Aaron Akah

Enhanced feedstock recycling of post-consumer plastic

Feedstock recycling of waste plastics is becoming more crucial as a method to convert plastics back into a source of useful platform chemicals. Although thermal cracking presents easier options, the products have limited utility and present a higher energy burden than the method proposed in this paper, that of catalytichydrocracking a mildly exothermic process. This paper reports the use of metal loaded zeolite catalysts at much reduced temperatures (200 �C - 350 �C) to convert mixed plastic waste at significantly shorter reaction times (typically 5 min), making the continuous processing of polymer waste a possibility.

Growth of Hierarchically Structured High-Surface Area Alumina on FeCrAl Alloy Wires

The formation of metastable alumina phases due to the oxidation of commercial FeCrAl alloy wires (0.5 mm thickness) at various temperatures and time periods has been examined. Samples were isothermally oxidised in air using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The morphology of the oxidised samples was analyzed using an Electronic Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) and X-ray on the surface analysis was done using an Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analyzer. The technique of X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) was used to characterize the phase of the oxide growth. The entire study showed that it was possible to grow high-surface area gamma alumina on the FeCrAl alloy wire surfaces when isothermally oxidised above 800°C over several hours.