Adsorption of sulfur dioxide onto activated carbons prepared from oil‐palm shells impregnated with potassium hydroxide

Adsorption of sulfur dioxide (SO₂), a gaseous pollutant, onto activated carbons prepared from oil‐palm shells pre‐treated with potassium hydroxide (KOH) impregnation was studied. Experimental results showed that SO₂ concentration and adsorption temperature affected significantly the amount of SO₂ adsorbed and the equilibrium time. However, sample particle sizes influenced the equilibrium time (due to effect of diffusion rate) only. Desorption at the same temperature of adsorption and a higher temperature of 200 °C confirmed the presence of chemisorption due to pre‐impregnation. Impregnation with different activation agents was found to have limited effect on the inorganic components of the sample. Compared with the activated carbon pre‐treated with 30% phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) that had larger BET and micropore surface areas, the sample impregnated with 10% KOH had a higher adsorptive capacity for SO₂, which was closely related to the surface organic functional groups of the sample. In general, the activated carbon prepared from oil‐palm shell impregnated with KOH was more effective for SO₂ adsorption and its adsorptive capacity was comparable to some commercial activated carbons. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

生物质多孔碳材料的水热合成及应用研究进展

生物质作为典型的可再生能源, 具有负碳属性, 符合绿色发展的要求。水热炭化是在相对温和的条件下将生物质转化为各种功能性碳材料的过程。本文综述了近年来以单糖(葡萄糖、果糖和木糖)、木质纤维(纤维素、半纤维素和木质素)和壳聚糖等生物质为原料, 通过水热法转化为生物质多孔碳材料的研究进展, 重点讨论了生物质多孔碳材料在气体吸附、染料吸附和重金属离子吸附领域的应用, 并提出了生物质水热合成高性能和对环境友好的多孔碳材料的未来研究方向。     

水热炭化制备污泥生物炭的碳固定

采用水热炭化法将市政污泥与印染污泥在不同的水热温度下制备成生物炭,并着重分析了污泥生物炭的碳固定指标与水热温度的关系。结果表明,污泥泥质和水热温度对生物炭碳固定特性影响明显。市政污泥的水热炭化以脱羧为主,而印染污泥则以脱水为主。随着水热温度升高,两种生物炭中碳元素含量、炭产率和碳回收率均下降,但市政污泥生物炭中稳定碳的含量及其产率增加,稳定性提高,而印染污泥则呈现相反的变化趋势。这一结果指出,市政污泥生物炭的碳固定性能明显优于印染污泥,并且应进一步研究不同污泥泥质特征与炭化碳固定效果的关系。     

生物质炭的制备及其在能源与环境领域中的应用

本文综述了热分解法、微波炭化法以及水热炭化法制备生物质炭材料的研究现状及其存在的问题;并概括了生物质炭在碳燃料电池、生物质炭燃料、污水处理和土壤处理等能源与环境领域应用的研究进展,最后展望了生物质炭的发展前景。     

生物质炭的制备及其在能源与环境领域中的应用

本文综述了热分解法、微波炭化法以及水热炭化法制备生物质炭材料的研究现状及其存在的问题;并概括了生物质炭在碳燃料电池、生物质炭燃料、污水处理和土壤处理等能源与环境领域应用的研究进展,最后展望了生物质炭的发展前景。     

过程参数对纤维素水热碳化的影响

生物质废弃物是当今世界上的第四大能源,传统的焚烧处理方式不仅会污染环境,还会浪费能源。水热碳化是一种高效的废弃生物质资源化技术。考察了反应温度和停留时间对纤维素水热碳化碳分布的影响,并对碳化物的物理化学特性、微观结构进行了研究,以及从反应机理角度进行解释。结果表明,原料中的碳大部分都保留在了碳化物中,占71%～75%,其余部分被转移至液相和气相。随着温度和时间的增大,碳化物的产率降低,热值升高,O/C原子比降低。SEM显示当温度达到220℃时,碳化物表面开始形成微球结构,且随着温度和时间的增大,微球结构均一性、分散度越来越好。FTIR表明碳化物表面生成羟基和羰基等官能团,水热碳化过程中会发生脱水和芳香化反应。     

核桃壳水热炭对六价铬的吸附特性

以核桃壳为前体采用水热炭化法制备水热炭,利用低温液氮物理吸附仪和傅里叶变换红外光谱仪测定水热炭的孔结构和表面官能团;实验研究其对液相中Cr(Ⅵ)的吸附特性,考察吸附剂加入量、Cr(Ⅵ)初始浓度、pH值、吸附时间等因素对吸附效果的影响。结果表明,水热炭的孔径分布范围较宽,表面含氧官能团丰富,能够很好地吸附溶液中的六价铬;溶液pH值对Cr(Ⅵ)的脱除影响很大,pH值呈酸性时吸附效果较好,pH值为2时脱除率达98.85%.当反应温度35℃、Cr(Ⅵ)初始浓度50mg/L、水热炭投加量为16g/L、pH值为6、吸附时间为100min时,Cr(Ⅵ)离子的去除率可达98%以上。核桃壳水热炭对Cr(Ⅵ)具有良好的吸附能力,吸附过程符合准二级吸附动力学模型,可用Freundlich吸附等温模型来描述,吸附等温线的线性相关性显著。     

