Effect of Hydrogen Separation on Coal Char Gasification with Subcritical Steam Using a Calcium-Based CO2 Sorbent.

Coal char was gasified using subcritical steam with/without a CO2 sorbent (CaO) and/or a hydrogen separation membrane (palladium-23% silver) in a batch/semibatch autoclave reactor to investigate the kinetics in terms of the effect of hydrogen separation at 590-650 °C and 1.9-2.4 MPa in order to support a hydrogen production process of the HyPr-RING method. CO2 sorption by CaO affects the production rate of H2 but scarcely affected the carbon conversion to gas. Hydrogen separation promotes the hydrogen production in spite of the absence of CO2 sorption. The effect of hydrogen separation on hydrogen yield and carbon conversion was higher than that of CO2 sorption. A higher gasification temperature increased the hydrogen yield and carbon conversion. Using a first-order reaction form in parallel, the gasification reaction mechanism was explained for the components of the volatile matter and char in coal char. A higher reaction temperature results in an increase of the values of any kinetic constant for subcritical steam gasification of Adaro coal char with/without CaO and/or a hydrogen separation membrane. CO2 sorption promoted hydrogen production due to the tar from volatiles with the catalytic effects of CaO, whereas hydrogen separation promoted hydrogen production due to char.

Assessment of harmfulness and biological effect of carbon fiber dust generated during new carbon fiber recycling method.

Concern over the effects of nanomaterials on human health has risen due to the dramatic advances in the development of various technologies based on nanomaterials. Gifu Prefecture and Gifu University are developing technologies for recycling used carbon fiber because the waste disposal process is highly cost and energy intensive. However, generation of carbon fiber dust during the recycling process is a serious issue, especially in the occupational environment. Recycling requires carbonization by partial firing treatment at 500℃ followed by firing treatment at 440℃: these processes produce dust as a by-product. It is important to study the influence of carbon fibers on human health at a molecular level. In this study, three types of carbon fibers - before recycling, after carbonization, and after firing were evaluated for their toxic effects on mice. During the breeding period, no loss in body weight was confirmed. Further, by staining the lung tissue sections, it was found that pulmonary fibrosis did not occur. We found that these carbon fibers might not possess severe toxicity. However, we also found that the toxicity varies according to firing treatment. Furthermore, we found that firing treatment reduces the potential hazard to human health.

Direct quantitative analysis of arsenic in coal fly ash.

A rapid, simple method based on graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry is described for the direct determination of arsenic in coal fly ash. Solid samples were directly introduced into the atomizer without preliminary treatment. The direct analysis method was not always free of spectral matrix interference, but the stabilization of arsenic by adding palladium nitrate (chemical modifier) and the optimization of the parameters in the furnace program (temperature, rate of temperature increase, hold time, and argon gas flow) gave good results for the total arsenic determination. The optimal furnace program was determined by analyzing different concentrations of a reference material (NIST1633b), which showed the best linearity for calibration. The optimized parameters for the furnace programs for the ashing and atomization steps were as follows: temperatures of 500-1200 and 2150°C, heating rates of 100 and 500°C s(-1), hold times of 90 and 7 s, and medium then maximum and medium argon gas flows, respectively. The calibration plots were linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.9699. This method was validated using arsenic-containing raw coal samples in accordance with the requirements of the mass balance calculation; the distribution rate of As in the fly ashes ranged from 101 to 119%.