• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.375-382
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• 2014

This work investigated the plasma-catalytic decomposition of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and the behavior of the byproduct compounds over monolith-supported metal oxide catalysts. Iron oxide ($Fe_2O_3$) or copper oxide (CuO) was loaded on a monolithic porous ${\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ support, which was placed inside the coaxial electrodes of plasma reactor. The IPA decomposition efficiency itself hardly depended on the presence and type of metal oxides because the rate of plasma-induced decomposition was so fast, but the behavior of byproduct formation was largely affected by them. The concentrations of the unwanted byproducts, including acetone, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, methane, carbon monoxide, etc., were in order of $Fe_2O_3/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ < $CuO/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ < ${\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ from low to high. Under the condition (flow rate: $1L\;min^{-1}$; IPA concentration: 5,000 ppm; $O_2$ content: 10%; discharge power: 47 W), the selectivity towards $CO_2$ was about 40, 80 and 95% for ${\alpha}-Al_2O_3$, $CuO/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ and $Fe_2O_3/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$, respectively, indicating that $Fe_2O_3/{\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ is the most effective for plasma-catalytic oxidation of IPA. Unlike plasma-alone processes in which tar-like products formed from volatile organic compounds are deposited, the present plasma-catalyst hybrid system did not exhibit such a phenomenon, thus retaining the original catalytic activity.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.27-36
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• 2007

A recent study showed that MTBE can be degraded by Fenton's Reagent (FR). The treatment of MTBE with FR, however, has a definite limitation of extremely low pH requirement (optimum pH $3{\sim}4$) that makes the process impracticable under neutral pH condition on which the ferrous ion precipitate forming salt with hydroxyl anion, which result in the diminishment of the Fenton reaction and incompatible with biological treatment. Consequently, this process using only FR is not suitable for in-situ remediation of MTBE. In order to overcome this limitation, modified Fenton process using NTA, oxalate, and acetate as chelating reagents was introduced into this study. Modified Fenton reaction, available at near neutral pH, has been researched for the purpose of obtaining high performance of oxidation efficiency with stabilized ferrous or ferric ion by chelating agent. In the MTBE degradation experiment with modified Fenton reaction, it was observed that this reaction was influenced by some factors such as concentrations of ferric ion, hydrogen peroxide, and each chelating agent and pH. Six potential chelators including oxalate, succinate, acetate, citrate, NTA, and EDTA were tested to identify an appropriate chelator. Among them, oxalate, acetate, and NTA were selected based on their remediation efficiency and biodegradability of each chelator. Using NTA, the best result was obtained, showing more than 99.9% of MTBE degradation after 30 min at pH 7; the initial concentration of hydrogen peroxide, NTA, and ferric ion were 1470 mM, 6 mM, and 2 mM, respectively. Under the same experimental condition, the removal of MTBE using oxalate and acetate were 91.3% and 75.8%, respectively. Optimum concentration of iron ion were 3 mM using oxalate which showed the greatest removal efficiency. In case of acetate, $[MTBE]_0$ decreased gradually when concentration of iron ion increased above 5 mM. In this research, it was showed that modified Fenton reaction is proper for in-situ remediation of MTBE with great efficiency and the application of chelatimg agents, such as NTA, was able to make the ferric ion stable even at near neutral pH. In consequence, the outcomes of this study clearly showed that the modified Fenton process successfully coped with the limitation of the low pH requirement. Furthermore, the introduction of low molecular weight organic acids makes the process more available since these compounds have distinguishable biodegradability and it may be able to use natural iron mineral as catalyst for in situ remediation, so as to produce hydroxyl radical without the additional injection of ferric ion.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.304-310
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• 2010

