A few recent developments in fluidized bed technology applications for fuel conversion

In recent years, the process concepts based on two-stage and dual bed have been widely adopted in developing fuel conversion technologies including pyrolysis, combustion, gasification and catalytic cracking. These provide indeed advantages of, for example, easy operation and control, poly-generation of products, and high efficiency in elimination of undesirable product or pollutants. The so-called micro fluidized bed analyzer (MFBRA) has been newly developed to measure reaction rates at arbitrary temperatures, giving a great support to fundamental research and technology developments for fuel conversion. This report intends to summarize the involved new concepts, major fundamental understandings, pilot test and/or industrial demonstrations of a few newly developed fuel conversion technologies. Concretely, it will report fluidized bed two-stage gasification (FBTSG), dual fluidized bed pyrolysis combustion (DBPC), fluidized bed cracking gasification (FBCG) and MFBRA. The FBTSG technology separates fuel pyrolysis in a FB pyrolyzer and char gasification in a transport bed gasifier. The latter enables high-temperature tar cracking under catalysis of char to enable remarkably low tar content in the produced gas [1]. For fuel with high contents of water and nitrogen, the DBPC technology first removes fuel water and most fuel volatile in a pyrolyzer. This, on the one hand, ensures stable combustion of the fuel, and on the other hand facilitates NOx reduction by char and pyrolysis gas [2]. The FBCG technology separates the catalytic cracking of heavy feedstock for liquid and the gasification of char, the cokes formed on the catalyst surface, to produce syngas and also to regenerate the catalyst. By using micro fluidized bed, the MFBRA is newly developed to enable the on-line pulse feeding and rapid heating of particle reactant. It effectively suppresses the interfacial diffusion limitation and minimizes the intra-particle diffusion [3]. Thus, MFBRA provides isothermal reaction analysis in comparison with that in TGA based on programmed heating. REFERENCES 1. X. Zeng, et al. Pilot verification of a low-tar two-stage coal gasification process with a FB pyrolyzer and fixed bed gasifier. Applied Energy, 115, 9–16, 2014. 2. P. Dagaut, et al. Experiments and kinetic modeling study of NO-reburning by gases from biomass pyrolysis in a JSR. Energy & Fuels, 17(3), 608-613, 2003. 3. J. Yu, et al. Kinetics and mechanism of solid reactions in a micro fluidized bed reactor. AIChE Journal, 56, 2905-2912, 2010

Flavor Wheel Development and Sensory Quantitative Descriptive Analysis of Chinese Brewed Soy Sauce

Based on sensory descriptors developed by a sensory evaluation panel for 48 commercial Chinese brewed soy sauce samples, a flavor wheel of Chinese brewed soy sauce with 55 descriptors in the dimensions of aroma and flavor was developed for the first time. Meanwhile, a lexicon of sensory descriptors for brewed soy sauce containing reference samples with different intensities was established, and 20 brewed soy sauce samples of different grades and from different geographical origins were subjected to sensory evaluation by quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) using this lexicon. The results showed that the characteristic flavor attributes of soy sauce were soy paste-like, salty, umami, Chinese herbal, and cooked soybean-like aromas. Through analysis of variance (ANOVA), principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA), it was found that there were significant differences in sensory properties among soy sauce of different grades and from different regions. This study can provide a methodological reference for sensory quality analysis of Chinese brewed soy sauce

Thermal behavior and kinetic study on the co-pyrolysis of biomass with polymer waste

The intrinsic smaller hydrogen to carbon (H/C) ratio for lignocellulosic biomass significantly affects the yield and production of target products. Co-pyrolyzing of biomass with hydrogen-rich chemicals or raw materials offers an alternative pathway to improve the H/C ratio of feedstock and thus upgrade the bio-oils. In this work, the co-pyrolysis of rice husk (RH) with epoxy resin (ER) was attempted, and its kinetic was comprehensively studied using the model-free and model-fitting methods. The co-pyrolysis mechanism and kinetic compensation effects were probed as well. The thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the decomposition of RH-ER blend with a weight ratio of 1:1 can be divided into three stages with heating temperatures of 27-270, 270-500, and 500-850 degrees C and corresponding mass loss of 6.86, 49.30, and 5.60%, respectively. For the model-free models applied, the activation energies (Ea) displayed an uptrend in the degree of conversion (alpha) range of 0.05-0.2 and a downtrend in alpha range of 0.2-0.6. Comparing the six methods, the Ea values from Friedman method was significantly larger than those from other models. The Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) method was more reliable with higher correlation coefficients. The obtained Ea values gradually increased from 65.06 to 159.55 kJ/mol (0.05 <= alpha <= 0.20) and then decreased to 38.32 kJ/mol (0.2 < alpha <= 0.60). The Ea values calculated based on three-dimensional diffusion (Jander equation) was comparable to that from the FWO method and could be responsible for the co-pyrolysis mechanism for RH-ER blend. An excellent linear relationship lnA = 0.2058Ea - 2.63095 can be observed, indicating that the compensation effect existed between the Ea and lnA during RH and ER co-pyrolysis. The pre-exponential factor (A) was determined as 2.9E8 min(-1) using the average Ea value of 107.48 kJ/mol. Through this study, it is expected to promote the collaborative disposal of multisource solid waste

