuous environmental heating.

Detection of blunt, sharp force and gunshot lesions on burnt remains: a cautionary note.

PubMed

Poppa, Pasquale; Porta, Davide; Gibelli, Daniele; Mazzucchi, Alessandra; Brandone, Alberto; Grandi, Marco; Cattaneo, Cristina

2011-09-01

The study of skin and bone lesions may give information concerning type and manner of production, but in burnt material modification of tissues by the high temperatures may considerably change the morphological characteristics of the lesions. This study aims at pointing out the effects of burning head of pigs with several types of lesions (blunt trauma, sharp force, and gunshot lesions) on soft tissues and bones, both from a morphological and chemical point of view. Results show that the charring process does not completely destroy signs of lesions on bones, which can often be recovered by cleaning bone surface from charred soft-tissue residues. Furthermore, neutron activation analysis test proved that antimony may be detectable also on gunshot entry wounds at the final stages of charring process.

The carbon dioxide gasification characteristics of biomass char samples and their effect on coal gasification reactivity during co-gasification.

PubMed

Mafu, Lihle D; Neomagus, Hein W J P; Everson, Raymond C; Okolo, Gregory N; Strydom, Christien A; Bunt, John R

2018-06-01

The carbon dioxide gasification characteristics of three biomass char samples and bituminous coal char were investigated in a thermogravimetric analyser in the temperature range of 850-950 °C. Char SB exhibited higher reactivities (R i , R s , R f ) than chars SW and HW. Coal char gasification reactivities were observed to be lower than those of the three biomass chars. Correlations between the char reactivities and char characteristics were highlighted. The addition of 10% biomass had no significant impact on the coal char gasification reactivity. However, 20 and 30% biomass additions resulted in increased coal char gasification rate. During co-gasification, chars HW and SW caused increased coal char gasification reactivity at lower conversions, while char SB resulted in increased gasification rates throughout the entire conversion range. Experimental data from biomass char gasification and biomass-coal char co-gasification were well described by the MRPM, while coal char gasification was better described by the RPM. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of fuels for second-generation PFBC

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zevenhoven, C.A.P.; Hupa, M.

1997-12-31

In second-generation PFBC technology a solid fuel is partly converted in a devolatilization step (in a carbonizer) to produce a char and a pressurized fuel gas, followed by PFB combustion of the char. The fuel gas is led to the combustion chamber of a gas turbine after it is mixed with the PFBC off-gas, thus increasing the temperature at the inlet of the expansion turbine. Clearly, the optimization of the carbonizer design and operation is essential to the process. Detailed information on the behavior of solid fuels under pressurized conditions is, however, largely limited to steam and/or carbon dioxide gasificationmore » reactivities, obtained at a different combination of process parameters, such as temperature, pressure, heating rate, particle size and gas atmosphere. In the present work, the effect of temperature, pressure and heating rates on the yields of volatiles and char residue reactivity has been measured for a set of fuels ranging from bituminous coal to wood. Laboratory conditions were typical for the carbonizer and combustion reactors in a second-generation PFBC system. A pressurized thermogravimetric reactor (PTGR) operated at heating rates of around 250 K/s and a pressurized grid heater (PGH) operated at heating rates up to 3,000 K/s were used to analyze fuel devolatilization and char reactivity against carbon dioxide or steam at temperatures between 800 and 1,100 C, and 1, 10 or 25 bar total pressure. For comparison, a few experiments were repeated without a separate devolatilization step. The behavior of the various fuels were compared and related to proximate and ultimate fuel analysis. Several empirical, engineering equations are given. A simple 2-parameter model which separates intrinsic surface reactivity and physical, structure effects, very well describes the time-conversion data of the char. It was found that the fuel O/C molar ratio is a very good index for char reactivity, when the char O/C ratio itself is unknown.« less

Kinetic characteristic of phenanthrene sorption in aged soil amended with biochar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Chanyang; Kim, Yong-Seong; Hyun, Seunghun

2015-04-01

Biochar has been recently highlighted as an amendment that affects yield of the crops by increasing pH, cation exchange capacity and water retention, and reduces the lability of contaminants by increasing sorption capacity in the soil system. Biochar's physico-chemical properties, high CEC, surfaces containing abundant micropores and macropores, and various types of functional groups, play important roles in enhancing sorption capacity of contaminants. Aging through a natural weathering process might change physico-chemical properties of biochar amended in soils, which can affect the sorption behavior of contaminants. Thus, in this study, the sorption characteristics of phenanthrene (PHE) on biochar-amended soils were studied with various types of chars depending on aging time. To do this, 1) soil was amended with sludge waste char (SWC), wood char (WC), and municipal waste char (MWC) during 0, 6, and 12 month. Chars were applied to soil at 1% and 2.5% (w/w) ratio. 2) Several batch kinetic and equilibrium studies were conducted. One-compartment first order and two-compartment first order model apportioning the fraction of fast and slow sorbing were selected for kinetic models. Where, qt is PHE concentration in biochar-amended soils at each time t, qeis PHE concentration in biochar-amended soils at equilibrium. ff is fastly sorbing fraction and (1-ff) is slowly sorbing fraction. k is sorption rate constant from one-compartment first order model, k1 and k2 are sorption rate constant from two-compartment first order model, t is time (hr). The equilibrium sorption data were fitted with Fruendlich and Langmuir equation. 3) Change in physico-chemical properties of biochar-amended soils was investigated with aging time. Batch equilibrium sorption results suggested that sorbed amount of PHE on WC was greater than SWC and MWC. The more char contents added to soil, the greater sorption capacity of PHE. Sorption equilibrium was reached after 4 hours and equilibrium pH ranged from 6.5 to 8.0. Sorption capacity was reduced with aging time. From kinetic results, two-compartment first order model was more suitable than one-compartment first order model. Fast sorption site of biochar-amended soils dominated total sorption process (i.e., Fraction of fast sorption site ranged from 0.55 to 0.96). Reduced sorption capacity with aging time could be attributed to changes in physico-chemical properties of biochar-amended soils (e.g., reduced pores and increased hydrophilic carboxyl and carbonyl functional groups). Verification is FI-IR and SSA. It is assumed that biochar is a suitable material for PHE contaminated soil in order to reduce the lability of PHE. However, aging effects would lessen biochar benefit for reducing the sorption capacity of PHE by forming hydrophilic functional group and reducing pores.

Pyrolysis of flax straw: Characterization of char, liquid, and gas as fuel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tushar, Mohammad Shahed Hasan Khan

The demand for energy continues to outstrip its supply and necessitates the development of renewable energy options. Biomass has been recognized as a major renewable energy source to supplement the declining fossil fuel source of energy. It is the most popular form of renewable energy and, currently, biofuel production is becoming more promising. Being carbon neutral, readily available, and low in sulphur content makes biomass a very promising source of renewable energy. In the present research, both the isothermal and non-isothermal pressurized pyrolysis of flax straw is studied for the first time. In case of isothermal pyrolysis, the influence of pyrolysis temperature and reaction time on char yield and morphology was investigated. The applied pyrolysis temperature was varied between 300 and 500°C. The reaction time was varied from 15 to 60 min. The char yield was found to decrease as pyrolysis temperature and reaction time increased. The char structure and surface morphology were thoroughly investigated by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The degree of porosity and graphitization increased as pyrolysis temperature and time increased. In fact, the experiment performed at 500°C for 1h duration did not yield any char; only residual ash could be obtained. The TPO studies on the char samples corroborated the XRD findings and showed the presence of two types of carbon, namely, amorphous filamentous carbon and graphitic carbon. A thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the char was performed to gain an understanding of combustion kinetics and reactivity. It implied that the reactivity of the char decreases as temperature increases, and this finding is well supported by the TPO, TGA, SEM, and XRD characterization data. Furthermore, an empirical global model was devised based on the power law to estimate activation energy and other kinetic parameters. For the non-isothermal pressurized pyrolysis of flax straw, the experiments were carried out at different pressures, ranging from 10 to 40 psig. The three types of products thus obtained (gas, liquid, char) were thoroughly quantified and analyzed. The yields of the products were found to be dependent on the experimental conditions. It was observed that 10 psig of pressure gave the maximum yield of bio-oil, while 20 psig pressure lead to maximum char yield. The gaseous products were analyzed using an online GC, while the bio-oils were characterized using an offline GC/MS. SEM studies were performed to study the char morphology and porosity. The main gaseous products observed were CO, H2, CO2, CH 4, and C3. The bio-oils were mainly composed of phenolic compounds, carboxylic acids, and furfural. The pH and density of the bio-oils was found to increase as pyrolysis pressure increased. SEM investigation gave insights into the porosity of chars; as pressure increased, an increase in the porosity of char was noted. XRD studies showed that amorphous hydrocarbon and graphitic carbons are the major constituents of char, which was supported by TPO experiments. A TGA study showed two reaction zones for char oxidation. The kinetic parameters of oxidation were estimated using a power law model, which was also used for isothermal pyrolysis and isothermal char oxidation kinetics. Based on the data generated, the pressure of 10 psig was found to be optimum for bio-oil production, while a pressure of 20 psig was optimum for char production. With the increase in pressure, the production of individual gas components increased within the pressure range studied. Finally, with the increase in reaction pressure, temperature and time, the produced chars became less reactive.

Characterization and partitioning of the char ash collected after the processing of pine wood chips in a pilot-scale gasification unit

Treesearch

Thomas L. Eberhardt; Hui Pan; Leslie H. Groom; Chi-Leung So

2011-01-01

Southern yellow pine wood chips were used as the feedstock for a pilot-scale gasification unit coupled with a 25 kW generator. The pulp-grade wood chips were relatively free of bark and low in ash content. Processing this feedstock yielded a black/sooty by-product that upon combustion in a muffle furnace resulted in an ash content of about 48%. The term "char ash...

Basic study of charring detection at the laser catheter-tip using back scattering light measurement during therapeutic laser irradiation in blood.

PubMed

Takahashi, Mei; Ito, Arisa; Kajihara, Takuro; Matsuo, Hiroki; Arai, Tsunenori

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate transient process of the charring at the laser catheter-tip in blood during therapeutic laser irradiation by the back scattering light measurement to detect precursor state of the charring. We took account of using photodynamic therapy for arrhythmia in blood through the laser catheter. We observed the influence of the red laser irradiation (λ=663 nm) upon the shape of red blood cells (RBCs). The RBCs aggregation, round formation, and hemolysis were took place sequentially before charring. With a model blood sandwiched between glass plates simulated as a catheter-tip boundary, we measured diffuse-reflected-light power and transmitted-light power simultaneously and continuously by a microscopic optics during the laser irradiation. We found that measured light power changes were originated with RBCs shape change induced by temperature rise due to the laser irradiation. A gentle peak following a slow descending was observed in the diffuse-reflected-light power history. This history might indicate the precursor state of the charring, in which the hemolysis might be considered to advance rapidly. We think that the measurement of diffuse-reflected-light power history might be able to detect precursor state of charring at the catheter-tip in blood.

The potential applications of using compost chars for removing the hydrophobic herbicide atrazine from solution.

PubMed

Tsui, Lo; Roy, William R

2008-09-01

One commercial compost sample was pyrolyzed to produce chars as a sorbent for removing the herbicide atrazine from solution. The sorption behavior of compost-based char was compared with that of an activated carbon derived from corn stillage. When compost was pyrolyzed, the char yield was greater than 45% when heated under air, and 52% when heated under N(2). In contrast, when the corn stillage was pyrolyzed under N(2), the yield was only 22%. The N(2)-BET surface area of corn stillage activated carbon was 439 m(2)/g, which was much greater than the maximum compost char surface area of 72 m(2)/g. However, the sorption affinity of the compost char for dissolved atrazine was comparable to that of the corn stillage activated carbon. This similarity could have resulted from the initial organic waste being subjected to a relatively long period of thermal processes during composting, and thus, the compost was more thermally stable when compared with the raw materials. In addition, microorganisms transformed the organic wastes into amorphous humic substances, and thus, it was likely that the microporisity was enhanced. Although this micropore structure could not be detected by the N(2)-BET method, it was apparent in the atrazine sorption experiment. Overall, the experimental results suggested that the compost sample in current study was a relatively stable material thermally for producing char, and that it has the potential as a feed stock for making high-quality activated carbon.

Pyrolysis conditions and ozone oxidation effects on ammonia adsorption in biomass generated chars.

PubMed

Kastner, James R; Miller, Joby; Das, K C

2009-05-30

Ammonia adsorbents were generated via pyrolysis of biomass (peanut hulls and palm oil shells) over a range of temperatures and compared to a commercially available activated carbon (AC) and solid biomass residuals (wood and poultry litter fly ash). Dynamic ammonia adsorption studies (i.e., breakthrough curves) were performed using these adsorbents at 23 degrees C from 6 to 17 ppmv NH(3). Of the biomass chars, palm oil char generated at 500 degrees C had the highest NH(3) adsorption capacity (0.70 mg/g, 6 ppmv, 10% relative humidity (RH)), was similar to the AC, and contrasted to the other adsorbents (including the AC), the NH(3) adsorption capacity significantly increased if the relative humidity was increased (4 mg/g, 7 ppmv, 73% RH). Room temperature ozone treatment of the chars and activated carbon significantly increased the NH(3) adsorption capacity (10% RH); resultant adsorption capacity, q (mg/g) increased by approximately 2, 6, and 10 times for palm oil char, peanut hull char (pyrolysis only), and activated carbon, respectively. However, water vapor (73% RH at 23 degrees C) significantly reduced NH(3) adsorption capacity in the steam and ozone treated biomass, yet had no effect on the palm shell char generated at 500 degrees C. These results indicate the feasibility of using a low temperature (and thus low energy input) pyrolysis and activation process for the generation of NH(3) adsorbents from biomass residuals.

Pyrolysis of Lantana camara and Mimosa pigra: Influences of temperature, other process parameters and incondensable gas evolution on char yield and higher heating value.

PubMed

Mundike, Jhonnah; Collard, François-Xavier; Görgens, Johann F

2017-11-01

Pyrolysis of invasive non-indigenous plants, Lantana camara (LC) and Mimosa pigra (MP) was conducted at milligram-scale for optimisation of temperature, heating rate and hold time on char yield and higher heating value (HHV). The impact of scaling-up to gram-scale was also studied, with chromatography used to correlate gas composition with HHV evolution. Statistically significant effects of temperature on char yield and HHV were obtained, while heating rate and hold time effects were insignificant. Milligram-scale maximised HHVs were 30.03MJkg -1 (525°C) and 31.01MJkg -1 (580°C) for LC and MP, respectively. Higher char yields and HHVs for MP were attributed to increased lignin content. Scaling-up promoted secondary char formation thereby increasing HHVs, 30.82MJkg -1 for LC and 31.61MJkg -1 for MP. Incondensable gas analysis showed that temperature increase beyond preferred values caused dehydrogenation that decreased HHV. Similarly, CO evolution profile explained differences in optimal HHV temperatures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on demetalization of sewage sludge by sequential extraction before liquefaction for the production of cleaner bio-oil and bio-char.

PubMed

Leng, Lijian; Yuan, Xingzhong; Shao, Jianguang; Huang, Huajun; Wang, Hou; Li, Hui; Chen, Xiaohong; Zeng, Guangming

2016-01-01

Demetalization of sewage sludge (SS) by sequential extraction before liquefaction was implemented to produce cleaner bio-char and bio-oil. Demetalization steps 1 and 2 did not cause much organic matter loss on SS, and thus the bio-oil and bio-char yields and the compositions of bio-oils were also not affected significantly. However, the demetalization procedures resulted in the production of cleaner bio-chars and bio-oils. The total concentrations and the acid soluble/exchangeable fraction (F1 fraction, the most toxic heavy metal fraction) of heavy metals (Cu, Cr, Pb, Zn, and Cd) in these products were significantly reduced and the environmental risks of these products were also relived considerably compared with those produced from raw SS, respectively. Additionally, these bio-oils had less heavy fractions. Demetalization processes with removal of F1 and F2 fractions of heavy metals would benefit the production of cleaner bio-char and bio-oil by liquefaction of heavy metal abundant biomass like SS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal characteristics and surface morphology of char during co-pyrolysis of low-rank coal blended with microalgal biomass: Effects of Nannochloropsis and Chlorella.

PubMed

Wu, Zhiqiang; Yang, Wangcai; Yang, Bolun

2018-02-01

In this work, the influence of Nannochloropsis and Chlorella on the thermal behavior and surface morphology of char during the co-pyrolysis process were explored. Thermogravimetric and iso-conversional methods were applied to analyzing the pyrolytic and kinetic characteristics for different mass ratios of microalgae and low-rank coal (0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3 and 1). Fractal theory was used to quantitatively determine the effect of microalgae on the morphological texture of co-pyrolysis char. The result indicated that both the Nannochloropsis and Chlorella promoted the release of volatile from low-rank coal. Different synergistic effects on the thermal parameters and yield of volatile were observed, which could be attributed to the different compositions in the Nannochloropsis and Chlorella and operating condition. The distribution of activation energies shows nonadditive characteristics. Fractal dimensions of the co-pyrolysis char were higher than the individual char, indicating the promotion of disordered degree due to the addition of microalgae. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Co-pyrolysis behaviors of saw dust and Shenfu coal in drop tube furnace and fixed bed reactor.

PubMed

Li, Shuaidan; Chen, Xueli; Wang, Li; Liu, Aibin; Yu, Guangsuo

2013-11-01

Co-pyrolysis behaviors of saw dust (SD) and Shenfu bituminous coal (SF) were studied in a drop tube furnace and a fixed bed reactor at different temperatures respectively. Six different biomass/coal ratios (B:C) were used. Compared the results with the calculated value obtained by the additional behavior, CO volume yields were lower while H2, CH4, CO2, volume yields were higher. Blend char yields had a good agreement with the calculated values, and their structures remained similar with SD and SF char's. Synergy effect occurred in gaseous phase, which was mainly caused by the secondary reactions. Compared the blend char yields in the drop tube furnace with those in the fixed bed reactor, the results showed the contacting way of biomass and coal particles had little influence on char yield in co-pyrolysis process. The reactivity index of blend char achieved the minimum at B:C=40:60 and the maximum at B:C=80:20. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rapid co-pyrolysis of rice straw and a bituminous coal in a high-frequency furnace and gasification of the residual char.

PubMed

Yuan, Shuai; Dai, Zheng-hua; Zhou, Zhi-jie; Chen, Xue-li; Yu, Guang-suo; Wang, Fu-chen

2012-04-01

Rapid pyrolysis of rice straw (RS) and Shenfu bituminous coal (SB) separately, and rapid co-pyrolysis of RS/SB blends (mass ratio 1:4, 1:4, and 4:1), were carried out in a high-frequency furnace which can ensure both high heating rate and satisfying contact of fuel particles. Synergies between RS and SB during rapid co-pyrolysis were investigated. Intrinsic and morphological structures of residual char from co-pyrolysis, and their effects on gasification characteristics were also studied. Synergies occurred during rapid co-pyrolysis of RS and SB (RS/SB=1:4) resulting in decreasing char yields and increasing volatile yields. Synergies also happened during gasification of the char derived from co-pyrolysis of RS and SB with mass ratio of 1:4. The increased mass ratio of RS to SB did not only weaken synergies during co-pyrolysis, but significantly reduced the gasification rates of the co-pyrolysis char compared to the calculated values. Results can help to optimize co-conversion process of biomass/coal. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mechanism of catalytic gasification of coal char. Quarterly technical report No. 5, October 1 to December 31, 1981

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wood, B. J.; Sancier, K. M.; Sheridan, D. R.

1982-02-26

The purpose of this study is to determine the mechanisms involved in the catalytic reactions of coal char and to identify the specific reaction steps and the parameters that control the catalytic process. The mode of action of the catalyst can be viewed in two ways. In one view, the catalyst participates in a reduction/oxidation cycle. The initial reaction between the carbon and the catalyst reduces the KOH to potassium accompanied by the gaseous reactant (H/sub 2/O or CO/sub 2/), producing further gaseous products (CO and H/sub 2/) and regenerating the initial state of the catalyst. In an alternative view,more » the catalyst initially forms an alkali metal addition compound with the carbon network of the char. The carbon-carbon bonds are altered by the formation of the metal-carbon linkage, possibly by electron transfer from the alkali metal atom to the carbon structure. As a result, the carbon structure is more readily attacked by the gaseous reactant (CO or H/sub 2/O) to produce the products of gasification. The following areas were investigated to provide experimental evidence for these catalytic modes of action: chemical kinetic measurements; thermodynamic measurements; free radicals in reacting carbon; electrical conductivity measurements. A detailed discussion on the catalyst-carbon interaction and on the reaction intermediate is provided.« less

New high-temperature flame-resistant resin matrix for RP/C

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kourtides, D. A.

1981-01-01

The processing parameters of graphite composites utilizing graphite fabric and epoxy or other advanced thermoset and thermoplastic resins as matrices are discussed. The evaluated properties include anaerobic char yield, limiting oxygen index, smoke evolution, moisture absorption, and high-temperature mechanical properties. It is shown that graphite composites having the highest char yield exhibit optimum fire-resistant properties.

Char binder for fluidized beds

DOEpatents

Borio, Richard W.; Accortt, Joseph I.

1981-01-01

An arrangement that utilizes agglomerating coal as a binder to bond coal fines and recycled char into an agglomerate mass that will have suitable retention time when introduced into a fluidized bed 14 for combustion. The simultaneous use of coal for a primary fuel and as a binder effects significant savings in the elimination of non-essential materials and processing steps.

Effects of MgO on the Reduction of Vanadium Titanomagnetite Concentrates with Char

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chao; Sun, TiChang; Wang, XiaoPing; Hu, TianYang

2017-10-01

The effects of MgO on the carbothermic reduction behavior of vanadium titanomagnetite concentrates (VTC) from Chengde, China, were investigated via temperature-programmed heating under nitrogen atmosphere in a sealed furnace. Gaseous product content was measured by using an infrared gas analyzer, and it was found that the addition of MgO to VTC with char decreased the reduction rate and reduction degree, and the utilization of CO in VTC reduction was also reduced. X-ray diffraction results showed that magnesium titanate (Mg2TiO4) was formed but FeTi2O5 was not observed in the VTC reduction process by adding 6 wt.% MgO, which can be explained by thermodynamic analysis. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the enrichment of Mg in the unreacted core was the main reason that the further reduction of VTC was restricted. However, comparatively pure particles of Mg2TiO4 were generated, and the titanium and iron were separated well due to the combination of magnesium and titanium.

Effects of fresh and aged chars from pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization on nutrient sorption in agricultural soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gronwald, M.; Don, A.; Tiemeyer, B.; Helfrich, M.

2015-06-01

Leaching of nutrients from agricultural soils causes major environmental problems that may be reduced with amendments of chars derived from pyrolysis (pyrochars) or hydrothermal carbonization (hydrochars). Chars are characterized by a high adsorption capacity - i.e. they may retain nutrients such as nitrate and ammonium. However, the physicochemical properties of the chars and hence their sorption capacity likely depend on feedstock and the production process. We investigated the nutrient retention capacity of pyrochars and hydrochars from three different feedstocks (digestates, Miscanthus, woodchips) mixed into different soil substrates (sandy loam and silty loam). Moreover, we investigated the influence of char degradation on its nutrient retention capacity using a 7-month in situ field incubation of pyrochar and hydrochar mixed into soils at three different field sites. Pyrochars showed the highest ability to retain nitrate, ammonium and phosphate, with pyrochar from woodchips being particularly efficient in nitrate adsorption. Ammonium adsorption of pyrochars was controlled by the soil type of the soil-char mixture. We found some ammonium retention on sandy soils, but no pyrochar effect or even ammonium leaching from the loamy soil. The phosphate retention capacity of pyrochars strongly depended on the pyrochar feedstock with large phosphate leaching from digestate-derived pyrochar and some adsorption capacity from woodchip-derived pyrochar. Application of hydrochars to agricultural soils caused small, and often not significant, effects on nutrient retention. In contrast, some hydrochars did increase the leaching of nutrients compared to the non-amended control soil. We found a surprisingly rapid loss of the chars' adsorption capacity after field application of the chars. For all sites and for hydrochar and pyrochar, the adsorption capacity was reduced by 60-80 % to less or no nitrate and ammonium adsorption. Thus, our results cast doubt on the efficiency of char applications to temperate zone soils to minimize nutrient losses via leaching.

Pyrolysis process for producing fuel gas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Serio, Michael A. (Inventor); Kroo, Erik (Inventor); Wojtowicz, Marek A. (Inventor); Suuberg, Eric M. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

Solid waste resource recovery in space is effected by pyrolysis processing, to produce light gases as the main products (CH.sub.4, H.sub.2, CO.sub.2, CO, H.sub.2O, NH.sub.3) and a reactive carbon-rich char as the main byproduct. Significant amounts of liquid products are formed under less severe pyrolysis conditions, and are cracked almost completely to gases as the temperature is raised. A primary pyrolysis model for the composite mixture is based on an existing model for whole biomass materials, and an artificial neural network models the changes in gas composition with the severity of pyrolysis conditions.

Co-pyrolysis behavior of microalgae biomass and low-quality coal: Products distributions, char-surface morphology, and synergistic effects.

PubMed

Wu, Zhiqiang; Yang, Wangcai; Li, Yaowu; Yang, Bolun

2018-05-01

In this work, the distributions and releasing properties of the primary volatile products during co-pyrolysis of low-rank coal and green algae (GA) has been studied using fixed-bed reactor with online mass spectrometry. Surface morphology of the char was described quantitatively by SEM combined with fractal theory. Different forms of synergistic effects existed from both the yields of products and composition of the main gaseous products. Positive synergistic effects from tar yield were observed under 25% of GA from 600 to 850 °C, indicating GA promoted the formation of tar. Opposite synergistic effects on the content of H 2 and CO were gained when the mass ratio of GA was 50%. The fractal dimensions of co-pyrolysis char were less than the calculated values except under 650 °C, which meant the GA promoted the homogeneity of char surface. This work could provide essential data for proper operation parameters selecting for co-pyrolysis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A PC Program to Calculate the One-Sided Lower Tolerance Limit for Total Ionizing Dose Radiation Data

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-08-01

include <graphics .h> #define VEDIO OxlO #define ESC 27 1* Decelerations * FILE *pfile; FILE *outf; FILE *inf; mnt n; mnt un; float max scale...regs.h.ah=2; regs .h.dh=y; regs .h.dl=x; regs .h.bh=O; int86( VEDIO , ®s, ®s); char attribute(char blink, char back-color,char intensity, char...set lint mode) union REGS regs; regs.h.ah=O; regs h a l-mode; int86( VEDIO , ®s, ®s); void str-color (char x, char y, char *str, char blink, char

Fracture in Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agrawal, Parul; Chavez-Garcia, Jose F.

2011-01-01

The thermal protection materials used for spacecraft heat shields are subjected to various thermal-mechanical loads during an atmospheric entry which can threaten the structural integrity of the system. This paper discusses the development of a novel technique to understand the failure mechanisms inside thermal protection materials. The focus of research is Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA). It has successfully flown on the Stardust spacecraft and is the TPS material chosen for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and Dragon spacecraft. Although PICA has good thermal properties, structurally, it is a weak material. In order to thoroughly understand failure in PICA, fracture tests were performed on FiberForm* (precursor of PICA), virgin and charred PICA materials. Several samples of these materials were tested to investigate failure mechanisms at a microstructural scale. Stress-strain data were obtained simultaneously to estimate the fracture toughness. It was found that cracks initiated and grew in the FiberForm when a critical stress limit was reached such that the carbon fibers separated from the binder. However, both for virgin and charred PICA, crack initiation and growth occurred in the matrix (phenolic) phase. Both virgin and charred PICA showed greater strength values compared to FiberForm coupons, confirming that the presence of the porous matrix helps in absorbing the fracture energy.

Short-term incubation studies on degradation of biochar in soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanza, Giacomo; Wirth, Stephan; Geßler, Arthur; Kern, Jürgen; Mumme, Jan

2014-05-01

Biochar is considered a stable, recalcitrant substance, which holds potential to store carbon in soils for prolonged time and therefore would provide a long-term carbon sink. Furthermore, biochar is discussed to enhance soil fertility and plant productivity, and may improve water and nutrient holding capacity. However, mineralisation to CO2 may occur, as for any soil organic carbon pool, depending on char composition, soil properties and environmental conditions. Therefore, it is important to gain insight into the stability of its carbon structure and the dynamics of decay processes in soil. The evaluation of biochar stability in soil is complicated by the impact of external factors thus as soil moisture and temperature, soil nutrient status and moreover by extended decay timescales. To overcome these difficulties, we performed dynamic incubation experiments under laboratory conditions, using a multi-channel, automated infra-red gas analysis system at 20°C for up to 10 days to detect CO2 emission over time. Our aim was to compare the decay dynamics of different biochar preparations added to soil, i.e. HTC-char and pyrochar from maize silage with and without biological post-processing (anaerobic digestion), as compared to unmodified maize straw. Digestate from a maize silage-fed anaerobic biogas reactor was also tested. As a result, the addition of charred or digested materials to soil resulted in much lower CO2 emission rates as compared to the unmodified maize straw, proving stability of biochar carbon compounds. Pyrochar showed to be the most stable of all substrates added, as the CO2 emission was hardly distinguishable from that of the control soil. Soil enriched with HTC-char emitted significantly more CO2 compared to soil enriched with pyrochar, but the post-processing was effective in reducing the emissions. Furthermore, HTC-char showed a two-step decay kinetics, which cannot apparently be explained with a simple double-pool model. In conclusion, the short-term incubation approach was effective to highlight differences in decomposition dynamics between the considered substrates in soil, and confirmed the effectiveness of the charring process to increase the stability of organic substrates in soil. More investigations are necessary to reveal the impact of readily available substrates and nutrients on degradation of biochar in soil, and to clarify the mechanisms responsible for the observed kinetics in order to derive a suitable process model.

Porous carbon from local coconut shell char by CO2 and H2O activation in the presence of K2CO3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vi, Nguyen Ngoc Thuy; Truyen, Dang Hai; Trung, Bien Cong; An, Ngo Thanh; Van Dung, Nguyen; Long, Nguyen Quang

2017-09-01

Vietnamese coconut shell char was activated by steam and carbon dioxide at low temperatures with the presence of K2CO3 as a catalyst. The effects of process parameters on adsorption capability of the product including different ratio of impregnation of activation agents, activation temperature, activation time were investigated in this study. Iodine number, methylene blue adsorption capacity, specific surface area and pore size distribution were measured to assess the properties of the activated carbon. Accordingly, the porous carbon was applied for toluene removal by adsorption technology. Significant increases in specific surface area and the toluene adsorption capacity were observed when the coconut shell char was activated in CO2 flow at 720 °C for 150 minutes and the K2CO3/char weight ratio of 0.5.

Century scale char and non-char C co-stabilization in soil free C fractions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasilyeva, N. A.; Chenu, C.

2012-04-01

Fate of char particles and reasons of char C stabilization in soils is not well understood especially due to difficulties of its quantification. In this study we showed how char C content could be estimated from elemental analysis along with its size redistribution and co-stabilization with non-char C in long-term. We studied C dynamics in the size and density fractons of soil samples from a historical collection of 80 years bare fallow (no plant input plus tillage) experiment in Versailles, France (1929, 1939, 1949, 1962, 1972, 1991, 2008 years). Coarse char particles were observed in the soil substantially contributing to total organic C. Thus, char C study in this soil was carried out as a nessessary step for estimation of non-char C dynamics. Physical fraction allowed us to follow separately the dynamics of mineral-associated and free C. We analyzed bulk soils, fractions and picked out char particles for C, N and 13C contents. Total organic carbon concentrations in fractions pointed to char C input during 1939-1949 years. After that patterns of C and C/N and δ 13C changes in all fractions suggested redistribution of char C from coarse to finer fractions. Evolution of C/N and δ 13C suggested that all free C fractions, although enriched in char, still contained non-char C in the end of the 80 years C depletion chronosequence. Especially high proportion of non-char C was observed in the silt-size free C fraction. Linear combinations of contrasting char and non-char C C/N values allowed estimation of their proportions from the C/N evolution in the fractions. No substantial admixture of char C was observed for mineral-associated C fractions. Stable C pool in 2008 comprised of 4.6 g C kg-1 soil and was composed of mineral-associated C (3.5 g C kg-1 soil) and char-associated C (1.1 g C kg-1 soil). In both cases organic matter could be stabilized through adsorption and/or occlusion with solid particles (mineral or char). Stabilization capacities of different size class minerals reflected in C concentrations of fractions were 1.2 g C kg-1 for silt-size minerals and 19.4 g C kg-1 for clay-size minerals, contrastingly three orders of magnitude more C was associated with char particles or about 1.2 kg non-char C kg-1 sand-size char and about 1.4 to 3.5 kg non-char C kg-1 silt-size char. Such a high capacity of stabilization by char particles could not be explained by adorbtion alone. In conclusion, combination of C/N and δ13C signature allowed estimation of char content in this soil. Total char C content (sum up of redistributed char C in free fractions) remained not significantly different in the C depletion experiment during five decades after char input. Century scale char and non-char C co-stabilization in this soil could be explained by combination of adsorption and physical protection in microaggregates constructed of mineral and char particles.

New high boron content polyborane precursors to advanced ceramic materials: New syntheses, new applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guron, Marta

There is a need for new synthetic routes to high boron content materials for applications as polymeric precursors to ceramics, as well as in neutron shielding and potential medical applications. To this end, new ruthenium-catalyzed olefin metathesis routes have been devised to form new complex polyboranes and polymeric species. Metathesis of di-alkenyl substituted o-carboranes allowed the synthesis of ring-closed products fused to the carborane cage, many of which are new compounds and one that offers a superior synthetic method to one previously published. Acyclic diene metathesis of di-alkenyl substituted m-carboranes resulted in the formation of new main-chain carborane-containing polymers of modest molecular weights. Due to their extremely low char yields, and in order to explore other metathesis routes, ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) was used to generate the first examples of poly(norbornenyl- o-carboranes). Monomer synthesis was achieved via a two-step process, incorporating Ti-catalyzed hydroboration to make 6-(5-norbornenyl)-decaborane, followed by alkyne insertion in ionic liquid media to achieve 1,2-R2 -3-norbornenyl o-carborane species. The monomers were then polymerized using ROMP to afford several examples of poly(norbornenyl- o-carboranes) with relatively high molecular weights. One such polymer, [1-Ph, 3-(=CH2-C5H7-CH2=)-1,2-C 2B10H10]n, had a char yield very close to the theoretical char yield of 44%. Upon random copolymerization with poly(6-(5-norbornenyl) decaborane), char yields significantly increased to 80%, but this number was well above the theoretical value implicating the formation of a boron-carbide/carbon ceramic. Finally, applications of polyboranes were explored via polymer blends toward the synthesis of ceramic composites and the use of polymer precursors as reagents for potential ultra high temperature ceramic applications. Upon pyrolysis, polymer blends of poly(6-(5-norbornenyl)-decaborane) and poly(methylcarbosilane) converted into boron-carbide/silicon-carbide ceramics with high char yields. These polymer blends were also shown to be useful as reagents for synthesis of hafnium-boride/hafnium-carbide/silicon carbide and zirconium-boride/zirconium-carbide/silicon carbide composites.

Considerations Based on Reaction Rate on Char Gasification Behavior in Two-stage Gasifier for Biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taniguchi, Miki; Nishiyama, Akio; Sasauchi, Kenichi; Ito, Yusuke; Akamatsu, Fumiteru

In order to develop a small-scale gasifier in which biomass can be converted to energy with high efficiency, we planned a gasification process that consists of two parts: pyrolysis part (rotary kiln) and gasification part (downdraft gasifier). We performed fundamental experiments on gasification part and discussed the appropriate conditions such as air supply location, air ratio, air temperature and hearth load. We considered the results by calculating reaction rates of representative reactions on char gasification part and found that water gas reaction is dominant in the reduction area and its behavior gives important information to decide the adequate length of the char layer.

The influence of composition and final pyrolysis temperature variations on global kinetics of combustion of segregated municipal solid waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pranoto; Himawanto, D. A.; Arifin, N. A.

2017-04-01

The combustion of segregated municipal solid waste (MSW) and the resulted char from the pyrolysis process were investigated in this research. The segregated MSW that was collected and used can be divided into organic and inorganic waste materials. The organic materials were bamboo and banana leaves and the inorganic materials were Styrofoam and snack wrappings. The composition ratio of the waste was based on the percentage of weight of each sample. The thermal behaviour of the segregated MSW was investigated by thermo gravimetric analysis. For the pyrolysis process the prepared samples of 200gram were heated from ambient temperature until a variance of final pyrolysis temperature of 550°C, 650°C and 750°C at a constant heating rate of 25°C/min. It was found that the highest activation energy of the raw materials is achieved from sample CC1 (Char with 100% inorganic materials). The activation energy of the raw materials is relatively lower than that of the char. The higher the final pyrolysis temperature, the lower the calorific value of char. The calorific value gradually increases with the amount of inorganic materials.

Microwave-assisted pyrolysis of Mississippi coal: A comparative study with conventional pyrolysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abdelsayed, Victor; Shekhawat, Dushyant; Smith, Mark W.

Pyrolysis conditions greatly affect the structure-reactivity relationship of char during coal gasification. Here, this work investigated the effect of temperature and microwave heating on the structural properties of the chars generated during pyrolysis, as well as gaseous and tar products. Results showed that microwave pyrolysis of Mississippi coal produced more gaseous products and less tars compared to conventional pyrolysis. Higher CO/CO 2 ratio (>1) was observed under microwave pyrolysis compared to conventional pyrolysis (CO/CO2 < 1), which may be explained by a greater extent of gasification between solid carbon and the CO 2 formed during microwave pyrolysis. Additionally, in microwavemore » pyrolysis, the oil tars generated exhibited lower concentrations of polar oxygenates, while the wax tars showed higher concentrations of non-polar alkanes, as observed from the intensity of CH vibrations in FTIR. The product compositions and FTIR analysis of the tars (oils and waxes) suggest that the microwave interacted preferentially with these polar species, which have relatively higher dielectric properties compared to alkanes. The structure–reactivity relationship of the chars produced was also investigated using a variety of characterization tools such as XRD, BET, SEM, EDS, and FTIR. Finally, the char reactivity towards combustion suggested that microwave-produced chars have a higher thermal stability, likely due to lower O/C ratios, and could be utilized in the metallurgical industry.« less

Microwave-assisted pyrolysis of Mississippi coal: A comparative study with conventional pyrolysis

DOE PAGES

Abdelsayed, Victor; Shekhawat, Dushyant; Smith, Mark W.; ...

2018-01-13

Pyrolysis conditions greatly affect the structure-reactivity relationship of char during coal gasification. Here, this work investigated the effect of temperature and microwave heating on the structural properties of the chars generated during pyrolysis, as well as gaseous and tar products. Results showed that microwave pyrolysis of Mississippi coal produced more gaseous products and less tars compared to conventional pyrolysis. Higher CO/CO 2 ratio (>1) was observed under microwave pyrolysis compared to conventional pyrolysis (CO/CO2 < 1), which may be explained by a greater extent of gasification between solid carbon and the CO 2 formed during microwave pyrolysis. Additionally, in microwavemore » pyrolysis, the oil tars generated exhibited lower concentrations of polar oxygenates, while the wax tars showed higher concentrations of non-polar alkanes, as observed from the intensity of CH vibrations in FTIR. The product compositions and FTIR analysis of the tars (oils and waxes) suggest that the microwave interacted preferentially with these polar species, which have relatively higher dielectric properties compared to alkanes. The structure–reactivity relationship of the chars produced was also investigated using a variety of characterization tools such as XRD, BET, SEM, EDS, and FTIR. Finally, the char reactivity towards combustion suggested that microwave-produced chars have a higher thermal stability, likely due to lower O/C ratios, and could be utilized in the metallurgical industry.« less

Study on the combined sewage sludge pyrolysis and gasification process: mass and energy balance.

PubMed

Wang, Zhonghui; Chen, Dezhen; Song, Xueding; Zhao, Lei

2012-12-01

A combined pyrolysis and gasification process for sewage sludge was studied in this paper for the purpose of its safe disposal with energy self-balance. Three sewage sludge samples with different dry basis lower heat values (LHV(db)) were used to evaluate the constraints on this combined process. Those samples were pre-dried and then pyrolysed within the temperature range of 400-550 degrees C. Afterwards, the char obtained from pyrolysis was gasified to produce fuel gas. The experimental results showed that the char yield ranged between 37.28 and 53.75 wt% of the dry sludge and it changed with ash content, pyrolysis temperature and LHV(db) of the sewage sludge. The gas from char gasification had a LHV around 5.31-5.65 MJ/Nm3, suggesting it can be utilized to supply energy in the sewage sludge drying and pyrolysis process. It was also found that energy balance in the combined process was affected by the LHV(db) of sewage sludge, moisture content and pyrolysis temperature. Higher LHV(db), lower moisture content and higher pyrolysis temperature benefit energy self-balance. For sewage sludge with a moisture content of 80 wt%, LHV(db) of sewage sludge should be higher than 18 MJ/kg and the pyrolysis temperature should be higher than 450 degrees C to maintain energy self-sufficiency when volatile from the pyrolysis process is the only energy supplier; when the LHV(db) was in the range of 14.65-18 MJ/kg, energy self-balance could be maintained in this combined process with fuel gas from char gasification as a supplementary fuel; auxiliary fuel was always needed if the LHV(db) was lower than 14.65 MJ/kg.

The potential applications of using compost chars for removing the hydrophobic herbicide atrazine from solution

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tsui, L.; Roy, W.R.

2008-01-01

One commercial compost sample was pyrolyzed to produce chars as a sorbent for removing the herbicide atrazine from solution. The sorption behavior of compost-based char was compared with that of an activated carbon derived from corn stillage. When compost was pyrolyzed, the char yield was greater than 45% when heated under air, and 52% when heated under N2. In contrast, when the corn stillage was pyrolyzed under N2, the yield was only 22%. The N2-BET surface area of corn stillage activated carbon was 439 m2/g, which was much greater than the maximum compost char surface area of 72 m2/g. However, the sorption affinity of the compost char for dissolved atrazine was comparable to that of the corn stillage activated carbon. This similarity could have resulted from the initial organic waste being subjected to a relatively long period of thermal processes during composting, and thus, the compost was more thermally stable when compared with the raw materials. In addition, microorganisms transformed the organic wastes into amorphous humic substances, and thus, it was likely that the microporisity was enhanced. Although this micropore structure could not be detected by the N2-BET method, it was apparent in the atrazine sorption experiment. Overall, the experimental results suggested that the compost sample in current study was a relatively stable material thermally for producing char, and that it has the potential as a feed stock for making high-quality activated carbon. ?? 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Changes of chromium speciation and organic matter during low-temperature pyrolysis of tannery sludge.

PubMed

Zhou, Jianjun; Ma, Hongrui; Gao, Mao; Sun, Wenyue; Zhu, Chao; Chen, Xiangping

2018-01-01

The application or disposal of char derived from tannery sludge is directly influenced by the mobility and bioavailability of Cr during pyrolysis process. This study focused on the changes of Cr speciation and organic matter in tannery sludge during low-temperature pyrolysis (100-400 °C) to evaluate the toxicity of char in terms of the leaching possibility of Cr. The results showed that (1) lower char yield and more porous structure were observed after pyrolysis. (2) Higher pyrolysis temperature increased Cr content in the char; however, Cr in this case was converted into the residual fraction which minimized its bioavailability therefore lowers its potential risk to the environment. (3) Organic matters in the acid and alkali leachates were mainly humic acid-like substance, and condensed organic matter might appear at 200 °C and then destruct. (4) Despite the comparatively high content of Cr in the char, the leaching toxicity of char was within the security range according to the national standard of China. The Cr content in the acid and alkali leachates decreased to the range of 16.5-35.3 and 0.2-6.8 mg/L, respectively. It was suggested that the potential toxicity of tannery sludge from Cr could be reduced before utilization or disposal by pyrolysis, especially under 400 °C.

Characterization of herb residue and high ash-containing paper sludge blends from fixed bed pyrolysis.

PubMed

Li, Tiantao; Guo, Feiqiang; Li, Xiaolei; Liu, Yuan; Peng, Kuangye; Jiang, Xiaochen; Guo, Chenglong

2018-04-10

High ash-containing paper sludge which is rich in various metal oxides is employed in herb residue pyrolysis to enhance the yield of fuel gas and reduce tar yield in a drop tube fixed bed reactor. Effects of heat treatment temperature and blending ratio of paper sludge on the yields and composition of pyrolysis products (gas, tar and char) were investigated. Results indicate that paper sludge shows a significantly catalytic effect during the pyrolysis processes of herb residue, accelerating the pyrolysis reactions. The catalytic effect resulted in an increase in gas yield but a decrease in tar yield. The catalytic effect degree is affected by the paper sludge proportions, and the strongest catalytic effect of paper sludge is noted at its blending ratio of 50%. At temperature lower than 900 °C, the catalytic effect of paper sludge in the pyrolysis of herb residue promotes the formation of H 2 and CO 2 , inhibits the formation of CH 4 , but shows slight influence on the formations of CO, while the formation of the four gas components was all promoted at 900 °C. SEM results of residue char show that ash particles from paper sludge adhere to the surface of the herb residue char after pyrolysis, which may promote the pyrolysis process of herb residue for more gas releasing. FT-IR results indicate that most functional groups disappear after pyrolysis. The addition of paper sludge promotes deoxidisation and aromatization reactions of hetero atoms tars, forming heavier polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and leading to tar yield decrease. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of an advanced, continuous mild gasification process for the production of co-products. Quarterly report, October 30, 1991--January 2, 1992

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O`Neal, G.W.

1991-12-31

During this quarter the work on Task 3, char upgrading, was in two areas; upgrading Penelec char made from Penelec filter cake to blast furnace formed coke, and evaluating various bituminous pitch binders. The formed coke from Penelec filter cake was of good quality with a high crush strength of 3000 pounds. The reactivity was not equal to that of conventional coke but it is felt that it could be made to equal conventional coke with further study, specifically by adding binder coal to the raw material recipe. The work evaluating bituminous pitch binders confirmed earlier thinking that will bemore » valuable to a commercial scale-up. Asphalt binders are compatible with coal tar binders and produce a coke of equal quality. Hence asphalt binders can be used to supply deficiencies of tar production in units employing coals with insufficient volatile matter to supply enough tar for the coking process. Asphalt binders have about a 50% savings from coal tar pitch. During the 4th Quarter of 1991, a total of 15 Continuous Mild Gasification Unit (CMGU) test runs were made. Efforts continued to determine the optimum forward/reverse ratio to maximize coal feed rate. The success of these efforts has been limited with a maximum coal feed rate of 400 lbs/hr obtainable with a caking coal. The handicap of not having screw shaft heaters cannot be overcome by adjustment of the forward/reverse ratio.« less

Development of an advanced, continuous mild gasification process for the production of co-products

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Neal, G.W.

1991-01-01

During this quarter the work on Task 3, char upgrading, was in two areas; upgrading Penelec char made from Penelec filter cake to blast furnace formed coke, and evaluating various bituminous pitch binders. The formed coke from Penelec filter cake was of good quality with a high crush strength of 3000 pounds. The reactivity was not equal to that of conventional coke but it is felt that it could be made to equal conventional coke with further study, specifically by adding binder coal to the raw material recipe. The work evaluating bituminous pitch binders confirmed earlier thinking that will bemore » valuable to a commercial scale-up. Asphalt binders are compatible with coal tar binders and produce a coke of equal quality. Hence asphalt binders can be used to supply deficiencies of tar production in units employing coals with insufficient volatile matter to supply enough tar for the coking process. Asphalt binders have about a 50% savings from coal tar pitch. During the 4th Quarter of 1991, a total of 15 Continuous Mild Gasification Unit (CMGU) test runs were made. Efforts continued to determine the optimum forward/reverse ratio to maximize coal feed rate. The success of these efforts has been limited with a maximum coal feed rate of 400 lbs/hr obtainable with a caking coal. The handicap of not having screw shaft heaters cannot be overcome by adjustment of the forward/reverse ratio.« less

Strategy for Passivating Char Efficiently at the Pilot Scale

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dunning, Timothy C

Fast pyrolysis is a promising pathway for the commercialization of liquid transportation fuels from biomass. Fast pyrolysis is performed at moderate heat (450-600 degrees Celcius) in an oxygen-deficient environment. One of the products of fast pyrolysis is biochar, which is often used as a heat source or as a soil amendment. Biochar is a partially reacted solid that is created in the production of bio-oil during fast pyrolysis. Biochar produced at these conditions contains significant quantities of carbon that adsorb oxygen when exposed to air. Biochar adsorption of oxygen is an exothermic process that may generate sufficient heat for combustionmore » in ambient air. Biochar is also a self-insulating material which compounds the effects of heat generated internally. These factors lead to safety concerns and material handling difficulties. The Thermochemical Process Development Unit at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory operates a pilot plant that may be configured for fast pyrolysis, gasification, and will be introducing catalytic fast pyrolysis capabilities in 2018. The TCPDU designed and installed a system to introduce oxygen to collected biochar systematically for a controlled passivation. Biochar is collected and cooled in an oxygen deficient environment during fast pyrolysis. Oxygen is then introduced to the biochar on a mass flow basis. A sparger imbedded within the biochar sample near the bottom of the bed flows air diluted with nitrogen into the char bed, and excess gasses are removed from the top of the collection drum, above the char bed. Pressure within the collection drum is measured indicating adequate flow through filters. Sample weight is recorded before and after passivation. During passivation, temperature is measured at 18 points within the char bed. Oxygen content and temperature are measured leaving the char bed. Maximum temperature parameters were established to ensure operator safety during biochar passivation. Extensive passivation data was collected on pine and blended feedstocks and has been analyzed to characterize the exotherm of char samples. Observations and data collected while passivating char will be discussed.« less

Solar coal gasification reactor with pyrolysis gas recycle

DOEpatents

Aiman, William R.; Gregg, David W.

1983-01-01

Coal (or other carbonaceous matter, such as biomass) is converted into a duct gas that is substantially free from hydrocarbons. The coal is fed into a solar reactor (10), and solar energy (20) is directed into the reactor onto coal char, creating a gasification front (16) and a pyrolysis front (12). A gasification zone (32) is produced well above the coal level within the reactor. A pyrolysis zone (34) is produced immediately above the coal level. Steam (18), injected into the reactor adjacent to the gasification zone (32), reacts with char to generate product gases. Solar energy supplies the energy for the endothermic steam-char reaction. The hot product gases (38) flow from the gasification zone (32) to the pyrolysis zone (34) to generate hot char. Gases (38) are withdrawn from the pyrolysis zone (34) and reinjected into the region of the reactor adjacent the gasification zone (32). This eliminates hydrocarbons in the gas by steam reformation on the hot char. The product gas (14) is withdrawn from a region of the reactor between the gasification zone (32) and the pyrolysis zone (34). The product gas will be free of tar and other hydrocarbons, and thus be suitable for use in many processes.

Valorization of algal waste via pyrolysis in a fixed-bed reactor: Production and characterization of bio-oil and bio-char.

PubMed

Aboulkas, A; Hammani, H; El Achaby, M; Bilal, E; Barakat, A; El Harfi, K

2017-11-01

The aim of the present work is to develop processes for the production of bio-oil and bio-char from algae waste using the pyrolysis at controlled conditions. The pyrolysis was carried out at different temperatures 400-600°C and different heating rates 5-50°C/min. The algal waste, bio-oil and bio-char were successfully characterized using Elemental analysis, Chemical composition, TGA, FTIR, 1 H NMR, GC-MS and SEM. At a temperature of 500°C and a heating rate of 10°C/min, the maximum yield of bio-oil and bio-char was found to be 24.10 and 44.01wt%, respectively, which was found to be strongly influenced by the temperature variation, and weakly affected by the heating rate variation. Results show that the bio-oil cannot be used as bio-fuel, but can be used as a source of value-added chemicals. On the other hand, the bio-char is a promising candidate for solid fuel applications and for the production of carbon materials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced Terrain Representation for the Microticcit Workstation: System Maintenance Manual

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-02-01

enter the */ /* password. */ /* Inputs: passwd - password to compare userfs entry to */ /* Outputs: TRUE - if password entered correctly...include "atrdefs.h" #include "ctype.h" extern char window[]; /* useable portion of screen */ 1 i getpw( passwd ) char passwd []; { int c...blank input window */ pcvgcp(&row,*col); curs_off(); nchars - ntries - 0; len « strlen( passwd ); pcvwca(len,• *,REVIDEO); /* process keys till user

iQOS: evidence of pyrolysis and release of a toxicant from plastic.

PubMed

Davis, Barbara; Williams, Monique; Talbot, Prue

2018-03-13

To evaluate performance of the I quit original smoking (iQOS) heat-not-burn system as a function of cleaning and puffing topography, investigate the validity of manufacturer's claims that this device does not burn tobacco and determine if the polymer-film filter is potentially harmful. iQOS performance was evaluated using five running conditions incorporating two different cleaning protocols. Heatsticks were visually and stereomicroscopically inspected preuse and postuse to determine the extent of tobacco plug charring (from pyrolysis) and polymer-film filter melting, and to elucidate the effects of cleaning on charring. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry headspace analysis was conducted on unused polymer-film filters to determine if potentially toxic chemicals are emitted from the filter during heating. For all testing protocols, pressure drop decreased as puff number increased. Changes in testing protocols did not affect aerosol density. Charring due to pyrolysis (a form of organic matter thermochemical decomposition) was observed in the tobacco plug after use. When the manufacturer's cleaning instructions were followed, both charring of the tobacco plug and melting of the polymer-film filter increased. Headspace analysis of the polymer-film filter revealed the release of formaldehyde cyanohydrin at 90°C, which is well below the maximum temperature reached during normal usage. Device usage limitations may contribute to decreases in interpuff intervals, potentially increasing user's intake of nicotine and other harmful chemicals. This study found that the tobacco plug does char and that charring increases when the device is not cleaned between heatsticks. Release of formaldehyde cyanohydrin is a concern as it is highly toxic at very low concentrations. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Suuberg, E.M.; Lilly, W.D.; Aarna, I.

This project is concerned with the mechanism of reduction of both NO and N{sub 2}O by carbons. It was recognized some years ago that NO formed during fluidized bed coal combustion can be heterogeneously reduced in-situ by the carbonaceous solid intermediates of combustion. This has been recently supplemented by the knowledge that heterogeneous reaction with carbon can also play an important role in reducing emissions of N{sub 2}, but that the NO-carbon reactions might also contribute to formation of N{sub 2}. The precise role of carbon in N{sub 2} reduction and formation has yet to be established. Interest in themore » N{sub 2} and N{sub 2}O-char reactions has been significant in connection with both combustor modeling, as well as in design of post-combustion NO{sub x} control strategies. In our studies, a DuPont thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) is used for the char reactivity studies. The temperature and mass are recorded as function of time, using a Macintosh computer and software for simultaneous apparatus control and data acquisition. Specific surface areas of char samples were determined by the N{sub 2} BET method at 77 K. A standard flow-type adsorption device (Quantasorb) was used for the measurements. Prior to surface area analysis, all samples were outgassed in a flow of nitrogen at 573 K for 3 hours. The carbonaceous solids used were resin char, graphite, coconut char and a Wyodak coal char. As was noted in the last report, carbons derived from different original materials show quite similar behaviors, in terms of the trends, but there are significant differences in actual reaction rates. It was shown that the spread of the reaction rate data from different studies, when expressed on a mass of carbon reactant- or surface area-basis, was almost the same.« less

Kinetic analysis of the interactions between calcium ferrite and coal char for chemical looping gasification applications: Identifying reduction routes and modes of oxygen transfer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Riley, Jarrett; Siriwardane, Ranjani; Tian, Hanjing

Chemical Looping Gasification (CLG) is an emerging technology that shows promise for efficient coal gasification by eliminating the need for energy intensive gas separations to achieve a non-nitrogen diluted syngas stream. Oxygen from oxygen carriers, such as CaFe 2O 4, are used for coal gasification in place of conventionally produced gaseous oxygen from cryogenic separation of air. These oxygen carriers are unique for their ability to selectively oxidize coal to form syngas and show limited reactivity with syngas components (H 2, CO). To gain a deeper understanding of how these unique oxygen carriers perform and to offer a first attemptmore » at the reaction modeling of solid mediated interactions of this nature, this study was carried out to determine the kinetic parameters associated with the selective oxidation of coal derived char (Wyodak and Illinois #6) with a metal ferrite, CaFe 2O 4. Using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with mass spectrometry, the selective oxygen release of metal ferrite in the presence of char by proximal contact was examined. The application of combinatory model fitting approaches was used to describe controlling resistances during oxygen release. A combination of the modified shrinking core model (SCM) with planar oxygen ion diffusion control and reaction order based models was used for kinetic parameter determination. CaFe 2O 4 particle size plays a major role in the prevailing mode of oxygen release. Particle sizes on the order of 40–50 μm tend to favor first order kinetically controlled regimes independent of geometric and diffusion controls. The probability for oxygen ion diffusion controlling regimes increased when the particle size range of the oxygen carrier was increased up to 350 μm. Char type also impacted the prevalence of the controlling regime. Higher ranked chars react in a slower manner, limiting the gradient for oxygen ion release from the oxygen carrier. Activation energies determined for this process range from 120–200kJ/mol and oxygen ion diffusion coefficients are on the order of 10-8 cm 2/s. It is suggested that oxygen ion movement is regulated by lattice diffusion out of partially reduced phases (Ca 2Fe 2O 5) and through reduced outer layers composed of CaO and Fe. The controlled movement of oxygen ions influences the rate of carbon oxidation in the char and therefore the selectivity towards partial oxidation products, which are desirable in CLG applications.« less

Kinetic analysis of the interactions between calcium ferrite and coal char for chemical looping gasification applications: Identifying reduction routes and modes of oxygen transfer

DOE PAGES

Riley, Jarrett; Siriwardane, Ranjani; Tian, Hanjing; ...

