BRIGE: The Production of Biodiesel Using Liquid-Phase Electrical Discharge Plasmas

BRIGE：利用液相放电等离子体生产生物柴油

• 批准号: 1125592
• 负责人: Selma Mededovic
• 金额: $ 17.48万
• 依托单位: Clarkson University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-10-01 至 2014-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1125592&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: BRIGE; Production; Biodiesel; Using; Liquid

PI: Mededovic, SelmaProposal Number: 1125592Intellectual Merit Over the past ten years, the PI has demonstrated that an electrical discharge in dimethyl sulfoxide yields diamond-like carbon and that discharges in methanol and sucrose solutions yield hydrogen gas and ethanol, respectively. More recently, she discovered that within thirty minutes of plasma treatment, the viscosity of vegetable oil is reduced by about sixty percent. Thus, the main goal of this proposal is to investigate and assess electrical discharges as a novel technology for the production of biodiesel and to study the fundamental chemistry of plasmas in oils. The first objective will be achieved by conducting electrical discharges in different vegetable oils (sunflower oil, palm oil and coconut oil) with or without additives (methanol, glycerol and sucrose), identifying reaction by-products and characterizing physical properties of the liquids after the discharge. In order to elucidate and categorize chemical processes inside the plasma and thus achieve the second objective, it is critical to examine the nature of chemical reactions. There has always been a suspicion that chemical reactions in plasmas are not driven purely by the electron impact dissociation but also, because of the high plasma temperatures, the pyrolysis. Thus, the development of a mathematical model to predict the plasma temperature will assist in answering fundamental questions regarding the types of chemical reactions in plasma and facilitate the understanding of the reaction pathways for the conversion of vegetable oil into biodiesel. The PI has two working hypotheses in the current proposal; 1) In the absence of additives (i.e. methanol), during an electrical discharge in vegetable oil high-energy electrons in plasma will dissociate triglyceride molecules and yield short- and long-chained radicals which will recombine to form, among many other by-products, alkyl esters; and 2) The presence of additives will increase the yield of alkyl esters: In methanol/vegetable oil mixture, an electron-driven transesterification will take place. Electrical discharge in glycerol will yield methanol. To the contrary, the discharge in sucrose solution will yield ethanol. Thus, by adding either glycerol or sucrose to the vegetable oil, we can simultaneously produce methanol or ethanol and form alkyl esters. Broader Impacts The PI's primary efforts have always been directed towards elucidating chemical reactions in plasma and at the plasma-liquid boundary, thus advancing the fundamental knowledge of liquid-phase electrical discharges. It is expected that the experimental results of the proposed work will clarify the chemical degradation pathways in plasmas. The specific focus placed on distinguishing the role of electron impact vs. thermal dissociation reactions using mathematical modeling will assist in understanding the nature of chemical reactions in plasmas. For more practical applications, we expect for the results of this proposal to confirm electrical discharge as an inexpensive and effective technology for dissociating molecules into useful by-products, i.e. biodiesel. Additionally, the future experiments which will include electrical discharges in algae oil and animal fat could be greatly beneficial to the general public. On educational and diversity impact, the PI has begun collaboration with the principal of a local high-school with the purpose of encouraging young women to pursue a career in engineering. The PI has offered her laboratory to the group of female high-school students to conduct several simple experiments related to this project. The goal is to encourage some of these students to join the engineering program at Clarkson University. The PI is also collaborating with the Office of Institutional Diversity Initiatives (IDI) at Clarkson University, which actively recruits under-represented people to pursue careers in science and engineering. Through the IDI, for this project, the PI will recruit two students during summer and thus promote diversifying chemical engineering to the greatest extent possible. The PI also encourages current female undergraduate from her laboratory to continue her research as the graduate student. The afore-mentioned students from the under-represented groups will be supported by BRIGE funding. In addition, the results from this project will be integrated into the courses that the PI teaches. One example includes studying the kinetics of complex chemical systems.

主要研究者：Mededovic，Selma提案编号：1125592过去十年来，PI已经证明，在二甲基亚砜中放电产生类金刚石碳，在甲醇和蔗糖溶液中放电分别产生氢气和乙醇。最近，她发现在等离子体处理的30分钟内，植物油的粘度降低了约60%。因此，本提案的主要目标是调查和评估放电作为生产生物柴油的新技术，并研究油中等离子体的基本化学。第一个目标将通过在有或没有添加剂（甲醇、甘油和蔗糖）的不同植物油（向日葵油、棕榈油和椰子油）中进行放电来实现，识别反应副产物并表征放电后液体的物理性质。为了阐明和分类等离子体内部的化学过程，从而实现第二个目标，关键是要检查化学反应的性质。一直以来，人们怀疑等离子体中的化学反应不仅仅是由电子碰撞解离驱动的，而且由于等离子体温度高，热解也是如此。因此，数学模型的发展，以预测等离子体温度将有助于回答有关的化学反应在等离子体中的类型的基本问题，并促进植物油转化为生物柴油的反应途径的理解。 PI在当前提案中有两个工作假设：1）在不存在添加剂的情况下（即甲醇），在植物油中放电期间，等离子体中的高能电子将解离甘油三酯分子并产生短链和长链自由基，这些自由基将重组以形成许多其他副产物中的烷基酯;以及2）添加剂的存在将增加烷基酯的产率：在甲醇/植物油混合物中，将发生电子驱动的酯交换反应。 在甘油中放电将产生甲醇。相反，在蔗糖溶液中放电将产生乙醇。因此，通过向植物油中加入甘油或蔗糖，我们可以同时生产甲醇或乙醇并形成烷基酯。PI的主要工作一直致力于阐明等离子体中和等离子体-液体边界的化学反应，从而推进液相放电的基础知识。预计所提出的工作的实验结果将澄清等离子体中的化学降解途径。具体重点放在区分电子碰撞与热解离反应的作用，使用数学建模将有助于理解等离子体中化学反应的性质。对于更实际的应用，我们期望该提案的结果证实放电作为一种廉价且有效的技术，用于将分子解离成有用的副产品，即生物柴油。此外，未来的实验将包括藻类油和动物脂肪中的放电，这对公众可能是非常有益的。 在教育和多样性影响方面，PI已开始与当地一所高中的校长合作，目的是鼓励年轻妇女从事工程职业。PI将她的实验室提供给一群女高中生，让她们进行几项与该项目有关的简单实验。我们的目标是鼓励这些学生中的一些人加入克拉克森大学的工程项目。PI还与克拉克森大学的机构多样性倡议办公室（IDI）合作，该办公室积极招募代表性不足的人从事科学和工程职业。通过IDI，对于这个项目，PI将在夏季招收两名学生，从而尽可能地促进化学工程的多样化。PI还鼓励她实验室的女本科生继续她的研究生研究。上述来自代表性不足群体的学生将得到BRIGE资金的支持。此外，该项目的成果将纳入PI教授的课程。一个例子包括研究复杂化学系统的动力学。