The Effect Of Catalyst Support On The Decomposition Of Methane To Hydrogen And Carbon.

Decomposition of methane into carbon and hydrogen over Cu/Ni supported catalysts was investigated. The catalytic activities and the lifetimes of the catalysts were studied. Cu/Ni supported on Ti02 showed high activity and long lifetime for the reaction. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies revealed the relationship between the catalyst activity and the formation of the filamentous carbon over the catalyst after methane decomposition

Nanocarbons from acid pretreated waste coffee grounds using microwave radiation

This study investigates the use of microwave radiation to produce nanocarbons from Waste Coffee Grounds (WCG). It is first step to demonstrate the potential of integrating the microwave power to conventional methods of carbonaceous materials and nanocarbons production, aiming to overcome their high production cost. The process parameters and interactions investigated were: microwave radiation power (W), temperature (°C) and residence time (min). Results obtained from the lab-scale experiments indicated the optimum conditions for maximizing the nanocarbons yield (wt%) from the H₂SO₄ acid pretreated WCG at 200 °C, 850 for 60 min resulting in a 87.6 wt% char yield which ranged between the average size of 100–140 nm and lower. Moreover, the optimum conditions to achieve the maximum yield of nanocarbons (wt%) where: same temperature (200 °C), lower microwave power (650 W) and residence time (45 min). Then a yield of 60 wt% nanocarbons of average sizes 60 nm were produced, indicating the potential of this method to produce value-added biomaterials (spherical shaped nanocarbons) applicable for future scientific breakthroughs

Techno-Economic Analysis and Feasibility of Industrial-Scale Activated Carbon Production from Agricultural Pea Waste Using Microwave-Assisted Pyrolysis: A Circular Economy Approach

This paper examines a novel approach to activated carbon (AC) production that uses pea waste (PW) and to what extent it is economically competitive with current production methods. Additionally, the outcome is to provide a detailed economic analysis to understand whether this process is viable. The focus of this production route and the economic analysis will be on a United Kingdom (UK) basis. The plant will be located within the north UK to minimise storage and transportation costs. It also has extensive links to other clusters of nearby industries that would produce from this process in air pollution control or wastewater treatments. The overall production process is detailed, and detailed equipment specifications, including the sizing of equipment and utility requirements, were also given. Material balance calculations are carried out to assess the performance and improve process design. An economic analysis is performed to study the potential of biomass-to-AC conversion costs and commercialisation viability. The project’s investment is about £100 million. The cost of the plant can be recovered from year 3 (mid) for the 20-year life of the plant. The Net Present Value (NPV) is based on cumulative cash flow. The NPV is calculated as GBP 4,476,137,297.79 for 2020, and the associated internal rate of return (IRR) and the return on investment (ROI) for the project are 55% and 52%, respectively

Industrial-Scale Activated Carbon Production from Agricultural Pea Waste: A Techno-Economic and Feasibility Study

This paper examines a novel approach to activated carbon (AC)production that uses pea waste (PW) and to what extent it iseconomically competitive with current production methods.Additionally, the outcome is to provide a detailed economicanalysis to understand whether this process is viable. The focusof this production route and the economic analysis will be on aUnited Kingdom (UK) basis. The plant will be located withinthe north UK to minimise storage and transportation costs. Italso has extensive links to other clusters of nearby industries thatwould produce from this process in air pollution control orwastewater treatments. The overall production process isdetailed, and detailed equipment specifications, including thesizing of equipment and utility requirements, were also given.Material balance calculations are carried out to assess theperformance and improve process design. An economicanalysis is performed to study the potential of biomass-to-ACconversion costs and commercialisation viability. The project’sinvestment is about £100 million. The cost of the plant can berecovered from year 3 (mid) for the 20-year life of the plant.The Net Present Value (NPV) is based on cumulative cash flow.The NPV is calculated as GBP 4,476,137,297.79 for 2020, andthe associated internal rate of return (IRR) and the return oninvestment (ROI) for the project are 55% and 52%, respectively

Recent Advances on Waste Plastic Thermal Pyrolysis: A Critical Overview

Post-consumer plastic management, otherwise termed waste plastic (WP) management, is a great challenge in today’s world, mainly because of its characteristic biodegradation properties. The quantity of waste plastics correspondingly increases with the increase in demand for plastic use. Research has shown that this demand increases yearly. Most of these waste plastics include high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS). Potentially, these wastes are a wealth, and studies have explored that pyrolysis is a reputable mechanism to accomplish this. In this critical review, an extensive investigation on waste plastics thermal pyrolysis (WPTP) is carried out. The factors that affect the product’s yield and selectivity are discussed, and a comparative quality guarantee of WPTP is examined. This paper presents an assurance into the current findings of WPTP and reveals some common gaps and misconceptions surrounding this field, which are recommendable towards the support of further research work. The significant role of co-pyrolysis of plastics with biomass in this field is also emphasised, and a glimpse into the influence of mixed waste plastics in pyrolysis is presented

