• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.10-15
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• 2004

We developed a water-selective ceramic composite membrane for use as a dehydration membrane reactor for dimethylether (DME) synthesis from methanol. The membranes were modified on the porous stainless steel support by the sol-gel method accompanied by a suction process. The improved membrane modification process was effective in increasing the vapour permselectivity by removal of defects and pinholes. The optimized alumina/silica composite membrane exhibited a water permeance of 1.14${\times}$10$^{-7}$ mol/$m^2$.sec.Pa and a water/methanol selectivity of 8.4 at permeation temperature of 25$0^{\circ}C$. The catalytic reaction for DME synthesis from methanol using the membrane was performed at 23$0^{\circ}C$, and the reaction conversion was compared with that of the conventional fixed-bed reactor. The reaction conversion of the membrane reactor was much higher than that of the conventional fixed-bed reactor. The reaction conversion of the membrane reactor and the conventional fixed-bed reactor was 82.5 and 68.0%, respectively. This improvement of reaction efficiency can last if the water vapour produced in the reaction zone is removed continuously.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.8-14
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• 2009

Dimethyl ether(DME) was synthesized from synthesis gas by a one-step process in which a hybrid catalyst was used. The hybrid catalyst consisted of Cu-ZnO-$Al_2O_3$ for the methanol synthesis reaction and aluminum phosphate or $H_3PO_4$-modified $\gamma$-alumina for the methanol dehydration reaction. The prepared catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, SEM, FT-IR and $NH_3$-TPD. From the XRD analysis, it was verified that the aluminum phosphate was successfully synthesized. The specific surface areas of the synthesized aluminum phosphates were varied with the ratio of P/Al. The hybrid catalyst in which P/Al ratio of the aluminum phosphate was 1.2 showed the highest CO conversion of 55% and DME selectivity of 70%. There was no remarkable decrease in catalytic activity with the phosphoric acid treatment of $\gamma$-alumina. However, when treated with concentrated phosphoric acid(85%), the catalytic activity and DME selectivity decreased.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.223-231
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• 2022

An ex-situ gravitational fixed bed pyrolysis reactor was used over Al₂O₃ supported Ni₂P based catalyst with various Ni/P molar ratios (0.5-2.0) and constant nickel loading of 5.37 mmol/g Al₂O₃ to determine the hydrodeoxygenation of rubberwood sawdust (RWS) at atmospheric pressure. The 3D catalysts formed were characterized structurally as well as acidic properties were determined by hydrogen-temperature programmed reduction (TPR). The Ni₂P phase formed completely on Al₂O₃ for 1.5 Ni/P ratio, although lesser crystallite sizes of Ni₂P were seen at Ni/P ratios less than 1.5. Additionally, it was shown that when nickel loading level increased, acidity increased and specific surface area dropped, probably because nickel phosphate is not easily converted to Ni₂P. When Ni/P ratio was 1.5, Ni₂P phase fully formed on Al₂O₃. The catalytic activity was explained in terms of impacts of reaction temperature and Ni/P molar ratio. At relatively high temperature of 450℃, the high-value deoxygenated produce was predominantly composed of n-alkanes. Based on the findings, it was suggested that hydrogenolysis, hydrodeoxygenation, dehydration, decarbonylation, and hydrogenation are all part of mechanism underlying hydrotreatment of RWS. In conclusion, the synthesized Ni₂P/ Al₂O₃ catalyst was capable of deoxygenating RWS with ease at atmospheric pressure, primarily resulting in long chained (C₉-C₂₄) hydrocarbons and acetic acid.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1994.04a
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• pp.55-56
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• 1994

There has been many attempts to improve the membrane performance using pervaporation processes[l-3]. They are 1) blending polymer with the high flux and one with high selectivity, 2) an incorporation of functional groups interacting with permeants into a membrane through copolymerization or modification, 3) composite membrane or asymmetric membrane structure with a thin skin layer which acts as a selective layer. Among them, a polymeric membrane containing ion complex group receives an extensive attention recently because ionic complex is known to activate the water transport through ion-dipole interaction. It is especially advantageous in the separation of organic-water system. We applied the ideas of the activation of water transport through ion-dipole. We have reported on the in-sire complex membrane to separate water from aqueous aceiic acid and pyridme solution[4-5] based on the simple acid-base theory. Water transport was enhanced through in-situ complex between pyridine moiety in the membrane and the incoming acetic acid in the feed. In this case, catalytic transport mechanism was proposed. In the present study we used pyridine solution as a feed and the sulfonic acid group in the membrane.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2015

Recently, Korea's municipal wastewater treatment plants generated amount of wastewater sludge per day. However, ocean dumping of sewage sludge has been prohibited since 2012 by the London dumping convention and protocol and thus removal or treatment of wastewater sludge from field sites is an important issue on the ground site. The hydrothermal carbonization is one of attractive thermo-chemical method to upgrade sewage sludge to produce solid fuel with benefit method from the use of no chemical catalytic. Hydrothermal carbonization improved that the upgrading fuel properties and increased materials and energy recovery, which is conducted at temperatures ranging from 200 to $350^{\circ}C$ with a reaction time of 30 min. Hydrothermal carbonization increased the heating value though the increase of the carbon and fixed carbon content of solid fuel due to dehydration and decarboxylation reaction. Therefore, after the hydrothermal carbonization, the H/C and O/C ratios decreased because of the chemical conversion. Energy retention efficiency suggest that the optimum temperature of hydrothermal carbonization to produce more energy-rich solid fuel is approximately $200^{\circ}C$.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.75-81
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• 1993

