Renewable energy driven N electroreduction with air as nitrogen source holds great promise for realizing scalable green ammonia production. However, relevant out-lab research is still in its infancy. Herein, a novel Sn-based MXene/MAX hybrid with abundant Sn vacancies, Sn@TiCT/TiSnC-V, was synthesized by controlled etching Sn@TiSnC MAX phase and demonstrated as an efficient electrocatalyst for electrocatalytic N reduction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA novel concept of fast microwave assisted pyrolysis (fMAP) in the presence of microwave absorbents was presented and examined. Wood sawdust and corn stover were pyrolyzed by means of microwave heating and silicon carbide (SiC) as microwave absorbent. The bio-oil was characterized, and the effects of temperature, feedstock loading, particle sizes, and vacuum degree were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCatalytic pyrolysis of microalgae and egg whites was investigated to evaluate the performance of different zeolites for the production of aromatic hydrocarbons. Three zeolites with different structures (H-Y, H-Beta and H-ZSM5) were used to study the effect of catalyst type on the aromatic yield. All three catalysts significantly increased the aromatic yields from pyrolysis of microalgae and egg whites compared with non-catalytic runs, and H-ZSM5 was most effective with a yield of 18.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo better understand the pyrolysis of microalgae, the different roles of three major components (carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids) were investigated on a pyroprobe. Cellulose, egg whites, and canola oil were employed as the model compounds of the three components, respectively. Non-catalytic pyrolysis was used to identify and quantify some major products and several reaction pathways were proposed for the pyrolysis of each model compound.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSix Korea high oil (KHO) corn varieties varying in germ and endosperm size and oil content (4-21%, wet basis) were subjected to three sequential combinations of milling (M), germ separation (S), fermentation (F), and in situ transesterification (T) to produce bioethanol and biodiesel. Production parameters including saccharification, bioethanol yield, biodiesel yield and composition, and conversion rate were evaluated. The effects of the contents of germ, endosperm size, oil, and non-oil solid mass on the production parameters strongly depended on the processing routes, namely M-F-T, M-T-F, and S-T|F.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated the feasibility of using recovered nutrients from hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) for cultivation of microalga Chlorella vulgaris. Different dilution multiples of 50, 100 and 200 were applied to the recycled process water from HTC and algal growth was compared among these media and a standard growth medium BG-11. Algae achieved a biomass concentration of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objectives were to assess the feasibility of using fermented liquid swine manure (LSM) as nutrient supplement for cultivation of Chlorella sp. UMN271, a locally isolated facultative heterotrophic strain, and to evaluate the nutrient removal efficiencies by alga compared with those from the conventionally decomposed LSM-algae system. The results showed that addition of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, 97 microalgal strains purchased from algae bank and 50 microalgal strains isolated from local waters in Minnesota were screened for their adaptability growing on a 20-fold diluted digested swine manure wastewater (DSMW). A pool of candidate strains well adapted to the DSMW was established through a high-throughput screening process. Two top-performing facultative heterotrophic strains with high growth rate (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroalgae can be converted to an energy-dense bio-oil via pyrolysis; however, the relatively high nitrogen content of this bio-oil presents a challenge for its direct use as fuels. Therefore, hydrothermal pretreatment was employed to reduce the N content in Nannochloropsis oculata feedstock by removing proteins without requiring significant energy inputs. The effects of reaction conditions on the yield and composition of pretreated algae were investigated by varying the temperature (150-225°C) and reaction time (10-60 min).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe pyrolysis of Chlorella sp. was carried out in a microwave oven with char as microwave reception enhancer. The results indicated that the maximum bio-oil yield of 28.
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