Effects of different loading of magnesium oxide on activated carbon nanofibers for methane adsorption

In the last few years, with the escalating world demand for energy, natural gas had been suggested as an alternative for replacing heavy fossil fuels as it produces cleaner combustion, less harmful and economical. Moreover, continuous world’s depending on fossil fuels such as crude oils, coals and heavy fuels has become a major concerned to the entire world as the excessive burning of these fuels produced harmful gases that leading to global warming. For this reasons, in this work, PAN- based activated carbon nanofibers (ACNFs) with various loading of magnesium oxide (MgO) (0, 5, 10, and 15 wt.%) were prepared for methane (CH4) adsorption. The nanofibers (NFs) were successfully produced via electrospinning process at optimize parameters. The resultant NFs underwent three steps of pyrolysis process which are stabilization, carbonization and activation at 275 oC, 600 oC and 800 oC, respectively. The ACNFs/MgO were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal gravimetric (TGA) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Brunaeur, Emmett and Teller (BET) method and CH4 adsorption tests. The adsorption equilibrium of CH4 on ACNFs/MgO was measured using a static volumetric technique. Adsorption of CH4 on the ACNFs/MgO was conducted at 30 oC for pressures up to 4 bars. The equilibrium data were stimulated using the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms, with both models having R2 > 0.98. The results on BET surface area showed the ACNFs loading with 15 wt.% MgO has the highest surface area of 1893.09 m2/g and it was assumed to be a major contributor for higher gas adsorption capacity. From these findings, it is believed that ACNFs/MgO will become a new adsorbent with great potential for gas adsorption and storage in the near future applications

Design of bench-scale fast pyrolysis reactor for bio-fuel production

Fast pyrolysis technology had been studied extensively with a purpose to utilize biomass for fuel and energy application. The main product from this process, bio-oil can be further processed into transportation fuel, power generation and chemicals. The most challenging aspect is to develop an economic viable platform for processing capital. Biomass contains low energy content of ~150kg/m3, which corresponds to high transportation cost from source to processing plant. Conversion of biomass into liquid fuels can increase the energy content by 10 times higher and reduce transport cost up to 87 %

Kinetic analysis of Malaysia type biomasses via thermogravimetric analyser (TGA)

The kinetic behaviour of biomass pyrolysis samples was successfully studied via thermogravimetric analysis. The biomass samples were empty fruit bunch, oil palm trunk, rice husk, coconut copra, sawdust, coconut shell, sugarcane bagasse, and wood bark. The analysis was performed in a nitrogen atmosphere from 30 to 700°C. The effect of heating rate on kinetic behaviour of biomass at two different high heating rates was evaluated at 40°C/min (HR1) and 80°C/min (HR2). The kinetic parameters of biomass samples such as pre-exponential factor (s-1), activation energy (kJ/mol), and reaction order (n) were determined using one-step global kinetic model. The wood bark sample has the lowest activation energy (38.14 kJ/mol), while coconut copra was reported for the highest activation energy (145.42 kJ/mol). High positive activation energy was achieved at a higher heating rate (HR2) than at lower heating rate (HR1) for biomass samples

PVDF/Fe2O3 mixed matrix membrane for oily wastewater treatment

Oily wastewater has been recognized as one of the most concerned environmental pollutions that come from a variety of sources. The increasing of these uncontrollable oily wastewater discharges consequently leads to environmental problems. The current barrier in this situation is when dealing with finely emulsified oily wastewater streams with small droplet size (< 20 μm in diameter). To tackle this issue, it is found that the utilization of the membrane technology is most effective due to its highly effective separation process and simplicity. Nevertheless, traditional filtration membranes are mostly afflicted with low flux and rejection rate as a consequence of easy fouling caused by the plugging of oil and surfactant. Thus, the wettability and antifouling properties of the membrane play an important role in dealing with this issue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance and operation of the membrane when treating oily wastewater. PVDF was chosen as the host polymer based on its outstanding properties and 0.2 wt% of Fe2O3 loading was utilized to enhance the hydrophilicity of the membrane. The effects of mixed matrix membrane (MMM) and neat poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane relating to their differences in the SEM images, water flux and oil rejection were studied. The presence of additive in the polymeric composition has helped to achieve 40% higher flux increment with an oil removal efficacy of ~97 %, as compared to the unmodified PVDF membrane

Investigation on thermochemical behaviour of Malaysia biomasses via Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)

Biomass is a renewable resource with great potential as an alternative to fossil fuels for supplying energy. The flash pyrolysis process has been subject of intense research in the last decades in converting biomass into a convenient and effective fuel Thermogravimetric analysis , (TGA) is used to study the thermal behaviour of carbonaceous materials. In the present study, the characteristics and thermal decomposition behaviour of eight local biomasses (empty fruit bunch (EFB). oil palm trunk (OPT), rice husk, coconut copra, saw dust, coconut shell, bagasse and wood bark) in Malaysia upon fast pyrolysis were studied. The elemental properties of the feedstock were characterized by an elemental analyzer while thermal properties were investigated using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Analysis is carried out in an inert nitrogen atmosphere from ambient temperature to 700 °C. In this work, the particle sizes varied in the range of 0.30< dp <0.50 mm at a heating rate of 80 °C/min. Three reaction zones corresponding to moisture evolution, hemiceilulose-cellulose degradation and lignin degradation are observed for all the biomass samples. The resuits show that, Phase I (moisture evolution) was identified between 25 and 137 °C for saw dust as indicated in DTG curve and has highest peak among the samples. Two distinct evolution profiles were observed for coconut shell, coconut copra, bagasse, rice husk and EFB at Phase 11 (devolatilization). At Phase III (lignin decomposition), it is observed that the lignin gradually degrades over a wide range of temperature (450-700 °C). However, when the temperature reaches 650 °C, the degradation rates are no longer significant as most volatiles had already been pyrolysed

