Two simple, eco-friendly and efficient phase-selective gelators were developed for instant (<45 s) gelation of oil (either commercial fuels or pure organic liquids) from an oil-water mixture at room temperature to combat marine oil spills.

Atmospheric aerosols often contain a substantial fraction of organic matter, but the role of organic compounds in new nanometer-sized particle formation is highly uncertain. Laboratory experiments show that nucleation of sulfuric acid is considerably enhanced in the presence of aromatic acids. Theoretical calculations identify the formation of an unusually stable aromatic acid-sulfuric acid com...

Anaerobic digestion is an engineered methanogenic decomposition of organic matter under oxygen-free conditions and involves a mixed consortium of different species of anaerobic microoganisms that transform organic matter into biogas. The process is successfully used for the treatment of municipal sludge, animal manure, industrial sludge, and industrial and municipal wastewaters. Applications of...

A novel approach is developed for desulphurization of fuels or organics without use of catalyst. In this process, organic and aqueous phases are mixed in a predefined manner under ambient conditions and passed through a cavitating device. Vapor cavities formed in the cavitating device are then collapsed which generate (in-situ) oxidizing species which react with the sulphur moiety resulting in ...

Biogas derived from organic wastes is considered as good alternative to petroleum fuels. It can be used in compression ignition (CI) engines, because of its better mixing ability with air and clean burning nature. Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion of various organic substances such as kitchen wastes, agricultural wastes, municipal solid wastes, cow dung etc., in absence of oxygen, which...

We studied the isotopic composition of organic matter in the sediments of eight mountain lakes located in the Tatra Mountains (Western Carpathians, Poland). The sediments of the lakes were fine and course detritus gyttja, mud, and sand. The total organic carbon content varied from 0.5 to 53 %. The C/N ratio indicated that in-lake primary production is the major source of the organic matter in t...

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are emitted during the combustion process. They originate from the organic components of fossil fuels, or are formed during the combustion process. For example, the addition of smaller aliphatic compounds, cyclization, and transformation into aromatic hydrocarbons leads to polycyclic aromatic compound (PAH) formation. Some PAHs are known to be carcinogenic. The ...

Our work focuses on the feasibility of utilizing organic fuels for virtual hydrogen flow cell battery systems, based on thermodynamic considerations of fuel hydrogenation/dehydrogenation reactions. An assessment of the energy density and open circuit potentials (OCPs) as determined by the structure of carbocyclic and heterocyclic saturated hydrocarbons and their dehydrogenation products has bee...