Aim: The present study attempted to reduce NOx emissions in the exhaust of low heat rejection (LHR) diesel engine, with an air gap insulated piston with superni (an alloy of nickel) crown, an air gap insulated liner with superni insert and ceramic coated cylinder head with crude pongamia oil (CPO, a non-edible vegetable oil) with varied injection pressure and injection timing using the principl...

Renewable aromatics can be conveniently synthesized from furanics by introducing an intermediate hydrogenation step in the Diels-Alder (DA) aromatization route, to effectively block retro-DA activity. Aromatization of the hydrogenated DA adducts requires tandem catalysis, using a metal-based dehydrogenation catalyst and solid acid dehydration catalyst in toluene. Herein it is demonstrated that ...

The influence of framework substituents (Al3+, Ga3+, Fe3+ and B3+) and morphology (bulk vs. nanometer-sized sheets) of MFI zeolites on the acidity and catalytic performance in the methanol-to-hydrocarbons (MTH) reaction was investigated. The Brønsted acid density and strength decreased in the order Al(OH)Si>Ga(OH)Si>Fe(OH)Si≫B(OH)Si. Pyridine 15N NMR spectra confirmed the differences in the Brø...

Valorization of lignin is essential for the economics of future lignocellulosic biorefineries. Lignin is converted into novel polymer building blocks through four steps: catalytic hydroprocessing of softwood to form 4-alkylguaiacols, their conversion into 4-alkylcyclohexanols, followed by dehydrogenation to form cyclohexanones, and Baeyer-Villiger oxidation to give caprolactones. The formation ...

Zeolite-based catalyst bodies are commonly employed in a range of important industrial processes. Depending on the binder and shaping method chosen, vast differences in the reactivity, selectivity and stability are obtained. Here, three highly complementary micro-spectroscopic techniques were employed to study zeolite ZSM-5-binder interactions in SiO2-, Al2O3-, SiO2 : Al2O3- (2 : 1 mix) and kao...

To meet today’s emission standards, the ammonia-based selective catalytic reduction (SCR) has become the major NOx control strategy for light and heavy diesel engines. Before NOx reduction can proceed, adsorption of ammonia on the acidic sites of the catalyst is necessary. For improvements in efficiency and control of the exhaust gas aftertreatment, a better understanding of the ammonia storage...

During this study the application of Natrolite zeolite was investigated as a solid acid catalyst for efficient preparation of 5substituted 1H-tetrazole derivatives. Excellent yields of products were obtained with a wide range of substrates. After completion of the reaction, the catalyst was recovered by filtration and reused several times with only a slight decrease of activity observed under t...

We report the one-step synthesis of a highly active hierarchical Fe/ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst with a strongly improved lifetime in the selective hydroxylation of benzene to phenol with nitrous oxide; compared to the best Fe/ZSM-5 catalyst, the turnover number after 24 h on stream is almost four times higher.

Interpretation of catalytic performance during the MTH process is hampered by heat transport phenomena. We demonstrate that large temperature rises can occur during fixed bed labscale catalyst testing of ZSM-5, even when a large catalyst bed dilution is applied. Formation of mesopores in ZSM-5 leads to partial mitigation of these effects because of a lower generation of heat per unit catalyst v...