Abstracts


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Applications of mesoporous materials
Chia L., Shen S., Ng W.K. and Tan R.B.H.

With the advent of structured mesoporous materials in the 1990s, research and development in application areas ranging from catalysis and active ingredient delivery to separation and purification have gained momentum. We review here the recent patents in these and other emerging areas.

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Advances in metal-organic frameworks for heterogeneous catalysis
Calvino-Casilda V. and Martin-Aranda R.M.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) materials feature structures exhibiting mainly huge specific surface areas and pore volumes making them interesting for several applications. Originally, MOFs materials were used for storage of hydrogen or hydrocarbons although quickly the field of their possible applications has been extended to other important fields such as gas purification and separation, and sensor techniques among others important applications. However, the most promising field which has recently attracted the attention of many researches has been the performance of MOFs in catalytic applications by introduction of catalytically active sites into the framework. Nevertheless, for this purpose most of the MOFs structures that have been published lately suffer from undesired chemical and/or physical properties which prevent their use under real reaction conditions e.g., insufficient thermal stability in air, lack of tolerance towards moisture and many organic solvents. Therefore, the stability of these materials under real reaction conditions has to be considered before any application and particularly before catalytic applications. However, the use of MOFs as heterogeneous catalysts has shown a significance increase in the last two decades as they have been considered as an eco-friendly alternative for catalysis. This patent review highlights the advances in metal-organic frameworks as heterogeneous catalyst in a wide range of applications.

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Microalgae cultivation using photobioreactors for biodiesel production
Breitman C.S. and Hsu J.T.

Throughout the past ten years global society has more of a vested interest in the research and development of sustainable energy sources. Carbon dioxide fixation and collection of biodiesel oils through the utilization of microalgae can not only possibly help the reduction of flue gas emissions, but also have the potential to provide clean energy. Microalgae growth is affected by numerous factors influencing the yield and quality of biodiesel; such as agitation and mixing, light source, sedimentation, and other growth inhibiting or inducing factors. Specifically, photobioreactor design is a major area of concern, and thus different types of reactors are examined along with innovative patents attempting to overcome such obstacles of algae growth. These patents along with current research give an overall look at the progression of this field of study and the areas some researchers and scientists are heading toward in the future. This review article encompasses an overview and background of the whole microalgae growth and harvesting process along with reviewing many of the photobioreactors designs now being utilized in present research.

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Carbon nanotubes: Promising materials for separation
Li Y., Jia Y.-X. and Hu Y.-D.

Due to the unique properties exhibited by carbon nanotubes, the explorations on its potential applications are ongoing. Among them, carbon nanotube seems to open a door for solving some problems encountered by current separation materials. The aim of the present contribution is to review recent patent developments of carbon nanotube (CNT) applications in separation including membrane-based separation and adsorption separation reported in the open literatures, especially in current patents. And, the corresponding advantages and disadvantages resulting from the employment of carbon nanotube for separation were also discussed and compared. Furthermore, some future research directions in this field were also put forward tentatively.

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A review of patents on treatment methods for waste minimization
Kumar A., Kadiyala A. and Poosarala V.V.

Large amounts of waste are generated during production, distribution, and consumption of any product. Over the past three decades, efforts have been made to minimize waste through source reduction, reuse, and treatment in order to achieve cleaner production and prevent pollution. This review summarizes patents related to treatment methods for waste minimization in different industrial sectors that were issued during the last 29 years. Online database maintained by the United States Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) was searched for this review. The patents were obtained from the USPTO database using the search criterion, by entering the sector name and using the keywords as waste minimization or treatment in the "title and abstracts." The review provided an overview of various waste minimization techniques for industries, hospitals, biosolids, construction, and agriculture. Also, it provided insight into the developments in reduction of waste over the years. The basic principle in these developments and research are the three R's in the waste hierarchy: reduce, reuse, and recycle. The patents cover new treatment and disposal processes. The majority of the patents related to waste minimization were found in the industrial, biosolids, and hospital sectors. A trend study on the number of patents issued related to waste minimization techniques in the above sectors showed a gradual increase from 1977 and peaked between 1993 and 2004, and decreased in recent years. The review showed that the research efforts and rapid development of patents associated with the five sectors were predominant between 1993 and 2004.

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Review on recent patents in sulfur removal from liquid fuels by oxidative desulfurization (ODS) process
Feng M.

