External Mass Transfer (external + mass_transfer)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Development and experimental validation of a conceptual model for biotrickling filtration of H2S

ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, Issue 2 2003
Seongyup Kim
A dynamic model that describes the behavior of high-performance hydrogen sulfide (H2S)-degrading biotrickling filters for odor control was developed. The model attempts to accurately describe pollutant mass transfer in the biotrickling filter, i.e., external mass transfer resistances, and both direct gas-biofilm and gas-liquid-biofilm mass transfer were considered. In order to calibrate the model, an innovative differential biotrickling filter was constructed in which the effect of air velocity on the removal of H2S could be studied. Model outputs were compared with experimental data to determine the sensitivity of the system to selected parameters. At low H2S concentration, diffusion of H2S within the biofilm, and biofilm thickness were the major governing factors among nine considered model parameters. At higher H2S concentrations and lower air flow rates, external mass transfer played a very important role. This new finding, confirmed experimentally, has important implications, as it proves that the performance limit of H2S degrading biotrickling filters has not yet been reached. [source]


Reductive transformation of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine, octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine, and methylenedinitramine with elemental iron

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 11 2005
Seok-Young Oh
Abstract Reductive (pre)treatment with elemental iron is a potentiallyuseful method for degrading nitramine explosives in water and soil. In the present study, we examined the kinetics, products, and mechanisms of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) degradation with elemental iron. Both RDX and HMX were transformed with iron to formaldehyde, NH, N2O, and soluble products. The yields of formaldehyde were relatively constant (71% ± 5%), whereas the yields of NH and N2O varied, depending on the nitramine and the mechanism. The reactions most likely were controlled by a surface process rather than by external mass transfer. Methylenedinitramine (MDNA) was an intermediate of both RDX and HMX and was transformed quantitatively to formaldehyde with iron. However, product distributions and kinetic modeling results suggest that MDNA represented a minor reaction path and accounted for only 30% of the RDX reacted and 14% of the formaldehyde produced. Additional experiments showed that RDX reduction with elemental iron could be mediated by graphite and Fe2+ sorbed to magnetite, as demonstrated previously for nitroaromatics and nitrate esters. Methylenedinitramine was degraded primarily through reduction in the presence of elemental iron, because its hydrolysis was slow compared to its reactions with elemental iron and surface-bound Fe2+. Our results show that in a cast iron-water system, RDX may be transformed via multiple mechanisms involving different reaction paths and reaction sites. [source]


Kinetics of liquid phase synthesis of ethyl tert -butyl ether from tert -butyl alcohol and ethanol catalyzed by ,-zeolite supported on monolith

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL KINETICS, Issue 5 2002
S. Assabumrungrat
This paper compared the performance of ,-zeolite and Amberlyst-15 catalysts on a liquid phase synthesis of ethyl tert -butyl ether (ETBE) from ethanol (EtOH) and tert -butyl alcohol (TBA) ,-Zeolite was synthesized and deposited on monolith support. Its structure was confirmed by an XRD measurement and its composition was analyzed by an XRF measurement. It was found that even though the catalytic activity of ,-zeolite was lower than that of Amberlyst-15, the selectivity of ETBE was much higher than that of Amberlyst-15, resulting in almost the same level of ETBE yield. The dehydration of TBA to isobutene (IB) was the major side reaction. The kinetic study of the reaction catalyzed by ,-zeolite supported on monolith was carried out by using a semibatch reactor. The effect of external mass transfer was investigated by varying stirring speeds. The activity-based rate expressions were developed taking into account of water inhibition. Three temperature levels of 323, 333, and 343 K were performed in the study to obtain the parameters in the Arrhenius's equation and the Van't Hoff's equation. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 34: 292,299, 2002 [source]


Synthesis of carvacrol by Friedel,Crafts alkylation of o -cresol with isopropanol using superacidic catalyst UDCaT-5

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 10 2009
Ganapati D. Yadav
Abstract BACKGROUND: Alkylation of o -cresol with propylene or isopropyl alcohol (IPA) over solid acid catalysts results in the formation of carvacrol, which finds potential applications in the synthesis of fine chemicals, intermediates, specialty chemicals, flavours and fragrances. RESULTS: The present work covers evaluation of novel mesoporous superacidic catalysts namely UDCaT-4, UDCaT-5 and UDCaT-6 in the greener synthesis of carvacrol. The catalysts are modified versions of zirconia showing high catalytic activity, stability and reusability. The catalytic activity increases in the following order: UDCaT-5 > UDCaT-4 > UDCaT-6 > sulfated zirconia. The process was optimized and a mathematical model developed to describe the reaction pathway in liquid phase. Carvacrol could be efficiently obtained with a selectivity up to 82% at an isopropanol conversion of 98% after 2 h over UDCaT-5 at 180 °C. CONCLUSION: The reaction is free from any external mass transfer as well as intraparticle diffusion limitations and is intrinsically kinetically controlled. An overall second-order kinetic equation was used to fit the experimental data. The activation energy was found to be 19.2 kcal/mol. The reaction was carried out without any solvent in order to make the process cleaner and greener. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


Effects of ionic strength on lysozyme uptake rates in cation exchangers.

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 2 2005
I: Uptake in SP Sepharose FF
Fluorescence scanning confocal microscopy was used in parallel with batch uptake and breakthrough measurements of transport rates to study the effect of ionic strength on the uptake of lysozyme into SP Sepharose FF. In all cases the adsorption isotherms were near-rectangular. As described previously, the intraparticle profiles changed from slow-moving self-sharpening fronts at low salt concentration, to fast-moving diffuse profiles at high salt concentration, and batch uptake rates correspondingly increased with increasing salt concentration. Shrinking core and homogeneous diffusion frameworks were used successfully to obtain effective diffusivities for the low salt and high salt conditions, respectively. The prediction of column breakthrough was generally good using these frameworks, except for low-salt uptake results. In those cases, the compressibility of the stationary phase coupled with the shrinking core behavior appears to reduce the mass transfer rates at particle-particle contacts, leading to shallower breakthrough curves. In contrast, the fast uptake rates at high ionic strength appear to reduce the importance of mass transfer limitations at the particle contacts, but the confocal results do show a flow rate dependence on the uptake profiles, suggesting that external mass transfer becomes more limiting at high ionic strength. These results show that the complexity of behavior observable at the microscopic scale is directly manifested at the column scale and provides a phenomenological basis to interpret and predict column breakthrough. In addition, the results provide heuristics for the optimization of chromatographic conditions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]