Neste trabalho estudou-se o comportamento de soluções dos hidrótropos toluenossulfonato de sódio (TSS) e n-butilbenzeno sulfonato de sódio (NBBSNa) quanto a suas características de agregação/associação por Ressonância Magnética Nuclear 1H (RMN 1H), espalhamento de raios-X à baixo ângulo (SAXS), espalhamento de luz estático (SLS) e espalhamento de luz a médios ângulos (WAXS). Medidas realizadas com outros hidrótropos tais como estirenossulfonato de sódio (ESS), salicilato de sódio (SalS) e benzoato de sódio (BS) foram realizadas para comparação dos resultados. O NBBSNa foi sintetizado, purificado e caracterizado. Os experimentos de RMN revelam mudanças no deslocamento químico com a concentração, indicando mudança de ambiente a que as moléculas estão submetidas. Pela técnica de SLS pode-se avaliar o segundo coeficiente do virial das soluções de TSS com e sem a adição de um soluto. Pelas análises de SAXS determinou-se o tamanho do agregado de NBBSNa utilizando ajustes pelo programa SASfit, sendo o resultado comparado com um surfactante clássico dodecilbenzenossulfonato de sódio (DBSNa). O NBBSNa é um sistema de três densidades eletrônicas e esférico. Os demais hidrótropos estudados apresentam comportamento de líquido, sendo observado a correlação das moléculas a curta distância nos experimentos de WAXS. / In this work the behavior of solutions of the hydrotropes sodium toluene sulfonate (TSS) and sodium n-butylbenzene sulfonate (NBBSNa) was studied, concerning the aggregation/association characteristics of this molecules by the use of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR 1H), small angle x ray scattering (SAXS), static light scattering (SLS) and wide angle x ray scattering (WAXS). Measurements with other hydrotropic molecules like sodium styrene sulfonate (ESS), sodium salicylate (SalS), sodium benzoate (BS) were realized in order to discuss the results. The NBBSNa molecule was synthesized, purified and characterized. The experiments of NMR revealed changes in the chemical shift with the concentration, indicating the changes of the surround environment in what molecules are embedded. For the technique of SLS, the second virial coefficient of the solutions of TSS could be evaluated with and without the addition of a solute. By the SAXS data the size of the aggregate of NBBSNa was determined using the SASfit software. The result was compared with a classic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DBSNa). NBBSNa is a spherical system of three electronic densities. All the other hydrotropes studied shows a liquid scattering behavior. By WAXS experiments a correlation of the molecules at short distance was observed.

Neste trabalho estudou-se o comportamento de soluções dos hidrótropos toluenossulfonato de sódio (TSS) e n-butilbenzeno sulfonato de sódio (NBBSNa) quanto a suas características de agregação/associação por Ressonância Magnética Nuclear 1H (RMN 1H), espalhamento de raios-X à baixo ângulo (SAXS), espalhamento de luz estático (SLS) e espalhamento de luz a médios ângulos (WAXS). Medidas realizadas com outros hidrótropos tais como estirenossulfonato de sódio (ESS), salicilato de sódio (SalS) e benzoato de sódio (BS) foram realizadas para comparação dos resultados. O NBBSNa foi sintetizado, purificado e caracterizado. Os experimentos de RMN revelam mudanças no deslocamento químico com a concentração, indicando mudança de ambiente a que as moléculas estão submetidas. Pela técnica de SLS pode-se avaliar o segundo coeficiente do virial das soluções de TSS com e sem a adição de um soluto. Pelas análises de SAXS determinou-se o tamanho do agregado de NBBSNa utilizando ajustes pelo programa SASfit, sendo o resultado comparado com um surfactante clássico dodecilbenzenossulfonato de sódio (DBSNa). O NBBSNa é um sistema de três densidades eletrônicas e esférico. Os demais hidrótropos estudados apresentam comportamento de líquido, sendo observado a correlação das moléculas a curta distância nos experimentos de WAXS. / In this work the behavior of solutions of the hydrotropes sodium toluene sulfonate (TSS) and sodium n-butylbenzene sulfonate (NBBSNa) was studied, concerning the aggregation/association characteristics of this molecules by the use of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR 1H), small angle x ray scattering (SAXS), static light scattering (SLS) and wide angle x ray scattering (WAXS). Measurements with other hydrotropic molecules like sodium styrene sulfonate (ESS), sodium salicylate (SalS), sodium benzoate (BS) were realized in order to discuss the results. The NBBSNa molecule was synthesized, purified and characterized. The experiments of NMR revealed changes in the chemical shift with the concentration, indicating the changes of the surround environment in what molecules are embedded. For the technique of SLS, the second virial coefficient of the solutions of TSS could be evaluated with and without the addition of a solute. By the SAXS data the size of the aggregate of NBBSNa was determined using the SASfit software. The result was compared with a classic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DBSNa). NBBSNa is a spherical system of three electronic densities. All the other hydrotropes studied shows a liquid scattering behavior. By WAXS experiments a correlation of the molecules at short distance was observed.

