Preparation of Oily Sludge-Derived Activated Carbon and Its Adsorption Performance for Tetracycline Hydrochloride.

Oily sludge-derived activated carbon was prepared using the potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation method using oily sludge as a raw material, and one-factor experiments determined the best conditions for preparing activated carbon. The activated carbon's morphological structure and surface chemical properties were analyzed by scanning different characterization tools, and the adsorption behavior of tetracycline hydrochloride was investigated. The results showed that the optimum conditions for preparing oily sludge-derived activated carbon were an activation temperature of 400 °C, activation time of 30 min, activator concentration of 1 mol/L, and impregnation ratio of 2 mL/g. After activation, the activated carbon had more pores and a more orderly crystal structure arrangement, the specific surface area was 2.07 times higher than that before activation, and the surface was rich in functional groups such as -HO, -C-O, -C=C, and -C-H, which increased the active sites of activated carbon. Physicochemical effects dominated the adsorption process. It belonged to the spontaneous heat absorption process under the quasi-secondary kinetic and Langmuir isothermal models. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of KOH-activated carbon was 205.1 mg·g-1.

Tar-free fuel gas production from high temperature pyrolysis of sewage sludge.

Pyrolysis of sewage sludge was studied in a free-fall reactor at 1000-1400 °C. The results showed that the volatile matter in the sludge could be completely released to gaseous product at 1300 °C. The high temperature was in favor of H2 and CO in the produced gas. However, the low heating value (LHV) of the gas decreased from 15.68 MJ/Nm(3) to 9.10 MJ/Nm(3) with temperature increasing from 1000 °C to 1400 °C. The obtained residual solid was characterized by high ash content. The energy balance indicated that the most heating value in the sludge was in the gaseous product.

Catalytic steam gasification of pig compost for hydrogen-rich gas production in a fixed bed reactor.

The catalytic steam gasification of pig compost (PC) for hydrogen-rich gas production was experimentally investigated in a fixed bed reactor using the developed NiO on modified dolomite (NiO/MD) catalyst. A series of experiments have been performed to explore the effects of catalyst, catalytic temperature, steam to PC ratio and PC particle size on the gas quality and yield. The results indicate that the NiO/MD catalyst could significantly eliminate the tar in the gas production and increase the hydrogen yield, and the catalyst lives a long lifetime in the PC steam gasification. Moreover, the higher catalytic temperature and smaller PC particle size can contribute to more hydrogen production and gas yield. Meanwhile, the optimal ratio of steam to PC (S/P) is found to be 1.24.

Allothermal gasification of biomass using micron size biomass as external heat source.

An allothermal biomass gasification system using biomass micron fuel (BMF) as external heat source was developed. In this system, heat supplied to gasifier was generated from combustion of BMF. Biomass feedstock was gasified with steam and then tar in the produced gas was decomposed in a catalytic bed with NiO/γ-Al(2)O(3) catalyst. Finally the production gas was employed as a substitute for civil fuel gas. An overall energy analysis of the system was also investigated. The results showed that the lower heating value of the product gas reached more than 12 MJ/Nm(3). The combusted BMF accounted for 26.8% of the total energy input. Allothermal gasification based on the substituted BMF for conventional energy was an efficient and economical technology to obtain bioenergy.

Pyrolysis of ramie residue: kinetic study and fuel gas produced in a cyclone furnace.

The thermal decomposition behavior of ramie residue (RR) and the characteristics of fuel gas produced in a cyclone furnace were studied. The pyrolysis kinetics was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) at heating rates of 5-20°C/min. The results showed that RR mainly decomposed between 250 and 390°C, and the apparent activation energy ranged from 200 to 258 kJ/mol. In the cyclone furnace, fast pyrolysis, partial combustion and gasification occurred almost simultaneously, and the thermal energy was supplied by partial combustion of RR powder at the hypo stoichiometric amount of air. Higher effect of equivalence ratio (ER) led to higher reaction temperature and fewer contents of tar and char, but too high ER lowered fuel gas content and degraded fuel gas quality. Over the ranges of the experimental conditions, the gas yield varied between 1.07 and 2.08 N m(3)/kg and the LHV was between 3350 and 4798 kJ/Nm(3).