Catalyzing the Sustainable Process Paradigm

Dear Colleagues,

There is an urgent need to develop new green processes that are powered by alternative energies in order to make our current chemical processes environmentally viable. To accomplish this, catalytic reaction engineering has a major role to play by contributing to the phenomenologically based reactor models and kinetics that are required for the successful implementation of these new technologies. In this respect, it is expected that data obtained from strategically designed laboratory-scale studies will provide the required technical knowledge for the scaling up of green process units. It is also anticipated that new industrial-scale catalytic reactors developed with this approach in mind will have a major impact on hydrogen production, air and water decontamination, CO₂ capture, and many other catalytic technologies. This will be carried out with the understanding that energies such as solar and wind are needed to make these new technologies fully sustainable and holistic. It is with this goal in mind that we have planned the “Photocatalytic Reaction Engineering and Catalytic Reaction Engineering-Reactor Configurations and Scale-up” sessions in the context of the 2024-27thCSC (Canadian Society Catalysis) conference in Sherbrooke, Quebec, which will take place from May 12 to May 15, 2024. Furthermore, on July 22 and July 23rd, 2024, the prestigious Chemical Catalyst 2024 will take place in Berlin, Germany. Selected contributions from these two conferences are invited for the Special Issue on Catalyzing the Sustainable Process Paradigm. In summary, this Special Issue of Catalysts aims to provide the most up-to-date findings on and advances in these critical technological issues to the scientific catalytic reaction engineering community.

Prof. Dr. Hugo de Lasa
Prof. Dr. Carlos Omar Castillo Araiza
Guest Editors

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• catalysis
• photocatalysis
• reaction engineering
• heterogenous kinetics and reaction mechanism
• reactor modeling

Title: Catalytic Valorization of organic solid waste: a pilot-scale run of sugarcane bagasse
Authors: Zhaofei Li and Hua Song
Affiliation: Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Abstract: Organic solid waste treatment is crucial for enhancing environmental sustainability, promoting economic growth, and improving public health. Following our previous organic solid waste upgrading technique, a further two-step pilot-scale run using sugarcane bagasse as the feedstock has been successfully conducted with a long-term stability. Firstly, the sugarcane bagasse was treated under mild conditions (400 °C and 1 bar of CH₄), and this catalytic methanolysis treatment resulted in a bio-oil with a yield of 60.5 wt%. Following that, it was subjected to a catalytic methano-refining process (400 °C and 50 bar of CH₄) to achieve high-quality renewable fuel with a liquid yield of 95.0 wt%. Additionally, this renewable fuel can be regarded as an ideal diesel component with a high cetane number, high heating values, low freezing point, low density and viscosity, and low oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur content. The successful pilot-scale catalytic upgrading of sugarcane bagasse further verified the effectiveness of this methane-assisted organic solid waste upgrading technique and confirmed the high flexibility of this innovative technology for processing a wide spectrum of agricultural and forestry residues. This study will shed light on the further valorization of organic solid waste and other carbonaceous materials.