Production of Ethylene From Ethanol Dehydration Over H3PO4-Modified Cerium Oxide Catalysts = Penghasilan Etilena Daripada Pendehidratan Etanol Dengan Mangkin Serium Oksida Terubahsuai H3PO4

Production of ethylene from ethanol dehydration was investigated over H3PO4 (10 wt.% to 30wt.%)-modified cerium oxide catalysts synthesized by wet impregnation technique. The prepared catalysts were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), N2 adsorption-desorption method, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for the physicochemical properties. The ethanol catalytic dehydration was carried out in a fixed-bed reactor at 673-773 K and at ethanol partial pressure of 33 kPa. The effects of phosphorus loading on catalyst and reaction temperatures were investigated in terms of catalytic activity towards product selectivity and yield. Overall, the selectivity and yield of ethylene increased with the temperature and phosphorus loading. The highest ethylene selectivity and yield were 99% and 65%, respectively, at 773 K and 33 kPa over the 30 wt.% H3PO4-modified cerium oxide

Superconductivity and Magnetism in REFeAsO1-xFx (RE=Rare Earth Elements)

Fluoride-doped iron-based oxypnictides containing rare-earth gadolinium (GdFeAsO0.8F0.2) and co-doping with yttrium (Gd0.8Y0.2FeAsO0.8F0.2) have been prepared via conventional solid state reaction at ambient pressure. The non-yttrium substituted oxypnictide show superconducting transition as high as 43.9 K from temperature dependent resistance measurements with the Meissner effect observed at a lower temperature of 40.8 K from temperature dependent magnetization measurements. By replacing a small amount of gadolinium with yttrium Tc was observed to be lowered by 10 K which might be caused by a change in the electronic or magnetic structures since the crystal structure was not altered.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Proceedings in the LT25 Low Temperature Physics Conference) Submitte

Catalytic Performance of Commercial Zeolites Y as Catalyst for Ethylene Production from Ethanol Dehydration

Catalytic dehydration of ethanol into ethylene was studied over commercial Zeolites-Y with different Si:Al ratios between 5.1:1 and 80:1, and temperature from 573 K to 773 K. The physicochemical properties of fresh and spent catalyst of Zeolite Y Si:Al 80:1 (best performing catalyst) were investigated using N2-physisorption, TGA, SEM-EDX, NH3-TPD, FTIR and XRD. Results showed that catalysts with higher Si:Al ratios exhibit better catalytic performance in terms of higher ethanol conversion and higher selectivity to ethylene. Indeed, zeolites-Y with Si:Al ratio 5.1:1 and 12:1 demonstrated low catalytic activity with ethanol conversion of 34% and 2%, respectively. However, ethylene selectivity of NH3-Y (5) was 84%, which was considerably higher than NH3-Y (12) which was 26%, indicated that this catalyst was not promoting the formation of other hydrocarbons i.e. methane and ethane. Albeit all of the catalysts namely H-Y (30), H-Y (60) and H-Y (80) showed favorable performance in ethanol dehydration, H-Y (80) attained almost total selectivity to ethylene and highest conversion of 73.0% among all the tested catalysts

Photon-induced production of the mirror quarks from the LHTLHT model at the LHCLHC

The photon-induced processes at the $LHC$ provide clean experimental conditions due to absence of the proton remnants, which might produce complementary and interesting results for tests of the standard model and for searching of new physics. In the context of the littlest $Higgs$ model with T-parity, we consider the photon-induced production of the mirror quarks at the $LHC$. The cross sections for various production channels are calculated and a simply phenomenology analysis is performed by assuming leptonic decays.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure

Effects of the littlest Higgs model with T-parity on Higgs boson production at high energy e+e−e^{+}e^{-} colliders

The Higgs boson production processes $e^{+}e^{-}\to ZH$, $e^{+}e^{-}\to \bar{\nu_{e}}\nu_{e}H$, and $e^{+}e^{-}\to t\bar{t}H$ are very important for studying Higgs boson properties and further testing new physics beyond the standard model($SM$) in the high energy linear $e^{+}e^{-}$ collider($ILC$). We estimate the contributions of the littlest Higgs model with T-parity($LHT$ model) to these processes and find that the $LHT$ model can generate significantly corrections to the production cross sections of these processes. We expect the possible signals of the $LHT$ model can be detected via these processes in the future $ILC$ experiments.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, references adde