Comparative evaluation of palm oil color measurement using a prototype palm oil colorimeter

The color of refined palm oil and palm oil products is conventionally measured using the manually operated Lovibond^® Tintometer. In the present study, one manual/visual and three automatic colorimeters for the measurement of vegetable oil color were used for color measurements of refined palm oil. All colorimeters used were commercially available instruments except for an automatic palm oil colorimeter developed specifically for the measurement of palm oil color. The color values obtained from all four instruments were compared using the visually obtained readings as reference values. Results showed that all three automatic instruments gave correlation coefficients of greater than 0.9300 for red color measurements. In addition, the Student t-test showed no difference between the analysis of red color using the visual method and the palm oil colorimeter. This investigation concludes that, although it is extremely difficult to reduce the lack of precision in color measurement of palm oil, a properly designed and calibrated automatic instrument may still be the better choice because reproducibility and repeatability are required in all standard test methods. The palm oil colorimeter offers a ready and relatively inexpensive solution to the problem of color matches based on visual observations.     

Improvement of palm oil through breeding and biotechnology

The oil palm Elaeis guineensis is the highest oil-yielding crop and has the potential to become the major supplier of both edible oil and renewable industrial feedstock. The oil yield from wild groves is presently less than 0.5 t/ha/y. However, through breeding and selection, the oil yield of commercial plantations could reach as much as 8 t/ha/y. New planting materials also have the capability of better oil yields with high iodine value (IV), slow height increment, and larger kernels. The oil also contains considerable amounts of carotenoids (500–700 ppm), vitamin E (600–1000 ppm), and sterols (250–620 ppm). The oil yield of another oil palm species, E. oleifera, is approximately 0.5 t/ha/y with high contents of carotenoids (700–1500 ppm), vitamin E (700–1500 ppm), and sterols (3500–4000 ppm). The above traits could be improved through breeding and biotechnology. Biotechnological efforts at the Palm Oil Institute of Malaysia are directed toward the production of oil with high IV and high monounsaturated fatty acids for edible purposes and industrial uses. Isolation and manipulation of the genes involved in the biosynthesis of fatty acids are the main focus. The aim is to increase the efficiency of conversion of palmitate (C_16:0) to oleate (C_18:1). Levels of palmitate and oleate are controlled by the enzymes acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase and β-keto acyl ACP synthase II. The chain termination reactions of C_16:0 and C_18:1 are independent, thus paving the way for the possibility of reducing palmitate levels by switching off the palmitoyl ACP thioesterase gene. Paper presented at the 88th AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo. May 11–14, 1997, Seattle, Washington, USA.     

Recovery of oil <Emphasis Type="Italic">via</Emphasis> acid-catalyzed transesterification

The process of preparing oil palm seed for planting generates vast quantities of waste pulp. The pulp (ca 80% oil), for which no use has been found, is indiscriminately dumped because either reprocessing it into a useful product or disposing of it properly is expensive. In situ transesterification of the pulp with methanol and ethanol using sulfuric acid as catalyst was carried out on a laboratory scale. Our aim was to develop a process to recover the largely hydrolytically degraded oil (PV, 25–26; FFA, 25–26%) from the pulp. Acid-catalyzed conversions of the oil into alkyl esters were 96–97% for both methanol and ethanol. The accompanying concentrations of FFA, TG, DG, and MG were low. The identities and proportions of FA ester in the alkyl esters reflected the FA content of the palm oil. The values for the esterified products of some fuel properties such as cloud point and viscosity were slightly below the general current specification. However, with optimization of the reaction conditions and simplification of some of the technical aspects, the waste pulp could be a good source of alkyl esters for both oleochemical and fuel applications.     

Catalytic oxidative desulfurization of diesel utilizing hydrogen peroxide and functionalized-activated carbon in a biphasic diesel-acetonitrile system

This paper presents the development of granular functionalized-activated carbon as catalysts in the catalytic oxidative desulfurization (Cat-ODS) of commercial Malaysian diesel using hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. Granular functionalized-activated carbon was prepared from oil palm shell using phosphoric acid activation method and carbonized at 500 °C and 700 °C for 1 h. The activated carbons were characterized using various analytical techniques to study the chemistry underlying the preparation and calcination treatment. Nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms exhibited the characteristic of microporous structure with some contribution of mesopore property. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy results showed that higher activation temperature leads to fewer surface functional groups due to thermal decomposition. Micrograph from Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope showed that activation at 700 °C creates orderly and well developed pores. Furthermore, X-ray Diffraction patterns revealed that pyrolysis has converted crystalline cellulose structure of oil palm shell to amorphous carbon structure. The influence of the reaction temperature, the oxidation duration, the solvent, and the oxidant/sulfur molar ratio were examined. The rates of the catalytic oxidative desulfurization reaction were found to increase with the temperature, and H₂O₂/S molar ratio. Under the best operating condition for the catalytic oxidative desulfurization: temperature 50 °C, atmospheric pressure, 0.5 g activated carbon, 3 mol ratio of hydrogen peroxide to sulfur, 2 mol ratio of acetic acid to sulfur, 3 oxidation cycles with 1 h for each cycle using acetonitrile as extraction solvent, the sulfur content in diesel was reduced from 2189 ppm to 190 ppm with 91.3% of total sulfur removed.