In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die Reaktivität von außergewöhnlich Lewis-sauren festen Katalysatoren: Aluminiumchlorofluorid (ACF) und high-surface Aluminiumfluorid (HS-AlF3) unter moderaten Reaktionsbedingungen untersucht. Die Katalysatoren konnten erfolgreich für die Aktivierung von C-F- und C-Cl-Bindungen (CH3F, CH2F2, CHF3, CH3Cl, CH2Cl2 und ClCH2-CH2Cl) in der Anwesenheit von Silanen eingesetzt werden. Bei Hydrodehalogenierungsreaktionen in Batch-Reaktoren (NMR-Röhrchen) wurden höhere Umsätze mit ACF als mit HS-AlF3 erreicht. Dieser Befund lässt sich mit sterischen Effekten erklären. Die kleineren Mikroporen des ACFs sind besser geeignet für die Aktivierung von kleinen Molekülen als die Mesoporen von HS-AlF3. Die sterischen Aspekte wurden mit Hilfe von FTIR-Experimenten ausführlich untersucht. Unterschiedliche Beobachtungen wurden gemacht, wenn ein zusätzliches Substrat anwesend war, z.B. C6D6 zur Synthese des Friedel-Crafts-Produktes. HS-AlF3 führte zu höheren Umsätzen bei fluorierten Substraten, während bei chlorierten Substraten ACF sich als der bessere Katalysator erwies. Die Herausforderung bestand darin, die Katalysatoren unter sehr anspruchsvollen Bedingungen wie kurze Kontaktzeiten im Flow-Reaktor zu testen. Die Aktivierung von fluorierten und chlorierten Substraten war möglich. Der Unterschied in der Reaktivität der Katalysatoren war nicht so ausgeprägt wie bei Reaktionen in Batch-Reaktor. Aufgrund der kurzen Kontaktzeiten können nur kurze Diffusionswege ausgenutzt werden, was zu ähnlichen Reaktivitäten führt. Mit Hilfe von Experimenten im Flow-Reaktor als auch MAS NMR-, EA-, NH3-TPD-, XRD-, FTIR-, PulseTA®-Experimenten konnte der Mechanismus aufgeklärt werden. Der Katalysator muss zunächst mit Silan gesättigt werden, welcher eine Schutzfunktion hat und die Fluorierung des Katalysators unterdrückt. Ausserdem konnten die Katalysatoren erfolgreich für die Hydrosilylierungsreaktionen und weiterhin zu Deoxygenierung von Ketonen eingesetzt werden. / This thesis investigated the reactivity of extraordinarily lewis-acidic solid catalysts under moderate reaction conditions: aluminium chorofluoride (ACF) und high-surface aluminium fluoride (HS-AlF3).The catalysts could be successfully applied in the activation of C-F and C-Cl bonds (CH3F, CH2F2, CHF3, CH3Cl, CH2Cl2 und ClCH2-CH2Cl) in the presence of silanes. Higher conversions were reached for hydrodehalogenation batch-reactions (NMR tubes) with ACF than for HS-AlF3. This finding can be explained by steric effects. The smaller micropores of ACF are better suited for the activation of small molecules than mesopores of HS-AlF3. Steric aspects were examined extensively by FTIR experiments. Different observations were made in cases where an additional substrate was present, for example C6D6 led to the formation of the Friedel-Crafts product. In this case HS-AlF3 showed higher conversions of fluorinated substrates, while for chlorinated substrates ACF was found to be more efficient. The challenge of this work was to optimize conditions under which the catalysts are not only efficient in batch reactors with long contact times but also under short contact times in flow reactors. Experiments demonstrated that fluorinated and chlorinated substrates can be activated under such conditions. The difference in reactivity of both catalysts was not as extensive as for reactions in a batch reactor. Short contact times require short diffusion pathways, thus more similar reactivities. Experiments in a flow reactor, supported by further analyses by MAS NMR, EA, NH3-TPD, XRD, FTIR and PulseTA® led to the elucidation of the catalytic mechanism. The catalyst must first be saturated by silane, which inhibits and protects the catalyst from fluorination. The catalysts were also successfully applied for hydrosilylation reactions and deoxy-genation of ketones.