2017-05-20

Chemical Looping Gasification (CLG) is an emerging technology that shows promise for efficient coal gasification by eliminating the need for energy intensive gas separations to achieve a non-nitrogen diluted syngas stream. Oxygen from oxygen carriers, such as CaFe 2O 4, are used for coal gasification in place of conventionally produced gaseous oxygen from cryogenic separation of air. These oxygen carriers are unique for their ability to selectively oxidize coal to form syngas and show limited reactivity with syngas components (H 2, CO). To gain a deeper understanding of how these unique oxygen carriers perform and to offer a first attemptmore » at the reaction modeling of solid mediated interactions of this nature, this study was carried out to determine the kinetic parameters associated with the selective oxidation of coal derived char (Wyodak and Illinois #6) with a metal ferrite, CaFe 2O 4. Using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with mass spectrometry, the selective oxygen release of metal ferrite in the presence of char by proximal contact was examined. The application of combinatory model fitting approaches was used to describe controlling resistances during oxygen release. A combination of the modified shrinking core model (SCM) with planar oxygen ion diffusion control and reaction order based models was used for kinetic parameter determination. CaFe 2O 4 particle size plays a major role in the prevailing mode of oxygen release. Particle sizes on the order of 40–50 μm tend to favor first order kinetically controlled regimes independent of geometric and diffusion controls. The probability for oxygen ion diffusion controlling regimes increased when the particle size range of the oxygen carrier was increased up to 350 μm. Char type also impacted the prevalence of the controlling regime. Higher ranked chars react in a slower manner, limiting the gradient for oxygen ion release from the oxygen carrier. Activation energies determined for this process range from 120–200kJ/mol and oxygen ion diffusion coefficients are on the order of 10-8 cm 2/s. It is suggested that oxygen ion movement is regulated by lattice diffusion out of partially reduced phases (Ca 2Fe 2O 5) and through reduced outer layers composed of CaO and Fe. The controlled movement of oxygen ions influences the rate of carbon oxidation in the char and therefore the selectivity towards partial oxidation products, which are desirable in CLG applications.« less

Recovery of solid fuel from municipal solid waste by hydrothermal treatment using subcritical water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hwang, In-Hee, E-mail: hwang@eng.hokudai.ac.jp; Aoyama, Hiroya; Matsuto, Toshihiko

2012-03-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Hydrothermal treatment using subcritical water was studied to recover solid fuel from MSW. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer More than 75% of carbon in MSW was recovered as char. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Heating value of char was comparable to that of brown coal and lignite. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Polyvinyl chloride was decomposed at 295 Degree-Sign C and 8 MPa and was removed by washing. - Abstract: Hydrothermal treatments using subcritical water (HTSW) such as that at 234 Degree-Sign C and 3 MPa (LT condition) and 295 Degree-Sign C and 8 MPa (HT condition) were investigated to recover solid fuel from municipal solid waste (MSW). Printing paper,more » dog food (DF), wooden chopsticks, and mixed plastic film and sheets of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene were prepared as model MSW components, in which polyvinylchloride (PVC) powder and sodium chloride were used to simulate Cl sources. While more than 75% of carbon in paper, DF, and wood was recovered as char under both LT and HT conditions, plastics did not degrade under either LT or HT conditions. The heating value (HV) of obtained char was 13,886-27,544 kJ/kg and was comparable to that of brown coal and lignite. Higher formation of fixed carbon and greater oxygen dissociation during HTSW were thought to improve the HV of char. Cl atoms added as PVC powder and sodium chloride to raw material remained in char after HTSW. However, most Cl originating from PVC was found to converse into soluble Cl compounds during HTSW under the HT condition and could be removed by washing. From these results, the merit of HTSW as a method of recovering solid fuel from MSW is considered to produce char with minimal carbon loss without a drying process prior to HTSW. In addition, Cl originating from PVC decomposes into soluble Cl compound under the HT condition. The combination of HTSW under the HT condition and char washing might improve the quality of char as alternative fuel.« less

Burning characteristics and fiber retention of graphite/resin matrix composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowles, K. J.

1980-01-01

Graphite fiber reinforced resin matrix composites were subjected to controlled burning conditions to determine their burning characteristics and fiber retention properties. Small samples were burned with a natural gas fired torch to study the effects of fiber orientation and structural flaws such as holes and slits that were machined into the laminates. Larger laminate samples were burned in a modified heat release rate calorimeter. Unidirectional epoxy/graphite and polyimide/graphite composites and boron powder filled samples of each of the two composite systems were burn tested. The composites were exposed to a thermal radiation of 5.3 Btu/sq ft-sec in air. Samples of each of the unfilled composite were decomposed anaerobically in the calorimeter. Weight loss data were recorded for burning and decomposition times up to thirty-five minutes. The effects of fiber orientation, flaws, and boron filler additives to the resins were evaluated. A high char forming polyimide resin was no more effective in retaining graphite fibers than a low char forming epoxy resin when burned in air. Boron powder additions to both the polyimide and the epoxy resins stabilized the chars and effectively controlled the fiber release.

Pyrolysis processing for solid waste resource recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wojtowicz, Marek A. (Inventor); Serio, Michael A. (Inventor); Kroo, Erik (Inventor); Suuberg, Eric M. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

Solid waste resource recovery in space is effected by pyrolysis processing, to produce light gases as the main products (CH.sub.4, H.sub.2, CO.sub.2, CO, H.sub.2O, NH.sub.3) and a reactive carbon-rich char as the main byproduct. Significant amounts of liquid products are formed under less severe pyrolysis conditions, and are cracked almost completely to gases as the temperature is raised. A primary pyrolysis model for the composite mixture is based on an existing model for whole biomass materials, and an artificial neural network models the changes in gas composition with the severity of pyrolysis conditions.

Etude de production et de caracterisation de biocharbons de panic erige (Panicum virgatum L.) obtenus par pyrolyse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilon, Guillaume

This research aimed at the production of biomass char under pyrolytic conditions, targeting biochar as soil amendment, while also considering its application as biocoal, either for bioenergy or subsequent upgrading. The production of biomass char was performed using two bench-scale, batch-type, fixed-bed reactors, each with an operating capacity of 1 and 25 gw.b. /batch, respectively. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) has been used for the tests. Production conditions studied implied temperatures of 300, 400 and 500 °C with short residence times (2.5 and 5 min). As well, the effect of using CO2 as vector gas has been compared to a common inert environment of N2. The effects of the previously mentioned parameters were correlated with some important physicochemical characteristics of biomass char. Analyses were also performed on complementary pyrolytic products (bio-oil and gas). The biomass char extraction was performed using a Soxhlet and dichloromethane was used as extracting solvent. The extracts were then characterized by GC-MS thus allowing the identification of several compounds. Specific pyrolysis conditions used at 300 °C - N2 with the 1 g/batch reactor, such as high heating rates as well as high convection conditions, presented advantegeous biomass char yields and properties, and, possible torrefaction process productivity improvement (in comparison to reported literature, such as Gilbert et al. [2009]). The char extracts as well as the bio-oils analysis (also performed using GC-MS), all generated from the 25 g/batch reactor, showed major differences among the compounds obtained from the CO2 and N2 environments, respectively. Several compounds observed in the char extracts appeared less concentrated in the CO2 environment vs N2, for the same reaction temperatures. As an example, at 400 °C, furfural was found only in char extracts from N2 environment as compared to the CO2 environment. Among all studied conditions (for both reactors), only naphthalene and naphthalene derivatives constituted the PAHs content, which was only detected for the chars produced at 500 °C. The use of CO2 as pyrolysis vector gas led to a significant difference for every temperature conditions studied for the biomass char as well as for the liquid and gas products. At 300 °C, in CO 2 environment, it is possible to observe a bio-oil production significantly lower than within a N2 environment (18.0 vs 24.6 %; CO2 vs N2 for P<0.002), a result consistent with the biomass char volatile content that was shown to be significantly higher under the same conditions (0.29 vs 0.35 gchar volatiles content/graw biomass; P=0.1). In addition, at 500 °C, the char ash content was observed to be significantly lower in CO 2 than in N2 (P<0.06). Keywords: Pyrolysis, torrefaction, char, biochar, biocoal, CO 2, Soxhlet extractions, characterization.

Stronger association of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with soot than with char in soils and sediments

PubMed Central

Han, Y.M.; Bandowe, B.A.M.; Wei, C.; Cao, J.J.; Wilcke, W.; Wang, G.H.; Ni, H.Y.; Jin, Z.D.; An, Z.S.; Yan, B.Z.

2016-01-01

The knowledge of the association of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with organic matter and carbonaceous materials is critical for a better understanding of their environmental transport, fate, and toxicological effects. Extensive studies have been done with regard to the relationship of PAHs with total organic carbon (TOC) and elemental carbon (EC) in different environmental matrices. The relationship between PAHs and the two subtypes of EC, char (combustion residues) and soot (produced via gas-to-particle conversion) also has been tested in field and laboratory experiments using reference materials. However, a direct comparison of associations of PAHs between with char and with soot in real environmental matrices has to our knowledge not yet been reported because of a lack of methodology to differentiate them. In this study, char and soot were measured using the IMPROVE method to test their associations with 12 EPA priority PAHs measured in topsoil samples (N = 22, top 10 cm) collected from the Guanzhong Plain and in surface sediment samples (N = 32, top 5 cm) from the Wei River (central China). In both soils and sediments, Σ12PAHs were more strongly associated with soot than with char, mainly due to the fact that soot and PAHs were produced in the same gas phase during combustion, had a strong affinity for each other, and were transported and deposited together, while char, the combustion residue, was transported differently to PAHs due to its large particle size. Stronger correlations between PAHs and the different carbon fractions (TOC, soot, and char) in sediments than in soils were observed, which is associated with the redistribution of PAHs among the organic matter pools in water because of the processes during soil erosion and sedimentation in the river. PMID:24656973

Recovery of solid fuel from municipal solid waste by hydrothermal treatment using subcritical water.

PubMed

Hwang, In-Hee; Aoyama, Hiroya; Matsuto, Toshihiko; Nakagishi, Tatsuhiro; Matsuo, Takayuki

2012-03-01

Hydrothermal treatments using subcritical water (HTSW) such as that at 234°C and 3MPa (LT condition) and 295°C and 8MPa (HT condition) were investigated to recover solid fuel from municipal solid waste (MSW). Printing paper, dog food (DF), wooden chopsticks, and mixed plastic film and sheets of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene were prepared as model MSW components, in which polyvinylchloride (PVC) powder and sodium chloride were used to simulate Cl sources. While more than 75% of carbon in paper, DF, and wood was recovered as char under both LT and HT conditions, plastics did not degrade under either LT or HT conditions. The heating value (HV) of obtained char was 13,886-27,544 kJ/kg and was comparable to that of brown coal and lignite. Higher formation of fixed carbon and greater oxygen dissociation during HTSW were thought to improve the HV of char. Cl atoms added as PVC powder and sodium chloride to raw material remained in char after HTSW. However, most Cl originating from PVC was found to converse into soluble Cl compounds during HTSW under the HT condition and could be removed by washing. From these results, the merit of HTSW as a method of recovering solid fuel from MSW is considered to produce char with minimal carbon loss without a drying process prior to HTSW. In addition, Cl originating from PVC decomposes into soluble Cl compound under the HT condition. The combination of HTSW under the HT condition and char washing might improve the quality of char as alternative fuel. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polymer precursors for ceramic matrix composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litt, M. H.; Kumar, K.

1986-01-01

The synthesis and characterization of a polycyclohexasilane is reported. Because of its cyclic structure, it is anticipated that this polymer might serve as a precursor to SIC having a high char yield with little rearrangement to form small, volatile cyclic silanes, and, as such, would be of interest as a precursor to SiC composite matrices and fibers, or as a binder in ceramic processing. Several approaches to the synthesis of a bifunctional cyclic monomer were attempted; the most successful of these was metal coupling of PhMeSiCl2 and Me2SiCl2. The procedure gives six-membered ring compounds with all degrees of phenyl substitution, from none to hexaphenyl. The compounds with from 0-2 groups were isolated and characterized. The fraction with degree of phenyl substitution equal to 2, a mixture of cis and trans 1,2-; 1,3-; and 1,4 isomers, was isolated in 32 percent yield. Pure 1,4 diphenyldecamethylcyclohexasilane was isolated from the mixed diphenyl compounds and characterized. Diphenyldecamethylcyclohexasilanes were dephenylated to dichlorodecamethylcyclohexasilanes by treating with H2SO4.NH4Cl in benzene. The latter were purified and polymerized by reacting with sodium in toluene. The polymers were characterized by HPGPC, elemental analysis, proton NMR, and IR. Thermogravimetric analyses were carried out on the polymers. As the yield of residual SiC was low, polymers were heat treated to increase the residual char yield. As high as 51.52 percent residual char yield was obtained in one case.

Study on CO2 gasification reactivity and physical characteristics of biomass, petroleum coke and coal chars.

PubMed

Huo, Wei; Zhou, Zhijie; Chen, Xueli; Dai, Zhenghua; Yu, Guangsuo

2014-05-01

Gasification reactivities of six different carbonaceous material chars with CO2 were determined by a Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA). Gasification reactivities of biomass chars are higher than those of coke and coal chars. In addition, physical structures and chemical components of these chars were systematically tested. It is found that the crystalline structure is an important factor to evaluate gasification reactivities of different chars and the crystalline structures of biomass chars are less order than those of coke and coal chars. Moreover, initial gasification rates of these chars were measured at high temperatures and with relatively large particle sizes. The method of calculating the effectiveness factor η was used to quantify the effect of pore diffusion on gasification. The results show that differences in pore diffusion effects among gasification with various chars are prominent and can be attributed to different intrinsic gasification reactivities and physical characteristics of different chars. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An analysis of a charring ablator with thermal nonequilibrium, chemical kinetics, and mass transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, R. K.

1973-01-01

The differential equations governing the transient response of a one-dimensional ablative thermal protection system are presented for thermal nonequilibrium between the pyrolysis gases and the char layer and with finite rate chemical reactions occurring. The system consists of three layers (the char layer, the uncharred layer, and an optical insulation layer) with concentrated heat sinks at the back surface and between the second and third layers. The equations are solved numerically by using a modified implicit finite difference scheme to obtain solutions for the thickness of the charred and uncharred layers, surface recession and pyrolysis rates, solid temperatures, porosity profiles, and profiles of pyrolysis-gas temperature, pressure, composition, and flow rate. Good agreement is obtained between numerical results and exact solutions for a number of simplified cases. The complete numerical analysis is used to obtain solutions for an ablative system subjected to a constant heating environment. Effects of thermal, chemical, and mass transfer processes are shown.

Aerogel and xerogel composites for use as carbon anodes

DOEpatents

Cooper, John F.; Tillotson, Thomas M.; Hrubesh, Lawrence W.

2010-10-12

A method for forming a reinforced rigid anode monolith and fuel and product of such method. The method includes providing a solution of organic aerogel or xerogel precursors including at least one of a phenolic resin, phenol (hydroxybenzene), resorcinol(1,3-dihydroxybenzene), or catechol(1,2-dihydroxybenzene); at least one aldehyde compound selected from the group consisting of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and furfuraldehyde; and an alkali carbonate or phosphoric acid catalyst; adding internal reinforcement materials comprising carbon to said precursor solution to form a precursor mixture; gelling said precursor mixture to form a composite gel; drying said composite gel; and pyrolyzing said composite gel to form a wettable aerogel/carbon composite or a wettable xerogel/carbon composite, wherein said composites comprise chars and said internal reinforcement materials, and wherein said composite is suitable for use as an anode with the chars being fuel capable of being combusted in a molten salt electrochemical fuel cell in the range from 500 C to 800 C to produce electrical energy. Additional methods and systems/compositions are also provided.

A study of the dynamic flammability of radiation cross-linked flame-retardant HDPE/EPDM/silicon-elastomer compound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Shaojin; Zhang, Zhicheng; Du, Zhiwen; Teng, Renrui; Wang, Zhengzhou

2003-04-01

A dynamic flammability study of flame-retardant compound consisting of HDPE, EPDM and silicon elastomer blended with additives, as wire and cable insulation was made before and after irradiation. The data of RHR, EHC, SEC and the concentration of CO and CO 2 from cone colorimeter shown in the burning process were accessed. By blending silicon elastomer, CO release rate was reduced and the thermal endurance was improved. Oxygen index, mechanical property, morphology of the char formed in dynamical flame and thermal stability were also investigated.

Production of activated carbon from TCR char

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stenzel, Fabian; Heberlein, Markus; Klinner, Tobias; Hornung, Andreas

2016-04-01

The utilization of char for adsorptive purposes is known since the 18th century. At that time the char was made of wood or bones and used for decoloration of fluids. In the 20th century the production of activated carbon in an industrial scale was started. The today's raw materials for activated carbon production are hard coal, peat, wood or coconut shells. All these materials entail costs especially the latter. Thus, the utilization of carbon rich residues (biomass) is an interesting economic opportunity because it is available for no costs or even can create income. The char is produced by thermo-catalytic reforming (TCR®). This process is a combination of an intermediate pyrolysis and subsequently a reforming step. During the pyrolysis step the material is decomposed in a vapor and a solid carbon enriched phase. In the second step the vapor and the solid phase get in an intensive contact and the quality of both materials is improved via the reforming process. Subsequently, the condensables are precipitated from the vapor phase and a permanent gas as well as oil is obtained. Both are suitable for heat and power production which is a clear advantage of the TCR® process. The obtained biochar from the TCR® process has special properties. This material has a very low hydrogen and oxygen content. Its stability is comparable to hard coal or anthracite. Therefore it consists almost only of carbon and ash. The latter depends from input material. Furthermore the surface structure and area can be influenced during the reforming step. Depending from temperature and residence time the number of micro pores and the surface area can be increased. Preliminary investigations with methylene blue solution have shown that a TCR® char made of digestate from anaerobic digestion has adsorptive properties. The decoloration of the solution was achieved. A further influencing factor of the adsorption performance is the particle size. Based on the results of the preliminary tests a systematically investigation was started. For this a muffle furnace with a maximum temperature up to 1300 ° C is used. Furthermore the gaseous atmosphere can be controlled. So it is possible to carry out the trials with the absence of oxygen by purging with nitrogen, carbon oxide and/ or steam for example. With the addition of steam the number of mesopores is increased. These pores are responsible for the adsorption performance in liquid phases. The trials for the TCR® chars made from beech wood (reference) and digestate are currently carried out. Additionally the reduction of the ash content of the char by using hydrochloric and acetic acid is investigated, too. These leaching tests are carried out in a lab scale test rig at an operating temperature of 60 ° C and a residence time up to 4 hours. The main objective is to adapt the TCR® process with regard to an optimized activated carbon production from biogenic residues to obtain an economic sustainable concept.

Standardization of the carbon-phenolic materials and processes. Vol. 2: Test methods and specifications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, William B.

1988-01-01

Carbon-phenolic composite materials are used in the ablation process in the nozzles of the Space Shuttle Main Engine. The nozzle is lined with carbon cloth-phenolic resin composites. The extreme heat and erosion of the burning propellant are controlled by the carbon-phenolic composite by means of ablation, a heat and mass transfer process in which a large amount of heat is dissipated by sacrificailly removing material from a surface. Phenolic materials ablate with the initial formation of a char. The depth of the char is a function of the heat conduction coefficient of the composite. The char layer is a poor conductor so it protects the underlying phenolic composite from the high heat of the burning propellant. The nozzle component ablative liners (carbon cloth-phenolic resin composites) are tape wrapped, hydroclave and/or autoclave cured, machined and assembled. The tape consists of prepreg broadcloth. The materials flow sheet for the nozzle ablative liners is given. The prepreg is a three component system: phenolic resin, carbon cloth, and carbon filler. This is Volume 2 of the report, Test Methods and Specifications.

Preparation of porous bio-char and activated carbon from rice husk by leaching ash and chemical activation.

PubMed

Ahiduzzaman, Md; Sadrul Islam, A K M

2016-01-01

Preparation porous bio-char and activated carbon from rice husk char study has been conducted in this study. Rice husk char contains high amount silica that retards the porousness of bio-char. Porousness of rice husk char could be enhanced by removing the silica from char and applying heat at high temperature. Furthermore, the char is activated by using chemical activation under high temperature. In this study no inert media is used. The study is conducted at low oxygen environment by applying biomass for consuming oxygen inside reactor and double crucible method (one crucible inside another) is applied to prevent intrusion of oxygen into the char. The study results shows that porous carbon is prepared successfully without using any inert media. The adsorption capacity of material increased due to removal of silica and due to the activation with zinc chloride compared to using raw rice husk char. The surface area of porous carbon and activated carbon are found to be 28, 331 and 645 m(2) g(-1) for raw rice husk char, silica removed rice husk char and zinc chloride activated rice husk char, respectively. It is concluded from this study that porous bio-char and activated carbon could be prepared in normal environmental conditions instead of inert media. This study shows a method and possibility of activated carbon from agro-waste, and it could be scaled up for commercial production.

Characteristics of the microwave pyrolysis and microwave CO2-assisted gasification of dewatered sewage sludge.

PubMed

Chun, Young Nam; Jeong, Byeo Ri

2017-07-28

Microwave drying-pyrolysis or drying-gasification characteristics were examined to convert sewage sludge into energy and resources. The gasification was carried out with carbon dioxide as a gasifying agent. The examination results were compared with those of the conventional heating-type electric furnace to compare both product characteristics. Through the pyrolysis or gasification, gas, tar, and char were generated as products. The produced gas was the largest component of each process, followed by the sludge char and the tar. During the pyrolysis process, the main components of the produced gas were hydrogen and carbon monoxide, with a small amount of hydrocarbons such as methane and ethylene. In the gasification process, however, the amount of carbon monoxide was greater than the amount of hydrogen. In microwave gasification, a large amount of heavy tar was produced. The largest amount of benzene in light tar was generated from the pyrolysis or gasification. Ammonia and hydrogen cyanide, which are precursors of NO x , were also generated. In the microwave heating method, the sludge char produced by pyrolysis and gasification had pores in the mesopore range. This could be explained that the gas obtained from the microwave pyrolysis or gasification of the wet sewage sludge can be used as an alternative fuel, but the tar and NO x precursors in the produced gas should be treated. Sludge char can be used as a biomass solid fuel or as a tar removal adsorbent if necessary.

A Hydrodynamic Characteristic of a Dual Fluidized Bed Gasification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sung, Yeon Kyung; Song, Jae Hun; Bang, Byung Ryeul; Yu, Tae U.; Lee, Uen Do

A cold model dual fluidized bed (DFB) reactor, consisting of two parallel interconnected bubbling and fast fluidized beds, was designed for developing an auto-thermal biomass gasifier. The combustor of this system burns the rest char of the gasification process and provides heat to the gasifier by circulating solids inventory. To find an optimal mixing and circulation of heavy solid inventory and light biomass and char materials, we investigate two types of DFB reactors which have different configuration of distributor and way-out location of the solid inventory and char materials in the gasifier. To determine appropriate operating conditions, we measured minimum fluidization velocity, solid circulation rate, axial solid holdup and gas bypassing between the lower loop seal and the gasifier.

The Effect of Polymer Char on Nitridation Kinetics of Silicon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chan, Rickmond C.; Bhatt, Ramakrishna T.

1994-01-01

Effects of polymer char on nitridation kinetics of attrition milled silicon powder have been investigated from 1200 to 1350 C. Results indicate that at and above 1250 C, the silicon compacts containing 3.5 wt percent polymer char were fully converted to Si3N4 after 24 hr exposure in nitrogen. In contrast, the silicon compacts without polymer char could not be fully converted to Si3N4 at 1350 C under similar exposure conditions. At 1250 and 1350 C, the silicon compacts with polymer char showed faster nitridation kinetics than those without the polymer char. As the polymer char content is increased, the amount of SiC in the nitrided material is also increased. By adding small amounts (approx. 2.5 wt percent) of NiO, the silicon compacts containing polymer char can be completely nitrided at 1200 C. The probable mechanism for the accelerated nitridation of silicon containing polymer char is discussed.

Role of oxygen-containing functional groups in forest fire-generated and pyrolytic chars for immobilization of copper and nickel.

PubMed

Esfandbod, Maryam; Merritt, Christopher R; Rashti, Mehran Rezaei; Singh, Balwant; Boyd, Sue E; Srivastava, Prashant; Brown, Christopher L; Butler, Orpheus M; Kookana, Rai S; Chen, Chengrong

2017-01-01

Char as a carbon-rich material, can be produced under pyrolytic conditions, wildfires or prescribed burn offs for fire management. The objective of this study was to elucidate mechanistic interactions of copper (Cu 2+ ) and nickel (Ni 2+ ) with different chars produced by pyrolysis (green waste, GW; blue-Mallee, BM) and forest fires (fresh-burnt by prescribed fire, FC; aged char produced by wild fire, AC). The pyrolytic chars were more effective sorbents of Cu 2+ (∼11 times) and Ni 2+ (∼5 times) compared with the forest fire chars. Both cross-polarization (CPMAS-NMR) and Bloch decay (BDMAS-NMR) 13 C NMR spectroscopies showed that forest fire chars have higher woody components (aromatic functional groups) and lower polar groups (e.g. O-alkyl C) compared with the pyrolytic chars. The polarity index was greater in the pyrolytic chars (0.99-1.34) than in the fire-generated chars (0.98-1.15), while aromaticity was lower in the former than in the latter. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies indicated the binding of carbonate and phosphate with both Cu 2+ and Ni 2+ in all chars, but with a greater extent in pyrolytic than forest fire-generated chars. These findings have demonstrated the key role of char's oxygen-containing functional groups in determining their sorption capacity for the Cu 2+ and Ni 2+ in contaminated lands. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predictive Method for Correct Identification of Archaeological Charred Grape Seeds: Support for Advances in Knowledge of Grape Domestication Process

PubMed Central

Ucchesu, Mariano; Orrù, Martino; Grillo, Oscar; Venora, Gianfranco; Paglietti, Giacomo; Ardu, Andrea; Bacchetta, Gianluigi

2016-01-01

The identification of archaeological charred grape seeds is a difficult task due to the alteration of the morphological seeds shape. In archaeobotanical studies, for the correct discrimination between Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris and Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera grape seeds it is very important to understand the history and origin of the domesticated grapevine. In this work, different carbonisation experiments were carried out using a hearth to reproduce the same burning conditions that occurred in archaeological contexts. In addition, several carbonisation trials on modern wild and cultivated grape seeds were performed using a muffle furnace. For comparison with archaeological materials, modern grape seed samples were obtained using seven different temperatures of carbonisation ranging between 180 and 340ºC for 120 min. Analysing the grape seed size and shape by computer vision techniques, and applying the stepwise linear discriminant analysis (LDA) method, discrimination of the wild from the cultivated charred grape seeds was possible. An overall correct classification of 93.3% was achieved. Applying the same statistical procedure to compare modern charred with archaeological grape seeds, found in Sardinia and dating back to the Early Bronze Age (2017–1751 2σ cal. BC), allowed 75.0% of the cases to be identified as wild grape. The proposed method proved to be a useful and effective procedure in identifying, with high accuracy, the charred grape seeds found in archaeological sites. Moreover, it may be considered valid support for advances in the knowledge and comprehension of viticulture adoption and the grape domestication process. The same methodology may also be successful when applied to other plant remains, and provide important information about the history of domesticated plants. PMID:26901361

Predictive Method for Correct Identification of Archaeological Charred Grape Seeds: Support for Advances in Knowledge of Grape Domestication Process.

PubMed

Ucchesu, Mariano; Orrù, Martino; Grillo, Oscar; Venora, Gianfranco; Paglietti, Giacomo; Ardu, Andrea; Bacchetta, Gianluigi

2016-01-01

The identification of archaeological charred grape seeds is a difficult task due to the alteration of the morphological seeds shape. In archaeobotanical studies, for the correct discrimination between Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris and Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera grape seeds it is very important to understand the history and origin of the domesticated grapevine. In this work, different carbonisation experiments were carried out using a hearth to reproduce the same burning conditions that occurred in archaeological contexts. In addition, several carbonisation trials on modern wild and cultivated grape seeds were performed using a muffle furnace. For comparison with archaeological materials, modern grape seed samples were obtained using seven different temperatures of carbonisation ranging between 180 and 340ºC for 120 min. Analysing the grape seed size and shape by computer vision techniques, and applying the stepwise linear discriminant analysis (LDA) method, discrimination of the wild from the cultivated charred grape seeds was possible. An overall correct classification of 93.3% was achieved. Applying the same statistical procedure to compare modern charred with archaeological grape seeds, found in Sardinia and dating back to the Early Bronze Age (2017-1751 2σ cal. BC), allowed 75.0% of the cases to be identified as wild grape. The proposed method proved to be a useful and effective procedure in identifying, with high accuracy, the charred grape seeds found in archaeological sites. Moreover, it may be considered valid support for advances in the knowledge and comprehension of viticulture adoption and the grape domestication process. The same methodology may also be successful when applied to other plant remains, and provide important information about the history of domesticated plants.

Constitution of Drop-Tube-Generated Coal Chars from Vitrinite- and Inertinite-Rich South African Coals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Louw, Enette B.; Mitchell, Gareth D.; Wang, Juan

The structural transformations of coal and the resultant char morphologies are strongly dependent on the initial structure and degree of thermoplasticity achieved during coal-to-char transition. These are a function of petrographic composition, rank, particle size, and heating rate and strongly affect combustion behavior. This study compares the devolatilization and subsequent combustion behavior of an inertinite-rich (87.7% dmmf) and a vitrinite-rich (91.8% dmmf) South African coal, wet-screened to a narrow particle size distribution of 200 x 400 mesh. Pyrolysis chars were generated under rapid-heating conditions (104-105 °C/s) in a drop-tube reactor to closely resemble chars generated in pulverized combustion conditions. Themore » inertinite-rich coal took ~ 400 ms to devolatilize in the drop-tube, compared to only ~ 240 ms for the vitrinite-rich sample. The chemical and physical structure (the constitution) of the chars were investigated through a range of chemical, physical, and optical characteristics including the maceral differences, and high ash yields. To evaluate the combustion reactivity non-isothermal burn-out profiles were obtained through thermogravimetrical analyses (TGA) in air. The vitrinite-rich char had on average 20% higher reaction rates than the inertinite-rich char under the various combustion conditions. The char samples were de-ashed with HCl and HF acid which resulted in an increase in combustion reactivity. The maximum reaction rate of the high-ash (36% ash yield) inertinite-rich char increased with 80% after de-ashing. While the vitrinite-rich char with an ash yield of 15%, had a 20% increase in reactivity after de-ashing. The ash acted as a barrier, and the removal of ash most likely increased the access to reactive surface area. The chemical and physical structures of the chars were characterized through a range of different analytical techniques to quantify the factors contributing to reactivity differences. The morphologies of the chars were characterized with SEM and optical microscopy, while quantitative information on the ordered nature of chars was obtained through XRD on de-ashed chars. The inertinite-rich coal experienced limited fluidity during heat-treatment, resulting in slower devolatilization, limited growth in crystallite height (11.8 to 12.6Å), only rounding of particle edges, and producing > 40% of mixed-dense type chars. The vitrinite-char showed more significant structural transformations; producing mostly (80%) extensively swollen crassisphere, tenuisphere, and network-type chars, and XRD showed a large increase in crystallite height (4.3 to 11.7Å). Nitrogen adsorption and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) were utilized to compare the nitrogen surface areas and pore size distributions. Both chars were mostly mesoporous but the inertinite-rich char had double the average pore size, which also resulted in a larger nitrogen surface area since nitrogen can only access surface areas in larger pores. The BET surface area was 3.9 and 2.7 m2/g for the inertinite- and vitrinite-rich chars respectively. SAXS data showed that the vitrinite-rich char had 60% higher frequencies of pores in the micropore range. Helium porosimetry indicated that the inertinite-rich coal and resultant char had higher densities than the vitrinite coal and char; 1.6 and 2.0 g/cm3, compared to 1.3 and 1.9 g/cm3 (dry basis). Non-isothermal TGA burnout profiles showed the inertinite-rich char had a burnout temperature of 680°C, slightly higher than the vitrinite-rich char’s 650 °C. This, along with the peak shape and position in the burnout profiles indicate that the vitrinite-rich char has a higher reactivity. The higher reactivity is due to a combination of factors likely including less organization, grater porosity and access to the reactive site, less ash blocking, and char morphology differences.« less

Particle behavior and char burnout mechanisms under pressurized combustion conditions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bauer, C.M.; Spliethoff, H.; Hein, K.R.G.

Combined cycle systems with coal-fired gas turbines promise highest cycle efficiencies for this fuel. Pressurized pulverized coal combustion, in particular, yields high cycle efficiencies due to the high flue gas temperatures possible. The main problem, however, is to ensure a flue gas clean enough to meet the high gas turbine standards with a dirty fuel like coal. On the one hand, a profound knowledge of the basic chemical and physical processes during fuel conversion under elevated pressures is required whereas on the other hand suitable hot gas cleaning systems need to be developed. The objective of this work was tomore » provide experimental data to enable a detailed description of pressurized coal combustion processes. A series of experiments were performed with two German hvb coals, Ensdorf and Goettelborn, and one German brown coal, Garzweiler, using a semi-technical scale pressurized entrained flow reactor. The parameters varied in the experiments were pressure, gas temperature and bulk gas oxygen concentration. A two-color pyrometer was used for in-situ determination of particle surface temperatures and particle sizes. Flue gas composition was measured and solid residue samples taken and subsequently analyzed. The char burnout reaction rates were determinated varying the parameters pressure, gas temperature and initial oxygen concentration. Variation of residence time was achieved by taking the samples at different points along the reaction zone. The most influential parameters on char burnout reaction rates were found to be oxygen partial pressure and fuel volatile content. With increasing pressure the burn-out reactions are accelerated and are mostly controlled by product desorption and pore diffusion being the limiting processes. The char burnout process is enhanced by a higher fuel volatile content.« less

Effects of pressure on morphology and structure of bio-char from pressurized entrained-flow pyrolysis of microalgae.

PubMed

Maliutina, Kristina; Tahmasebi, Arash; Yu, Jianglong

2018-06-01

The present dataset describes the entrained-flow pyrolysis of Microalgae Chlorella vulgaris and the results obtained during bio-char characterization. The dataset includes a brief explanation of the experimental procedure, experimental conditions and the influence of pyrolysis conditions on bio-chars morphology and carbon structure. The data show an increase in sphericity and surface smoothness of bio-chars at higher pressures and temperatures. Data confirmed that the swelling ratio of bio-chars increased with pressure up to 2.0 MPa. Consequently, changes in carbon structure of bio-chars were investigated using Raman spectroscopy. The data showed the increase in carbon order of chars at elevated pressures. Changes in the chemical structure of bio-char as a function of pyrolysis conditions were investigated using FTIR analysis.

Burning characteristics and fiber retention of graphite/resin matrix composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowles, K. J.

1980-01-01

Graphite fiber reinforced resin matrix composites were subjected to controlled burning conditions to determine their burning characteristics and fiber retention properties. Two types of burning equipment were used. Small samples were burned with a natural gas fired torch to study the effects of fiber orientation and structural flaws such as holes and slits that were machined into the laminates. Larger laminate samples were burned in a Heat Release Rate Calorimeter. Unidirectional epoxy/graphite and polyimide/graphite composites and boron powder filled samples of each of the two composite systems were burn tested and exposed to a thermal radiation. The effects of fiber orientation, flaws, and boron filler additives to the resins were evaluated. A high char forming polyimide resin was no more effective in retaining graphite fibers than a low char forming epoxy resin when burning in air.

Fracture in Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agrawal, Parul; Chavez-Garcia, Jose F.

2011-01-01

The thermal protection materials used for spacecraft heat shields are subjected to various thermal-mechanical loads during an atmospheric reentry which can threaten the structural integrity of the system. This paper discusses the development of a novel technique to understand the failure mechanisms inside the thermal protection material, Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA). PICA has successfully flown on the Stardust spacecraft and was the TPS material chosen for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), that will fly in 2011. Although PICA has good thermal properties, structurally, it is a weak material. To thoroughly understand failure in PICA, experiments were performed using FiberForm(Registered TradeMark) (precursor of PICA), virgin and furnace-charred PICA. Several small samples were tested inside an electron microscope to investigate the failure mechanisms. Micrographs were obtained before and after the failure in order to study crack initiation and growth. Videos were obtained to capture failure mechanisms in real time. Stress-strain data was obtained simultaneously for all the samples with the help of a data acquisition system, integrated to the mechanical stages. It was found that cracks initiated and grew in the FiberForm when a critical stress limit was reached such that the carbon fibers separated from the binder. However, both for virgin and charred PICA, crack initiation and growth occurred in the matrix (phenolic) phase. Both virgin and charred PICA showed greater strength values compared to FiberForm coupons, confirming that the presence of the porous matrix helps in absorbing the fracture energy.

Synthesis of improved polyester resins

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcleod, A. H.; Delano, C. B.

1979-01-01

Eighteen aromatic unsaturated polyester prepolymers prepared by a modified interfacial condensation technique were investigated for their solubility in vinyl monomers and ability to provide high char yield forming unsaturated polyester resins. The best resin system contained a polyester prepolymer of phthalic, fumaric and diphenic acids reacted with 2,7-naphthalene diol and 9,9-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)fluorene. This prepolymer is very soluble in styrene, divinyl benzene, triallyl cyanurate, diallyl isophthalate and methylvinylpyridine. It provided anaerobic char yields as high as 41 percent at 800 C. The combination of good solubility and char yield represents a significant improvement over state-of-the-art unsaturated polyester resins. The majority of the other prepolymers had only low or no solubility in vinyl monomers. Graphite composites from this prepolymer with styrene were investigated. The cause for the observed low shear strengths of the composites was not determined, however 12-week aging of the composites at 82 C showed that essentially no changes in the composites had occurred.

Effect of fuel origin on synergy during co-gasification of biomass and coal in CO2.

PubMed

Zhang, Yan; Zheng, Yan; Yang, Mingjun; Song, Yongchen

2016-01-01

The effect of fuel origin on synergy in coal/biomass blends during co-gasification has been assessed using a congruent-mass thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) method. Results revealed that synergy occurs when ash residuals are formed, followed by an almost complete gasification of biomass. Potassium species in biomass ash play a catalytic role in promoting gasification reactivity of coal char, which is a direct consequence of synergy during co-gasification. The SEM-EDS spectra provided conclusive evidence that the transfer of potassium from biomass to the surface of coal char occurs during co-pyrolysis/gasification. Biomass ash rich in silica eliminated synergy in coal/biomass blends but not to the extent of inhibiting the reaction rate of the blended chars to make it slower than that of separated ones. The best result in terms of synergy was concluded to be the combination of low-ash coal and K-rich biomass. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of hydrothermal carbonization on migration and environmental risk of heavy metals in sewage sludge during pyrolysis.

PubMed

Liu, Tingting; Liu, Zhengang; Zheng, Qingfu; Lang, Qianqian; Xia, Yu; Peng, Nana; Gai, Chao

2018-01-01

The heavy metals distribution during hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of sewage sludge, and pyrolysis of the resultant hydrochar was investigated and compared with raw sludge pyrolysis. The results showed that HTC reduced exchangeable/acid-soluble and reducible fraction of heavy metals and lowered the potential risk of heavy metals in sewage sludge. The pyrolysis favored the transformation of extracted/mobile fraction of heavy metals to residual form especially at high temperature, immobilizing heavy metals in the chars. Compared to the chars from raw sludge pyrolysis, the chars derived from hydrochar pyrolysis was more alkaline and had lower risk and less leachable heavy metals, indicating that pyrolysis imposed more positive effect on immobilization of heavy metals for the hydrochar than for sewage sludge. The present study demonstrated that HTC is a promising pretreatment prior to pyrolysis from the perspective of immobilization of heavy metals in sewage sludge. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Method and apparatus for acoustically monitoring the flow of suspended solid particulate matter. [Patent application; monitoring char flow in coal gasifier

DOEpatents

Roach, P.D.; Raptis, A.C.

1980-11-24

A method and apparatus for monitoring char flow in a coal gasifier system includes flow monitor circuits which measure acoustic attenuation caused by the presence of char in a char line and provides a char flow/no flow indication and an indication of relative char density. The flow monitor circuits compute the ratio of signals in two frequency bands, a first frequency band representative of background noise, and a second higher frequency band in which background noise is attenuated by the presence of char. Since the second frequency band contains higher frequencies, the ratio can be used to provide a flow/no flow indication. The second band can also be selected so that attenuation is monotonically related to particle concentration, providing a quantitative measure of char concentration.

Molecular aspects of aromatic C additions to soils: Implications of char quality for ecosystem functionality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keiluweit, M.; Nico, P. S.; Johnson, M. G.; Kleber, M.

2009-12-01

Solid residues of incomplete combustion (biochar or char) are continuously being added to soils due to natural vegetation fires in many ecosystems. However, new strategies for carbon sequestration in soils are likely to include the active addition of biochar to soils. Since biochar is a highly aromatic organic material such additions will modify the native molecular structure of soil organic matter and thus alter interactions with the global atmosphere and hydrosphere. Here we present a molecular level assessment of the physical organization and chemical complexity of biomass-derived chars and, specifically, that of aromatic carbon in char structures. Differences among wood and grass charred at temperatures from 100 to 700°C are investigated. BET-N2 surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD), synchrotron-based Near-edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy results demonstrate how the two plant precursor materials undergo analogous, but quantitatively different physical-chemical transitions as charring intensity increases. These changes suggest the existence of four distinct physical and chemical categories of char. We find that each category of char consists of a unique mixture of chemical phases and physical states: (i) in transition chars the crystalline character of the precursor materials is preserved, (ii) in amorphous chars the heat-altered molecules and incipient aromatic polycondensates are randomly mixed, (iii) composite chars consist of poorly ordered graphene stacks embedded in amorphous phases, and (iv) turbostratic chars are dominated by turbostratic (disordered) graphitic crystallites. There is wide variation in both the chemical and the physical nature of aromatic carbon among these char categories. In this presentation we will point out how molecular variations among the aromatic components of the different char categories translate into differences in their ability to: (i) persist in the environment, (ii) function as environmental sorbents, and (iii) to enable the soil to provide environmental services.

Spatial and temporal trends of mercury and other metals in landlocked char from lakes in the Canadian Arctic archipelago.

PubMed

Muir, Derek; Wang, Xiaowa; Bright, Doug; Lockhart, Lyle; Köck, Günter

2005-12-01

Spatial and temporal trends of mercury (Hg) and 22 other elements were examined in landlocked Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from six lakes in the Canadian Arctic (Char, Resolute and North Lakes, and Amituk Lake on Cornwallis Island, Sapphire Lake on Devon Island and Boomerang Lake on Somerset Island). The objectives of the study were to compare recent concentrations of Hg and other metals in char with older data from Amituk, Resolute and Char Lakes, in order to examine temporal trends as well as to investigate factors influencing spatial trends in contaminant levels such as lake characteristics, trophic position, size and age of the fish. Geometric mean Hg concentrations in dorsal muscle ranged from 0.147 microg/g wet weight (ww) in Resolute Lake to 1.52 microg/g ww in Amituk Lake for samples collected over the period 1999-2003. Char from Amituk Lake also had significantly higher selenium (Se). Mercury in char from Resolute Lake was strongly correlated with fish length, weight, and age, as well as with thallium, lead and Se. In 5 of 6 lakes, Hg concentrations were correlated with stable nitrogen isotope ratios (delta15N) and larger char were feeding at a higher trophic level presumably due to feeding on smaller char. Weight adjusted mean Hg concentrations in char from Amituk Lake, and unadjusted geometric means in Char Lake and Resolute Lakes, did not show any statistically significant increase from the early 1990s to 2003. However, small sample sizes from 1999-2003 for fish <1000 g limited the power of this comparison in Char and Amituk Lakes. In Resolute Lake char, manganese, strontium and zinc showed consistent decreases from 1997 or 1999 to 2003 while nickel generally increased over the 6 year period. Differences in char trophic level inferred from delta15N values best explained the higher concentrations of Hg in Amituk Lake compared to the other lakes.

Design of pyrolysis reactor for production of bio-oil and bio-char simultaneously

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aladin, Andi; Alwi, Ratna Surya; Syarif, Takdir

2017-05-01

The residues from the wood industry are the main contributors to biomass waste in Indonesia. The conventional pyrolysis process, which needs a large energy as well as to produce various toxic chemical to the environment. Therefore, a pyrolysis unit on the laboratory scale was designed that can be a good alternative to achieve zero-waste and low energy cost. In this paper attempts to discuss design and system of pyrolysis reactor to produce bio-oil and bio-char simultaneously.

Evaluating phenanthrene sorption on various wood chars

USGS Publications Warehouse

James, G.; Sabatini, D.A.; Chiou, C.T.; Rutherford, D.; Scott, A.C.; Karapanagioti, H.K.

2005-01-01

A certain amount of wood char or soot in a soil or sediment sample may cause the sorption of organic compounds to deviate significantly from the linear partitioning commonly observed with soil organic matter (SOM). Laboratory produced and field wood chars have been obtained and analyzed for their sorption isotherms of a model solute (phenanthrene) from water solution. The uptake capacities and nonlinear sorption effects with the laboratory wood chars are similar to those with the field wood chars. For phenanthrene aqueous concentrations of 1 ??gl-1, the organic carbon-normalized sorption coefficients (log Koc) ranging from 5.0 to 6.4 for field chars and 5.4-7.3 for laboratory wood chars, which is consistent with literature values (5.6-7.1). Data with artificial chars suggest that the variation in sorption potential can be attributed to heating temperature and starting material, and both the quantity and heterogeneity of surface-area impacts the sorption capacity. These results thus help to corroborate and explain the range of log Koc values reported in previous research for aquifer materials containing wood chars. ?? 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time resolved quantitative imaging of charring in materials at temperatures above 1000 K

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Böhrk, Hannah; Jemmali, Raouf

2016-07-01

A device is presented allowing for in situ investigation of chemically changing materials by means of X-ray imaging. A representative cork ablator sample, additionally instrumented with thermocouples, is encapsulated in an evacuated cell heating a sample surface with a heat flux of 230 kW/m2. The images show the sample surface and the in-depth progression of the char front dividing the char layer from the virgin material. Correlating the images to thermocouple data allows for the deduction of a reaction temperature. For the representative cork ablator investigated at the present conditions, the progression rate of the pyrolysis layer is determined to 0.0285 mm/s and pyrolysis temperature is 770 or 737 K, depending on the pre-existing conditions. It is found that the novel device is ideally suited for volume process imaging.

Performance Properties of Graphite Reinforced Composites with Advanced Resin Matrices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kourtides, Demetrius A.

1980-01-01

This article looks at the effect of different resin matrices on thermal and mechanical properties of graphite composites, and relates the thermal and flammability properties to the anaerobic char yield of the resins. The processing parameters of graphite composites utilizing graphite fabric and epoxy or other advanced resins as matrices are presented. Thermoset resin matrices studied were: aminecured polyfunctional glycidyl aminetype epoxy (baseline), phenolicnovolac resin based on condensation of dihydroxymethyl-xylene and phenol cured with hexamine, two types of polydismaleimide resins, phenolic resin, and benzyl resin. The thermoplastic matrices studied were polyethersulfone and polyphenylenesulfone. Properties evaluated in the study included anaerobic char yield, limiting oxygen index, smoke evolution, moisture absorption, and mechanical properties at elevated temperatures including tensile, compressive, and short-beam shear strengths. Generally, it was determined that graphite composites with the highest char yield exhibited optimum fire-resistant properties.

Effect of chemical pretreatment on pyrolysis of non-metallic fraction recycled from waste printed circuit boards.

PubMed

Shen, Yafei

2018-06-01

The non-metallic fraction from waste printed circuit boards (NMF-WPCB) generally consists of plastics with high content of Br, glass fibers and metals (e.g. Cu), which are normally difficult to dispose. This work aims to study the chemical pretreatments by using alkalis, acids and alkali-earth-metal salts on pyrolysis of NMF-WPCB. Char (60-79%) and volatile matter (21-40%) can be produced via the pyrolysis process. In particular, the ash content can reach up to 42-56%, which was attributed to the high content of glass fibers and other minerals. Copper (Cu, 2.5%), calcium (Ca, 28.7%), and aluminum (Al, 6.9%) were the main metal constituents. Meanwhile, silicon (Si, 28.3%) and bromine (Br, 26.4%) were the predominant non-metallic constituents. The heavy metals such as Cu were significantly reduced by 92.4% with the acid (i.e. HCl) pretreatment. It has been proved that the organic Br in the plastics (e.g. BFR) can be transformed into HBr via the pyrolysis process at relatively high temperature. It was noteworthy that the alkali pretreatment was more benefit for the Br fixation in the solid char. Particularly, the Br fixation efficiency can reach up to 53.6% by the sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pretreatment with the pyrolysis process. The formed HBr can react with NaOH to generate NaBr. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamic molecular structure of plant biomass-derived black carbon (biochar)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keiluweit, M.; Nico, P.S.; Johnson, M.G.

2009-11-15

Char black carbon (BC), the solid residue of incomplete combustion, is continuously being added to soils and sediments due to natural vegetation fires, anthropogenic pollution, and new strategies for carbon sequestration ('biochar'). Here we present a molecular-level assessment of the physical organization and chemical complexity of biomass-derived chars and, specifically, that of aromatic carbon in char structures. BET-N{sub 2} surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD), synchrotron-based Near-edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy are used to show how two plant materials (wood and grass) undergo analogous, but quantitatively different physical-chemical transitions as charring temperature increases frommore » 100 to 700 C. These changes suggest the existence of four distinct categories of char consisting of a unique mixture of chemical phases and physical states: (i) in transition chars the crystalline character of the precursor materials is preserved, (ii) in amorphous chars the heat-altered molecules and incipient aromatic polycondensates are randomly mixed, (iii) composite chars consist of poorly ordered graphene stacks embedded in amorphous phases, and (iv) turbostratic chars are dominated by disordered graphitic crystallites. The molecular variations among the different char categories translate into differences in their ability to persist in the environment and function as environmental sorbents.« less

Retrofitting hetrotrophically cultivated algae biomass as pyrolytic feedstock for biogas, bio-char and bio-oil production encompassing biorefinery.

PubMed

Sarkar, Omprakash; Agarwal, Manu; Naresh Kumar, A; Venkata Mohan, S

2015-02-01

Algal biomass grown hetrotrophically in domestic wastewater was evaluated as pyrolytic feedstock for harnessing biogas, bio-oil and bio-char. Freshly harvested microalgae (MA) and lipid extracted microalgae (LEMA) were pyrolysed in packed bed reactor in the presence and absence of sand as additive. MA (without sand additive) depicted higher biogas (420 ml/g; 800 °C; 3 h) and bio-oil (0.70 ml/g; 500 °C; 3 h). Sand addition enhanced biogas production (210 ml/g; 600 °C; 2 h) in LEMA operation. The composition of bio-gas and bio-oil was found to depend on the nature of feedstock as well as the process conditions viz., pyrolytic-temperature, retention time and presence of additive. Sand additive improved the H2 composition while pyrolytic temperature increment caused a decline in CO2 fraction. Bio-char productivity increased with increasing temperature specifically with LEMA. Integration of thermo-chemical process with microalgae cultivation showed to yield multiple resources and accounts for environmental sustainability in the bio-refinery framework. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modified thermal-optical analysis using spectral absorption selectivity to distinguish black carbon from pyrolized organic carbon.

PubMed

Hadley, Odelle L; Corrigan, Craig E; Kirchstetter, Thomas W

2008-11-15

This study presents a method for analyzing the black carbon (BC) mass loading on a quartz fiber filter using a modified thermal-optical analysis method, wherein light transmitted through the sample is measured over a spectral region instead of at a single wavelength. Evolution of the spectral light transmission signal depends on the relative amounts of light-absorbing BC and char, the latter of which forms when organic carbon in the sample pyrolyzes during heating. Absorption selectivities of BC and char are found to be distinct and are used to apportion the amount of light attenuated by each component in the sample. Light attenuation is converted to mass concentration on the basis of derived mass attenuation efficiencies (MAEs) of BC and char. The fractions of attenuation due to each component are scaled by their individual MAE values and added together as the total mass of light absorbing carbon (LAC). An iterative algorithm is used to find the MAE values for both BC and char that provide the best fit to the carbon mass remaining on the filter (derived from direct measurements of thermally evolved CO2) at temperatures higher than 480 degrees C. This method was applied to measure the BC concentration in precipitation samples collected in northern California. The uncertainty in the measured BC concentration of samples that contained a high concentration of organics susceptible to char ranged from 12% to 100%, depending on the mass loading of BC on the filter. The lower detection limit for this method was approximately 0.35 microg of BC, and the uncertainty approached 20% for BC mass loading greater than 1.0 microg of BC.

Ferns and fires: Experimental charring of ferns compared to wood and implications for paleobiology, paleoecology, coal petrology, and isotope geochemistry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McParland, L.C.; Collinson, M.E.; Scott, A.C.

We report the effects of charring on the ferns Osmunda, Pteridium, and Matteucia with coniferous wood (Sequoia) for comparison. Like charred wood, charred ferns shrink, become black and brittle with a silky sheen, and retain three-dimensional cellular structure. Ferns yield recognizable charcoal (up to 800{sup o}C) that could potentially survive in the fossil record enabling reconstruction of ancient fire-prone vegetation containing ferns. Charred fossils of herbaceous ferns would indicate surface fires. Like charred wood, cell-wall layers of charred ferns homogenize, and their reflectance values increase with rising temperature. Charcoalified fragments of thick-walled cells from conifer wood or fern tissues aremore » indistinguishable and so cannot be used to infer the nature of source vegetation. Charred conifer wood and charred fern tissues show a relationship between mean random reflectance and temperature of formation and can be used to determine minimum ancient fire temperatures. Charred fern tissues consistently have significantly more depleted {delta}{sup 13}C values ({le} 4 parts per thousand) than charred wood. Therefore, if an analysis of {delta} {sup 13}C through time included fern charcoal among a succession of wood charcoals, any related shifts in {delta} {sup 13}C could be misinterpreted as atmospheric changes or misused as isotope stratigraphic markers. Thus, charcoals of comparable botanical origin and temperatures of formation should be used in order to avoid misinterpretations of shifts in {delta}{sup 13}C values.« less

Design of a Decentralized Asynchronous Membership Protocol and an Implementation of Its Communications Layer

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-01

sstm[MAXFD], stpm [MAXFD]; u-short fport,bport; char sfport[MLAXPORTI, sbport[MAXPORTII; int childpid; char my~name[MAXHOSTNAME+ 1 ], *ip~add&, char my...34, "tpm", stpm , (char*) NULL); printf ("Error executing tpm\

Method and apparatus for acoustically monitoring the flow of suspended solid particulate matter

DOEpatents

Roach, Paul D.; Raptis, Apostolos C.

1982-01-01

A method and apparatus for monitoring char flow in a coal gasifier system cludes flow monitor circuits which measure acoustic attenuation caused by the presence of char in a char line and provide a char flow/no flow indication and an indication of relative char density. The flow monitor circuits compute the ratio of signals in two frequency bands, a first frequency band representative of background noise, and a second higher frequency band in which background noise is attenuated by the presence of char. Since the second frequency band contains higher frequencies, the ratio can be used to provide a flow/no flow indication. The second band can also be selected so that attenuation is monotonically related to particle concentration, providing a quantitative measure of char concentration.

Effect of reactivity loss on apparent reaction order of burning char particles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Murphy, Jeffrey J.; Shaddix, Christopher R.

Considerable debate still exists in the char combustion community over the expected and observed reaction orders of carbon reacting with oxygen. In particular, very low values of the reaction order (approaching zero) are commonly observed in char combustion experiments. These observations appear to conflict with porous catalyst theory as first expressed by Thiele, which suggests that the apparent reaction order must be greater than 0.5. In this work, we propose that this conflict may be resolved by considering the decrease in char reactivity with burnout due to ash effects, thermal annealing, or other phenomena. Specifically, the influence of ash dilutionmore » of the available surface area on the apparent reaction order is explored. Equations describing the ash dilution effect are combined with a model for particle burnout based on single-film nth-order Arrhenius char combustion and yield an analytical expression for the effective reaction order. When this expression is applied for experimental conditions reflecting combustion of individual pulverized coal particles in an entrained flow reactor, the apparent reaction order is shown to be lower than the inherent char matrix reaction order, even for negligible extents of char conversion. As char conversion proceeds and approaches completion, the apparent reaction order drops precipitously past zero to negative values. Conversely, the inclusion of the ash dilution model has little effect on the char conversion profile or char particle temperature until significant burnout has occurred. Taken together, these results suggest that the common experimental observation of low apparent reaction orders during char combustion is a consequence of the lack of explicit modeling of the decrease in char reactivity with burnout. (author)« less

Comparison of the combustion reactivity of TGA and drop tube furnace chars from a bituminous coal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Katherine Le Manquais; Colin Snape; Ian McRobbie

This paper compares the reactivity of chars generated in a drop tube furnace (DTF) to those from TGA. The implications of devolatilization temperature, heating rate and residence time are considered. For the smaller particle size ranges of the bituminous coal investigated (ATC), optimized devolatilization procedures were used to generate corresponding TGA burnout rates between the two char types. However, with fractions of >75 {mu}m, the DTF chars showed an increased burnout propensity when moving from combustion regime II to combustion regime III. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and internal surface areas indicate that this is because of incompatible char morphologies.more » Thus, while chars produced under the conditions of TGA pyrolysis strongly resemble raw coal and display an undeveloped pore network; the DTF chars are highly porous, extensively swollen and possess considerably larger internal surface areas. Subsequently, char burnout variability was quantified, with the reactivity distribution for the DTF samples found to be up to an order of magnitude more significant than for the TGA chars. This is attributed to a fluctuating devolatilization environment on the DTF. Finally, a TGA study observed a robust particle size based compensation effect for the TGA chars, with the relative reaction rates and activation energies demonstrating the presence of internal diffusion control. However this phenomenon was partly alleviated for the DTF chars, since their higher porosities reduce mass transfer restrictions. Moreover, it should be realized that DTF char fractions of <38 {mu}m, including those required to ensure true intrinsic control under the investigated burnout conditions, cannot be produced directly. This is because of bridging and sloughing in the DTF's screw-feeder. Instead, such samples must be created by grinding larger particles, which destroys the char's existing porosity. 60 refs., 9 figs., 5 tabs.« less

OXIDATION AND DEVOLATILIZATION OF NITROGEN IN COAL CHAR

EPA Science Inventory

The reactions of organically-bound nitrogen in coal char during combustion have been studied in a laboratory furnace using size-graded char particles prepared by the pyrolysis of a Montana lignite. The time-resolved variations of nitrogen-to-carbon ratio during char oxidation hav...

Study on tar generated from downdraft gasification of oil palm fronds.

