Je-Lueng Shie

Energy life cycle assessment of rice straw bio-energy derived from potential gasification technologies.

To be a viable alternative, a biofuel should provide a net energy gain and be capable of being produced in large quantities without reducing food supplies. Amounts of agricultural waste are produced and require treatment, with rice straw contributing the greatest source of such potential bio-fuel in Taiwan. Through life-cycle accounting, several energy indicators and four potential gasification technologies (PGT) were evaluated. The input energy steps for the energy life cycle assessment (ELCA) include collection, generator, torrefaction, crushing, briquetting, transportation, energy production, condensation, air pollution control and distribution of biofuels to the point of end use. Every PGT has a positive energy benefit. The input of energy required for the transportation and pre-treatment are major steps in the ELCA. On-site briquetting of refused-derived fuel (RDF) provides an alternative means of reducing transportation energy requirements. Bio-energy sources, such as waste rice straw, provide an ideal material for the bio-fuel plant.

Bioenergy and products from thermal pyrolysis of rice straw using plasma torch

The aim of this work was to study the feasibility and operation performance of plasma torch pyrolysis of biomass wastes, taking rice straw as the target material. This novel method has several advantages including high heating rate, short heating time, no viscous tar and low residual char (7.45-13.78 wt.%) or lava. The productions of CO and H(2) are the major components (91.85-94.14 vol.%) in the gas products with relatively high reaction rates. The maximum concentrations of gaseous products occurring times are all below 1 min. Almost 90% of gaseous products were appeared in 4 min reaction time. The yield of H(2) increases with the increase of input power or temperature. With the increase of moisture (5-55 wt.%), the mass yields of H(2) and CO(2) also increase from the H(2)O decomposition. However, due to the CO(2) production, the accumulated volume fraction of syngas decreases with the increase of moisture.

The utilization of thin film transistor liquid crystal display waste glass as a pozzolanic material.

This investigation elucidates the pozzolanic behavior of waste glass blended cement (WGBC) paste used in thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD). X-ray diffraction (XRD) results demonstrate that the TFT-LCD waste glass was entirely non-crystalline. The leaching concentrations of the clay and TFT-LCD waste glass all met the current regulatory thresholds of the Taiwan EPA. The pozzolanic strength activity indices of TFT-LCD waste glass at 28 days and 56 days were 89% and 92%, respectively. Accordingly, this material can be regarded as a good pozzolanic material. The amount of TFT-LCD waste glass that is mixed into WGBC pastes affects the strength of the pastes. The strength of the paste clearly declined as the amount of TFT-LCD waste glass increased. XRD patterns indicated that the major difference was the presence of hydrates of calcium silicate (CSH, 2 theta=32.1 degrees), aluminate and aluminosilicate, which was present in WGBC pastes. Portland cement may have increased the alkalinity of the solution and induced the decomposition of the glass phase network. WGBC pastes that contained 40% TFT-LCD waste glass have markedly lower gel/space ratios and exhibit less degree of hydration than ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes. The most satisfactory characteristics of the strength were observed when the mixing ratio of the TFT-LCD waste glass was 10%.

Recycling waste brick from construction and demolition of buildings as pozzolanic materials

This investigation elucidates the pozzolic characteristics of pastes that contain waste brick from building construction and demolition wastes. The TCLP leaching concentrations of waste brick for the target cations or heavy metals were all lower than the current regulatory thresholds of the Taiwan EPA. Waste brick had a pozzolanic strength activity index of 107% after 28 days. It can be regarded as a strong pozzolanic material. The compressive strengths of waste brick blended cement (WBBC) that contain 10% waste brick increased from 71.2 MPa at 28 days to 75.1 MPa at 60 days, an increase of approximately 5% over that period. At 28 days, the pozzolanic reaction began, reducing the amount of Ca(OH)2 and increasing the densification. The intensity of the peak at 3640 cm— 1 associated with Ca(OH)2 is approximately the same for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes. The hydration products of all the samples yield characteristics peaks at 978 cm—1 associated with C—S—H, and at ~3011 cm—1 and 1640 cm—1 associated with water. The samples yield peaks at 1112 cm—1, revealing the formation of ettringite. In WBBC pastes, the ratio Q2/Q1 increases with curing time. These results demonstrate that increasing the curing time increases the number of linear polysilicate anions in C—S—H. Experimental results reveal that waste brick has potential as a pozzolanic material in the partial replacement of cement.

Steam plasmatron gasification of distillers grains residue from ethanol production.

In this study, a plasmatron reactor was used for gasifying the waste of distillers grains at different temperatures (773, 873, 973 K) and water flow rates (1, 2, 3 mL min(-1)), which were heated to produce steam. Among all the gas products, syngas was the major component (88.5 wt.% or 94.66 vol.%) with temperatures yielding maximum concentrations at 873 K with a relatively high reaction rate. The maximum concentrations regarding gaseous production occurring times are all below 1 min. With the increase of steam, the recovery mass yield of syngas also increases from 34.14 to 45.47 approximately 54.66 wt.% at 873 K. Water-gas reactions and steam-methane reforming reactions advance the production of syngas with the increase of steam. Furthermore, the water-shift reaction also increases in the context of steam gasification which leads to the decrease of CO(2) at the same time.

Elucidating the hydration properties of paste containing thin film transistor liquid crystal display waste glass.

This study discusses the thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) waste glass-blended cement (WGBC) pastes. It presents their compressive strength, their products of hydration and solid silicates changes. The samples were subjected to Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, differential thermal and thermo-gravimetric analysis and (29)Si magnetic angle spinning/nuclear magnetic resonance. The experimental XRD results demonstrated the speciation of the TFT-LCD waste glass, and that the major component was SiO(2). At 40% substitution of TFT-LCD waste glass, at 28 days and 56 days, the compressive strength was 35% and 30% lower, respectively, than that of the Portland cement paste. The intensity of the Ca(OH)(2) band at 3,710 cm(-1) in the 56-day hydrated products of the WGBC pastes that contain TFT-LCD waste glass exhibit comparatively weak peaks suggesting that much Ca(OH)(2) during hydration was consumed. Later, the CSH contents of the WGBC pastes increased, revealing that liberated Ca(OH)(2) was consumed in pozzolanic reactions.

Photocatalytic characteristic and photodegradation kinetics of toluene using N-doped TiO2 modified by radio frequency plasma

This study investigates the feasibility of applications of the plasma surface modification of photocatalysts and the removal of toluene from indoor environments. N-doped TiO2 is prepared by precipitation methods and calcined using a muffle furnace (MF) and modified by radio frequency plasma (RF) at different temperatures with light sources from a visible light lamp (VLL), a white light-emitting diode (WLED) and an ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UVLED). The operation parameters and influential factors are addressed and prepared for characteristic analysis and photo-decomposition examination. Furthermore, related kinetic models are established and used to simulate the experimental data. The characteristic analysis results show that the RF plasma-calcination method enhanced the Brunauer Emmett Teller surface area of the modified photocatalysts effectively. For the elemental analysis, the mass percentages of N for the RF-modified photocatalyst are larger than those of MF by six times. The aerodynamic diameters of the RF-modified photocatalyst are all smaller than those of MF. Photocatalytic decompositions of toluene are elucidated according to the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. Decomposition efficiencies (η) of toluene for RF-calcined methods are all higher than those of commercial TiO2 (P25). Reaction kinetics of photo-decomposition reactions using RF-calcined methods with WLED are proposed. A comparison of the simulation results with experimental data is also made and indicates good agreement. All the results provide useful information and design specifications. Thus, this study shows the feasibility and potential use of plasma modification via LED in photocatalysis.

Co-pyrolysis of sunflower-oil cake with potassium carbonate and zinc oxide using plasma torch to produce bio-fuels

This study examined the effects of additives of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) on the pyrolysis of waste sunflower-oil cake using a 60 kW pilot-scale plasma torch reactor. The major gaseous products were CO and H2. The productions of CO and CH4 increased while that of H2 decreased with the addition of K2CO3. The use of ZnO reduced while enhanced the formation of CO and H2, respectively. In order to match the appeal of resource reutilization, one can use the waste K2CO3 resulted from the sorption of CO2 with KOH in greenhouse gas control and the waste ZnO obtained from the melting process as additives for the co-pyrolysis of sunflower-oil cake, yielding fuels rich in CO and H2, respectively.

Elucidating the effects of solar panel waste glass substitution on the physical and mechanical characteristics of clay bricks.

This study deals with the effect of solar panel waste glass on fired clay bricks. Brick samples were heated to temperatures which varied from 700–1000 °C for 6 h, with a heating rate of 10 °C min−1. The material properties of the resultant material were then determined, including speciation variation, loss on ignition, shrinkage, bulk density, 24-h absorption rate, compressive strength and salt crystallization. The results indicate that increasing the amount of solar panel waste glass resulted in a decrease in the water absorption rate and an increase in the compressive strength of the solar panel waste glass bricks. The 24-h absorption rate and compressive strength of the solar panel waste glass brick made from samples containing 30% solar panel waste glass sintered at 1000 °C all met the Chinese National Standard (CNS) building requirements for first-class brick (compressive strengths and water absorption of the bricks were 300 kg cm −2 and 10% of the brick, respectively). The addition of solar panel waste glass to the mixture reduced the degree of firing shrinkage. The salt crystallization test and wet–dry tests showed that the addition of solar panel waste glass had highly beneficial effects in that it increased the durability of the bricks. This indicates that solar panel waste glass is indeed suitable for the partial replacement of clay in bricks.

Adsorption Removal of Environmental Hormones of Dimethyl Phthalate Using Novel Magnetic Adsorbent.

Magnetic polyvinyl alcohol adsorbent M-PVAL was employed to remove and concentrate dimethyl phthalate DMP. The M-PVAL was prepared after sequential syntheses of magnetic Fe3O4 (M) and polyvinyl acetate (M-PVAC). The saturated magnetizations of M, M-PVAC, and M-PVAL are 57.2, 26.0, and 43.2 emu g−1 with superparamagnetism, respectively. The average size of M-PVAL by number is 0.75 μm in micro size. Adsorption experiments include three cases: (1) adjustment of initial pH (pH0) of solution to 5, (2) no adjustment of pH0 with value in 6.04–6.64, and (3) adjusted pH0 = 7. The corresponding saturated amounts of adsorption of unimolecular layer of Langmuir isotherm are 4.01, 5.21, and 4.22 mg g−1, respectively. Values of heterogeneity factor of Freundlich isotherm are 2.59, 2.19, and 2.59 which are greater than 1, revealing the favorable adsorption of DMP/M-PVAL system. Values of adsorption activation energy per mole of Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm are, respectively, of low values of 7.04, 6.48, and 7.19 kJ mol−1, indicating the natural occurring of the adsorption process studied. The tiny size of adsorbent makes the adsorption take place easily while its superparamagnetism is beneficial for the separation and recovery of micro adsorbent from liquid by applying magnetic field after completion of adsorption.