High selective hydrocarbon and hydrogen products from catalytic pyrolysis of rice husk: Role of the ordered mesoporous silica derived from rice husk ash for Ni-nanocatalyst performance

This study successfully synthesized ordered mesoporous silica using a sodium silicate solution derived from high-purity silica extracted from rice husk (98.09%), aiming to catalyst support for integrating fast catalytic upgrading of rice husk. The ordered mesoporous silica, including MCM-41 and KIT-6, were synthesized by co-assembly with additional surfactants, consisting of Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and Pluronic P123, respectively. A series of 10 wt.% Ni on MCM-41 (Ni/HMS1) and KIT-6 (Ni/HMS2) were synthesized via ethylene glycol ultrasound-assisted wetness impregnation, which enhanced bio-oil quality by reducing oxygen compounds. This method also improved NiO reducibility up to 91.41%, with nickel phyllosilicate playing a pivotal role in preventing Ni-metallic sintering during the reduction process. The well-dispersed small Ni particles yielded high Ni performance in deoxygenation. Moreover, the order of pore size and structure of the hexagonal nanochannel structures influenced the selective hydrocarbon products in bio-oil. Ni/HMS1, with smaller pore sizes (3–5 nm), achieved a balanced hydrocarbon composition with aromatic (44.91%) and aliphatic (15.65%) components, while Ni/HMS2, having larger pores (8–10 nm), predominantly contained aromatic hydrocarbons (67.45%). The utilization of a green methodology for extracting high-value silica from biological sources promises to innovate and boost eco-consciousness in all rice husk pyrolysis products

Pore size effects on physicochemical properties of Fe-Co/K-Al2O3 catalysts and their catalytic activity in CO2 hydrogenation to light olefins

In this work, the hydrogenation of CO2 to light olefins has been studied over the Fe-Co/K-Al2 O3 catalysts, while focusing on the impact by the pore sizes of Al2 O3 supports including 6.2 nm (S-Al2 3 ), 49.7 nm (M-Al2 O3 ) and 152.3 nm (L-Al2 O3 ) on the structure and catalytic performance. The characterization results demonstrate that the pore sizes of the Al2 O3 supports play a vital role on the crystallite size of Fe2 O3 , the reducibility of Fe2 O3 and the adsorption-desorption of CO2 and H2 . The catalyst with the smallest pore size (CS-Al2 O3 ) allows the formation of a small Fe2 O3 crystallite size due to pore confinement effects, yielding a low active component (Fe) after reduction at 400 °C for 5 h. The catalysts with the larger pore sizes of 49.7 nm (CM-Al2 O3 ) and 152.3 nm (CL-Al2 O3 ) provide the larger Fe2 O3 crystallite sizes which require a longer reduction time for enhancing degree of reduction, resulting in a high metallic Fe content, leading to a high CO2 conversion and a high selectivity toward hydrocarbon. Eliminating diffusion limitation by increasing the pore sizes of Al2 O3 supports can suppress the hydrogenation of olefins to paraffins and thus the largest pore catalyst (CL-Al2 O3 ) gives the highest olefins to paraffins ratio of 6.82. Nevertheless, the CL-Al2 O3 also favors the formation of C5+ hydrocarbon. Therefore, the highest light olefins yield (14.38%) is achieved over the catalyst with appropriated pore size (CM-Al2 O3 )

Utilization of cowpeas for human food

This paper reviews the research and outreach accomplishments of the cowpea utilization project sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development-funded Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program. Research has examined a limited number of cultivars and has taken as its starting point mature, dry seeds. A broad spectrum of food quality issues have been studied, including: • safety concerns and physiological effects associated with consuming legume seeds and products made from them; • chemical composition and nutritional quality of the seeds and products; • physical and functional behavior of seeds and products; and • socioeconomic aspects including sensory quality of seeds and products, consumer acceptance, and costs and impacts of technology adoption. Research foci have included: • The effect of pretreatment and storage on cowpea food quality; • processing whole seeds to improve food quality; • conversion of legume seeds into food ingredients, principally flours and meals; • processing seeds and ingredients to improve food quality; and • improvement of traditional foods and development of new foods from bean and cowpea-based ingredients. © 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Determination of Melting Points, Specific Heat Capacity and Enthalpy of Catfish Visceral Oil During the Purification Process

Changes in melting points, enthalpy, and specific heat capacity of catfish visceral oil at each step of the purification process were studied. Melting points of -46.2 to 21.2 °C for crude oil, -45.9 to 11.5 °C for degummed oil, -44.3 to 11.4 °C for neutralized oil, -47.1 to 9.9 °C for bleached oil and -52.3 to 8.0 °C for deodorized oil were observed. Enthalpy (kJ/kg) was 74.1 for crude oil, 74.7 for degummed oil, 75.1 for neutralized oil, 79.3 for bleached oil, and 84.3 for deodorized oil. The specific heat capacities at 20 °C for crude, degummed, neutralized, bleached, and deodorized oils were 1.69, 1.96, 1.97, 1.91, and 1.83 kJ/kg °C, respectively. © 2008 AOCS