Bridgid Lai Fui Chin

Thermogravimetric kinetic modelling of in-situ catalytic pyrolytic conversion of rice husk to bioenergy using rice hull ash catalyst

The thermal degradation behaviour and kinetic parameter of non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis of rice husk (RH) using rice hull ash (RHA) as catalyst were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis at four different heating rates of 10, 20, 50 and 100 K/min. Four different iso conversional kinetic models such as Kissinger, Friedman, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) and Ozawa-Flynn-Wall (OFW) were applied in this study to calculate the activation energy (EA) and pre-exponential value (A) of the system. The EA of non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis was found to be in the range of 152-190 kJ/mol and 146-153 kJ/mol, respectively. The results showed that the catalytic pyrolysis of RH had resulted in a lower EA as compared to non-catalytic pyrolysis of RH and other biomass in literature. Furthermore, the high Gibbs free energy obtained in RH implied that it has the potential to serve as a source of bioenergy production.

Kinetics and thermodynamic analysis in one-pot pyrolysis of rice hull using renewable calcium oxide based catalysts

Thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of catalytic pyrolysis of rice hull (RH) pyrolysis using two different types of renewable catalysts namely natural limestone (LS) and eggshells (ES) using thermogravimetric analysis (TG) approach at different heating rates of 10-100 K min-1 in temperature range of 323-1173 K are investigated. Catalytic pyrolysis mechanism of both catalysts had shown significant effect on the degradation of RH. Model free kinetic of iso-conversional method (Flynn-Wall-Ozawa) and multi-step reaction model (Distributed Activation Energy Model) were employed into present study. The average activation energy was found in the range of 175.4-177.7 kJ mol-1 (RH), 123.3-132.5 kJ mol-1 (RH-LS), and 96.1-100.4 kJ mol-1 (RH-ES) respectively. The syngas composition had increased from 60.05 wt% to 63.1 wt% (RH-LS) and 63.4 wt% (RH-ES). However, the CO2 content had decreased from 24.1 wt% (RH) to 20.8 wt% (RH-LS) and 19.9 wt% (RH-ES).

Kinetic Study on Pyrolysis of Oil Palm Frond

The pyrolysis of oil palm frond is studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) equipment. The present study investigates the thermal degradation behaviour and determination of the kinetic parameters such as the activation energy (EA ) and pre-exponential factor (A) values of oil palm frond under pyrolysis condition. The kinetic data is produced based on first order rate of reaction. In this study, the experiments are conducted at different heating rates of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 K/min in the temperature range of 323-1173 K under non-isothermal condition. Argon gas is used as an inert gas to remove any entrapment of gases in the TGA equipment.

Comparison on tribological properties of vegetable oil upon addition of carbon based nanoparticles

Carbon-based nanoparticles have gained much interest as lubricant additive due to their remarkable properties in mechanical, chemical and electrical field. In this research, graphene nanosheets (GN), carbon nanotubes (CNT), and graphene oxide (GO) were used as lubricant additives to investigate their effect on tribological properties. Friction coefficient and wear scar diameter were studied as parameters to determine the effectiveness of lubricant. In this study, vegetable oil (VO) was used as base fluid lubricant. GN, CNT and GO were added at 50ppm and 100ppm respectively to VO to study their optimum concentration when compared to pure VO. All nanoparticles were well dispersed by using a homogenizer. Results showed that addition of 50ppm GN has the most positive effect in improving the tribological properties of vegetable oil.

Effect of Temperature on Catalytic Steam Co-Gasification of Rubber Seed Shells and Plastic HDPE Residues

The catalytic co-gasification of rubber seed shell (RSS) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) mixture is investigated in a bench scale fixed bed system known as high throughput micro reactors (HTMR) system at different reactor temperature of 600 - 800 °C in order to study the effects on performance parameters such as gas and char yield, syngas yield and product gas composition. The operating temperature is selected based on the optimum conditions found from the previous study on the thermogravimetric analysis equipment coupled with mass spectrometer using these feedstock. The constant process variables used in the HTMR system are RSS particle size range of 0.100 - 0.150 mm, HDPE particle size range of 0.355 - 0.500 mm, and percentage of HDPE in the mixture of 20 weight%. The feeding rate of 2 g/h is carried out in the system.

Optimization Study of Catalytic Co-gasification of Rubber Seed Shell and High Density Polyethylene Waste for Hydrogen Production Using Response Surface Methodology

Experimental studies on the production of hydrogen (H2) gas from catalytic co-gasification of mixtures of plastic high density polyethylene (HDPE) derived from municipal solid waste (MSW) and biomass rubber seed shell (RSS) are conducted in a non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) equipment coupled with mass spectrometer (MS). A commercial nickel is selected as the catalyst in this process. The main objective of the present study is to assess the combined effect of the operating parameters such as temperature, HDPE particle size, RSS particle size, and percentage of plastics in the mixtures on the response variable i.e. production of H2 from the system. The steam generated by the superheater at temperature of 110 °C is injected at flowrate of 0.005 mL min−1 meanwhile argon gas is supplied at flowrate of 100 mL min−1 into the TGA-MS system. The steam to feedstock and catalyst to feedstock ratio of 1 and 0.1 are used respectively. A central composite design (CCD) based on response surface methodology (RSM) is used for the experimental design. The studies are carried out at temperature of 500–900 °C, HDPE particle size range of 0.125–0.625 mm, RSS particle size of 0.125–0.625 mm and percentage of HDPE in the mixture of 10–40 wt% on the response variable of H2 production. The optimum process parameter for maximum H2 production in the system is determined.