Production and Characterization of Carbon Molecular Sieves from Bituminous Lafia-Obi Nasarawa Coal by Pore Size Modification with Spent Engine Oil

Abstract

In this work, a carbon molecular sieve (CMS) was produced from a bituminous Lafia-Obi Nasarawa coal. An initial activated carbon (AC) sample was prepared via chemical activation from the coal, from which the CMS samples were then produced through heat treatment processes and carbon deposition from spent engine oil. Spent engine oil was pyrolyzed in order to deposit carbon at the pore mouth of coal-based AC to yield CMS. The effect of reaction temperature and holding time variation on the surface area, micropore pore volume and pore size of CMS was studied. Reaction temperature was varied at 400, 550 and 700°C while holding time was varied at 30 and 60 min. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method was used to calculate the surface areas, while the Dubinin-Radushkevich (DR) and Horváth-Kawazoe (HK) methods were used to determine the micropore volumes and pore sizes of the AC and CMS, respectively. The CMS sample with the largest BET surface area (5.824 m 2 g -1 ), DR micropore volume (0.172 cm 3 g -1 ) and HK pore size (6.317 Å) were obtained at 700°C reaction temperature and 60 min holding time. In addition to this, a molecular sieving ability test to separate benzene from a mixture of benzene and o-xylene in solution was carried out on the AC and CMS, with the CMS having a selective benzene percentage uptake of 61.36 %.

Modeling the Influence of Intake Air N₂Content on Internal Combustion Exhaust Gases Output

“…There is still a room for research in several aspects of IC emissions [14]. Zhang [7] believes that the thermodynamics could ultimately play a fundamental role on exploring more efficient methods to generate and utilize energy in such a way that mitigates the negative impacts on human health and the environment [15]. Evidence shows that, combusting a fuel in a N2 deficient environment leads to rapid burning, increased fuel efficiency, and reduced emissions of oxides of nitrogen at the same airto-fuel ratio [16].…”