The thermochemical stability of $Ni^{2+}-faujasite$ was studied by differential thermal analysis(DTA), thermal gravitational analysis(TGA), X-ray diffraction analysis(XRD) and quantum chemical calculations. Dehydration of $Ni^{2+}-faujasite$ was observed at 373-773K. A CNDO/2 calculations have been applied on cluster models for the representative T sites in faujasite to get total energy and wiberg bond orders. It has proved that the decrease of zeolitic crystallinity is directly related to the weakening of Al-O bonds in framework.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.75.2-75.2
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• 2010

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) have received a lot of attention as a power source for both stationary and mobile applications due to their attractive feature. In general, the performance of PEFCs is highly affected by the property of the electrodes. A PEFC electrode essentially consists of a gas diffusion layer and a catalyst layer. The gas difusion layer is highly porous and hydrophobicized with PTFE polymer. The catalyst layer usually contains electrocatalyst, proton conducting polymer, even PTFE as additive. Particularly, the proton conducting ionomer helps to increase the catalytic activity at three-phase boundary and catalyst utilization. Futhermore, it helps to retain moisture, resulting in preventing the electrodes from membrane dehydration. The most widely used proton conducting ionomer is perfluorinated sulfonic acid polymer, namely, Nafion from DuPont due to its high proton conductivity and good mechanical property. However, there are great demands for alternative ionomers based on non-fluorinated materials in terms of high temperature availability, environmental adaptability and production cost. In this study, the electrodes with the various content of the sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) ionomer in the catalyst layer were prepared. In addition, we evaluated electrochemical properties of the prepared electrodes containing the various amount of the ionomers by using the cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy to find an optimal ionomer composition in the catalyst layer.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.435-442
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• 2021

Mn-added Barium hexaaluminates were manufactured by homogeneous precipitation method using Urea. The effects of water wash and dry temperature were analyzed by thermal weight analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. Catalysts that went through the filtration step only produced pure hexaaluminate images compared to those that went through the water wash step. During the drying process, it seems that the remaining urea helps dehydration of the precursor and affects the phase shift of gibbsite to boehmite, which is easy to convert to pure hexaaluminate. The catalyst WO200 gave the best performance in the methane combustion reaction, and NOx was not emitted in the reaction for all catalysts. Hexaaluminates were found to affect reducing the highest CO emissions.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.223-234
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• 2024

This review explores the potential of pillared bentonite materials as solid acid catalysts for synthesizing diethyl ether, a promising renewable energy source. Diethyl ether offers numerous environmental benefits over fossil fuels, such as lower emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and carbon oxides (CO_x) gases and enhanced fuel properties, like high volatility and low flash point. Generally, the synthesis of diethyl ether employs homogeneous acid catalysts, which pose environmental impacts and operational challenges. This review discusses bentonite, a naturally occurring alumina silicate, as a heterogeneous acid catalyst due to its significant cation exchange capacity, porosity, and ability to undergo modifications such as pillarization. Pillarization involves intercalating polyhydroxy cations into the bentonite structure, enhancing surface area, acidity, and thermal stability. Despite the potential advantages, challenges remain in optimizing the yield and selectivity of diethyl ether production using pillared bentonite. The review highlights the need for further research using various metal oxides in the pillarization process to enhance surface properties and acidity characteristics, thereby improving the catalytic performance of bentonite for the synthesis of diethyl ether. This development could lead to more efficient, environmentally friendly synthesis processes, aligning with sustainable energy goals.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.269-277
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• 2022

With the recent development of the biological enzymatic reaction industry, lactic acid (LA) can be mass-produced from biomass sources. In particular, a catalytic process that converts LA into acrylic acid (AA) is receiving much attention because AA is used widely in the petrochemical industry as a monomer for superabsorbent polymers (SAP) and as an adhesive for displays. In the LA conversion process, NaY zeolites have been previously shown to be a high-activity catalyst, which improves AA selectivity and long-term stability. However, NaY zeolites suffer from fast deactivation due to severe coking. Therefore, the aim of this study is to modify the acid-base properties of the NaY zeolite to address this shortcoming. First, base promoters, Ca ions, were introduced to the NaY zeolites to tune their acidity and basicity via ion exchange (IE) and incipient wetness impregnation (IWI). The IWI method showed superior catalyst selectivity and stability compared to the IE method, maintaining a high AA yield of approximately 40% during the 16 h reaction. Based on the NH₃- and CO₂-TPD results, the calcium salts that impregnated into the NaY zeolites were proposed to exit as an oxide form mainly at the exterior surface of NaY and act as additional base sites to promote the dehydration of LA to AA. The NaY zeolites were further treated with KOH before calcium impregnation to reduce the total acidity and improve the dispersion of calcium through the mesopores formed by KOH-induced desilication. However, this KOH treatment did not lead to enhanced AA selectivity. Finally, calcium loading was increased from 1wt% to 5wt% to maximize the amount of base sites. The increased basicity improved the AA selectivity substantially to 65% at 100% conversion while maintaining high activity during a 24 h reaction. Our results suggest that controlling the basicity of the catalyst is key to obtaining high AA selectivity and high catalyst stability.