Quanxin Li

Selective conversion of bio-oil to light olefins: controlling catalytic cracking for maximum olefins.

Light olefins are the basic building blocks for the petrochemical industry. In this work, selective production of light olefins from catalytic cracking of bio-oil was performed by using the La/HZSM-5 catalyst. With a nearly complete conversion of bio-oil, the maximum yield reached 0.28±0.02 kg olefins/(kg bio-oil), which was close to that from methanol. Addition of La into zeolite efficiently changed the total acid amount of HZSM-5, especially the acid distribution among the strong, medium and weak acid sites. A moderate increase of the number of the medium acid sites effectively enhanced the olefins selectivity and improved the catalyst stability. The comparison between the catalytic cracking and pyrolysis of bio-oil was studied. The mechanism of the conversion of bio-oil to light olefins was also discussed.

Production of light olefins by catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass with HZSM-5 zeolite impregnated with 6 wt.% lanthanum.

Catalytic conversion of rice husk, sawdust, sugarcane bagasse, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin into olefins was performed with HZSM-5 containing 6 wt.% lanthanum. The olefins yields for different feedstocks decreased in the order: cellulose>hemicellulose>sugarcane bagasse>rice husk>sawdust>lignin. Biomass containing higher content of cellulose or hemicellulose produced more olefins than feedstocks with higher content of lignin. Among the biomass types, sugarcane bagasse provided the highest olefin yield of 0.12 kg olefins/(kg dry biomass) and carbon yield of 21.2C-mol%. Temperature, residence time and the catalyst/feed ratio influenced olefin yield and selectivity. While the HZSM-5 zeolite was catalytically active, the incorporation of lanthanum at 2.9, and 6.0 wt.% increased the production of olefins from rice husk by 15.6% and 26.5%, respectively. The conversion of biomass to light olefins potentially provides an alternative and sustainable route for production of the key petrochemicals.

From lignin to cycloparaffins and aromatics: Directional synthesis of jet and diesel fuel range biofuels using biomass

The continual growth in commercial aviation fuels and more strict environmental legislations have led to immense interest in developing green aviation fuels from biomass. This paper demonstrated a controllable transformation of lignin into jet and diesel fuel range hydrocarbons, involving directional production of C8-C15 aromatics by the catalytic depolymerization of lignin into C6-C8 low carbon aromatic monomers coupled with the alkylation of aromatics, and the directional production of C8-C15 cycloparaffins by the hydrogenation of aromatics. The key step, the production of the desired C8-C15 aromatics with the selectivity up to 94.3%, was achieved by the low temperature alkylation reactions of the lignin-derived monomers using ionic liquid. The synthetic biofuels basically met the main technical requirements of conventional jet fuels. The transformation potentially provides a useful way for the development of cycloparaffinic and aromatic components in jet fuels using renewable lignocellulose biomass.

High efficient conversion of CO2-rich bio-syngas to CO-rich bio-syngas using biomass char: a useful approach for production of bio-methanol from bio-oil

A novel approach for high efficient conversion of the CO(2)-rich bio-syngas into the CO-rich bio-syngas was carried out by using biomass char and Ni/Al(2)O(3) catalyst, which was successfully applied for production of bio-methanol from bio-oil. After the bio-syngas conditioning, the CO(2)/CO ratio prominently dropped from 6.33 to 0.01-0.28. The maximum CO yield in the bio-syngas conditioning process reached about 1.96 mol/(mol CO(2)) with a nearly complete conversion of CO(2) (99.5%). The performance of bio-methanol synthesis was significantly improved via the conditioned bio-syngas, giving a maximum methanol yield of 1.32 kg/(kg(catalyst)h) with a methanol selectivity of 99%. Main reaction paths involved in the bio-syngas conditioning process have been investigated in detail by using different model mixture gases and different carbon sources.

Production of aromatics through current-enhanced catalytic conversion of bio-oil tar.