PubMed

Atnaw, Samson Mekbib; Kueh, Soo Chuan; Sulaiman, Shaharin Anwar

2014-01-01

One of the most challenging issues concerning the gasification of oil palm fronds (OPF) is the presence of tar and particulates formed during the process considering its high volatile matter content. In this study, a tar sampling train custom built based on standard tar sampling protocols was used to quantify the gravimetric concentration of tar (g/Nm3) in syngas produced from downdraft gasification of OPF. The amount of char, ash, and solid tar produced from the gasification process was measured in order to account for the mass and carbon conversion efficiency. Elemental analysis of the char and solid tar samples was done using ultimate analysis machine, while the relative concentration of the different compounds in the liquid tar was determined making use of a liquid gas chromatography (GC) unit. Average tar concentration of 4.928 g/Nm3 and 1.923 g/Nm3 was obtained for raw gas and cleaned gas samples, respectively. Tar concentration in the raw gas sample was found to be higher compared to results for other biomass materials, which could be attributed to the higher volatile matter percentage of OPF. Average cleaning efficiency of 61% which is comparable to that of sand bed filter and venturi scrubber cleaning systems reported in the literature was obtained for the cleaning system proposed in the current study.

Study on Tar Generated from Downdraft Gasification of Oil Palm Fronds

PubMed Central

Atnaw, Samson Mekbib; Kueh, Soo Chuan; Sulaiman, Shaharin Anwar

2014-01-01

One of the most challenging issues concerning the gasification of oil palm fronds (OPF) is the presence of tar and particulates formed during the process considering its high volatile matter content. In this study, a tar sampling train custom built based on standard tar sampling protocols was used to quantify the gravimetric concentration of tar (g/Nm3) in syngas produced from downdraft gasification of OPF. The amount of char, ash, and solid tar produced from the gasification process was measured in order to account for the mass and carbon conversion efficiency. Elemental analysis of the char and solid tar samples was done using ultimate analysis machine, while the relative concentration of the different compounds in the liquid tar was determined making use of a liquid gas chromatography (GC) unit. Average tar concentration of 4.928 g/Nm3 and 1.923 g/Nm3 was obtained for raw gas and cleaned gas samples, respectively. Tar concentration in the raw gas sample was found to be higher compared to results for other biomass materials, which could be attributed to the higher volatile matter percentage of OPF. Average cleaning efficiency of 61% which is comparable to that of sand bed filter and venturi scrubber cleaning systems reported in the literature was obtained for the cleaning system proposed in the current study. PMID:24526899

Pyrolysis behavior of different type of materials contained in the rejects of packaging waste sorting plants.

PubMed

Adrados, A; De Marco, I; Lopez-Urionabarrenechea, A; Caballero, B M; Laresgoiti, M F

2013-01-01

In this paper rejected streams coming from a waste packaging material recovery facility have been characterized and separated into families of products of similar nature in order to determine the influence of different types of ingredients in the products obtained in the pyrolysis process. The pyrolysis experiments have been carried out in a non-stirred batch 3.5 dm(3) reactor, swept with 1 L min(-1) N(2), at 500°C for 30 min. Pyrolysis liquids are composed of an organic phase and an aqueous phase. The aqueous phase is greater as higher is the cellulosic material content in the sample. The organic phase contains valuable chemicals as styrene, ethylbenzene and toluene, and has high heating value (HHV) (33-40 MJ kg(-1)). Therefore they could be used as alternative fuels for heat and power generation and as a source of valuable chemicals. Pyrolysis gases are mainly composed of hydrocarbons but contain high amounts of CO and CO(2); their HHV is in the range of 18-46 MJ kg(-1). The amount of COCO(2) increases, and consequently HHV decreases as higher is the cellulosic content of the waste. Pyrolysis solids are mainly composed of inorganics and char formed in the process. The cellulosic materials lower the quality of the pyrolysis liquids and gases, and increase the production of char. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mechanical properties of acacia and eucalyptus wood chars

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, M.; Verma, B.B.; Gupta, R.C.

1999-10-01

In the present investigation the effects of carbonization conditions (temperature and heating rate) on the mechanical properties (such as crushing and impact strengths and shatter index) of acacia and eucalyptus wood chars have been determined. The crushing and impact strengths of both the acacia and eucalyptus wood chars (made by slow carbonization) decreased with increase of preparation temperature up to 600 C, followed by an increase thereafter. These wood chars showed a continuous increase in shatter index values with carbonization temperature. In contrast to slow carbonization (heating rate 4 C min{sup {minus}1}), rapid carbonization (heating rate 30 C min{sup {minus}1})more » yielded chars of lower crushing strengths. Slowly carbonized eucalyptus wood gave chars of superior crushing and impact strengths than those produced from acacia wood under the same carbonization conditions. The crushing and impact strengths of these wood chars, in general, have shown an increase with increase in their apparent density. The crushing strength of cubic-shaped wood char decreased with increase in size.« less

Sustainable development of tyre char-based activated carbons with different textural properties for value-added applications.

PubMed

Hadi, Pejman; Yeung, Kit Ying; Guo, Jiaxin; Wang, Huaimin; McKay, Gordon

2016-04-01

This paper aims at the sustainable development of activated carbons for value-added applications from the waste tyre pyrolysis product, tyre char, in order to make pyrolysis economically favorable. Two activation process parameters, activation temperature (900, 925, 950 and 975 °C) and residence time (2, 4 and 6 h) with steam as the activating agent have been investigated. The textural properties of the produced tyre char activated carbons have been characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption experiments at -196 °C. The activation process has resulted in the production of mesoporous activated carbons confirmed by the existence of hysteresis loops in the N2 adsorption-desorption curves and the pore size distribution curves obtained from BJH method. The BET surface area, total pore volume and mesopore volume of the activated carbons from tyre char have been improved to 732 m(2)/g, 0.91 cm(3)/g and 0.89 cm(3)/g, respectively. It has been observed that the BET surface area, mesopore volume and total pore volume increased linearly with burnoff during activation in the range of experimental parameters studied. Thus, yield-normalized surface area, defined as the surface area of the activated carbon per gram of the precursor, has been introduced to optimize the activation conditions. Accordingly, the optimized activation conditions have been demonstrated as an activation temperature of 975 °C and an activation time of 4 h. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Formation, analysis and characterization of wood pyrolyzed oil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahadwad, O. K.; Wagh, D. D.; Kokil, P. L.

2017-06-01

Pyrolysis of wood is the possible path for converting biomass to higher valuable products such as bio-oil, bio-char and bio-gas. Bio-oil or liquid biofuels have higher heating values so it can store and transport more conveniently. The by-products bio-char and bio-gas, which can be used to provide heat required in the process. This work focused on the formation, analysis and characterization of bio-oil which was obtained from the mixed wood pyrolysis. A GC-MS technique was used for the determination of families of lighter chemicals form pyrolyzed oil. Karl fisher titration and other analytical methods were used for the characterization of pyrolyzed oil. In all there were sixty-six compounds found in the GC-MS analysis of bio-oil and the major compound was acetic acid (19.06 wt ), formic acid (4.90 wt ) 1,2-benzenediol (4.43 wt ) and furfural (3.46 wt ). Along with this analysis, pyrolyzed oil was characterized by calculating its viscosity, density, calorific value, acid value, fire point, flash point, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, ash and water content in it. Most of the above mention properties of bio-oil matches with the properties of crude oil except it show more water content in it.

Properties of gasification-derived char and its utilization for catalytic tar reforming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Kezhen

Char is a low-value byproduct of biomass gasification and pyrolysis with many potential applications, such as soil amendment and the synthesis of activated carbon. The overall goal of the proposed research was to develop novel methods to use char derived from gasification for high-value applications in syngas conditioning. The first objective was to investigate effects of gasification condition and feedstock on properties of char derived from fluidized bed gasification. Results show that the surface areas of most of the char were 1--10 m 2/g and increased as the equivalence ratio increased. Char moisture and fixed carbon contents decreased while ash content increased as equivalence ratio increased. The next objective was to study the properties of sorghum and red cedar char derived from downdraft gasifier. Red cedar char contained more aliphatic carbon and o-alkyl carbon than sorghum char. Char derived from downdraft gasification had higher heating values and lower ash contents than char derived from fluidized bed gasification. The gasification reactivity of red cedar char was higher than that of sorghum char. Then, red cedar char based catalysts were developed with different preparation method to reform toluene and naphthalene as model tars. The catalyst prepared with nickel nitrate was found to be better than that with nickel acetate. The nickel particle size of catalyst impregnated with nickel nitrate was smaller than that of catalyst impregnated with nickel acetate. The particle size of catalyst impregnated with nickel acetate decreased by hydrazine reduction. The catalyst impregnated with nickel nitrate had the highest toluene removal efficiency, which was 70%--100% at 600--800 °C. The presence of naphthalene in tar reduced the catalyst efficiency. The toluene conversion was 36--99% and the naphthalene conversion was 37%--93% at 700--900 °C. Finally, effects of atmosphere and pressure on catalytic reforming of lignin-derived tars over the developed catalyst were investigated. An increase in reaction temperature led to an increase in removal of most tar components except naphthalene. High pressure promoted the catalytic conditioning of lignin tar. Hydrogen promoted the conversion of lignin into non-condensable gas.

Mercury adsorption of modified mulberry twig chars in a simulated flue gas.

PubMed

Shu, Tong; Lu, Ping; He, Nan

2013-05-01

Mulberry twig chars were prepared by pyrolysis, steam activation and impregnation with H2O2, ZnCl2 and NaCl. Textural characteristics and surface functional groups were performed using nitrogen adsorption and FTIR, respectively. Mercury adsorption of different modified MT chars was investigated in a quartz fixed-bed absorber. The results indicated that steam activation and H2O2-impregnation can improve pore structure significantly and H2O2-impregnation and chloride-impregnation promote surface functional groups. However, chloride-impregnation has adverse effect on pore structure. Mercury adsorption capacities of impregnated MT chars with 10% or 30% H2O2 are 2.02 and 1.77 times of steam activated MT char, respectively. Mercury adsorption capacity of ZnCl2-impregnated MT char increase with increasing ZnCl2 content and is better than that of NaCl-impregnated MT char at the same chloride content. The modified MT char (MT873-A-Z5) prepared by steam activation following impregnation with 5% ZnCl2 exhibits a higher mercury adsorption capacity (29.55 μg g(-1)) than any other MT chars. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Changes in composition and porosity occurring during the thermal degradation of wood and wood components

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rutherford, David W.; Wershaw, Robert L.; Cox, Larry G.

2005-01-01

Samples of pine and poplar wood, pine bark, and purified cellulose and lignin were charred at temperatures ranging from 250?C to 500?C for times ranging from 1 hour to 168 hours. Changes in composition were examined by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometry, mass loss, and elemental composition (carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen) of the char. Structural changes were examined by changes in porosity as measured by nitrogen gas adsorption. 13C NMR spectrometry, mass loss, and elemental composition were combined to estimate the mass of aromatic and aliphatic carbon remaining in the char. Mass loss and elemental composition were combined to estimate the chemical composition of material lost for various time intervals of heating. These analyses showed that aliphatic components in the test materials were either lost or converted to aromatic carbon early in the charring process. Nitrogen adsorption showed that no porosity develops for any of the test materials with heating at 250?C, even though substantial loss of material and changes in composition occurred. Porosity development coincided with the loss of aromatic carbon, indicating that micropores were developing within a fused-ring matrix.

Compositions and sorptive properties of crop residue-derived chars

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chun, Y.; Sheng, G.; Chiou, G.T.; Xing, B.

2004-01-01

Chars originating from the burning or pyrolysis of vegetation may significantly sorb neutral organic contaminants (NOCs). To evaluate the relationship between the char composition and NOC sorption, a series of char samples were generated by pyrolyzing a wheat residue (Triticum aestivum L) for 6 h at temperatures between 300 ??C and 700 ??C and analyzed for their elemental compositions, surface areas, and surface functional groups. The samples were then studied for their abilities to sorb benzene and nitrobenzene from water. A commercial activated carbon was used as a reference carbonaceous sample. The char samples produced at high pyrolytic temperatures (500-700 ??C) were well carbonized and exhibited a relatively high surface area (>300 m2/g), little organic matter (20% oxygen). The char samples exhibited a significant range of surface acidity/basicity because of their different surface polar-group contents, as characterized by the Boehm titration data and the NMR and FTIR spectra. The NOC sorption by high-temperature chars occurred almost exclusively by surface adsorption on carbonized surfaces, whereas the sorption by low-temperature chars resulted from the surface adsorption and the concurrent smaller partition into the residual organic-matter phase. The chars appeared to have a higher surface affinity for a polar solute (nitrobenzene) than for a nonpolar solute (benzene), the difference being related to the surface acidity/basicity of the char samples.

Production of activated char from Illinois coal for flue gas cleanup

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lizzio, A.A.; DeBarr, J.A.; Kruse, C.W.

1997-01-01

Activated chars were produced from Illinois coal and tested in several flue gas cleanup applications. High-activity chars that showed excellent potential for both SO2 and NOx removal were prepared from an Illinois No. 2 bituminous coal. The SO2 (120 ??C) and NOx (25 ??C) removal performance of one char compared favorably with that of a commercial activated carbon (Calgon Centaur). The NOx removal performance of the same char at 120 ??C exceeded that of the Centaur carbon by more than 1 order of magnitude. Novel char preparation methods were developed including oxidation/thermal desorption and hydrogen treatments, which increased and preserved, respectively, the active sites for SO2 and NOx adsorption. The results of combined SO2/NOx removal tests, however, suggest that SO2 and NOx compete for similar adsorption sites and SO2 seems to be more strongly adsorbed than NO. A low-activity, low-cost char was also developed for cleanup of incinerator flue gas. A three-step method involving coal preoxidation, pyrolysis, and CO2 activation was used to produce the char from Illinois coal. Five hundred pounds of the char was tested on a slipstream of flue gas from a commercial incinerator in Germany. The char was effective in removing >97% of the dioxins and furans present in the flue gas; mercury levels were below detectable limits.

Differences in gasification behaviors and related properties between entrained gasifier fly ash and coal char

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jing Gu; Shiyong Wu; Youqing Wu

2008-11-15

In the study, two fly ash samples from Texaco gasifiers were compared to coal char and the physical and chemical properties and reactivity of samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), SEM-energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N{sub 2} and CO{sub 2} adsorption method, and isothermal thermogravimetric analysis. The main results were obtained. The carbon content of gasified fly ashes exhibited 31-37%, which was less than the carbon content of 58-59% in the feed coal. The fly ashes exhibited higher Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, richer meso- and micropores, more disordered carbon crystalline structure, and better CO{sub 2} gasification reactivitymore » than coal char. Ashes in fly ashes occurred to agglomerate into larger spherical grains, while those in coal char do not agglomerate. The minerals in fly ashes, especial alkali and alkaline-earth metals, had a catalytic effect on gasification reactivity of fly ash carbon. In the low-temperature range, the gasification process of fly ashes is mainly in chemical control, while in the high-temperature range, it is mainly in gas diffusion control, which was similar to coal char. In addition, the carbon in fly ashes was partially gasified and activated by water vapor and exhibited higher BET surface area and better gasification activity. Consequently, the fact that these carbons in fly ashes from entrained flow gasifiers are reclaimed and reused will be considered to be feasible. 15 refs., 7 figs., 5 tabs.« less

Real-Time X-ray Radiography Diagnostics of Components in Solid Rocket Motors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cortopassi, A. C.; Martin, H. T.; Boyer, E.; Kuo, K. K.

2012-01-01

Solid rocket motors (SRMs) typically use nozzle materials which are required to maintain their shape as well as insulate the underlying support structure during the motor operation. In addition, SRMs need internal insulation materials to protect the motor case from the harsh environment resulting from the combustion of solid propellant. In the nozzle, typical materials consist of high density graphite, carbon-carbon composites and carbon phenolic composites. Internal insulation of the motor cases is typically a composite material with carbon, asbestos, Kevlar, or silica fibers in an ablative matrix such as EPDM or NBR. For both nozzle and internal insulation materials, the charring process occurs when the hot combustion products heat the material intensely. The pyrolysis of the matrix material takes away a portion of the thermal energy near the wall surface and leaves behind a char layer. The fiber reinforcement retains the porous char layer which provides continued thermal protection from the hot combustion products. It is of great interest to characterize both the total erosion rates of the material and the char layer thickness. By better understanding of the erosion process for a particular ablative material in a specific flow environment, the required insulation material thickness can be properly selected. The recession rates of internal insulation and nozzle materials of SRMs are typically determined by testing in some sort of simulated environment; either arc-jet testing, flame torch testing, or subscale SRMs of different size. Material recession rates are deduced by comparison of pre- and post-test measurements and then averaging over the duration of the test. However, these averaging techniques cannot be used to determine the instantaneous recession rates of the material. Knowledge of the variation in recession rates in response to the instantaneous flow conditions during the motor operation is of great importance. For example, in many SRM configurations the recession of the solid propellant grain can drastically alter the flow-field and effect the recession of internal insulation and nozzle materials. Simultaneous measurement of the overall erosion rate, the development of the char layer, and the recession of the char-virgin interface during the motor operation can be rather difficult. While invasive techniques have been used with limited success, they have serious drawbacks. Break wires or make wire sensors can be installed into a sufficient number of locations in the charring material from which a time history of the charring surface can be deduced. These sensors fundamentally alter the local structure of the material in which they are imbedded. Also, the location of these sensors within the material is not known precisely without the use of an X-ray. To determine instantaneous recession rates, real-time X-ray radiography (X-ray RTR) has been utilized in several SRM experiments at PSU. The X-ray RTR system discussed in this paper consists of an X-ray source, X-ray image intensifier, and CCD camera connected to a capture computer. The system has been used to examine the ablation process of internal insulation as well as nozzle material erosion in a subscale SRM. The X-ray source is rated to 320 kV at 10 mA and has both a large (5.5 mm) and small (3.0 mm) focal spot. The lead-lined cesium iodide X-ray image intensifier produces an image which is captured by a CCD camera with a 1,000 x 1,000 pixel resolution. To produce accurate imagery of the object of interest, the alignment of the X-ray source to the X-ray image intensifier is crucial. The image sequences captured during the operation of an SRM are then processed to enhance the quality of the images. This procedure allows for computer software to extract data on the total erosion rate and the char layer thickness. Figure 1 Error! Reference source not found.shows a sequence of images captured during the operation the subscale SRM with the X-ray RTR system. The X-rayTR system, alignment procedure, uncertainty determination, and image analysis process will be discussed in detail in the full manuscript.

Solid-State NMR Investigation of Bio-chars Produced from Biomass Components and Whole Biomasses

DOE PAGES

Ben, Haoxi; Hao, Naijia; Liu, Qian; ...

2017-08-24

Bio-char is a by-product from thermochemical treatment of biomass and has been identified as an energy condensed product with a comparable heating value as commercial coal. However, the combustion of such solid product as an energy resource is only a preliminary application. It is highly possible to convert bio-char, which always has a condensed aromatic and porous structure to various high-value products. The investigations of the structures and formation pathways for the bio-char are very important to any future applications. In this study, six different biomass components, including cellulose, lignin, and tannin, and three whole biomasses—pine wood, pine residue, andmore » pine bark—have been used to produce bio-char at 400, 500, and 600 °C. Solid-state NMR and FT-IR have been employed in this study to characterize the structures for the bio-chars. The results indicated that the bio-chars produced from lignin contained some methoxyl groups, and the bio-chars produced from tannin contained significantly higher amount of phenolic hydroxyl groups. Compared to the bio-chars produced from pine wood and residue, the bio-chars produced from pine bark contained more aromatic C–O bonds, and aliphatic C–O and C–C bonds, which may be due to the significantly higher amount of lignin and tannin in the pine bark. Furthermore, the elevated amounts of aromatic C–O and aliphatic C–O and C–C bonds in the bio-chars from pine bark appeared to be completely decomposed at 600 °C.« less

High temperature gasification of high heating-rate chars using a flat-flame reactor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Tian; Niu, Yanqing; Wang, Liang

The increasing interest in gasification and oxy-fuel combustion of biomass has heightened the need for a detailed understanding of char gasification in industrially relevant environments (i.e., high temperature and high-heating rate). Despite innumerable studies previously conducted on gasification of biomass, very few have focused on such conditions. Consequently, in this study the high-temperature gasification behaviors of biomass-derived chars were investigated using non-intrusive techniques. Two biomass chars produced at a heating rate of approximately 10 4 K/s were subjected to two gasification environments and one oxidation environment in an entrained flow reactor equipped with an optical particle-sizing pyrometer. A coal charmore » produced from a common U.S. low sulfur subbituminous coal was also studied for comparison. Both char and surrounding gas temperatures were precisely measured along the centerline of the furnace. Despite differences in the physical and chemical properties of the biomass chars, they exhibited rather similar reaction temperatures under all investigated conditions. On the other hand, a slightly lower particle temperature was observed in the case of coal char gasification, suggesting a higher gasification reactivity for the coal char. A comprehensive numerical model was applied to aid the understanding of the conversion of the investigated chars under gasification atmospheres. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was performed on the influence of four parameters (gas temperature, char diameter, char density, and steam concentration) on the carbon conversion rate. Here, the results demonstrate that the gas temperature is the most important single variable influencing the gasification rate.« less

Solid-State NMR Investigation of Bio-chars Produced from Biomass Components and Whole Biomasses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ben, Haoxi; Hao, Naijia; Liu, Qian

Bio-char is a by-product from thermochemical treatment of biomass and has been identified as an energy condensed product with a comparable heating value as commercial coal. However, the combustion of such solid product as an energy resource is only a preliminary application. It is highly possible to convert bio-char, which always has a condensed aromatic and porous structure to various high-value products. The investigations of the structures and formation pathways for the bio-char are very important to any future applications. In this study, six different biomass components, including cellulose, lignin, and tannin, and three whole biomasses—pine wood, pine residue, andmore » pine bark—have been used to produce bio-char at 400, 500, and 600 °C. Solid-state NMR and FT-IR have been employed in this study to characterize the structures for the bio-chars. The results indicated that the bio-chars produced from lignin contained some methoxyl groups, and the bio-chars produced from tannin contained significantly higher amount of phenolic hydroxyl groups. Compared to the bio-chars produced from pine wood and residue, the bio-chars produced from pine bark contained more aromatic C–O bonds, and aliphatic C–O and C–C bonds, which may be due to the significantly higher amount of lignin and tannin in the pine bark. Furthermore, the elevated amounts of aromatic C–O and aliphatic C–O and C–C bonds in the bio-chars from pine bark appeared to be completely decomposed at 600 °C.« less

High temperature gasification of high heating-rate chars using a flat-flame reactor

DOE PAGES

Li, Tian; Niu, Yanqing; Wang, Liang; ...

2017-08-25

The increasing interest in gasification and oxy-fuel combustion of biomass has heightened the need for a detailed understanding of char gasification in industrially relevant environments (i.e., high temperature and high-heating rate). Despite innumerable studies previously conducted on gasification of biomass, very few have focused on such conditions. Consequently, in this study the high-temperature gasification behaviors of biomass-derived chars were investigated using non-intrusive techniques. Two biomass chars produced at a heating rate of approximately 10 4 K/s were subjected to two gasification environments and one oxidation environment in an entrained flow reactor equipped with an optical particle-sizing pyrometer. A coal charmore » produced from a common U.S. low sulfur subbituminous coal was also studied for comparison. Both char and surrounding gas temperatures were precisely measured along the centerline of the furnace. Despite differences in the physical and chemical properties of the biomass chars, they exhibited rather similar reaction temperatures under all investigated conditions. On the other hand, a slightly lower particle temperature was observed in the case of coal char gasification, suggesting a higher gasification reactivity for the coal char. A comprehensive numerical model was applied to aid the understanding of the conversion of the investigated chars under gasification atmospheres. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was performed on the influence of four parameters (gas temperature, char diameter, char density, and steam concentration) on the carbon conversion rate. Here, the results demonstrate that the gas temperature is the most important single variable influencing the gasification rate.« less

Suprasubduction volcanic rocks of the Char ophiolite belt, East Kazakhstan: new geochemical and first geochronological data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safonova, Inna; Simonov, Vladimir; Seltmann, Reimar; Yamamoto, Shinji; Xiao, Wenjiao

2016-04-01

The Char ophiolite belt is located in the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt, a world largest accretionary orogen, which has evolved during more than 800 Ma. The Char belt formed during Kazakhstan - Siberia collision. It has been known for hosting fragments of Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous oceanic crust, MORB, OPB and OIB, of the Paleo-Asian Ocean (Safonova et al., 2012). The Char is surrounded by two Paleozoic island-arc terranes: Zharma-Saur in the west and Rudny Altai in the east, however, until recent times, no island-arc units have been found within it. We were the first to find island-arc units as tectonic sheets occurring adjacent to those consisting of oceanic rocks. In places, island-arc andesites cut oceanic basalts. The Char volcanic and subvolcanic rocks of a probable suprasubduction origin are basalt, microgabbro, dolerite, andesite, tonalite and dacite. The mafic to andesitic volcanics possessing low TiO2 (0.85 wt.%av.) and show MgO vs. major elements crystallization trends suggesting two magma series: tholeiitic and calc-alkaline. The tholeiitic varieties are less enriched in incompatible elements then the calc-alkaline ones. Two samples are high-Mg and low-Ti andesibasalts similar to boninites. The rocks possess moderately LREE enriched rare-earth element patterns and are characterized by negative Nb anomalies present on the multi-element spectra (Nb/Lapm = 0.14-0.47; Nb/Thpm = 0.7-1.6).The distribution of rare-earth elements (La/Smn = 0.8-2.3, Gd/Ybn = 0.7-1.9) and the results of geochemical modeling in the Nb-Yb system suggest high degrees of melting of a depleted harzburgite-bearing mantle source at spinel facies depths. Fractional crystallization of clinopyroxene, plagioclase and opaque minerals also affected the final composition of the volcanic rocks. Clinopyroxene monomineral thermometry indicates crystallization of melts at 1020-1180°C. Melt inclusion composition based numerical calculations show that primary melts were derived at 1350-1530°C and 14-26 kbar and crystallized at 1150-1190°C (Simonov et al., 2010). All these features are indicative of a supra-subduction origin of rocks. The age of gabbro, dolerite, andesite and tonalite was determined by LA ICP MS U-Pb zircon dating performed in the University of Kyoto, Japan. The andesites and tonalites yielded Carboniferous ages of ca. 322-336 Ma and the gabbro and dolerite appeared Devonian (387-395 Ma). Thus, the Char volcanic rocks possess geochemical signatures of supra-subduction magmas and could be derived at high degree melting of relatively shallow mantle sources. The volcanic units probably formed at one or two island-arcs or at an intra-oceanic arc and continental margin arc during the Middle Devonian - Mississippian. Later, the island-arc units were probably accreted to the active margin of the Kazakhstan continent. The work was supported by RFBR Project no. 16-05-00313. Contribution to IGCP#592 of UNESCO-IUGS. Safonova, I.Yu., Simonov V.A., Kurganskaya E.V., Obut O.T., Romer R.L., Seltmann R., 2012. Late Paleozoic oceanic basalts hosted by the Char suture-shear zone, East Kazakhstan: geological position, geochemistry, petrogenesis and tectonic setting. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49, 20-39. Simonov V.A., Safonova I.Yu., Kovyazin S.V., 2010. Petrogenesis of island-arc complexes of the Char zone, East Kazakhstan. Petrology 18, 59-72.

Thermochemical characterization of pigeon pea stalk for its efficient utilization as an energy source

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Katyal, S.K.; Iyer, P.V.R.

2000-05-01

Pigeon pea stalk is a widely available biomass species in India. In this article the potential use of pigeon pea stalk as a fuel source through thermochemical conversion methods such as combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis has been investigated through experimentation using a thermogravimetric analyzer and pilot-plant-scale equipment. It has been proposed that pigeon pea stalks can be effectively utilized in two ways. The first is to pyrolyze the material to produce value-added products such as char, tar, and fuel gas. The second alternative is to partially pyrolyze the material to remove tar-forming volatiles, followed by gasification of reactive char tomore » generate producer gas.« less

Evaluation of a Combined Cyclone and Gas Filtration System for Particulate Removal in the Gasification Process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rizzo, Jeffrey J.

2010-04-30

The Wabash gasification facility, owned and operated by sgSolutions LLC, is one of the largest single train solid fuel gasification facilities in the world capable of transforming 2,000 tons per day of petroleum coke or 2,600 tons per day of bituminous coal into synthetic gas for electrical power generation. The Wabash plant utilizes Phillips66 proprietary E-Gas (TM) Gasification Process to convert solid fuels such as petroleum coke or coal into synthetic gas that is fed to a combined cycle combustion turbine power generation facility. During plant startup in 1995, reliability issues were realized in the gas filtration portion of themore » gasification process. To address these issues, a slipstream test unit was constructed at the Wabash facility to test various filter designs, materials and process conditions for potential reliability improvement. The char filtration slipstream unit provided a way of testing new materials, maintenance procedures, and process changes without the risk of stopping commercial production in the facility. It also greatly reduced maintenance expenditures associated with full scale testing in the commercial plant. This char filtration slipstream unit was installed with assistance from the United States Department of Energy (built under DOE Contract No. DE-FC26-97FT34158) and began initial testing in November of 1997. It has proven to be extremely beneficial in the advancement of the E-Gas (TM) char removal technology by accurately predicting filter behavior and potential failure mechanisms that would occur in the commercial process. After completing four (4) years of testing various filter types and configurations on numerous gasification feed stocks, a decision was made to investigate the economic and reliability effects of using a particulate removal gas cyclone upstream of the current gas filtration unit. A paper study had indicated that there was a real potential to lower both installed capital and operating costs by implementing a char cyclonefiltration hybrid unit in the E-Gas (TM) gasification process. These reductions would help to keep the E-Gas (TM) technology competitive among other coal-fired power generation technologies. The Wabash combined cyclone and gas filtration slipstream test program was developed to provide design information, equipment specification and process control parameters of a hybrid cyclone and candle filter particulate removal system in the E-Gas (TM) gasification process that would provide the optimum performance and reliability for future commercial use. The test program objectives were as follows: 1. Evaluate the use of various cyclone materials of construction; 2. Establish the optimal cyclone efficiency that provides stable long term gas filter operation; 3. Determine the particle size distribution of the char separated by both the cyclone and candle filters. This will provide insight into cyclone efficiency and potential future plant design; 4. Determine the optimum filter media size requirements for the cyclone-filtration hybrid unit; 5. Determine the appropriate char transfer rates for both the cyclone and filtration portions of the hybrid unit; 6. Develop operating procedures for the cyclone-filtration hybrid unit; and, 7. Compare the installed capital cost of a scaled-up commercial cyclone-filtration hybrid unit to the current gas filtration design without a cyclone unit, such as currently exists at the Wabash facility.« less

47 CFR 15.122 - Closed caption decoder requirements for digital television receivers and converter boxes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... code 0×2D Lower-left border (⌊), G2 char code 0×7C G0 dash (-), char code 0×2D Horizontal border... (-), char code 0×2D Upper-left border (⌈), G2 char code 0×7F G0 dash (-), char code 0×2D (4) Support for..., if the character to the left of the embedded return is a hyphen, the embedded return should be...

47 CFR 15.122 - Closed caption decoder requirements for digital television receivers and converter boxes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... code 0×2D Lower-left border (⌊), G2 char code 0×7C G0 dash (-), char code 0×2D Horizontal border... (-), char code 0×2D Upper-left border (⌈), G2 char code 0×7F G0 dash (-), char code 0×2D (4) Support for..., if the character to the left of the embedded return is a hyphen, the embedded return should be...

Pyrolysis of a waste from the grinding of scrap tyres.

PubMed

Fernández, A M; Barriocanal, C; Alvarez, R

2012-02-15

The fibres that are used to reinforce tyres can be recovered as a waste in the process of grinding of scrap tyres. In this paper beneficiation through pyrolysis is studied since the fibres are made up of polymers with a small amount of rubber because the latter is difficult to separate. The experiments were performed at three temperatures (400, 550 and 900°C) in a horizontal oven. The three products - gas, oil and char - obtained from the pyrolysis were investigated. The composition of the gas was analyzed by means of gas chromatography. The oil was studied by gas chromatography and infrared spectroscopy. The char porous structure was determined by N(2) adsorption. In addition, the topography of the chars was studied by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The products resulting from the pyrolysis of the fibres were compared with those obtained from scrap rubber. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Removal performance of elemental mercury by low-cost adsorbents prepared through facile methods of carbonisation and activation of coconut husk.

PubMed

Johari, Khairiraihanna; Alias, Afidatul Shazwani; Saman, Norasikin; Song, Shiow Tien; Mat, Hanapi

2015-01-01

The preparation of chars and activated carbon as low-cost elemental mercury adsorbents was carried out through the carbonisation of coconut husk (pith and fibre) and the activation of chars with potassium hydroxide (KOH), respectively. The synthesised adsorbents were characterised by using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis. The elemental mercury removal performance was measured using a conventional flow type packed-bed adsorber. The physical and chemical properties of the adsorbents changed as a result of the carbonisation and activation process, hence affecting on the extent of elemental mercury adsorption. The highest elemental mercury (Hg°) adsorption capacity was obtained for the CP-CHAR (3142.57 µg g(-1)), which significantly outperformed the pristine and activated carbon adsorbents, as well as higher than some adsorbents reported in the literature. © The Author(s) 2014.

Total recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from three wetland plants by fast pyrolysis technology.

PubMed

Liu, Wu-Jun; Zeng, Fan-Xin; Jiang, Hong; Yu, Han-Qing

2011-02-01

Fast pyrolysis of three wetland plants (Alligator weed, Oenanthe javanica and Typha angustifolia) in a vertical drop fixed bed reactor was investigated in this study. The experiments were carried out at different pyrolysis temperatures, and the maximum bio-oil yields achieved were 42.3%, 40.2% and 43.6% for Alligator weed, Oenanthe javanica and Typha angustifolia, respectively. The elemental composition of the bio-oil and char were analyzed, and the results show that a low temperature was appropriate for the nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment in char. GC-MS analysis shows that nitrogenous compounds, phenols and oxygenates were the main categories in the bio-oil. A series of leaching tests were carried out to examine the recovery of the nitrogen and phosphorus in the char, and the results indicate that significant fractions of nitrogen and phosphorus could be recovered by leaching process. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Climate and Fuel Controls on North American Paleofires: Smoldering to Flaming in the Late-Glacial-Holocene Transition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Han, Y. M.; Peteet, D. M.; Arimoto, R.; Cao, J. J.; An, Z. S.; Sritrairat, S.; Yan, B. Z.

2016-01-01

Smoldering and flaming fires, which emit different proportions of organic (OC) and black carbon (BC, in the form of char and soot), have long been recognized in modern wildfire observations but never in a paleo-record, and little is known about their interactions with climate. Here we show that in the late glacial-early Holocene transition period, when the climate was moist, relatively high quantities of char were deposited in Linsley Pond, Connecticut, USA while soot was more abundant during the warmer and drier early Holocene interval. The highest soot mass accumulation rates (MARs) occurred at the beginning of the Holocene as fuel availability increased through the climatic transition when boreal forests were locally extirpated. These variations with time are related to the different formation pathways of char and soot, which are governed by combustion efficiency. This study provides an approach for differentiating smoldering from flaming combustion in paleo-wildfire reconstructions. Our results suggest that climate and fuel loads control the occurrence of different wildfire types and precipitation may play a key role.

Climate and Fuel Controls on North American Paleofires: Smoldering to Flaming in the Late-glacial-Holocene Transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Y. M.; Peteet, D. M.; Arimoto, R.; Cao, J. J.; An, Z. S.; Sritrairat, S.; Yan, B. Z.

2016-02-01

Smoldering and flaming fires, which emit different proportions of organic (OC) and black carbon (BC, in the form of char and soot), have long been recognized in modern wildfire observations but never in a paleo-record, and little is known about their interactions with climate. Here we show that in the late glacial-early Holocene transition period, when the climate was moist, relatively high quantities of char were deposited in Linsley Pond, Connecticut, USA while soot was more abundant during the warmer and drier early Holocene interval. The highest soot mass accumulation rates (MARs) occurred at the beginning of the Holocene as fuel availability increased through the climatic transition when boreal forests were locally extirpated. These variations with time are related to the different formation pathways of char and soot, which are governed by combustion efficiency. This study provides an approach for differentiating smoldering from flaming combustion in paleo-wildfire reconstructions. Our results suggest that climate and fuel loads control the occurrence of different wildfire types and precipitation may play a key role.

Climate and Fuel Controls on North American Paleofires: Smoldering to Flaming in the Late-glacial-Holocene Transition.

PubMed

Han, Y M; Peteet, D M; Arimoto, R; Cao, J J; An, Z S; Sritrairat, S; Yan, B Z

2016-02-10

Smoldering and flaming fires, which emit different proportions of organic (OC) and black carbon (BC, in the form of char and soot), have long been recognized in modern wildfire observations but never in a paleo-record, and little is known about their interactions with climate. Here we show that in the late glacial-early Holocene transition period, when the climate was moist, relatively high quantities of char were deposited in Linsley Pond, Connecticut, USA while soot was more abundant during the warmer and drier early Holocene interval. The highest soot mass accumulation rates (MARs) occurred at the beginning of the Holocene as fuel availability increased through the climatic transition when boreal forests were locally extirpated. These variations with time are related to the different formation pathways of char and soot, which are governed by combustion efficiency. This study provides an approach for differentiating smoldering from flaming combustion in paleo-wildfire reconstructions. Our results suggest that climate and fuel loads control the occurrence of different wildfire types and precipitation may play a key role.

The effect of 150μm expandable graphite on char expansion of intumescent fire retardant coating

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ullah, Sami, E-mail: samichemist1@gmail.com; Shariff, A. M., E-mail: azmish@petronas.com.my, E-mail: azmibustam@petronas.com.my; Bustam, M. A., E-mail: azmish@petronas.com.my, E-mail: azmibustam@petronas.com.my

2014-10-24

Intumescent is defined as the swelling of certain substances to insulate the underlying substrate when they are heated. In this research work the effect of 150μm expandable graphite (EG) was studied on char expansion, char morphology and char composition of intumescent coating formulations (ICFs). To study the expansion and thermal properties of the coating, nine different formulations were prepared. The coatings were tested at 500 °C for one hour and physically were found very stable and well bound with the steel substrate. The morphology was studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The char composition was analysed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD)more » and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. EG above than 10.8wt% expands the char abruptly with uniform network structure and affect the outer surface of the char.« less

Physico-chemical properties and gasification reactivity of co-pyrolysis char from different rank of coal blended with lignocellulosic biomass: Effects of the cellulose.

PubMed

Wu, Zhiqiang; Wang, Shuzhong; Luo, Zhengyuan; Chen, Lin; Meng, Haiyu; Zhao, Jun

2017-07-01

In this paper, the influence of cellulose on the physicochemical properties and the gasification reactivity of co-pyrolysis char was investigated. A specific surface area analyzer and an X-ray diffraction system were used to characterize the pore structure and the micro-crystalline structure of char. Fractal theory and deconvolution method were applied to quantitatively investigate the influence of cellulose on the structure of co-pyrolysis char. The results indicate that the improvements in the pore structure due to the presence of cellulose are more pronounced in the case of anthracite char with respect to bituminous char. Cellulose promotes the ordering of micro-scale structure and the uniformity of both anthracite and bituminous char, while the negative synergetic effect was observed during gasification of co-pyrolysis char. The exponential relationships between fractal dimension and specific surface area were determined, along with the relations between the gasification reactivity index and the microcrystalline structure parameter. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hormesis is induced in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum through ingestion of charred toast.

PubMed

Grünwald, Stefanie; Niedermeier, Janine; Wenzel, Uwe

2015-06-01

Charred foods are generally suspected to exert health threats by providing toxicants, such as acrylamide or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Using the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum as a model organism, we tested its survival under heat stress in response to feeding charred toast. Survival of beetles was measured at 42 °C after a pre-feeding phase with flour enriched with increasing concentrations of charred toast. In order to assess the influence of key transcription factors for phase-I and phase-II xenobiotic metabolism, gene homologs for ahr and nrf-2, respectively, were knocked down by the use of RNA interference (RNAi). Beetles fed only charred toast died off much earlier than control beetles fed on flour, whereas beetles fed flour enriched with 5% charred toast survived significantly longer than the control. Both, ahr and nrf-2 proved essential in order to enable the increase in survival by the feeding of 5% charred toast. Moreover, functional loss of ahr and nrf-2 made the beetles hypersensitive versus the feeding of 100% charred toast. Finally, at the transcriptional level, it was shown that RNAi for ahr blocked the inducing activities of charred toast on nrf-2. Our studies suggest a hormetic response of the red flour beetle to feeding of charred toast that causes an increased stress resistance through the activation of ahr and nrf-2. Those adaptations, however, are saturable and accordingly the hormetic effects at increasing concentrations of the toxicants become expended.

Degradation of p-Nitrophenol by Lignin and Cellulose Chars: H2O2-Mediated Reaction and Direct Reaction with the Char.

PubMed

Yang, Jing; Pignatello, Joseph J; Pan, Bo; Xing, Baoshan

2017-08-15

Chars and other black carbons are reactive toward certain compounds. Such reactivity has been attributed to reduction of O 2 by persistent free radicals in the solid to H 2 O 2 , which then back-reacts with the solid to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS; especially HO • ). We studied the decomposition of p-nitrophenol (PNP) by pure lignin and cellulose chars aged in moist air or a vacuum at room temperature for up to a month. In air, the chars chemisorbed oxygen, a portion of which was liberated as H 2 O 2 when the char was submerged in water. The evolved H 2 O 2 was simultaneously decomposed by the char. PNP reacted predominantly in the sorbed state and only reduction products (phenol, catechol) were identified. Aging the char in air sharply (within hours) reduced H 2 O 2 -producing capacity and free radical concentration, but more gradually reduced PNP decay rate over the month-long period. PNP decay was only modestly suppressed (12-30%) by H 2 O 2 removal (catalase), and had little effect on the free radical signal (<6 radicals annihilated per 1000 PNP reacted). Contrasting with previous studies, the results show that direct reaction of PNP with char predominates over H 2 O 2 -dependent reactions, and the vast majority of direct-reacting sites are nonradical in character. Nonradical sites are also responsible in part for H 2 O 2 decomposition; in fact, H 2 O 2 pretreatment depleted PNP reactive sites. Lignin char was generally more reactive than cellulose char. The Fe impurity in lignin played no role. The results are relevant to the fate of pollutants in black carbon-rich environments and the use of carbons in remediation.

Method for forming porous sintered bodies with controlled pore structure

DOEpatents

Whinnery, LeRoy Louis; Nichols, Monte Carl

2000-01-01

The present invention is based, in part, on a method for combining a mixture of hydroxide and hydride functional siloxanes to form a polysiloxane polymer foam, that leaves no residue (zero char yield) upon thermal decomposition, with ceramic and/or metal powders and appropriate catalysts to produce porous foam structures having compositions, densities, porosities and structures not previously attainable. The siloxanes are mixed with the ceramic and/or metal powder, wherein the powder has a particle size of about 400 .mu.m or less, a catalyst is added causing the siloxanes to foam and crosslink, thereby forming a polysiloxane polymer foam having the metal or ceramic powder dispersed therein. The polymer foam is heated to thermally decompose the polymer foam and sinter the powder particles together. Because the system is completely nonaqueous, this method further provides for incorporating reactive metals such as magnesium and aluminum, which can be further processed, into the foam structure.

Type of litter determines the formation and properties of charred material during wildfires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chavez, Bruno; Fonturbel, M. Teresa; Salgado, Josefa; García-Oliva, Felipe; Vega, Jose A.; Merino, Agustin

2014-05-01

Wildfire is one of the most important disturbances all over the World, affecting both the amount and composition of forest floor and mineral soils. In comparison with unburnt areas, wildfire-affected forest floor usually shows lower contents of labile C compounds and higher concentrations of recalcitrant aromatic forms. These changes in composition can have important impact on biogeochemical cycles and therefore ecosystem functions. Although burning of different types of litter can lead to different amount and types of pyrogenic compounds, this aspect has not been evaluated yet. The effect of wildfire on SOM composition and stability were evaluated in five major types of non-wood litter in Mediterranean ecosystems: Pinus nigra, E. arborea, P. pinaster, U. europaeus and Eucalyptus globulus. In each of these ecosystems, forest floor samples from different soil burn severities were sampled. Soil burnt severities were based on visual signs of changes in forest floor and deposition of ash. Pyrogenic carbon quality were analysed using elementary analysis, solid-state 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform (FTIR) and thermal analysis (simultaneous DSC-TG). The study showed that the different types of litter influenced the formation and characteristics of charred material. They differed in the temperature at which they start to be formed, the amounts of charred compounds and in their chemical composition. The resulting charred materials from the different litter, showed an important variability in the degree of carbonitation/aromatization. Unlike the biochar obtained through pyrolysis of woody sources, which contains exclusively aromatic structures, in the charred material produced in some litter, lignin, cellulose and even cellulose persist even in the high soil burnt severity. Coinciding with increases in aromatic contents, important decreases in atomic H/C and O/C ratios were recorded. However, the values found in some litters, were higher than 0.5, suggesting that low degree of carbonization/aromatization. Although burning also led to compounds of higher thermal recalcitrance (increases in T50 values), values recorded in some litters were lower than those measured in highly polycondensed aromatic compounds. The differences found among the different forest floor cannot be only attributable to the initial SOM composition of the litter. Other aspects, such as the different thermal sensitivity, flammability and different conditions during wildfire (temperatures, combustion duration, oxygen concentrations) could also have contributed.

BC measurement activities at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Science Inventory

Black carbon (BC)--sometimes referred to as soot, char, or elemental carbon (EC)--is a refractory form of light-absorbing carbon produced from incomplete combustion. Accurate measurement of BC in combustion source emissions is important for understanding anthropogenic climate for...

Near infrared spectroscopic examination of charred pine wood, bark, cellulose and lignin: Implications for the quantitative determination of charcoal in soils

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reeves, J. B.; McCarty, G.W.; Rutherford, D.W.; Wershaw, R. L.

2007-01-01

The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of charring on near infrared spectra of materials likely to be present in forest fires in order to determine the feasibility of determining charred carbon in soils. Four materials (cellulose, lignin, pine bark and pine wood) and char from these materials created by charring for various durations (1 to 168 h) and at various temperatures (200 to 450??C) were studied. Near infrared spectra and measures of acidity (total acids, carboxylic acids, lactones and phenols as determined by titration) were available for 56 different samples (Not all samples charred at all temperatures/durations). Results showed spectral changes that varied with the material, temperature and duration of charring. Examination of spectra and correlation plots indicated that changes in the constituents of the materials in question, such as loss of OH groups in carbohydrates, rather than direct determination of typical products produced by charring, such as carboxylic acids, lactones and phenols, were the basis for the spectral changes. Finally, while the spectral changes resulting from charring appeared to be relatively unique to each material, PLS calibrations for total acids, carboxylic acids, lactones and phenols were successfully created (with R2 of 0.991, 0.943, 0.931 and 0.944, respectively) indicating that there is a sufficient commonality in the changes to develop calibrations without the need for unique calibrations for each specific set of charring conditions (i.e. material, temperature and time of heating). ?? IM Publications 2007.

Characteristics and synergistic effects of co-combustion of carbonaceous wastes with coal.

PubMed

Onenc, Sermin; Retschitzegger, Stefan; Evic, Nikola; Kienzl, Norbert; Yanik, Jale

2018-01-01

This study presents combustion behavior and emission results obtained for different fuels: poultry litter (PL) and its char (PLC), scrap tires (ST) and its char (STC) and blends of char/lignite (PLC/LIG and STC/LIG). The combustion parameters and emissions were investigated via a non-isothermal thermogravimetric method and experiments in a lab-scale reactor. Fuel indexes were used for the prediction of high temperature corrosion risks and slagging potentials of the fuels used. The addition of chars to lignite caused a lowering of the combustion reactivity (anti-synergistic effect). There was a linear correlation between the NO x emissions and the N content of the fuel. The form of S and the concentrations of alkali metals in the fuel had a strong effect on the extent of SO 2 emissions. The use of PL and PLC in blends reduced SO 2 emissions and sulphur compounds in the fly ash. The 2S/Cl ratio in the fuel showed that only PLC and STC/PLC would show a risk of corrosion during combustion. The ratio of basic to acidic oxides in fuel indicated that ST, STC and STC/LIG have low slagging potential. The molar (Si+P+K)/(Ca+Mg) ratio, which was used for PL, PLC and PLC containing blends, showed that the ash melting temperatures of these fuels would be higher than 1000 °C. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fluidized bed selective pyrolysis of coal

DOEpatents

Shang, J.Y.; Cha, C.Y.; Merriam, N.W.

1992-12-15

The present invention discloses a process for the pyrolysis of coal which comprises the effective utilization of two zonal inclined fluidized beds, where said zones can be selectively controlled as to temperature and heating rate. The first zonal inclined fluidized bed serves as a dryer for crushed coal and additionally is controlled to selectively pyrolyze said coal producing substantially carbon dioxide for recycle use. The second zonal inclined fluidized bed further pyrolyses the coal to gaseous, liquid and char products under controlled temperature and heating rate zones designed to economically integrate the product mix. The gas and liquid products are recovered from the gaseous effluent stream while the char which remains can be further treated or utilized in a subsequent process step. 9 figs.

Fluidized bed selective pyrolysis of coal

DOEpatents

Shang, Jer Y.; Cha, Chang Y.; Merriam, Norman W.

1992-01-01

The present invention discloses a process for the pyrolysis of coal which comprises the effective utilization of two zonal inclined fluidized beds, where said zones can be selectively controlled as to temperature and heating rate. The first zonal inclined fluidized bed serves as a dryer for crushed coal and additionally is controlled to selectively pyrolyze said coal producing substantially carbon dioxide for recycle use. The second zonal inclined fluidized bed further pyrolyzes the coal to gaseous, liquid and char products under controlled temperature and heating rate zones designed to economically integrate the product mix. The gas and liquid products are recovered from the gaseous effluent stream while the char which remains can be further treated or utilized in a subsequent process step.

Formulation and Characterization of Epoxy Resin Copolymer for Graphite Composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keck, F. L.

1983-01-01

Maximum char yield was obtained with a copolymer containing 25% mol fraction DGEBE and 75% mol fraction DGEBA (Epon 828). To achieve the high values (above 40%), a large quantity of catalyst (trimethoxyboroxine) was necessary. Although a graphite laminate 1/8" thick was successfully fabricated, the limited life of the catalyzed epoxy copolymer system precludes commercial application. Char yields of 45% can be achieved with phenolic cured epoxy systems as indicated by data generated under NAS2-10207 contract. A graphite laminate using this type of resin system was fabricated for comparison purposes. The resultant laminate was easier to process and because the graphite prepreg is more stable, the fabrication process could readily be adapted to commercial applications.

Comprehensive Model of Single Particle Pulverized Coal Combustion Extended to Oxy-Coal Conditions

DOE PAGES

Holland, Troy; Fletcher, Thomas H.

2017-02-22

Oxy-fired coal combustion is a promising potential carbon capture technology. Predictive CFD simulations are valuable tools in evaluating and deploying oxy-fuel and other carbon capture technologies either as retrofit technologies or for new construction. But, accurate predictive simulations require physically realistic submodels with low computational requirements. In particular, comprehensive char oxidation and gasification models have been developed that describe multiple reaction and diffusion processes. Our work extends a comprehensive char conversion code (CCK), which treats surface oxidation and gasification reactions as well as processes such as film diffusion, pore diffusion, ash encapsulation, and annealing. In this work several submodels inmore » the CCK code were updated with more realistic physics or otherwise extended to function in oxy-coal conditions. Improved submodels include the annealing model, the swelling model, the mode of burning parameter, and the kinetic model, as well as the addition of the chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model. We compare our results of the char combustion model to oxy-coal data, and further compared to parallel data sets near conventional conditions. A potential method to apply the detailed code in CFD work is given.« less

Comprehensive Model of Single Particle Pulverized Coal Combustion Extended to Oxy-Coal Conditions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holland, Troy; Fletcher, Thomas H.

Oxy-fired coal combustion is a promising potential carbon capture technology. Predictive CFD simulations are valuable tools in evaluating and deploying oxy-fuel and other carbon capture technologies either as retrofit technologies or for new construction. But, accurate predictive simulations require physically realistic submodels with low computational requirements. In particular, comprehensive char oxidation and gasification models have been developed that describe multiple reaction and diffusion processes. Our work extends a comprehensive char conversion code (CCK), which treats surface oxidation and gasification reactions as well as processes such as film diffusion, pore diffusion, ash encapsulation, and annealing. In this work several submodels inmore » the CCK code were updated with more realistic physics or otherwise extended to function in oxy-coal conditions. Improved submodels include the annealing model, the swelling model, the mode of burning parameter, and the kinetic model, as well as the addition of the chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model. We compare our results of the char combustion model to oxy-coal data, and further compared to parallel data sets near conventional conditions. A potential method to apply the detailed code in CFD work is given.« less

Standardization of the carbon-phenolic materials and processes. Vol. 1: Experimental studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, William B.

1988-01-01

Carbon-phenolic composite materials are used as ablative material in the solid rocket motor nozzle of the Space Shuttle. The nozzle is lined with carbon cloth-phenolic resin composites. The nominal effects of the completely consumed solid propellant on the carbon-phenolic material are given. The extreme heat and erosion of the burning propellant are controlled by the carbon-phenolic composite by ablation, the heat and mass transfer process in which a large amount of heat is absorbed by sacrificially removing material from the nozzle surface. Phenolic materials ablate with the initial formation of a char. The depth of the char is a function of the heat conduction coefficient of the composite. The char layer is a very poor heat conductor so it protects the underlying phenolic composite from the high heat of the burning propellant. The nozzle component ablative liners (carbon cloth-phenolic composites) are tape wrapped, hydroclave and/or autoclave cured, machined, and assembled. The tape consists of a prepreg broadcloth. The materials flow sheet for the nozzle ablative liners is shown. The prepreg is a three component system: phenolic resin, carbon cloth, and carbon filler. This is Volume 1 of two, Experimental Studies.

A burnout prediction model based around char morphology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tao Wu; Edward Lester; Michael Cloke

Several combustion models have been developed that can make predictions about coal burnout and burnout potential. Most of these kinetic models require standard parameters such as volatile content and particle size to make a burnout prediction. This article presents a new model called the char burnout (ChB) model, which also uses detailed information about char morphology in its prediction. The input data to the model is based on information derived from two different image analysis techniques. One technique generates characterization data from real char samples, and the other predicts char types based on characterization data from image analysis of coalmore » particles. The pyrolyzed chars in this study were created in a drop tube furnace operating at 1300{sup o}C, 200 ms, and 1% oxygen. Modeling results were compared with a different carbon burnout kinetic model as well as the actual burnout data from refiring the same chars in a drop tube furnace operating at 1300{sup o}C, 5% oxygen, and residence times of 200, 400, and 600 ms. A good agreement between ChB model and experimental data indicates that the inclusion of char morphology in combustion models could well improve model predictions. 38 refs., 5 figs., 6 tabs.« less

Effects of rice husks and their chars from hydrothermal carbonization on the germination rate and root length of Lepidium sativum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kern, Jürgen; Mukhina, Irina; Dicke, Christiane; Lanza, Giacomo; Kalderis, Dimitrios

2015-04-01

Currently, char substrates gain a lot of interest, since they are being discussed as a component in growing media, which may become one option for the replacement of peat. Among different thermal conversion processes of biomass hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) has been found to produce chars with similar acidic pH values like peat. The question however is, if these hydrochars, which may contain toxic phenolic compounds are suitable to be introduced as a new substitute for peat in horticulture. In this study rice husk were hydrothermally carbonized at 200° C for 6 hours, yielding in hydrochars containing organic contaminants such as phenols and furfurals, which may affect plants and soil organisms. We investigated potential toxic effects on the germination rate and the root length of cress salad (Lepidium sativum) in four fractions: i) soil control, ii) raw rice husk + soil, iii) unwashed rice char + soil and iv) acetone/water washed rice char + soil. It could be shown that phenols and furfurals, which were removed from the hydrochar after washing by 80 to 96% did not affect the germination rate and the root length of the cress plants. The lowest germination rate and root length were found in the soil control, the highest in the non-washed hydrochar treatment, indicating a fertilization effect and growth stimulation of cress salad by hydrochar. If this result can be confirmed for other target and non-target organisms in future studies, a new strategy for the production of growing media may be developed.

Improved lignin pyrolysis for phenolics production in a bubbling bed reactor--Effect of bed materials.

PubMed

Li, Dongbing; Briens, Cedric; Berruti, Franco

2015-01-01

Lignin pyrolysis was studied in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor equipped with a fractional condensation train, using nitrogen as the fluidization gas. The effect of different bed materials (silica sand, lignin char, activated lignin char, birch bark char, and foamed glass beads) on bio-oil yield and quality was investigated for a pyrolysis temperature of 550 °C. Results how that a bed of activated lignin char is preferable to the commonly used silica sand: pyrolysis of Kraft lignin with a bed of activated lignin char not only provides a pure char product, but also a higher dry bio-oil yield (with a relative increase of 43%), lower pyrolytic water production, and better bio-oil quality. The bio-oil obtained from Kraft lignin pyrolysis with a bed of activated lignin char has a lower average molecular weight, less tar, more phenolics, and less acidity than when sand is used as bed material. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NCWin — A Component Object Model (COM) for processing and visualizing NetCDF data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liu, Jinxun; Chen, J.M.; Price, D.T.; Liu, S.

2005-01-01

NetCDF (Network Common Data Form) is a data sharing protocol and library that is commonly used in large-scale atmospheric and environmental data archiving and modeling. The NetCDF tool described here, named NCWin and coded with Borland C + + Builder, was built as a standard executable as well as a COM (component object model) for the Microsoft Windows environment. COM is a powerful technology that enhances the reuse of applications (as components). Environmental model developers from different modeling environments, such as Python, JAVA, VISUAL FORTRAN, VISUAL BASIC, VISUAL C + +, and DELPHI, can reuse NCWin in their models to read, write and visualize NetCDF data. Some Windows applications, such as ArcGIS and Microsoft PowerPoint, can also call NCWin within the application. NCWin has three major components: 1) The data conversion part is designed to convert binary raw data to and from NetCDF data. It can process six data types (unsigned char, signed char, short, int, float, double) and three spatial data formats (BIP, BIL, BSQ); 2) The visualization part is designed for displaying grid map series (playing forward or backward) with simple map legend, and displaying temporal trend curves for data on individual map pixels; and 3) The modeling interface is designed for environmental model development by which a set of integrated NetCDF functions is provided for processing NetCDF data. To demonstrate that the NCWin can easily extend the functions of some current GIS software and the Office applications, examples of calling NCWin within ArcGIS and MS PowerPoint for showing NetCDF map animations are given.

The Influence of Different Processing Methods on Component Content of Sophora japonica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Y. B.; Zhu, H. J.; Xin, G. S.; Wei, C.

2017-12-01

The purpose of this experiment is to understand the effect of different processing methods on the content of active ingredients in Sophora japonica, and to determine the content of rutin and quercetin in Sophora japonica under different processing methods by UV spectrophotometry of the content determination. So as to compare the effect of different processing methods on the active ingredient content of Sophora japonica. Experiments can be seen in the rutin content: Fried Sophora japonica>Vinegar sunburn Sophora> Health products Sophora japonica> Charred sophora flower, Vinegar sunburn Sophora and Fried Sophora japonica difference is not obvious; Quercetin content: Charred sophora flower> Fried Sophora japonica> Vinegar sunburn Sophora>Health products Sophora japonica. It is proved that there are some differences in the content of active ingredients in Sophora japonica in different processing methods. The content of rutin increased with the increase of the processing temperature, but the content decreased after a certain temperature; Quercetin content will increase gradually with time.

Influence of carbonization conditions on the pyrolytic carbon deposition in acacia and eucalyptus wood chars

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, M.; Gupta, R.C.

1997-04-01

The amount of deposited pyrolytic carbon (resulting from the cracking of volatile matter) was found to depend on wood species and carbonization conditions, such as temperature and heating rate. Maximum pyrolytic carbon deposition in both the acacia and eucalyptus wood chars has been observed at a carbonization temperature of 800 C. Rapid carbonization (higher heating rate) of wood significantly reduces the amount of deposited pyrolytic carbon in resulting chars. Results also indicate that the amount of deposited pyrolytic carbon in acacia wood char is less than that in eucalyptus wood char.

Process for selected gas oxide removal by radiofrequency catalysts

DOEpatents

Cha, Chang Y.

1993-01-01

This process to remove gas oxides from flue gas utilizes adsorption on a char bed subsequently followed by radiofrequency catalysis enhancing such removal through selected reactions. Common gas oxides include SO.sub.2 and NO.sub.x.

Characterization and Activation Study of Black Chars Derived from Cellulosic Biomass Pyrolyzed at Very High Temperature

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Contescu, Cristian I.; Gallego, Nidia C.

2017-03-01

The State of Tennessee, in partnership with the University of Tennessee (UT) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has created the RevV! Manufacturing voucher program to help Tennessee manufacturers gain access to the world-class resources at ORNL. As a part of this program, ORNL was working with Proton Power, Inc. (PPI), a rapidly growing company located in Lenoir City, Tennessee. PPI has developed a patented renewable energy system that uses biomass and waste sources to produce inexpensive hydrogen gas or synthetic fuels which are economically competitive with fossil fuels. The pyrolysis process used by PPI in their manufacturing chainmore » generates significant amounts of black carbon char as by-product. The scope of ORNL collaboration with PPI was assessing the black carbon char as a potential feedstock for activated carbon production, as this could be a potentially new revenue stream. During 2015-2016 ORNL received eight char samples from PPI and characterized their initial properties, simulated their physical activation by carbon dioxide, prepared gram-size samples of physically activated carbons, and characterized their surface and porosity properties. This report presents a summary of the work methods employed and the results obtained in the collaborative project between ORNL and PPI.« less

The effects of the conditions of char formation on the physical properties of charred phenolic-nylon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smyly, E. D.; Pears, C. D.

1972-01-01

A study was made of the effects of the conditions of char formation on the physical properties of charred phenolic nylon of 0.577 gm/cu cm density. It was found that the thermal conductivity and several of the monitors correlate well with degradation conditions. The monitors included electrical resistivity, sonic velocity, porosity, lattice spacing and crystallite size.

Investigation of growth responses in saprophytic fungi to charred biomass.

PubMed

Ascough, Philippa L; Sturrock, Craig J; Bird, Michael I

2010-03-01

We present the results of a study testing the response of two saprophytic white-rot fungi species, Pleurotus pulmonarius and Coriolus versicolor, to charred biomass (charcoal) as a growth substrate. We used a combination of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, elemental abundance measurements, and isotope ratio mass spectrometry ((13)C and (15)N) to investigate fungal colonisation of control and incubated samples of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) wood, and charcoal from the same species produced at 300 degrees C and 400 degrees C. Both species of fungi colonise the surface and interior of wood and charcoals over time periods of less than 70 days; however, distinctly different growth forms are evident between the exterior and interior of the charcoal substrate, with hyphal penetration concentrated along lines of structural weakness. Although the fungi were able to degrade and metabolise the pine wood, charcoal does not form a readily available source of fungal nutrients at least for these species under the conditions used in this study.

Combustion heater for oil shale

DOEpatents

Mallon, R.; Walton, O.; Lewis, A.E.; Braun, R.

1983-09-21

A combustion heater for oil shale heats particles of spent oil shale containing unburned char by burning the char. A delayed fall is produced by flowing the shale particles down through a stack of downwardly sloped overlapping baffles alternately extending from opposite sides of a vertical column. The delayed fall and flow reversal occurring in passing from each baffle to the next increase the residence time and increase the contact of the oil shale particles with combustion supporting gas flowed across the column to heat the shale to about 650 to 700/sup 0/C for use as a process heat source.

Combustion heater for oil shale

DOEpatents

Mallon, Richard G.; Walton, Otis R.; Lewis, Arthur E.; Braun, Robert L.

1985-01-01

A combustion heater for oil shale heats particles of spent oil shale containing unburned char by burning the char. A delayed fall is produced by flowing the shale particles down through a stack of downwardly sloped overlapping baffles alternately extending from opposite sides of a vertical column. The delayed fall and flow reversal occurring in passing from each baffle to the next increase the residence time and increase the contact of the oil shale particles with combustion supporting gas flowed across the column to heat the shale to about 650.degree.-700.degree. C. for use as a process heat source.

Oil production by entrained pyrolysis of biomass and processing of oil and char

DOEpatents

Knight, James A.; Gorton, Charles W.

1990-01-02

Entrained pyrolysis of lignocellulosic material proceeds from a controlled pyrolysis-initiating temperature to completion of an oxygen free environment at atmospheric pressure and controlled residence time to provide a high yield recovery of pyrolysis oil together with char and non-condensable, combustible gases. The residence time is a function of gas flow rate and the initiating temperature is likewise a function of the gas flow rate, varying therewith. A controlled initiating temperature range of about 400.degree. C. to 550.degree. C. with corresponding gas flow rates to maximize oil yield is disclosed.

Evaluation of char combustion models: measurement and analysis of variability in char particle size and density

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maloney, Daniel J; Monazam, Esmail R; Casleton, Kent H

Char samples representing a range of combustion conditions and extents of burnout were obtained from a well-characterized laminar flow combustion experiment. Individual particles from the parent coal and char samples were characterized to determine distributions in particle volume, mass, and density at different extent of burnout. The data were then compared with predictions from a comprehensive char combustion model referred to as the char burnout kinetics model (CBK). The data clearly reflect the particle- to-particle heterogeneity of the parent coal and show a significant broadening in the size and density distributions of the chars resulting from both devolatilization and combustion.more » Data for chars prepared in a lower oxygen content environment (6% oxygen by vol.) are consistent with zone II type combustion behavior where most of the combustion is occurring near the particle surface. At higher oxygen contents (12% by vol.), the data show indications of more burning occurring in the particle interior. The CBK model does a good job of predicting the general nature of the development of size and density distributions during burning but the input distribution of particle size and density is critical to obtaining good predictions. A significant reduction in particle size was observed to occur as a result of devolatilization. For comprehensive combustion models to provide accurate predictions, this size reduction phenomenon needs to be included in devolatilization models so that representative char distributions are carried through the calculations.« less

Construction of flame retardant coating on polyamide 6.6 via UV grafting of phosphorylated chitosan and sol-gel process of organo-silane.

PubMed

Kundu, Chanchal Kumar; Wang, Xin; Hou, Yanbei; Hu, Yuan

2018-02-01

Phosphorylated chitosan (PCS) was synthesized and grafted onto the surface of polyamide 6.6 (PA 6.6) fabrics via UV-induced grafting polymerization in order to improve the flame retardant properties. Subsequently, PCS grafted PA 6.6 fabrics were modified by (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) through sol-gel process in order to form a cross-linking coating. The results obtained from the vertical burning test indicated that only the PCS grafted and simultaneously sol-gel treated fabrics could stop the melt dripping. A maximum reduction (30%) in the peak heat release rate was achieved for the PA6.6-PCS-4W-SG fabric sample. The optimal flame retardant effect was achieved for the PA6.6 fabrics treated by PCS and APTES simultaneously, which was attributed to the joint effect of thermal shielding exerted by the silica and char-forming effect derived from PCS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NMR studies on the chemical alteration of soil organic matter precursors during controlled charring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knicker, Heike

2010-05-01

Beside the production of volatiles, vegetation fire transforms various amounts of labile organic components into recalcitrant dark colored and highly aromatic structures. They are incorporated into soils and are assumed to represent an important sink within the global carbon cycle. In order to elucidate the real importance of PyOM as a C-sink, a good understanding of its chemistry is crucial. Although several 'Black Carbon' (BC) models are reported, a commonly accepted view of the chemistry involved in its formation is still missing. Its biogeochemical recalcitrance is commonly associated with a highly condensed aromatic structure. However, recent studies indicated that this view may be oversimplified for PyOM derived from vegetation fire. In order to bring some more light on the structural properties of PyOM produced during vegetation fire, charred plant residues and model chars derived from typical plant macromolecules (casein, cellulose, lignin and condensed tannins) were subjected to controlled charring under oxic conditions (350°C and 450°C) and then characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Subsequently, the chemical features of the PyOM were related to its chemical recalcitrance as determined by chemical oxidation with acid potassium dichromate. Charring cellulose (350°C, 8 min) yielded in a low C-recovery (11%). Treating casein in the same way resulted in a survival of 62% of its C and 46% of its N. Comparable high C-recoveries are reported for lignin. After charring Lolium perenne, 34% of its N and C were recovered. NMR-spectroscopic studies revealed that for this sample most of the charred N and C occurred in pyrrole-type structures. Our studies further indicate that the aromatic skeleton of char accumulating after a vegetation fire must contain remains of the lignin backbone and considerable contributions of furans and anhydrosugars from thermally altered cellulose. Enhancing the temperature during the charring of casein to 450°C decreased the C and N recovery to 30% and 23%, respectively. Comparably the C, O and H recovery were also reduced in the cellulose char, but to a considerably higher extent. These changes went along with a further augmentation of the relative contribution of aromatic C. Increased C, H and O losses were also observed for charring of lignin at higher temperature, although they were smaller than those observed for casein and cellulose. The higher temperature considerably altered the chemistry of the lignin char. The atomic H/C ratio, however, remained above 0.5 showing that in average at least every second C is protonated. Subjecting the produced chars to chemical oxidation with acid potassium dichromate clearly demonstrated that the resistance of the casein chars against heat is not necessarily related to chemical recalcitrance. For the char produced at 350°C, only 13% of the C and N remained in the oxidation residues, whereas for that produced at 450°C this value increased to 80%. In contrast, both cellulose chars showed high chemical resistance with a C-survival of more than 80%. Comparatively, the C and N recalcitrance in the grass chars increased with temperature, whereas, the burned wood residues (350°C) suffered an almost complete oxidation. The chars from condensed tannins, on the other hand showed a high chemical resistance independently from the production temperature. In summary, this study confirmed that the thermal, chemical and biological recalcitrance of biochars is related to their chemical structures and N-contents, which on the other hand depend on the source and the respective charring conditions. The resulting high chemical variability of biochars is in accordance with the concept of BC as a continuum and explains the high discrepancy among BC quantifications obtained with common approaches assuming BC as a highly condensed polyaromatic network.

Feasibility of mercury removal from simulated flue gas by activated chars made from poultry manures.

PubMed

Klasson, K Thomas; Lima, Isabel M; Boihem, Larry L; Wartelle, Lynda H

2010-12-01

Increased emphasis on reduction of mercury emissions from coal fired electric power plants has resulted in environmental regulations that may in the future require application of activated carbons as mercury sorbents for mercury removal. At the same time, the quantity of poultry manure generated each year is large and technologies that take advantage of the material should be explored. The purpose of the work was to obtain preliminary data to investigate if activated chars made from different poultry manures could adsorb mercury from simulated flue gas. In laboratory experiments, activated chars made from chicken cake and litter removed mercury from the gas as well as a commercial alternative. It was also found that acid-washing these chars after activation may improve pore structure but does not influence the mercury removal efficiency. Activated chars were also made from turkey cake and litter. These raw materials produced activated chars with similar pore structure as those made from chicken manure, but they did not adsorb mercury as well. Acid-washing the turkey manure-based chars improved their performance, but this step would add to the cost of production. Preliminary evaluations suggest that unwashed activated chars may cost as little as $0.95/kg to produce. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Combustion of char from plastic wastes pyrolysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saptoadi, Harwin; Rohmat, Tri Agung; Sutoyo

2016-06-01

A popular method to recycle plastic wastes is pyrolysis, where oil, gas and char can be produced. These products can be utilized as fuels because they are basically hydrocarbons. The research investigates char properties, including their performance as fuel briquettes. There are 13 char samples from PE (Polyethylene) pyrolyzed at temperatures of around 450 °C, with and without a catalyst. Some of the samples were obtained from PE mixed with other types, such as Polystyrene (PS), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), and Others. Char properties, such as moisture, ash, volatile matter, and fixed carbon contents, are revealed from the proximate analysis, whereas calorific values were measured with a bomb calorimeter. Briquettes are made by mixing 4 g of char with 0.5 - 1 g binder. Briquettes are hollow cylinders with an outer and inner diameter of around 1.75 cm and 0.25 cm, respectively. Combustion is carried out in a furnace with wall temperatures of about 230°C and a constant air velocity of 0.7 m/s. Five out of 13 char briquettes are not feasible because they melt during combustion. Briquettes made from 100% PE wastes burn in substantially shorter duration than those from mixed plastic wastes. Char #1 and #5 are excellent due to their highest energy release, whereas #10 show the worst performance.

Process for selected gas oxide removal by radiofrequency catalysts

DOEpatents

Cha, C.Y.

1993-09-21

This process to remove gas oxides from flue gas utilizes adsorption on a char bed subsequently followed by radiofrequency catalysis enhancing such removal through selected reactions. Common gas oxides include SO[sub 2] and NO[sub x]. 1 figure.

Syntheses, structures and properties of polycarbosilanes formed directly by polymerization of Alkenylsilanes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Masnovi, John; Bu, Xin Y.; Beyene, Kassahun; Heimann, Paula; Kacik, Terrence; Andrist, A. Harry; Hurwitz, Frances I.

1993-01-01

Vinylsilane polymerizes to form predominantly a carbosilane polymer using dimethyltitanocene catalyst. This is in contrast to alkylsilanes, which afford polysilanes under the same conditions. The mechanism of polymerization of alkenylsilanes has been shown to be fundamentally different from that for the polymerization of alkylsilanes. The silyl substitute apparently activates a double bond to participate in a number of polymerization processes in this system, particularly hydrosilation. Isotopic labeling indicates the involvement of silametallocyclic intermediates, accompanied by extensive nuclear rearrangement. Polymers and copolymers derived from alkenylsilanes have relatively high char yields even for conditions which afford low molecular weight distributions. Formation of crystalline beta-SiC is optimum for a copolymer of an alkylsilane and an alkenylsilane having a silane/carbosilane backbone ratio of 85/15 and a C/Si ratio of 1.3/1.

Production of Substitute Natural Gas from Coal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andrew Lucero

2009-01-31

The goal of this research program was to develop and demonstrate a novel gasification technology to produce substitute natural gas (SNG) from coal. The technology relies on a continuous sequential processing method that differs substantially from the historic methanation or hydro-gasification processing technologies. The thermo-chemistry relies on all the same reactions, but the processing sequences are different. The proposed concept is appropriate for western sub-bituminous coals, which tend to be composed of about half fixed carbon and about half volatile matter (dry ash-free basis). In the most general terms the process requires four steps (1) separating the fixed carbon frommore » the volatile matter (pyrolysis); (2) converting the volatile fraction into syngas (reforming); (3) reacting the syngas with heated carbon to make methane-rich fuel gas (methanation and hydro-gasification); and (4) generating process heat by combusting residual char (combustion). A key feature of this technology is that no oxygen plant is needed for char combustion.« less

On a new ironmaking process to produce hydrogen and reduce energy consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corbari, Rodrigo

The primary purpose of the present work is to compute the volume and composition of the products of a theoretical charring unit for high volatile coals. In particular, the compositions of volatile gas and char and the hydrogen yield of the process. The volume of oxygen necessary to supply the energy for the process was also calculated. The model consists of materials and energy balance equations and local thermodynamic equilibrium. The model was combined with experimental results relating the effect of temperature on the extent of devolatilization and chemistry evolution of coal. Results of the model indicated that temperature plays a major role defining the quantities and composition of charring products. The H2 concentration of the volatile gas increased from about 16vol% at 700°C to 47vol% at 900°C, leveling off at approximately 52vol% at 1100°C. The hydrogen yield of the process increased from 7 to 60 percent at 700°C and 1100°C respectively. For a typical high volatile coal considered, the volume of gas generated varied from about 210 to 780 liters/kg-coal(STP) according to temperature and fraction of solids combusted. The char becomes enriched in carbon and depleted in hydrogen as temperature is increased. As much as 97 percent of the hydrogen in coal is removed at 1100°C. In the second part of this study, the kinetics of reduction of iron oxide fines with simulated smelter gas was experimentally studied by thermogravimetry. An equimolar CO/CO2 mixture was selected to simulate the off-gas of a smelter operating with char at 50 percent post combustion. Reduction temperatures ranged from 590°C to 1000°C. Under these conditions, reduction was limited to wustite. Results indicated that the reduction kinetics and dominating reaction mechanism varied with temperature, extent of reduction and type of iron oxide employed. Reduction from hematite to wustite proceeded in two consecutive reaction steps with magnetite as an intermediate oxide. The first reduction step, hematite to magnetite, was fast and controlled by external gas mass transfer independently of type of iron oxide and temperature employed in this work. The second reduction step, magnetite to wustite, was the overall reaction controlling step. The reduction mechanism varied with temperature and type of iron oxide. For moderately porous oxide fines (VALE and Taconite ores), the magnetite to wustite reduction followed a uniform internal reaction regime, where the chemical reaction at the gas-solid surface is the slowest step. For highly porous oxide (PAH), the magnetite to wustite reduction step was controlled by external gas mass transfer above 700°C. Below that, a mixed regime involving external gas mass transfer and limited mixed control, which comprises pore diffusion and chemical reaction, took place. The rate equations for this mixed control reaction mechanism were developed and the limited mixed control rate constant (klm) was computed. For denser oxides under uniform internal reaction, the product of the rate constant and pore surface area (k·S) was calculated. The final part of this research focused on the study of the mechanisms contributing for the distribution of sulfur in the smelter process. A methodology was developed for this purpose, which computes the sulfur concentration and distribution between the metal, slag and gas phases of the smelter for selected case scenarios. The model assumed the smelter as an ideal continuous stirred reactor under steady state conditions. Sulfur in the gas phase resulted from slag desulfurization by reaction with gas and the direct transfer of sulfur from coal or char. In general, it was found that a large fraction of sulfur leaves the smelter with the gas when coal or char is the only sulfur input to the process. However, the predominant mechanism for transfer of sulfur into the gas depended on process operating conditions. The effect of recycling sulfur back into the smelter was also evaluated. This is important when sulfur leaving with the smelter gas is captured by pre-reduced iron oxide or by dust particles and re-introduced in the process. In general, the more sulfur is recycled into the smelter, the higher the metal and slag sulfur concentration. However, the increasing sulfur content of metal and slag when sulfur is recycled may be partially counter-balanced by the use of char in place of coal. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Comparison of phosphorus recovery from incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA) and pyrolysed sewage sludge char (PSSC).

PubMed

Kleemann, Rosanna; Chenoweth, Jonathan; Clift, Roland; Morse, Stephen; Pearce, Pete; Saroj, Devendra

2017-02-01

This research compares and contrasts the physical and chemical characteristics of incinerator sewage sludge ash (ISSA) and pyrolysis sewage sludge char (PSSC) for the purposes of recovering phosphorus as a P-rich fertiliser. Interest in P recovery from PSSC is likely to increase as pyrolysis is becoming viewed as a more economical method of sewage sludge thermal treatment compared to incineration. The P contents of ISSA and PSSC are 7.2-7.5% and 5.6%, respectively. Relative to the sludge, P concentrations are increased about 8-fold in ISSA, compared to roughly 3-fold in PSSC. Both PSSC and ISSA contain whitlockite, an unusual form of calcium phosphate, with PSSC containing more whitlockite than ISSA. Acid leaching experiments indicate that a liquid/solid ratio of 10 with 30min contact time is optimal to release PO 4 -P into leachate for both ISSA and PSSC. The proportion of P extracted from PSSC is higher due to its higher whitlockite content. Heavy metals are less soluble from PSSC because they are more strongly incorporated in the particles. The results suggest there is potential for the development of a process to recover P from PSSC. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combustion and gasification characteristics of chars from four commercially significant coals of different rank. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nsakala, N.Y.; Patel, R.L.; Lao, T.C.

1982-09-01

The combustion and gasification kinetics of four size graded coal chars were investigated experimentally in Combustion Engineering's Drop Tube Furnace System (DTFS). The chars were prepared in the DTFS from commercially significant coals representing a wide range of rank; these included a Pittsburgh No. 8 Seam hvAb coal, an Illinois No. 6 Seam hvCb coal, a Wyoming Sub C, and a Texas Lignite A. Additionally, a number of standard ASTM and special bench scale tests were performed on the coals and chars to characterize their physicochemical properties. Results showed that the lower rank coal chars were more reactive than themore » higher rank coal chars and that combustion reactions of chars were much faster than the corresponding gasification reactions. Fuel properties, temperature, and reactant gas partial pressure had a significant influence on both combustion and gasification, and particle size had a mild but discernible influence on gasification. Fuel reactivities were closely related to pore structure. Computer simulation of the combustion and gasification performances of the subject samples in the DTFS supported the experimental findings.« less

Co-gasification of coal and biomass: Synergy, characterization and reactivity of the residual char.

PubMed

Hu, Junhao; Shao, Jingai; Yang, Haiping; Lin, Guiying; Chen, Yingquan; Wang, Xianhua; Zhang, Wennan; Chen, Hanping

2017-11-01

The synergy effect between coal and biomass in their co-gasification was studied in a vertical fixed bed reactor, and the physic-chemical structural characteristics and gasification reactivity of the residual char obtained from co-gasification were also investigated. The results shows that, conversion of the residual char and tar into gas is enhanced due to the synergy effect between coal and biomass. The physical structure of residual char shows more pore on coal char when more biomass is added in the co-gasification. The migration of inorganic elements between coal and biomass was found, the formation and competitive role of K 2 SiO 3 , KAlSiO 4 , and Ca 3 Al 2 (SiO 4 ) 3 is a mechanism behind the synergy. The graphization degree is enhanced but size of graphite crystallite in the residual char decreases with biomass blending ratio increasing. TGA results strongly suggest the big difference in the reactivity of chars derived from coal and biomass in spite of influence from co-gasification. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phosphazene diamines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paciorek, K. L.; Harris, D. H.; Ito, T. I.; Kratzer, R. H.

1980-01-01

The synthesis of a specific phosphazene diamine was optimized, other phosphorus-containing diamines were prepared, and their effect upon certain characteristics of epoxy resins, prepared via reaction with MY 720, in particular, char yield at elevated temperatures was evaluated. The synthesis of the phosphazene diamine resulting from the interaction of methylenedianline with 4,4'-bis(diphenylphosphino)biphenyl was simplified into a one step process giving 77 percent yield of the pure product. Using this procedure, a related diamine containing bis(diphenylphosphino)methane was obtained in a 70 percent yield. Preparation of another class of phosphorus containing amines based upon p-aminophenyldiphenyl-phosphine was unsuccessful; the inability to produce p-aminophenylithlum was responsible for this failure. Seven epoxy resins employing Araldite MY 720, diaminodiphenylsulfone, and two of the phosphorus containing diamines were prepared, characterized, and their char yield capacity at elevated temperatures assessed. Based on these investigations, the resins containing phosphorus appear to exhibit significantly better char formation characteristics than materials hardened using conventional amines, without impairing the other properties measured.

Study on co-pyrolysis characteristics of rice straw and Shenfu bituminous coal blends in a fixed bed reactor.

PubMed

Li, Shuaidan; Chen, Xueli; Liu, Aibin; Wang, Li; Yu, Guangsuo

2014-03-01

Co-pyrolysis behaviors of rice straw and Shenfu bituminous coal were studied in a fixed bed reactor under nitrogen atmosphere. The pyrolysis temperatures were 700°C, 800°C and 900°C, respectively. Six different biomass ratios were used. Gas, tar components were analyzed by a gas chromatograph and a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry respectively. Under co-pyrolysis conditions, the gas volume yields are higher than the calculated values. Co-pyrolysis tar contains more phenolics, less oxygenate compounds than calculated values. The addition of biomass changes the atmosphere during the pyrolysis process and promotes tar decomposition. The SEM results show that the differences between the blended char and their parents char are not significant. The results of char yields and ultimate analysis also show that no significant interactions exist between the two kinds of particles. The changes of gas yield and components are caused by the secondary reactions and tar decomposition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microwave-induced cracking of pyrolytic tars coupled to microwave pyrolysis for syngas production.

PubMed

Beneroso, D; Bermúdez, J M; Montes-Morán, M A; Arenillas, A; Menéndez, J A

2016-10-01

Herein a new process is proposed to produce a syngas-rich gas fraction (>80vol% H2+CO) from biowaste based on microwave heating within two differentiated steps in order to avoid tars production. The first step consists of the microwave pyrolysis of biowaste induced by a char-based susceptor at 400-800°C; tars, char and syngas-rich gas fractions being produced. The tars are then fed into the second step where a portion of the char from the first step is used as a bed material in a 0.3:1wt% ratio. This bed is heated up by microwaves up to 800°C, allowing thermal cracking of tars and additional syngas (>90vol% H2+CO) being then produced. This new concept arises as an alternative technology to the gasification of biowastes for producing syngas with no need for catalysts or gasifying reagents to minimise tars production. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fire performance, microstructure and thermal degradation of an epoxy based nano intumescent fire retardant coating for structural applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aziz, Hammad, E-mail: engr.hammad.aziz03@gmail.com; Ahmad, Faiz, E-mail: faizahmad@petronas.com.my; Yusoff, P. S. M. Megat

Intumescent fire retardant coating (IFRC) is a passive fire protection system which swells upon heating to form expanded multi-cellular char layer that protects the substrate from fire. In this research work, IFRC’s were developed using different flame retardants such as ammonium polyphosphate, expandable graphite, melamine and boric acid. These flame retardants were bound together with the help of epoxy binder and cured together using curing agent. IFRC was then reinforced with nano magnesium oxide and nano alumina as inorganic fillers to study their effect towards fire performance, microstructure and thermal degradation. Small scale fire test was conducted to investigate themore » thermal insulation of coating whereas fire performance was calculated using thermal margin value. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the microstructure of char obtained after fire test. Thermogravimetric analysis was conducted to investigate the residual weight of coating. Results showed that the performance of the coating was enhanced by reinforcement with nano size fillers as compared to non-filler based coating. Comparing both nano size magnesium oxide and nano size alumina; nano size alumina gave better fire performance with improved microstructure of char and high residual weight.« less

Fire performance, microstructure and thermal degradation of an epoxy based nano intumescent fire retardant coating for structural applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aziz, Hammad; Ahmad, Faiz; Yusoff, P. S. M. Megat; Zia-ul-Mustafa, M.

2015-07-01

Intumescent fire retardant coating (IFRC) is a passive fire protection system which swells upon heating to form expanded multi-cellular char layer that protects the substrate from fire. In this research work, IFRC's were developed using different flame retardants such as ammonium polyphosphate, expandable graphite, melamine and boric acid. These flame retardants were bound together with the help of epoxy binder and cured together using curing agent. IFRC was then reinforced with nano magnesium oxide and nano alumina as inorganic fillers to study their effect towards fire performance, microstructure and thermal degradation. Small scale fire test was conducted to investigate the thermal insulation of coating whereas fire performance was calculated using thermal margin value. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the microstructure of char obtained after fire test. Thermogravimetric analysis was conducted to investigate the residual weight of coating. Results showed that the performance of the coating was enhanced by reinforcement with nano size fillers as compared to non-filler based coating. Comparing both nano size magnesium oxide and nano size alumina; nano size alumina gave better fire performance with improved microstructure of char and high residual weight.

Investigating co-combustion characteristics of bamboo and wood.

PubMed

Liang, Fang; Wang, Ruijuan; Jiang, Changle; Yang, Xiaomeng; Zhang, Tao; Hu, Wanhe; Mi, Bingbing; Liu, Zhijia

2017-11-01

To investigate co-combustion characteristics of bamboo and wood, moso bamboo and masson pine were torrefied and mixed with different blend ratios. The combustion process was examined by thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The results showed the combustion process of samples included volatile emission and oxidation combustion as well as char combustion. The main mass loss of biomass blends occurred at volatile emission and oxidation combustion stage, while that of torrefied biomass occurred at char combustion stage. With the increase of bamboo content, characteristic temperatures decreased. Compared with untreated biomass, torrefied biomass had a higher initial and burnout temperature. With the increase of heating rates, combustion process of samples shifted to higher temperatures. Compared with non-isothermal models, activation energy obtained from isothermal model was lower. The result is helpful to promote development of co-combustion of bamboo and masson pine wastes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Studies on biomass char gasification and dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

You, Zhanping; You, Shijun; Ma, Xiaoyan

2018-01-01

The gasification performances of two kinds of biomass char by experiment methods are studied, including conversion rate and gasification gas component with temperature and time. Experimental results show that gasification temperature has important effects on the conversion rate and gas component. In the range of experimental temperature, char conversion rates are no more than 30.0%. The apparent activation energies and apparent reaction frequency factors of two biomass chars are obtained through kinetic studies.

Adsorption mechanism for xanthene dyes to cellulose granules.

PubMed

Tabara, Aya; Yamane, Chihiro; Seguchi, Masaharu

2012-01-01

The xanthene dyes, erythrosine, phloxine, and rose bengal, were adsorbed to charred cellulose granules. The charred cellulose granules were preliminarily steeped in ionic (NaOH, NaCl, KOH, KCl, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)), nonionic (glucose, sucrose, and ethanol), and amphipathic sucrose fatty acid ester (SFAE) solutions, and adsorption tests on the dye to the steeped and charred cellulose granules were conducted. Almost none of the dye was adsorbed when the solutions of ionic and amphipathic molecules were used, but were adsorbed in the case of steeping in the nonionic molecule solutions. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and the Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) profiles of SFAE which was adsorbed to the charred cellulose granules and extracted by ethyl ether suggested the presence of hydrophobic sites on the surface of the charred cellulose granules. We confirmed that the xanthene dyes could bind to the charred cellulose granules by ionic and hydrophobic bonds.

Tyre char preparation from waste tyre rubber for dye removal from effluents.

PubMed

Mui, Edward L K; Cheung, W H; McKay, Gordon

2010-03-15

A number of chars from waste tyre rubber were prepared by carbonisation at 673-1173 K. The effects of holding time, heating rate and particle size on the textural characteristics and elemental composition of the resultant chars were investigated. It was demonstrated that temperatures over 773 K did not have a significant improvement on the total surface area but resulted in lower char yields following increased aromatisation. Modelling of dye adsorption isotherms showed that the Redlich-Peterson expression yields the best-fit between experimental and predicted data. Furthermore, for a larger sized dye like Acid Yellow 117 (MW=848 g/mol), the amount adsorbed by the tyre char is not directly proportional to the total surface area when compared with a commercial carbon, revealing that factors other than total surface area are involved in the adsorption potential of the tyre chars. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of pressure on pyrolysis of black liquor: 2. Char yields and component release.

PubMed

Whitty, Kevin; Kullberg, Mika; Sorvari, Vesa; Backman, Rainer; Hupa, Mikko

2008-02-01

This is the second in a series of papers concerning the behavior of black liquor during pyrolysis at elevated pressures. Two industrial black liquors were pyrolyzed under pressurized conditions in two laboratory-scale devices, a pressurized single-particle reactor and a pressurized grid heater. Temperatures ranging between 650 and 1100 degrees C and pressures in the range 1-20 bar were studied. Char yields were calculated and based on analysis of some of the chars the fate of carbon, sodium, potassium and sulfur was determined as a function of pyrolysis pressure. At temperatures below 800 degrees C little variation in char yield was observed at different pressures. At higher temperatures char yield increased with pressure due to slower decomposition of sodium carbonate. For the same reason, sodium release decreased with pressure. Sulfur release, however, increased with pressure primarily because there was less opportunity for its capture in the less-swollen chars.

Effect of pyrochar and hydrochar amendments on the mineralization of the herbicide isoproturon in an agricultural soil.

PubMed

Eibisch, Nina; Schroll, Reiner; Fuß, Roland

2015-09-01

Carbon (C)-rich, solid products from pyrolysis (pyrochars) and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC, hydrochars) are expected to reduce the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of pesticides as side effect of soil addition. To compare effects of different feedstocks (digestate, miscanthus, woodchips) and production processes (pyrolysis at 750°C, HTC at 200°C and 250°C), (14)C-labeled isoproturon (IPU) was applied at 0.75 kg ha(-)(1) to loamy sand amended either with 0.5% or 5% pyrochars or hydrochars, which was then incubated for 50d. Mineralization of IPU was measured as (14)C-CO2 released from soil-char composites. Pore-water and methanol extractable (14)C-IPU was quantified as well as non-extractable (14)C-residues (NER). Furthermore, C mineralization of pyrochars, hydrochars and feedstocks was studied to assess the relationship between IPU bioaccessibility and char decomposability. In pure soil, 8.1% of applied IPU was mineralized after 50d. This was reduced more strongly in pyrochar treatments (81 ± 6% reduction) than in hydrochar treatments (56 ± 25% reduction). Different feedstocks had no significantly different effect when 5% char was added, but their effect was significant and dependent on the production process in 0.5% amendments. Pesticide binding can occur by surface sorption as well as by diffusion and subsequent occlusion in micropores. The latter can be expected to result in high amounts of NER, as it was observed in the pyrochar treatments. Hydrochars were less stable than pyrochars and contained lower amounts of NER. Thus, in hydrochar amended soils, better accessibility of IPU to microbial degradation may be a result of full char decomposition within decades ensuring controlled pesticide degradation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrothermal carbonization of animal manures: Processes and energetics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is an emerging technology for thermochemically converting biomass and waste materials into value-added carbonaceous char called hydrochar. HTC is well suited to manage wet feedstocks streams because pre-drying prior to processing is not required as with gasification...

PARAMETERS OF TREATED STAINLESS STEEL SURFACES IMPORTANT FOR RESISTANCE TO BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION

EPA Science Inventory

Use of materials that are resistant to bacterial contamination could enhance food safety during processing. Common finishing treatments of stainless steel surfaces used for components of poultry processing equipment were tested for resistance to bacterial attachment. Surface char...

Fixed-bed adsorption study of methylene blue onto pyrolytic tire char

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makrigianni, Vassiliki; Giannakas, Aris; Papadaki, Maria; Albanis, Triantafyllos; Konstantinou, Ioannis

2016-04-01

In this work, the adsorption efficiency of acid treated pyrolytic tire char to cationic methylene blue (MB) dye adsorption from aqueous solutions was investigated by fixed-bed adsorption column experiments. The effects of the initial dye concentration (10 - 40 mg L-1) and feed flow rate (50 - 150 mL min -1) with a fixed bed height (15 cm) were studied in order to determine the breakthrough characteristics of the adsorption system. The Adams-Bohart, Yoon-Nelson and Thomas model were applied to the adsorption of MB onto char at different operational conditions to predict the breakthrough curves and to determine the characteristic parameters of the column. The results showed that the maximum adsorbed quantities decreased with increasing flow rate and increased with increasing initial MB concentration. Breakthrough time and exhaustion time increased with decreasing inlet dye concentration and flow rate. In contrast with Adams-Bohart model, Yoon-Nelson model followed by Thomas model were found more suitable to describe the fixed-bed adsorption of methylene blue by char. The correlation coefficient values R2 for both models at different operating conditions are higher than 0.9 and the low average relative error values provided very good fittings of experimental data at different operating conditions. Higher adsorption capacity of 3.85 mg g -1 was obtained at 15 cm of adsorbent bed height, flow rate of 100 mL min -1and initial MB concentration of 40 mg L-1. Although that activated carbons exhibited higher adsorption capacities in the literature, acid-treated pyrolytic tire char was found to be considerably efficient adsorbent for the removal of MB dye column taking into account the advantages of the simpler production process compared to activated carbons, as well as, the availability of waste tire feedstock and concurrent waste tire management.

Mid-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopic examination of charred pine wood, bark, cellulose, and lignin: Implications for the quantitative determination of charcoal in soils

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reeves, J. B.; McCarty, G.W.; Rutherford, D.W.; Wershaw, R. L.

2008-01-01

Fires in terrestrial ecosystems produce large amounts of charcoal that persist in the environment and represent a substantial pool of sequestered carbon in soil. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of charring on mid-infrared spectra of materials likely to be present in forest fires in order to determine the feasibility of determining charred organic matter in soils. Four materials (cellulose, lignin, pine bark, and pine wood) and char from these materials, created by charring for various durations (1 to 168 h) and at various temperatures (200 to 450 ??C), were studied. Mid-infrared spectra and measures of acidity (total acids, carboxylic acids, lactones, and phenols as determined by titration) were determined for 56 different samples (not all samples were charred at all temperatures/durations). Results showed spectral changes that varied with the material, temperature, and duration of charring. Despite the wide range of spectral changes seen with the differing materials and length/temperature of charring, partial least squares calibrations for total acids, carboxylic acids, lactones, and phenols were successfully created (coefficient of determination and root mean squared deviation of 0.970 and 0.380; 0.933 and 0.227; 0.976 and 0.120; and 0.982 and 0.101 meq/g, respectively), indicating that there is a sufficient commonality in the changes to develop calibrations without the need for unique calibrations for each specific material or condition of char formation. ?? 2008 Society for Applied Spectroscopy.

FR Performance of New Fire-off on PET/CO blend fabrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atakan, R.; Çelebi, E.; Ozcan, G.; Soydan, N.; Sarac, A. S.

2017-10-01

This paper represents the investigation on flame retardancy performance and durability of polyester/cotton (P/C) fabrics treated with a novel halogen/formaldehyde free, P-N synergetic FR finishing agent called New Fire-off. 100 % Cotton, 100 % Polyester and three different blend P/C fabrics were chosen in this study. Fabric samples were treated with New Fire-off through pad-dry-cure process. Flammability and thermal properties of the treated samples with New Fire-off were tested according to relevant ISO standard and procedures. The obtained results showed that this new finishing formulation is a good char-forming agent. However, further studies are required to achieve washing durability for the P/C blends.

Proximate analyses and predicting HHV of chars obtained from cocracking of petroleum vacuum residue with coal, plastics and biomass.

PubMed

Ahmaruzzaman, M

2008-07-01

Higher heating value (HHV) and analysis of chars obtained from cocracking of petroleum vacuum residue (XVR) with coal (SC), biomass (BG, CL) and plastics (PP, PS, BL) are important which define the energy content and determine the clean and efficient use of these chars. The main aim of the present study is to analyze the char obtained from cocracking in terms of their proximate analysis data and determination of the HHV of the chars. The char obtained from XVR+PP cocracking showed a HHV of 32.84 MJ/kg, whereas that from CL cracking showed a HHV of 18.52 MJ/kg. The experimentally determined heating values of the char samples obtained from cocracking have been correlated with the theoretical equation based on proximate analysis data. There exists a variety of correlations for predicting HHV from proximate analysis of fuels. Based upon proximate analysis data, the models were tested. The best results show coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.965 and average absolute and bias error of 3.07% and 0.41%, respectively. The heating values obtained from the model were in good agreement with that obtained by experiment. Proximate analysis of the chars obtained from the cocracking of XVR with coal, biomass and plastics showed that there exists a definite interaction of the reactive species, when they were cocracked together.

Pressure Modeling of Char-Forming and Laminated Materials.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-06-01

flame spread rates for various types of materials. For instance, the PMMA fuel used for the laminated wall fires in the present study has a pyroly - sis...thermal conduction and pyroly - sis with one-step Arrhenius kinetics. This numerical procedure is documented in detail in Appendix A, which is taken from

Synthesis and development of low cost, high temperature N-arylene polybenzimidazole foam material

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harrison, E. S.

1975-01-01

Polymer (and foam) studies followed two basic routes: (1) formation of high molecular weight uncyclized polyamide followed by subsequent fusion and cyclodehydration to yield NABI (foam) and (2) polymer and foam formation by reaction of diphenyl esters (or anhydrides) with the tetramine. The latter route was found much more attractive since considerable versatility in both basic polymer structure and crosslinkability is achievable. Preliminary studies on BAB, phthalic anhydride (PA), and 3, 3 (prime), 4, 4(prime) benzo pheno netetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (BTDA) as crosslinked polymer precursors were conducted. Nonmelting rigid char forming foams with densities as low as 2.7 lb/cubic ft. were achieved. The program was successful in the preparation of a potentially low cost, low density, high char yield, high temperature foam material.

Proceedings of the 7th Semiannual Meeting of the Nozzle Initiative Industry Advisory Committee on Standardization of Carbon-Phenolic Test Methods and Specifications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, William B. (Compiler); Pinoli, Pat C. (Compiler); Upton, Cindy G. (Compiler)

1991-01-01

The application of carbon fibers and fabrics (CF) for producing rocket nozzles is discussed. These materials which are essential for fabricating the carbon composites used in aerospace systems gasify when exposed to high temperatures and the mechanical properties of the composites degrade. The oxidation kinetics under isothermal (IC) and non-isothermal (NIC) conditions are examined and a comparison is made between the characteristics of IC and NIC oxidation. Several CF, chars, and carbon blacks were examined, including a microporous char, a graphitized rayon fabric, and several carbonized rayon fabrics. A summary is given of the advantages and drawbacks of isothermal and non-isothermal oxidation of carbons. The proceedings are assembled in the form of a roundtable discussion.

Quantity and quality of black carbon molecular markers as obtained by two chromatographic methods (GC-FID and HPLC-DAD) - How do results compare?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, M. P. W.; Smittenberg, R. H.; Dittmar, T.; Schmidt, M. W. I.

2009-04-01

Chars produced by wildfires are an important source of black carbon (BC) in the environment. After their deposition on the soil surface they can be distributed into rivers, marine waters and sediments. The analysis of benzenepolycarboxylic acids (BPCAs) as a quantitative measure for black carbon (BC) in soil and sediment samples is a well-established method (Glaser et al., 1998; Brodowski et al., 2005). Briefly, the nitric acid oxidation of fused aromatic ring systems in BC forms eight molecular markers (BPCAs), which can be assigned to BC, and which subsequently can be quantified by GC-FID (gas chromatography with flame ionization detector). Recently, this method was modified for the quantification of BC in seawater samples using HPLC-DAD (High performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector) for the determination of individual BPCAs (Dittmar, 2008). A direct comparison of both analytical techniques is lacking but would be important for future data comparison aimed at the calculation of global BC budgets. Here we present a systematic comparison of the two BPCA quantification methods. We prepared chars under well-defined laboratory conditions. In order to cover a broad spectrum of char properties we used two sources of biomass and a wide range of pyrolysis temperatures. Chestnut hardwood chips (Castanea sativa) and rice straw (Oryza sativa) were pyrolysed at temperatures between 200 and 1000°C under a constant N2 stream. The maximum temperatures were held constant for 5 hours (Hammes et al., 2006). The BC contents of the chars have been analysed using the BPCA extraction method followed by either GC-FID or HPLC-DAD quantification. Preliminary results suggest that both methods yield similar total quantities of BPCA, and also the proportions of the individual markers are similar. Ongoing experiments will allow for a more detailed comparison of the two methods. The BPCA composition of chars formed at different temperatures and from different precursor biomass is being used for this purpose. We seek to establish a conversion factor between both methods, if required. Results show that both the GC and the HPLC method can be used for organic samples containing some silica, such as grass char. Further tests include silica-rich materials, such as soils. Ongoing methodological work aims at carbon isotope analysis (13C and 14C) on individual BPCAs isolated via HPLC. At present the HPLC method employs tetrabutyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) as a modifier for the liquid phase. TBAB is not volatile and contains carbon, it therefore prevents carbon isotopic analysis on isolated BPCAs. References Brodowski, S., Rodionov, A., Haumeier, L., Glaser, B., Amelung, W. (2005) Revised black carbon assessment using benzene polycarboxylic acids. Organic Geochemistry, 36(9), 1299-1310. Dittmar, T. (2008) The molecular level determination of black carbon in marine dissolved organic matter. Organic Geochemistry, 39(4). 396-407. Glaser, B., Haumeier, L., Guggenberger, G., Zech, W. (1998) Black carbon in soils: the use of benzenecarboxylic acids as specific markers. Organic Geochemistry, 29(4), 811-819. Hammes, K. Smernik, R. J., Skjemstad, J. O., Herzog, A., Vogt, U. F., Schmidt, M. W. I. (2006) Synthesis and characterisation of laboratory-charred grass straw (Oryza saliva) and chestnut wood (Castanea sativa) as reference materials for black carbon quantification Organic Geochemistry 37(11). 1629-1633

Landform position and charring conditions control decomposition of soil organic matter and pyrogenic carbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abney, R.; Jin, L.; Berhe, A. A.

2017-12-01

Wildfire is a significant global control on both ecosystem properties and biogeochemical cycling, and wildfires are projected to increase in both size and severity with continued climate change. Post-fire, charred biomass, or pyrogenic carbon, is left behind as a significant, relatively slow-cycling component of the soil organic matter pool. Pyrogenic carbon has a turnover time on the centennial scale, and previous research has demonstrated that it is highly susceptible to erosion. However, the interaction of the roles of landform position and combustion temperature remains unexplored. We collected live Pinus jeffreyi bark and charred it under combustion conditions at three temperatures (200°C, 350°C, and 500°C). The charred bark was mixed with soil collected from both eroding and depositional landform positions and incubated for six months. Throughout this incubation, microbial respiration was monitored via collection of CO2, and cumulative respiration was fitted using both single- and multi-pool exponential models. Overall, respiration was highest in soil and char mixtures in the depositional landform positions. Pyrogenic carbon concentrations, as determined by the Kurth Mackenzie Deluca method, declined only slightly in the 200°C char mixed with the depositional soil. Scanning electron microscopy images of the chars before and after incubation illustrate some incorporation of soil organic matter into the structures of the char, and some breakdown of the physical structures of the char. Altogether, the lower temperature chars mixed with the soil from the depositional landform position had the highest decomposition rates, which suggests the role that landform position may play on the stability of pyrogenic carbon at the landscape scale. Furthermore, this implies that the post-fire erosional re-distribution of pyrogenic carbon may act as a significant control of its long-term stabilization in soil and landscape-scale soil carbon stocks.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bozkurt, Y.; Misirlioglu, Z.; Sinag, A.

The reactivities of chars obtained by pyrolysis of Bursa Mustafa Kemal Pasa Alpagut lignite and Balkesir Dursunbey Cakiirca lignite (Turkey) at different temperatures were determined by CO{sub 2} gasification and by combustion with O{sub 2}. Catalytic effect of Na{sub 2}CO{sub 3} on the CO{sub 2} and O{sub 2} gasification reactivity of chars was investigated. Gasification tests were performed in the fixed bed reactors operating at ambient pressure. Reactivity of chars during the CO{sub 2} gasification reactions was determined by calculating the reaction rate constants and reactivity of chars during the O{sub 2} gasification was determined by using ignition temperatures ofmore » the samples. Activation energies and Arrhenius constants of the chars on the CO{sub 2} gasification reactions were also calculated by the help of Arrhenius curves. The activation energy for CO{sub 2} gasification was generally decreased with pyrolysis temperature, due to the different surface characteristics and different nature of carbon atoms gasified as the gasification reactions proceed. Generally, the increase in pyrolysis temperature leads to an increase in gasification reactivity with CO{sub 2}. The reactivity of chars in catalytic gasification was higher than the corresponding non-catalytic reactivity of the same chars. Ignition temperature increased with increasing pyrolysis temperature.« less

Characterization of a Neochlamydia-like Bacterium Associated with Epitheliocystis in Cultured Artic Char Salvelinus alpinus

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Infections of branchial epithelium by intracellular gram-negative bacteria, termed epitheliocystis, have limited culture of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus). To characterize a bacterium associated with epitheliocystis in cultured char, gills were sampled for histopathologic examination, conventional...

Alternative High Performance Polymers for Ablative Thermal Protection Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boghozian, Tane; Stackpoole, Mairead; Gonzales, Greg

2015-01-01

Ablative thermal protection systems are commonly used as protection from the intense heat during re-entry of a space vehicle and have been used successfully on many missions including Stardust and Mars Science Laboratory both of which used PICA - a phenolic based ablator. Historically, phenolic resin has served as the ablative polymer for many TPS systems. However, it has limitations in both processing and properties such as char yield, glass transition temperature and char stability. Therefore alternative high performance polymers are being considered including cyanate ester resin, polyimide, and polybenzoxazine. Thermal and mechanical properties of these resin systems were characterized and compared with phenolic resin.

Nitric Oxide Reduction over Sewage Sludge and Coal Chars at Conditions Relevant to Staged Fluidized Bed Combustion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salatino, P.; Solimene, R.; Chirone, R.

The de-NOx potential of coal and of dried and pelletized sewage sludge, a waste-derived fuel candidate for cofiring with coal, is assessed. The experimental procedure is based on operation of a bench scale fluidized bed reactor where NO-doped nitrogen is contacted with batches of the fuel. A second type of experiment has been purposely designed to assess the loss of reactivity of chars toward gasification by NOx as char is heat-treated for pre-set times at temperatures typical of fluidized bed combustion. A simple phenomenological model is developed to shed light on the basic features of the interaction between heterogeneous char-NOx reaction and thermal annealing of the char.

Attrition-free pyrolysis to produce bio-oil and char.

PubMed

Mauviel, Guillain; Guillain, Mauviel; Kies, Fairouz; Fairouz, Kies; René, Mar Sans; Mar, Sans Rene; Ferrer, Monique; Monique, Ferrer; Lédé, Jacques; Jacques, Lédé

2009-12-01

Experiments are performed on a laboratory scale setup where beech wood chips are heated by gas convection and walls radiation. This study shows that it is possible to obtain high bio-oil and char yields with relatively low external heat transfer coefficients. The main advantage of this convection/radiation heat transfer mode compared to solid-solid collisions, applied in fluidized bed or twin screw reactors, is the reduction of solid attrition (char and sand). Thus tricky gas-solid separation through hot cyclones and/or hot filters could be avoided or reduced. It should be possible to recover directly bio-oil with less char particles and char free of sand dust. These qualities would allow easier use of these bio-products in different applications.

Kinetic modeling of the formation and growth of inorganic nano-particles during pulverized coal char combustion in O 2/N 2 and O 2/CO 2 atmospheres

DOE PAGES

Shaddix, Christopher R.; Niu, Yanqing; Hui, Shi'en; ...

2016-08-01

In this formation of nano-particles during coal char combustion, the vaporization of inorganic components in char and the subsequent homogeneous particle nucleation, heterogeneous condensation, coagulation, and coalescence play decisive roles. Furthermore, conventional measurements cannot provide detailed information on the dynamics of nano-particle formation and evolution, In this study, a sophisticated intrinsic char kinetics model that considers ash effects (including ash film formation, ash dilution, and ash vaporization acting in tandem), both oxidation and gasification by CO 2 and H 2O, homogeneous particle nucleation, heterogeneous vapor condensation, coagulation, and and coalescence mechanisms is developed and used to compare the temporal evolutionmore » of the number and size of nano-particles during coal char particle combustion as a function of char particle size, ash content, and oxygen content in O 2/N 2 and O 2/CO 2 atmospheres .« less

Kinetic modeling of the formation and growth of inorganic nano-particles during pulverized coal char combustion in O 2/N 2 and O 2/CO 2 atmospheres

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shaddix, Christopher R.; Niu, Yanqing; Hui, Shi'en

In this formation of nano-particles during coal char combustion, the vaporization of inorganic components in char and the subsequent homogeneous particle nucleation, heterogeneous condensation, coagulation, and coalescence play decisive roles. Furthermore, conventional measurements cannot provide detailed information on the dynamics of nano-particle formation and evolution, In this study, a sophisticated intrinsic char kinetics model that considers ash effects (including ash film formation, ash dilution, and ash vaporization acting in tandem), both oxidation and gasification by CO 2 and H 2O, homogeneous particle nucleation, heterogeneous vapor condensation, coagulation, and and coalescence mechanisms is developed and used to compare the temporal evolutionmore » of the number and size of nano-particles during coal char particle combustion as a function of char particle size, ash content, and oxygen content in O 2/N 2 and O 2/CO 2 atmospheres .« less

Structural features of resorcinol-formaldehyde resin chars and interfacial behavior of water co-adsorbed with low-molecular weight organics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gun'ko, Vladimir M.; Bogatyrov, Viktor M.; Turov, Vladimir V.; Leboda, Roman; Skubiszewska-Zięba, Jadwiga; Urubkov, Iliya V.

2013-10-01

Products of resorcinol-formaldehyde resin carbonization (chars) are characterized by different morphology (particle shape and sizes) and texture (specific surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution) depending on water content during resin polymerization. At a low amount of water (Cw = 37.8 wt.%) during synthesis resulting in strongly cross-linked polymers, carbonization gives nonporous particles. An increase in the water content to 62.7 wt.% results in a nano/mesoporous char, but if Cw = 73.3 wt.%, a char is purely nanoporous. Despite these textural differences, the Raman spectra of all the chars are similar because of the similarity in the structure of their carbon sheets with a significant contribution of sp3 C atoms. However, the difference in the spatial organization of the carbon sheet stacks in the particles results in the significant differences in the textural and morphological characteristics and in the adsorption properties of chars with respect to water, methane, benzene, hydrogen, methylene chloride, and dimethylsulfoxide.

Investigation on the fast co-pyrolysis of sewage sludge with biomass and the combustion reactivity of residual char.

PubMed

Deng, Shuanghui; Tan, Houzhang; Wang, Xuebin; Yang, Fuxin; Cao, Ruijie; Wang, Zhao; Ruan, Renhui

2017-09-01

Gaining the valuable fuels from sewage sludge is a promising method. In this work, the fast pyrolysis characteristics of sewage sludge (SS), wheat straw (WS) and their mixtures in different proportions were carried out in a drop-tube reactor. The combustion reactivity of the residual char obtained was investigated in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Results indicate that SS and WS at different pyrolysis temperatures yielded different characteristic gas compositions and product distributions. The co-pyrolysis of SS with WS showed that there existed a synergistic effect in terms of higher gas and bio-oil yields and lower char yield, especially at the WS adding percentage of 80wt%. The addition of WS to SS increased the carbon content in the SS char and improved char porous structures, resulting in an improvement in the combustion reactivity of the SS char. The research results can be used to promote co-utilization of sewage sludge and biomass. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Pyrolytic characteristics of biomass acid hydrolysis residue rich in lignin.

PubMed

Huang, Yanqin; Wei, Zhiguo; Yin, Xiuli; Wu, Chuangzhi

2012-01-01

Pyrolytic characteristics of acid hydrolysis residue (AHR) of corncob and pinewood (CAHR, WAHR) were investigated using a thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA) and a self-designed pyrolysis apparatus. Gasification reactivity of CAHR char was then examined using TGA and X-ray diffractometer. Result of TGA showed that thermal degradation curves of AHR descended smoothly along with temperature increasing from 150 °C to 850 °C, while a "sharp mass loss stage" for original biomass feedstock (OBF) was observed. Char yield from AHR (42.64-30.35 wt.%) was found to be much greater than that from OBF (26.4-19.15 wt.%). In addition, gasification reactivity of CAHR char was lower than that of corncob char, and there was big difference in micro-crystallite structure. It was also found that CAHR char reactivity decreased with pyrolysis temperature, but increased with pyrolysis heating rate and gasification temperature at 850-950 °C. Furthermore, CAHR char reactivity performed better under steam atmosphere than under CO2 atmosphere. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Should biochar be used in container substrates?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Biochar is charred organic matter that remains after a process called pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is a thermochemical decomposition of organic matter. In this process, organic matter is subjected to extremely high temperatures (200 to 800 °C) in the absence of oxygen. The history of biochar use begins i...

Mechanism of SO2 removal by carbon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lizzio, Anthony A.; DeBarr, Joseph A.

1997-01-01

The reaction of SO2 with carbon (C) in the presence of O2 and H2O involves a series of reactions that leads to the formation of sulfuric acid as the final product. The rate-determining step in the overall process is the oxidation of SO2 to SO3. Three SO2 oxidation reactions are possible. Adsorbed SO2 (C−SO2) can react either with gas phase O2 or with adsorbed oxygen (C−O complex) to form sulfur trioxide (SO3), or gas phase SO2 can react directly with the C−O complex. In optimizing the SO2 removal capabilities of carbon, most studies only assume a given mechanism for SO2 adsorption and conversion to H2SO4 to be operable. The appropriate SO2 oxidation step and role of the C−O complex in this mechanism remain to be determined. The ultimate goal of this study was to prepare activated char from Illinois coal with optimal properties for low-temperature (80−150°C) removal of sulfur dioxide from coal combustion flue gas. The SO2 adsorption capacity of activated char was found to be inversely proportional to the amount of oxygen adsorbed on its surface. A temperature-programmed desorption technique was developed to titrate those sites responsible for adsorption of SO2 and conversion to H2SO4. On the basis of these results, a mechanism for SO2 removal by carbon was proposed. The derived rate expression showed SO2 adsorption to be dependent only on the fundamental rate constant and concentration of carbon atoms designated as free sites. Recent studies indicate a similar relationship exists between the rate of carbon gasification (in CO2 or H2O) and the number of reactive sites as determined by transient kinetics experiments. Utilizing the concept of active or free sites, it was possible to produce a char from Illinois coal having an SO2 adsorption capacity surpassing that of a commercial catalytic activated carbon.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Suuberg, E.M.