The FTS(Fischer-Tropsch synthesis) was carried out over precipitated iron-based catalysts with or without $SiO_2$ in a fixed-bed reactor at $250^{\circ}C$ and 1.5 MPa. The catalysts with $SiO_2$ showed much higher catalytic activity for the FTS than those without $SiO_2$, displaying excellent stability during 144 h of reaction. The X-ray diffraction and $N_2$ physisorption revealed that the catalysts with $SiO_2$ showed enhanced dispersion of $Fe_2O_3$ compared with those without $SiO_2$. Also, the results of temperature-programmed reduction by $H_2$ showed that the addition of $SiO_2$ markedly promoted the reduction of $Fe_2O_3$ into $Fe_3O_4$ and FeO at low temperatures below $260^{\circ}C$. In contrast, surface basicity of the catalysts, which was analyzed by temperature-programmed desorption of $CO_2$, decreased as a result of $SiO_2$ addition. We attribute the high and stable performance of the catalysts with $SiO_2$ to the improved dispersion and reducibility by the $SiO_2$ addition.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.58-66
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• 2014

Catalytic gasification of a low rank coal- Inner Mongolian lignite has been carried out with carbon dioxide. The gasification reactions were performed in a thermogravimetric analyzer at temperatures of $600^{\circ}C$ to $900^{\circ}C$. The kinetic parameters were evaluated using three different gas-solids reaction models and the prediction ability of each model were compared. Among the models evaluated, the modified volumetric model was found to correlate best both the non-catalytic and catalytic gasification reactions. The theoretical models, homogeneous and shrinking-core models, were found to satisfactorily correlate gasification reactions for the non-catalytic and $FeSO_4$-catalyzed reactions. In case of alkali metal catalysts, the catalytic activity was mostly pronounced at a low temperature of $600^{\circ}C$ and observed to decrease by 50% as the temperature was increased to $700^{\circ}C$, and it remained nearly constant at temperature over $800^{\circ}C$. The order of catalytic activity was found to be: $K_2CO_3$ > $Na_2CO_3$ > $K_2SO_4$ > $FeSO_4$.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.26-35
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• 2013

Outbreak of animal infectious diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza are becoming prevalent worldwide. For prevent the further infection, tremendous numbers of the infected or culled stocks are buried around farm. This burial method can generate a wide range of detrimental components such as leachate, nutrient, salt, and pathogenic bacteria, consequently. In this study, for the stabilization of livestock carcasses leachate, advanced oxidation processes utilizing the Fenton reaction was investigated in lab-scale experiments for the treatment for $COD_{Cr}$ of livestock carcass leachate. $COD_{Cr}$ reduction by the Fenton oxidation was investigated response surface methodology using the Box-Begnken methods were applied to the experimental results. A central composite design was used to investigate the effects of the independent variables of pH ($x_1$), dosage of $FeCl_2{\cdot}4H_2O$ ($x_2$) and dosage of $H_2O_2$ ($x_3$) on the dependent variables $COD_{Cr}$ concentration ($y_1$). A 1 M NaOH and $H_2SO_4$ was using for pH control, $FeCl_2{\cdot}4H_2O$ was used as iron catalyst and NaOH was used for Fenton reaction. The optimal conditions for Fenton oxidation process were determined: pH, dosage of $FeCl_2{\cdot}4H_2O$ and dosage of $H_2O_2$ were 3, 0.6 g (0.0151 M) and 7 mL(0.259 M), respectively. Statistical results showed the order of significance of the independent variables to be pH > initial concentration of ferrous ion > initial concentration of hydrogen peroxide.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.377-384
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• 2010

Many routes have been developed for the synthesis of signle-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). We spun fibers of SWCNTs directly from vertical furnace using a liquid source of carbon and an iron-contained molecule. The solution was prepared by ethanol as a carbon source, in which ferrocene as a catalyst, thiophene were dissolved. It was then injected from the top of the furnace into hot zone with hydrogen as a carrier gas. We successfully synthesized high-quality SWCNTs by adjusting the various experimental conditions, such as concentration of ferrocene, solution injection rate, concentration of thiophene, and hydrogen flow rate. Measurement of Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were carried out to find the optimized conditions. The synthesized SWCNTs (1.16~1.64 nm) appeared a bundle structure and well-aligned parallel to the direction of furnace. These results also provide an simple way for high-quality SWCNTs mass production and fabricating direct spining SWCNTs fiber. It will allow one-step production of SWCNTs fiber with potentially excellent properties and wide-range applications.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.157-160
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• 2008