In this dissertation research, two fundamental studies involving gas chromatography mass spectrometry of n-butylbenzene and pyrolysis products are presented. In the first study, fragmentation pathways of n-butylbenzene in quadrupole ion trap have been investigated. At low energy, product ion corresponding to m/z 92 and m/z 91 are formed via competitive parallel dissociation. Studies have also shown that at higher energy m/z 92 has sufficient internal energy to undergo further fragmentation yielding m/z 91 via consecutive dissociation. Thus in order to discern the fragmentation pathways of n-butylbenzene, the technique of two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) was applied to the mass spectral data. Application of 2DCOS resulted in two 2D correlation spectra namely synchronous and asynchronous. A third spectra known as coherence spectra was obtained from the ration of asynchronous to synchronous correlation intensities. For the elucidation of n-butylbenzene fragmentation pathways, all the three spectra were utilized in this study. The second study in this dissertation involves investigation of pyrolysis products to aid in fire debris analysis. One of the major concerns in fire debris analysis is that pyrolysis products can mask the patterns of compounds of interest and make the chromatographic results interpretation extremely difficult. One of the approaches for investigating the formation of pyrolysis products is to subject the commonly found building materials to controlled heating in laboratory. In this study, new heating methodologies for controlled heating of substrates involving furnace, paint-cans and flat steel pans have been developed. The substrates used for investigating pyrolysis products were polystyrene, polyvinylchloride, polybutadiene, yellow-pine, nylon carpet and padding. Experiments were also performed to investigate the influence of hydrocarbons on the formation of pyrolysis.

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Doctor Educationis / The research focused on the synthesis, characterisation and activity of zeolite supported metal catalysts for the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene with t-butyl chloride. Alkyl benzenes are traditionally produced via systems that employ the use of Lewis acids or strong mineral acids. There have been widespread concerns over these approaches based on their environmental impacts and separation difficulties. Recent approaches have endeavoured the much to use more environmentally eco-friendly systems and zeolites have proved to be versatile support materials. The use of zeolites has also shown to greatly improve product selectivity as well as easing separation constraints. However the adoption of zeolites on large scale Friedel-Crafts alkylation has been hampered by the high cost of zeolite production from commercial sources. On the other hand fly ash has been found to be a viable starting material for zeolite synthesis. Apart from that South Africa is faced with fly disposal challenges and there is continual accumulation of fly ash at the coal fired power stations, which provide about 77 % of the power produced in the country. In this light the use of fly ash will help to reduce the disposal constraints as well as providing a cheap starting material for zeolite synthesis. In this study the hierarchical Zeolite X has been successfully synthesised from fly ash via a hydrothermal treatment. The zeolite was then loaded with Fe/Mn via two approaches namely liquid phase ion exchange and incipient wetness impregnation. For comparison purposes seasoned commercial support materials namely HBEA and MCM- 41 were also loaded with the same metals and characterised with various techniques namely; HRSEM, EDS, HRTEM, XRD, SAED, ICP-OES and N2 adsorption analysis, It was found from the characterisation undertaken that the integrity of the respective supports was generally retained upon metal loading. Both the ICP-OES and the EDS proved that the desired metals were successfully introduced onto the zeolitic support materials. The calculated percentage metal loading for the catalysts prepared via incipient wetness impregnation was closely related to the actual values obtained from the ICP-OES analysis for both the monometallic and the bimetallic catalysts (Fe/Mn). It was observed that the amount of metal that can be introduced on a zeolite via liquid phase ion exchange is largely dependent on the cation exchange capacity of the zeolite Supported metal catalysts for FC alkylation Page v and of the catalysts prepared using 0.25 M Fe solution it was found that Zeolite X had the highest Fe wt% loading of 11.4 %, with the lowest loading of 2.2 % obtained with the MCM-41 supported catalyst. The XRD patterns for the both HBEA and the MCM-41 supported metal catalysts resembled the patterns of the respective prestine support materials except in the case of catalysts with anFe wt % of more than 10, which exhibited peaks due to the Fe2O3 crystallites. In the case of the hierarchical Zeolite X, the metal loaded support had a significant reduction in the XRD peak intensities. The prepared catalysts were tested for the alkylation of benzene with t-butyl chloride. The benzene was also used as the solvent. The alkylation reaction was carried out in a