A Thermal Study on Peat Oxidation Behavior in the Presence of an Iron-Based Catalyst

Peat is a resource used for heat and energy, particularly in countries where peat is abundant and conventional fuels are not available. Some countries have made extensive use of peat resources to produce electricity and heat in addition to light hydrocarbons. By doing so, they were able to reduce the cost of importing fossil fuels. To the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of a detailed description of the peat oxidation process in the presence of other substances. Herein, the process of peat oxidation was studied in-depth by means of thermal analysis in the presence of iron tallate acting as a catalytic agent. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis demonstrated an oil-like oxidation behavior during the combustion of the used peat. The process of peat oxidation includes two main regions: low-temperature oxidation (LTO), which occurs during the oxidation of light hydrocarbons, followed by the so-called high-temperature oxidation (HTO), which includes the oxidation of the obtained coke-like product. Moreover, the application of non-isothermal kinetics experiments based on the isoconversional and model approach principle have confirmed the role of 2% iron tallate in peat mass by improving the oxidation rate at low- and high-temperature oxidation (HTO) regions. The results obtained from this study have proven that the added catalyst improves efficiency with regards to the energy activation in the process by leading to its significant decrease from 110.8 ± 7.8 kJ/mol to 81.8 ± 7.5 kJ/mol for LTO and from 157.8 ± 19.1 kJ/mol to 137.6 ± 9.3 kJ/mol for HTO. These findings clearly confirm the improvement in the rate of the process by shifting the LTO and HTO peaks to lower regions in the presence of the catalyst. These results further emphasize the possible impact which could be generated by the application of thermally enhanced oil recovery methods on peat development and exploitation

Resonator Method for Studying Dielectric Characteristics of Сaustobiolithes

Для суб-ТГц диапазона на основе резонаторного спектрометра развита методика исследования электродинамических характеристик органических материалов – каустобиолитов. В диапазоне частот 110 ÷ 260 ГГц проведены исследования диэлектрических параметров (показателя преломления n и tanδ) порошков торфа после его СВЧ‑переработки в процессе «мягкого» пиролиза, а также срезов керна нефтесодержащей породы. Рассмотрено влияние естественной влажности на диэлектрические параметры образцов. Обсуждаются причины разброса результатов измерений, который наблюдается в указанных материалах и является их специфической особенностьюFor the sub-THz range, a method for studying the electrodynamic characteristics of organic materials – caustobiolithes-is developed on the basis of a resonator spectrometer. In the frequency range 110 ÷ 260 GHz, the dielectric parameters (refractive index n and tanδ) of peat powders after its microwave processing in the process of «soft» pyrolysis, as well as core sections of oil-containing rock, were studied. The influence of natural humidity on the dielectric parameters of the samples is considered. The reasons for the spread of measurement results, which is observed in these materials and is their specific feature, are discusse