Gasification of black liquor is an alternative to the combustion of black liquor, which is currently the dominant form of chemical recovery in the paper industry. Gasification of black liquor offers the possibility of higher thermal efficiencies than combustion, reducing manufacturing costs and creating new revenue streams through a forest biorefinery. Pressurizing the gasification reactor further enhances the efficiency advantage of gasification over combustion. This study uses a pressurized entrained flow reactor (PEFR) to study black liquor gasification behavior under pressures, temperatures, and heating rates similar to those of next-generation high-temperature black liquor gasifiers. The effects of pressure on black liquor char morphology, gasification rates, pyrolysis carbon yields, and sulfur phase distribution were studied. These characteristics were investigated in three main groups of experiments at 900oC: pyrolysis (100% N2), gasification with constant partial pressure (0.25 bar H2O and 0.50 bar CO2), and gasification with constant mole fraction (10% CO2, 2% H2O, 1.7% CO, 0.3% H2), under five, ten, and fifteen bar total pressure. It was found that pressure had an impact on the char physical characteristics immediately after the char entered the reactor. Increasing pressure had the effect of decreasing the porosity of the chars. Pressure also affected particle destruction and reagglomeration mechanisms. Surface areas of gasification chars decreased with increasing pressures, but only at low carbon conversions. The rate of carbon conversion in gasification was shown to be a function of the gas composition near the particle, with higher levels of inhibiting gases slowing carbon conversion. The same phenomenon of product gas inhibition observed in gasification was used to explain carbon conversions in pyrolysis reactions. Sulfur distribution between condensed and gas phases was unaffected by increasing total pressure in the residence times investigated. Significant amounts of sulfur are lost during initial devolatilization. With water present this gas phase sulfur forms H2S and did not return to the condensed phase.

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-03-20T13:34:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 THALYS DE FREITAS FERNANDES - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGEQ 2016..pdf: 2378013 bytes, checksum: 834c6cbe7aab87e47cc89c33dfbb9e17 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-20T13:34:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 THALYS DE FREITAS FERNANDES - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGEQ 2016..pdf: 2378013 bytes, checksum: 834c6cbe7aab87e47cc89c33dfbb9e17 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-20 / A usina de produção de biodiesel se destaca não só pela síntese de um produto totalmente renovável, o biodiesel, mas, pelo grande volume de água que é utilizado no processo de purificação, que resulta na produção de grandes volumes de efluentes contaminados. Algumas alternativas para o tratamento desse efluente têm sido estudadas e aplicadas, a exemplo do processo eletroquímico denominado eletrofloculação. Porém, os trabalhos mencionados na literatura, até então, tem sido realizados em reatores batelada, o que pode ser desvantajoso em decorrência do grande volume de efluente gerado nesse processo. Dessa forma esse trabalho tem como objetivo estudar um reator eletroquímico de fluxo contínuo para eletrofloculação do efluente da purificação do biodiesel. Desenvolveu-se um reator com um volume total de 1,0340 L, onde foram inseridos quatro eletrodos de alumínio com dimensões (10 x 6,40 x 0,10 cm), interligados a uma fonte CC e, instalou-se o reator a uma planta de tratamento, em escala de bancada. Para a operação do sistema foi sintetizado um efluente artificial com uma concentração padrão de 7,380 g.L-1, contendo todos os contaminantes existentes no efluente real da purificação do biodiesel. Para este estudo foi elaborado um planejamento experimental com o propósito de se avaliar a influência do pH inicial, o tempo espacial e a diferença de potencial, sobre as variáveis que caracterizam a água tratada, o consumo da massa de eletrodo e o consumo energético do reator. Uma matriz com onze experimentos foi executada e coletada amostras de água no intervalo de 5,0 min, durante 40 min de experimento, para caracterização. Os resultados foram inicialmente avaliados quanto à dinâmica comportamental, sendo observado que as melhores taxas de remoção de turbidez, O&G e DQO, foram 94,21 %, 89,3 % e 51,2 %, respectivamente. Do tratamento estatístico, observouse que o pH inicial foi o fator mais atuante nas variáveis respostas e a análise de otimização mostrou que a máxima eficiência do reator é obtida quando o opera com um pH inicial 8,0, um tempo espacial de 29,43 minutos e uma diferença de potencial de 6,0 Volts, resultando num consumo energético de 4,8 kWh.m-3, que equivale a R$ 1,94 por m³ de efluente tratado. Diante dos resultados obtidos constatou-se que a aplicação do reator é viável para o tratamento do efluente da purificação do biodiesel, quanto à eficiência de remoção de contaminantes, ao consumo energético e ao volume de efluente tratado. / The biodiesel production plant stands out not only for the synthesis of a fully renewable product, the biodiesel itself, but the large amount of water used its the purification process, which results in production of large volumes of contaminated waste. Some alternatives for the treatment of such waste have been studied and applied, such as the electrochemical process called electroflocculation. However, the work reported in the literature so far has been carried out in batch reactors, which may be disadvantageous due to the large volume of wastewater produced in the process. Thus, the current analysis aims to study a continuous flow electrochemical reactor for electroflocculation of the waste from the biodiesel purification process. Then, it was developed a reactor with a total volume of 1.0340 L, in which four aluminum electrodes with dimensions of (10 x 6.40 x 0.10 cm) were inserted and connected to a CC power supply, and the reactor was settled in a treatment plant in bench scale. For operating the system, an artificial effluent with a standard concentration of 7,380 g.L-1, containing all the contaminants present in the actual effluent from biodiesel purification was synthesized. For this study it was developed an experimental design in order to assess the influence of the initial pH, space time and the potential difference over the variables that characterize the treated water, the consumption of the electrode mass and energy consumption of the reactor. An array of eleven experiments was performed and collected water samples in the range of 5.0 min for 40 min for characterization. The results were initially assessed for dynamic behavioral and it was observed that the best turbidity removal rates, COD and O&G were 94.21 %, 89.3 % and 51.2 %, respectively. From the statistical results, it was observed that the initial pH was the most active factor in the varying responses and the optimization analysis showed that the maximum reactor efficiency is achieved when operating with an initial pH of 8.0, a space time of 29.43 minutes and a potential difference of 6.0 Volts, resulting in an energy consumption of 4.8 kWh.m-3, which equals R$ 1.94 per cubic meter of treated effluent. Based on the results it was found that the application of the reactor is feasible to treat the waste from the biodiesel purification, regarding to the contaminant removal efficiency, energy consumption and the volume of treated effluent.