Impact of Single-Top Measurement to Littlest Higgs Model with T-Parity

We show that a precise measurement of the single-top production cross section at the Tevatron and the LHC can strongly constrain the model parameters of the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity. A reduction in the single-top production rate from the Standard Model prediction implies new physics phenomena generated by the heavy T-parity partners of the top quark. We show that the degree of polarization of the top quark produced from the decay of its heavy T-odd partner ($T_{-}$) can be utilized to determine the new physics energy scale, and the mass of $T_{-}$ can be measured from the missing transverse momentum distribution in the $T_{-}\bar{T}_{-}$ event

Oil palm waste: An abundant and promising feedstock for microwave pyrolysis conversion into good quality biochar with potential multi-applications

Oil palm waste (OPW), comprising mainly of empty fruit bunch, mesocarp fiber, frond, trunk, and palm kernel shell generated from palm oil industry, was collected, characterized, and then pyrolyzed to evaluate their potential to be converted into biochar with desirable properties for use in multi-applications. The OPW was detected to have considerable amounts of carbon (43–51 wt%) and fixed carbon (30–39 wt%), showing potential to be converted into carbon-rich biochar. Microwave pyrolysis of palm kernel shell as the selected OPW produced a biochar with zero sulphur content and high heating value (23–26 MJ/kg) that is nearly comparable to conventional coal, thus indicating its potential as an eco-friendly solid fuel. The biochar obtained was also showed low moisture (<3 wt%) and ash (3 wt%), and a highly porous structure with high BET surface area (210 m2/g), indicating the presence of many adsorption sites and thus showing desirable characteristics for potential use as pollutant adsorbent in wastewater treatment, or bio-fertilizer to absorb nutrient and promote plant growth. Our results demonstrate that OPW is a biowaste that shows exceptional promise to be transformed into high-grade biochar rather than simply disposed by landfilling or burned as low-grade fuel in boiler

Temperature and Safety Profiles of Needle-Warming Techniques in Acupuncture and Moxibustion

The needle-warming technique combines acupuncture and moxibustion, and it is commonly practised in China to relieve pain conditions. However, burning of moxa has many disadvantages. This study examined the temperature and safety profiles of such technique. First, skin temperature changes during needle-warming were examined in anesthetized animals to determine the safe distance for needle-warming moxibustion in human subjects. Then, the practical distance for needle-warming in human subjects were verified. Finally, the temperature profiles of the needle during needle-warming moxibustion were examined using an infrared camera. Our results show that during needle-warming moxibustion there is little heat being conducted into deep tissue via the shaft of the needle, and that the effective heating time to the acupoint is rather short compared to the period of moxibustion. These findings suggest that the needle-warming technique is an inefficient way of acupoint thermal stimulation and should be modified and improved using new technologies

Top quark chromomagnetic dipole moment in the littlest Higgs model with T-parity

The littlest Higgs model with T-parity, which is called $LHT$ model, predicts the existence of the new particles, such as heavy top quark, heavy gauge bosons, and mirror fermions. We calculate the one-loop contributions of these new particles to the top quark chromomagnetic dipole moment $(CMDM)$ $\Delta K$. We find that the contribution of the $LHT$ model is one order of magnitude smaller than the standard model prediction value.Comment: latex files, 12 pages, 3 figure

Demonstration of Adiabatic Variational Quantum Computing with a Superconducting Quantum Coprocessor

Adiabatic quantum computing enables the preparation of many-body ground states. This is key for applications in chemistry, materials science, and beyond. Realisation poses major experimental challenges: Direct analog implementation requires complex Hamiltonian engineering, while the digitised version needs deep quantum gate circuits. To bypass these obstacles, we suggest an adiabatic variational hybrid algorithm, which employs short quantum circuits and provides a systematic quantum adiabatic optimisation of the circuit parameters. The quantum adiabatic theorem promises not only the ground state but also that the excited eigenstates can be found. We report the first experimental demonstration that many-body eigenstates can be efficiently prepared by an adiabatic variational algorithm assisted with a multi-qubit superconducting coprocessor. We track the real-time evolution of the ground and exited states of transverse-field Ising spins with a fidelity up that can reach about 99%.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure