15 research outputs found

    Integrated Production of Aromatic Amines and N‑Doped Carbon from Lignin via <i>ex Situ</i> Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis in the Presence of Ammonia over Zeolites

    No full text
    Due to the irregular polymeric structure and carbon based inactive property, lignin valorization is very difficult. In this study we proposed a new route for lignin valorization by which aromatic amines can be directly produced from lignin by <i>ex situ</i> catalytic fast pyrolysis with ammonia over zeolite catalysts. Meanwhile, the obtained pyrolytic biochar can be activated to produce high surface area N-doped carbon for electrochemical application. Wheat straw lignin served as feed to optimize the pyrolysis conditions. MCM-41, β-zeolite, HZSM-5, HY, ZnO/HZSM-5, and ZnO/HY were screened, and ZnO/HZSM-5 (2 wt % Zn, Si/Al = 50) showed the optimal reactivity for producing aromatic amines due to the desired pore structure and acidity. Temperature, residence time, and ammonia content in the carrier gas displayed significant effects on the product distribution. The maximum yield of aromatic amines was obtained at moderate temperatures around 600 °C, 0.57 s, and 75% ammonia in the carrier gas. Under the optimized conditions, the total carbon yields of pyrolytic bio-oil and aromatic amines were 9.8% and 5.6%, respectively. The selectivity of aniline in the aromatic amines was up to 87.3%. Moreover, the pyrolysis byproduct, biochar, was further activated by KOH at 800 °C under ammonia atmosphere for producing N-doped carbon with high surface area. The pyrolytic biochar and N-doped carbon were characterized by elemental analysis, SEM, XRD, nitrogen adsorption–desorption, and XPS. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge–discharge were employed to investigate the electrochemical performance of pyrolytic biochar and N-doped carbon. The specific capacitance of N-doped carbon reached about 128.4 F g<sup>–1</sup>

    Producing Pyridines via Thermocatalytic Conversion and Ammonization of Waste Polylactic Acid over Zeolites

    No full text
    In this study, polylactic acid served as raw material to produce fine chemicals (pyridines) via a thermocatalytic conversion and ammonization (TCC-A) process. Ammonia was employed as not only carrier gas but also a reactant in this process. The thermal decomposition behavior of PLA under N<sub>2</sub> or NH<sub>3</sub> atmosphere was investigated. Different catalysts, including MCM-41, β-zeolite, ZSM-5 (Si/Al = 50) and HZSM-5 with different Si/Al ratios (Si/Al = 25, 50, 80) were also screened. Reaction temperature and residence time, which may affect the pyridines production, were investigated systematically. It was verified that all the investigated factors, including catalyst structure, catalyst acid amounts, reaction temperature, and residence time, influenced the PLA conversion and the pyridines production. The highest pyridines yield, 24.8%, was achieved by using HZSM-5 (Si/Al = 25) at around 500 °C. The catalyst regeneration tests were carried out. It demonstrated that the catalyst was stable after five regenerations and the catalytic activity did not change significantly. A possible reaction pathway from PLA to pyridines was also proposed. PLA initially thermally decomposed to form lactic acid and some byproducts such as acetaldehyde, acetone, etc., and then lactic acid, the mixture of acetaldehyde and acetone, or other byproducts reacted with ammonia to form imines and finally underwent complicated reactions to form pyridines

    Interpretation and Application of Reaction Class Transition State Theory for Accurate Calculation of Thermokinetic Parameters Using Isodesmic Reaction Method