Thermochemical conversion of waste printed circuit boards: Thermal behavior, reaction kinetics, pollutant evolution and corresponding controlling strategies

With the rapid development of the global electronics industry, waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) has become one of the world's fastest growing waste streams. Exploring an environmentally sound treatment for this abundant and multi-component waste is critical to its sustainable development. This study has been aimed to cover thermochemical conversion of WPCBs (combustion, pyrolysis, gasification and hydrothermal process), focusing on thermal behavior, reaction kinetics, pollutant evolution and corresponding controlling strategies, with the aim of promoting circular economic development and building a sustainable future for the electronics industry.This work was financially supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. LTY21B070002). R. Luque gratefully acknowledges Universitá degli studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria (DICEAM) for his current Rosario Pietropaolo Honorary Chair

Laser Cutting Technologies and Corresponding Pollution Control Strategy

In conjunction with the increasing demand for material cutting, such as the decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear facilities, advanced cutting technologies need be developed to increase precision and cost-effectiveness. As compared with other cutting technologies, laser cutting offers advantages of greater cutting precision, accuracy, and customization. In this work, we investigated the constitution, classification, and current status of this technology. Pollutant emission during laser cutting, corresponding pollution control methods and apparatus were proposed as well. Laser cutting equipment mainly comprises an automated system integrating a fiber laser, industrial computer, servo motor control, electrical control, and detection technology. It mainly consists of mechanical and electrical control parts. Laser cutting equipment is distinguished by light source, power, and cutting dimensions. Known variants of laser cutting technology involve vaporization, fusion, reactive fusion, and controlled fracture cutting. During the cutting process, dust, smoke, and aerosols can be released, which is an environmental concern and poses a threat to public health. The selection of the dedusting method and design of apparatus should take into account the dust removal rate, initial capital cost, maintenance cost, etc. Multi-stage filtration such as bag filtration combined with activated carbon filtration or electrostatic filtration is accepted

Finite Dilution Inverse Gas Chromatography as a Versatile Tool To Determine the Surface Properties of Biofillers for Plastic Composite Applications

An improved understanding of a filler’s surface properties is important for determining the most effective polymer reinforcement fillers. In this work, the surface characteristics of two biofillers, namely, clam shell modified by hydrochloric acid (AMF) and furfural (FMF), were investigated using inverse gas chromatography (IGC). The IGC results showed that the dispersive surface energy (γ_S^D) contributed the major part to the total surface energy for the biofillers. The values changed as a function of surface coverages, meaning that both samples were energetically fairly heterogeneous. The γ_S^D calculated with the Dorris–Gray method was larger than that calculated with the Schultz method, with a γ_{S,Dorris–Gray}^D/γ_S,Schultz^D ratio of 1.10. Compared to AMF, FMF possessed higher γ_S^D value; however, this difference was compensated by specific (acid–base) surface energy (γ_S^AB). Both samples predominantly interacted with ethanol and acetonitrile, implying an amphoteric nature of the material surfaces. Gutmann acid and base number profiles indicated that the surfaces of both samples were more basic in nature. The FMF showed a lower total work of cohesion (<i>W</i>_Coh^total) value compared to the AMF, which could lead to an increase in composite performance

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of recombinant human EPO-Fc fusion protein in vivo.

In this study, the in vivo pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a novel recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) Fc fusion protein, rhEPO-Fc, were studied in both rodents and rhesus monkeys. Animal models of anemia induced by irradiation, cyclophosphamide and partial renal ablation were used to evaluate therapeutic effects of rhEPO-Fc. We have demonstrated that serum half-life of rhEPO-Fc was 29.5 to 38.9 h at doses of 8, 25, 80 µg/kg in rhesus monkeys and 35.5 to 43.5 h at doses of 16, 50, 160 µg/kg in rats. In anemia animal models, rhEPO-Fc dose-dependently (7.5-30.0 µg/kg in mice, 5.4-21.4 µg/kg in rats and 5.0-10.0 µg/kg in rhesus monkeys) increased reticulocyte level, followed by an increase of RBC count, hemoglobin and hematocrit levels. At reduced intervention frequency of weekly treatments, rhEPO-Fc showed similar hematopoietic effects as compared with rhEPO given three times a week. These results indicated that rhEPO-Fc could potentially be used in treatment of anemia and warrants future clinical trials