New trends in improving gasoline quality and octane through naphtha isomerization: a short review

Assessment of thermokinetic behaviour of tannery sludge in slow pyrolysis process through artificial neural network

In the leather industry, tannery sludge is produced in large volume. This study investigated the thermal degradation behavior of tannery sludge using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The experiments were carried out in an inert atmosphere using nitrogen gas at varied heating rates of 5, 10, 20, and 40 °C/min in the temperature range of 30-900 °C. For the kinetic parameters calculation, three different models, Friedman, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) and the Ozawa-Flynn-Wall (OFW), were employed. The average activation energy E_a obtained from Friedman method, KAS, and the OFW were 130.9 kJ mol^-1, 143.14 kJ mol^-1, and 147.19 kJ mol^-1 respectively. Along with that experiment of pyrolysis was accomplished in fixed bed reactor at temperature of 400 °C. Biochar produced has a yield of about 71%. The analysis of gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy shows the different chemical compounds present in the bio-oil containing hydrocarbons (alkanes and alkenes), oxygen containing compounds (alcohols, aldehyde, ketones, esters carboxylic acids and the esters) and the nitrogen containing compounds. The kinetic assessment was complemented by frequency distribution of activation energy model (DAEM). In the pyrolysis of tannery sludge six pseudo-components were found to be involved. Furthermore, artificial neural network (ANN) was used to predict the activation energy from conversion, temperature, and the heating rate data. MLP-3-11-1 described well the conversion behavior of tannery sludge pyrolysis.

One-Step Biodiesel Production from Waste Cooking Oil Using CaO Promoted Activated Carbon Catalyst from Prunus persica Seeds

In recent years, the scope for replacing fossil fuels has been appealing to the world, owing to limited conventional fuels, crude oil price volatility, and greenhouse gas emission concerns. In this regard, this article demonstrates the preparation of a novel solid base catalyst for the transesterification of waste cooking oil. A calcium-loaded activated carbon catalyst was prepared through pyrolysis of peach shell followed by chemical activation with KOH and then calcium loading through the wet impregnation method. The prepared catalyst showed the best performance with 20% calcium loading and 650 °C of calcination temperature. The catalyst’s physicochemical, structural, and textural properties were examined using XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, and BET analysis. The catalyst showed a maximum yield of 96% at optimized conditions, i.e., 65 °C temperature, oil to methanol ratio 1:8, 5 wt% catalyst concentration, and a 160 min reaction time. Additionally, it illustrated high recyclability up to 10 cycles with negligible leaching of Ca+2 ions. The high activity of the catalyst was due to the presence of calcium ions on the activated carbon support. Physio–chemical properties and GC-MS analysis of prepared biodiesel determined that all attributes were within the biodiesel standard tolerances set by ASTM D6751 and EN 14214. Therefore, all the innovations mentioned above concluded that catalyst generated from peach shell biochar is a promising candidate for biodiesel production, ultimately resulting in solid and liquid waste management.

A Comprehensive Review on Thermal Coconversion of Biomass, Sludge, Coal, and Their Blends Using Thermogravimetric Analysis

Lignocellulosic biomass is a vital resource for providing clean future energy with a sustainable environment. Besides lignocellulosic residues, nonlignocellulosic residues such as sewage sludge from industrial and municipal wastes are gained much attention due to its large quantities and ability to produce cheap and clean energy to potentially replace fossil fuels. These cheap and abundantly resources can reduce global warming owing to their less polluting nature. The low-quality biomass and high ash content of sewage sludge-based thermal conversion processes face several disadvantages towards its commercialization. Therefore, it is necessary to utilize these residues in combination with coal for improvement in energy conversion processes. As per author information, no concrete study is available to discuss the synergy and decomposition mechanism of residues blending. The objective of this study is to present the state-of-the-art review based on the thermal coconversion of biomass/sewage sludge, coal/biomass, and coal/sewage sludge blends through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to explore the synergistic effects of the composition, thermal conversion, and blending for bioenergy production. This paper will also contribute to detailing the operating conditions (heating rate, temperature, and residence time) of copyrolysis and cocombustion processes, properties, and chemical composition that may affect these processes and will provide a basis to improve the yield of biofuels from biomass/sewage sludge, coal/sewage sludge, and coal/biomass blends in thermal coconversion through thermogravimetric technique. Furthermore, the influencing factors and the possible decomposition mechanism are elaborated and discussed in detail. This study will provide recent development and future prospects for cothermal conversion of biomass, sewage, coal, and their blends.