    No full text
    We present a further interpretation of reaction class transition state theory (RC-TST) proposed by Truong et al. for the accurate calculation of rate coefficients for reactions in a class. It is found that the RC-TST can be interpreted through the isodesmic reaction method, which is usually used to calculate reaction enthalpy or enthalpy of formation for a species, and the theory can also be used for the calculation of the reaction barriers and reaction enthalpies for reactions in a class. A correction scheme based on this theory is proposed for the calculation of the reaction barriers and reaction enthalpies for reactions in a class. To validate the scheme, 16 combinations of various ab initio levels with various basis sets are used as the approximate methods and CCSD­(T)/CBS method is used as the benchmarking method in this study to calculate the reaction energies and energy barriers for a representative set of five reactions from the reaction class: R<sub>c</sub>CH­(R<sub>b</sub>)­CR<sub>a</sub>CH<sub>2</sub> + OH<sup>•</sup> → R<sub>c</sub>C<sup>•</sup>(R<sub>b</sub>)­CR<sub>a</sub>CH<sub>2</sub> + H<sub>2</sub>O (R<sub>a</sub>, R<sub>b</sub>, and R<sub>c</sub> in the reaction formula represent the alkyl or hydrogen). Then the results of the approximate methods are corrected by the theory. The maximum values of the average deviations of the energy barrier and the reaction enthalpy are 99.97 kJ/mol and 70.35 kJ/mol, respectively, before correction and are reduced to 4.02 kJ/mol and 8.19 kJ/mol, respectively, after correction, indicating that after correction the results are not sensitive to the level of the ab initio method and the size of the basis set, as they are in the case before correction. Therefore, reaction energies and energy barriers for reactions in a class can be calculated accurately at a relatively low level of ab initio method using our scheme. It is also shown that the rate coefficients for the five representative reactions calculated at the BHandHLYP/6-31G­(d,p) level of theory via our scheme are very close to the values calculated at CCSD­(T)/CBS level. Finally, reaction barriers and reaction enthalpies and rate coefficients of all the target reactions calculated at the BHandHLYP/6-31G­(d,p) level of theory via the same scheme are provided

    <i>N</i>,<i>N′</i>-Dioxide/Gadolinium(III)-Catalyzed Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of Nitroalkanes to α,β-Unsaturated Pyrazolamides

    No full text
    A highly efficient <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>′-dioxide/Gd­(III) complex has been developed for the enantioselective conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to α,β-unsaturated pyrazolamides. Under mild reaction conditions, a series of γ-nitropyrazolamides were obtained in good to excellent yields (up to 99%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee). What’s more, the optically active products could be easily transformed into γ-nitroesters which were key intermediates for the preparation of paroxetine, pregabalin and boclofen

    Pressure-Dependent Rate Rules for Intramolecular H‑Migration Reactions of Hydroperoxyalkylperoxy Radicals in Low Temperature

    No full text
    Intramolecular H-migration reaction of hydroperoxyalkylperoxy radicals (<sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH) is one of the most important reaction families in the low-temperature oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels. This reaction family is first divided into classes depending upon H atom transfer from -OOH bonded carbon or non-OOH bonded carbon, and then the two classes are further divided depending upon the ring size of the transition states and the types of the carbons from which the H atom is transferred. High pressure limit rate rules and pressure-dependent rate rules for each class are derived from the rate constants of a representative set of reactions within each class using electronic structure calculations performed at the CBS-QB3 level of theory. For the intramolecular H-migration reactions of <sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH radicals for abstraction from an -OOH substituted carbon atom (-OOH bonded case), the result shows that it is acceptable to derive the rate rules by taking the average of the rate constants from a representative set of reactions with different sizes of the substitutes. For the abstraction from a non-OOH substituted carbon atom (non-OOH bonded case), rate rules for each class are also derived and it is shown that the difference between the rate constants calculated by CBS-QB3 method and rate constants estimated from the rate rules may be large; therefore, to get more reliable results for the low-temperature combustion modeling of alkanes, it is better to assign each reaction its CBS-QB3 calculated rate constants, instead of assigning the same values for the same reaction class according to rate rules. The intramolecular H-migration reactions of <sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH radicals (a thermally equilibrated system) are pressure-dependent, and the pressure-dependent rate constants of these reactions are calculated by using the Rice–Ramsberger–Kassel–Marcus/master-equation theory at pressures varying from 0.01 to 100 atm. The impact of molecular size on the pressure-dependent rate constants of the intramolecular H-migration reactions of <sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH radicals has been studied, and it is shown that the pressure dependence of the rate constants of intramolecular H-migration reactions of <sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH radicals decreases with the molecular size at low temperatures and the impact of molecular size on the pressure-dependent rate constants decreases as temperature increases. It is shown that it is acceptable to derive the pressure-dependent rate rules by taking the average of the rate constants from a representative set of reactions with different sizes of the substitutes. The barrier heights follow the Evans–Polanyi relationship for each type of intramolecular hydrogen-migration reaction studied. All calculated rate constants are fitted by a nonlinear least-squares method to the form of a modified Arrhenius rate expression at pressures varying from 0.01 to 100 atm and at the high-pressure limit. Furthermore, thermodynamic parameters for all species involved in these reactions are calculated by the composite CBS-QB3 method and are given in NASA format

    Pressure-Dependent Rate Rules for Intramolecular H‑Migration Reactions of Hydroperoxyalkylperoxy Radicals in Low Temperature

    No full text
    Intramolecular H-migration reaction of hydroperoxyalkylperoxy radicals (<sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH) is one of the most important reaction families in the low-temperature oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels. This reaction family is first divided into classes depending upon H atom transfer from -OOH bonded carbon or non-OOH bonded carbon, and then the two classes are further divided depending upon the ring size of the transition states and the types of the carbons from which the H atom is transferred. High pressure limit rate rules and pressure-dependent rate rules for each class are derived from the rate constants of a representative set of reactions within each class using electronic structure calculations performed at the CBS-QB3 level of theory. For the intramolecular H-migration reactions of <sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH radicals for abstraction from an -OOH substituted carbon atom (-OOH bonded case), the result shows that it is acceptable to derive the rate rules by taking the average of the rate constants from a representative set of reactions with different sizes of the substitutes. For the abstraction from a non-OOH substituted carbon atom (non-OOH bonded case), rate rules for each class are also derived and it is shown that the difference between the rate constants calculated by CBS-QB3 method and rate constants estimated from the rate rules may be large; therefore, to get more reliable results for the low-temperature combustion modeling of alkanes, it is better to assign each reaction its CBS-QB3 calculated rate constants, instead of assigning the same values for the same reaction class according to rate rules. The intramolecular H-migration reactions of <sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH radicals (a thermally equilibrated system) are pressure-dependent, and the pressure-dependent rate constants of these reactions are calculated by using the Rice–Ramsberger–Kassel–Marcus/master-equation theory at pressures varying from 0.01 to 100 atm. The impact of molecular size on the pressure-dependent rate constants of the intramolecular H-migration reactions of <sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH radicals has been studied, and it is shown that the pressure dependence of the rate constants of intramolecular H-migration reactions of <sup>•</sup>O<sub>2</sub>QOOH radicals decreases with the molecular size at low temperatures and the impact of molecular size on the pressure-dependent rate constants decreases as temperature increases. It is shown that it is acceptable to derive the pressure-dependent rate rules by taking the average of the rate constants from a representative set of reactions with different sizes of the substitutes. The barrier heights follow the Evans–Polanyi relationship for each type of intramolecular hydrogen-migration reaction studied. All calculated rate constants are fitted by a nonlinear least-squares method to the form of a modified Arrhenius rate expression at pressures varying from 0.01 to 100 atm and at the high-pressure limit. Furthermore, thermodynamic parameters for all species involved in these reactions are calculated by the composite CBS-QB3 method and are given in NASA format

    Experimental and Modeling Study on the Ignition Kinetics of Nitromethane behind Reflected Shock Waves

    No full text
    Nitromethane (NM) is the simplest nitroalkane fuel and has demonstrated potential usage as propellant and fuel additive. Thus, understanding the combustion characteristics and chemistry of NM is critical to the development of hierarchical detailed kinetic models of nitro-containing energetic materials. Herein, to further investigate the ignition kinetics of NM and supplement the experimental database for kinetic mechanism development, an experimental and kinetic modeling analysis of the ignition delay times (IDTs) of NM behind reflected shock waves at high fuel concentrations is reported against previous studies. Specifically, the IDTs of NM are measured via a high-pressure shock tube within the temperature from 900 to 1150 K at pressures of 5 and 10 bar and equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. Brute-force sensitivity analysis and chemical explosive mode analysis in combination with reaction path analysis are employed to reveal the fundamental ignition kinetics of NM. Finally, a skeletal mechanism for NM is derived via the combination of directed relation graph-based methods, which demonstrates good prediction accuracy of NM ignition and flame speeds. The present work should be valuable for understanding the combustion chemistry of NM and the development of the fundamental reaction mechanism of nitroalkane fuels
    corecore