The Influence of Leadership Styles on Organizational Commitment

The objective of this study is to examine the influence of autocratic, transformational and servant leadership on organization commitment in XYZ Corporation. This study was conducted due to decreasing trend in organization commitment among the technological platform group of employees working in XYZ Corporation. A quantitative methodology was used and samples were taken from technological platform group of employees working in XYZ Corporation located in Penang. Data were collected from 101 employees by using simple random sampling. The data was analyzed using SPSS 12. The study indicates that there is a significant relationship between autocratic leadership and organization commitment. However, transformational leadership and servant leadership doesn't have a significant influence to organization commitment

The Product of Two Positive Integers is the Product of Their GCF and LCM

The authors provide a visual confirmation that the product of the Greatest Common Factor (GCF) and and Least Common Multiple (LCM) of two numbers equals their product

Isobutane/butene alkylation on microporous and mesoporous solid acid catalysts: probing the pore transport effects with liquid and near critical reaction media

This is the published version. Copyright 2008 Royal Society of ChemistryThe alkylation of isobutane with 1-butene was investigated on microporous (β-zeolite) and mesoporous (silica supported heteropolyacids) catalysts in a slurry reactor. The reaction was investigated in the range of 25–100 bar and 15–95 °C in liquid phase and in near critical reaction media with either dense CO2 or dense ethane as diluent, partially replacing the excess isobutane. At 75 °C, the selectivity towards trimethylpentanes (TMP) in the liquid phase is 70%+ initially, but decreases with time on all the catalysts investigated. While near-critical reaction mixtures were employed in order to enhance pore diffusion rates, the conversion and selectivity profiles obtained with such mixtures are comparable to those obtained with liquid phase reaction mixtures in both microporous and mesoporous catalysts. This implies that pore diffusion effects play a limited role at higher temperatures (75–95 °C). In contrast, the liquid phase results at sub-ambient temperatures indicate that the catalyst is deactivated before the TMPs diffuse out of the pores, indicating that pore diffusion effects play an important role in the deactivation process at low temperatures. Our results suggest that novel approaches that enhance the pore-diffusion rates of the TMPs at lower temperatures must be pursued

Environmental impacts of ethylene production from diverse feedstocks and energy sources

This is the published version. Copyright 2014 SpringerOpen.Quantitative cradle-to-gate environmental impacts for ethylene production from naphtha (petroleum crude), ethane (natural gas) and ethanol (corn-based) are predicted using GaBi® software. A comparison reveals that the majority of the predicted environmental impacts for these feedstocks fall within the same order of magnitude. Soil and water pollution associated with corn-based ethylene are however much higher. The main causative factor for greenhouse gas emissions, acidification and air pollution is the burning of fossil-based fuel for agricultural operations, production of fertilizers and pesticides needed for cultivation (in the case of ethanol), ocean-based transportation (for naphtha) and the chemical processing steps (for all feedstocks). An assessment of the environmental impacts of different energy sources (coal, natural gas and fuel oil) reveals almost similar carbon footprints for all the fossil fuels used to produce a given quantity of energy. For most of the environmental impact categories, the GaBi® software reliably predicts the qualitative trends. The predicted emissions agree well with the actual emissions data reported by a coal-based power plant (Lawrence Energy Center, Lawrence, KS) and a natural gas-based power plant (Astoria Generating Station, Queens, NY) to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The analysis shows that for ethylene production, fuel burning at the power plant to produce energy is by far the dominant source (78–93 % depending on the fuel source) of adverse environmental impacts

Environmental impacts of ethylene production from diverse feedstocks and energy sources

This is the published version. Copyright 2014 SpringerOpen.Quantitative cradle-to-gate environmental impacts for ethylene production from naphtha (petroleum crude), ethane (natural gas) and ethanol (corn-based) are predicted using GaBi® software. A comparison reveals that the majority of the predicted environmental impacts for these feedstocks fall within the same order of magnitude. Soil and water pollution associated with corn-based ethylene are however much higher. The main causative factor for greenhouse gas emissions, acidification and air pollution is the burning of fossil-based fuel for agricultural operations, production of fertilizers and pesticides needed for cultivation (in the case of ethanol), ocean-based transportation (for naphtha) and the chemical processing steps (for all feedstocks). An assessment of the environmental impacts of different energy sources (coal, natural gas and fuel oil) reveals almost similar carbon footprints for all the fossil fuels used to produce a given quantity of energy. For most of the environmental impact categories, the GaBi® software reliably predicts the qualitative trends. The predicted emissions agree well with the actual emissions data reported by a coal-based power plant (Lawrence Energy Center, Lawrence, KS) and a natural gas-based power plant (Astoria Generating Station, Queens, NY) to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The analysis shows that for ethylene production, fuel burning at the power plant to produce energy is by far the dominant source (78–93 % depending on the fuel source) of adverse environmental impacts

110th Anniversary: Near-Total Epoxidation Selectivity and Hydrogen Peroxide Utilization with Nb-EISA Catalysts for Propylene Epoxidation