round bottomed flask under reflux conditions and stirring at a temperature of 45 oC over a period of 5 h. A total of 18 catalysts was tested and the highest percentage conversion of 100 % was obtained with the 10%FeH after a reaction time of 2 h. The general trend obtained with the majority of the catalysts was characterised with a rapid initial increase and then steady state was achieved. Generally after a reaction time of 3 h almost all the catalysts had reached steady state in terms of the percentage conversion obtained. The outcomes reflect that the inclusion of Mn does not enhance the conversion but rather decreases it. It was also found that the Mn was not active in the alkylation of benzene as shown by the inactivity of the 10%MnM, where 10% by weight Mn was loaded on MCM-41. However the other monometallic catalysts containing Mn supported on Zeolite X and HBEA were found to be active. The activity is attributed to the presence of Brønsted acid sites in these zeolites which are not present in MCM-41. The selectivity studies reflect that the inclusion of Mn does slightly improve the selectivity towards the formation of the monoalkylated product (t-butyl benzene). The highest selectivity of 91.1 % was obtained with the 10%FeMnM after a reaction time of 4 h. MCM-41 supported catalysts had a relatively higher selectivity compared to the other supports. Considering the Fe monometallic catalysts tested it generally can be said that the yield were in the order HBEA > MCM-41 > Zeolite X. It however should be noted that the percentage yield is calculated from the conversion and selectivity percentages, this implies that the factors affecting these parameters will consequently affect the percentage yield obtained. Supported metal catalysts for FC alkylation Page vi The alkylation reaction was found to be characterised by the formation of two intermediate products which could not be identified. These products were formed during the transient start up stages of the reaction and would disappear from the reaction mixture with longer reaction times, and after 3 h in almost all the reactions studied the intermediates were not detected in the reaction mixture. The main products found were the monoalkylated product (desired product) and the para isomer (1,4-t-di-butyl benzene). There were no other dialkylated isomers or trialkylated products detected. The formation of the para isomer was usually after a reaction time of 2 h in most reactions. The research managed to show that the hierarchical Zeolites X can be synthesised from fly ash and ion exchange and incipient wetness impregnation are appropriate approaches that can be used to introduce Fe/Mn onto the support materials studied. The catalysts prepared were active to varying degrees in the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene with t-butylchloride, with the exception of the 10%MnM which was found to be inactive.

Le moteur HCCI pourrait être une alternative intéressante aux procédés de combustion conventionnels. Néanmoins, le contrôle de la combustion reste difficile dans ce moteur car, contrairement au moteur essence et Diesel, celui-ci est directement contrôlé par la chimie d’oxydation du combustible. Une connaissance très précise des modèles cinétiques détaillés de l’oxydation du carburant est donc indispensable pour pouvoir contrôler ce mode de combustion. L’objectif de cette thèse était de développer et valider expérimentalement des modèles cinétiques d’oxydation à haute température de 3 molécules modèles du gazole en utilisant un brûleur à flamme plate laminaire comme dispositif expérimental. Cette étude présente de nouveaux résultats expérimentaux obtenus sur une flamme laminaire pauvre pré mélangée de méthane ensemencée respectivement avec du n butylbenzène, du n propylcyclohexane et de l’indane. Un modèle cinétique d’oxydation a été développé et validé à haute température pour le n butylbenzène et un autre a été validé en flamme pour le n propylcyclohexane. Dans l’ensemble, ces modèles ont permis de simuler correctement les profils de la plupart des produits mesurés en flamme. Par ailleurs, un modèle cinétique qualitatif d’oxydation pour l’indane a été proposé / The HCCI engine could be an interesting alternative to conventional combustion processes. However, the control of the combustion remains difficult in this engine because, unlike the gasoline and diesel engine, it is directly related to the chemical oxidation of fuel. The development of accurate detailed kinetic models of the oxidation of fuel is therefore essential to control this mode of combustion. The aim of this PhD was to develop and experimentally validate high temperature kinetic oxidation models for 3 molecules representative of diesel fuel by using a flat flame burner experimental device. This study presents new experimental results obtained in a lean laminar premixed methane flame seeded respectively with n butylbenzene, n propylcyclohexane and indane. A kinetic oxidation model was developed and validated at high temperature for n-butylbenzene and another one was validated in flame for n propylcyclohexane. Overall, the models correctly simulated the profiles of most products measured in the flames. Moreover, a qualitative kinetic model for the oxidation of indane has been proposed