Catalytic conversion of glycerol to bio-based aromatics

Aromatics are in important building blocks in the chemical industry to produce among others plastics. Currently aromatics are produced from fossil resources and thus have a negative impact on our planet. There is a strong driver to green-up the aromatics industry and one of the options is the use of waste biomass as the feed. In this PhD research, crude glycerol, which is abundantly available as a by-product of the biodiesel industry, was explored as a bio-based feedstock for the production of aromatics via a technology known as catalytic pyrolysis. It involves contacting the biomass, in this case glycerol, with a suitable catalyst at elevated temperatures. Catalyst performance was studied in detail and it was shown that deactivation is a major issue. A number of strategies for improved catalyst performance have been investigated, including the use of co-feeds (e.g., glycerol and oleic acid) and the use of binders in the catalyst formulation. The research described in this thesis has provided fundamental and applied insights which have been used for scale-up of the process to pilot-scale by BioBTX BV in Groningen, The Netherlands

Modelling and assessment of pneumatic artificial muscle

The pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) being a new type of actuator is widespread used in engineering field because it possesses the attractive attributes of safe operation, low cost, high output force to volume. It is a prime requirement to establish an effective theoretical model to predict the performance of the PAM as well as other actuators. In this paper a new PAM model is established by employing conservation energy and the Mooney-Rivlin strain energy function for the rubber of PAM. This model is compared with the previous models and the experimental results and it shows that the model truly improves the assessment of forces and contraction that can be achieved by the PAM. However, the significant discrepancy still exists between the theoretical model and the experiment. A number of factors, like friction force, which result in the discrepancy are discusse

Adsorption of methylene blue dye from the aqueous solution via bio-adsorption in the inverse fluidized-bed adsorption column using the torrefied rice husk

In this work, the inverse fluidized-bed bio-adsorption column is applied for the first time and is demonstrated using the torrefied rice husk (TRH) for the removal of methylene blue from the solution. The bio-adsorbents were characterized by BET, FI-IR, and SEM. The inverse fluidized-bed adsorption column using TRH becomes saturated in the 95-min continuous adsorption, during which the breakthrough time is 22 min, the overall MB removal (R) is 84%, and the adsorption capacity (Qexp) on the TRH is 6.82 mg g−1. These adsorption characteristics are superior to those in the fixed-bed adsorption column (R of 52% and Qexp of 2.76 mg g−1) at a lower flow rate (100 vs. 283 cm3 min−1). Torrefaction of RH significantly increases the surface area (28 vs. 9 m2 g−1) and enhances the surface functional groups, leading to an improved maximum equilibrium adsorption amount from 21.5 to 38.0 mg g−1 according to Langmuir model in the batch adsorption system. Besides, the increased Qexp on the TRH is also obtained in the inverse fluidized-bed (5.25 vs. 2.77 mg g−1, 89% higher) and the fixed-bed (2.76 vs. 1.53 mg g−1, 80% higher) adsorption columns compared to that on the RH

Laboratory gram-scale pyrolysis reactor

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for pyrolyzing a feedstock in an open container. The apparatus comprises a downer reactor with an entry located at the top end of the downer for feeding and an exit located at the bottom end of the downer for removing the container from the downer, the downer being divided into at least three vertically arranged zones by at least two locking systems on either side of a middle pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are configured to simultaneously close for sealing the pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are further configured to let through the container in an open position, the apparatus comprising heating means, cooling means and pressurizing means configured to adjust the temperature and pressure of at least the pyrolysis zone independently from the other zones

Laboratory gram-scale pyrolysis reactor

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for pyrolyzing a feedstock in an open container. The apparatus comprises a downer reactor with an entry located at the top end of the downer for feeding and an exit located at the bottom end of the downer for removing the container from the downer, the downer being divided into at least three vertically arranged zones by at least two locking systems on either side of a middle pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are configured to simultaneously close for sealing the pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are further configured to let through the container in an open position, the apparatus comprising heating means, cooling means and pressurizing means configured to adjust the temperature and pressure of at least the pyrolysis zone independently from the other zones

Laboratory gram-scale pyrolysis reactor

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for pyrolyzing a feedstock in an open container. The apparatus comprises a downer reactor with an entry located at the top end of the downer for feeding and an exit located at the bottom end of the downer for removing the container from the downer, the downer being divided into at least three vertically arranged zones by at least two locking systems on either side of a middle pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are configured to simultaneously close for sealing the pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are further configured to let through the container in an open position, the apparatus comprising heating means, cooling means and pressurizing means configured to adjust the temperature and pressure of at least the pyrolysis zone independently from the other zones

Laboratory gram-scale pyrolysis reactor

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for pyrolyzing a feedstock in an open container. The apparatus comprises a downer reactor with an entry located at the top end of the downer for feeding and an exit located at the bottom end of the downer for removing the container from the downer, the downer being divided into at least three vertically arranged zones by at least two locking systems on either side of a middle pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are configured to simultaneously close for sealing the pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are further configured to let through the container in an open position, the apparatus comprising heating means, cooling means and pressurizing means configured to adjust the temperature and pressure of at least the pyrolysis zone independently from the other zones

Laboratory gram-scale pyrolysis reactor

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for pyrolyzing a feedstock in an open container. The apparatus comprises a downer reactor with an entry located at the top end of the downer for feeding and an exit located at the bottom end of the downer for removing the container from the downer, the downer being divided into at least three vertically arranged zones by at least two locking systems on either side of a middle pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are configured to simultaneously close for sealing the pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are further configured to let through the container in an open position, the apparatus comprising heating means, cooling means and pressurizing means configured to adjust the temperature and pressure of at least the pyrolysis zone independently from the other zones

Laboratory gram-scale pyrolysis reactor

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for pyrolyzing a feedstock in an open container. The apparatus comprises a downer reactor with an entry located at the top end of the downer for feeding and an exit located at the bottom end of the downer for removing the container from the downer, the downer being divided into at least three vertically arranged zones by at least two locking systems on either side of a middle pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are configured to simultaneously close for sealing the pyrolysis zone, wherein the at least two locking systems are further configured to let through the container in an open position, the apparatus comprising heating means, cooling means and pressurizing means configured to adjust the temperature and pressure of at least the pyrolysis zone independently from the other zones

Renewable fuel production from hydropyrolysis of residual biomass using molybdenum carbide-based catalysts: An analytical Py-GC/MS investigation

Fast hydropyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass was studied by using an analytical pyrolyzer coupled with a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry set-up (Py-GC/MS). Under pure H2 stream, Canadian pinewood was rapidly heated up to 500 °C and the generated vapors passed through a catalytic bed at 500 °C. Experiments were carried out in order to compare the catalytic performance of MoC/Al2O3 catalyst to a reference catalyst based on noble metal (1.5 wt.% Pt/Al2O3). The effect of different supports (Al2O3, ZrO2 and MgO) on the carbide performance and product formation was investigated. The results showed that the performance of MoC/Al2O3 was similar to that of 1.5 wt.% Pt/Al2O3. Both of them deoxygenated the hydropyrolysis vapors and led exclusively to hydrocarbons formation. However, the proportion of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons was different: MoC/Al2O3 catalyst produced more aliphatics (57%) than the Pt catalyst. The supports have demonstrated influence on the product distribution. Acidity of the support seems to play an important role in the deoxygenation of the vapors. While there was complete removal of oxygen when MoC/Al2O3 and MoC/ZrO2 were used, the same did not take place for the more basic MoC/MgO catalyst