Biomass conversion into benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) can provide basic feedstocks for the petrochemical industry, which also serve as the most important aromatic platform molecules for development of high-end chemicals. Present work explored a new route for transformation of bio-oil tar into BTX through current-enhanced catalytic conversion (CECC), involving the synergistic effect between the zeolite catalyst and current to promote the deoxygenation and cracking reactions. The proposed transformation shows an excellent BTX aromatics selectivity of 92.9 C-mol% with 25.1 wt.% yield at 400 °C over usual HZSM-5 catalyst. The study of the model compounds revealed that the groups such as methoxy, hydroxyl and methyl in aromatics can be effectively removed in the CECC process. Present transformation potentially provides an important approach for production of the key petrochemicals of BTX and the overall use of bio-oil tar derived from bio-oil or biomass.

Directional synthesis of ethylbenzene through catalytic transformation of lignin

Transformation of lignin to ethylbenzene can provide an important bulk raw material for the petrochemical industry. This work explored the production of ethylbenzene from lignin through the directional catalytic depolymerization of lignin into the aromatic monomers followed by the selective alkylation of the aromatic monomers. For the first step, the aromatics selectivity of benzene derived from the catalytic depolymerization of lignin reached about 90.2 C-mol% over the composite catalyst of Re-Y/HZSM-5 (25). For the alkylation of the aromatic monomers in the second step, the highest selectivity of ethylbenzene was about 72.3 C-mol% over the HZSM-5 (25) catalyst. The reaction pathway for the transformation of lignin to ethylbenzene was also addressed. Present transformation potentially provides a useful approach for the production of the basic petrochemical material and development of high-end chemicals utilizing lignin as the abundant natural aromatic resource.

One-step synthesis of phenol by O- and OH- emission material

A novel approach to the direct synthesis of phenol from benzene was obtained with high benzene conversion (30%) and phenol selectivity (approximately 90%) by using a microporous material [Ca24Al28O64]4+.4O-(C12A7-O-) as catalyst with oxygen and water; active O- and OH- anions are proposed to play important roles in the formation of phenol by hydroxylating the aromatic ring of benzene.

Reproducibility of O- Negative Ion Emission from C12A7 Crystal Surface

Reproducibility, stability and oxygen-pressure dependence of O- negative ion emission from a synthesized crystal 12CaO7Al2O3 (C12A7) surface have been investigated. We found the continuous O- implantation into the C12A7 crystal can be simply realized by supplying electron and oxygen on the Au-deposited C12A7 surface via electrocatalytic reactions. The O- emission from the consumed C12A7 surface was recovered after the implantation operation (O2: 0.13 Pa; 770°C) for 30 minutes. In contrast, the implantation influence on electron emission is negligible. The O- emission intensity is nearly constant in the O2 pressure lower than 1×10-3 Pa. The O- implantation mechanism will be addressed.

Preparation and Characterization of Storage and Emission Functional Material of Chlorine Anion: [Ca24Al28O64]4+ (Cl)3.80(O2)0.10

A storage and emission functional material of [Ca24Al28O64]4+(Cl)3.80(O2)0.10 (C12A7-Cl), was prepared by the solid-state reactions of CaCO3, -Al2O3, and CaCl2 in Cl2/Ar mixture atmosphere. The anionic species stored in the C12A7-Cl material were dominated by Cl, about (2.210.24) 1021 cm3, accompanied by a small amount of O2, O, and O2, measured via ion chromatography, electron paramagnetic resonance, and raman spectra measurements. These results also corroborate identification of time-of-flight mass spectroscopythe anionic species emitted from the C12A7-Cl surface were dominated by the Cl (about 90%) together with a small amount of O and electrons. The structure and morphological alterations of the material were investigated via X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscope, respectively.

Inactivation of Escherichia coli by O− water

Aims:  To clarify the effects of O− (atomic oxygen radical anion) water on the viability and morphological alteration of Escherichia coli.