Supawan Vichaphund

Characteristic of fly ash derived-zeolite and its catalytic performance for fast pyrolysis of Jatropha waste

Fly ash from pulp and paper industries was used as a raw material for synthesizing zeolite catalyst. Main compositions of fly ash consisted of 41 wt%SiO2, 20 wt%Al2O3, 14 wt%CaO, and 8 wt% Fe2O3. High content of silica and alumina indicated that this fly ash has potential uses for zeolite synthesis. Fly ash was mixed with 1–3 M NaOH solution. Sodium silicate acting as silica source was added into the solution to obtain the initial SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratio of 23.9. The mixtures were then crystallized at 160°C for 24 and 72 h. Zeolites synthesized after a long synthesis time of 72 h showed superior properties in terms of high crystallinity, less impurity, and small particle size. The catalytic activities of fly ash-derived zeolites were investigated via fast pyrolysis of Jatropha wastes using analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS). Pyrolysis temperature was set at 500°C with Jatropha wastes to catalyst ratio of 1:1, 1:5, and 1:10. Results showed that higher amounts of catalyst have a positive effect on enhancing aromatic hydrocarbons as well as decreasing in the oxygenated and N-containing compounds. Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 (ZSM-5) treated with 3 M NaOH at 72 h showed the highest hydrocarbon yield of 97.4%. The formation of hydrocarbon led to the high heating value of bio-oils. In addition, the presence of ZSM-5 derived from fly ash contributed to reduce the undesirable oxygenated compounds such as aldehydes, acids, and ketones which cause poor quality of bio-oil to only 0.8% while suppressed N-compounds to 1.7%. Overall, the ZSM-5 synthesized from fly ash proved to be an effective catalyst for catalytic fast pyrolysis application.

Fabrication of Ni-alumina Composite Membrane via Powder and Bulk Impregnation Method for Hydrogen Separation

This work reports two preparation methods of Ni-Al2O3 composite to be used as a hydrogen separation membrane. The first method was powder impregnation while the second method was soaking-drying-firing or bulk impregnation. In the first method, the 10 wt pct Nickel (II) nitrate hexahydrate solution was mixed with Al2O3 powder. The mixed powders were dried at 100°C and uniaxially pressed into a disk shape at 7 MPa. The densification of composite membranes was accomplished by pressureless sintered at 900–1300°C. For the second preparation method, the Al2O3 disk support was prepared firstly by uniaxially pressing Al2O3 powder at 7 MPa and then sintered at 1000–1200°C for 2 h. After that, the Al2O3 support was soaked into 10 wt pct Ni solution, dried at 100°C and calcined at 900°C for 2 h. The soaking-drying-firing sequence was repeated ten times to finally obtain the Ni-Al2O3 membranes. After preparation process, the membranes fabricated from these two methods were reduced at 910°C for 2 h in hydrogen atmosphere. The effect of the preparation method on properties of membranes in terms of density, porosity, phase and microstructure are discussed.

Utilization of fly ash-derived HZSM-5: catalytic pyrolysis of Jatropha wastes in a fixed-bed reactor

ABSTRACT Fly ash-derived HZSM-5 catalyst was first applied in the catalytic pyrolysis of Jatropha residues in a semi-continuous fixed-bed reactor. The catalytic performance of HZSM-5 catalysts prepared from chemicals including conventional hydrothermal HZSM-5, Ni/HZSM-5 by ion exchange, and commercial HZSM-5 (Si/Al = 30) was evaluated for comparison. Catalytic pyrolysis of Jatropha residues with HZSM-5 catalysts was investigated in terms of product yields and qualities of bio-oil and bio-char. The liquid yield produced from fly ash-derived HZSM-5 was 29.4%, which was comparable to those obtained from chemicals and commercial (30.2–32.2%). Fly ash-derived HZSM-5 had high efficiency in increasing desirable compounds such as aliphatics and phenols as well as decreasing oxygenates and particularly N-containing compounds in bio-oils. The higher heating values and pH value of catalytic bio-oil achieved from fly ash-derived HZSM-5 were comparable to those achieved from HZSM-5 prepared from chemicals and commercial. The bio-char had 48–50 wt% carbon and was classified as mesoporous material. Overall, HZSM-5 derived from fly ash showed potentials to use as a catalyst for catalytic pyrolysis application.

Strength and Densification of Ni/Al2O3 Membrane Compacted with Uniaxial Pressing and CIP for Hydrogen Separation: Influence of Pressing Process

In our previous studies, 10-40wt%Ni/Al2O3 membrane was prepared by uniaxial pressing and sintered at 900 to 1400°C for 2 h. It was found that 10wt%Ni/Al2O3 membrane sintered at 1400°C showed the highest physical and mechanical properties. Thus, this work we focused on the effect of different pressing processes on the properties of Ni/Al2O3 membrane with longer soaking time. Firstly, 10-40wt%Ni and Al2O3 powders were mixed by dried ball-milling. Then, the mixture powder was pressed to form a bar shape by two different processes; uniaxially pressing (No CIP) and uniaxially pressing followed by cold isostatic pressing (CIP) at 250 MPa for 5 min. All Ni/Al2O3 specimens from two pressing routes were sintered at 1400°C for 4h under air atmosphere and reduced at 900 °C under H2 (99.99%). From the results, it was found that the densification process affected to physical and mechanical properties of Ni/Al2O3. The CIPed - 10wt%Ni/Al2O3 membrane sintered at 1400°C for 4 h showed the highest relative density and flexural strength of 76% and 106 MPa with the lowest pore size (78 nm) and 17% porosity. The addition of nickel content gradually decreased physical and mechanical properties of Ni/Al2O3.

A Study of Different Sintering Routes on Properties of Ni-Al2O3 Hydrogen Separation Membrane

This work aimed to investigate the effect of different sintering routes on properties of Ni-Al2O3 membrane. Alumina powder was mixed with 10 wt% nickel powder by dried ball-milling. Then, the mixture powder was uniaxially pressed to a bar shape and sintered via different sintering conditions. First route, the Ni-Al2O3 specimen was sintered at 1300°C for 2 h under air and then reduced at 900°C for 2 h under H2 atmosphere. Second route, the specimen was sintered at 1300°C for 2 h under argon. After sintering process, the physical and mechanical properties of membrane obtained from two routes were compared and discussed.