The Nb-EISA catalyst with relatively low Nb loadings (∼2 wt %) shows exceptional propylene epoxidation performance with H2O2 as oxidant at 30–40 °C, 5–9 bar propylene pressure with nearly total propylene oxide (PO) selectivity (>99%), H2O2 utilization (>99%) toward PO formation, high productivity (∼3200 mg/h/g), and mild Nb leaching (3–6%). The predominantly Lewis acidic nature of the Nb-EISA catalysts favors epoxidation while their relatively low Brønsted acidity inhibits H2O2 decomposition and Nb leaching. At higher Nb loadings (8–17 wt %), the catalytic performance deteriorates. However, significant performance improvements were achieved when the Nb-EISA materials are calcined in N2 (instead of air) during synthesis, depositing a carbon layer in the pores. The resulting pore hydrophobicity not only inhibits epoxide ring opening but also increases propylene concentration inside the pores resulting in higher EO productivity and lower H2O2 decomposition. The carbonized Nb-EISA materials also show improved stability to leaching

Facile Ozonation of Light Alkanes to Oxygenates with High Atom Economy in Tunable Condensed Phase at Ambient Temperature

We have demonstrated the oxidation of mixed alkanes (propane, n-butane, and isobutane) by ozone in a condensed phase at ambient temperature and mild pressures (up to 1.3 MPa). Oxygenated products such as alcohols and ketones are formed with a combined molar selectivity of >90%. The ozone and dioxygen partial pressures are controlled such that the gas phase is always outside the flammability envelope. Because the alkane–ozone reaction predominantly occurs in the condensed phase, we are able to harness the unique tunability of ozone concentrations in hydrocarbon-rich liquid phases for facile activation of the light alkanes while also avoiding over-oxidation of the products. Further, adding isobutane and water to the mixed alkane feed significantly enhances ozone utilization and the oxygenate yields. The ability to tune the composition of the condensed media by incorporating liquid additives to direct selectivity is a key to achieving high carbon atom economy, which cannot be achieved in gas-phase ozonations. Even in the liquid phase, without added isobutane and water, combustion products dominate during neat propane ozonation, with CO2 selectivity being >60%. In contrast, ozonation of a propane+isobutane+water mixture suppresses CO2 formation to 15% and nearly doubles the yield of isopropanol. A kinetic model based on the formation of a hydrotrioxide intermediate can adequately explain the yields of the observed isobutane ozonation products. Estimated rate constants for the formation of oxygenates suggest that the demonstrated concept has promise for facile and atom-economic conversion of natural gas liquids to valuable oxygenates and broader applications associated with C–H functionalization

Rh-Catalyzed Hydroformylation of 1,3-Butadiene and Pent-4-enal to Adipaldehyde in CO2-Expanded Media

The homogeneous hydroformylation of pent-4-enal, the preferred aldehyde intermediate from 1,3-butadiene hydroformylation, was systematically investigated with Rh catalyst complexes in neat and CO2-expanded toluene media at 40–80 °C, syngas partial pressures ranging from 5–50 bar, and different ligand/Rh ratios. At similar operating conditions, the TOFs are generally greater with Rh/DIOP relative to a Rh/TPP catalyst. On both catalyst complexes, the chemoselectivity toward the dialdehydes ranges from 75%–100%, with the maximum adipaldehyde selectivity reaching approximately 75% (n/i ∼ 3) at 60 °C, 10 bar syngas, and molar DIOP/Rh ratio of 2.5. By using CO2-expanded toluene, the regioselectivity toward the adipaldehyde (desired product), and therefore its yield, is significantly enhanced. Interestingly, even with the simple Rh/TPP catalyst complex, adipaldehyde selectivity of up to 85% (n/i ∼ 5.6) is achieved at 60 °C, 10 bar syngas, and 50 bar CO2. The beneficial effects of CO2-expanded media are attributed to the facile tunability of the H2/CO ratio in such a phase with a fixed syngas feed composition. This approach to accelerate pent-4-enal hydroformylation to form adipaldehyde could also help in overcoming equilibrium limitations typically associated with the catalytic isomerization of pent-3-enal (the dominant product from 1,3-butadiene hydroformylation) to pent-4-enal (the preferred isomer)

Towards highly selective ethylene epoxidation catalysts using hydrogen peroxide and tungsten- or niobium-incorporated mesoporous silicate (KIT-6)

This is the published version. Copyright 2014 Royal Society of ChemistrySignificant ethylene epoxidation activity was observed over Nb- and W-incorporated KIT-6 materials with aqueous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as the oxidant and methanol as solvent under mild operating conditions (35 °C and 50 bar) where CO2 formation is avoided. The Nb-KIT-6 materials generally show greater epoxidation activity compared to the W-KIT-6 materials. Further, the ethylene oxide (EO) productivity observed with these materials [30–800 mg EO h−1 (g metal)−1] is of the same order of magnitude as that of the conventional silver (Ag)-based gas phase ethylene epoxidation process. Our results reveal that the framework-incorporated metal species, rather than the extra-framework metal oxide species, are mainly responsible for the observed epoxidation activity. However, the tetrahedrally coordinated framework metal species also introduce Lewis acidity that promotes their solvolysis (which in turn results in their gradual leaching) as well as H2O2 decomposition. These results and mechanistic insights provide rational guidance for developing catalysts with improved leaching resistance and minimal H2O2 decomposition