La gazéification de la biomasse permet d’obtenir un gaz de synthèse riche en CO et H2 utilisable pour la production d’électricité, de biocarburants ou de composés chimiques. Ce procédé permet de palier à l’épuisement des ressources fossiles. L’utilisation de boues d’épuration comme ressources de biomasse assurerait à ce type de déchets organiques une valorisation énergétique. Cependant, les boues contiennent une forte charge minérale (entre 30 et 50% massique). Cette fraction est composée d’une vingtaine d’oxyde notamment la silice, la chaux et l’oxyde de phosphore, P2O5 (plus de 15%).Les boues sont des systèmes complexes très peu étudiés jusqu'à présent. Il est donc nécessaire de connaitre le comportement en température des inorganiques afin de mesurer leur impact lors du processus de gazéification et de se prémunir contre les risques de corrosion et de pollution du gaz liés à leur présence. - Dans un premier temps, les températures de liquidus de deux fractions minérales de boues ont été déterminées. Il s’avère que celles-ci, comprises entre 1257°C et 1358°C, sont dans la plage opératoire d’un gazéifieur à lit entrainé. De plus, une étude menée sur le binaire SiO2-P2O5 a permis d’améliorer les bases de données thermodynamiques. - Dans un second temps, les études thermodynamiques et cinétiques de volatilisation du phosphore ont mis en évidence le faible relâchement en température du phosphore grâce à la formation de phases réfractaires associant l’oxyde de phosphore et la chaux tel que Ca3(PO4)2 et Ca9Fe(PO4)7. La volatilité des inorganiques des boues est inférieure à 0.5% massique. - Enfin, l’interaction entre les inorganiques liquides et plusieurs céramiques réfractaires a été étudiée, par des essais de corrosion statique et dynamique. Un matériau, constitué d’alumine et d’oxyde de chrome, s’est révélé être un excellent candidat pour le garnissage du réacteur de gazéification. / Synthesis gas can be obtained by biomass gasification. It is composed of CO and H2 and can be used for the production of electricity, organic coumpounds and biofuels. The use of sewage sludges allows exploiting this kind of waste as biomass resources. However, sewage sludges contain a large percentage of minerals (30 to 50 % wt) composed of at least 20 different oxides including silica, lime and phosphorous oxide, P2O5 (15 % wt of the minerals). Mineral matters of sludges are complex and not well known. So, it is necessary to study their behaviour in function of temperature to understand their impact during gasification process and avoid gas pollution and corrosion of the ceramic refractories. Firstly, liquidus temperatures of two different mineral matters were determined. The result shows that these temperatures, between 1257 and 1358°C, are in the operating range of the gasifier. Thus, a study of the binary system SiO2-P2O5 had enabled to enhance thermodynamic databases. Secondly, thermodynamic and kinetic studies, confirmed the low release of P2O5 in function of temperature due to the formation of refractory compounds like Ca3(PO4)2 and Ca9Fe(PO4)7. Release of inorganics from the sludge is less than 0.5 % wt. Finally, interaction between slag and different ceramic refractories was studied. Static and dynamic trials were performed to choose the most resistant ceramic refractory. One of them composed of alumina and chrome oxide proved to be a good choice to build the gasifier wall.

