Product Characteristics of Sludge Pyrolysis and Adsorption Performance of Metals by Char

The microwave heating system was used for sludge pyrolysis. The raw sludge and KOH-immersed sludge were pyrolyzed and their product characteristics were determined. The research results are advantageous to understand the influence of KOH activation on characteristics of pyrolysis products and the adsorption performance of metals in char. In the case of a high temperature and high KOH dose, most of the lost mass from sludge pyrolysis was converted into gaseous products instead of oil. The heat values of liquid oils were 40.86–41.39 MJ kg−1, which has the potential for use as fuels. The use of a higher KOH dose for sludge pyrolysis is beneficial to the porosity development and generates a mesopore structure. The results from adsorption tests indicate that precipitation could be the dominant adsorption mechanism due to the binding between alkaline anion and carbonate and metal ions with a strong chemical affinity. The high KOH dose sludge adsorbent has a remarkable adsorption performance and can be used as adsorbent for the removal of the studied metals.

Utilization of Spectral Gamma Ray Logs to Ascertain Stratigraphic Surfaces in Carbonate Reservoir and Integration with Seismic Interpretation: An Integrated Case Study from Eocene-Oligocene Carbonate Reservoirs, D31 Cluster, Mumbai Offshore Basin, India

D31 cluster is located in the prolific Mumbai Offshore Basin, Western part of India. B-192Afield is part of this cluster, where Bassein (Middle Eocene),Mukta and Panvel (Early Oligocene)Formations are the main reservoirs. The reservoirs are complex in terms of reservoir heterogeneity. They were deposited in a shallow marine carbonate platform.Sea level fluctuations andchange in depositional environment impacted the porosity development. The main objective of this study was to integrate spectral gamma ray signatures with seismic interpretation for demarcating significant stratigraphic surfaces and differentiating depositional environments for robust reservoir characterization. Regionally, Bassein Formation (Middle Eocene) is characterized by thick foraminiferal and algal wackestone, packstone and occasional grainstone facies.The Mukta Formation (Early Oligocene),which unconformably overlies the Bassein Formation, is characterized by presence of fossiliferous limestone with shale intercalations. In the present study, data from four exploration wells data have been analyzed, where spectral gamma ray log patterns in carbonate reservoirs appear to have a distinctive relationship to depositional facies and stratigraphic surfaces in the Bassein and Mukta Formations. Different cross plots have also been utilized for analyzing the depositional conditions (i.e. oxic or anoxic).Later, the spectral log interpretations have been integrated with seismic interpretation. This study is part of a larger effort for reservoir characterization, as a basis for seismic interpretation and integrated reservoir modelling. The spectral gamma ray signatures demarcated significant stratigraphic surfaces. In BasseinFormation, three different units have been marked as Upper, Middle and Lower Bassein. The major lithological boundary between the Bassein and Mukta Formation is also well demarcated with spectral GR signature. The carbonate strata of Bassein & Mukta Formation have also been subdivided with U-Th-K abundance.The "Low Th-Low U" units indicative of pure carbonate and deposition in oxidizing environment whereas "Low Th-High U"is indicative ofreducing environment, which gave a relative sea level fluctuation in the area.The major stratigraphic boundaries identified from these spectral GR logs has been incorporated in the seismicinterpretation and used for regional seismic mapping.As porosity development is governed by thesea level fluctuations,this study also gave an indication of the possibility of porous zonein the reservoir section. These results can be useful as a basis for applying spectral GR signature as a tool for stratigraphic interpretation in un-cored heterogenous carbonate sections. Along with the petrophysical interpretation, integration of core analysis, biostratigraphy and seismic attribute are critical for detailed carbonate reservoir characterization incorporating depositional environment.This approach can be applied to support commercial development of the complex carbonate reservoirs.

Formation Mechanism and Porosity Development in Porous Boron Nitride

In the past decade, porous boron nitride (BN) has proven promising as a novel class of inorganic materials in the field of separations and particularly adsorption. Owing to its high surface area and thermal stability, porous BN has been researched for CO2 capture and water cleaning, for instance. However, most research remains at laboratory scale due to a lack of understanding of the formation mechanism of porous BN, which is still largely a ‘black box’ and prevents scale-up. Partial reaction pathways have been unveiled, but they omit critical steps in the formation, including the porosity development, which is key to adsorption. To unlock the potential of porous BN at a larger scale, we have investigated its formation from the perspective of both chemical formation and porosity development. We have characterised reaction intermediates obtained at different temperatures with a range of analytical and spectroscopic tools. Using these analyses, we propose a mechanism that highlights the key stages of BN formation and its porosity, including the intermediates and gaseous species formed in the process. We identified that the formation of non-porous carbon nitride is crucial to form porous BN with release of porogens, such as HCN and CO2. This work paves the way for scaled-up processes to use porous BN to its full potential at industrial level for gas and liquid separations.