Electrospun nanofiber-coated membrane: a review

The nanofibre development offers various useful applications in many ways including energy and environmental application. Polymeric nanofibre fabricated by electrospinning has been seen as innovative membrane materials for water remediation owing to the high surface area, interconnected porous structure, and light weight. This paper reviews the exciting functionality of nanofibre involving the development of smart heterogeneous approaches in membrane material. These heterogeneous materials allow the water molecules to spontaneously penetrate from one side to another, while blocking penetration in reverse direction due to hydrophilic-hydrophobic differences. Composite membrane containing different features arrangements of nanofibres have been utilised for their ability for water applications especially in membrane distillation

Catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived pyrolysis vapour over metal-modified HZSM-5 into BTX: a comprehensive review

This paper provides an updated and comprehensive review on the catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived pyrolysis vapours over metal-modified HZSM-5 catalyst into bio-aromatic hydrocarbons. The catalytic upgrading of biomass pyrolysis vapours seems to be a promising technology in generating gasoline-type bio-aromatic hydrocarbons, i.e. benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX). Biomass-derived raw pyrolysis oil has high oxygenated compounds that deteriorate pyrolysis oil properties and limits its applications. Metal modification of hydrogen exchanged Zeolite Socony Mobil Five (HZSM-5) catalyst has gained attention in a biomass pyrolysis research area due to the beneficial effects on upgrading the oxygenated pyrolysis vapours into BTX-enriched pyrolysis oils. The influence of metals (alkali and alkaline earth metals, transition metals and rare earth metals) as bi-functional or multifunctional activity on HZSM-5 catalyst during pyrolysis has been addressed. The effect of reaction temperature, the type of metals, metal contents, the silica-to-alumina ratio of catalyst and the catalyst-tobiomass ratio are critically discussed for maximum production of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during the upgrading of pyrolysis vapours. Finally, concluding remarks on metal-modified zeolite catalyst and future recommendation in upgrading biomass pyrolysis vapours are presented

Investigating Thin-Film Composite Membranes Prepared by Interaction between Trimesoyl Chloride with M-Phenylenediamine and Piperazine on Nylon 66 and Performance in Isopropanol Dehydration

FESEM result shows that fabricated TFC membranes employed the dense layer as the active layer. The best water selectivity result from this study was shown by TFC-MPD5 which has ridge-and-valley structure that indicates the best and strong formation (33,150 N m−2) of a complete aromatic PA (in the range of 1,302–1,305 cm−1) on the N66 substrate which is promising for IPA-water separation. Increasing immersion time in amine solution will also increase the crosslinking rate to PA formation that contributed to the increase in thickness of final TFC membranes. In general, the membrane produced by TMC-MPD has better properties and performance than TMC-PIP. TFC membranes prepared by MPD show selectivity of 17.6 and 114.621 for preparing in 3 and 5 minutes in amine solutions, respectively. Meanwhile, TFC prepared by PIP amine solutions shows relatively lower selectivity of 17.6 and 108.5 for TFC-PIP3 and TFC-PIP5, respectively

Pineapple peel based biocomposites for green packaging

In this research, pineapple peel fiber (PAPF) based low density polyethylene (LDPE) biocomposites for green packaging was studied. The PAPF was first being treated with alkali before compounded with LDPE. Then, the mixture was compounded using twin screw extruder and the test samples were prepared using hot press machine. The compatibility of the PAPF as biocomposites was observed through the characterization and biodegradation analysis. Melt flow index (MFI) analysis was conducted to determine the process ability of the biocomposites. As the fiber loading in the biocomposites increases, the MFI values were decreased. The amount of water absorption was increased with the increases of PAPF loading due to the higher cellulose content. The biocomposites was buried in the soil for a month for biodegradation analysis and the highest PAPF/LDPE loading biocomposites degraded the most

Thermal characterization of Malaysian biomass via thermogravimetric analysis

In this work, thermal degradation behavior of six local biomasses such as empty fruit bunch, rice husk, coconut pulp, saw dust, coconut shell, and sugarcane bagasse in Malaysia via pyrolysis was studied. The pyrolysis process was carried out from 25 to 700 °C under nitrogen atmosphere flowing at 150 ml/min via a thermogravimetric analyzer. The effect of biomass type was investigated on pyrolysis behavior. The particle size of biomass was in the range of 0.3 ≤ dp1 < 0.5 mm, whereas the heating rate was fixed at 80 °C/min. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) data were divided into three phases of degradation: moisture evolution, hemicellulose-cellulose degradation, and lignin degradation. The results showed that all biomass samples degraded between 25 and 170 °C in Phase I of moisture evolution. Among the biomass samples, coconut pulp achieved the highest mass loss (81.9%) in Phase II of hemicellulose-cellulose degradation. Lignin in all biomass samples gradually degraded from 450 to 700 °C in Phase III of lignin degradation. This study provides an important basis in understanding the intrinsic thermochemistry behind degradation reactions