The presDue to the system does not recognize equations and formulas the resumo and abstract can be found in the PDF file. / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Devido ao sistema não reconhecer equações e fórmulas o resumo e abstract encontra-se no arquivo em PDF.

Ce travail porte sur l'étude de la gazéification de biomasse en Réacteur à Flux Entrainé (RFE), dans le contexte du développement de procédés pour la production de biocarburants de deuxième génération. L'objectif de cette thèse est de modéliser les différents phénomènes qui régissent la conversion de la biomasse dans des conditions représentatives d'un RFE. La pyrolyse et la gazéification de particules de hêtre de taille comprise entre 315 et 415 µm ont été étudiées entre 800 et 1400°C en four à chute de laboratoire. L'influence de l'ajout de H2O, de CO2 et de O2 sur les produits de gazéification a été explorée, et les essais ont été simulés à partir d'un modèle 1D. L'ajout de H2O ou de CO2 permet de diminuer les rendements en char de manière significative. En phase gaz, l'influence principale de ces deux espèces est la modification de la composition en espèces majoritaires avec la réaction de gaz à l'eau. L'ajout de O2 a pour effet d'améliorer la conversion du carbone de la biomasse en gaz, et de réduire de manière significative la production de suies et de char. Le modèle, basé sur une chimie détaillée, permet de simuler ces essais de façon très satisfaisante sur toute la gamme de variation des conditions opératoires. La pyrolyse et la gazéification de particules de hêtre tamisées entre 1,12 et 1,25 mm a été étudiée en présence de O2. À 800, 1000 et 1200°C, la conversion de ces « grosses » particules est plus faible que celles des petites particules, mais à 1400°C la taille de particule n'a pas d'influence. Enfin, une étude expérimentale a été menée dans un RFE pilote pour étudier l'influence de la quantité de O2, de la taille de particule et de la pression sur la gazéification de particules de bois. Ces essais ont été simulés de façon satisfaisante en adaptant le modèle 1D. / The present work deals with biomass gasification in Entrained Flow Reactor (EFR) in the context of the development of new Biomass-to-Liquid processes. The objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive model to better understand the phenomena controlling biomass gasification in conditions representative of an EFR. Biomass pyrolysis and gasification of beech particles sieved between 315 and 450 µm have been studied between 800 and 1400°C in a drop tube furnace. The influence of H2O, CO2 and O2 addition on gasification products has been investigated and the tests have been simulated with a 1D model. The addition of H2O or CO2 leads to a significantly lower char yield. The main influence of these two oxidants in gas phase is the modification of major species composition with water gas shift reaction. With the addition of O2, the carbon conversion into gas is improved and the char and soot yields are significantly lower. The simulations are in very good agreement with the experimental results. Biomass pyrolysis and gasification of beech particles sieved between 1.12 and 1.25 mm have been studied in presence of O2. Between 800 and 1200°C the carbon conversion into gas is lower than with the smaller particles but at 1400°C the particle size has no influence. At last, the influence of O2 addition, particle size and pressure on biomass gasification has been studied in a pilot scale EFR. These experimental results have been satisfactorily simulated by adapting the 1D model.

Sol-gel-based silica monoliths with hierarchical mesopores/macropores are promising catalyst support and flow reactors. Here, we report the successful preparation of cylindrically shaped Pt-loaded silica monoliths (length: 2 cm, diameter: 0.5 cm) with a variable mean macropore width of 1, 6, 10, or 27 μm at a fixed mean mesopore width of 17 nm. The Pt-loaded monolithic catalysts were housed in a robust cladding made of borosilicate glass for use as a flow reactor. The monolithic reactors exhibit a permeability as high as 2 μm2 with a pressure drop below 9 bars over a flow rate range of 2–20 cm3 min−1 (solvent: water). The aqueous-phase hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol with NaBH4 as a reducing agent was used as a test reaction to study the influence of mass transfer on catalytic activity in continuous flow. No influence of flow rate on conversion at a fixed contact time of 2.6 s was observed for monolithic catalysts with mean macropore widths of 1, 10, or 27 µm. As opposed to earlier studies conducted at much lower flow velocities, this strongly indicates the absence of external mass-transfer limitations or stagnant layer formation in the macropores of the monolithic catalysts.