Oxidative desulfurization (ODS) process, a non-hydrogen consuming method to remove sulfur from liquid fuels, has received a lot of attention recently for desulfurization of some liquid fuel feedstocks. This paper reviewed the recent patents in the ODS process. Generally Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is used as an oxidant in organic acids (e.g., acetic acid or formic acid) medium for the ODS process. Compared with the traditional hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process, ODS process has two main advantages: 1) the ODS process can be carried out in liquid phase under very mild operating conditions, thus much less capital intensive; 2) this process shows high reactivity and selectivity for some sulfide compounds which are hard to be removed by the HDS process, e.g. dibenzothiophene (DBT) and its derivatives. After the oxidation, the sulfur compounds are oxidized to their corresponding sulfoxides and subsequently sulfones. Afterward, these highly polarized products can be removed by solvent extraction or sorbent adsorption. Other oxidants, such as t-Butyl hydroperoxide, air, and solid catalyst were also reviewed. Ultrasound greatly facilitates the ODS process. The ODS process is quite useful for small and medium refineries, and also a good fit as a finishing process for downstream of an existing HDS unit producing 300-500 ppm sulfur.

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Catalytic converters and processes in selected energy technologies: I. Gas turbines and II. Radiant burners in drying
Budzianowski W.M. and Miller

Catalytic oxidation offers low-temperature surface conversion of hydrocarbon fuels. This feature has found several practical applications in refinements of some existing energy technologies. The current review is focused on the use of catalytic converters and processes in two energy technologies, i.e. I. gas turbines and II. radiant burners. An overview of catalytically stabilized combustion is provided which constitutes an attractive alternative to gas-phase homogeneous combustion in gas turbines since, e.g. it can stabilize flames at lower fuel-to-air ratios, thereby lowering flame temperatures and reducing NOx emission. Further, recent developments relating to catalytic oxyforming of hydrocarbon fuels prior to total combustion and some others patent categories are discussed. Furthermore, patented developments in relation to catalytic conversion in radiant burners that transform released combustion energy into infrared radiation which is useful, e.g. in drying paint are summarized. Finally, a brief comment on the future directions of the two selected energy technologies is provided.

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Insight into the chemistry of surfactant-based enhanced oil recovery processes
Jamaloei B.Y.

During the past several decades, significant and considerable research has been carried out on secondary and tertiary recovery of trapped residual oil remaining within the producing formations underground despite the efficient, current primary production strategies and methods. Methods have been sought of increasing oil recovery, while revamping and improving the economic viability and efficiency of operations. One method that has received much attention and intensive study over these past decades is the use of surfactant-based chemical flooding. Initial patents and laboratory tests have shown conclusively that chemical solutions and slugs including surfactants, remove considerable oil from the porous medium normally trapped after initial waterflooding. Oil recovery processes by means of surfactant micellar solutions or microemulsions have included the injection of slugs of varied compositions. Patents on surfactant-based enhanced oil recovery processes (such as dilute surfactant flooding, surfactant/polymer flooding, and alkaline/surfactant/polymer flooding) have been issued, starting from the 1920's and particularly after the 1960's, when the technology was put on a scientific basis. These patents were generally concerned with the chemistry of surfactant-based enhanced oil recovery processes including envisioning the use of chemical solutions (slugs) to decrease the surface tension between oil and the flooding medium, screening of surfactants for oil recovery efficiency, chemical (surfactant) slug designs and formulation to mobilize residual oil, documenting petroleum sulfonates useful in surfactant flooding, and other important factors in the chemistry of surfactant-based chemical flooding processes. Moreover, evaluation and determination of optimum chemical systems (slugs) for the best economics for a specific field application have been disclosed and documented in several large oil companies' patents in the surfactant-polymer area. In this article, a full-fledged review of the patents on different aspects of the chemistry of surfactant-based enhanced oil recovery processes is presented.

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Plasma reactors for diesel particulate matter removal
Yao S.

Recently, remarkable progress has been made in particulate matter (PM) removal using plasma discharge. This review will first introduce PM characteristics and oxidation mechanism of PM in plasma discharge, then summarize the history of PM removal using plasma discharge, finally discuss some typical patents on plasma reactors used for PM removal and the future development of plasma PM removal system.

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Carbon nanotubes: Promising materials for separation
Li Y., Jia Y.-X. and Hu Y.-D.

Due to the unique properties exhibited by carbon nanotubes, the explorations on its potential applications are ongoing. Among them, carbon nanotube seems to open a door for solving some problems encountered by current separation materials. The aim of the present contribution is to review recent patent developments of carbon nanotube (CNT) applications in separation including membrane-based separation and adsorption separation reported in the open literatures, especially in current patents. And, the corresponding advantages and disadvantages resulting from the employment of carbon nanotube for separation were also discussed and compared. Furthermore, some future research directions in this field were also put forward tentatively.