Viscous Behavior of Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids

The viscosity of four imidazolium-based ionic liquids is analyzed as a function of pressure and temperature. Experimental measurements were carried out using an electromagnetic moving piston viscometer in the 303–353 K and 0.1–70 MPa ranges on synthesized ultrapure samples, and compared with available literature data. Molecular dynamics simulations were used to analyze the fluids’ dynamic properties from a nanoscopic viewpoint, with special attention paid to self-diffusion coefficients and dynamic viscosity. Simulated properties are in excellent agreement with experimental results in spite of the glasslike dynamics of some of the studied fluids

Gas Hydrate Inhibition: A Review of the Role of Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids (ILs) are popular designer green chemicals with great potential for use in diverse energy-related applications. Apart from the well-known low vapor pressure, the physical properties of ILs, such as hydrogen-bond-forming capacity, physical state, shape, and size, can be fine-tuned for specific applications. Natural gas hydrates are easily formed in gas pipelines and pose potential problems to the oil and natural gas industry, particularly during deep-sea exploration and production. This review summarizes the recent advances in IL research as dual-function gas hydrate inhibitors. Almost all of the available thermodynamic and kinetic inhibition data in the presence of ILs have been systematically reviewed to evaluate the efficiency of ILs in gas hydrate inhibition, compared to other conventional thermodynamic and kinetic gas hydrate inhibitors. The principles of natural gas hydrate formation, types of gas hydrates and their inhibitors, apparatuses and methods used, reported experimental data, and theoretical methods are thoroughly and critically discussed. The studies in this field will facilitate the design of advanced ILs for energy savings through the development of efficient low-dosage gas hydrate inhibitors

Oxidation of Sulphur pollutants in model and real fuels using hydrodynamic cavitation

Hydrodynamic Cavitation (HC) offers an attractive platform for intensifying oxidative desulphurization of fuels.  In the first part of this work, we present new results on oxidising single ring thiophene in a model fuel over the  extended range of volume fraction of organic phase from 2.5 to 80 v/v %. We also present influence of type and  scale of HC device on performance of oxidative desulphurization. Further experiments revealed that oxidising  radicals generated in-situ by HC alone were not able to oxidise dual ring thiophenes. External catalyst (formic  acid) and oxidising agents (hydrogen peroxide, H2O2) were therefore used with HC. Based on our prior work with  acoustic cavitation (AC), the volumetric ratios for H2O2 and formic acid were identified as 0.95 v/v % and 6.25  v/v % respectively. The data of oxidation of dual ring thiophenes with n-dodecane and n-hexane as model fuels  and typical transport fuels (diesel, kerosene, and petrol) using these oxidant and catalyst is presented. The  observed performance with HC was compared with results obtained from a stirred tank and AC set-up. The  presented data indicates that HC is able to intensify oxidation of sulphur species. The presented results provide a  sound basis for further developments on HC based oxidative desulphurization processes.  </p

A facile green synthetic route for the preparation of highly active γ-Al2O3 from aluminum foil waste

A novel green preparation route to prepare nano-mesoporous γ-Al2O3 from AlCl3.6H2O derived from aluminum foil waste and designated as ACFL550 is demonstrated, which showed higher surface area, larger pore volume, stronger acidity and higher surface area compared to γ-Al2O3 that is produced from the commercial AlCl3 precursor, AC550. The produced crystalline AlCl3.6H2O and Al(NO3)3.9H2O in the first stage of the preparation method were characterized by single-crystal XRD, giving two crystal structures, a trigonal (R-3c) and monoclinic (P21/c) structure, respectively. EDX analysis showed that ACFL550 had half the chlorine content (Cl%) relative to AC550, which makes ACFL550 a promising catalyst in acid-catalysed reactions. Pure and modified ACFL550 and AC550 were applied in acidcatalysed reactions, the dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether and the total methane oxidation reactions, respectively. It was found that ACFL550 showed higher catalytic activity than AC550. This work opens doors for the preparation of highly active and well-structured nano-mesoporous alumina catalysts/supports from aluminum foil waste and demonstrates its application in acid-catalysed reactions

Silver-Modified η‑Al₂O₃ Catalyst for DME Production

Herein, an in situ DRIFT technique was used to study the reaction mechanism of methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME). Moreover, the effect of silver loading on the catalytic performance of η-Al₂O₃ was examined in a fixed bed reactor under the reaction conditions where the temperature ranged from 180 to 300 °C with a WHSV = 48.4 h^–1. It was observed that the optimum Ag loading was found to be 10% Ag/η-Al₂O₃ with this novel catalyst also showing a high degree of stability under steady-state conditions, and this is attributed to the enhancement in both the surface Lewis acidity and the hydrophobicity

Silver-Modified η‑Al₂O₃ Catalyst for DME Production

Herein, an in situ DRIFT technique was used to study the reaction mechanism of methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME). Moreover, the effect of silver loading on the catalytic performance of η-Al₂O₃ was examined in a fixed bed reactor under the reaction conditions where the temperature ranged from 180 to 300 °C with a WHSV = 48.4 h^–1. It was observed that the optimum Ag loading was found to be 10% Ag/η-Al₂O₃ with this novel catalyst also showing a high degree of stability under steady-state conditions, and this is attributed to the enhancement in both the surface Lewis acidity and the hydrophobicity