Sorption, Recovery and Recycle of Spilled Heavy Oils Using Carbon Materials

Recent oil tanker accidents in the sea are very serious, not only since they pollute the environment but also because they release heavy oil. The preparation of activated carbon from agricultural waste increases economic return and reduces pollution. On carbonized fibers, sorption capacity for different kind of oils was determined. Fibers extracted from bagasse and carbonized at 300◦C for 2 hr were found to have a high performance for sorption, recovery and recycling of heavy oils, even the viscous ones. Sorption capacity showed strong dependence on the weight of sorbent and oil film thickness. Their recycling performance was excellent as they can be used for six cycles until they reach 50% of the sorption capacity of the 1st cycle. Comparison between the prepared carbonized fiber and a commercial sorbent has been done and showed that the prepared sorbent could be used as sufficient sorbent more than the commercial sorbent used.

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New carbon materials 2003; 18(3)-abstracts: Sorption of heavy oils and biomedical liquids into exfoliated graphite — Research in China

Carbon ◽

10.1016/s0008-6223(03)00423-8 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 41 (15) ◽

pp. 3075-3078

Keyword(s):

Carbon Materials ◽

Exfoliated Graphite ◽

Heavy Oils ◽

New Carbon Materials

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Microscopic versus process parameters in heavy-oil upgrading

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010012223x ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 366-367

Author(s):

V.A. Munoz ◽

R.J. Mikula ◽

C. Payette ◽

W.W. Lam

Keyword(s):

Molecular Weight ◽

Liquid Fuels ◽

Chemical Components ◽

Heavy Oils ◽

Synthetic Fuels ◽

High Hydrogen ◽

Optical Texture ◽

Polar Groups ◽

Anisotropic Character ◽

Planar Molecules

The transformation of high molecular weight components present in heavy oils into useable liquid fuels requires their decomposition by means of a variety of processes. The low molecular weight species produced recombine under controlled conditions to generate synthetic fuels. However, an important fraction undergo further recombination into higher molecular weight components, leading to the formation of coke. The optical texture of the coke can be related to its originating components. Those with high sulfur and oxygen content tend to produce cokes with small optical texture or fine mosaic, whereas compounds with relatively high hydrogen content are likely to produce large optical texture or domains. In addition, the structure of the parent chemical components, planar or nonplanar, determines the isotropic or anisotropic character of the coke. Planar molecules have a tendency to align in an approximately parallel arrangement to initiate the formation of the nematic mesophase leading to the formation of anisotropic coke. Nonplanar highly alkylated compounds and/or those rich in polar groups form isotropic coke. The aliphatic branches produce steric hindrance to alignment, whereas the polar groups participate in cross-linking reactions.

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Three-dimensional distribution of ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygemase during the early development of proplastids in dark-grown Euglena cells transferred to an inorganic medium

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100162090 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 906-907

Author(s):

Tomoko Ehara ◽

Shuji Sumida ◽

Tetsuaki Osafune ◽

Eiji Hase

Keyword(s):

Cell Suspension ◽

Euglena Gracilis ◽

Carbon Materials ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Peripheral Region ◽

Plastid Development ◽

Bisphosphate Carboxylase ◽

Inorganic Medium ◽

Ribulose 1 ◽

Dimensional Distribution

As shown previously, Euglena cells grown in Hutner’s medium in the dark without agitation accumulate wax as well as paramylum, and contain proplastids showing no internal structure except for a single prothylakoid existing close to the envelope. When the cells are transferred to an inorganic medium containing ammonium salt and the cell suspension is aerated in the dark, the wax was oxidatively metabolized, providing carbon materials and energy 23 for some dark processes of plastid development. Under these conditions, pyrenoid-like structures (called “pro-pyrenoids”) are formed at the sites adjacent to the prolamel larbodies (PLB) localized in the peripheral region of the proplastid. The single prothylakoid becomes paired with a newly formed prothylakoid, and a part of the paired prothylakoids is extended, with foldings, in to the “propyrenoid”. In this study, we observed a concentration of RuBisCO in the “propyrenoid” of Euglena gracilis strain Z using immunoelectron microscopy.

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