Performance evaluation of a novel multi-metal catalyst solution obtained from electronic waste bioleaching on upgrading and enhancing oil recovery

Due to the high costs and associated high CO2 emissions of thermal methods, this study focuses on upgrading heavy oil and enhancing oil recovery within reservoir temperature ranges. In this research, a novel, low-cost, and environmentally friendly multi-metal catalyst has been used, which is actually extracted from electronic waste (E-waste). At optimal conditions, which include 80 °C, 12 h of retention time, and 0.2 % v/v of the multi-metal catalyst, this catalyst effectively reduced the viscosity of heavy oil from 687 to 580 mPa.s. To analyze heavy oil before and after the process, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was conducted. FTIR spectra indicates that the multi-metal catalyst has reduced the amount of aromatic compounds, shortened hydrocarbon chains, and decreased double and triple bonds. Micromodel tests were conducted by multi-metal catalyst flooding at optimal temperature and retention time obtained from static experiments. Heavy oil recovery through multi-metal catalyst flooding reached 38 %, which is a 10.5 % increase compared to deionized water flooding. The contact angle of the rock was measured after contact with the multi-metal catalyst. The multi-metal catalyst reduced the contact angle by 55 ° , changing the wettability of carbonate rock from oil-wet to water-wet. The absorption test indicates that the multi-metal catalyst dissolves certain metals in the rock, most likely due to the high pH of the catalyst. As a result, the permeability of the rock may increase due to the dissolution of the rock metals.

Experimental studies on high-quality bio-oil production via pyrolysis of Azolla by the use of a three metallic/modified pyrochar catalyst

In this study, the potential of the pyrolysis method to overcome the negative effects of Azolla-filiculoides in infected areas was thoroughly investigated. Non-catalytic pyrolysis experiments were conducted at a temperature range of 400-700 °C. The highest possible bio-oil yield (35 wt%) was attained at 500 °C. To achieve the best chemical composition of bio-oil and higher amount of synthesis gas the catalytic pyrolysis were conducted in a dual-bed quartz reactor at the optimum temperature (500 °C). Although, all three catalysts (pyro-char, modified pyro-char (MPC), and Mg-Ni-Mo/MPC) showed almost an impressive performance in promotion of the common reactions, Mg-Ni-Mo/MPC catalyst have illustrated the stunning results by increasing the percentage of furan compounds from 5.25% to 33.07%, and decreasing the acid compounds from 25.56% to 9.09%. Using GC-MS and GC-FID liquid and gaseous products were fully analyzed. The carbon-based catalysts were also evaluated via FTIR, FESEM, EDX, and BET analyses.

Pyrolysis of marine biomass to produce bio-oil and its upgrading using a novel multi-metal catalyst prepared from the spent car catalytic converter

In order to reduce the economic and environmental consequences caused by spent car catalyst, we herein report for the first time a novel promising multi-metal catalyst prepared from spent car catalytic converters to upgrade the pyrolysis bio-oils. The physico-chemical properties of prepared catalyst were characterized by XRD, EDS, FESEM, and FT-IR analyses. The thermal stability of the multi-metal catalyst was studied with TGA. To investigate the activity of the catalyst, Conversion of Cladophora glomerata (C. glomerata) into bio-products was carried out via a fixed bed reactor with and without catalyst at the temperature of 500°C. Although the catalyst didn't catalyze the gasification reaction, bio-oil was upgraded over the catalyst. The main effect of the catalyst on the bio-oil components is deoxygenating of nitrogen compounds and promotion the ketonization reaction, which converts acid to ketone and declines the corrosive nature of bio-oil.