Raynald Labrecque

Dry reforming of methane with CO2 on an electron-activated iron catalytic bed.

A preliminary experimental investigation of dry reforming of methane with carbon dioxide, that has been performed on an iron bed activated with an electric current is reported. Operating conditions for the reaction included temperature ranging from 700 to 800° C and pressure close to 1 atm. The reaction, involving an excess of pure methane and carbon dioxide, was performed with and without addition of water vapour, provided by hot water saturation of the gaseous feed. According to syngas compositions, the electron flow has a dramatic effect on the conversion of both methane and carbon dioxide. It was shown also that hot water saturation of the CO(2) and CH(4) mixture allowed very good conversion, giving a syngas with a composition very close to what was expected from equilibrium calculations.

Effect of temperature on the separation of soybean 11 S and 7 S protein fractions during bipolar membrane electroacidification.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of temperature (10 and 27 °C) on the efficiency of bipolar membrane electroacidification (BMEA) to fractionate soybean proteins. BMEA is a technology derived from electrodialysis, based on the isoelectric precipitation of proteins. It appears that temperature has a significant effect on the selective precipitation of the soybean protein fractions, mainly 11 S and 7 S, during BMEA. At 27 °C, the precipitation profile of the four protein fractions is situated in a pH range from 6.6 to 4.4, with no possibility of separating any of theses fractions. However, at 10 °C, the 11 S globulin precipitates at a higher pH than at 27 °C, pH 6.7 vs 5.9, allowing the fractionation of 11 S from the other fractions. Using electroacidification it is possible to obtain a precipitate solution enriched in the 11 S fraction (71.8% of 11 S and 10.8% of 7 S) and a supernatant solution enriched in the 7 S fraction (46.6% of 7 S and 4.6% of 11S).

Parametric Study of an Oxygen-Blown Fluidised-Bed Reactor for Wood Gasification

A fluidised-bed reactor has been developed for continuous wood gasification at a rate ranging from 50 to 120 kg/h; either air or oxygen can be used as the fluidising agent. The general design and operating procedure allow the gasification conditions to be maintained constant for periods of over one hour.