The emission of nitrogen oxides from combustion of coal remains a problem of considerable interest, whether the concern is with acid rain, stratospheric ozone chemistry, or {open_quotes}greenhouse{close_quotes} gases. Whereas earlier the concern was focused mainly on NO (as a primary combustion product) and to a lesser extent NO{sub 2} (since it is mainly a secondary product of combustion), in recent years the emissions of N{sub 2}O have also captured considerable attention, particularly in the context of fluidized bed combustion, in which the problem appears to be most acute. The research community has only recently begun to take solid hold onmore » the N{sub 2}O problem. This is in part because earlier estimates of the importance of N{sub 2}O in combustion processes were clouded by artifacts in sampling which have now been resolved. This project is concerned with the mechanism of reduction of both NO and N{sub 2}O by carbons. It was recognized some years ago that NO formed during fluidized bed coal combustion can be heterogeneously reduced in-situ by the carbonaceous solid intermediates of combustion. This has been recently supplemented by the knowledge that heterogeneous reaction with carbon can also play an important role in reducing emissions of N{sub 2}O, but that the NO-carbon reactions might also contribute to formation of N{sub 2}O. The precise role of carbon in N{sub 2}O reduction and formation has yet to be established, since in one case the authors of a recent study were compelled to comment that {open_quotes}the basic knowledge of N{sub 2}O formation and reduction still has to be improved{close_quotes}. The same can be said of the NO-carbon system. In this program, carbons studied include graphite, resin char, coconut char, and a Wyodak coal char.« less

Compositional and thermal evaluation of lignocellulosic and poultry litter chars via high and low temperature pyrolysis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Inorganic elements in biomass feedstocks can influence thermochemical reactions as well as the resultant chars elemental, compositional, and thermal characteristics. Chars were produced using slow pyrolysis at less than 400 and at higher than 500 degree Celsius from sugarcane bagasse, peanut hulls,...

Multiscale Architectures and Parallel Algorithms for Video Object Tracking

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

0 4 : if FIFO1 contains nDt frames then 5: Partition data into blocks. 6: Put SPE control block information...char buf 4 = FF; vec to r unsigned char buf 5 = FF; vec to r unsigned char buf 6 = FF; vec to r unsigned char buf 7 = FF; for ( j = 0 ; j < s i z e ; j...Public Release; Distribution Unlimited 8 7 u 6 ill :J (;) 5 E -;::; c 0 4 ~ u Q) X 3 Q) 8 7 6 u Q) Ul 5 :J (;) E :;::; 4 c 0

Study on coal char ignition by radiant heat flux.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korotkikh, A. G.; Slyusarskiy, K. V.

2017-11-01

The study on coal char ignition by CO2-continuous laser was carried out. The coal char samples of T-grade bituminous coal and 2B-grade lignite were studied via CO2-laser ignition setup. Ignition delay times were determined at ambient condition in heat flux density range 90-200 W/cm2. The average ignition delay time value for lignite samples were 2 times lower while this difference is larger in high heat flux region and lower in low heat flux region. The kinetic constants for overall oxidation reaction were determined using analytic solution of simplified one-dimensional heat transfer equation with radiant heat transfer boundary condition. The activation energy for lignite char was found to be less than it is for bituminous coal char by approximately 20 %.

Conversion of microwave pyrolysed ASR's char using high temperature agents.

PubMed

Donaj, Pawel; Blasiak, Wlodzimierz; Yang, Weihong; Forsgren, Christer

2011-01-15

Pyrolysis enables to recover metals and organic feedstock from waste conglomerates such as: automotive shredder residue (ASR). ASR as well as its pyrolysis solid products, is a morphologically and chemically varied mixture, containing mineral materials, including hazardous heavy metals. The aim of the work is to generate fundamental knowledge on the conversion of the organic residues of the solid products after ASR's microwave pyrolysis, treated at various temperatures and with two different types of gasifying agent: pure steam or 3% (v/v) of oxygen. The research is conducted using a lab-scale, plug-flow gasifier, with an integrated scale for analysing mass loss changes over time of experiment, serving as macro TG at 950, 850 and 760 °C. The reaction rate of char decomposition was investigated, based on carbon conversion during gasification and pyrolysis stage. It was found in both fractions that char conversion rate decreases with the rise of external gas temperature, regardless of the gasifying agent. No significant differences between the reaction rates undergoing with steam and oxygen for char decomposition has been observed. This abnormal char behaviour might have been caused by the inhibiting effects of ash, especially alkali metals on char activity or due to deformation of char structure during microwave heating. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anadromous char as an alternate food choice to marine animals: a synthesis of Hg concentrations, population features and other influencing factors.

PubMed

Evans, Marlene S; Muir, Derek C G; Keating, Jonathan; Wang, Xiaowa

2015-03-15

This study was conducted to confirm sporadic measurements made over the late 1970s to the early 1990 s which determined that mercury (Hg) concentrations were low in anadromous char across Arctic and subarctic Canada including northern Québec and Labrador. Over 2004-2013, anadromous char populations across northern Canada were investigated at 20 sites for Hg concentrations and life history characteristics. Hg concentrations were extremely low in anadromous char muscle, typically <0.05 μg/g (wet weight) and, at each location, generally increased with fish length, age and nitrogen isotope (δ(15)N) ratio and decreased with condition factor and %lipid; correlations with carbon isotope (δ(13)C) ratio were inconsistent. Location and year were significant variables influencing Hg concentrations over the study area; longitude and latitude also were significant influencing variables. Char length, weight, age, condition factor and lipid content explained additional variance. A tendency towards higher Hg concentrations with increasing latitude may be partially related to decreasing growth of char towards the north. However, Hg concentrations in char were positively correlated with growth rates suggesting that Hg concentrations in char also were higher in the more productive study areas, including to the west where mainland riverine inputs of terrestrial carbon, nutrients, and Hg were greater. The data base for assessing time trends in char was limited by the small number of years investigated at most locations, variable fish size across years, small sample size, etc. Where temporal trends were detected, they were of increase on the long term (1970s, 1980s or early 1990 s to the present) but of decrease on the short term (early 2000s to present) with Nain (Labrador) showing the converse pattern. Higher Hg concentrations were also related to lower condition factor and cooler springs. Hg concentrations in anadromous char are compared with other terrestrial, aquatic and marine vertebrates in traditional diets. The known information on anadromous char is reviewed including population features, habitat, and harvests. Future Hg trend monitoring should focus on specific locations and harvest areas within these areas to better assess trends and influencing factors. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using BPCA and pyrolysis-GC/MS patterns as a measure of charring intensity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaal, Joeri; Schneider, Maximilian P. W.; Schmidt, Michael W. I.

2010-05-01

Many questions remain on the molecular properties of Black C (organic fire residues such as charcoal and soot). Here we compare parameters from two methods that have recently shown to be related to the degree of thermal modification ("charring intensity") of charcoal-Black C: i) the proportion of mellitic acid (B6CA) among benzenepolycarboxylic acids in the BPCA method [1,2,3] and ii) the relative proportions and degree of alkylation of pyrolysis products from Black C in pyrolysis-GC/MS [4]. For that purpose we used laboratory chars from rice straw (grass) and chestnut wood (wood) produced at 200-1000 °C under N2 flow. The chars obtained at 450 °C are reference materials of the Black Carbon Ring Trial [5]. Positive correlations between the charring temperature and BPCA and pyrolysis patterns confirm that these methods can be used to study the degree of thermal impact of charred remains. Pyrolysis-GC/MS allowed us to track the thermal degradation of the major biocomponents lignin, polysaccharides, tannin, aliphatic chain lipids, triterpenoids, chlorophyll and proteins, mostly between 250 and 450 °C. The proportions of the pyrolysis products of Black C (benzene, toluene, benzonitrile, PAHs, etc.) and also the ratios that reflect the abundance of aliphatic cross-linkages between aromatic moieties (benzene/toluene, naphthalene/alkylnaphthalenes, benzofuran/alkylbenzofurans), increase with charring intensity. Nonetheless, chars obtained at T > 600 °C (especially for wood) gave low quality pyrograms and poor reproducibility because of high thermal stability. The relative contributions of B6CA, one of the molecular markers used for the BPCA method, are indicative for the degree of condensation of the chars. The BPCA approach showed a clear increase in the relative contribution of B6CA from ca. 5 % at 200 °C to ca. 95 % at 1000 °C, confirming the ability of this parameter to assess charring intensity. The relative contribution of B6CA remains almost constant at ca. 30 % between 250 and 450 °C. Thus, with regard to estimating the charring intensity of Black C, the BPCA method is more suitable for high T chars (> 450 °C) while pyrolysis-GC/MS seems more appropriate in the lower T range (< 500 °C). This is not surprising as larger clusters of polyaromatic domains (high T) can be assessed by the BPCA method but are resistant against pyrolysis. On the other hand, smaller clusters and non-polycondensed portions of Black C (low T) are amenable to pyrolysis-GC/MS but escape the analytical window of the BPCA method. The two methods may therefore be considered complementary, with BPCA giving reliable quantitative data on Black C content and charring degree of high T chars while pyrolysis-GC/MS is quantitatively weak but provides highly detailed information on the molecular properties of especially lower T chars. References [1] Brodowski, S., Rodionov, A., Haumeier L., Glaser, B., Amelung, W. (2005) Org. Geochem. 36, 1299-1310. [2] Glaser, B., Haumeier, L., Guggenberger, G., Zech, W. (1998) Org. Geochem. 29, 811-819. [3] Schneider, M.P.W., Hilf, M., Vogt, U.F., Schmidt, M.W.I., Org. Geochem. (submitted) [4] Kaal, J., Rumpel, C. (2009) Org. Geochem. 40, 1179-1187. [5] Hammes, K., Schmidt, M.W.I., Smernik, R.J. et al. (2007) Global Biogeochemical Cycles 21, 1-18.

Roles of black carbon on the fate of heavy metals and agrochemicals in soil

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Char(coal) and other black carbon materials can comprise up to 35% of total organic carbon in US agricultural soils, and are known to strongly and often irreversibly bind contaminants including heavy metals. Black carbon has received renewed interests in recent years as a solid co-product formed du...

Intumescent flame-retardant cotton produced by tannic acid and sodium hydroxide

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This study showed that tannic acid can form intumescent flame-retardant coating on cotton nonwoven fabric with an aid of NaOH. Tannic acid alone altered the thermal patterns of the pyrolysis and combustion of cotton and increased the char yield, but its improvement in limiting oxygen index (LOI) wa...

Flammability and Photo-Stability of Selected Polymer Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lo, Jeelin

1981-01-01

A systematic approach to the improvement of the flammability of epoxy resins, bisphenol-A polycarbonate poly(butylene terephthalate), and Nylon 6.6 by introducing halogens and loop functionality into the flame retardants is described. The phthalides (the loop functionality containing molecules) include 3,3-bis(4-bromophenyl)-phthalide, 3,3-bis(4-chlorophenyl)phthalide, and phenolphthalein. The phthalide containing epoxy resins are synthesized and characterized in comparison with the bisphenol-A epoxy resins in terms of flammability in the copolymer systems. The resins include diglycidyl ethers of phenolphthalein, bisphenol-A. tetrabromobisphenol-A, and tetraoromophenolphthalein. The vaporization of the phthalide additive in the polymers is observed in Thermal Gravimetric Analysis. The flame retardancy is primarily due to the presence of halogens. In the poly(butylene terephthalate) system, the cleavage of the C(sub aromatic) -B bond of the flame retardant additive enhances the crosslinking react ions between the aromatic rings resulting in an increase of char formation. In the epoxy resin systems, loop functionality contributes to char formation to a larger extent. The interaction between the epoxy resin and poly-(butylene terephthalate) follows the mechanism of insertion of the oxirane ring into the ester bond. This mechanism is studied by FT-IR. The investigation of the thermal properties of the char-forming phenol-formaldehyde resins is conducted to provide information for the systematic design of high temperature flame-resistant phenolics. NMR and FT-IR are used to characterize the oligomeric resins and the cured resins. The curing agents used in the study include formaldehyde, s-trioxane and terephthaloyl chloride. The brominated phenolic resins are found to have higher oxygen indices with lower char yields.

Intercomparison of thermal-optical method with different temperature protocols: Implications from source samples and solvent extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Yuan; Duan, Feng-kui; He, Ke-bin; Du, Zhen-yu; Zheng, Mei; Ma, Yong-liang

2012-12-01

Three temperature protocols with different peak inert mode temperature (Tpeak-inert) were compared based on source and ambient samples (both untreated and extracted using a mixture of hexane, methylene chloride, and acetone) collected in Beijing, China. The ratio of EC580 (elemental carbon measured by the protocol with a Tpeak-inert of 580 °C; similar hereinafter) to EC850 could be as high as 4.8 for biomass smoke samples whereas the ratio was about 1.0 for diesel and gasoline exhaust samples. The EC580 to EC850 ratio averaged 1.95 ± 0.89 and 1.13 ± 0.20 for the untreated and extracted ambient samples, whereas the EC580 to EC650 ratio of ambient samples was 1.22 ± 0.10 and 1.20 ± 0.12 before and after extraction. It was suggested that there are two competing mechanisms for the effects of Tpeak-inert on the EC results such that when Tpeak-inert is increased, one mechanism tends to decrease EC by increasing the amount of charring whereas the other tends to increase EC through promoting more charring to evolve before native EC. Results from this study showed that EC does not always decrease when increasing the peak inert mode temperature. Moreover, reducing the charring amount could improve the protocols agreement on EC measurements, whereas temperature protocol would not influence the EC results if no charring is formed. This study also demonstrated the benefits of allowing for the OC and EC split occurring in the inert mode when a high Tpeak-inert is used (e.g., 850 °C).

Lead sorption characteristics of various chicken bone part-derived chars.

PubMed

Park, Jong-Hwan; Wang, Jim J; Kim, Seong-Heon; Kang, Se-Won; Cho, Ju-Sik; Delaune, Ronald D; Ok, Yong Sik; Seo, Dong-Cheol

2018-01-18

Recycling food waste for beneficial use is becoming increasingly important in resource-limited economy. In this study, waste chicken bones of different parts from restaurant industry were pyrolyzed at 600 °C and evaluated for char physicochemical properties and Pb sorption characteristics. Lead adsorption isotherms by different chicken bone chars were carried out with initial Pb concentration range of 1-1000 mg L -1 at pH 5. The Pb adsorption data were better described by the Langmuir model (R 2  = 0.9289-0.9937; ARE = 22.7-29.3%) than the Freundlich model (R 2  = 0.8684-0.9544; ARE = 35.4-72.0%). Among the chars derived from different chicken bone parts, the tibia bone char exhibited the highest maximum Pb adsorption capacity of 263 mg g -1 followed by the pelvis (222 mg g -1 ), ribs (208 mg g -1 ), clavicle (179 mg g -1 ), vertebrae (159 mg g -1 ), and humerus (135 mg g -1 ). The Pb adsorption capacities were significantly and positively correlated with the surface area, phosphate release amount, and total phosphorus content of chicken bone chars (r ≥ 0.9711). On the other hand, approximately 75-88% of the adsorbed Pb on the chicken bone chars was desorbable with 0.1 M HCl, indicating their recyclability for reuse. Results demonstrated that chicken bone char could be used as an effective adsorbent for Pb removal in wastewater.

Reconstruction of atmospheric soot history in inland regions from lake sediments over the past 150 years

PubMed Central

Han, Y. M.; Wei, C.; Huang, R.-J.; Bandowe, B. A. M.; Ho, S. S. H.; Cao, J. J.; Jin, Z. D.; Xu, B. Q.; Gao, S. P.; Tie, X. X.; An, Z. S.; Wilcke, W.

2016-01-01

Historical reconstruction of atmospheric black carbon (BC, in the form of char and soot) is still constrained for inland areas. Here we determined and compared the past 150-yr records of BC and polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) in sediments from two representative lakes, Huguangyan (HGY) and Chaohu (CH), in eastern China. HGY only receives atmospheric deposition while CH is influenced by riverine input. BC, char, and soot have similar vertical concentration profiles as PACs in both lakes. Abrupt increases in concentrations and mass accumulation rates (MARs) of soot have mainly occurred since ~1950, the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, when energy usage changed to more fossil fuel contributions reflected by the variations in the concentration ratios of char/soot and individual PACs. In HGY, soot MARs increased by ~7.7 times in the period 1980–2012 relative to the period 1850–1950. Similar increases (~6.7 times) were observed in CH. The increase in soot MARs is also in line with the emission inventory records in the literature and the fact that the submicrometer-sized soot particles can be dispersed regionally. The study provides an alternative method to reconstruct the atmospheric soot history in populated inland areas. PMID:26750586

Removal of hexavalent Cr by coconut coir and derived chars--the effect of surface functionality.

PubMed

Shen, Ying-Shuian; Wang, Shan-Li; Tzou, Yu-Min; Yan, Ya-Yi; Kuan, Wen-Hui

2012-01-01

The Cr(VI) removal by coconut coir (CC) and chars obtained at various pyrolysis temperatures were evaluated. Increasing the pyrolysis temperature resulted in an increased surface area of the chars, while the corresponding content of oxygen-containing functional groups of the chars decreased. The Cr(VI) removal by CC and CC-derived chars was primarily attributed to the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) by the materials and the extent and rate of the Cr(VI) reduction were determined by the oxygen-containing functional groups in the materials. The contribution of pure Cr(VI) adsorption to the overall Cr(VI) removal became relatively significant for the chars obtained at higher temperatures. Accordingly, to develop a cost-effective method for removing Cr(VI) from water, the original CC is more advantageous than the carbonaceous counterparts because no pyrolysis is required for the application and CC has a higher content of functional groups for reducing Cr(VI) to less toxic Cr(III). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mechanistic understanding of tetracycline sorption on waste tire powder and its chars as affected by Cu(2+) and pH.

PubMed

Lian, Fei; Song, Zhengguo; Liu, Zhongqi; Zhu, Lingyan; Xing, Baoshan

2013-07-01

The sorption characteristics of tetracycline (TC) by waste tire powder and its chars were investigated to explore the potential of using waste tires as effective sorbents for removal of TC from aqueous solution. Naphthalene (NAPH), a typical hydrophobic organic compound, was selected as asorbate for comparison. TC displayed much lower sorption affinity to tire powder than NAPH. However, it exhibited similar adsorption affinity as NAPH on the pyrolyzed tire chars, which was mainly attributed to π-π electron-donor-acceptor interactions of TC with the graphite surface of chars. TC and Cu(2+) could mutually facilitate the sorption of each other on both tire powder and pyrolyzed chars in a wide pH range. This could be explained by the metallic complexation and/or surface-bridging mechanisms (i.e., Cu- or TC-bridging). However, Cu(2+) and NAPH depressed the sorption of each other on tire powder and displayed negligible impact to each other on the highly pyrolyzed chars. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zia-ul-Mustafa, M., E-mail: engr.ziamustafa@gmail.com; Ahmad, Faiz; Megat-Yusoff, Puteri S. M.

In this study, intumescent fire retardant coatings (IFRC) were developed to investigate the synergistic effects of reinforced mica and wollastonite fillers based IFRC towards heat shielding, char expansion, char composition and char morphology. Ammonium poly-phosphate (APP) was used as acid source, expandable graphite (EG) as carbon source, melamine as blowing agent, boric acid as additive and Hardener H-2310 polyamide amine in bisphenol A epoxy resin BE-188(BPA) was used as curing agent. Bunsen burner fire test was used for thermal performance according to UL-94 for 1 h. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) was used to observe char microstructure. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)more » and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to analyse char composition. The results showed that addition of clay filler in IFRC enhanced the fire protection performance of intumescent coating. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed the presence of boron phosphate, silicon phosphate oxide, aluminium borate in the char that improved the thermal performance of intumescent fire retardant coating (IFRC). Resultantly, the presence of these developed compounds enhanced the Integrity of structural steel upto 500°C.« less

Impact of contamination and pre-treatment on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of charred plant remains

PubMed Central

Vaiglova, Petra; Snoeck, Christophe; Nitsch, Erika; Bogaard, Amy; Lee-Thorp, Julia

2014-01-01

Rationale Stable isotope analysis of archaeological charred plants has become a useful tool for interpreting past agricultural practices and refining ancient dietary reconstruction. Charred material that lay buried in soil for millennia, however, is susceptible to various kinds of contamination, whose impact on the grain/seed isotopic composition is poorly understood. Pre-treatment protocols have been adapted in distinct forms from radiocarbon dating, but insufficient research has been carried out on evaluating their effectiveness and necessity for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. Methods The effects of previously used pre-treatment protocols on the isotopic composition of archaeological and modern sets of samples were investigated. An archaeological sample was also artificially contaminated with carbonates, nitrates and humic acid and subjected to treatment aimed at removing the introduced contamination. The presence and removal of the contamination were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and δ13C and δ15N values. Results The results show a ca 1‰ decrease in the δ15N values of archaeological charred plant material caused by harsh acid treatments and ultra-sonication. This change is interpreted as being caused by mechanical distortion of the grains/seeds rather than by the removal of contamination. Furthermore, specific infrared peaks have been identified that can be used to detect the three types of contaminants studied. We argue that it is not necessary to try to remove humic acid contamination for stable isotope analysis. The advantages and disadvantages of crushing the grains/seeds before pre-treatment are discussed. Conclusions We recommend the use of an acid-only procedure (0.5 M HCl for 30 min at 80°C followed by three rinses in distilled water) for cleaning charred plant remains. This study fills an important gap in plant stable isotope research that will enable future researchers to evaluate potential sources of isotopic change and pre-treat their samples with methods that have been demonstrated to be effective. © 2014 The Authors. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. PMID:25366397

Intumescent Coatings as Fire Retardants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, J. A.; Fohlen, G. M.; Sawko, P. M.; Fish, R. H.

1970-01-01

The development of fire-retardant coatings to protect surfaces which may be exposed to fire or extreme heat is a subject of intense interest to many industries. A fire-retardant paint has been developed which represents a new chemical approach for preparing intumescent coatings, and potentially, is very important to fire-prevention authorities. The requirements for a superior coating include ease of application, suitability to a wide variety of surfaces and finishes, and stability over an extended period of time within a broad range of ambient temperature and humidity conditions. These innovative coatings, when activated by the heat of a fire, react to form a thick, low-density, polymeric coating or char layer. Water vapor and sulphur dioxide are released during the intumescent reaction. Two fire-protection mechanisms thus become available: (1) the char layer retards the flow of heat, due to the extremely low thermal conductivity; and (2) water vapor and sulfur dioxide are released, providing fire quenching properties. Still another mechanism functions in cases where the char, by virtue of its high oxidation resistance and low thermal conductivity, reaches a sufficiently high temperature to re-radiate much of the incident heat load. The coatings consist of dispersions of selective salts of a nitro-amino-arornatic compound. Specifically, para-nitroaniline bisulfate and the ammonium salt of para-nitroaniline-ortho sulphuric acid (2-amino-5-nitrobenzenesulphuric acid) are used. Suitable vehicles are cellulose nitrate of lacquer grade, a nitrite-phenolic modified rubber, or epoxy-polysulfide copolymer. Three separate formulations have been developed. A solvent is usually employed, such as methylethyl ketone, butyl acetate, or toluene, which renders the coatings suitably thin and which evaporates after the coatings are applied. Generally, the intumescent material is treated as insoluble in the vehicle, and is ground and dispersed in the vehicle and solvent like an ordinary coating pigment. The char found on intumescence is better in terms of yield and physical properties than chars obtained from many previously known intumescent materials. Prior to intumescence, the coating has a density of 85 pounds per cubic foot. After intumescence, the density is approximately 0.3 pounds per cubic loot. The linear expansion of the coatings ranges from 70 to 200 times the applied coating thickness.

Preparation of brightness stabilization agent for lignin containing pulp from biomass pyrolysis oils

DOEpatents

Agblevor, Foster A.; Besler-Guran, Serpil

2001-01-01

A process for producing a brightness stabilization mixture of water-soluble organic compounds from biomass pyrolysis oils comprising: a) size-reducing biomass material and pyrolyzing the size-reduced biomass material in a fluidized bed reactor; b) separating a char/ash component while maintaining char-pot temperatures to avoid condensation of pyrolysis vapors; c) condensing pyrolysis gases and vapors, and recovering pyrolysis oils by mixing the oils with acetone to obtain an oil-acetone mixture; d) evaporating acetone and recovering pyrolysis oils; e) extracting the pyrolysis oils with water to obtain a water extract; f) slurrying the water extract with carbon while stirring, and filtering the slurry to obtain a colorless filtrate; g) cooling the solution and stabilizing the solution against thermally-induced gelling and solidification by extraction with ethyl acetate to form an aqueous phase lower layer and an organic phase upper layer; h) discarding the upper organic layer and extracting the aqueous layer with ethyl acetate, and discarding the ethyl acetate fraction to obtain a brown-colored solution not susceptible to gelling or solidification upon heating; i) heating the solution to distill off water and other light components and concentrating a bottoms fraction comprising hydroxyacetaldehyde and other non-volatile components having high boiling points; and j) decolorizing the stabilized brown solution with activated carbon to obtain a colorless solution.

Treatment and Analysis of a Paint Chip from "Water Lilies": A Fire Damaged Monet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Sharon K. R.; Banks, Bruce A.; Tollis, Greg

2001-01-01

A museum fire in 1958 severely damaged a Monet 'Water Lilies' (1916-1926) painting that was on display. The surface of the painting is very dark with areas of blistering and charring. Over the years, traditional techniques have been found to be ineffective at removal of the soot and char from the surface. The painting, which is now in the care of the New York University (NYU) Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, was the subject of a study to determine if atomic oxygen treatment could remove the soot and char without damaging the fragile painting underneath. For test purposes, a small chip of paint was removed from the edge of the painting by a conservator at NYU and supplied to NASA Glenn Research Center for atomic oxygen treatment and analysis. The diffuse spectral reflectance, at three locations on the paint chip, was monitored at intervals during the atomic oxygen treatment process. Photo documentation of the chip during treatment was also performed. The color contrast was calculated from the spectral reflectance data as a function of treatment duration. Results of the testing indicated that the contrast improved as a result of the treatment, and the differentiation of colors on the surface was significantly improved. Soot and char could be removed without visibly affecting the gross surface features such as impasto areas. These results indicate the feasibility for the treatment of the 'Water Lilies' painting.

Modeling and evaluation of chromium remediation from water using low cost bio-char, a green adsorbent.

PubMed

Mohan, Dinesh; Rajput, Shalini; Singh, Vinod K; Steele, Philip H; Pittman, Charles U

2011-04-15

Oak wood and oak bark chars were obtained from fast pyrolysis in an auger reactor at 400-450 °C. These chars were characterized and utilized for Cr(VI) remediation from water. Batch sorption studies were performed at different temperatures, pH values and solid to liquid ratios. Maximum chromium was removed at pH 2.0. A kinetic study yielded an optimum equilibrium time of 48 h with an adsorbent dose of 10 g/L. Sorption studies were conducted over a concentration range of 1-100mg/L. Cr(VI) removal increased with an increase in temperature (Q(Oak wood)(°): 25 °C = 3.03 mg/g; 35 °C = 4.08 mg/g; 45 °C = 4.93 mg/g and Q(Oakbark)(°): 25 °C = 4.62 mg/g; 35 °C = 7.43 mg/g; 45 °C = 7.51 mg/g). More chromium was removed with oak bark than oak wood. The char performances were evaluated using the Freundlich, Langmuir, Redlich-Peterson, Toth, Radke and Sips adsorption isotherm models. The Sips adsorption isotherm model best fits the experimental data [high regression (R(2)) coefficients]. The overall kinetic data was satisfactorily explained by a pseudo second order rate expression. Water penetrated into the char walls exposing Cr(VI) to additional adsorption sites that were not on the surfaces of dry char pores. It is remarkable that oak chars (S(BET): 1-3m(2)g(-1)) can remove similar amounts of Cr(VI) as activated carbon (S(BET): ∼ 1000 m(2)g(-1)). Thus, byproduct chars from bio-oil production might be used as inexpensive adsorbents for water purification. Char samples were successfully used for chromium remediation from contaminated surface water with dissolved interfering ions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of post-treatment strategies on the properties of activated chars from broiler manure.

PubMed

Lima, Isabel M; Boykin, Debbie L; Thomas Klasson, K; Uchimiya, Minori

2014-01-01

There are a myriad of carbonaceous precursors that can be used advantageously to produce activated carbons or chars, due to their low cost, availability and intrinsic properties. Because of the nature of the raw material, production of granular activated chars from broiler manure results in a significant ash fraction. This study was conducted to determine the influence of several pre- and post-treatment strategies in various physicochemical and adsorptive properties of the resulting activated chars. Pelletized samples of broiler litter and cake were pyrolyzed at 700 °C for 1h followed by a 45 min steam activation at 800 °C at different water flow rates from 1 to 5 mL min(-1). For each activation strategy, samples were either water-rinsed or acid-washed and rinsed or used as is (no acid wash/rinse). Activated char's physicochemical and adsorptive properties towards copper ions were selectively affected by both pre- and post-treatments. Percent ash reduction after either rinsing or acid washing ranged from 1.1 to 15.1% but washed activated chars were still alkaline with pH ranging from 8.4 to 9.1. Acid washing or water rinsing had no significant effect in the ability of the activated char to adsorb copper ions, however it significantly affected surface area, pH, ash content and carbon content. Instead, manure type (litter versus cake) and the activation water flow rate were determining factors in copper ion adsorption which ranged from 38 mg g(-1) to 104 mg g(-1) of activated char. Moreover, strong positive correlations were found between copper uptake and concentration of certain elements in the activated char such as phosphorous, sulfur, calcium and sodium. Rinsing could suffice as a post treatment strategy for ash reduction since no significant differences in the carbon properties were observed between rinsed and acid wash treatments. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Thermal Analysis on the Pyrolysis of Tetrabromobisphenol A and Electric Arc Furnace Dust Mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Harahsheh, Mohammad; Al-Otoom, Awni; Al-Jarrah, Muhannad; Altarawneh, Mohammednoor; Kingman, Sam

2018-02-01

The pyrolysis of Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) mixed with electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) was studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and theoretically analyzed using thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. Mixtures of both materials with varying TBBPA loads (1:1 and 1:3) were prepared and pyrolyzed in a nitrogen atmosphere under dynamic heating conditions at heating rates of 5 and 10 °C/min. The mixtures degraded through several steps, including decomposition of TBBPA yielding mainly HBr, bromination of metal oxides, followed by their evaporation in the sequence of CuBr3, ZnBr2, PbBr2, FeBr2, MnBr2, KBr, NaBr, CaBr2, and MgBr2, and finally reduction of the remaining metal oxides by the char formed from decomposition of TBBPA. Thermodynamic calculations suggest the possibility of selective bromination of zinc and lead followed by their evaporation, leaving iron in its oxide form, while the char formed may serve as a reduction agent for iron oxides into metallic iron. However, at higher TBBPA volumes, iron bromide forms, which can also be evaporated at a temperature higher than those of ZnBr2 and PbBr2. Results from this work provide practical insight into selective recovery of valuable metals from EAFD while at the same time recycling the hazardous bromine content in TBBPA.

Development, Verification and Validation of Enclosure Radiation Capabilities in the CHarring Ablator Response (CHAR) Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salazar, Giovanni; Droba, Justin C.; Oliver, Brandon; Amar, Adam J.

2016-01-01

With the recent development of multi-dimensional thermal protection system (TPS) material response codes including the capabilities to account for radiative heating is a requirement. This paper presents the recent efforts to implement such capabilities in the CHarring Ablator Response (CHAR) code developed at NASA's Johnson Space Center. This work also describes the different numerical methods implemented in the code to compute view factors for radiation problems involving multiple surfaces. Furthermore, verification and validation of the code's radiation capabilities are demonstrated by comparing solutions to analytical results, to other codes, and to radiant test data.

Effect of basalt fibres reinforcement and aluminum trihydrate on the thermal properties of intumescent fire retardant coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasir, Muhammad; Amir, Norlaili Binti; Ahmad, Faiz; Syahirah Rodzhan, N.

2017-08-01

This research is carried out in order to study the synergistic effect of aluminium trihydrate and basalt fibres on the properties of fire resistant intumescent coatings. Intumescent fire retardant coatings were developed using different flame retardants such as ammonium polyphosphate, expandable graphite, melamine and boric acid. These flame retardants were bound together with the help of epoxy binder along with curing agent. Furthermore, individual and combinations of aluminium trihydrate and basalt fibres was incorporated in the formulations to analyse mechanical and chemical properties of the coatings. Char expansion was observed using furnace test, thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine residual weight, X-Ray Diffraction was performed to investigate compounds present in the char, shear test was conducted to determine char strength and scanning electron microscopy analysis was performed to observe morphology of the burnt char. From the microscopic investigation it was concluded that the dense structure of the char increased the char integrity by adding basalt and aluminium trihydrate as fillers. X-Ray Diffraction results shows the presence boron phosphate, and boric acid which enhanced the thermal performance of the coating up to 800°C. From the Thermogravimetric analysis it was concluded that the residual weight of the char was increased up to 34.9 % for IC-B2A4 which enhanced thermal performance of intumescent coating.

Combustion and Gasification Properties of Plastics Particles.

PubMed

Zevenhoven, Ron; Karlsson, Magnus; Hupa, Mikko; Frankenhaeuser, Martin

1997-08-01

The combustion and gasification behavior of the most common plastics is studied and compared with conventional fuels such as coal, peat, and wood. The aim is to give background data for finding the optimum conditions for co-combustion or co-gasification of a conventional fuel with a certain amount of plastic-derived fuel. Atmospheric or pressurized fluidized bed co-combustion of conventional fuels and plastics are considered to be promising future options. The plastics investigated were poly(ethylene) (PE), poly(propylene) (PP), poly(styrene) (PS), and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). Some of the samples had a print or color. The reference fuels were Polish bituminous coal, Finnish peat, and Finnish pine wood. PE, PP, and PS were found to burn like oil. The particles shrank to a droplet and burned completely during the pyrolysis stage, leaving no char. Printing and coloring left a small portion of ash. PVC was the only plastic that produced a carbonaceous residue, and its timescales for heating, devolatilization, and char burning were of the same order as those for peat and wood, and much shorter for the other plastics studied. An important result is that char from PVC contains less than 1% chlorine,99% hydrocarbon. The gasification rate of PVC char (at 1 bar and 25 bar) was of the same order as that of char from coal. Peat-char and wood-char were gasified an order of magnitude faster.

Low temperature conversion of plastic waste into light hydrocarbons.

PubMed

Shah, Sajid Hussain; Khan, Zahid Mahmood; Raja, Iftikhar Ahmad; Mahmood, Qaisar; Bhatti, Zulfiqar Ahmad; Khan, Jamil; Farooq, Ather; Rashid, Naim; Wu, Donglei

2010-07-15

Advance recycling through pyrolytic technology has the potential of being applied to the management of plastic waste (PW). For this purpose 1 l volume, energy efficient batch reactor was manufactured locally and tested for pyrolysis of waste plastic. The feedstock for reactor was 50 g waste polyethylene. The average yield of the pyrolytic oil, wax, pyrogas and char from pyrolysis of PW were 48.6, 40.7, 10.1 and 0.6%, respectively, at 275 degrees C with non-catalytic process. Using catalyst the average yields of pyrolytic oil, pyrogas, wax and residue (char) of 50 g of PW was 47.98, 35.43, 16.09 and 0.50%, respectively, at operating temperature of 250 degrees C. The designed reactor could work at low temperature in the absence of a catalyst to obtain similar products as for a catalytic process. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Apparatus for mixing char-ash into coal stream

DOEpatents

Blaskowski, Henry J.

1982-03-16

Apparatus for obtaining complete mixing of char with coal prior to the introduction of the mixture into the combustor (30) of a coal gasifier (10). The coal is carried in one air stream (22), and the char in another air stream (54), to a riffle plate arrangement (26), where the streams of solid are intimately mixed or blended.

Char syndrome: an additional family with polythelia, a new finding.

PubMed

Zannolli, R; Mostardini, R; Matera, M; Pucci, L; Gelb, B D; Morgese, G

2000-11-27

This report describes a father and daughter with Char syndrome, a rare autosomal dominant disorder. Both affected individuals had typical face, strabismus, and foot anomalies. The girl also had a patent ductus arteriosus. In addition, both patients had polythelia (supernumerary nipples), a finding not described before in the Char syndrome. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Computational investigations of low-emission burner facilities for char gas burning in a power boiler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roslyakov, P. V.; Morozov, I. V.; Zaychenko, M. N.; Sidorkin, V. T.

2016-04-01

Various variants for the structure of low-emission burner facilities, which are meant for char gas burning in an operating TP-101 boiler of the Estonia power plant, are considered. The planned increase in volumes of shale reprocessing and, correspondingly, a rise in char gas volumes cause the necessity in their cocombustion. In this connection, there was a need to develop a burner facility with a given capacity, which yields effective char gas burning with the fulfillment of reliability and environmental requirements. For this purpose, the burner structure base was based on the staging burning of fuel with the gas recirculation. As a result of the preliminary analysis of possible structure variants, three types of early well-operated burner facilities were chosen: vortex burner with the supply of recirculation gases into the secondary air, vortex burner with the baffle supply of recirculation gases between flows of the primary and secondary air, and burner facility with the vortex pilot burner. Optimum structural characteristics and operation parameters were determined using numerical experiments. These experiments using ANSYS CFX bundled software of computational hydrodynamics were carried out with simulation of mixing, ignition, and burning of char gas. Numerical experiments determined the structural and operation parameters, which gave effective char gas burning and corresponded to required environmental standard on nitrogen oxide emission, for every type of the burner facility. The burner facility for char gas burning with the pilot diffusion burner in the central part was developed and made subject to computation results. Preliminary verification nature tests on the TP-101 boiler showed that the actual content of nitrogen oxides in burner flames of char gas did not exceed a claimed concentration of 150 ppm (200 mg/m3).

The application of carbon isotope discrimination of charred wheat grains to reconstruct Late Holocene climate change and identify water management strategy in northwest China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, W.; An, C.; Duan, F.; Zhao, Y.; Cao, Z.

2017-12-01

The AMS 14C dating and corresponding carbon stable isotope datum of charred wheat grains from archaeological sites in northwest China especially Hexi Corridor and Xinjiang have been collected widely to study its potential roles in reconstructing past climate change and identifying water management strategies through comparison with integrated regional humidity index, carbon isotope data of wheat grown under modern irrigation environment from study area and Mediterranean charred wheat carbon isotope data. The results suggest (1) carbon isotope discrimination values of charred wheat both in Hexi corridor and Xinjiang could respond well to regional moisture change, and there are also good positive correlation relationship between them (2) in contrast to consistent relationship between decreased carbon isotope discrimination values of charred wheat and dry climate condition, increased carbon isotope discrimination values does not represent wetter regional climate completely and may also reveal effects of human irrigation activities. The higher carbon isotope discrimination value of charred wheat which occurred in the Hexi Corridor from 4000 to 3850 a BP, 2100 a BP and 550 a BP and in Tianshan area of Xinjiang from 3730 a BP could be likely to be related with human activities (3) the carbon isotope discrimination value of charred wheat may have a certain limit which is generally not beyond 19‰. And this upper limit could influence its availability in reflecting abrupt change of precipitation/humidity especially rapid wetter trend. We conclude that carbon isotope analysis of charred wheat grains could be a good tool for reconstructing past climate change and identifying ancient irrigation practices.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of phosphorus release, oxygen consumption and greenhouse gas emissions after localised soil amendment with organic fertilisers.

PubMed

Christel, Wibke; Zhu, Kun; Hoefer, Christoph; Kreuzeder, Andreas; Santner, Jakob; Bruun, Sander; Magid, Jakob; Jensen, Lars Stoumann

2016-06-01

Organic fertilisation inevitably leads to heterogeneous distribution of organic matter and nutrients in soil, i.e. due to uneven surface spreading or inhomogeneous incorporation. The resulting localised hotspots of nutrient application will induce various biotic and abiotic nutrient turnover processes and fixation in the residue sphere, giving rise to distinct differences in nutrient availability, soil oxygen content and greenhouse gas (GHG) production. In this study we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of the reaction of manure solids and manure solids char with soil, focusing on their phosphorus (P) availability, as current emphasis on improving societal P efficiency through recycling waste or bio-based fertilisers necessitates a sound understanding of their behaviour. Soil layers amended at a constant P application rate with either pig manure solids or char made from pig manure solids were incubated for three weeks between layers of non-amended, P-depleted soil. Spatial and temporal changes in and around the amendment layers were simultaneously investigated in this study using a sandwich sensor consisting of a planar oxygen optode and multi-element diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) gels, combined with GHG emission measurements. After three weeks of incubation, the soil containing a layer amended with manure solids had a lower overall O2 content and had emitted significantly more CO2 than the non-amended control or the char-amended soil. The P availability from manure solids was initially higher than that from the char, but decreased over time, whereas from the char-amended layer P availability increased in the same period. In both treatments, increases in P availability were confined to the amended soil layer and did not greatly affect P availability in the directly adjacent soil layers during the three-week incubation. These results highlight the importance of placing organic P fertilisers close to where the plant roots will grow in order to facilitate optimal fertiliser use efficiency. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The role of boron in flame-retardant treatments

Treesearch

S. L. LeVan; H. C. Tran

1990-01-01

Flame retardants for wood alter the combustion properties of wood to reduce surface flame spread. Flame retardant chemicals cause acid catalyzed dehydration reactions in wood to facilitate the formation of char and reduce the effective heat of combustion, resulting in lower heat release and flame spread. Boron compounds can also form glassy fiis that may inhibit mass...

Changes imposed by pyrolysis, thermal gasification and incineration on composition and phosphorus fertilizer quality of municipal sewage sludge.

PubMed

Thomsen, Tobias Pape; Sárossy, Zsuzsa; Ahrenfeldt, Jesper; Henriksen, Ulrik B; Frandsen, Flemming J; Müller-Stöver, Dorette Sophie

2017-08-01

Fertilizer quality of ash and char from incineration, gasification and pyrolysis of a single municipal sewage sludge sample were investigated by comparing composition and phosphorus (P) plant availability. A process for post oxidation of gasification ash and pyrolysis char was developed and the oxidized materials were investigated as well. Sequential extraction with full elemental balances of the extracted pools as well as scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to investigate the mechanisms driving the observed differences in composition and P plant availability in a short-term soil incubation study. The compositional changes related mainly to differences in the proximate composition as well as to the release of especially nitrogen, sulfur, cadmium and to some extent, phosphorus (P). The cadmium load per unit of P was reduced with 75-85% in gasification processes and 10-15% in pyrolysis whereas no reduction was observed in incineration processes. The influence on other heavy metals was less pronounced. The plant availability of P in the substrates varied from almost zero to almost 100% of the plant availability of P in the untreated sludge. Post-oxidized slow pyrolysis char was found to be the substrate with the highest P fertilizer value while ash from commercial fluid bed sludge incineration had the lowest P fertilizer quality. The high P fertilizer value in the best substrate is suggested to be a function of several different mechanisms including structural surface changes and improvements in the association of P to especially magnesium, calcium and aluminum. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular Analysis of Flood Deposits in the Tennessee River Valley: Implications for Understanding Carbon Cycling in Fluvial Environments and Anthropogenic Impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackaby, E.; Craven, O. D.; Hockaday, W. C.; Forman, S. L.; Stinchcomb, G. E.

2017-12-01

The middle Tennessee River Valley contains both historic and prehistoric (>AD 1600) flood deposits. Stratigraphic sequences of stacked flood deposits that often bury soils provide new insights on organic matter transported and preserved prior to and after European colonization. This study focused on understanding carbon cycling within a dynamic fluvial system and quantifying the anthropogenic effect on flood processes through the analysis of molecular components of the organic matter. The data may be helpful in discerning the organic geochemical fingerprint for historic and prehistoric flood deposits. Ten samples were collected from three sites at varying depths and dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). All samples underwent solid-state cross polar 13C NMR analysis at twelve kilohertz, and a molecular mixing model (MMM) was used to determine the molecular components of the organic matter present in each sample. The MMM categorized carbon molecules present in each sample in terms of carbohydrate, protein, lipid, lignin, char, or pure carbonyl. Char was the most prominent molecular component of all ten samples ranging from 28.7 to 55.9% and comprised larger percentages in prehistoric deposits. The historic deposits, while still char dominated, showed more molecular diversity with higher percentages in non-char carbon groups. The carbonyl, lipid, and carbohydrate groups are present throughout all the samples with the carbonyl ranging from 9.3 to 31.4%, the lipid from 5.5 to 16.7%, and the carbohydrate from 4.4 to 16.9%. The high amount of carbonyl throughout the samples indicates that the deposits existed in a highly oxidizing environment. Differences in the presence and amount of carbon groups between historic and prehistoric flood deposits potentially reflect diagenic alternation of organic matter through time, changes in human land use, or some combination processes. These preliminary results possibly indicate changes in carbon pools accessed with European cultivation and continued degradation of organic moieties during a ca. 400 years burial, and mostly in oxidizing conditions.

Using bark char codes to predict post-fire cambium mortality

Treesearch

Sharon M. Hood; Danny R. Cluck; Sheri L. Smith; Kevin C. Ryan

2008-01-01

Cambium injury is an important factor in post-fire tree survival. Measurements that quantify the degree of bark charring on tree stems after fire are often used as surrogates for direct cambium injury because they are relatively easy to assign and are non-destructive. However, bark char codes based on these measurements have been inadequately tested to determine how...

Synergistic effects of mica and wollastonite fillers on thermal performance of intumescent fire retardant coating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zia-ul-Mustafa, M.; Ahmad, Faiz; Megat-Yusoff, Puteri S. M.; Aziz, Hammad

2015-07-01

In this study, intumescent fire retardant coatings (IFRC) were developed to investigate the synergistic effects of reinforced mica and wollastonite fillers based IFRC towards heat shielding, char expansion, char composition and char morphology. Ammonium poly-phosphate (APP) was used as acid source, expandable graphite (EG) as carbon source, melamine as blowing agent, boric acid as additive and Hardener H-2310 polyamide amine in bisphenol A epoxy resin BE-188(BPA) was used as curing agent. Bunsen burner fire test was used for thermal performance according to UL-94 for 1 h. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) was used to observe char microstructure. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to analyse char composition. The results showed that addition of clay filler in IFRC enhanced the fire protection performance of intumescent coating. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed the presence of boron phosphate, silicon phosphate oxide, aluminium borate in the char that improved the thermal performance of intumescent fire retardant coating (IFRC). Resultantly, the presence of these developed compounds enhanced the Integrity of structural steel upto 500°C.

CO-FIRING COAL: FEEDLOT AND LITTER BIOMASS FUELS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kalyan Annamalai; John Sweeten; Saqib Mukhtar

2003-06-01

Reburn with animal waste yield NO{sub x} reduction of the order of 70-80%, which is much higher than those previously reported in the literature for natural gas, coal and agricultural biomass as reburn fuels. Further, the NO{sub x} reduction is almost independent of stoichiometry from stoichiometric to upto 10% deficient air in reburn zone. As a first step towards understanding the reburn process in a boiler burner, a simplified zero-dimensional model has been developed for estimating the NO{sub x} reduction in the reburn process using simulated animal waste based biomass volatiles. However the first model does not include the gradualmore » heat up of reburn fuel particle, pyrolysis and char combustion. Hence there is a need for more rigorous treatment of the model with animal waste as reburn fuel. To address this issue, an improved zero-dimensional model is being developed which can handle any solid reburn fuel, along with more detailed heterogeneous char reactions and homogeneous global reactions. The model on ''NO{sub x} Reduction for Reburn Process using Feedlot Biomass,'' incorporates; (a) mixing between reburn fuel and main-burner gases, (b) gradual heat-up of reburn fuel accompanied by pyrolysis, oxidation of volatiles and char oxidation, (c) fuel-bound nitrogen (FBN) pyrolysis, and FBN including both forward and backward reactions, (d) prediction of NO{sub x} as a function of time in the reburn zone, and (e) gas phase and solid phase temperature as a function of time. The fuel bound nitrogen is assumed to be released to the gas phase by two processes, (a) FBN evolution to N{sub 2}, HCN, and NH{sub 3}, and (b) FBN oxidation to NO at the char surface. The formulation has been completed, code has been developed, and preliminary runs have been made to test the code. Note that, the current model does not incorporate the overfire air. The results of the simulation will be compared with the experimental results. During this quarter, three journal and four conference publications dealing with utilization of animal waste as fuel have been published. In addition a presentation was made to a utility company interested in the new reburn technology for NO{sub x} reduction.« less

Formulation of intumescent flame retardant coatings containing natural-based tea saponin.

PubMed

Qian, Wei; Li, Xiang-Zhou; Wu, Zhi-Ping; Liu, Yan-Xin; Fang, Cong-Cong; Meng, Wei

2015-03-18

Natural product tea saponin (TS), extracted from the nutshell of camellia (Camellia oleifera Abel, Theaceae), was introduced into intumescent flame retardant formulations as blowing agent and carbon source. The formulations of the flame retardant system were optimized to get the optimum proportion of TS, and intumescent flame retardant coatings containing tea saponin (TS-IFRCs) were then prepared. It was found that TS can significantly affect the combustion behavior and the thermal stability of TS-IFRCs evaluated by cone calorimetry and simultaneous thermal analyzer, respectively. It was shown that TS, degraded to water vapor and carbon at high temperatures, can combine with other components to form a well-developed char layer. The char layer was supposed to inhibit erosion upon exposure to heat and oxygen and enhance the flame retardancy of TS-IFRCs. In addition, the smoke release of TS-IFRCs was also studied, which provided a low amount of smoke production.

Technology for Transportation Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Boston Insulated Wire & Cable developed a new polyimide foam material, commercially known as Solimide, which resists ignition. It chars and decomposes when exposed to open flames. Used in the space shuttle, the material does not "outgas" until it begins to char making it safer than current materials with respect to toxic fumes. The polyimide can be made in two forms: a resilient foam and a rigid foam. Used in commercial transport interiors for such soft components as seat cushions to door, wall, floor, and ceiling panels. Material's flame resistance could lengthen from two minutes to five minutes, the time needed for passenger evacuation in a ground emergency. Could help reduce airline fuel consumption, since the foam is 50% lighter than current materials. Low-smoke cable assemblies used in rapid transit systems consists of an advanced wire and cable jacketing material with superior flame resistance and smoke retardation characteristics. Being supplied to mass transit systems in the U.S. and abroad.

Atypical Exit Wound in High-Voltage Electrocution.

PubMed

Parakkattil, Jamshid; Kandasamy, Shanmugam; Das, Siddhartha; Devnath, Gerard Pradeep; Chaudhari, Vinod Ashok; Shaha, Kusa Kumar

2017-12-01

Electrocution fatality cases are difficult to investigate. High-voltage electrocution burns resemble burns caused by other sources, especially if the person survives for few days. In that case, circumstantial evidence if correlated with the autopsy findings helps in determining the cause and manner of death. In addition, the crime scene findings also help to explain the pattern of injuries observed at autopsy. A farmer came in contact with a high-voltage transmission wire and sustained superficial to deep burns over his body. A charred and deeply scorched area was seen over the face, which was suggestive of the electric entry wound. The exit wound was present over both feet and lower leg and was atypical in the form of a burnt area of peeled blistered skin, charring, and deep scorching. The injuries were correlated with crime scene findings, and the circumstances that lead to his electrocution are discussed here.

Method of making a cyanate ester foam

DOEpatents

Celina, Mathias C.; Giron, Nicholas Henry

2014-08-05

A cyanate ester resin mixture with at least one cyanate ester resin, an isocyanate foaming resin, other co-curatives such as polyol or epoxy compounds, a surfactant, and a catalyst/water can react to form a foaming resin that can be cured at a temperature greater than 50.degree. C. to form a cyanate ester foam. The cyanate ester foam can be heated to a temperature greater than 400.degree. C. in a non-oxidative atmosphere to provide a carbonaceous char foam.

Fire Resistant Composite Closed Cell Foam and Nonwoven Textiles for Tents and Shelters

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

when heated. The heat causes the plasticizer to dissolve in the PVC to form a flexible, plasticized PVC film . The foam and/or fabric surfaces were...PVC/NBR AF-U9D foam formed a char and only the edge of the material was damaged. These data suggested that burn-through resistance , in addition to...AFRL-ML-TY-TR-2006-4571 FIRE RESISTANT COMPOSITE CLOSED CELL FOAM AND NONWOVEN TEXTILES FOR TENTS AND SHELTERS Stephen C. Davis

ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT OF COAL-FIRED HIGH-PERFORMANCE POWER SYSTEMS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Unknown

1999-02-01

A High Performance Power System (HIPPS) is being developed. This system is a coal-fired, combined cycle plant with indirect heating of gas turbine air. Foster Wheeler Development Corporation and a team consisting of Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, Bechtel Corporation, University of Tennessee Space Institute and Westinghouse Electric Corporation are developing this system. In Phase 1 of the project, a conceptual design of a commercial plant was developed. Technical and economic analyses indicated that the plant would meet the goals of the project which include a 47 percent efficiency (HHV) and a 10 percent lower cost of electricity than an equivalentmore » size PC plant. The concept uses a pyrolysis process to convert coal into fuel gas and char. The char is fired in a High Temperature Advanced Furnace (HITAF). The HITAF is a pulverized fuel-fired boiler/air heater where steam is generated and gas turbine air is indirectly heated. The fuel gas generated in the pyrolyzer is then used to heat the gas turbine air further before it enters the gas turbine. The project is currently in Phase 2 which includes engineering analysis, laboratory testing and pilot plant testing. Research and development is being done on the HIPPS systems that are not commercial or being developed on other projects. Pilot plant testing of the pyrolyzer subsystem and the char combustion subsystem are being done separately, and after each experimental program has been completed, a larger scale pyrolyzer will be tested at the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) in Wilsonville, AL. The facility is equipped with a gas turbine and a topping combustor, and as such, will provide an opportunity to evaluate integrated pyrolyzer and turbine operation. This report addresses the areas of technical progress for this quarter. A general arrangement drawing of the char transfer system was forwarded to SCS for their review. Structural steel drawings were used to generate a three-dimensional model of the char transfer system including all pressure vessels and major piping components. Experimental testing at the Combustion and Environmental Test Facility continued during this quarter. Performance of the char burner, as benchmarked by flame stability and low NOx, has been exceptional. The burner was operated successfully both without natural gas and supplemental pulverized coal.« less

Pyrolysis process for producing condensed stabilized hydrocarbons utilizing a beneficially reactive gas

DOEpatents

Durai-Swamy, Kandaswamy

1982-01-01

In a process for recovery of values contained in solid carbonaceous material, the solid carbonaceous material is comminuted and then subjected to pyrolysis, in the presence of a carbon containing solid particulate source of heat and a beneficially reactive transport gas in a transport flash pyrolysis reactor, to form a pyrolysis product stream. The pyrolysis product stream contains a gaseous mixture and particulate solids. The solids are separated from the gaseous mixture to form a substantially solids-free gaseous stream which comprises volatilized hydrocarbon free radicals newly formed by pyrolysis. Preferably the solid particulate source of heat is formed by oxidizing part of the separated particulate solids. The beneficially reactive transport gas inhibits the reactivity of the char product and the carbon-containing solid particulate source of heat. Condensed stabilized hydrocarbons are obtained by quenching the gaseous mixture stream with a quench fluid which contains a capping agent for stabilizing and terminating newly formed volatilized hydrocarbon free radicals. The capping agent is partially depleted of hydrogen by the stabilization and termination reaction. Hydrocarbons of four or more carbon atoms in the gaseous mixture stream are condensed. A liquid stream containing the stabilized liquid product is then treated or separated into various fractions. A liquid containing the hydrogen depleted capping agent is hydrogenated to form a regenerated capping agent. At least a portion of the regenerated capping agent is recycled to the quench zone as the quench fluid. In another embodiment capping agent is produced by the process, separated from the liquid product mixture, and recycled.

Charring rate of wood exposed to a constant heat flux

Treesearch

R. H. White; H. C. Tran

1996-01-01

A critical factor in the fire endurance of a wood member is its rate of charring. Most available charring rate data have been obtained using the time-temperature curves of the standard fire resistance tests (ASTM E 119 and ISO 834) to define the fire exposure. The increased use of heat release calorimeters using exposures of constant heat flux levels has broadened the...

Effect of bone on the pyrolysis product distribution and composition in a fixed bed reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alhassan, M.; Andresen, J. M.

2012-04-01

Co-pyrolysis of Biomass including Pistachio shell (PS), Pine wood (PW) and Wheat Straw (WS) with Bone matter (BM) have been investigated to determine the effect of bone on the quality of bio-char and bio-oil produced. The aim of this study is to generate stable and nitrogen enriched bio-char that can act as fertilizer while at the same time optimizes the chemical stability of the char to act as a Carbon Capture and Storage system (CCS) and co-produce high quality oils for renewable energy generation. To achieve this, the present study has focused on the influence of bone matter addition from 0wt% to 25wt% to the biomasses in a fixed bed pyrolysis reactor at 3000C. The analysis of the char products shows that the addition of bone to the biomass increased their char yields up to 10wt% addition. Higher addition was found to reduce the overall char yield from the biomass. At 10wt% bone addition, the carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen content, and the gross calorific value of the chars were increased by 7wt%, 29wt%, 163wt% and 19Mj/kg, for Wheat straw, 62wt%, 46wt%, 135wt%, 110Mj/kg for Pine wood and 7wt%, 76wt%, 42wt% and 33Mj/kg for Pistachio shells. The oxygen content of the Wheat straw, Pistachio shells and pine wood mixed with 10wt% BM decreased by 28wt%, 21wt%, and 93wt%, respectively. The bio-oil yield increased for the bone addition up to 5%wt% for all the samples, its energy value and concentration of its major chemical components was improved for fuel and pharmaceutical use. Port experiment has shown that plant grown on soil amended with the bio-char produced gave higher yield as compared to that from un-amended soil. Comparison between the three biomasses investigated showed similar pattern of change. Hence it can be concluded that at optimum addition of bone to the biomass, bio-chars and oil yield could be optimized for soil amendment, energy production, while retaining carbon for sequestration.

Remote Recession Sensing of Ablative Heat Shield Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winter, Michael W.; Stackpoole, Margaret; Nawaz, Anuscheh; Gonzales, Gregory Lewis; Ho, Thanh

2014-01-01

Material recession and charring are two major processes determining the performance of ablative heat shield materials. Even in ground testing, the characterization of these two mechanisms relies on measurements of material thickness before and after testing, thus providing only information integrated over the test time. For recession measurements, optical methods such as imaging the sample surface during testing are under investigation but require high alignment and instrument effort, therefore being not established as a standard measurement method. For char depth measurements, the most common method so far consists in investigation of sectioned samples after testing or in the case of Stardust where core extractions were performed to determine char information. In flight, no reliable recession measurements are available, except total recession after recovering the heat shield on ground. Developments of mechanical recession sensors have been started but require substantial on board instrumentation adding mass and complexity. In this work, preliminary experiments to evaluate the feasibility of remote sensing of material recession and possibly char depth through optically observing the emission signatures of seeding materials in the post shock plasma is investigated. It is shown that this method can provide time resolved recession measurements without the necessity of accurate alignment procedures of the optical set-up and without any instrumentation on board of a spacecraft. Furthermore, recession data can be obtained without recovering flight hardware which would be a huge benefit for inexpensive heat shield material testing on board of small re-entry probes, e.g. on new micro-satellite re-entry probes as a possible future application of Cubesats or RBR

Development and Verification of Enclosure Radiation Capabilities in the CHarring Ablator Response (CHAR) Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salazar, Giovanni; Droba, Justin C.; Oliver, Brandon; Amar, Adam J.

2016-01-01

With the recent development of multi-dimensional thermal protection system (TPS) material response codes, the capability to account for surface-to-surface radiation exchange in complex geometries is critical. This paper presents recent efforts to implement such capabilities in the CHarring Ablator Response (CHAR) code developed at NASA's Johnson Space Center. This work also describes the different numerical methods implemented in the code to compute geometric view factors for radiation problems involving multiple surfaces. Verification of the code's radiation capabilities and results of a code-to-code comparison are presented. Finally, a demonstration case of a two-dimensional ablating cavity with enclosure radiation accounting for a changing geometry is shown.

Charring Rate for Fire Exposed X-Lam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Bernice VY; Fah Tee, Kong

2017-06-01

Design of timber structures has been outlined in Eurocode 5. Notional charring rate for softwood and hardwood timber is given. For the performance of X-LAM panels in fire, only little information on charring is available and whether the fire behaviour of X-LAM is similar to homogenous timber panels has not yet been systematically analysed. This paper presents an overview of fire performance of X-LAM and evaluation of its resistance to elevated temperature as an element of structure in comparison to homogeneous timber panels. Numerical study has been carried out based on available experimental results. Charring rates for X-LAM panels obtained from experimental results are compared with those obtained from Eurocode 5 and proposed simplified model.

Erosion characteristics of ethylene propylene diene monomer composite insulation by high-temperature dense particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jiang; Guo, Meng-fei; Lv, Xiang; Liu, Yang; Xi, Kun; Guan, Yi-wen

2018-04-01

In this study, a dense particles erosion test motor which can simulate the erosion state of a solid rocket motor under high acceleration was developed. Subsequently, erosion experiments were carried out for the ethylene propylene diene monomer composite insulation and the microstructure of the char layer analysed. A turning point effect was found from the influence of the particle impact velocity on the ablation rate, and three erosion modes were determined according to the micro-morphology of the char layer. A reasonable explanation for the different structures of the char layer in the three modes was presented based on the formation mechanism of the compact/loose structure of the char layer.

Bone char surface modification by nano-gold coating for elemental mercury vapor removal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assari, Mohamad javad; Rezaee, Abbas; Rangkooy, Hossinali

2015-07-01

The present work was done to develop a novel nanocomposite using bone char coated with nano-gold for capture of elemental mercury (Hg0) from air. The morphologies, structures, and chemical constitute of the prepared nanocomposite were evaluated by UV-VIS-NIR, dynamic light-scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The capture performance of nanocomposite was evaluated in a needle trap for mercury vapor. An on-line setup based on cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) was designed for Hg0 determination. Dynamic capacity of nanocomposite for Hg0 was shown high efficient operating capacity of 586.7 μg/g. As temperature increases, the dynamic adsorption capacity of the nanocomposite was decreased, which are characteristics of physicosorption processes. It was found that the surface modification of bone char with nano-gold has various advantages such as high operating dynamic adsorption capacity and low cost preparation. It was also demonstrated that the developed nanocomposite is suitable for on-line monitoring of Hg0. It could be applied for the laboratory and field studies.

8-Step Model Drawing: Singapore's Best Problem-Solving MATH Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hogan, Bob; Forsten, Char

2007-01-01

In this book, Bob Hogan and Char Forsten introduce American mathematics educators to the model drawing process adapted from the much-acclaimed Singapore approach. They explain what model drawing is and why it's such an effective problem-solving tool. They show exactly how teachers can guide their students through the process, tell which key points…

Leonardite char adsorbents

DOEpatents

Knudson, Curtis L.

1993-01-01

A process of preparing lignite (low rank) coal filter material, suitable for use in lieu of more expensive activated carbon filter materials, is disclosed. The process comprises size reducing Leonardite coal material to a suitable filtering effective size, and thereafter heating the size reduced Leonardite preferably to at least 750.degree. C. in the presence of a flow of an inert gas.

Leonardite char adsorbents

DOEpatents

Knudson, C.L.

1993-10-19

A process of preparing lignite (low rank) coal filter material, suitable for use in lieu of more expensive activated carbon filter materials, is disclosed. The process comprises size reducing Leonardite coal material to a suitable filtering effective size, and thereafter heating the size reduced Leonardite preferably to at least 750 C in the presence of a flow of an inert gas. 1 figure.

Torrefaction? What’s that?

Treesearch

D. Mitchell; T. Elder

2010-01-01

Torrefaction is a thermo-chemical process that reduces the moisture content of wood and transforms it into a brittle, char-type material. The thermo-chemical process can reduce the mass of wood by 20-30% resulting in a denser, higher-valued product that can be transported more economically than traditional wood chips. Through torrefaction, wood may retain 90% of the...

Chemical mechanism of fire retardance of boric acid on wood

Treesearch

Qingwen Wang; Jian Li; Jerrold E. Winandy

2004-01-01

It is commonly accepted that the fire retardant mechanism of boric acid is a physical mechanism achieved by the formation of a coating or protective layer on the wood surface at high temperature. Although a char-forming catalytic mechanism has been proposed by some researchers, little direct experimental support has been provided for such a chemical mechanism. In this...

Combined goal gasifier and fuel cell system and method

DOEpatents

Gmeindl, Frank D.; Geisbrecht, Rodney A.

1990-01-01

A molten carbonate fuel cell is combined with a catalytic coal or coal char gasifier for providing the reactant gases comprising hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide used in the operation of the fuel cell. These reactant gases are stripped of sulfur compounds and particulate material and are then separated in discrete gas streams for conveyance to appropriate electrodes in the fuel cell. The gasifier is arranged to receive the reaction products generated at the anode of the fuel cell by the electricity-producing electrochemical reaction therein. These reaction products from the anode are formed primarily of high temperature steam and carbon dioxide to provide the steam, the atmosphere and the heat necessary to endothermically pyrolyze the coal or char in the presence of a catalyst. The reaction products generated at the cathode are substantially formed of carbon dioxide which is used to heat air being admixed with the carbon dioxide stream from the gasifier for providing the oxygen required for the reaction in the fuel cell and for driving an expansion device for energy recovery. A portion of this carbon dioxide from the cathode may be recycled into the fuel cell with the air-carbon dioxide mixture.

Short-term effects of triiodothyronine on the bowfin, Amia calva (Holostei), and the lake char, Salvelinus namaycush (Teleostei).

PubMed

Ballantyne, J S; John, T M; Singer, T D; Oommen, O V

1992-01-01

To assess the role of triiodothyronine (T3) in mediating short-term changes in metabolism, such as those occurring in circadian patterns, we examined the effects of intraperitoneal injection of T3 on the oxidation of substrates by isolated mitochondria from liver of the bowfin, Amia calva, and red muscle and liver of the lake char, Salvelinus namaycush. Selected enzymes were measured in red muscle and liver of the lake char. Three hours after intraperitoneal injection of T3, oxidation of some substrates by mitochondria isolated from the liver of the bowfin was reduced. Similar treatment had no effect on substrate oxidation in liver mitochondria isolated from lake char. Oxidation of substrates by lake char red muscle mitochondria was stimulated by T3 injection. Citrate synthase levels were increased in red muscle suggesting that changes in enzyme activity may be in part responsible for the short-term mitochondrial responses to T3 injection.

CO2 gasification of char from lignocellulosic garden waste: Experimental and kinetic study.

PubMed

Gupta, Ankita; Thengane, Sonal K; Mahajani, Sanjay

2018-04-25

In this study, the dry leaves litter from jackfruit, raintree, mango and eucalyptus trees, lignin, and cellulose were characterized, pyrolysed, and evaluated for their char reactivity towards CO 2 gasification using TGA. The differences in char reactivity were attributed to the difference in char morphology and the varying inorganic contents. The mineral analysis of biomass ash showed the presence of alkali minerals some of which could act as catalysts. The adverse effect of high silica content was also evident through the experimental results. The kinetic parameters for gasification reaction were determined using three different reaction models. A modified random pore model was investigated to account for the influence of inorganic content. The effect of external catalyst on CO 2 gasification was also studied by adding potassium carbonate to biomass char and pellets. The results obtained from this study can be conveniently used in the design of a gasifier for lignocellulosic garden waste. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of torrefaction on the properties of rice straw high temperature pyrolysis char: Pore structure, aromaticity and gasification activity.

PubMed

Chen, Handing; Chen, Xueli; Qin, Yueqiang; Wei, Juntao; Liu, Haifeng

2017-03-01

The influence of torrefaction on the physicochemical characteristics of char during raw and water washed rice straw pyrolysis at 800-1200°C is investigated. Pore structure, aromaticity and gasification activity of pyrolysis chars are compared between raw and torrefied samples. For raw straw, BET specific surface area decreases with the increased torrefaction temperature at the same pyrolysis temperature and it approximately increases linearly with weight loss during pyrolysis. The different pore structure evolutions relate to the different volatile matters and pore structures between raw and torrefied straw. Torrefaction at higher temperature would bring about a lower graphitization degree of char during pyrolysis of raw straw. Pore structure and carbon crystalline structure evolutions of raw and torrefied water washed straw are different from these of raw straw during pyrolysis. For both raw and water washed straw, CO 2 gasification activities of pyrolysis chars are different between raw and torrefied samples. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low levels of hybridization between sympatric Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma) highlights their genetic distinctiveness and ecological segregation.

PubMed

May-McNally, Shannan L; Quinn, Thomas P; Taylor, Eric B

2015-08-01

Understanding the extent of interspecific hybridization and how ecological segregation may influence hybridization requires comprehensively sampling different habitats over a range of life history stages. Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Dolly Varden (S. malma) are recently diverged salmonid fishes that come into contact in several areas of the North Pacific where they occasionally hybridize. To better quantify the degree of hybridization and ecological segregation between these taxa, we sampled over 700 fish from multiple lake (littoral and profundal) and stream sites in two large, interconnected southwestern Alaskan lakes. Individuals were genotyped at 12 microsatellite markers, and genetic admixture (Q) values generated through Bayesian-based clustering revealed hybridization levels generally lower than reported in a previous study (<0.6% to 5% of samples classified as late-generation hybrids). Dolly Varden and Arctic char tended to make different use of stream habitats with the latter apparently abandoning streams for lake habitats after 2-3 years of age. Our results support the distinct biological species status of Dolly Varden and Arctic char and suggest that ecological segregation may be an important factor limiting opportunities for hybridization and/or the ecological performance of hybrid char.

Low levels of hybridization between sympatric Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma) highlights their genetic distinctiveness and ecological segregation

PubMed Central

May-McNally, Shannan L; Quinn, Thomas P; Taylor, Eric B

2015-01-01

Understanding the extent of interspecific hybridization and how ecological segregation may influence hybridization requires comprehensively sampling different habitats over a range of life history stages. Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Dolly Varden (S. malma) are recently diverged salmonid fishes that come into contact in several areas of the North Pacific where they occasionally hybridize. To better quantify the degree of hybridization and ecological segregation between these taxa, we sampled over 700 fish from multiple lake (littoral and profundal) and stream sites in two large, interconnected southwestern Alaskan lakes. Individuals were genotyped at 12 microsatellite markers, and genetic admixture (Q) values generated through Bayesian-based clustering revealed hybridization levels generally lower than reported in a previous study (<0.6% to 5% of samples classified as late-generation hybrids). Dolly Varden and Arctic char tended to make different use of stream habitats with the latter apparently abandoning streams for lake habitats after 2–3 years of age. Our results support the distinct biological species status of Dolly Varden and Arctic char and suggest that ecological segregation may be an important factor limiting opportunities for hybridization and/or the ecological performance of hybrid char. PMID:26356310

Temperature influence on the fast pyrolysis of manure samples: char, bio-oil and gases production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez-Lopez, Maria; Anastasakis, Kostas; De Jong, Wiebren; Valverde, Jose Luis; Sanchez-Silva, Luz

2017-11-01

Fast pyrolysis characterization of three dry manure samples was studied using a pyrolyzer. A heating rate of 600°C/s and a holding time of 10 s were selected to reproduce industrial conditions. The effect of the peak pyrolysis temperature (600, 800 and 1000°C) on the pyrolysis product yield and composition was evaluated. Char and bio-oil were gravimetrically quantified. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyse the char structure. H2, CH4, CO and CO2 were measured by means of gas chromatography (GC). A decrease in the char yield and an increase of the gas yield were observed when temperature increased. From 800°C on, it was observed that the char yield of samples Dig R and SW were constant, which indicated that the primary devolatilization reactions stopped. This fact was also corroborated by GC analysis. The bio-oil yield slightly increased with temperature, showing a maximum of 20.7 and 27.8 wt.% for samples Pre and SW, respectively, whereas sample Dig R showed a maximum yield of 16.5 wt.% at 800°C. CO2 and CO were the main released gases whereas H2 and CH4 production increased with temperature. Finally, an increase of char porosity was observed with temperature.

The effect of model fidelity on prediction of char burnout for single-particle coal combustion

DOE PAGES

McConnell, Josh; Sutherland, James C.

2016-07-09

In this study, practical simulation of industrial-scale coal combustion relies on the ability to accurately capture the dynamics of coal subprocesses while also ensuring the computational cost remains reasonable. The majority of the residence time occurs post-devolatilization, so it is of great importance that a balance between the computational efficiency and accuracy of char combustion models is carefully considered. In this work, we consider the importance of model fidelity during char combustion by comparing combinations of simple and complex gas and particle-phase chemistry models. Detailed kinetics based on the GRI 3.0 mechanism and infinitely-fast chemistry are considered in the gas-phase.more » The Char Conversion Kinetics model and nth-Order Langmuir–Hinshelwood model are considered for char consumption. For devolatilization, the Chemical Percolation and Devolatilization and Kobayashi-Sarofim models are employed. The relative importance of gasification versus oxidation reactions in air and oxyfuel environments is also examined for various coal types. Results are compared to previously published experimental data collected under laminar, single-particle conditions. Calculated particle temperature histories are strongly dependent on the choice of gas phase and char chemistry models, but only weakly dependent on the chosen devolatilization model. Particle mass calculations were found to be very sensitive to the choice of devolatilization model, but only somewhat sensitive to the choice of gas chemistry and char chemistry models. High-fidelity models for devolatilization generally resulted in particle temperature and mass calculations that were closer to experimentally observed values.« less

The effect of model fidelity on prediction of char burnout for single-particle coal combustion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McConnell, Josh; Sutherland, James C.

In this study, practical simulation of industrial-scale coal combustion relies on the ability to accurately capture the dynamics of coal subprocesses while also ensuring the computational cost remains reasonable. The majority of the residence time occurs post-devolatilization, so it is of great importance that a balance between the computational efficiency and accuracy of char combustion models is carefully considered. In this work, we consider the importance of model fidelity during char combustion by comparing combinations of simple and complex gas and particle-phase chemistry models. Detailed kinetics based on the GRI 3.0 mechanism and infinitely-fast chemistry are considered in the gas-phase.more » The Char Conversion Kinetics model and nth-Order Langmuir–Hinshelwood model are considered for char consumption. For devolatilization, the Chemical Percolation and Devolatilization and Kobayashi-Sarofim models are employed. The relative importance of gasification versus oxidation reactions in air and oxyfuel environments is also examined for various coal types. Results are compared to previously published experimental data collected under laminar, single-particle conditions. Calculated particle temperature histories are strongly dependent on the choice of gas phase and char chemistry models, but only weakly dependent on the chosen devolatilization model. Particle mass calculations were found to be very sensitive to the choice of devolatilization model, but only somewhat sensitive to the choice of gas chemistry and char chemistry models. High-fidelity models for devolatilization generally resulted in particle temperature and mass calculations that were closer to experimentally observed values.« less

Fast Pyrolysis Oil Stabilization: An Integrated Catalytic and Membrane Approach for Improved Bio-oils. Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

George W. Huber; Upadhye, Aniruddha A.; Ford, David M.

This University of Massachusetts, Amherst project, "Fast Pyrolysis Oil Stabilization: An Integrated Catalytic and Membrane Approach for Improved Bio-oils" started on 1st February 2009 and finished on August 31st 2011. The project consisted following tasks: Task 1.0: Char Removal by Membrane Separation Technology The presence of char particles in the bio-oil causes problems in storage and end-use. Currently there is no well-established technology to remove char particles less than 10 micron in size. This study focused on the application of a liquid-phase microfiltration process to remove char particles from bio-oil down to slightly sub-micron levels. Tubular ceramic membranes of nominalmore » pore sizes 0.5 and 0.8m were employed to carry out the microfiltration, which was conducted in the cross-flow mode at temperatures ranging from 38 to 45 C and at three different trans-membrane pressures varying from 1 to 3 bars. The results demonstrated the removal of the major quantity of char particles with a significant reduction in overall ash content of the bio-oil. The results clearly showed that the cake formation mechanism of fouling is predominant in this process. Task 2.0 Acid Removal by Membrane Separation Technology The feasibility of removing small organic acids from the aqueous fraction of fast pyrolysis bio-oils using nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes was studied. Experiments were carried out with a single solute solutions of acetic acid and glucose, binary solute solutions containing both acetic acid and glucose, and a model aqueous fraction of bio-oil (AFBO). Retention factors above 90% for glucose and below 0% for acetic acid were observed at feed pressures near 40 bar for single and binary solutions, so that their separation in the model AFBO was expected to be feasible. However, all of the membranes were irreversibly damaged when experiments were conducted with the model AFBO due to the presence of guaiacol in the feed solution. Experiments with model AFBO excluding guaiacol were also conducted. NF membranes showed retention factors of glucose greater than 80% and of acetic acid less than 15% when operated at transmembrane pressures near 60 bar. Task 3.0 Acid Removal by Catalytic Processing It was found that the TAN reduction in bio-oil was very difficult using low temperature hydrogenation in flow and batch reactors. Acetic acid is very resilient to hydrogenation and we could only achieve about 16% conversion for acetic acid. Although it was observed that acetic acid was not responsible for instability of aqueous fraction of bio-oil during ageing studies (described in task 5). The bimetallic catalyst PtRe/ceria-zirconia was found to be best catalyst because its ability to convert the acid functionality with low conversion to gas phase carbon. Hydrogenation of the whole bio-oil was carried out at 125°C, 1450 psi over Ru/C catalyst in a flow reactor. Again, negligible acetic acid conversion was obtained in low temperature hydrogenation. Hydrogenation experiments with whole bio-oil were difficult to perform because of difficulty to pumping the high viscosity oil and reactor clogging. Task 4.0 Acid Removal using Ion Exchange Resins DOWEX M43 resin was used to carry out the neutralization of bio-oil using a packed bed column. The pH of the bio-oil increased from 2.43 to 3.7. The GC analysis of the samples showed that acetic acid was removed from the bio-oil during the neutralization and recovered in the methanol washing. But it was concluded that process would not be economical at large scale as it is extremely difficult to regenerate the resin once the bio-oil is passed over it. Task 5.0 Characterization of Upgraded Bio-oils We investigated the viscosity, microstructure, and chemical composition of bio-oils prepared by a fast pyrolysis approach, upon aging these fuels at 90ºC for periods of several days. Our results suggest that the viscosity increase is not correlated with the acids or char present in the bio-oils. The viscosity increase is due to formation of high molecular weight polymeric species over time. Our work also suggests that hydrogenation of the samples is beneficial in eliminating the viscosity increase. Task 6.0 Commercialization Assessment Renewable Oil International LLC (ROI) was responsible for Task 6.0, Commercialization Assessment. As part of this effort ROI focused on methods to reduce char carryover in the vapor stream from the fast pyrolysis reactor and residence time of the vapor in the reactor. Changes were made in the bio-oil recovery methodology and a reactor sweep gas used to reduce vapor residence time. Cyclones were placed in the vapor stream to reduce char particulate carryover. Microfiltration of the bio-oil was also researched to remove char particulate from the bio-oil. The capital cost for these improvements would be less than 2% of the total plant capital cost.« less

Gasification of the char derived from distillation of granulated scrap tyres.

PubMed

López, Félix A; Centeno, Teresa A; Alguacil, Francisco José; Lobato, Belén; López-Delgado, Aurora; Fermoso, Javier

2012-04-01

This work reports the effect of pressure on the steam/oxygen gasification at 1000°C of the char derived from low temperature-pressure distillation of granulated scrap tyres (GST). The study was based on the analysis of gas production, carbon conversion, cold gas efficiency and the high heating value (HHV) of the product. For comparison, similar analyses were carried out for the gasification of coals with different rank. In spite of the relatively high ash (≈12 wt.%) and sulphur (≈3 wt.%) contents, the char produced in GST distillation can be regarded as a reasonable solid fuel with a calorific value of 34MJkg(-1). The combustion properties of the char (E(A)≈50 kJ mol(-1)), its temperature of self-heating (≈264°C), ignition temperature (≈459°C) and burn-out temperature (≈676°C) were found to be similar to those of a semi-anthracite. It is observed that the yield, H(2) and CO contents and HHV of the syngas produced from char gasification increase with pressure. At 0.1 MPa, 4.6 Nm(3)kg(char)(-1) of syngas was produced, containing 28%v/v of H(2) and CO and with a HHV around 3.7 MJ Nm(-3). At 1.5 MPa, the syngas yield achieved 4.9N m(3)kg(char)(-1) with 30%v/v of H(2)-CO and HHV of 4.1 MJ Nm(-3). Carbon conversion significantly increased from 87% at 0.1 MPa to 98% at 1.5 MPa. It is shown that the char derived from distillation of granulated scrap tyres can be further gasified to render a gas of considerable heating value, especially when gasification proceeds at high pressure. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Techno-economic requirements for composite aircraft components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palmer, Ray

1993-01-01

The primary reason for use of composites is to save structural weight. A well designed composite aircraft structure will usually save 25-30 percent of a well designed metal structure. The weight savings then translates into improved performance of the aircraft in measures of greater payload, increased flying range or improved efficiency - less use of fuel. Composite materials offer technical advantages. Key technical advantages that composites offer are high stiffness, tailored strength capability, fatigue resistance, and corrosion resistance. Low thermal expansion properties produce dimensionally stable structures over a wide range of temperature. Specialty resin 'char' forming characteristics in a fire environment offer potential fire barrier application and safer aircraft. The materials and processes of composite fabrication offer the potential for lower cost structures in the near future. The application of composite materials to aircraft are discussed.

Life-cycle analysis of fuels from post-use non-recycled plastics

DOE PAGES

Benavides, Pahola Thathiana; Sun, Pingping; Han, Jeongwoo; ...

2017-04-27

Plastic-to-fuel (PTF) technology uses pyrolysis to convert plastic waste—especially non-recycled plastics (NRP)—into ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel. To assess the potential energy and environmental benefits associated with PTF technology, we calculated the energy, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions of NRP-derived ULSD and compared the results to those metrics for conventional ULSD fuel. For these analyses, we used the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET®) model. Five companies provided pyrolysis process product yields and material and energy consumption data. Co-products of the process included char and fuel gas. Char can be landfilled, which, per the companymore » responses, is the most common practice for this co-product, or it may be sold as an energy product. Fuel gas can be combusted to internally generate process heat and electricity. Sensitivity analyses investigated the influence of co-product handling methodology, product yield, electric grid composition, and assumed efficiency of char combustion technology on life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the GHG emissions would likely be reduced up to 14% when it is compared to conventional ULSD, depending on the co-product treatment method used. NRP-derived ULSD fuel could therefore be considered at a minimum carbon neutral with the potential to offer a modest GHG reduction. Moreover, this waste-derived fuel had 58% lower water consumption and up to 96% lower fossil fuel consumption than conventional ULSD fuel in the base case. In addition to the comparison of PTF fuels with conventional transportation fuels, we also compare the results with alternative scenarios for managing NRP including power generation and landfilling in the United States.« less

Life-cycle analysis of fuels from post-use non-recycled plastics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Benavides, Pahola Thathiana; Sun, Pingping; Han, Jeongwoo

Plastic-to-fuel (PTF) technology uses pyrolysis to convert plastic waste—especially non-recycled plastics (NRP)—into ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel. To assess the potential energy and environmental benefits associated with PTF technology, we calculated the energy, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions of NRP-derived ULSD and compared the results to those metrics for conventional ULSD fuel. For these analyses, we used the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET®) model. Five companies provided pyrolysis process product yields and material and energy consumption data. Co-products of the process included char and fuel gas. Char can be landfilled, which, per the companymore » responses, is the most common practice for this co-product, or it may be sold as an energy product. Fuel gas can be combusted to internally generate process heat and electricity. Sensitivity analyses investigated the influence of co-product handling methodology, product yield, electric grid composition, and assumed efficiency of char combustion technology on life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the GHG emissions would likely be reduced up to 14% when it is compared to conventional ULSD, depending on the co-product treatment method used. NRP-derived ULSD fuel could therefore be considered at a minimum carbon neutral with the potential to offer a modest GHG reduction. Moreover, this waste-derived fuel had 58% lower water consumption and up to 96% lower fossil fuel consumption than conventional ULSD fuel in the base case. In addition to the comparison of PTF fuels with conventional transportation fuels, we also compare the results with alternative scenarios for managing NRP including power generation and landfilling in the United States.« less

Reforming and decomposition of glucose in an aqueous phase

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amin, S.; Reid, R. C.; Modell, M.

1975-01-01

Exploratory experiments have been carried out to study the decomposition of glucose, a typical carbohydrate, in a high temperature-high pressure water reactor. The objective of the study was to examine the feasibility of such a process to decompose cellulosic waste materials in long-term space missions. At temperatures below the critical point of water, glucose decomposed to form liquid products and char. Little gas was noted with or without reforming catalysts present. The rate of the primary glucose reaction increased significantly with temperature. Partial identification of the liquid phase was made and the C:H:O ratios determined for both the liquid and solid products. One of the more interesting results from this study was the finding that when glucose was injected into a reactor held at the critical temperature (and pressure) of water, no solid products formed. Gas production increased, but the majority of the carbon was found in soluble furans (and furan derivatives). This significant result is now being investigated further.

User Interface to an ICAI System That Teaches Discrete Math

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

lesson; otherwise, returns the user to the lesson. */ if (!frornlsn) menudeino); else exit((); 90 FUNCTION . flashcards CALLED BY: tools CALLS...char opchar[5j; /* OR, AND, IMPLIES or 1FF * char anchar[5J: /* User’s response: Either TRUE or FALSE * char outputch[ 15]; /* Flashcard that is...y values for the user’s screen. */ maxx = getmaxxo ; maxy = getmaxyo ; /* Sets the coordinates for the flashcard . */ left = maxx/6 right = maxx* 5/6

A new mathematical solution for predicting char activation reactions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rafsanjani, H.H.; Jamshidi, E.; Rostam-Abadi, M.

2002-01-01

The differential conservation equations that describe typical gas-solid reactions, such as activation of coal chars, yield a set of coupled second-order partial differential equations. The solution of these coupled equations by exact analytical methods is impossible. In addition, an approximate or exact solution only provides predictions for either reaction- or diffusion-controlling cases. A new mathematical solution, the quantize method (QM), was applied to predict the gasification rates of coal char when both chemical reaction and diffusion through the porous char are present. Carbon conversion rates predicted by the QM were in closer agreement with the experimental data than those predicted by the random pore model and the simple particle model. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of combustion conditions on yields of solvent-extractable anhydrosugars and lignin phenols in chars: implications for characterizations of biomass combustion residues.

PubMed

Kuo, Li-Jung; Louchouarn, Patrick; Herbert, Bruce E

2011-10-01

Anhydrosugars, such as levoglucosan and its isomers (mannosan, galactosan), as well as the solvent-extractable lignin phenols (methoxylated phenols) are thermal degradation products of cellulose/hemicellulose and lignin, respectively. These two groups of biomarkers are often used as unique tracers of combusted biomass inputs in diverse environmental media. However, detailed characterization of the relative proportion and signatures of these compounds in highly heterogeneous plant-derived chars are still scarce. Here we conducted a systematic study to investigate the yields of solvent-extractable anhydrosugars and lignin phenols in 25 lab-made chars produced from different plant materials under different combustion conditions. Solvent-extractable anhydrosugars and lignin phenols were only observed in chars formed below 350°C and yields were variable across different combustion temperatures. The yields of mannosan (M) and galactosan (G) decreased more rapidly than those of levoglucosan (L) under increasing combustion severity (temperature and duration), resulting in variable L/M and L/(M+G) ratios, two diagnostic ratios often used for identification of combustion sources (e.g. hardwoods vs. softwoods vs. grasses). Our observations thus may provide an explanation for the wide ranges of values reported in the literature for these two ratios. On the other hand, the results of this study suggest that the ratios of the major solvent-extractable lignin phenols (vanillyls (V), syringyls (S), cinnamyls (C)) provide additional source reconstruction potential despite observed variations with combustion temperature. We thus propose using a property-property plot (L/M vs. S/V) as an improved means for source characterization of biomass combustion residues. The L/M-S/V plot has shown to be effective in environmental samples (soil organic matter, atmospheric aerosols) receiving substantial inputs of biomass combustion residues. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acidification with nitric acid improves chemical characteristics and reduces phytotoxicity of alkaline chars.

PubMed

Fornes, Fernando; Belda, Rosa Maria

2017-04-15

Charred organic matter is recently receiving attention for its potential use as soilless growth medium. However, depending on its origin and on the manufacturing technology, it can result toxic for plants. This fact implies that a detoxifying treatment ought to be devised in order to reclaim char in this way. We have studied three materials which combine these factors: two pyrolyzed biochars, one from forest waste (BCH-FW) and another from olive mill waste (BCH-OMW), and one hydrothermally carbonized hydrochar from forest waste (HYD-FW). These materials are suspicious of phytotoxicity due to their high pH, high salinity, or presence of organic toxics. For these new materials, it is mandatory to select fast and reliable bioassays to predict their potential phytotoxicity. In order to achieve this goal water extracts of the three chars were subjected to bioassays of seed germination and bioassays of seedling growth in hydroponic conditions. The biochar from olive mill waste and the hydrochar, but not the biochar from forest waste, showed considerable phytotoxicity as seed germination and plant growth were negatively affected (e.g. BCH-OMW reduced seed germination by 80% and caused early seedling death). In order to adjust pH and electrical conductivity for plant growth, treatments of acidification and salt leaching with optimal diluted HNO 3 solutions (0.3 N, 0.2 N, and 0.75 N for BCH-OMW, BCH-FW, and HYD-FW, respectively) as calculated from titration curves, were conducted. The acid treatment reduced electrical conductivity in BCH-OMW (from 9.2 to 4.5 dS m -1 ), pH (maximum in BCH-FW from 9.6 to 6.2) and water soluble carbonaceous compounds (maximum in HYD-FW from 5969 to 2145 mg kg -1 ) in the three chars, and increased N content (maximum in BCH-OMW from 50 to 6342 mg kg -1 ) in the three chars. Bioassays on acid-treated chars demonstrated the absence of phytotoxicity and even stimulation of seedling growth over the control (increase of 86% and 56% for BCH-FW and HYD-FW, respectively). We conclude that acidification of chars with diluted HNO 3 is a viable technique to conform chars to standards for plant growth purposes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and Validation of a 3-Dimensional CFB Furnace Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vepsäläinen, Arl; Myöhänen, Karl; Hyppäneni, Timo; Leino, Timo; Tourunen, Antti

At Foster Wheeler, a three-dimensional CFB furnace model is essential part of knowledge development of CFB furnace process regarding solid mixing, combustion, emission formation and heat transfer. Results of laboratory and pilot scale phenomenon research are utilized in development of sub-models. Analyses of field-test results in industrial-scale CFB boilers including furnace profile measurements are simultaneously carried out with development of 3-dimensional process modeling, which provides a chain of knowledge that is utilized as feedback for phenomenon research. Knowledge gathered by model validation studies and up-to-date parameter databases are utilized in performance prediction and design development of CFB boiler furnaces. This paper reports recent development steps related to modeling of combustion and formation of char and volatiles of various fuel types in CFB conditions. Also a new model for predicting the formation of nitrogen oxides is presented. Validation of mixing and combustion parameters for solids and gases are based on test balances at several large-scale CFB boilers combusting coal, peat and bio-fuels. Field-tests including lateral and vertical furnace profile measurements and characterization of solid materials provides a window for characterization of fuel specific mixing and combustion behavior in CFB furnace at different loads and operation conditions. Measured horizontal gas profiles are projection of balance between fuel mixing and reactions at lower part of furnace and are used together with both lateral temperature profiles at bed and upper parts of furnace for determination of solid mixing and combustion model parameters. Modeling of char and volatile based formation of NO profiles is followed by analysis of oxidizing and reducing regions formed due lower furnace design and mixing characteristics of fuel and combustion airs effecting to formation ofNO furnace profile by reduction and volatile-nitrogen reactions. This paper presents CFB process analysis focused on combustion and NO profiles in pilot and industrial scale bituminous coal combustion.

Profile distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils of drained peatlands after wildfires (Moscow region, Russia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsibart, Anna; Gennadiev, Alexander; Koshovskii, Timur; Kovach, Roman

2014-05-01

Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs) are formed in different natural and anthropogenic processes and could be found in many landscape components. These compounds are carcinogenic and belong to the group of persistent organic pollutants. The anthropogenic sources of PAHs are well-studied, but insufficient data are available on the hightemperature production of PAHs in natural processes. For example, natural fires are frequently related to the PAHs sources in landscapes, but very little factual data are on this topic. The soils of drained peatlands affected by catastrophic wildfires of 2010 and 2002 were studied in the Eastern part of Moscow Region (Russia). A total of 14 profiles of histosols and histic podsols were investigated. These series included soils of plots subjected to fires of different intensities and age, as well as soils of the background plots. Soil samples were taken from genetic horizons and from every 10 cm. The samples were analyzed for the contents of 14 prevailing individual compounds: fluorene, naphthalene, phenanthrene, chrysene, pyrene, anthracene, tetraphene, benz[a]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, benzo[e]pyrene, coronene, dibenztiophene, triphenilene, benz(k)fluorantene. Morfological properties of soils after wildfires on drained peatlands were changed dramatically, the horizons of ash and char instead of organic layers were formed. These new horizons differ in the capability of PAHs accumulation. The char horizons have the highest concentrations of PAHs - up to 300 ng/g because of incomplete burning of organic matter in this sites, and the ash horizons, where the complete burning occured, contain only 10 ng/g PAHs. The highest concentrations of PAHs in soil profiles were detected after recent fires, and in cases of thick peat layers. After the combustion of peat chrysene, benz[a]pyrene, benz[e]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, benz(k)fluorantene and tetraphene accumulated in soils. This is mainly the group of 4-6-nuclear compounds. The formation of high-molecular weight compounds is possible during smoldering process under a low oxygen supply. The oxygen deficit acts as a factor of the organic fragments recombination and PAHs production; therefore, relatively large amounts of PAHs are formed in peat fires. Moreover the peat fires occur directly in the soil layer; therefore, larger amounts of the resulting PAHs remain in the soils of the fire sites. The migration of low-molecular weight compounds occures in histic podsols, in histosols PAHs accumalate only in upper organic horizons. The research was conducted with the support of Russian Geographical Society.

Understanding how lake populations of arctic char are structured and function with special consideration of the potential effects of climate change: a multi-faceted approach.

PubMed

Budy, Phaedra; Luecke, Chris

2014-09-01

Size dimorphism in fish populations, both its causes and consequences, has been an area of considerable focus; however, uncertainty remains whether size dimorphism is dynamic or stabilizing and about the role of exogenous factors. Here, we explored patterns among empirical vital rates, population structure, abundance and trend, and predicted the effects of climate change on populations of arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in two lakes. Both populations cycle dramatically between dominance by small (≤300 mm) and large (>300 mm) char. Apparent survival (Φ) and specific growth rates (SGR) were relatively high (40-96%; SGR range 0.03-1.5%) and comparable to those of conspecifics at lower latitudes. Climate change scenarios mimicked observed patterns of warming and resulted in temperatures closer to optimal for char growth (15.15 °C) and a longer growing season. An increase in consumption rates (28-34%) under climate change scenarios led to much greater growth rates (23-34%). Higher growth rates predicted under climate change resulted in an even greater predicted amplitude of cycles in population structure as well as an increase in reproductive output (Ro) and decrease in generation time (Go). Collectively, these results indicate arctic char populations (not just individuals) are extremely sensitive to small changes in the number of ice-free days. We hypothesize years with a longer growing season, predicted to occur more often under climate change, produce elevated growth rates of small char and act in a manner similar to a "resource pulse," allowing a sub-set of small char to "break through," thus setting the cycle in population structure.

Understanding how lake populations of arctic char are structured and function with special consideration of the potential effects of climate change: A multi-faceted approach.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Budy, Phaedra; Luecke, Chris

2014-01-01

Size dimorphism in fish populations, both its causes and consequences, has been an area of considerable focus; however, uncertainty remains whether size dimorphism is dynamic or stabilizing and about the role of exogenous factors. Here, we explored patterns among empirical vital rates, population structure, abundance and trend, and predicted the effects of climate change on populations of arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in two lakes. Both populations cycle dramatically between dominance by small (≤300 mm) and large (>300 mm) char. Apparent survival (Φ) and specific growth rates (SGR) were relatively high (40–96 %; SGR range 0.03–1.5 %) and comparable to those of conspecifics at lower latitudes. Climate change scenarios mimicked observed patterns of warming and resulted in temperatures closer to optimal for char growth (15.15 °C) and a longer growing season. An increase in consumption rates (28–34 %) under climate change scenarios led to much greater growth rates (23–34 %). Higher growth rates predicted under climate change resulted in an even greater predicted amplitude of cycles in population structure as well as an increase in reproductive output (Ro) and decrease in generation time (Go). Collectively, these results indicate arctic char populations (not just individuals) are extremely sensitive to small changes in the number of ice-free days. We hypothesize years with a longer growing season, predicted to occur more often under climate change, produce elevated growth rates of small char and act in a manner similar to a “resource pulse,” allowing a sub-set of small char to “break through,” thus setting the cycle in population structure.

Preference for cannibalism and ontogenetic constraints in competitive ability of piscivorous top predators.

PubMed

Byström, Pär; Ask, Per; Andersson, Jens; Persson, Lennart

2013-01-01

Occurrence of cannibalism and inferior competitive ability of predators compared to their prey have been suggested to promote coexistence in size-structured intraguild predation (IGP) systems. The intrinsic size-structure of fish provides the necessary prerequisites to test whether the above mechanisms are general features of species interactions in fish communities where IGP is common. We first experimentally tested whether Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) were more efficient as a cannibal than as an interspecific predator on the prey fish ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) and whether ninespine stickleback were a more efficient competitor on the shared zooplankton prey than its predator, Arctic char. Secondly, we performed a literature survey to evaluate if piscivores in general are more efficient as cannibals than as interspecific predators and whether piscivores are inferior competitors on shared resources compared to their prey fish species. Both controlled pool experiments and outdoor pond experiments showed that char imposed a higher mortality on YOY char than on ninespine sticklebacks, suggesting that piscivorous char is a more efficient cannibal than interspecific predator. Estimates of size dependent attack rates on zooplankton further showed a consistently higher attack rate of ninespine sticklebacks compared to similar sized char on zooplankton, suggesting that ninespine stickleback is a more efficient competitor than char on zooplankton resources. The literature survey showed that piscivorous top consumers generally selected conspecifics over interspecific prey, and that prey species are competitively superior compared to juvenile piscivorous species in the zooplankton niche. We suggest that the observed selectivity for cannibal prey over interspecific prey and the competitive advantage of prey species over juvenile piscivores are common features in fish communities and that the observed selectivity for cannibalism over interspecific prey has the potential to mediate coexistence in size structured intraguild predation systems.

Preference for Cannibalism and Ontogenetic Constraints in Competitive Ability of Piscivorous Top Predators

PubMed Central

Byström, Pär; Ask, Per; Andersson, Jens; Persson, Lennart

2013-01-01

Occurrence of cannibalism and inferior competitive ability of predators compared to their prey have been suggested to promote coexistence in size-structured intraguild predation (IGP) systems. The intrinsic size-structure of fish provides the necessary prerequisites to test whether the above mechanisms are general features of species interactions in fish communities where IGP is common. We first experimentally tested whether Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) were more efficient as a cannibal than as an interspecific predator on the prey fish ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) and whether ninespine stickleback were a more efficient competitor on the shared zooplankton prey than its predator, Arctic char. Secondly, we performed a literature survey to evaluate if piscivores in general are more efficient as cannibals than as interspecific predators and whether piscivores are inferior competitors on shared resources compared to their prey fish species. Both controlled pool experiments and outdoor pond experiments showed that char imposed a higher mortality on YOY char than on ninespine sticklebacks, suggesting that piscivorous char is a more efficient cannibal than interspecific predator. Estimates of size dependent attack rates on zooplankton further showed a consistently higher attack rate of ninespine sticklebacks compared to similar sized char on zooplankton, suggesting that ninespine stickleback is a more efficient competitor than char on zooplankton resources. The literature survey showed that piscivorous top consumers generally selected conspecifics over interspecific prey, and that prey species are competitively superior compared to juvenile piscivorous species in the zooplankton niche. We suggest that the observed selectivity for cannibal prey over interspecific prey and the competitive advantage of prey species over juvenile piscivores are common features in fish communities and that the observed selectivity for cannibalism over interspecific prey has the potential to mediate coexistence in size structured intraguild predation systems. PMID:23894650

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ejiofor, J.U.; Reddy, R.G.

The influence of microporous particulate carbon char on the mechanical, thermal, and tribological properties of wear-resistant Al-13.5Si-2.5Mg alloy composites was studied. Large increases in surface area due to the formation of micropores in coconut shell chars were achieved by high-temperature activation under CO{sub 2} gas flow. Activated char particles at 0.02 V{sub f} were used to reinforce the alloy. The composites were fabricated via a double-compaction reaction sintering technique under vacuum at a compaction pressure of 250 MPa and sintering temperature of 600 C. At more than 35% burn-off of the carbon chars at the temperature of activation, 915 C,more » the total surface area remained virtually unaffected. The ultimate tensile strength and hardness decreased by 23% and 6%, respectively; with increasing surface area of the reinforcement from 123 to 821 m{sup 2} g{sup {minus}1}. The yield strength and the percentage of elongation decreased by a factor of 2 and 5, respectively. No significant change in sliding wear rate was observed but the coefficient of friction increased by 13% (0.61 to 0.69). The coefficient of linear thermal expansion was reduced by 16% (11.7 {times} 10{sup {minus}6} to 9.8 {times} 10{sup {minus}6} C{sup {minus}1}), and remained unaffected at more than 35% burn-off. Energy-dispersive spectrometry of the particles of the activated chars showed that oxides of potassium and copper coated the open surfaces. Failure at the matrix-char interface was observed, and this was attributed to localized presence of oxides at the interfaces as identified by electron probe microanalysis. Poor wetting of the oxides by magnesium at the sintering conditions resulted in formation of weak matrix-char interface bonds.« less

Subject Categorization Guide for Defense Science and Technology

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-10-01

transfer 06/08 Cherries 20/05 Charged particles 08/06 Chesapeake Bay 20/11 Charpy impact tests 12/03 Chi square test 21/02 Charring 06/03 Chickens 14/05... Mexico 11/06 Metal films 08/06 Mexico Gulf 13/09 Metal forming brakes 08/07 Mica 13/09 Metal forming presses 09/01 Mirl capacitors 13/05 Metal joints 06...Nobolium COMPouO~S 08/06 Now Mexico 06/13 Nocardia 08/06 New York 04101 Noctllu(cent clouds 08/06 New York City(New York) 04/02 08/06 New Zealand 06/03

A Mechanistic Investigation of Nitrogen Evolution and Corrosion with Oxy-Combustion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dale Tree; Andrew Mackrory; Thomas Fletcher

A premixed, staged, down-fired, pulverized coal reactor and a flat flame burner were used to study the evolution of nitrogen in coal contrasting differences in air and oxy-combustion. In the premixed reactor, the oxidizer was staged to produce a fuel rich zone followed by a burnout zone. The initial nominal fuel rich zone stoichiometric ratio (S.R.) of 0.85 selected produced higher NO reductions in the fuel rich region under oxy-combustion conditions. Air was found to be capable of similar NO reductions when the fuel rich zone was at a much lower S.R. of 0.65. At a S.R. of 0.85, oxy-combustionmore » was measured to have higher CO, unburned hydrocarbons, HCN and NH{sub 3} in the fuel rich region than air at the same S.R. There was no measured difference in the initial formation of NO. The data suggest devolatilization and initial NO formation is similar for the two oxidizers when flame temperatures are the same, but the higher CO{sub 2} leads to higher concentrations of CO and nitrogen reducing intermediates at a given equivalence ratio which increases the ability of the gas phase to reduce NO. These results are supported by flat flame burner experiments which show devolatilization of nitrogen from the coal and char to be similar for air and oxy-flame conditions at a given temperature. A model of premixed combustion containing devolatilization, char oxidation and detailed kinetics captures most of the trends seen in the data. The model suggests CO is high in oxy-combustion because of dissociation of CO{sub 2}. The model also predicts a fraction (up to 20%, dependent on S.R.) of NO in air combustion can be formed via thermal processes with the source being nitrogen from the air while in oxy-combustion equilibrium drives a reduction in NO of similar magnitude. The data confirm oxy-combustion is a superior oxidizer to air for NO control because NO reduction can be achieved at higher S.R. producing better char burnout in addition to NO from recirculated flue gas being reduced as it passes back through the flame.« less

The effectiveness of spent coffee grounds and its biochar on the amelioration of heavy metals-contaminated water and soil using chemical and biological assessments.

PubMed

Kim, Min-Suk; Min, Hyun-Gi; Koo, Namin; Park, Jeongsik; Lee, Sang-Hwan; Bak, Gwan-In; Kim, Jeong-Gyu

2014-12-15

Spent coffee grounds (SCG) and charred spent coffee grounds (SCG-char) have been widely used to adsorb or to amend heavy metals that contaminate water or soil and their success is usually assessed by chemical analysis. In this work, the effects of SCG and SCG-char on metal-contaminated water and soil were evaluated using chemical and biological assessments; a phytotoxicity test using bok choy (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis Jusl.) was conducted for the biological assessment. When SCG and SCG-char were applied to acid mine drainage, the heavy metal concentrations were decreased and the pH was increased. However, for SCG, the phytotoxicity increased because a massive amount of dissolved organic carbon was released from SCG. In contrast, SCG-char did not exhibit this phenomenon because any easily released organic matter was removed during pyrolysis. While the bioavailable heavy metal content decreased in soils treated with SCG or SCG-char, the phytotoxicity only rose after SCG treatment. According to our statistical methodology, bioavailable Pb, Cu and As, as well as the electrical conductivity representing an increase in organic content, affected the phytotoxicity of soil. Therefore, applying SCG during environment remediation requires careful biological assessments and evaluations of the efficiency of this remediation technology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pyrolysis of polyethylene mixed with paper and wood: Interaction effects on tar, char and gas yields.

PubMed

Grieco, E M; Baldi, G

2012-05-01

In the present study the interactions between the main constituents of the refuse derived fuel (plastics, paper, and wood) during pyrolysis were studied. Binary mixtures of polyethylene-paper and polyethylene/sawdust have been transformed into pellets and pyrolyzed. Various mixtures with different composition were analyzed and pyrolysis products (tar, gas, and char) were collected. The mixtures of wood/PE and paper/PE have a different behavior. The wood/PE mixtures showed a much reduced interaction of the various compounds because the yields of pyrolysis products of the mixture can be predicted as linear combination of those of the pure components. On the contrary, a strong char yield increase was found at a low heating rate for paper/PE mixtures. In order to explain the results, the ability of wood and paper char to adsorb and convert the products of PE pyrolysis into was studied. Adsorption and desorption tests were performed on the char obtained by paper and wood by using n-hexadecane as a model compound for the heavy products of PE pyrolysis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combustion of Coal Char Particles under Fluidized Bed Oxyfiring Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scala, Fabrizio; Chirone, Riccardo

In this work combustion of single coal char particles was studied at 850°C in a lab-scale fluidized bed under simulated oxyfiring conditions. The burning rate of the particles was followed as a function of time by continuously measuring the outlet CO and O2 concentrations. Some preliminary evaluations on the significance of homogeneous CO oxidation in the reactor and of carbon gasification by CO2 in the char were also carried out. Results showed that the carbon burning rate increases with oxygen concentration and char particle size. The particle temperature is approximately equal to the bed one up to an oxygen concentration of 2%, but it is considerably higher for larger oxygen concentrations. Both CO2 gasification of char and homogeneous CO oxidation are not negligible. The gasification reaction rate is slow and it is likely to be controlled by intrinsic kinetics. During purely gasification conditions the extent of carbon loss due to particle attrition by abrasion (estimated from the carbon mass balance) appears to be more important than under combustion conditions.

Promotion of hydrogen-rich gas and phenolic-rich bio-oil production from green macroalgae Cladophora glomerata via pyrolysis over its bio-char.

PubMed

Norouzi, Omid; Jafarian, Sajedeh; Safari, Farid; Tavasoli, Ahmad; Nejati, Behnam

2016-11-01

Conversion of Cladophora glomerata (C. glomerata) as a Caspian Sea's green macroalgae into gaseous, liquid and solid products was carried out via pyrolysis at different temperatures to determine its potential for bio-oil and hydrogen-rich gas production for further industrial utilization. Non-catalytic tests were performed to determine the optimum condition for bio-oil production. The highest portion of bio-oil was retrieved at 500°C. The catalytic test was performed using the bio-char derived at 500°C as a catalyst. Effect of the addition of the algal bio-char on the composition of the bio-oil and also gaseous products was investigated. Pyrolysis derived bio-char was characterized by BET, FESEM and ICP method to show its surface area, porosity, and presence of inorganic metals on its surface, respectively. Phenols were increased from 8.5 to 20.76area% by the addition of bio-char. Moreover, the hydrogen concentration and hydrogen selectivity were also enhanced by the factors of 1.37, 1.59 respectively. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the influence of the char gasification reactions on NO formation in flameless coal combustion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stadler, Hannes; Toporov, Dobrin; Foerster, Malte

2009-09-15

Flameless combustion is a well known measure to reduce NO{sub x} emissions in gas combustion but has not yet been fully adapted to pulverised coal combustion. Numerical predictions can provide detailed information on the combustion process thus playing a significant role in understanding the basic mechanisms for pollutant formation. In simulations of conventional pulverised coal combustion the gasification by CO{sub 2} or H{sub 2} O is usually omitted since its overall contribution to char oxidation is negligible compared to the oxidation with O{sub 2}. In flameless combustion, however, due to the strong recirculation of hot combustion products, primarily CO{sub 2}more » and H{sub 2} O, and the thereby reduced concentration of O{sub 2} in the reaction zone the local partial pressures of CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2} O become significantly higher than that for O{sub 2}. Therefore, the char reaction with CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2} O is being reconsidered. This paper presents a numerical study on the importance of these reactions on pollutant formation in flameless combustion. The numerical models used have been validated against experimental data. By varying the wall temperature and the burner excess air ratio, different cases have been investigated and the impact of considering gasification on the prediction of NO formation has been assessed. It was found that within the investigated ranges of these parameters the fraction of char being gasified increases up to 35%. This leads to changes in the local gas composition, primarily CO distribution, which in turn influences NO formation predictions. Considering gasification the prediction of NO emission is up to 40% lower than the predicted emissions without gasification reactions being taken into account. (author)« less

A high-throughput comparative characterization of laser-induced soft tissue damage using 3D digital microscopy.

PubMed

Das, Debobrato; Reed, Stephanie; Klokkevold, Perry R; Wu, Benjamin M

2013-02-01

3D digital microscopy was used to develop a rapid alternative approach to quantify the effects of specific laser parameters on soft tissue ablation and charring in vitro without the use of conventional tissue processing techniques. Two diode lasers operating at 810 and 980 nm wavelengths were used to ablate three tissue types (bovine liver, turkey breast, and bovine muscle) at varying laser power (0.3, 1.0, and 2.0 W) and velocities (1-50 mm/s). Spectrophotometric analyses were performed on each tissue to determine tissue-specific absorption coefficients and were considered in creating wavelength-dependent energy attenuation models to evaluate minimum heat of tissue ablations. 3D surface contour profiles characterizing tissue damage revealed that ablation depth and tissue charring increased with laser power and decreased with lateral velocity independent of wavelength and tissue type. While bovine liver ablation and charring were statistically higher at 810 than 980 nm (p < 0.05), turkey breast and bovine muscle ablated and charred more at 980 than 810 nm (p < 0.05). Spectrophotometric analysis revealed that bovine liver tissue had a greater tissue-specific absorption coefficient at 810 than 980 nm, while turkey breast and bovine muscle had a larger absorption coefficient at 980 nm (p < 0.05). This rapid 3D microscopic analysis of robot-driven laser ablation yielded highly reproducible data that supported well-defined trends related to laser-tissue interactions and enabled high throughput characterization of many laser-tissue permutations. Since 3D microscopy quantifies entire lesions without altering the tissue specimens, conventional and immunohistologic techniques can be used, if desired, to further interrogate specific sections of the digitized lesions.

Pyrolysis of wastewater sludge and composted organic fines from municipal solid waste: laboratory reactor characterisation and product distribution.

PubMed

Agar, David A; Kwapinska, Marzena; Leahy, James J

2018-02-26

Sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants and organic fines from mechanical sorting of municipal solid waste (MSW) are two common widespread waste streams that are becoming increasingly difficult to utilise. Changing perceptions of risk in food production has limited the appeal of sludge use on agricultural land, and outlets via landfilling are diminishing rapidly. These factors have led to interest in thermal conversion technologies whose aim is to recover energy and nutrients from waste while reducing health and environmental risks associated with material re-use. Pyrolysis yields three output products: solid char, liquid oils and gas. Their relative distribution depends on process parameters which can be somewhat optimised depending on the end use of product. The potential of pyrolysis for the conversion of wastewater sludge (SS) and organic fines of MSW (OF) to a combustion gas and a carbon-rich char has been investigated. Pyrolysis of SS and OF was done using a laboratory fixed-bed reactor. Herein, the physical characterisation of the reactor is described, and results on pyrolysis yields are presented. Feedstock and chars have been characterised using standard laboratory methods, and the composition of pyrolysis gases was analysed using micro gas chromatography. Product distribution (char/liquid/gas) from the pyrolysis of sewage sludge and composted MSW fines at 700°C for 10 min were 45/26/29 and 53/14/33%, respectively. The combustible fractions of pyrolysis gases range from 36 to 54% for SS feedstock and 62 to 72% from OF. The corresponding lower heating value range of sampled gases were 11.8-19.1 and 18.2-21.0 MJ m -3 , respectively.

Development and Verification of the Charring Ablating Thermal Protection Implicit System Solver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amar, Adam J.; Calvert, Nathan D.; Kirk, Benjamin S.

2010-01-01

The development and verification of the Charring Ablating Thermal Protection Implicit System Solver is presented. This work concentrates on the derivation and verification of the stationary grid terms in the equations that govern three-dimensional heat and mass transfer for charring thermal protection systems including pyrolysis gas flow through the porous char layer. The governing equations are discretized according to the Galerkin finite element method with first and second order implicit time integrators. The governing equations are fully coupled and are solved in parallel via Newton's method, while the fully implicit linear system is solved with the Generalized Minimal Residual method. Verification results from exact solutions and the Method of Manufactured Solutions are presented to show spatial and temporal orders of accuracy as well as nonlinear convergence rates.

Development and Verification of the Charring, Ablating Thermal Protection Implicit System Simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amar, Adam J.; Calvert, Nathan; Kirk, Benjamin S.

2011-01-01

The development and verification of the Charring Ablating Thermal Protection Implicit System Solver (CATPISS) is presented. This work concentrates on the derivation and verification of the stationary grid terms in the equations that govern three-dimensional heat and mass transfer for charring thermal protection systems including pyrolysis gas flow through the porous char layer. The governing equations are discretized according to the Galerkin finite element method (FEM) with first and second order fully implicit time integrators. The governing equations are fully coupled and are solved in parallel via Newton s method, while the linear system is solved via the Generalized Minimum Residual method (GMRES). Verification results from exact solutions and Method of Manufactured Solutions (MMS) are presented to show spatial and temporal orders of accuracy as well as nonlinear convergence rates.

Synthesis of improved phenolic and polyester resins

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delano, C. B.

1980-01-01

Thirty-seven cured phenolic resin compositions were prepared and tested for their ability to provide improved char residues and moisture resistance over state of the art epoxy resin composite matrices. Cyanate, epoxy novolac and vinyl ester resins were investigated. Char promoter additives were found to increase the anaerobic char yield at 800 C of epoxy novolacs and vinyl esters. Moisture resistant cyanate and vinyl ester compositions were investigated as composite matrices with Thornel 300 graphite fiber. A cyanate composite matrix provided state of the art composite mechanical properties before and after humidity exposure and an anaerobic char yield of 46 percent at 800 C. The outstanding moisture resistance of the matrix was not completely realized in the composite. Vinyl ester resins showed promise as candidates for improved composite matrix systems.