Latest Advances in Waste Plastic Pyrolytic Catalysis

With the increase in demand for plastic use, waste plastic (WP) management remains a challenge in the contemporary world due to the lack of sustainable efforts to tackle it. The increment in WPs is proportional to man’s demand and use of plastics, and these come along with environmental challenges. This increase in WPs, and the resulting environmental consequences are mainly due to the characteristic biodegradation properties of plastics. Landfilling, pollution, groundwater contamination, incineration, and blockage of drainages are common environmental challenges associated with WPs. The bulk of these WPs constitutes polyethene (PE), polyethene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS). Pyrolysis is an eco-friendly thermo-chemical waste plastic treatment solution for valuable product recovery, preferred over landfilling and incineration solutions. In this extensive review, a critical investigation on waste plastic catalytic pyrolysis (WPCP) is performed, including catalyst and non-catalyst applications to sustainably tackle WP management. Current catalysis techniques are revealed, and some comparisons are made where necessary. Common pyrolytic products and common shortcomings and errors related to WP catalysis were also identified. The benefits of catalysts and their applications to augment and optimise thermal pyrolysis are emphasised. With all these findings, and more, this paper provides reassurance on the significance of catalysis to industrial-scale applications and products and supports related WPCP research work concerning the environment and other beneficiaries

An innovative method of extraction of coffee oil using an advanced microwave system: in comparison with conventional Soxhlet extraction method

The production of energy and chemicals from waste biomass is an attractive alternative by comparison with first generation biofuels and fossil feedstocks. This paper investigates oil extraction from spent coffee grounds (SCG) by means of an advanced microwave process and compares this with a conventional Soxhlet extraction (SE) method. Microwave assisted oil extraction (MAE) from SCG was performed over different durations, varying solvent volumes and extraction temperatures. It was found that each of these parameters had an effect on the process, with the largest yield being over 11.54 wt %, oil extracted in 10 minutes using 160 ml of hexane at 95 oC. In 10 minutes, MAE was successful in extracting more oil than SE. MAE achieved a 24 fold decrease in duration for the extraction compared with SE and used less solvent per gram of oil produced. It is proposed that a certain moisture content in the SCG would be beneficial to the extraction process and might it also play a role in the heating process. The extracted oil can be converted into biodiesel and biochemicals leaving the remaining solids suitable for processing into bioethanol, fertiliser, adsorptive material and fuel pellets

Wheat straw bio-refining. Part II: Optimization of the microwave radiation with sulphuric acid pre-treatment and its enzymatic hydrolysis for fermentable sugars

Background: The potential of microwave-assisted heating for enhancing the alkaline pretreatment of lignocellulosic waste is highlighted in this work.Objective: To maximize separation of fermentable sugars from wheat straw.Methods: Wheat straw hydrolysis assisted by microwave was carried out by setting up a statistical experimental design method and further investigating the main process parameters, namely: temperature (°C), microwave power (W), NaOH concentration (M) and wheat straw pre-treatment time (min) towards maximization of fermentable sugars extraction from wheat straw. The reducing sugars yield (response) of the alkaline pre-treated and microwaved wheat straw in lab scale provided data for building a predictive model which reflected interactions, significance and impact of the process parameters (factors) on the wheat straw hydrolysis yield.Results: SEM and FTIR images of untreated and alkaline pre-treated wheat straw were studied for investigating the morphological changes of wheat straw surface quality and structure resulting from the microwave and/or alkaline pre-treatment. In addition reducing sugars yield of 87%wt. from wheat straw pre-treated at 180°C, 550W microwave power, 0.65M of NaOH for 25min was achieved. This result was significantly higher compared to the one from the straw which was only hydrolysed enzymatically (30 %wt).Conclusion: It was found that shorter pre-treatment times were obtained at higher temperatures, alkali concentration and moderate microwave power levels. The results obtained were further optimized and indicated that the microwave-assisted alkaline pre-treatment of wheat straw technique is an attractive pre-treatment method which reduces the wheat straw pre-treatment time and enhances the hydrolysis yield

Agricultural Pea Waste as a Low-Cost Pollutant Biosorbent for Methylene Blue Removal: Adsorption Kinetics, Isotherm And Thermodynamic Studies

Biosorbents are an alternative pollutant adsorbent, usually sourced from waste biomass and requiring little to no treatment. This makes them cheaper than conventional adsorbents. In this paper, green pea (Pisum sativum) haulm was used as a biosorbent for the adsorption of methylene blue dye. The potential application of pea haulm as a biosorbent has not been investigated before. Characterisation using scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and thermal gravitational analysis showed the surface to be coarse, detected functional groups important for adsorption and identified the composition of key biomass components. The effects of particle size, contact time, agitation, dosage, solution pH, temperature and initial dye concentration on the removal of MB by pea haulm were investigated. Using the data from these studies, the best fitting kinetic and isotherm models were found and the thermodynamic properties were identified. The maximum theoretical adsorption capacity was 167 mg/g, which was relatively high compared to other recent biosorbent studies. The pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models were the best fitting models. The biosorption process was exothermic and spontaneous at low temperatures. It was concluded that pea haulm was an effective adsorbent of methylene blue and could perhaps find application in wastewater treatment