There is a special reason for reviewing this book at this time: it is the 50th edition of a compendium that is known and used frequently in most chemical and physical laboratories in many parts of the world. Surely, a publication that has been published for 56 years, withstanding the vagaries of science in this century, must have had something to offer. There is another reason: while the book is a standard fixture in most chemical and physical laboratories, including those in medical centers, it is not as frequently seen in the laboratories of physician's offices (those either in solo or group practice). I believe that the Handbook can be useful in those laboratories. One of the reasons, among others, is that the various basic items of information it offers may be helpful in new tests, either physical or chemical, which are continuously being published. The basic information may relate

Handbook of Chemistry and Physics

Biodiesel is a renewable transportation fuel consisting of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), generally produced by transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats. In this review, the fatty acid (FA) profiles of 12 common biodiesel feedstocks were summarized. Considerable compositional variability exists across the range of feedstocks. For example, coconut, palm and tallow contain high amounts of saturated FA; while corn, rapeseed, safflower, soy, and sunflower are dominated by unsaturated FA. Much less information is available regarding the FA profiles of algal lipids that could serve as biodiesel feedstocks. However, some algal species contain considerably higher levels of poly-unsaturated FA than is typically found in vegetable oils. Differences in chemical and physical properties among biodiesel fuels can be explained largely by the fuels’ FA profiles. Two features that are especially influential are the size distribution and the degree of unsaturation within the FA structures. For the 12 biodiesel types reviewed here, it was shown that several fuel properties – including viscosity, specific gravity, cetane number, iodine value, and low temperature performance metrics – are highly correlated with the average unsaturation of the FAME profiles. Due to opposing effects of certain FAME structural features, it is not possible to define a single composition that is optimum with respect to all important fuel properties. However, to ensure satisfactory in-use performance with respect to low temperature operability and oxidative stability, biodiesel should contain relatively low concentrations of both long-chain saturated FAME and poly-unsaturated FAME.

Review of biodiesel composition, properties, and specifications

Dry (CO2) reforming of methane (DRM) is a well-studied reaction that is of both scientific and industrial importance. This reaction produces syngas that can be used to produce a wide range of products, such as higher alkanes and oxygenates by means of Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. DRM is inevitably accompanied by deactivation due to carbon deposition. DRM is also a highly endothermic reaction and requires operating temperatures of 800–1000 °C to attain high equilibrium conversion of CH4 and CO2 to H2 and CO and to minimize the thermodynamic driving force for carbon deposition. The most widely used catalysts for DRM are based on Ni. However, many of these catalysts undergo severe deactivation due to carbon deposition. Noble metals have also been studied and are typically found to be much more resistant to carbon deposition than Ni catalysts, but are generally uneconomical. Noble metals can also be used to promote the Ni catalysts in order to increase their resistance to deactivation. In order to design catalysts that minimize deactivation, it is necessary to understand the elementary steps involved in the activation and conversion of CH4 and CO2. This review will cover DRM literature for catalysts based on Rh, Ru, Pt, and Pd metals. This includes the effect of these noble metals on the kinetics, mechanism and deactivation of these catalysts.

A review of dry (CO2) reforming of methane over noble metal catalysts

Hydrogen production reactions from carbon feedstocks: fossil fuels and biomass.

Plasma assisted combustion: Dynamics and chemistry

Cool flame partial oxidation and its role in combustion and reforming of fuels for fuel cell systems

Polymer heat exchanger design for condensing boiler applications

Authors have successfully fabricated polypropylene/graphene nanoplatelets (PP/GNPs), nanocomposites that are thermally conductive, processable, and flame resistant. Thermal conductivity measurements indicated that the thermal coefficient scaled linearly with GNP loading, where a value of 2.0 W m− 1 K− 1 was achieved at 40 wt-% loading. Tensile measurements indicated that the modulus increased linearly with GNP loading, while the Izod impact, after an initial decrease, remained constant for loadings up to 50 wt-%. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) showed a large decrease in the amount of lamellar structure relative to the neat PP, while wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) showed a high degree of crystallinity. These results are consistent with formation of a new type of layered nanocomposite, composed of crystalline PP chains oriented onto layered GNPs.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1179/2055033215Y.0000000008

The thermo-mechanical response of PP nanocomposites at high graphene loading

This paper reports on a numerical study of the drag force on a sphere moving at constant velocity in inelastic non-Newtonian fluids. The intended application of this work is in the use of the falling ball viscometer to determine flow curves for these fluids. Numerical solutions were obtained for the case of the sphere moving along the axis of a cylinder and ratios of cylinder to sphere diameter from 10 to 40 were examined. In obtaining the solutions inertia was neglected. To represent the fluid's flow curve the modified power law model was used. This model produces Newtonian behavior as the shear rate approaches zero and power law behavior as the shear rate becomes large. A control volume finite difference method was used to calculate the flow field and drag force. Solutions were obtained for values of the power law index from 1.0 to 0.35. Results are compared with others' calculated results in the power law limit and with published experimental data in the transition region of the flow curve. Two methods of using the falling ball viscometer to determine the flow curves of non-Newtonian fluids are presented. The first assumes that sphere drag data cover the Newtonian and power law limits. The second uses an apparent flow index, and an average shear rate and the corresponding shear stress. This is an extension of an approach used by others.

Use of the falling ball viscometer to obtain flow curves for inelastic, non-newtonian fluids

Biodiesel is produced in the United States to D 6751, an ASTM standard. The source material in this fledgling industry in the U.S. is primarily soy oil, though other sources such as canola oil, waste oils, and greases from food and other sources are beginning to be exploited. At present, the referenced ASTM standard does not specify cloud and pour points values that are much higher for biodiesel than diesel derived from petroleum but allows them to be specified by the customer. There can be significant variation in these values, depending on the nature of the source material used to produce biodiesel, all of which meet the ASTM standards. This has the potential to create problems in applications as the quality of the biodiesel produced could vary widely. This study focused on quantitative measurements of cloud points of blends of biodiesel made from different sources. A correlation of these measurements with the saturated components was developed and was shown to correlate data reported in the literature ...

Thomas Butcher

Papers

Cool flame partial oxidation and its role in combustion and reforming of fuels for fuel cell systems

Polymer heat exchanger design for condensing boiler applications

The thermo-mechanical response of PP nanocomposites at high graphene loading

Use of the falling ball viscometer to obtain flow curves for inelastic, non-newtonian fluids

Cold Flow Behavior of Biodiesels Derived from Biomass Sources