The Physical Meaning Of The Titius - Bode Formula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnov, Vladimir

The process of evolution of the solar system means the development of the structure of gas-dust cloud after the initial impulse by way of the impact of a supernova explosion. Thus the wave motions are practically excluded from consideration. As the experience shows at the time of the formation of standing waves with the observed acoustic resonance the wave motions at the nodal points can accumulate clumps of matter that make up the primary cloud. (A similar pattern is observed in the experiments of Chladni E.). J. Kepler's plan of the solar system, which took into account the distribution of the planets according to their distance from the Sun, was built as a series of inscribed and circumscribed Platonic figures (J. Kepler ;1939): Welt-Harmonik, Verlag R.Oldenbourg, Munchen-Berlin,p. 403). According to his scheme the average distances of the planets from the Sun could be obtained in the form of the radiuses of the circumscribed spheres. This fact indicates the existence of a common measure of the Platonic figures constructed in such a way. In the time of Kepler the concepts of the wavelength were not yet used. That’s why Kepler could come to the conclusion that the length of a standing wave lambda, emitted by the central formation of the Solar system that forms waves of energy into space, which are shaping with the reflected waves from the interface of more dense environmental conditions of the gaseous nebula and less dense environmental conditions of the surrounding space, could serve as a common measure for measuring distances of the planets from the sun. If the standing wave in the one-dimensional case is formed in the Y axis direction with the displacement X, the wave equation can be written as : X=acos(2pi\\char92lambda)Ycos(2pi\\char92T)t The planets are being formed in the nodes generated in the wave where the oscillation amplitude is zero. In astronomical units the distances from the sun are determined at the points along the axisY=((2n+1)\\char924)lambda, wherein n=0,1,2... The comparison of the observed and calculated distances from the planets to the Sun and the distances from the satellites to the planets according to the proposed wave principle one can find in the author's work: 'The Wave Principle of Material Distribution within the Solar System’, published in Proceedings of the International Meteor Conference, Cerkno, Slovenia, 20 - 23 September 2001 Pp 64 - 71 The above formula for the distances from the planets to the Sun, the distances from the planets to their satellites, reveals the physical meaning of the well-known formula, composed empirically by Bode - Titius: Y=0,4+0,3*2 (n) , wherein n=1,2,4,5... Note that in some cases the standing waves are responsible for the formation of symmetrical shapes of galaxies by cosmic objects that resemble the inscribed and circumscribed Platonic figures and the vortex formation in the form of hexagon on Saturn recently shown on the Internet. According to the observations the elementary calculation shows that the hexagon vortex is formed by a standing wave with a wavelength lambda=6250km According to the reports of the Hubble telescope’s (Hubble EP) observations in outer space the energy waves are observed in the substance of the outer space while the evolution of galaxies and other objects, and the length of these energy waves reaches lambda hundreds of light years.

Combustion and NOx emissions in deep-air-staging combustion of char in a circulating fluidized bed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Zhiqiang; Wang, Zhentong; Wang, Lei; Du, Aixun

2017-10-01

Combustion and NOx emissions in deep-air-staging (with higher level secondary air (SA) injection) combustion of char have been investigated in a CFB test rig. A good fluidized condition and uniform temperature distribution can be achieved with injection of higher level SA. NOx emission decreases with injection of higher level SA and the reduction effect is more obvious at higher temperature. NOx emission decreases with combustion temperature increasing for char combustion.

Studies of the physical aspects of intumescence using advance diagnostics methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saeed, Hussain; Huang, Hua Wei; Zhang, Yang

2014-04-01

The use of intumescent paints as an active fire protection method has gained immense interest in recent years. A significant aspect of research has focused on studying the chemical aspects of the system to improve performance. The dynamics and physical aspects of intumescence in real time fire conditions are still unclear. The present research uses an experimental approach where diagnostics techniques such as thermal imaging camera was used to study intumescent characteristics that have been not been reported in great detail. T-panels are a substitute to the most commonly used part in construction, the I-beam. Studies were conducted using a cone calorimeter that provided a uniform heat flux through radiation on steel T-panel samples. The complex nature of char movement was recorded and a novel algorithm was used to track the growing char laye07r. The samples are designed to cater to different fire conditions. Therefore, the degree of intumescence was observed to be very different in the samples. The samples designed for low temperature cellulosic fires focus on high degree of intumesce. Whereas, mechanical strength is the focus for samples used in high temperature turbulent hydrocarbon fire conditions. The variation in the internal structure of the sample is presented. Furthermore, the phenomenon is phase shift is discussed. The phase shift is an essential part of the process of intumescence when the majority of intumescence occurs. It was observed to be different in all the samples. The movement of the samples is a property of great interest. This is because if any part of the substrate is exposed then the formulation does not meet strict commercialisation criterion. The movement was diagonal in nature as compared to flat panels where it is perpendicular. This is due tot the heating pattern of the plate that results in the web part of the panel to influence the growth of char on the flange part of the panel. A special case of char cracking is also highlighted and using image processing algorithm on the thermal imaging data. A quantitative method of analsysis is presented to an otherwise commonly qualitative nature of experimental study in this field.

The Effect of Soil Warming on Decomposition of Biochar, Wood, and Bulk Soil Organic Carbon in Contrasting Temperate and Tropical Soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torn, Margaret; Tas, Neslihan; Reichl, Ken; Castanha, Cristina; Fischer, Marc; Abiven, Samuel; Schmidt, Michael; Brodie, Eoin; Jansson, Janet

2013-04-01

Biochar and wood are known to decay at different rates in soil, but the longterm effect of char versus unaltered wood inputs on soil carbon dynamics may vary by soil ecosystem and by their sensitivity to warming. We conducted an incubation experiment to explore three questions: (1) How do decomposition rates of char and wood vary with soil type and depth? (2) How vulnerable to warming are these slowly decomposing inputs? And (3) Do char or wood additions increase loss of native soil organic carbon (priming)? Soils from a Mediterranean grassland (Hopland Experimental Research Station, California) and a moist tropical forest (Tabunoco Forest, Puerto Rico) were collected from two soil depths and incubated at ambient temperature (14°C, 20°C for Hopland and Tabonuco respectively) and ambient +6°C. We added 13C-labeled wood and char (made from the wood at 450oC) to the soils and quantified CO2 and 13CO2 fluxes with continuous online carbon isotope measurements using a Cavity Ringdown Spectrometer (Picarro, Inc) for one year. As expected, in all treatments the wood decomposed much (about 50 times) more quickly than did the char amendment. With few exceptions, amendments placed in the surface soil decomposed more quickly than those in deeper soil, and in forest soil faster than that placed in grassland soil, at the same temperature. The two substrates were not very temperature sensitive. Both had Q10 less than 2 and char decomposition in particular was relatively insensitive to warming. Finally, the addition of wood caused a significant increase of roughly 30% in decomposition losses of the native soil organic carbon in the grassland and slightly less in forest. Char had only a slight positive priming effect but had a significant effect on microbial community. These results show that conversion of wood inputs to char through wildfire or intentional management will alter not only the persistence of the carbon in soil but also its temperature response and effect on microbial communities.

Recycling slaughterhouse waste into fertilizer: how do pyrolysis temperature and biomass additions affect phosphorus availability and chemistry?

PubMed

Zwetsloot, Marie J; Lehmann, Johannes; Solomon, Dawit

2015-01-01

Pyrolysis of slaughterhouse waste could promote more sustainable phosphorus (P) usage through the development of alternative P fertilizers. This study investigated how pyrolysis temperature (220, 350, 550 and 750 °C), rendering before pyrolysis, and wood or corn biomass additions affect P chemistry in bone char, plant availability, and its potential as P fertilizer. Linear combination fitting of synchrotron-based X-ray absorption near edge structure spectra demonstrated that higher pyrolysis temperatures decreased the fit with organic P references, but increased the fit with a hydroxyapatite (HA) reference, used as an indicator of high calcium phosphate (CaP) crystallinity. The fit to the HA reference increased from 0% to 69% in bone with meat residue and from 20% to 95% in rendered bone. Biomass additions to the bone with meat residue reduced the fit to the HA reference by 83% for wood and 95% for corn, and additions to rendered bone by 37% for wood. No detectable aromatic P forms were generated by pyrolysis. High CaP crystallinity was correlated with low water-extractable P, but high formic acid-extractable P indicative of high plant availability. Bone char supplied available P which was only 24% lower than Triple Superphosphate fertilizer and two- to five-fold higher than rock phosphate. Pyrolysis temperature and biomass additions can be used to design P fertilizer characteristics of bone char through changing CaP crystallinity that optimize P availability to plants. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

Distillation of granulated scrap tires in a pilot plant.

PubMed

López, Félix A; Centeno, Teresa A; Alguacil, Francisco José; Lobato, Belén

2011-06-15

This paper reports the pyrolytic treatment of granulated scrap tires (GST) in a pilot distillation unit at moderate temperature (550°C) and atmospheric pressure, to produce oil, char and gas products. Tire-derived oil is a complex mixture of organic C(5)-C(24) compounds, including a very large proportion of aromatic compounds. This oil has a high gross calorific value (∼ 43 MJ kg(-1)) and N and S contents of 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively, falling within the specifications of certain heating fuels. The distillation gas is composed of hydrocarbons; methane and n-butane are the most abundant, investing the distillation gas with a very high gross calorific value (∼ 68 MJ Nm(-3)). This gas is transformed into electric power by a co-generation turbine. The distillation char is mostly made of carbon but with significant inorganic impurities (∼ 12 wt%). The quality of the solid residue of the process is comparable to that of some commercial chars. The quantity of residual solids, and the qualities of the gas, liquid and solid fractions, are similar to those obtained by conventional pyrolytic treatments of waste tires. However, the simplicity of the proposed technology and its low investment costs make it a very attractive alternative. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Equilibrium and kinetic studies of sorption of 2.4-dichlorophenol onto 2 mixtures: bamboo biochar plus calcium sulphate (BC) and hydroxyapatite plus bamboo biochar plus calcium sulphate (HBC), in a fluidized bed circulation column

DOE PAGES

Alamin, Ahmed Hassan; Kaewsichan, Lupong

2016-06-30

Sorption studies were carried out to investigate removal of 2.4-dichlorophenol (2.4-DCP) from aqueous solution in a fluidized bed by two types of adsorbent mixtures: BC (Bamboo char plus Calcium sulphate), and HBC (Hydroxyapatite plus Bamboo char plus Calcium sulphate); both manufactured in ball shape. The main material bamboo char was characterized by FTIR, DTA and SEM. The adsorption experiments were conducted in a fluidized bed circulation column. Adsorption, isotherms and kinetic studies were established under 180 min operating process time, at different initial 2.4-DCP solution concentrations ranging from 5–10 mg/L, and at different flow rates ranging from 0.25–0.75 L/min. Themore » data obtained fitted well for both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models; indicating favorable condition of monolayer adsorption. The kinetics of both adsorbents complies with the pseudo second-order kinetic model. BC was proven a new effective composite and low cost adsorbent which can be applied in the field of wastewater treatment, and it can also play an important role in industry water treatment« less

Use of bark-derived pyrolysis oils ass a phenol substitute in structural panel adhesives

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Louisiana Pacific Corp

2004-03-01

The main objective of this program was to pilot the world's first commercial-scale production of an acceptable phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin containing natural resin (NR) ingredients, for use as an adhesive in Oriented-Strand Board (OSB) and plywood panel products. Natural Resin products, specifically MNRP are not lignin ''fillers''. They are chemically active, natural phenolics that effectively displace significant amounts of phenol in PF resins, and which are extracted from bark-derived and wood-derived bio-oils. Other objectives included the enhancement of the economics of NR (MNRP) production by optimizing the production of certain Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP{trademark}) byproducts, particularly char and activatedmore » carbon. The options were to activate the char for use in waste-water and/or stack gas purification. The preliminary results indicate that RTP{trademark} carbon may ultimately serve as a feedstock for activated carbon synthesis, as a fuel to be used within the wood product mill, or a fuel for an electrical power generating facility. Incorporation of the char as an industrial heat source for use in mill operations was L-P's initial intention for the carbon, and was also of interest to Weyerhaeuser as they stepped into in the project.« less

Temperature measurement from the brain and rectum in charred corpses: a pilot study on an animal model.

PubMed

Gibelli, Daniele; Cantatore, Angela; Porta, Davide; Poppa, Pasquale; Sala, Remo; Marco, Grandi; Cattaneo, Cristina

2014-03-01

Measurement of body temperature provides relevant data on postmortem interval, and different studies have been so far attempted to apply temperature assessment methods also under extreme environmental conditions; however, none of them has been performed yet on charred or heated bodies, where temperature measurement is presumed to be unreliable because of the possible influence of heating. This study aimed at verifying any possible early-stage alterations of rectal and endocranial temperature due to fire on an animal model during the charring process. Three pigs, 2 adults (pigs 1 and 2) whose weight was about 50 kg each and 1 piglet weighing 3 kg, were heated and burnt on a natural fire lit on top of a wooden stack, without the use of accelerants; 2 thermocouples were positioned in the rectum and in the cranium to record second-by-second rectal and endocranial temperature values. Results demonstrate that the rectal temperature does not seem to increase in adult pigs for 40 to 50 minutes after the body has been exposed to fire, probably because of the thermal insulating characteristics of the adipose tissue. Therefore, temperature may still be of some help for estimating postmortem interval on heated or burnt cadavers.

Equilibrium and kinetic studies of sorption of 2.4-dichlorophenol onto 2 mixtures: bamboo biochar plus calcium sulphate (BC) and hydroxyapatite plus bamboo biochar plus calcium sulphate (HBC), in a fluidized bed circulation column

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alamin, Ahmed Hassan; Kaewsichan, Lupong

Sorption studies were carried out to investigate removal of 2.4-dichlorophenol (2.4-DCP) from aqueous solution in a fluidized bed by two types of adsorbent mixtures: BC (Bamboo char plus Calcium sulphate), and HBC (Hydroxyapatite plus Bamboo char plus Calcium sulphate); both manufactured in ball shape. The main material bamboo char was characterized by FTIR, DTA and SEM. The adsorption experiments were conducted in a fluidized bed circulation column. Adsorption, isotherms and kinetic studies were established under 180 min operating process time, at different initial 2.4-DCP solution concentrations ranging from 5–10 mg/L, and at different flow rates ranging from 0.25–0.75 L/min. Themore » data obtained fitted well for both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models; indicating favorable condition of monolayer adsorption. The kinetics of both adsorbents complies with the pseudo second-order kinetic model. BC was proven a new effective composite and low cost adsorbent which can be applied in the field of wastewater treatment, and it can also play an important role in industry water treatment« less

Synthesis, Amphiphilic Property and Thermal Stability of Novel Main-chain Poly(o-carborane-benzoxazines)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xiaoxue; Han, Guo; Yang, Zhen; Zhang, Xiaoa; Jiang, Shengling; Lyu, Yafei

2017-10-01

Five poly(o-carborane-benzoxazines) were synthesized via Mannich reaction of o-carborane bisphenol, paraformaldehyde, and diamine, and their structures were well characterized. Light transmission and 1H NMR in D2O confirmed that poly(o-carborane-benzoxazines) with PEG segments showed excellent water solubility and amphiphilic property. TGA analyses were conducted under nitrogen and air, and the results showed that the polymers own high initial decomposition temperatures owing to the shielding effect of carborane moiety on its adjacent aromatic structures. Besides, poly(o-carborane-benzoxazines) own high char yield at elevated temperatures, for the boron atom could combine with oxygen from the polymer structure or/and the air and be oxidized to form boron oxide, and thus the polymer weight is retained to a large extent. PEG segments had an adverse effect on the initial decomposition and char yield, and thus their concentration should be adjusted to control the polymer’s thermal stability.

Comparative study of wet and dry torrefaction of corn stalk and the effect on biomass pyrolysis polygeneration.

PubMed

Wang, Xianhua; Wu, Jing; Chen, Yingquan; Pattiya, Adisak; Yang, Haiping; Chen, Hanping

2018-06-01

Wet torrefaction (WT) possesses some advantages over dry torrefaction (DT). In this study, a comparative analysis of torrefied corn stalk from WT and DT was conducted along with an investigation of their pyrolysis properties under optimal conditions for biomass pyrolysis polygeneration. Compared with DT, WT removed 98% of the ash and retained twice the amount of hydrogen. The impacts of DT and WT on the biomass macromolecular structure was also found to be different using two-dimensional perturbation correlation infrared spectroscopy (2D-PCIS). WT preserved the active hydroxyl groups and rearranged the macromolecule structure to allow cellulose to be more ordered, while DT removed these active hydroxyl groups and formed inter-crosslinking structures in macromolecules. Correspondingly, the bio-char yield after WT was lower than DT but the bio-char quality was upgraded due to high ash removal. Furthermore, higher bio-oil yield, higher sugar content, and higher H 2 generation, were obtained after WT. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Catalytic Pyrolysis Conditions Using Pulse Current Heating Method on Pyrolysis Products of Wood Biomass

PubMed Central

Honma, Sensho; Hata, Toshimitsu; Watanabe, Takashi

2014-01-01

The influence of catalysts on the compositions of char and pyrolysis oil obtained by pyrolysis of wood biomass with pulse current heating was studied. The effects of catalysts on product compositions were analyzed using GC-MS and TEM. The compositions of some aromatic compounds changed noticeably when using a metal oxide species as the catalyst. The coexistence or dissolution of amorphous carbon and iron oxide was observed in char pyrolyzed at 800°C with Fe3O4. Pyrolysis oil compositions changed remarkably when formed in the presence of a catalyst compared to that obtained from the uncatalyzed pyrolysis of wood meal. We observed a tendency toward an increase in the ratio of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the pyrolysis oil composition after catalytic pyrolysis at 800°C. Pyrolysis of biomass using pulse current heating and an adequate amount of catalyst is expected to yield a higher content of specific polyaromatic compounds. PMID:25614894

Development of efficient, integrated cellulosic biorefineries : LDRD final report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Teh, Kwee-Yan; Hecht, Ethan S.; Shaddix, Christopher R.

2010-09-01

Cellulosic ethanol, generated from lignocellulosic biomass sources such as grasses and trees, is a promising alternative to conventional starch- and sugar-based ethanol production in terms of potential production quantities, CO{sub 2} impact, and economic competitiveness. In addition, cellulosic ethanol can be generated (at least in principle) without competing with food production. However, approximately 1/3 of the lignocellulosic biomass material (including all of the lignin) cannot be converted to ethanol through biochemical means and must be extracted at some point in the biochemical process. In this project we gathered basic information on the prospects for utilizing this lignin residue material inmore » thermochemical conversion processes to improve the overall energy efficiency or liquid fuel production capacity of cellulosic biorefineries. Two existing pretreatment approaches, soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA) and the Arkenol (strong sulfuric acid) process, were implemented at Sandia and used to generated suitable quantities of residue material from corn stover and eucalyptus feedstocks for subsequent thermochemical research. A third, novel technique, using ionic liquids (IL) was investigated by Sandia researchers at the Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI), but was not successful in isolating sufficient lignin residue. Additional residue material for thermochemical research was supplied from the dilute-acid simultaneous saccharification/fermentation (SSF) pilot-scale process at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The high-temperature volatiles yields of the different residues were measured, as were the char combustion reactivities. The residue chars showed slightly lower reactivity than raw biomass char, except for the SSF residue, which had substantially lower reactivity. Exergy analysis was applied to the NREL standard process design model for thermochemical ethanol production and from a prototypical dedicated biochemical process, with process data supplied by a recent report from the National Research Council (NRC). The thermochemical system analysis revealed that most of the system inefficiency is associated with the gasification process and subsequent tar reforming step. For the biochemical process, the steam generation from residue combustion, providing the requisite heating for the conventional pretreatment and alcohol distillation processes, was shown to dominate the exergy loss. An overall energy balance with different potential distillation energy requirements shows that as much as 30% of the biomass energy content may be available in the future as a feedstock for thermochemical production of liquid fuels.« less

Stabilization of lead and copper by biochar amendments in arms range soils: Influence of biochar characteristics, soil property, and equilibrium conditions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil amendment of char products (biochar) from thermochemical processing (slow/fast pyrolysis and gasification) of biomass for biofuel production has received considerable interests for contaminant sorption, soil fertilization, and carbon sequestration. Of potential sites for biochar application, h...

Pyrolysis of waste animal fats in a fixed-bed reactor: Production and characterization of bio-oil and bio-char

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ben Hassen-Trabelsi, A., E-mail: aidabenhassen@yahoo.fr; Kraiem, T.; Département de Géologie, Université de Tunis, 2092, Tunis

Highlights: • Produced bio-fuels (bio-oil and bio-char) from some animal fatty wastes. • Investigated the effects of main parameters on pyrolysis products distribution. • Determined the suitable conditions for the production of the maximum of bio-oil. • Characterized bio-oils and bio-chars obtained from several animal fatty wastes. - Abstract: Several animal (lamb, poultry and swine) fatty wastes were pyrolyzed under nitrogen, in a laboratory scale fixed-bed reactor and the main products (liquid bio-oil, solid bio-char and syngas) were obtained. The purpose of this study is to produce and characterize bio-oil and bio-char obtained from pyrolysis of animal fatty wastes. Themore » maximum production of bio-oil was achieved at a pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C and a heating rate of 5 °C/min. The chemical (GC–MS analyses) and spectroscopic analyses (FTIR analyses) of bio-oil showed that it is a complex mixture consisting of different classes of organic compounds, i.e., hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes, cyclic compounds…etc.), carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones, esters,…etc. According to fuel properties, produced bio-oils showed good properties, suitable for its use as an engine fuel or as a potential source for synthetic fuels and chemical feedstock. Obtained bio-chars had low carbon content and high ash content which make them unattractive for as renewable source energy.« less

Bio-char from treated and untreated oil palm fronds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sulaiman, Fauziah; Abdullah, Nurhayati; Rahman, Aizuddin Abdul

2013-05-01

The palm oil industry generates almost 94% of biomass in Malaysia, while other agricultural and forestry by-products contribute the remaining of 6%. Oil palm fronds (OPF) are estimated to be the highest available biomass amounting to 44.84 million tonnes in Malaysia. However, studies on OPF for thermochemical conversion technology which has good potential for energy conversion are still lacking. In this work, pyrolysis of OPF is conducted by using a fixed bed reactor. Samples were carbonized at slow pyrolysis temperature of around 300 to 500°C with heating rate of 10°C min-1. In addition, samples were treated for 20 min with distilled water at ambient temperature to reduce the ash content. Effectiveness of pre-treatment can be determined by observing the percentage of ash content reduction of each sample after undergoing washing pre-treatment. At 300°C, the char yields of the untreated OPF were slightly higher at 50.95% compared to the treated sample at 49.77%. Approximately all bio-char from the treated samples have better high heating value (HHV) of around 18-20 MJ kg-1 compared to the untreated samples. Besides that, all treated OPF char is more carbon rich and considered to be environmental friendly due to its low nitrogen content compared to the untreated OPF char. In this work, microscopic analysis of OPF bio-char were also studied by observing and evaluating their structure surface and morphology.

Process for hydrocracking carbonaceous material in liquid carrier

DOEpatents

Duncan, Dennis A.

1980-01-01

Solid carbonaceous material is hydrocracked to provide aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons for use as gaseous and liquid fuels or chemical feed stock. Particulate carbonaceous material such as coal in slurry with recycled product oil is preheated in liquid state to a temperature of 600.degree.-1200.degree. F. in the presence of hydrogen gas. The product oil acts as a sorbing agent for the agglomerating bitumins to minimize caking within the process. In the hydrocracking reactor, the slurry of oil and carbonaceous particles is heated within a tubular passageway to vaporize the oil and form a gas-solid mixture which is further heated to a hydropyrolysis temperature in excess of 1200.degree. F. The gas-solid mixture is quenched by contact with additional oil to condense normally liquid hydrocarbons for separation from the gases. A fraction of the hydrocarbon liquid product is recycled for quenching and slurrying with the carbonaceous feed. Hydrogen is recovered from the gas for recycle and additional hydrogen is produced by gasification of residual char.

Analysis of HEMCL Railgun Insulator Damage

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

pyrolytic epoxy degradation and glass fiber softening and liquification in the insulator, it is determined that rail-to-rail plasmas are present behind...produces epoxy decomposition products in the form of gases, oils , waxes and chars solid (heavily cross-linked residues) [4]. The nature of the... pyrolytic decomposition product (wax) of the epoxy as in the fired specimens. Figures 6 and 7 are typical examples of glass fiber softening and

Catalytic Depolymerization of Lignin and Woody Biomass in Supercritical Ethanol: Influence of Reaction Temperature and Feedstock.

PubMed

Huang, Xiaoming; Atay, Ceylanpinar; Zhu, Jiadong; Palstra, Sanne W L; Korányi, Tamás I; Boot, Michael D; Hensen, Emiel J M

2017-11-06

The one-step ethanolysis approach to upgrade lignin to monomeric aromatics using a CuMgAl mixed oxide catalyst is studied in detail. The influence of reaction temperature (200-420 °C) on the product distribution is investigated. At low temperature (200-250 °C), recondensation is dominant, while char-forming reactions become significant at high reaction temperature (>380 °C). At preferred intermediate temperatures (300-340 °C), char-forming reactions are effectively suppressed by alkylation and Guerbet and esterification reactions. This shifts the reaction toward depolymerization, explaining high monomeric aromatics yield. Carbon-14 dating analysis of the lignin residue revealed that a substantial amount of the carbon in the lignin residue originates from reactions of lignin with ethanol. Recycling tests show that the activity of the regenerated catalyst was strongly decreased due to a loss of basic sites due to hydrolysis of the MgO function and a loss of surface area due to spinel oxide formation of the Cu and Al components. The utility of this one-step approach for upgrading woody biomass was also demonstrated. An important observation is that conversion of the native lignin contained in the lignocellulosic matrix is much easier than the conversion of technical lignin.

Catalytic Depolymerization of Lignin and Woody Biomass in Supercritical Ethanol: Influence of Reaction Temperature and Feedstock

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The one-step ethanolysis approach to upgrade lignin to monomeric aromatics using a CuMgAl mixed oxide catalyst is studied in detail. The influence of reaction temperature (200–420 °C) on the product distribution is investigated. At low temperature (200–250 °C), recondensation is dominant, while char-forming reactions become significant at high reaction temperature (>380 °C). At preferred intermediate temperatures (300–340 °C), char-forming reactions are effectively suppressed by alkylation and Guerbet and esterification reactions. This shifts the reaction toward depolymerization, explaining high monomeric aromatics yield. Carbon-14 dating analysis of the lignin residue revealed that a substantial amount of the carbon in the lignin residue originates from reactions of lignin with ethanol. Recycling tests show that the activity of the regenerated catalyst was strongly decreased due to a loss of basic sites due to hydrolysis of the MgO function and a loss of surface area due to spinel oxide formation of the Cu and Al components. The utility of this one-step approach for upgrading woody biomass was also demonstrated. An important observation is that conversion of the native lignin contained in the lignocellulosic matrix is much easier than the conversion of technical lignin. PMID:29142789

Impact of ancient charcoal kilns on chemical properties of several forest soils after 2 centuries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dufey, Joseph; Hardy, Brieuc; Cornelis, Jean-Thomas

2014-05-01

Pyrogenic carbon plays a major role in soil biogeochemical processes and carbon budgets. Until the early 19th century, charcoal was the unique combustible used for iron metallurgy in Wallonia (Belgium). Traditional charcoal kilns were built directly in the forest: wood logs were piled into a mound and isolated from air oxygen with a covering of vegetation residues and soil before setting fire, inducing wood pyrolysis. Nowadays, ancient wood-charring platforms are still easy to identify on the forest floor as heightened domes of 10 meters in diameter characterized by a very dark topsoil horizon containing charcoal dust and fragments. Our goal is to assess the effects of wood charring at mound kiln sites on the properties of various forest soil types in Wallonia (Belgium), after two centuries. We sampled soil by horizon in 18 ancient kiln sites to 1.20 meter depth. The adjacent charcoal-unaffected soils were sampled the same way. We also collected recent charcoal fragments and topsoil samples from a still active charcoal kiln located close to Dole (France) to apprehend the evolution of soil properties over time. The pH, total carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content, available phosphorus (Pav), cation exchange capacity at pH 7 (CEC), exchangeable cations (Ca++, Mg++, K+, Na+) and loss on ignition at 550°C (LI550) were measured on each soil sample. We separated the soil profiles in 5 groups based on the nature of soil substrate and pedogenesis for interpretation of the results. We show that the total carbon stock is significantly increased at kiln sites due to higher C concentrations and greater depth of the organo-mineral horizon. The C/N ratio in charcoal-enriched soil horizons is significantly higher than in the neighboring reference soils but clearly attenuated compared to pure wood-charcoal fragments. The CEC is higher in the charcoal-enriched soil horizons, not only due to higher C concentrations but also to increased CEC by carbon unit at kiln sites. The high negative charge of charcoal results from surface oxidation processes over time. This charge varies over quite a wide range of values according to soil type, which might be explained by the nature of the charred wood. The surface soil horizons at kiln site show a completely desaturated exchange complex, comparable to the reference soils. However, the raise of the base saturation in the underlying horizons reflects the past liming effect of ashes produced by wood charring that has been completely erased from the topsoil in 200 years. Exchangeable K+ in the topsoil layers of kiln sites is very low, which can be related to an enhanced selectivity for Mg++ and Ca++ on the exchange complex of old charred material. Similarly, very little Pav is extracted from charcoal-enriched horizons, suggesting that Pav is either reduced in quantity or in availability. Our data clearly highlight the long-term effect of the accumulation of charred material on the evolution of soil chemical properties due to charcoal ageing and nutrient leaching.

2,4-D adsorption to biochars: effect of preparation conditions on equilibrium adsorption capacity and comparison with commercial activated carbon literature data.

PubMed

Kearns, J P; Wellborn, L S; Summers, R S; Knappe, D R U

2014-10-01

Batch isotherm experiments were conducted with chars to study adsorption of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Chars generated from corncobs, bamboo and wood chips in a laboratory pyrolyzer at 400-700 °C were compared with traditional kiln charcoals collected from villages in S/SE Asia and with activated carbons (ACs). 2,4-D uptake by laboratory chars obtained from bamboo and wood chips after 14 h of pyrolysis at 700 °C, from wood chips after 96 h of pyrolysis at 600 °C, and one of the field-collected chars (basudha) was comparable to ACs. H:C and O:C ratios declined with pyrolysis temperature and duration while surface area increased to >500 m(2)/g. Increasing pyrolysis intensity by increasing temperature and/or duration of heating was found to positively influence adsorption capacity yield (mg(2,4-D/g(feedstock))) over the range of conditions studied. Economic analysis showed that high temperature chars can be a cost-effective alternative to ACs for water treatment applications. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of temperature, pressure, and carrier gas on the cracking of coal tar over a char-dolomite mixtures and calcined dolomite in a fixed-bed reactor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seshadri, K.; Shamsi, A.

1998-10-01

A distillation fraction of a coal-derived liquid (tar) was cracked over a char-dolomite mixture, calcined dolomite, and silicon carbide in a fixed-bed reactor. The char-dolomite mixture (FWC) was produced from Pittsburgh No. 8 coal and dolomite in a Foster Wheeler carbonizer. The experiments were conducted under nitrogen and simulated coal gas (SCG), which was a mixture of CO, CO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}S, CH{sub 4}, N{sub 2}, and steam, at 1 and 17 atm. The conversion over these materials under nitrogen was much higher at 17 atm than at 1 atm. At higher pressures, tar molecules were trapped in the poresmore » of the bed material and underwent secondary reactions, resulting in the formation of excess char. However, when nitrogen was replaced by SCG, the reactions that induce char formation were suppressed, thus increasing the yield of gaseous products. The analysis of the gaseous products and the spent bed materials for organic and inorganic carbons suggested that the product distribution can be altered by changing the carrier gas, temperature, and pressure.« less

Swift snowmelt and floods (lahars) caused by great pyroclastic surge at Mount St Helens volcano, Washington, 18 May 1980

USGS Publications Warehouse

Waitt, R.B.

1989-01-01

The initial explosions at Mount St. Helens, Washington, on the moring of 18 May 1980 developed into a huge pyroclastic surge that generated catastrophic floods off the east and west flanks of the volcano. Near-source surge deposits on the east and west were lithic, sorted, lacking in accretionary lapilli and vesiculated ash, not plastered against upright obstacles, and hot enough to char wood - all attributes of dry pyroclastic surge. Material deposited at the surge base on steep slopes near the volcano transformed into high-concentration lithic pyroclastic flows whose deposits contain charred wood and other features indicating that these flows were hot and dry. Stratigraphy shows that even the tail of the surge had passed the east and west volcano flanks before the geomorphically distinct floods (lahars) arrived. This field evidence undermines hypotheses that the turbulent surge was itself wet and that its heavy components segregated out to transform directly into lahars. Nor is there evidence that meters-thick snow-slab avalanches intimately mixed with the surge to form the floods. The floods must have instead originated by swift snowmelt at the base of a hot and relatively dry turbulent surge. Impacting hot pyroclasts probably transferred downslope momentum to the snow surface and churned snow grains into the surge base. Melting snow and accumulating hot surge debris may have moved initially as thousands of small thin slushflows. As these flows removed the surface snow and pyroclasts, newly uncovered snow was partly melted by the turbulent surge base; this and accumulating hot surge debris in turn began flowing, a self-sustaining process feeding the initial flows. The flows thus grew swiftly over tens of seconds and united downslope into great slushy ejecta-laden sheetfloods. Gravity accelerated the floods to more than 100 km/h as they swept down and off the volcano flanks while the snow component melted to form great debris-rich floods (lahars) channeled into valleys. ?? 1989 Springer-Verlag.

Enrichment of bio-oil after hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae C. vulgaris grown in wastewater: Bio-char and post HTL wastewater utilization studies.

PubMed

Arun, Jayaseelan; Varshini, Padmanabhan; Prithvinath, P Kamath; Priyadarshini, Venkataramani; Gopinath, Kannappan Panchamoorthy

2018-08-01

In this study, bio-oil was produced through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of C. vulgaris biomass cultivated in wastewater and was enriched into transportation fuels. Bio-oil yield was 29.37% wt at 300 °C, 60 min, at 15 g/200 mL biomass loading rate with 3% wt nano ZnO catalyst loading. Applying catalyst reduced oxygen and nitrogen content in bio-oil and increased its calorific value (19.6 ± 0.8 MJ/Kg). Bio-oil was enriched through liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and higher yield was obtained at 30 °C for dichloromethane solvent (18.2% wt). Compounds of enriched oil were within the petro-diesel range (C 8 -C 21 ). Bio-char after HTL process was activated and used as adsorbent in wastewater treatment process to remove organic pollutants (COD, NO 3 , NH 3 and PO 4 ). Treated wastewater can be supplied as growth medium for microalgae cultivation in further experiments. Nearly 3-4 times the nanocatalyst can be reused in the HTL process. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Size distribution of carbon layer planes in biochar from different plant type of feedstock with different heating temperatures.

PubMed

Lu, Guan-Yang; Ikeya, Kosuke; Watanabe, Akira

2016-11-01

Biochar application to soil is a strategy to decelerate the increase in the atmospheric carbon concentration. The composition of condensed aromatic clusters appears to be an important determinant of the degradation rate of char in soil. The objective of the present study was to determine the size distribution of carbon layer planes in biochars produced from different types of feedstock (a broadleaf and a coniferous tree and two herbs) using different heating treatment temperatures (HTT; 400 °C-800 °C) using X-ray diffraction 11 band profile analysis. (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance with the phase-adjusted spinning side bands of the chars indicated different spectral features depending on the HTT and similar carbon composition among the plant types at each HTT. Both the content and composition of carbon layer planes in biochar produced using the same HTT were also similar among the plant types. The carbon layer plane size in the 400 °C and 600 °C chars was distributed from 0.24 to 1.68 or 1.92 nm (corresponding to 37 or 52 rings) with the mean size of 0.79-0.92 and 0.80-1.14 nm, respectively. The carbon layer planes in the 800 °C chars ranged from 0.72-0.96 nm (7-14 rings) to 2.64-3.60 nm (91-169 rings) and the mean values were 1.47-1.89 nm. The relative carbon layer plane content in the 600 °C and 800 °C chars was typically 2 and 3 times that in the 400 °C chars. These results indicate the progression of the formation and/or the size development of graphite-like structures, suggesting that a char produced at a higher HTT would have better carbon sequestrating characteristics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Carbon Sequestration and Nitrogen Mineralization in Soil Cooperated with Organic Composts and Bio-char During Corn (Zea mays) Cultivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Joung-Du; Lee, Sun-Ill; Park, Wu-Gyun; Choi, Yong-Su; Hong, Seong-Gil; Park, Sang-Won

2014-05-01

Objectives of this study were to estimate the carbon sequestration and to evaluate nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in soils cooperated with organic composts and bio-char during corn cultivation. For the experiment, the soil used in this study was clay loam types, and application rates of chemical fertilizer and bio-char were recommended amount after soil test and 2 % to soil weight, respectively. The soil samples were periodically taken at every 15 day intervals during the experimental periods. The treatments were consisted of non-application, cow manure compost, pig manure compost, swine digestate from aerobic digestion system, their bio-char cooperation. For the experimental results, residual amount of inorganic carbon was ranged from 51 to 208kg 10a-1 in soil only cooperated with different organic composts. However it was estimated to be highest at 208kg 10a-1 in the application plot of pig manure compost. In addition to bio-char application, it was ranged from 187.8 to 286kg 10a-1, but was greatest accumulated at 160.3kg 10a-1 in the application plot of cow manure compost. For nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates, it was shown that there were generally low in the soil cooperated with bio-char compared to the only application plots of different organic composts except for 71 days after sowing. Also, they were observed to be highest in the application plot of swine digestate from aerobic digestion system. For the loss of total inorganic carbon (TIC) by run-off water, it was ranged from 0.18 to 0.36 kg 10a-1 in the different treatment plots. Also, with application of bio-char, total nitrogen was estimated to be reduced at 0.42(15.1%) and 0.38(11.8%) kg 10a-1 in application plots of the pig manure compost and aerobic digestate, respectively.

Co-pyrolysis behaviour and kinetic of two typical solid wastes in China and characterisation of activated carbon prepared from pyrolytic char.

PubMed

Ma, Yuhui; Niu, Ruxuan; Wang, Xiaona; Wang, Qunhui; Wang, Xiaoqiang; Sun, Xiaohong

2014-11-01

This is the first study on the co-pyrolysis of spent substrate of Pleurotus ostreatus and coal tar pitch, and the activated carbon prepared from the pyrolytic char. Thermogravimetry (TG) analysis was carried out taking spent substrate, coal tar pitch and spent substrate-coal tar pitch mixture. The activation energies of pyrolysis reactions were obtained via the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose methods. The kinetic models were determined by the master-plots method. The activated carbons were characterised by N2-adsorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Experimental results demonstrated a synergistic effect happened during co-pyrolysis, which was characterised by a decreased maximum decomposition rate and an enhanced char yield. The average activation energies of the pyrolysis reactions of spent substrate, coal tar pitch and the mixture were 115.94, 72.92 and 94.38 kJ mol(-1) for the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method, and 112.17, 65.62 and 89.91 kJ mol(-1) for the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose method. The reaction model functions were f(α) = (1-α)(3.42), (1-α)(1.72) and (1-α)(3.07) for spent substrate, coal tar pitch and the mixture, respectively. The mixture char-derived activated carbon had a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area up to 1337 m(2) g(-1) and a total pore volume of 0.680 cm(3) g(-1). Mixing spent substrate with coal tar pitch led to the creation of more micropores and a higher surface area compared with the single spent substrate and coal tar pitch char. Also, the mixture char-derived activated carbon had a higher proportion of aromatic stacking. This study provides a reference for the utilisation of spent substrate and coal tar pitch via co-pyrolysis, and their pyrolytic char as a promising precursor of activated carbon. © The Author(s) 2014.

Charring temperatures are driven by the fuel types burned in a peatland wildfire

PubMed Central

Hudspith, Victoria A.; Belcher, Claire M.; Yearsley, Jonathan M.

2014-01-01

Peatlands represent a globally important carbon store; however, the human exploitation of this ecosystem is increasing both the frequency and severity of fires on drained peatlands. Yet, the interactions between the hydrological conditions (ecotopes), the fuel types being burned, the burn severity, and the charring temperatures (pyrolysis intensity) remain poorly understood. Here we present a post-burn assessment of a fire on a lowland raised bog in Co. Offaly, Ireland (All Saints Bog). Three burn severities were identified in the field (light, moderate, and deeply burned), and surface charcoals were taken from 17 sites across all burn severities. Charcoals were classified into two fuel type categories (either ground or aboveground fuel) and the reflectance of each charcoal particle was measured under oil using reflectance microscopy. Charcoal reflectance shows a positive relationship with charring temperature and as such can be used as a temperature proxy to reconstruct minimum charring temperatures after a fire event. Resulting median reflectance values for ground fuels are 1.09 ± 0.32%Romedian, corresponding to estimated minimum charring temperatures of 447°C ± 49°C. In contrast, the median charring temperatures of aboveground fuels were found to be considerably higher, 646°C ± 73°C (3.58 ± 0.77%Romedian). A mixed-effects modeling approach was used to demonstrate that the interaction effects of burn severity, as well as ecotope classes, on the charcoal reflectance is small compared to the main effect of fuel type. Our findings reveal that the different fuel types on raised bogs are capable of charring at different temperatures within the same fire, and that the pyrolysis intensity of the fire on All Saints Bog was primarily driven by the fuel types burning, with only a weak association to the burn severity or ecotope classes. PMID:25566288

Removal of Cu(II) from acidic electroplating effluent by biochars generated from crop straws.

PubMed

Tong, Xuejiao; Xu, Renkou

2013-04-01

The removal efficiency of copper (Cu(II)) from an actual acidic electroplating effluent by biochars generated from canola, rice, soybean and peanut straws was investigated. The biochars simultaneously removed Cu(II) from the effluent, mainly through the mechanisms of adsorption and precipitation, and neutralized its acidity. The removal efficiency of Cu(II) by the biochars followed the order: peanut straw char > soybean straw char > canola straw char > rice straw char > a commercial activated carbonaceous material, which is consistent with the alkalinity of the biochars. The pH of the effluent was a key factor determining the removal efficiency of Cu(II) by biochars. Raising the initial pH of the effluent enhanced the removal of Cu(II) from it. The optimum pyrolysis temperature was 400 degrees C for producing biochar from crop straws for acidic wastewater treatment, and the optimum reaction time was 8 hr.

Reactivity of young chars via energetic distribution measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Calo, J.M.; Lilly, W.D.

1991-01-01

The current project is directed at developing related techniques for the characterization and prediction/correlation of the reactivity of young'' chars to steam and oxygen. Of particular interest is mapping of the reactivity behavior of the resultant chars, as revealed by the energetic heterogeneity of the complexes with char preparation conditions; i.e., heating rate and ultimate temperature. In this first quarterly technical progress report we present the background of the project and the research program for the proposed investigations. The following work was accomplished on the experimental apparatus: a new set of electronics for the UTi quadrupole mass spectrometer head wasmore » purchased and delivered. The Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD) System was moved to another laboratory and interfaced with the mass spectrometer system. A Polycold{trademark} freon refrigeration system was repaired and interfaced with the vacuum system for the TPD apparatus. It will be used to cool the diffusion pump trap. 60 refs.« less

Work Strategies: The Development and Testing of a Model.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-03-01

strategies (e.g., Craik & Lockhart , 1972); hemispheric process - -7 ing differences (e.g., Seamon & Gazzaniga, 1973); problem-solving strategies (e.g...Charness, N. (1931). Aging and skilled problem solving. 3ournal of Experimental Psychology: General, 110, 21-38. Craik , F. I. \\., & Lockhart , R. S...1972). Levels of processing : A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, L1, 671-684. 3ansereau, D. F., McDonald

PULSE COMBUSTOR DESIGN QUALIFICATION TEST AND CLEAN COAL FEEDSTOCK TEST - VOLUME I AND VOLUME II

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Unknown

For this Cooperative Agreement, the pulse heater module is the technology envelope for an indirectly heated steam reformer. The field of use of the steam reformer pursuant to this Cooperative Agreement with DOE is for the processing of sub-bituminous coals and lignite. The main focus is the mild gasification of such coals for the generation of both fuel gas and char--for the steel industry is the main focus. An alternate market application for the substitution of metallurgical coke is also presented. This project was devoted to qualification of a 253-tube pulse heater module. This module was designed, fabricated, installed, instrumentedmore » and tested in a fluidized bed test facility. Several test campaigns were conducted. This larger heater is a 3.5 times scale-up of the previous pulse heaters that had 72 tubes each. The smaller heater has been part of previous pilot field testing of the steam reformer at New Bern, North Carolina. The project also included collection and reduction of mild gasification process data from operation of the process development unit (PDU). The operation of the PDU was aimed at conditions required to produce char (and gas) for the Northshore Steel Operations. Northshore Steel supplied the coal for the process unit tests.« less

Characterization of bio char derived from tapioca skin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasnan, F. I.; Iamail, K. N.; Musa, M.; Jaapar, J.; Alwi, H.; Hamid, K. K. K.

2018-03-01

Pyrolysis of tapioca skin was conducted to produce bio chars in the range between 500°C–800°C. Surface modification treatment were performed on bio chars by using chemicals within 24 hours at 30°C and hot water within 1 hour to enhance the bio char’s adsorption properties according to surface area, pore volume, pore size, crystallinity structure and functional groups. The samples were characterized by using BET, XRD, FTIR and Methylene Blue adsorption. Based on BET result, it showed the surface area increased as the pyrolysis temperature increased followed by pore volume and pore size for S0. The optimum temperature for SNaOH, SHW and SMeOH was at 600°C, 700°C and 800°C with the surface area of 75.9874, 274.5066 and 351.5531 m2/g respectively compared to S0 while SP3HO4 has the worst result since it felt on macroporous structure. The percentage of MB adsorption was followed the size of bio chars surface area. Based on FTIR result, at temperature 500°C to 700°C, the bio chars still have functional groups while at 800°C, many functional groups were diminished due to high temperature struck on them. XRD result showed all the bio chars were amorphous. In conclusion, the best surface modification treatment was by Methanol followed by hot water and Sodium Hydroxide at temperature of 700°C and 800°C while Ortho-Phosphoric acid was the worst one and was not suitable for bio char’s surface modification for adsorption purpose.

Functionalized carbon dot adorned coconut shell char derived green catalysts for the rapid synthesis of amidoalkyl naphthols.

PubMed

Narayanan, Divya P; Cherikallinmel, Sudha Kochiyil; Sankaran, Sugunan; Narayanan, Binitha N

2018-06-15

A one pot synthesis of carbon dot incorporated porous coconut shell char derived sulphonated catalyst is reported here for the first time and is effectively used in the multicomponent synthesis of amidoalkyl naphthol. Macroporous nature of the char is revealed from scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis, whereas the dispersion of carbon dots (CDs) on the porous coconut shell char is confirmed from the high resolution transmission electron microscopic (HRTEM) analysis. Fluorescence emission spectrum further confirmed the presence of CDs in the catalyst. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectral analysis of the materials indicated that sulphonation occurred both to the CD and to the porous char. X-ray photo electron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis of the most active catalyst confirmed the presence of both sulphonic acid and carboxylic acid groups in the catalyst. The coconut shell char derived materials prepared by varying the amount of H 2 SO 4 are successfully utilized as efficient alternative green catalysts for the multicomponent reaction, where excellent activity in amidoalkyl naphthol synthesis is obtained within short periods under solvent free reaction conditions. A maximum yield of 98% is obtained in the synthesis of N-[Phenyl-(2-hydroxy-naphthalen-1-yl)-methyl]-benzamide, the representative amidoalkyl naphthol, with the best catalyst within 3 min of reaction. The catalyst is highly active for the reactions carried out with varieties of aldehydes and amides with a product yield in the range of 88-98%. The best catalyst system retained more than 90% of its initial activity even upto 6 th repeated run. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nitric oxide reduction in coal combustion: role of char surface complexes in heterogeneous reactions.

PubMed

Arenillas, Ana; Rubiera, Fernando; Pis, José J

2002-12-15

Nitrogen oxides are one of the major environmental problems arising from fossil fuel combustion. Coal char is relatively rich in nitrogen, and so this is an important source of nitrogen oxides during coal combustion. However, due to its carbonaceous nature, char can also reduce NO through heterogeneous reduction. The objectives of this work were on one hand to compare NO emissions from coal combustion in two different types of equipment and on the other hand to study the influence of char surface chemistry on NO reduction. A series of combustion tests were carried out in two different scale devices: a thermogravimetric analyzer coupled to a mass spectrometer and an FTIR (TG-MS-FTIR) and a fluidized bed reactor with an on line battery of analyzers. The TG-MS-FTIR system was also used to perform a specific study on NO heterogeneous reduction reactions using chars with different surface chemistry. According to the results obtained, it can be said that the TG-MS-FTIR system provides valuable information about NO heterogeneous reduction and it can give good trends of the behavior in other combustion equipments (i.e., fluidized bed combustors). It has been also pointed out that NO-char interaction depends to a large extent on temperature. In the low-temperature range (<800 degrees C), NO heterogeneous reduction seems to be controlled by the evolution of surface complexes. In the high-temperature range (>800 degrees C), a different mechanism is involved in NO heterogeneous reduction, the nature of the carbon matrix being a key factor.

Optical Control of One and Two Hole Spins in Interacting Quantum Dots

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-01

highly anisotropic , with an approximately Ising-like (ASzIz) form 15. This is predicted to greatly reduce dephasing in a transverse magnetic field16, even...spin Rabi oscillations) confirm that this pulse sequence can optically rotate the hole spin to any point on the Bloch sphere and thus satisfy the... anisotropic contribution of 10% to the isotropic Heisenberg exchange. This anisotropic exchange is another manifestation of the stronger spin–orbit char

Engineering Geology and Geomorphology of Streambank Erosion. Report 3. The Application of Waterborne Geophysical Techniques in Fluvial Environments.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-02-01

filters are frequency-discriminating instruments whose signal transmission char- acteristics are functions of frequency. Their basic purpose is to pass...sediment loads. The sediment particles block effective transmission of acoustic pulses so that meaningful reflections from the bottom are not received...structures such as dikes, bridge piers, piling, etc. Eddies, boils, and other forms of turbulence associated with streamflow produce significant amounts of

Silyl- and disilanyl-1,3-butadiyne polymers from hexachloro-1,3-butadiene

DOEpatents

Barton, Thomas J.; Ijadi-Maghsoodi, Sina

1990-10-23

Organosilane polymers having recurring silylene-1,3-butadiyne and/or disilylene-1,3-butadiyne units are prepared in a one-pot synthesis from hexachlorobutadiene. Depending on the organic substituents (R and R'), these polymers have useful film-forming properties, and are converted to the ceramic, silicon carbide upon heating a very uniform high char yields. They can also be pulled into fibers. The polymers are thermally crosslinked above 100.degree. C.

Silyl- and disilanyl-1,3-butadiyne polymers from hexachloro-1,3-butadiene

DOEpatents

Barton, T.J.; Ijadi-Maghsoodi, S.

1990-10-23

Organosilane polymers having recurring silylene-1,3-butadiyne and/or disilylene-1,3-butadiyne units are prepared in a one-pot synthesis from hexachlorobutadiene. Depending on the organic substituents (R and R[prime]), these polymers have useful film-forming properties, and are converted to the ceramic, silicon carbide upon heating a very uniform high char yields. They can also be pulled into fibers. The polymers are thermally crosslinked above 100 C.

Determination of Sulfate by Conductometric Titration: An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Jennifer; Schultz, Linda D.

2016-01-01

The classic technique for sulfate analysis in an undergraduate quantitative analysis lab involves precipitation as the barium salt with barium chloride, collection of the precipitate by gravity filtration using ashless filter paper, and removal of the filter paper by charring over a Bunsen burner. The entire process is time-consuming, hazardous,…

CO2 co-gasification of lower sulphur petroleum coke and sugar cane bagasse via TG-FTIR analysis technique.

PubMed

Edreis, Elbager M A; Luo, Guangqian; Li, Aijun; Chao, Chen; Hu, Hongyun; Zhang, Sen; Gui, Ben; Xiao, Li; Xu, Kai; Zhang, Pingan; Yao, Hong

2013-05-01

This study investigates the non-isothermal mechanism and kinetic behaviour of gasification of a lower sulphur petroleum coke, sugar cane bagasse and blends under carbon dioxide atmosphere conditions using the thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). The gas products were measured online with coupled Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The achieved results explored that the sugar cane bagasse and blend gasification happened in two steps: at (<500 °C) the volatiles are released, and at (>700 °C) char gasification occurred, whereas the lower sulphur petroleum coke presented only one char gasification stage at (>800 °C). Significant interactions were observed in the whole process. Some solid-state mechanisms were studied by the Coats-Redfern method in order to observe the mechanisms responsible for the gasification of samples. The results show that the chemical first order reaction is the best responsible mechanism for whole process. The main released gases are CO2, CO, CH4, HCOOH, C6H5OH and CH3COOH. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Production of bio-oil and biochar from soapstock via microwave-assisted co-catalytic fast pyrolysis.

PubMed

Dai, Leilei; Fan, Liangliang; Liu, Yuhuan; Ruan, Roger; Wang, Yunpu; Zhou, Yue; Zhao, Yunfeng; Yu, Zhenting

2017-02-01

In this study, production of bio-oil and biochar from soapstock via microwave-assisted co-catalytic fast pyrolysis combining the advantages of in-situ and ex-situ catalysis was performed. The effects of catalyst and pyrolysis temperature on product fractional yields and bio-oil chemical compositions were investigated. From the perspective of bio-oil yield, the optimal pyrolysis temperature was 550°C. The use of catalysts reduced the water content, and the addition of bentonite increased the bio-oil yield. Up to 84.16wt.% selectivity of hydrocarbons in the bio-oil was obtained in the co-catalytic process. In addition, the co-catalytic process can reduce the proportion of oxygenates in the bio-oil to 15.84wt.% and eliminate the N-containing compounds completely. The addition of bentonite enhanced the BET surface area of bio-char. In addition, the bio-char removal efficiency of Cd 2+ from soapstock pyrolysis in presence of bentonite was 27.4wt.% higher than without bentonite. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding the fate of black (pyrogenic) carbon in soil: Preliminary results from a long term field trial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meredith, Will; Ascough, Philippa; Bird, Michael; Large, David; Shen, Licheng; Snape, Colin

2014-05-01

Black carbon (BC, also known as pyrogenic carbon) is an 'inert' form of carbon and has been proposed as a means of long-term carbon sequestration, particularly by amending soils and sediments with BC known as biochar. While there is abundant anecdotal evidence of biochar stability over extended timescales it is essential to gain a greater understanding of the degree and mechanisms of biochar degradation in the environment. This study aims to quantitatively assess the stability of biochar by investigating samples from field degradation trials first buried during 2009 in a tropical soil, and recovered after 12 and 36 month intervals. Catalytic hydropyrolysis (HyPy) is a novel analytical tool for the isolation of BC [1] in which high hydrogen pressure (150 bar) and a sulphided Mo catalyst reductively remove the non-BC fraction of the chars, and so isolate the most stable portion of the biochar, defined as BC(HyPy). This method also allows for the non-BC(HyPy) fraction of a sample, which from charcoal is known to include small ring PAHs (<7 rings) of pyrogenic origin to be recovered for molecular characterisation by GC-MS [2]. Biochars made from algae, sugarcane bagasse, and beech wood at 305, 414 and 512°C were emplaced under a variety of conditions allowing variables such as leaf cover, soil depth and pH to be investigated. Char stability (as measured by BC(HyPy) content) is dependent on both the feedstock and temperature of formation. HyPy is known to discriminate (in terms of BC isolation) against low temperature chars, composed of relatively small aromatic clusters [1], resulting in the low BC(HyPy) contents reported for the 305°C chars. Fresh charcoals, and those not subject to environmental degradation have display a similar distribution of aromatic clusters in the non-BC(HyPy) fraction, with 2 to 7 ring PAHs abundant [2]. However, environmentally degraded charcoals such as that from a Chinese river sediment, and an Australian river estuary [3] show a more restricted distribution with markedly fewer 2- and 3- ring PAH structures apparent. This may be evidence for the partial solubilisation of the charcoal as observed for a forest soil [4] and suggested as a mechanism for the transport of BC to the oceans [5], implying that BC cycling could be faster than previously thought [6]. Longer term field trials will be required (analysis of the 36 month samples) to observe systematic changes in the PAH distribution of the non-BCC(HyPy) fractions isolated form aged chars, although natural analogues with a better constrained environmental history may also be useful. [1] Meredith, W. et al., 2012. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 97, 131-147. [2] Ascough, P.L. et al., 2010. Radiocarbon 52, 1336-1350. [3] Lockhart, R.S. et al., 2013. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 104, 640-652. [4] Hockaday, W.C. et al., 2007. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 71, 3432-3445. [5] Jaffe, R. et al., 2013. Science 340, 345-347. [6] Zimmerman, M. et al., 2012. Global Change Biology 18, 3306-3316.

Effect of fire residues (ash and char) on microbial activity, respiration and methanogenesis in three subtropical wetland soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medvedeff, C.; Hogue, B.; Inglett, P.

2011-12-01

Prescribed fire is a common restoration and maintenance technique in the southern United States. Prescribed burns coupled with frequent natural fires in South Florida can have devastating effects on ecosystem function. To determine the effect fire residues have on carbon biogeochemical cycling litter material was obtained from two restored and one native marl wetland in Everglades National Park and manipulated in a laboratory setting to produce ash and vegetation derived char. Based on vegetation biomass removal pre and post fire (insitu) appropriate aliquots of each fire residue was added to experimental microcosms as a soil amendment. Soil enzymes (β-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, phosphatase, bis-phosphate and leucine amino peptidase), aerobic and anaerobic respiration (CO2) potentials, extractable C and methanogenesis were measured over a 25 day period. Regardless of site C enzymes responded to both amendments within 5 days of addition. Similarly amended soil contained more extractable carbon in the reference and one of the restored sites. In the restored sites ash and char inhibited methanogenesis, had no effect on anaerobic CO2 potentials, but stimulated aerobic respiration after ten days. In contrast, within the first ten days phosphatase enzyme activity was lower in the ash treatment when compared to the control treatment and stimulation of aerobic respiration was observed in both treatment soils. After ten days ash stimulated methanogenic processing while suppressing anaerobic CO2 production suggesting methanogens in this ecosystem may be dependant on usable carbon substrates derived from aerobic microbial processing. This study illustrates the variable response of C parameters to complete and incomplete combusted materials produced from both prescribed and natural fires with particular importance to fire adapted ecosystems.