The generation of high-purity hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels is essential for efficient operation of fuel cell. In general, most feasible strategies to generate hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels consist of a reforming step to generate a mixture of $H_2$, CO, $CO_2$ and $H_2O$ (steam) followed by water gas shift (WGS) and CO clean-up steps. The WGS reaction that shifts CO to $CO_2$ and simultaneously produces another mole of $H_2$ was carried out in a two-stage catalytic conversion process involving a high temperature shift (HTS) and a low temperature shift (LTS). In a typical operation, gas emerges from the reformer is taken through a high temperature shift catalyst to reduce the CO concentration to about 3~5%. The HTS reactor was designed and tested in this study to produce hydrogen-rich gas with CO to a range of 2~4%. The iron based catalysts (G-3C) was used for the HTS to convert the most of CO in the effluent from the partial oxidation (POX) to $H_2$ and $CO_2$ at a relatively high rate. Parametric screening studies were carried out for variations of the following variables: reaction temperature, steam flow rate, components ratio ($H_2/CO$), and reforming gas flow rate.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.131-136
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• 2020

Biomass bamboo charcoal is utilized as anode for lithium-ion battery in an effort to find an alternative to conventional resources such as cokes and petroleum pitches. The amorphous phase of the bamboo charcoal is partially converted to graphite through a low temperature graphitization process with iron oxide nanoparticle catalyst impregnated into the bamboo charcoal. An optimum catalysis amount for the graphitization is determined based on the characterization results of TEM, Raman spectroscopy, and XRD. It is found that the graphitization occurs surrounding the surface of the catalysis, and large pores are formed after the removal of the catalysis. The formation of the large pores increases the pore volume and, as a result, reduces the surface area of the graphitized bamboo charcoal. The partial graphitization of the pristine bamboo charcoal improves the discharge capacity and coulombic efficiency compared to the pristine counterpart. However, the discharge capacity of the graphitized charcoal at elevated current density is decreased due to the reduced surface area. These results indicate that the size of the catalysis formed in in-situ graphitization is a critical parameter to determine the battery performance and thus should be tuned as small as one of the pristine charcoal to retain the surface area and eventually improve the discharge capacity at high current density.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.314-319
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• 2007

The destruction of synthetic acetic acid wastewater was carried out using UV, $O_3$, $H_2O_2$, $Fe^{2+}$ oxidants in various combinations by the advanced oxidation processes. $UV/H_2O_2$, $UV/H_2O_2/Fe^{2+}$, $O_3$, $O_3/H_2O_2$, $UV/O_3/H_2O_2$, $UV/O_3/H_2O_2/Fe^{2+}$ processes were tested. $UV/H_2O_2/Fe^{2+}$, $O_3/H_2O_2$, $UV/O_3/H_2O_2$, $UV/O_3/H_2O_2/Fe^{2+}$ processes shows the most effective destruction efficiency at low pH (3.5) condition of wastewater, but $UV/H_2O_2$ and $O_3$ processes were observed less than 20%. Destruction efficiency was gradually increased with the reaction time in the $O_3/H_2O_2$ and $UV/O_3/H_2O_2$ processes, in case of the $UV/H_2O_2/Fe^{2+}$ and $UV/O_3/H_2O_2/Fe^{2+}$ processes shows rapid increasing of destruction efficiency within 90 min, then slightly decreasing with time. The destruction efficiencies of $UV/H_2O_2/Fe^{2+}$, $O_3/H_2O_2$, $UV/O_3/H_2O_2$ and $UV/O_3/H_2O_2/Fe^{2+}$ processes were observed 55, 66, 66 and 64%, respectively.