Reactive Liftoff of Crystalline Cellulose Particles.

The condition of heat transfer to lignocellulosic biomass particles during thermal processing at high temperature (>400 °C) dramatically alters the yield and quality of renewable energy and fuels. In this work, crystalline cellulose particles were discovered to lift off heated surfaces by high speed photography similar to the Leidenfrost effect in hot, volatile liquids. Order of magnitude variation in heat transfer rates and cellulose particle lifetimes was observed as intermediate liquid cellulose droplets transitioned from low temperature wetting (500-600 °C) to fully de-wetted, skittering droplets on polished surfaces (>700 °C).

Oxidative pyrolysis of polystyrene into styrene monomers in an autothermal fixed-bed catalytic reactor.

Styrene monomer recovery: A selective stream of styrene from fast pyrolysis of polystyrene is obtained with an autothermal fixed-bed reactor containing noble-metal (Rh, Pt) catalysts. Autothermal fast pyrolysis of polystyrene is an efficient means of recovering monomers from waste polystyrene in a continuous, high-throughput process without external heating.

Ethanol dehydration to ethylene in a stratified autothermal millisecond reactor.

The concurrent decomposition and deoxygenation of ethanol was accomplished in a stratified reactor with 50-80 ms contact times. The stratified reactor comprised an upstream oxidation zone that contained Pt-coated Al(2)O(3) beads and a downstream dehydration zone consisting of H-ZSM-5 zeolite films deposited on Al(2)O(3) monoliths. Ethanol conversion, product selectivity, and reactor temperature profiles were measured for a range of fuel:oxygen ratios for two autothermal reactor configurations using two different sacrificial fuel mixtures: a parallel hydrogen-ethanol feed system and a series methane-ethanol feed system.

Autothermal catalytic partial oxidation of glycerol to syngas and to non-equilibrium products.

Glycerol, a commodity by-product of the biodiesel industry, has value as a fuel feedstock and chemical intermediate. It is also a simple prototype of sugars and carbohydrates. Through catalytic partial oxidation (CPOx), glycerol can be converted into syngas without the addition of process heat.