Synthesis and Thermal Properties of Acrylonitrile/Butyl Acrylate/Fumaronitrile and Acrylonitrile/Ethyl Hexyl Acrylate/Fumaronitrile Terpolymers as a Potential Precursor for Carbon Fiber

PubMed Central

Jamil, Siti Nurul Ain Md; Daik, Rusli; Ahmad, Ishak

2014-01-01

A synthesis of acrylonitrile (AN)/butyl acrylate (BA)/fumaronitrile (FN) and AN/EHA (ethyl hexyl acrylate)/FN terpolymers was carried out by redox polymerization using sodium bisulfite (SBS) and potassium persulphate (KPS) as initiator at 40 °C. The effect of comonomers, BA and EHA and termonomer, FN on the glass transition temperature (Tg) and stabilization temperature was studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The degradation behavior and char yield were obtained by Thermogravimetric Analysis. The conversions of AN, comonomers (BA and EHA) and FN were 55%–71%, 85%–91% and 76%–79%, respectively. It was found that with the same comonomer feed (10%), the Tg of AN/EHA copolymer was lower at 63 °C compared to AN/BA copolymer (70 °C). AN/EHA/FN terpolymer also exhibited a lower Tg at 63 °C when compared to that of the AN/BA/FN terpolymer (67 °C). By incorporating BA and EHA into a PAN system, the char yield was reduced to ~38.0% compared to that of AN (~47.7%). It was found that FN reduced the initial cyclization temperature of AN/BA/FN and AN/EHA/FN terpolymers to 228 and 221 °C, respectively, in comparison to that of AN/BA and AN/EHA copolymers (~260 °C). In addition, FN reduced the heat liberation per unit time during the stabilization process that consequently reduced the emission of volatile group during this process. As a result, the char yields of AN/BA/FN and AN/EHA/FN terpolymers are higher at ~45.1% and ~43.9%, respectively, as compared to those of AN/BA copolymer (37.1%) and AN/EHA copolymer (38.0%). PMID:28788187

Synthesis and Thermal Properties of Acrylonitrile/Butyl Acrylate/Fumaronitrile and Acrylonitrile/Ethyl Hexyl Acrylate/Fumaronitrile Terpolymers as a Potential Precursor for Carbon Fiber.

PubMed

Jamil, Siti Nurul Ain Md; Daik, Rusli; Ahmad, Ishak

2014-09-01

A synthesis of acrylonitrile (AN)/butyl acrylate (BA)/fumaronitrile (FN) and AN/EHA (ethyl hexyl acrylate)/FN terpolymers was carried out by redox polymerization using sodium bisulfite (SBS) and potassium persulphate (KPS) as initiator at 40 °C. The effect of comonomers, BA and EHA and termonomer, FN on the glass transition temperature (T g ) and stabilization temperature was studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The degradation behavior and char yield were obtained by Thermogravimetric Analysis. The conversions of AN, comonomers (BA and EHA) and FN were 55%-71%, 85%-91% and 76%-79%, respectively. It was found that with the same comonomer feed (10%), the T g of AN/EHA copolymer was lower at 63 °C compared to AN/BA copolymer (70 °C). AN/EHA/FN terpolymer also exhibited a lower T g at 63 °C when compared to that of the AN/BA/FN terpolymer (67 °C). By incorporating BA and EHA into a PAN system, the char yield was reduced to ~38.0% compared to that of AN (~47.7%). It was found that FN reduced the initial cyclization temperature of AN/BA/FN and AN/EHA/FN terpolymers to 228 and 221 °C, respectively, in comparison to that of AN/BA and AN/EHA copolymers (~260 °C). In addition, FN reduced the heat liberation per unit time during the stabilization process that consequently reduced the emission of volatile group during this process. As a result, the char yields of AN/BA/FN and AN/EHA/FN terpolymers are higher at ~45.1% and ~43.9%, respectively, as compared to those of AN/BA copolymer (37.1%) and AN/EHA copolymer (38.0%).

Combustion influences on natural abundance nitrogen isotope ratio in soil and plants following a wildfire in a sub-alpine ecosystem.

PubMed

Huber, Edith; Bell, Tina L; Adams, Mark A

2013-11-01

This before-and-after-impact study uses the natural abundance N isotope ratio (δ(15)N) to investigate the effects of a wildfire on sub-alpine ecosystem properties and processes. We measured the (15)N signatures of soil, charred organic material, ash and foliage in three sub-alpine plant communities (grassland, heathland and woodland) in south-eastern Australia. Surface bulk soil was temporarily enriched in (15)N immediately after wildfire compared to charred organic material and ash in all plant communities. We associated the enrichment of bulk soil with fractionation of N during combustion and volatilization of N, a process that also explains the sequential enrichment of (15)N of unburnt leaves > ash > charred organic material in relation to duration and intensity of heating. The rapid decline in (15)N of bulk soil to pre-fire values indicates that depleted ash, containing considerable amounts of total N, was readily incorporated into the soil. Foliar δ(15)N also increased with values peaking 1 year post-fire. Foliar enrichment was foremost coupled with the release of enriched NH4(+) into the soil owing to isotopic discrimination during volatilization of soluble N and combustion of organic material. The mode of post-fire regeneration influenced foliar (15)N enrichment in two species indicating use of different sources of N following fire. The use of natural abundance of (15)N in soil, ash and foliage as a means of tracing transformation of N during wildfire has established the importance of combustion products as an important, albeit temporary source of inorganic N for plants regenerating after wildfire.

Resin char oxidation retardant for composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowles, K. J.; Gluyas, R. E.

1981-01-01

Boron powder stabilizes char, so burned substances are shiny, smooth, and free of loose graphite fibers. Resin weight loss of laminates during burning in air is identical for the first three minutes for unfilled and boron-filled samples, then boron samples stabilize.

Graphite and ablative material response to CO2 laser, carbon-arc, and xenon-arc radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brewer, W. D.

1976-01-01

The behavior was investigated of graphite and several charring ablators in a variety of high-radiative heat-flux environments. A commercial-grade graphite and nine state-of-the-art charring ablators were subjected to various radiative environments produced by a CO2 laser and a carbon arc. Graphite was also tested in xenon-arc radiation. Heat-flux levels ranged from 10 to 47 MW/sq m. Tests were conducted in air, nitrogen, helium, and a CO2-N2 mixture which simulated the Venus atmosphere. The experimental results were compared with theoretical results obtained with a one-dimensional charring-ablator analysis and a two-dimensional subliming-ablator analysis. Neither the graphite nor the charring ablators showed significant differences in appearance or microstructure after testing in the different radiative environments. The performance of phenolic nylon and graphite was predicted satisfactorily with existing analyses and published material property data. Good agreement between experimental and analytical results was obtained by using sublimation parameters from a chemical nonequilibrium analysis of graphite sublimation. Some charring ablators performed reasonably well and could withstand radiative fluxes of the level encountered in certain planetary entries. Other materials showed excessive surface recession and/or large amounts of cracking and spalling, and appear to be unsuitable for severe radiative environments.

Role of charred wood, heat-shock and light in germination of postfire phrygana species from the eastern Mediterranean Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keeley, Jon E.; Babr-Keeley, Melanie

1999-01-01

Seeds of 22 species collected from recently burned phrygana were tested for their response to fire-type cues of charred wood and heat-shock. All Cistus species were stimulated by brief heat-shock, as shown in previous studies; however, none responded to charred wood. Only one of the 22 species was stimulated by charred wood, and only in dark-inhibited seeds, and this response did not occur in the light. The lack of charred-wood-induced germination is in contrast to the substantial proportion of species with this germination response reported for mediterranean-type vegetation in California, the Cape region of South Africa, and Western Australia. Phrygana has many species with heat-shock-stimulated germination, primarily in the Fabaceae and Cistaceae. This germination cue is widespread in these two families, thus, the presence of heat-shock-stimulated germination is a result of homologous, rather than covergent, adaptations in mediterranean-climate ecosystems. Germination response to light was not randomly distributed with respect to fire-type response. Heat-shock-stimulated species were almost uniformly light neutral, in contrast to more opportunistic colonizing species with non-refractory seeds, in which half of the species responded positively or negatively to light.

Analysis of Hydrogen Generation through Thermochemical Gasification of Coconut Shell Using Thermodynamic Equilibrium Model Considering Char and Tar

PubMed Central

Rupesh, Shanmughom; Muraleedharan, Chandrasekharan; Arun, Palatel

2014-01-01

This work investigates the potential of coconut shell for air-steam gasification using thermodynamic equilibrium model. A thermodynamic equilibrium model considering tar and realistic char conversion was developed using MATLAB software to predict the product gas composition. After comparing it with experimental results the prediction capability of the model is enhanced by multiplying equilibrium constants with suitable coefficients. The modified model is used to study the effect of key process parameters like temperature, steam to biomass ratio, and equivalence ratio on product gas yield, composition, and heating value of syngas along with gasification efficiency. For a steam to biomass ratio of unity, the maximum mole fraction of hydrogen in the product gas is found to be 36.14% with a lower heating value of 7.49 MJ/Nm3 at a gasification temperature of 1500 K and equivalence ratio of 0.15. PMID:27433487

Analysis of Hydrogen Generation through Thermochemical Gasification of Coconut Shell Using Thermodynamic Equilibrium Model Considering Char and Tar.

PubMed

Rupesh, Shanmughom; Muraleedharan, Chandrasekharan; Arun, Palatel

2014-01-01

This work investigates the potential of coconut shell for air-steam gasification using thermodynamic equilibrium model. A thermodynamic equilibrium model considering tar and realistic char conversion was developed using MATLAB software to predict the product gas composition. After comparing it with experimental results the prediction capability of the model is enhanced by multiplying equilibrium constants with suitable coefficients. The modified model is used to study the effect of key process parameters like temperature, steam to biomass ratio, and equivalence ratio on product gas yield, composition, and heating value of syngas along with gasification efficiency. For a steam to biomass ratio of unity, the maximum mole fraction of hydrogen in the product gas is found to be 36.14% with a lower heating value of 7.49 MJ/Nm(3) at a gasification temperature of 1500 K and equivalence ratio of 0.15.

Crystallographic Oxide Phase Identification of Char Deposits Obtained from Space Shuttle Columbia Window Debris

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olivas, J. D.; Wright, M. C.; Christoffersen, R.; Cone, D. M.; McDanels, S. J.

2009-01-01

Analyzing the remains of Space Shuttle Columbia has proven technically beneficial years after the vehicle breakup. This investigation focused on charred deposits on fragments of Columbia overhead windowpanes. Results were unexpected relative to the engineering understanding of material performance in a reentry environment. The TEM analysis demonstrated that the oxides of aluminum and titanium mixed with silicon oxides to preserve a history of thermal conditions to which portions of the vehicle were exposed. The presence of Ti during the beginning of the deposition process, along with the thermodynamic phase precipitation upon cool down, indicate that temperatures well above the Ti melt point were experienced. The stratified observations implied that additional exothermic reaction, expectedly metal combustion of a Ti structure, had to be present for oxide formation. Results are significant for aerospace vehicles where thermal protection system (TPS) breaches cause substructures to be in direct path with the reentry plasma. 1

Corn stalks char from fast pyrolysis as precursor material for preparation of activated carbon in fluidized bed reactor.

PubMed

Wang, Zhiqi; Wu, Jingli; He, Tao; Wu, Jinhu

2014-09-01

Corn stalks char from fast pyrolysis was activated by physical and chemical activation process in a fluidized bed reactor. The structure and morphology of the carbons were characterized by N2 adsorption and SEM. Effects of activation time and activation agents on the structure of activation carbon were investigated. The physically activated carbons with CO2 have BET specific surface area up to 880 m(2)/g, and exhibit microporous structure. The chemically activated carbons with H3PO4 have BET specific surface area up to 600 m(2)/g, and exhibit mesoporous structure. The surface morphology shows that physically activated carbons exhibit fibrous like structure in nature with long ridges, resembling parallel lines. Whereas chemically activated carbons have cross-interconnected smooth open pores without the fibrous like structure. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distribution, Transport, and Accumulation of Pyrogenic Black Carbon in Post-Wildfire Watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galanter, A.; Cadol, D. D.; Frey, B.; Lohse, K. A.

2014-12-01

Large, high severity wildfires greatly alter forest structure, water quality, and soil development/erosion. With increased frequency of such wildfires also follows heavy post-wildfire debris flows and flooding which deliver high loads of sediment and pyrogenic black carbon (PyC) to downstream waterways. The accumulation of PyC is a multi-faceted and dynamic issue in the critical zone. Generated by incomplete combustion of organic matter, PyC (in the form of soot and char) impacts turbidity, biological and chemical oxygen demand, and pH. In addition, PyC has the potential to sequester contaminants and can store carbon over short and long timescales. The impacts of two recent wildfires in Northern New Mexico are studied with the goal of understanding the fluxes and residence times of PyC in post-wildfire, mountainous watersheds. Employing burn severity maps and geospatial data, we selected three sites to collect soil and water samples to characterize PyC: a control, an area impacted by a large, severe burn (2011), and an area impacted by a smaller, less severe burn (2013). By collaborating with researchers at the Jemez Critical Zone Observatory, soil samples are being analyzed and will provide pre-wildfire PyC concentrations for the 2013 burn area. In this study, PyC is treated as both a particulate and a solute that is transported throughout the watershed as well as degraded in soils, surface water and groundwater. We used two black carbon quantification methods: the chemo-thermal oxidation (CTO-375) method to distinguish between soil soot and char, and the benzene polycarboxylic acids (BPCA) method to quantify the total concentrations of PyC in soil and water samples. Preliminary soil data from the CTO-375 method show comparable soot concentrations in the control, 2011, and 2013 burn indicating that the soot is more recalcitrant than char and remains in the watershed long after a wildfire. This data also suggests that the fluxes of black carbon over short time scales are composed mainly of char.

Time domain-nuclear magnetic resonance study of chars from southern hardwoods

Treesearch

Thomas Elder; Nicole Labbe; David Harper; Timothy Rials

2006-01-01

Chars from the thermal degradation of silver maple (Acer saccharinum), red maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), and white oak (Quercus spp.), performed at temperatures from 250 to 350 oC, were examined using time domain-nuclear magnetic resonance...

Ceramic matrix and resin matrix composites: A comparison

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hurwitz, Frances I.

1987-01-01

The underlying theory of continuous fiber reinforcement of ceramic matrix and resin matrix composites, their fabrication, microstructure, physical and mechanical properties are contrasted. The growing use of organometallic polymers as precursors to ceramic matrices is discussed as a means of providing low temperature processing capability without the fiber degradation encountered with more conventional ceramic processing techniques. Examples of ceramic matrix composites derived from particulate-filled, high char yield polymers and silsesquioxane precursors are provided.

Ceramic matrix and resin matrix composites - A comparison

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hurwitz, Frances I.

1987-01-01

The underlying theory of continuous fiber reinforcement of ceramic matrix and resin matrix composites, their fabrication, microstructure, physical and mechanical properties are contrasted. The growing use of organometallic polymers as precursors to ceramic matrices is discussed as a means of providing low temperature processing capability without the fiber degradation encountered with more conventional ceramic processing techniques. Examples of ceramic matrix composites derived from particulate-filled, high char yield polymers and silsesquioxane precursors are provided.

Lock hopper values for coal gasification plant service

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoeneweis, E. F.

1977-01-01

Although the operating principle of the lock hopper system is extremely simple, valve applications involving this service for coal gasification plants are likewise extremely difficult. The difficulties center on the requirement of handling highly erosive pulverized coal or char (either in dry or slurry form) combined with the requirement of providing tight sealing against high-pressure (possibly very hot) gas. Operating pressures and temperatures in these applications typically range up to 1600 psi (110bar) and 600F (316C), with certain process requirements going even higher. In addition, and of primary concern, is the need for reliable operation over long service periods with the provision for practical and economical maintenance. Currently available data indicate the requirement for something in the order of 20,000 to 30,000 open-close cycles per year and a desire to operate at least that long without valve failure.

Devolatilization of coal particles in a flat flame -- Experimental and modeling study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Therssen, E.; Gourichon, L.; Delfosse, L.

1995-10-01

Pulverized coals have been tested under the conditions of industrial flames, with high heating rate and high temperatures. The chars were collected after different pyrolysis times. For eight coals, the devolatilized fraction of coal has been measured, as well as those of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen. During pyrolysis, the evolution of the texture of the grains has been studied by measurement of their microporous surface area, which undergoes a large increase, depending on coal rank. The composition of the volatiles, as deduced from the ultimate and proximate analysis of chars, showed high volatile bituminous coals to essentially produce tars withmore » an aromatic structure. Low and medium volatile bituminous coals produced light hydrocarbons on devolatilization and the char`s surface area continued increasing slowly during the whole of devolatilization, according to the slow increase of the fraction of hydrogen devolatilized. The char`s reactivity with oxygen was followed by measurements of Active Surface Area (ASA). It was shown that the ASA continuously decreases during devolatilization. Five models of devolatilization in the literature were tested and compared to the experimental results, assuming first-order reactions with respect to the remaining volatile matter. Badzioch`s model correctly fitted the experimental results and values of the rate constant obtained by computer trial and error adjustment were higher for lower ranks of the four bituminous coals. Anthony`s model also fits the measurements, provided an adjustment of the preexponential factor of activation energy for which it is shown that an infinite number of such pairs is suitable. If the model is run isothermally at the flame`s peak temperature, it also correctly fits the experimental results.« less

Towards User-Friendly Spelling with an Auditory Brain-Computer Interface: The CharStreamer Paradigm

PubMed Central

Höhne, Johannes; Tangermann, Michael

2014-01-01

Realizing the decoding of brain signals into control commands, brain-computer interfaces (BCI) aim to establish an alternative communication pathway for locked-in patients. In contrast to most visual BCI approaches which use event-related potentials (ERP) of the electroencephalogram, auditory BCI systems are challenged with ERP responses, which are less class-discriminant between attended and unattended stimuli. Furthermore, these auditory approaches have more complex interfaces which imposes a substantial workload on their users. Aiming for a maximally user-friendly spelling interface, this study introduces a novel auditory paradigm: “CharStreamer”. The speller can be used with an instruction as simple as “please attend to what you want to spell”. The stimuli of CharStreamer comprise 30 spoken sounds of letters and actions. As each of them is represented by the sound of itself and not by an artificial substitute, it can be selected in a one-step procedure. The mental mapping effort (sound stimuli to actions) is thus minimized. Usability is further accounted for by an alphabetical stimulus presentation: contrary to random presentation orders, the user can foresee the presentation time of the target letter sound. Healthy, normal hearing users (n = 10) of the CharStreamer paradigm displayed ERP responses that systematically differed between target and non-target sounds. Class-discriminant features, however, varied individually from the typical N1-P2 complex and P3 ERP components found in control conditions with random sequences. To fully exploit the sequential presentation structure of CharStreamer, novel data analysis approaches and classification methods were introduced. The results of online spelling tests showed that a competitive spelling speed can be achieved with CharStreamer. With respect to user rating, it clearly outperforms a control setup with random presentation sequences. PMID:24886978

Fate of small charred particles in soils - importance of aggregation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, C. W.; Pechenkina, N.; Grünz, G.; Kölbl, A.; Steffens, M.; Heister, K.; Kögel-Knabner, I.

2009-04-01

Historic and recent fires affect a broad range of terrestrial ecosystems and are reflected in the composition of soil organic matter (SOM). Although the assignments of different sources and pools of black carbon (BC) are still under debate, the importance of BC for carbon (C) storage, nutrient supply and contaminant sorption is well recognized. Nevertheless, how processes of encapsulation of BC into aggregates may influence fate and properties of BC still needs further research. We observed small highly aromatic particulate OM (oPOMsmall, <20 µm) exclusively occluded within aggregates in a range of soils. As these particles were absent in the inter-aggregate soil space the question of the importance of soil aggregation for the fate of these particles is raised. In the presented study we analysed intact soil aggregates and the distribution of highly aromatic micro-scale charred particles and mineral bound SOM in Haplic Chernozems from Central Russia. We fractionated the soils by means of density to obtain particulate and mineral bound SOM fractions. The chemical composition of the obtained fractions was studied by solid-state 13C-NMR spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). For visualization of the particles and aggregates we used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nano-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS). The importance of oxides for aggregate formation was elucidated by analyses of extractable Fe. Furthermore, we incubated the oPOMsmall fraction at 20°C in batch experiments to study the aggregate formation of charred particles with time. To track the fate of OM on new formed aggregates, we used a labelled amino acid mixture (min. 98 atom% 13C and 15N) as readily bioavailable OM input and isotopic tracer. The matrix of the intact soil aggregates, embedded in epoxy resin, was dominated by densely packed clay particles. At all depths particulate SOM was quantitatively dominated by the aromatic oPOM fractions, inter-aggregate POM was almost absent at higher depths. The oPOMsmall showed mainly amorphous structures and very few plant tissue structures as revealed by SEM. The oPOMsmall fraction showed a drastic increase in the content of aromatic C with depth along with decreasing aliphatic C in the thick A horizons. Almost the entire OM of the oPOMsmall fraction was composed of aromatic C compounds in the AB horizons. The incubation experiment with particles from the oPOMsmall fraction revealed a fast aggregate formation in water within a few days. With the isotopic sensitivity of the NanoSIMS 50, we were able to show spatial heterogeneous enrichments in 13C and 15N on new formed aggregates of aromatic particles.

Fully Coupled Aero-Thermochemical-Elastic Simulations of an Eroding Graphite Nozzle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blades, E. L.; Reveles, N. D.; Nucci, M.; Maclean, M.

2017-01-01

A multiphysics simulation capability has been developed that incorporates mutual interactions between aerodynamics, structural response from aero/thermal loading, ablation/pyrolysis, heating, and surface-to-surface radiation to perform high-fidelity, fully coupled aerothermoelastic ablation simulations, which to date had been unattainable. The multiphysics framework couples CHAR (a 3-D implicit charring ablator solver), Loci/CHEM (a computational fluid dynamics solver for high-speed chemically reacting flows), and Abaqus (a nonlinear structural dynamics solver) to create a fully coupled aerothermoelastic charring ablative solver. The solvers are tightly coupled in a fully integrated fashion to resolve the effects of the ablation pyrolysis and charring process and chemistry products upon the flow field, the changes in surface geometry due to recession upon the flow field, and thermal-structural analysis of the body from the induced aerodynamic heating from the flow field. The multiphysics framework was successfully demonstrated on a solid rocket motor graphite nozzle erosion application. Comparisons were made with available experimental data that measured the throat erosion during the motor firing. The erosion data is well characterized, as the test rig was equipped with a windowed nozzle section for real-time X-ray radiography diagnostics of the instantaneous throat variations for deducing the instantaneous erosion rates. The nozzle initially undergoes a nozzle contraction due to thermal expansion before ablation effects are able to widen the throat. A series of parameters studies were conducted using the coupled simulation capability to determine the sensitivity of the nozzle erosion to different parameters. The parameter studies included the shape of the nozzle throat (flat versus rounded), the material properties, the effect of the choice of turbulence model, and the inclusion or exclusion of the mechanical thermal expansion. Overall, the predicted results match the experiment very well, and the predictions were able to bound the data within acceptable limits.

Co-hydrothermal treatment of fallen leaves with iron sludge to prepare magnetic iron product and solid fuel.

PubMed

Gu, Lin; Li, Binglian; Wen, Haifeng; Zhang, Xin; Wang, Liang; Ye, Jianfeng

2018-06-01

The hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) was performed on Metasequoia Leaves (ML) in the presence of iron sludge, both of which were generated as solid residuals. The relations between sludge, char's properties and operating conditions were systemically investigated. Iron sludge primarily catalyzed the efficient formation of char with higher heating value (HHV) becoming 1.15-1.65 times of ML (18.21 MJ/kg) and was meanwhile reduced to magnetite. The hydrated Fe ions in octahedron crystals acted as nucleophiles facilitating the dehydration and decarboxylation reactions. The increased HHV is found strong temperature dependent while prolonging the residence time is more preferable for low organic acids generation. Thermogravimetric analysis confirmed the iron sludge enhanced conversion of volatile to fixed carbon. The as-prepared solid char showed better stability after catalytic HTC treatment, having ignition temperature increased from 253 to 426 °C as compared to the char prepared without iron sludge addition. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physicochemical evolution during rice straw and coal co-pyrolysis and its effect on co-gasification reactivity.

PubMed

Wei, Juntao; Gong, Yan; Guo, Qinghua; Ding, Lu; Wang, Fuchen; Yu, Guangsuo

2017-03-01

Physicochemical evolution (i.e. pore structure variation, carbon structure change and active AAEM transformation) during rice straw (RS) and Shenfu bituminous coal (SF) co-pyrolysis was quantitatively determined in this work. Moreover, the corresponding char gasification was conducted using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and relative reactivity was proposed to quantify the co-pyrolysis impact on co-gasification reactivity. The results showed that the development of pore structure in co-pyrolyzed chars was first inhibited and then enhanced with the decrease of SF proportion. The promotion effect of co-pyrolysis on order degree of co-pyrolyzed chars gradually weakened with increasing RS proportion. Co-pyrolysis mainly enhanced active K transformation in co-pyrolyzed chars and the promotion effect was alleviated with increasing RS proportion. The inhibition effect of co-pyrolysis on co-gasification reactivity weakened with increasing RS proportion and gasification temperature, which was mainly attributed to the combination of carbon structure evolution and active AAEM transformation in co-pyrolysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental and Numerical Characterization of Polymer Nanocomposites for Solid Rocket Motor Internal Insulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-30

Nanophase, Thermoplastic Elastomer, EPDM Rubber , Surface Modified MMT Clay, Carbon Nanofibers 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: a. REPORT u b. ABSTRACT U...diene rubber ( EPDM ) is the baseline insulation material for solid rocket motor cases. A novel class of insulation materials was developed by the Air...Figure 1. Upon analysis of the control sample, it was observed that the EPDM rubber was totally burned forming a small amount of char, which was easily

Mission analysis for the federal fuels from biomass program. Volume IV. Termochemical conversion of biomass to fuels and chemicals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kohan, S.M.; Barkhordar, P.M.

1979-01-01

The thermochemical conversion of biomass feedstocks generally denotes technologies that use elevated temperatures to convert the fixed carbon content of biomass materials to produce other, more useful energy forms. Examples are combustion to produce heat, steam, electricity, or combinations of these; pyrolysis to produce gas (low- or intermediate-Btu), pyrolytic liquids and chemicals, and char; gasification to produce low or intermediate Btu gas (and, from IBG, additional products such as SNG, ammonia, methanol, or Fischer-Tropsch liquids); and liquefaction to produce heavy fuel oil or, with upgrading, lighter-boiling liquid products such as distillates, light fuel oils, or gasoline. This section discusses themore » selection of the feedstock used in the analysis of thermochemical conversion technologies. The following sections present detailed technical and economic evaluations of biomass conversion to electricity and steam by combustion, SNG by gasification and methanation, methanol by gasification and synthesis, oil by catalytic liquefaction, oil and char by pyrolysis, and ammonia by gasification and synthesis. The conversion options were reviewed with DOE for approval at the start of the project.« less

Method for Biochar Passivation Using Low Percent Oxygen

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, Kristin; Dupuis, Dan; Wilcox, Esther

2016-06-06

The thermochemical process development unit may be configured for pyrolysis or gasification. The pyrolysis unit operations include: feed transport system; entrained flow reactor; solids removal and collection; and liquid scrubbing, collection, and filtration. Char accumulates in the collection drums at a rate of ~1.5 kg/hr and must be passivated before it is stored or transported.

Particle-Sizing System for Scanning Electron Microscope Images of Solid- Propellant Combustion Exhaust

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-03-01

bl2[3]; 1* ditto */ char b13(61, b1413]; /* unused at the moment ~ char bl5(3], b16 (3], b17[31, b18[3]; /* YIN input buffers * char bl9[3], b20[3...gbool(SET,frm,13,wn.10, 1, ’ALL: Enable HELP screens (Y,N] fatrib,’ - ,&HELPLVL,bl5,NSTR,NSTR); bool2YN(DOSEQ, b16 ); wngbool(SET,frm,14,wn,ll, l,’SEMEX...CLIP, TAG and SIZE without asking[Y.N): fatrib,’ ’ ,&DOSEQ, bl6 ,NSTR.NSTR): bool2YN(DFINVERT,b17); wngbool(SET,frm,15,wn,12, 1, ACQUIRE: Complement

Investigation of mineral transformations and ash deposition during staged combustion. Quarterly technical progress report, April 1, 1997--June 30, 1997

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harb, J.N.

This report describes work performed in the fifteenth quarter of a fundamental study to examine the effect of staged combustion on ash formation and deposition. Efforts this quarter included addition of a new cyclone for improved particle sampling and modification of the existing sampling probe. Particulate samples were collected under a variety of experimental conditions for both coals under investigation. Deposits formed from the Black Thunder coal were also collected. Particle size and composition from the Pittsburgh No. 8 ash samples support previously reported results. In addition, the authors ability to distinguish char/ash associations has been refined and applied tomore » a variety of ash samples from this coal. The results show a clear difference between the behavior of included and excluded pyrite, and provide insight into the extent of pyrite oxidation. Ash samples from the Black Thunder coal have also been collected and analyzed. Results indicate a significant difference in the particle size of {open_quotes}unclassifiable{close_quotes} particles for ash formed during staged combustion. A difference in composition also appears to be present and is currently under investigation. Finally, deposits were collected under staged conditions for the Black Thunder coal. Specifically, two deposits were formed under similar conditions and allowed to mature under either reducing or oxidizing conditions in natural gas. Differences between the samples due to curing were noted. In addition, both deposits showed skeletal ash structures which resulted from in-situ burnout of the char after deposition.« less

Biochar Treatment Resulted in a Combined Effect on Soybean Growth Promotion and a Shift in Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria

PubMed Central

Egamberdieva, Dilfuza; Wirth, Stephan; Behrendt, Undine; Abd_Allah, Elsayed F.; Berg, Gabriele

2016-01-01

The application of biochar to soil is considered to have the potential for long-term soil carbon sequestration, as well as for improving plant growth and suppressing soil pathogens. In our study we evaluated the effect of biochar on the plant growth of soybeans, as well as on the community composition of root-associated bacteria with plant growth promoting traits. Two types of biochar, namely, maize biochar (MBC), wood biochar (WBC), and hydrochar (HTC) were used for pot experiments to monitor plant growth. Soybean plants grown in soil amended with HTC char (2%) showed the best performance and were collected for isolation and further characterization of root-associated bacteria for multiple plant growth promoting traits. Only HTC char amendment resulted in a statistically significant increase in the root and shoot dry weight of soybeans. Interestingly, rhizosphere isolates from HTC char amended soil showed higher diversity than the rhizosphere isolates from the control soil. In addition, a higher proportion of isolates from HTC char amended soil compared with control soil was found to express plant growth promoting properties and showed antagonistic activity against one or more phytopathogenic fungi. Our study provided evidence that improved plant growth by biochar incorporation into soil results from the combination of a direct effect that is dependent on the type of char and a microbiome shift in root-associated beneficial bacteria. PMID:26941730

High Time- and Size-Resolved Measurements of PM and Chemical Composition from Coal Combustion: Implications for the EC Formation Process.

PubMed

Han, Yong; Chen, Yingjun; Ahmad, Saud; Feng, Yanli; Zhang, Fan; Song, Wenhuai; Cao, Fang; Zhang, Yanlin; Yang, Xin; Li, Jun; Zhang, Gan

2018-06-05

Inefficient coal combustion is a significant source of elemental carbon (EC) air pollution in China, but there is a limited understanding of EC's formation processes. In this study, high time-resolved particle number size distributions (PNSDs) and size-resolved chemical compositions were obtained from the combustion of four bituminous coals burned in a quartz tube furnace at 500 and 800 °C. Based on the distinct characteristics of PNSD, the flaming stage was divided into the first-flaming stage (with a PNSD peak at 0.3-0.4 μm) and the second-flaming stage (with a PNSD peak at 0.1-0.15 μm). For the size-segregated EC and OC measurements, more soot-EC was observed in particles larger than 0.3 μm, whereas the smaller ones possessed more char-EC. The results indicated that gas-phase and direct-conversion EC generation mechanisms dominate different burning stages. The analysis of 16 parent PAHs showed more high-molecular-weight PAHs in the second-flaming stage particles, which supports the idea of different formation processes for char-EC and soot-EC. For all four coals, the PNSD and chemical compositions shared a similar trend, confirming that the different formation processes of EC in different flaming stages were common. This study provides novel information concerning EC formation.

40 CFR 454.10 - Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory. 454.10 Section 454.10 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS (CONTINUED) GUM AND WOOD CHEMICALS...

40 CFR 454.10 - Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 31 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory. 454.10 Section 454.10 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS (CONTINUED) GUM AND WOOD CHEMICALS...

40 CFR 454.10 - Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 31 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory. 454.10 Section 454.10 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS (CONTINUED) GUM AND WOOD CHEMICALS...

40 CFR 454.10 - Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory. 454.10 Section 454.10 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS GUM AND WOOD CHEMICALS...

MOLECULAR TRACERS FOR SMOKE FROM CHARRING/BURNING OF CHITIN BIOPOLYMER. (R823990)

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract

Monosaccharide derivatives from the breakdown of cellulose are the major organic components of smoke particles emitted to the atmosphere from biomass burning. In urban areas a related biopolymer, chitin, may contribute markers to smoke from grilling/charring o...

Comparison of biochar formation from various agricultural by-products using FTIR spectroscopy

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Biochar is charred material produced by the pyrolysis of organic biomass. In this work, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of different agricultural by-products feedstock and their derived biochars were collected to explore the potential of FTIR technique as a simple and rapid method for char...

Kim Magrini | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Developing char-based soil amendments Soil carbon and char analysis via molecular beam mass spectrometry depth profiling, Fourier transform infrared [FTIR]) Rapid soil carbon analysis using analytical DRIFTS, 13C NMR, and py-MBMS to Characterize the Effects of Soil Science Oxidation Assays on Soil Organic

USE OF BONE CHAR FOR THE REMOVAL OF ARSENIC AND URANIUM FROM GROUNDWATER ATTHE PINE RIDGE RESERVATION

EPA Science Inventory

Using bench scale U removal capacity data with bone char, a preliminary point-of-use filter was developed using theoretical calculations. The design specifications were completed for the filter, and the manufacturing of the preliminary filter is currently underway. Through ...

40 CFR 454.10 - Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 29 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Applicability; description of the manufacture of char and charcoal briquets subcategory. 454.10 Section 454.10 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS GUM AND WOOD CHEMICALS...

Barrier Properties of Layered-Silicate Reinforced Ethylenepropylenediene Monomer/Chloroprene Rubber Nanorubbers.

PubMed

Wu, Chang Mou; Hsieh, Wen Yen; Cheng, Kuo Bin; Lai, Chiu-Chun; Lee, Kuei Chi

2018-05-09

The triacetin and nitroglycerin barrier properties of layered-silicate reinforced ethylenepropylenediene monomer/chloroprene rubber (EPDM/CR) nanorubbers were investigated as rocket-propellant inhibitors. EPDM/CR nanorubbers with intercalated structures were formulated and prepared by the melt-compounding method. The triacetin permeability and nitroglycerin absorption were observed to decrease with increasing layered-silicate content. The layered silicates also improved the flame retardancies of the nanorubbers by forming silicate reinforced carbonaceous chars. Layered-silicate reinforced EPDM/CR nanorubbers are potentially effective rocket propellant-inhibiting materials.

Feasibility Study for a Dual Field of View-Single Detector Array Infrared System.

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-06-01

for 525 TV. Per Channelt C. DC. Ainlog& Dgitl Tretrs b~ td ~Secial multipleaed. Organ- 500 li1 cani be organized CAC nlg Dgia eprtr.Untdt 80 lioal...coupled transport phenomenon: charge coupled device (CCD) and bucket brigade device U ( BBD ). These devices are basically dynamic shift registers that...can be connected to form the serial in-serial uut memory. Both the CCD and BBD function by wanipulating char-e along a series of electrodes without

Development of a Model for the Heat Release Rate of Wood. A Status Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-05-01

K) *contraction factor L effective heat of gasification (kJ/kg) (positive) Lv latent heat of vaporization of water (kJ/kg) (positive) m mass (kg) M...designates the slice bounded by the rear surface 0 ambient or original *0 oxygen R radiation rel release S front surface of specimen Vol volatiles ix w water ...calorimeter. Along the other pathway, char is formed with the release of water and other volatiles having low heats of combustion. The effective heat of

Chitin based heteroatom-doped porous carbon as electrode materials for supercapacitors.

PubMed

Zhou, Jie; Bao, Li; Wu, Shengji; Yang, Wei; Wang, Hui

2017-10-01

Chitin biomass has received much attention as an amino-functional polysaccharide precursor for synthesis of carbon materials. Rich nitrogen and oxygen dual-doped porous carbon derived from cicada slough (CS), a renewable biomass mainly composed of chitin, was synthesized and employed as electrode materials for electrochemical capacitors, for the first time ever. The cicada slough-derived carbon (CSC) was prepared by a facile process via pre-carbonization in air, followed by KOH activation. The weight ratio of KOH and char plays an important role in fabricating the microporous structure and tuning the surface chemistry of CSC. The obtained CSC had a large specific surface area (1243-2217m 2 g -1 ), fairly high oxygen content (28.95-33.78 at%) and moderate nitrogen content (1.47-4.35 at%). The electrochemical performance of the CS char and CSC as electrodes for capacitors was evaluated in a three-electrode cell configuration with 6M KOH as the electrolyte. Electrochemical studies showed that the as-prepared CSC activated at the KOH-to-char weight ratio of 2 exhibited the highest specific capacitance (266.5Fg -1 at a current density of 0.5Ag -1 ) and excellent rate capability (196.2Fg -1 remained at 20Ag -1 ) and cycle durability. In addition, the CSC-2-based symmetrical device possessed the desirable energy density and power density of about 15.97Whkg -1 and 5000Wkg -1 at 5Ag -1 , respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Magdalena Zaharia; Veena Sahajwalla; Byong-Chul Kim

The present study investigates the effect of addition of waste rubber tires on the combustion behavior of its blends with coke for carbon injection in electric arc furnace steelmaking. Waste rubber tires were mixed in different proportions with metallurgical coke (MC) (10:90, 20:80, 30:70) for combustion and pyrolysis at 1473 K in a drop tube furnace (DTF) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), respectively. Under experimental conditions most of the rubber blends indicated higher combustion efficiencies compared to those of the constituent coke. In the early stage of combustion the weight loss rate of the blends is much faster compared to thatmore » of the raw coke due to the higher volatile yield of rubber. The presence of rubber in the blends may have had an impact upon the structure during the release and combustion of their high volatile matter (VM) and hence increased char burnout. Measurements of micropore surface area and bulk density of the chars collected after combustion support the higher combustion efficiency of the blends in comparison to coke alone. The surface morphology of the 30% rubber blend revealed pores in the residual char that might be attributed to volatile evolution during high temperature reaction in oxygen atmosphere. Physical properties and VM appear to have a major effect upon the measured combustion efficiency of rubber blends. The study demonstrates that waste rubber tires can be successfully co-injected with metallurgical coke in electric arc furnace steelmaking process to provide additional energy from combustion. 44 refs., 11 figs., 2 tabs.« less

Co-generated fast pyrolysis biochar mitigates green-house gas emissions and increases carbon sequestration in temperate soils

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Biochar (BC) is a product of thermochemical conversion of biomass via pyrolysis, together with gas (syngas), liquid (bio-oil), and heat. Fast pyrolysis is a promising process for bio-oil generation, which leaves 10-30% of the original biomass as char. When applied to soils, BC may increase soil C s...

Elemental analyses of chars isolated from a biomass gasifier fly ash

Treesearch

Thomas L. Eberhardt; Hui Pan

2012-01-01

Processing of pine wood chips in a pilot-scale downdraft gasifier generated a carbon-rich fly ash as a byproduct. Studies on biomass-derived fly ashes have generally focused on their direct characterisation, as generated, to develop options for utilisation or disposal. Analogous to studies on coal-derived fly ashes, strategies were applied here to assess the...

USE OF BONE CHAR FOR THE REMOVAL OF ARSENIC AND URANIUM FROM GROUNDWATER AT THE PINE RIDGE RESERVATION

EPA Science Inventory

The student project team will work with faculty advisors at UIUC, advisors at Oglala Lakota College, and with residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Through this collaborative effort, we expect to identify filter materials including bone char that will effectively remove ars...

High char yield epoxy curing agents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delvigs, P.; Serafini, T. T.; Vanucci, R. D.

1981-01-01

Class of imide-amine curing agents preserves structural integrity, prevents fiber release, and is fully compatible with conventional epoxy resins; agents do not detract from composite properties while greatly reducing char yield. Materials utilizing curing are used in aerospace, automotive, and other structural components where deterioration must be minimized and fiber release avoided in event of fire.

Note on the thermally induced changes of intervessel pits in black cherry (Prunus serotina EHRH)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elder, T.J.; Murphey, W.K.; Blankenhorn, P.R.

1979-01-01

Dimensions of intervessel pits decrease as charring temperatures increase to 600 C; above 600 C pit apertures remain relatively constant. Reported increases in density of chars above 600 C are attributed to coalescing of the cell wall or changes in intercellular interstices shrinkage. 1 figure, 1 table.

Physicochemical and adsorptive properties of fast-pyrolysis bio-chars and their steam activated counterparts

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Fast pyrolysis is rapid heating in the absence of oxygen resulting in decomposition of organic material. When applied to biomass, it produces bio-oil, bio-char and gas. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the USDA has studied fluidized-bed fast pyrolysis of several bimoass including perenni...

Synthesis of carbon-encapsulated metal nanoparticles from wood char

Treesearch

Yicheng Du; Chuji Wang; Hossein Toghiani; Zhiyong Cai; Xiaojian Liu; Jilei Zhang; Qiangu Yan

2010-01-01

Carbon-encapsulated metal nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal treatment of wood char, with or without transition metal ions pre-impregnated, at 900ºC to 1,100ºC. Nanoparticles with concentric multilayer shells were observed. The nanoparticles were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction...

Glass fiber addition strengthens low-density ablative compositions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chandler, H. H.

1974-01-01

Approximately 15% of E-glass fibers was added to compositions under test and greatly improved char stability. Use of these fibers also reduced thermal strains which, in turn, minimized char shrinkage and associated cracks, subsurface voids, and disbonds. Increased strength allows honeycomb core reinforcement to be replaced by equivalent amount of glass fibers.

Modeling Effects of Annealing on Coal Char Reactivity to O 2 and CO 2 , Based on Preparation Conditions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holland, Troy; Bhat, Sham; Marcy, Peter

Oxy-fired coal combustion is a promising potential carbon capture technology. Predictive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are valuable tools in evaluating and deploying oxyfuel and other carbon capture technologies, either as retrofit technologies or for new construction. However, accurate predictive combustor simulations require physically realistic submodels with low computational requirements. A recent sensitivity analysis of a detailed char conversion model (Char Conversion Kinetics (CCK)) found thermal annealing to be an extremely sensitive submodel. In the present work, further analysis of the previous annealing model revealed significant disagreement with numerous datasets from experiments performed after that annealing model was developed. Themore » annealing model was accordingly extended to reflect experimentally observed reactivity loss, because of the thermal annealing of a variety of coals under diverse char preparation conditions. The model extension was informed by a Bayesian calibration analysis. In addition, since oxyfuel conditions include extraordinarily high levels of CO 2, the development of a first-ever CO 2 reactivity loss model due to annealing is presented.« less

Modeling Effects of Annealing on Coal Char Reactivity to O 2 and CO 2 , Based on Preparation Conditions

DOE PAGES

Holland, Troy; Bhat, Sham; Marcy, Peter; ...

2017-08-25

Oxy-fired coal combustion is a promising potential carbon capture technology. Predictive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are valuable tools in evaluating and deploying oxyfuel and other carbon capture technologies, either as retrofit technologies or for new construction. However, accurate predictive combustor simulations require physically realistic submodels with low computational requirements. A recent sensitivity analysis of a detailed char conversion model (Char Conversion Kinetics (CCK)) found thermal annealing to be an extremely sensitive submodel. In the present work, further analysis of the previous annealing model revealed significant disagreement with numerous datasets from experiments performed after that annealing model was developed. Themore » annealing model was accordingly extended to reflect experimentally observed reactivity loss, because of the thermal annealing of a variety of coals under diverse char preparation conditions. The model extension was informed by a Bayesian calibration analysis. In addition, since oxyfuel conditions include extraordinarily high levels of CO 2, the development of a first-ever CO 2 reactivity loss model due to annealing is presented.« less

Preparation of Bamboo Chars and Bamboo Activated Carbons to Remove Color and COD from Ink Wastewater.

PubMed

Hata, Motohide; Amano, Yoshimasa; Thiravetyan, Paitip; Machida, Motoi

2016-01-01

Bamboo chars and bamboo activated carbons prepared by steam activation were applied for ink wastewater treatment. Bamboo char at 800 °C was the best for the removal of color and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from ink wastewater compared to bamboo chars at 300 to 700 °C due to higher surface area and mesopore volume. Bamboo activated carbon at 600 °C (S600) was the best compared to bamboo activated carbon at 800 °C (S800), although S800 had larger surface area (1108 m(2)/g) than S600 (734 m(2)/g). S600 had higher mesopore volume (0.20 cm(3)/g) than S800 (0.16 cm(3)/g) and therefore achieved higher color and COD removal. All bamboo activated carbons showed higher color and COD removal efficiency than commercial activated carbon. In addition, S600 had the superior adsorption capacity for methylene blue (0.89 mmol/g). Therefore, bamboo is a suitable material to prepare adsorbents for removal of organic pollutants.

Pyrolysis of hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.) sawdust: Characterization of bio-oil and bio-char.

PubMed

Moralı, Uğur; Yavuzel, Nazan; Şensöz, Sevgi

2016-12-01

Slow pyrolysis of hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.) sawdust was performed to produce bio-oil and bio-char. The operational variables were as follows: pyrolysis temperature (400-600°C), heating rate (10-50°Cmin -1 ) and nitrogen flow rate (50-150cm 3 min -1 ). Physicochemical and thermogravimetric characterizations of hornbeam sawdust were performed. The characteristics of bio-oil and bio-char were analyzed on the basis of various spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques such as FTIR, GC-MS, 1H NMR, SEM, BET. Higher heating value, density and kinematic viscosity of the bio-oil with maximum yield of 35.28% were 23.22MJkg -1 , 1289kgm -3 and 0.6mm 2 s -1 , respectively. The bio-oil with relatively high fuel potential can be obtained from the pyrolysis of the hornbeam sawdust and the bio-char with a calorific value of 32.88MJkg -1 is a promising candidate for solid fuel applications that also contributes to the preservation of the environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of biomass pretreatment on upgrading of bio-oil: Comparison of dry and hydrothermal torrefaction.

PubMed

Xu, Xiwei; Tu, Ren; Sun, Yan; Li, Zhiyu; Jiang, Enchen

2018-08-01

The dry and hydrothermal torrefacation of on Camellia Shell (CS) was carried on three different devices- batch autoclave, quartz tube, and auger reactor. The torrefied bio-char products were investigated via TGA, elemental analysis and industrial analysis. Moreover, the pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis properties of torrefied bio-char were investigated. The results showed torrefaction significantly influenced the content of hemicellulose in CS. And hydrothermal torrefaction via batch autoclave and dry torrefaction via auger reactors promoted the hemicellulose to strip from the CS. Quartz tube and auger reactor were beneficial for devolatilization and improving heat value of torrefied bio-char. The result showed that the main products were phenols and acids. And hydrothermal torrefaction pretreatment effectively reduced the acids content from 34.5% to 13.2% and enriched the content of phenols (from 27.23% to 60.05%) in bio-oil due to the decreasing of hemicellulos in torrefied bio-char. And the catalyst had slight influence on the bio-oil distribution. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preliminary investigation on the production of fuels and bio-char from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii biomass residue after bio-hydrogen production.

PubMed

Torri, Cristian; Samorì, Chiara; Adamiano, Alessio; Fabbri, Daniele; Faraloni, Cecilia; Torzillo, Giuseppe

2011-09-01

The aim of this work was to investigate the potential conversion of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii biomass harvested after hydrogen production. The spent algal biomass was converted into nitrogen-rich bio-char, biodiesel and pyrolysis oil (bio-oil). The yield of lipids (algal oil), obtained by solvent extraction, was 15 ± 2% w/w(dry-biomass). This oil was converted into biodiesel with a 8.7 ± 1% w/w(dry-biomass) yield. The extraction residue was pyrolysed in a fixed bed reactor at 350 °C obtaining bio-char as the principal fraction (44 ± 1% w/w(dry-biomass)) and 28 ± 2% w/w(dry-biomass) of bio-oil. Pyrolysis fractions were characterized by elemental analysis, while the chemical composition of bio-oil was fully characterized by GC-MS, using various derivatization techniques. Energy outputs resulting from this approach were distributed in hydrogen (40%), biodiesel (12%) and pyrolysis fractions (48%), whereas bio-char was the largest fraction in terms of mass. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of improved phenolic resins

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delano, C. B.; Mcleod, A. H.

1979-01-01

Twenty seven addition cured phenolic resin compositions were prepared and tested for their ability to give char residues comparable to state-of-the-art phenolic resins. Cyanate, epoxy, allyl, acrylate, methacrylate and ethynyl derivatized phenolic oligomers were investigated. The novolac-cyanate and propargyl-novolac resins provided anaerobic char yields at 800 C of 58 percent. A 59 percent char yield was obtained from modified epoxy novolacs. A phosphonitrilic derivative was found to be effective as an additive for increasing char yields. The novolac-cyanate, epoxy-novolac and methacrylate-epoxy-novolac systems were investigated as composite matrices with Thornel 300 graphite fiber. All three resins showed good potential as composite matrices. The free radical cured methacrylate-epoxy-novolac graphite composite provided short beam shear strengths at room temperature of 93.3 MPa (13.5 ksi). The novolac-cyanate graphite composite produced a short beam shear strength of 74 MPa (10.7 ksi) and flexural strength of 1302 MPa (189 ksi) at 177 C. Air heat aging of the novolac-cyanate and epoxy novolac based composites for 12 weeks at 204 C showed good property retention.

Synergetic and inhibition effects in carbon dioxide gasification of blends of coals and biomass fuels of Indian origin.

PubMed

Satyam Naidu, V; Aghalayam, P; Jayanti, S

2016-06-01

The present study investigates the enhancement of CO2 gasification reactivity of coals due to the presence of catalytic elements in biomass such as K2O, CaO, Na2O and MgO. Co-gasification of three Indian coal chars with two biomass chars has been studied using isothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in CO2 environment at 900, 1000 and 1100°C. The conversion profiles have been used to establish synergetic or inhibitory effect on coal char reactivity by the presence of catalytic elements in biomass char by comparing the 90% conversion time with and without biomass. It is concluded that both biomasses exhibit synergistic behavior when blended with the three coals with casuarina being more synergetic than empty fruit bunch. Some inhibitory effect has been noted for the high ash coal at the highest temperature with higher 90% conversion time for the blend over pure coal, presumably due to diffusional control of the conversion rate. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organic compounds leached from fast pyrolysis mallee leaf and bark biochars.

PubMed

Lievens, Caroline; Mourant, Daniel; Gunawan, Richard; Hu, Xun; Wang, Yi

2015-11-01

Characterization of organic compounds leached from biochars is essential in assessing the possible toxicity of the biochar to the soils' biota. In this study the nature of the leached organic compounds from Mallee biochars, produced from pyrolysis of Mallee leaf and bark in a fluidised-bed pyrolyser at 400 and 580°C was investigated. Light bio-oil compounds and aromatic organic compounds were investigated. The 'bio-oil like' light compounds from leaf and bark biochars 'surfaces were obtained after leaching the chars with a solvent, suitable to dissolve the respective bio-oils. GC/MS was implemented to investigate the leachates. Phenolics, which are potentially harmful toxins, were detected and their concentration shown to be dependent on the char's origin and the char production temperature. Further, to simulate biochars amendment to soils, the chars were leached with water. The water-leached aromatic compounds from leaf and bark biochars were characterized using UV-fluorescence spectroscopy. Those results suggested that biochars contain leachable compounds of which the nature and amount is dependent on the biomass feedstock, pyrolysis temperature and leaching time. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Post-fire "Hillslope Debris Flows": evidence of a distinct erosion process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Langhans, Christoph; Nyman, Petter; Noske, Phil; Vandersant, Rene; Lane, Patrick; Sheridan, Gary

2017-04-01

Debris flows occurring soon after fire have been associated with a somewhat mysterious erosion process upslope of their initiation zone that some authors have called 'miniature debris flows on hillslopes', and that leave behind levee-lined rills. Despite the unusual proposition of debris flow on planar hillslopes, the process has not received much attention. The objective of this study was to present evidence of this process from field observations, to analyse its initiation, movement and form through runoff experiments and video, explore the role of fire severity and runoff rate, and to propose a conceptual model of the process. Hillslope debris flows (HDF) consist of a lobe of gravel- to cobble-sized material 0.2 - 1 m wide that is pushed by runoff damming up behind it. During initiation, runoff moved individual particles that accumulated a small distance downslope until the accumulation of grains failed and formed the granular lobe of the HDF. They occur at relatively steep slope gradients (0.4 - 0.8), on a variety of geologies, and after fire of at least moderate intensity, where all litter is burnt and the soil surface becomes non-cohesive. HDF are a threshold process, and runoff rates of less than 0.5 L s-1 to more than 1 L s-1 were required for their initiation during the experiments. Char and ash lower the threshold considerably. Our conceptual model highlights HDF as a geomorphic process distinct from channel debris flows and classical rill erosion. On a matrix of slope and grain size, HDF are enveloped between purely gravity-driven dry ravel, and mostly runoff-driven bedload transport in rills.

Determination of char combustion kinetics parameters: Comparison of point detector and imaging-based particle-sizing pyrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schiemann, Martin; Geier, Manfred; Shaddix, Christopher R.; Vorobiev, Nikita; Scherer, Viktor

2014-07-01

In this study, the char burnout characteristics of two German coals (a lignite and a high-volatile bituminous coal) were investigated using two different experimental configurations and optical techniques in two distinct laboratories for measurement of temperature and size of burning particles. The optical diagnostic hardware is quite different in the two systems, but both perform two-color pyrometry and optical sizing measurements on individual particles burning in isolation from each other in high-temperature laminar flows to characterize the char consumption kinetics. The performance of the specialized systems is compared for two different combustion atmospheres (with 6.6 and 12 vol.% O2) and gas temperatures between 1700 and 1800 K. The measured particle temperatures and diameters are converted to char burning rate parameters for several residence times during the course of the particles' burnout. The results confirm that comparable results are obtained with the two configurations, although higher levels of variability in the measured data were observed in the imaging-based pyrometer setup. Corresponding uncertainties in kinetics parameters were larger, and appear to be more sensitive to systematic measurement errors when lower oxygen contents are used in the experiments. Consequently, burnout experiments in environments with sufficiently high O2 contents may be used to measure reliable char burning kinetics rates. Based on simulation results for the two coals, O2 concentrations in the range 10%-30% are recommended for kinetic rate measurements on 100 μm particles.

Light Weight Ceramic Ablators for Mars Follow-on Mission Vehicle Thermal Protection System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tran, Huy K.; Rasky, Daniel J.; Hsu, Ming-Ta; Turan, Ryan

1994-01-01

New Light Weight Ceramic Ablators (LCA) were produced by using ceramic and carbon fibrous substrates, impregnated with silicone and phenolic resins. The special infiltration techniques (patent pending) were developed to control the amount of organic resins in the highly porous fiber matrices so that the final densities of LCA's range from 0.22 to 0.24 g/cc. This paper presents the thermal and ablative performance of the Silicone Impregnated Reusable Ceramic Ablators (SIRCA) in simulated entry conditions for Mars-Pathfinder in the Ames 60 MW Interaction Heating Facility (I HF). Arc jet test results yielded no evidence of char erosion and mass loss at high stagnation pressures to 0.25 atm. Minimal silica melt was detected on surface char at a stagnation pressure of 0.31 atm. Four ceramic substrates were used in the production of SIRCA's to obtain the effective of boron oxide present in substrate so the thermal performance of SIRCA's. A sample of SIRCA was also exposed to the same heating condition for five cycles and no significant mass loss or recession was observed. Tensile testing established that the SIRCA tensile strength is about a factor of two higher than that of the virgin substrates. Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) of the char in nitrogen and air showed no evidence of free carbon in the char. Scanning Electron Microscopy of the post test sample showed that the char surface consists of a fibrous structure that was sealed with a thin layer of silicon oxide melt.

Priming of Native Soil Organic Matter by Pyrogenic Organic Matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeCiucies, S.; Lehmann, J.; Woolf, D.; Whitman, T.

2016-12-01

Within the global carbon (C) cycle, soil C makes up a critical and active pool. Pyrogenic C, (PyC) or black C, contributes to this pool, and has been shown to change the turnover rate of the non-pyrogenic soil organic carbon (nSOC) associated with it. This change in rate of mineralization is referred to as priming, which can be negative or positive. There are many possible mechanisms that may be causing this priming effect, both biological and chemical. This study employs incubation experiments to identify and parse these potential mechanisms, focusing on negative priming mechanisms which may have importance in global carbon storage and carbon cycling models. Continuous respiration measurements of soil/char and soil/biomass incubations using isotopically labeled biomass (13C and 15N) indicate that priming interactions are more significant in soils with higher carbon contents, and that higher temperature chars induce more negative priming over time. Current incubations are exploring the effects of chars pyrolyzed at different temperatures, chars extracted of DOC versus non-extracted, soils with differing carbon contents, and the effects of pH and nutrient adjusting incubations. We will continue to examine the contribution of the different mechanisms by isolating variables such as nutrient addition, soil texture, char application rate, and mineral availability. We anticipate that sorption on PyOM surfaces are important in nSOM stabilization and will continue to study these effects using highly labeled substrates and nano secondary ion mass spectrometry (nano-SIMS).