Research on the electrocoagulation (EC) of hexane extractable materials (HEM) has been conducted at the University of New Orleans using a proprietary bench-scale EC reactor. The original reactor configuration forced the fluid to follow a vertical upward-downward path. An alternate electrode arrangement was introduced so that the path of flow became horizontal. Both configurations were evaluated by comparing the residence time distribution (RTD) data generated in each case. These data produced indication of internal recirculation and stagnant water when the fluid followed a vertical path. These anomalies were attenuated when the fluid flowed horizontally and at a velocity higher than 0.032 m s-1 . A series of EC experiments were performed using a synthetic emulsion with a HEM concentration of approximately 700 mg l-1. It was confirmed that EC of HEM follows first-order kinetics, and kinetic constants of 0.0441 s-1 and 0.0443 s-1 were obtained from applying both the dispersion and tanks-in-series (TIS) models, respectively. In both cases R2 was 0.97. Also, the TIS model indicated that each cell of the EC behaves as an independent continuous-stirred-tank reactor.

The loss of efficiency and performance of bioprocesses on scale-up is well known, but not fully understood. This work addresses this problem, by studying the effect of some fermentation gradients (pH, glucose and oxygen) at a larger scale in a bench-scale two compartment reactor (PFR + STR) using the cadaverine-producing recombinant bacterium, Corynebacterium glutamicum DM1945 Δact3 Ptuf-ldcC_OPT. The initial scale down strategy increased the magnitude of these gradients by only increasing the mean cell residence time in the plug flow reactor (τ_PFR). The cell growth and product related rate constants were compared as the τ_PFR was increased; differences were significant in some cases, but only up to 2 min residence time. For example, losses in cadaverine productivity when compared to the control fed-batch fermentation on average for the τ_PFR of 1 min, 2 min and 5 min were 25 %, 42 % and 46 % respectively. This indicated that the increasing the τ_PFR alone does not necessarily increase the magnitude of fermentation gradients. The new scale-down strategy developed here, increased the magnitude of fermentation gradients by not only increasing the τ_PFR, but also considering the mean frequency at which the bacterial cells entered the PFR section (f_m). The f_m was kept constant by reducing the broth volume in the STR. Hence, the bacterial cells also spent shorter times in the well mixed STR, as the τ_PFR was increased (hypothesised as giving the bacterial cells less time to recover the non-ideal PFR section of the SDR). On adoption of this strategy cadaverine productivity decreases for the τ_PFR of 1 min, 2 min and 5 min were 25 %, 32 % and 53 % respectively. Thus, highlighting that loss in performance is most likely to occur as the magnitude of heterogeneity within the fermentation environment increases. However, Corynebacterium glutamicum DM1945 Δact3 Ptuf-ldcC_OPT did show some resilience in its biomass productivity. It was only marginally affected in the harshest of conditions simulated here.

The aim of this thesis is the investigation of modeling and optimization particularities of tubular polymerization reactors. The original work is divided in two sections, the first treating a modeling and optimization study of tubular reactors for methyl methacrylate polymerization in solution, and the second, an experimental and theoretical study of L-lactide reactive extrusion. In the first section, reactor simulations in similar operating conditions were performed in order to select a representative kinetic model among the published kinetic models for MMA solution polymerization. Two widely used numerical algorithms, one based on Pontryagin's Minimum Principle and the other a Genetic Algorithm, were compared for an average-complexity optimization problem. The results showed a superior robustness of the Genetic Algorithm for this category of problems. The second part of the thesis deals with the modeling and optimization of L-lactide reactive extrusion. A kinetic model is proposed and its parameters estimated using nonlinear estimation numerical procedures based on experimentally measured data. Reactive extrusion experiments were performed in representative operating conditions. The Llactide/ polylactide flow in the extruder was characterized by simulation using the commercial software LUDOVIC®. The simulated residence time distributions characteristics are used to model the reactive extrusion process of two approaches, an axial dispersion model and a compartment model, based on compartments whose characteristics are deduced from the simulations using LUDOVIC®. The modeling results are in good agreement with the measured data in the same operating conditions.