Researchers at Ames Laboratories under the U.S. Department of Energy have developed a nanoparticle that can be used in the production of green diesel oil. The cost of diesel fuel makes the resulting fuel more environmentally friendly.
The latest method for producing green diesel is derived from the existing process for producing biodiesel. Biodiesel is produced by reacting fat, oil and ethanol. Green diesel is produced by the hydrogenation of fatty acids and oils. Its chemical composition Very similar to regular diesel. Compared with biodiesel, green diesel is more stable and has higher energy density.
Amy Slugin, a researcher at Ames Laboratory, said to the physicists' organization network on May 12th: “In general, when using raw materials rich in free fatty acids such as micro algae oil to make biodiesel, we must first The fatty acids that degrade the catalytic effect are separated, followed by a catalytic reaction to produce fuel, and the multifunctional nanoparticle we designed improves this process by combining multiple reaction processes into one, making the manufacturing process more rapid. And what we get is greener diesel than biodiesel.â€
Previously, the Ames research team including Sternen successfully used the double-function mesoporous nanoparticle for the first time in the reaction process. These ordered porous particles contain an amine group that can capture free fatty acids and nickel nanoparticles that act as catalysts during the conversion of fatty acids to green diesel. Nickel is a "sweet medlar" in the scientific research field because its price is only about one-2000th of the precious metal (such as platinum and palladium) used in the hydrogenation of traditional fatty acids.
Slunenin explained that the use of only nickel in the fuel conversion process will make the reaction process too intense, which will decompose the hydrocarbon chain. The potential of the product obtained by this "cracking" process as fuel is very low. Slunen said: "And when we added this ingredient responsible for sequestering fatty acids in the reaction, something very interesting happened: the molecules no longer cracked, and they got hydrocarbons that looked more like diesel. The reaction process also leaves other components of the oil behind, and these valuable molecules are also expected to be used in the pharmaceutical and food industries."
However, the Slunin research team made improvements to the above particles. They used iron as a catalyst. Iron is 100 times cheaper than nickel, which not only makes the conversion faster but also reduces the loss of carbon dioxide throughout the process. Sunningen said in the "Journal of Catalytic Journal" published in May: "The latest technology can also be upgraded industrially." (Liu Xia)
Dongguan HengTaichang Doors Co, Ltd. , https://www.dghtcdoors.com