Catalytic removal of the S-content from thiophene is a central step in efforts aiming to reduce the environmental burdens of transportation fuels. In this contribution, we investigate the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) mechanisms of thiophene (C4H4S) over γ-Mo2N catalyst by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The thiophene molecule preferentially adsorbs in a flat mode over 3-fold fcc nitrogen hollow sites. The HDS mechanism may potentially proceed either unimolecularly (direct desulfurization) or via H-assisted reactions (hydrogenation). Due to a sizable activation barrier required for the first Csingle bondS bond scission of 54.6 kcal/mol, we predict that the direct desulfurization to contribute rather very insignificantly in the HDS mechanism. Transfer of adsorbed hydrogen atoms on the γ-Mo2N surface to the thiophene ring substantially reduces activation barrier required in the Csingle bondS bond scission to only 24.1 kcal/mol in a process that affords an adsorbed C4H6* species and an S atom. Further hydrogenation of the unsaturated C4H6* produces 2-butene. Kinetics and thermodynamics attributes dictate the occurrence of partial rather than full hydrogenation of C4H6*. Calculated rate constants for all individual steps could be utilized to construct a robust kinetic model for the overall HDS process. Estimated conversion values of thiophene predict 50–70% consumption of thiophene at 700 K and low values of gas hourly space velocities. Reaction routes and kinetic parameters provided herein are useful to design stand-alone γ-Mo2N-based catalysts for applications entailing partial hydrogenation and hydrodesulfurization of severely contaminated S-fuels.
Facial emotion recognition finds many real applications in the daily life like human robot interaction, eLearning, healthcare, customer services etc. The task of facial emotion recognition is not easy due to the difficulty in determining the effective feature set that can recognize the emotion conveyed within the facial expression accurately. Graph mining techniques are exploited in this paper to solve facial emotion recognition problem. After determining positions of facial landmarks in face region, twelve different graphs are constructed using four facial components to serve as a source for sub-graphs mining stage using gSpan algorithm. In each group, the discriminative set of sub-graphs are selected and fed to Deep Belief Network (DBN) f
... Show MoreIn this research, the effect of changing the flood level of Al-Shuwaija marsh was studied using the geographic information systems, specifically the QGIS program, and the STRM digital elevation model with a spatial analysis accuracy of 28 meters, was used to study the marsh. The hydraulic factors that characterize the marsh and affecting on the flooding such as the ranks of the water channels feeding the marsh and the degree of slope and flat areas in it are studied. The area of immersion water, the mean depth, and the accumulated water volume are calculated for each immersion level, thereby, this study finds the safe immersion level for this marsh was determined.
Test results of six half-scale reinforced concrete flat plates connections with an opening in the vicinity of the column are reported. The test specimens represent a portion of a slab bounded by the lines of contraflexure around the column. The tests were designed to study the effect of openings on the punching shear behavior of the slab-column connections. The test parameters were the location and the size of the openings. One specimen had no opening and the remaining five had various arrangements of openings around the column. All specimens were cast with normal density concrete of approximately 30 MPa compressive strength. The openings in the specimens were square, with the sides parallel to the sides of the column. Three sizes of ope
... Show MoreThere are two main categories of force control schemes: hybrid position-force control and impedance control. However, the former does not take into account the dynamic interaction between the robot’s end effector and the environment. In contrast, impedance control includes regulation and stabilization of robot motion by creating a mathematical relationship between the interaction forces and the reference trajectories. It involves an energetic pair of a flow and an effort, instead of controlling a single position or a force. A mass-spring-damper impedance filter is generally used for safe interaction purposes. Tuning the parameters of the impedance filter is important and, if an unsuitable strategy is used, this can lead to unstabl
... Show MoreMycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to rifampicin is mainly mediated through mutations in the rpoB gene. The effects of rpoB mutations are relieved by secondary mutations in rpoA or rpoC genes. This study aims to identify mutations in rpoB, rpoA, and rpoC genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates and clarify their contribution to rifampicin resistance. Seventy isolates were identified by acid-fast bacilli smear, Genexpert assay, and growth on Lowenstein Jensen medium. Drug susceptibility, testing was performed by the proportional method. DNA extraction, PCR, and sequencing were accomplished for the entire rpoA, rpoB, and
... Show MoreFlow of water under concrete dams generates uplift pressure under the dam, which may cause the dam to function improperly, in addition to the exit gradient that may cause piping if exceeded a safe value. Cutoff walls usually used to minimize the effect of flow under dams. It is required to
1)minimize the flow quantity to conserve water in the reservoir, it is also required to
2)minimize the uplift pressure under the dam to maintain stability of the dam, and it is required to
3) minimize the exit gradient to prevent quick condition to occur at the toe of the dam where piping may occur and may cause erosion of the soil. Varying the angle of cutoff walls affects its influence on the factors aforementioned that are required to
... Show MoreThe thermal distribution in the diseased tissue treated by different methods faces the problem of an uncontrollable defused heat. In the present article, we use a plasmonic bowtie nanoantenna working in the near infrared region to enhance the temperature confinement in the tissue. The Computer Simulation Technology Studio Suite package version 2019 was used to execute the design of both plasmonic nanoantenna and the tissue. Gold nanostructure and silicon carbide dioxide are the components the plasmonic nanoantenna in the bowtie shape. The results showed that the distance between the tumor tissue and the antenna is important to determine the intensity field where the maximum field is 5.9*107 V/m at a distance of 100 nm. The maximum
... Show MoreCopper with different concentrations doped with zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared from a mixture of zinc acetate and copper acetate with sodium hydroxide in aqueous solution. The structure of the prepared samples was done by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-VIS absorption spectrophotometer. Debye-Scherer formula was used to calculate the size of the prepared samples. The band gap of the nanoparticle ZnO was determined by using UV-VIS optical spectroscopy.
Two modes of electrochemical harvesting for microalgae were investigated in the current work. A sacrificial anode (aluminum) was used to study the electrocoagulation-flotation process, and a nonsacrificial anode (graphite) was used to investigate the electroflotation process. The study inspected the effect of chloride ions concentration and the interelectrode distance on the performance of the electrochemical harvesting processes. The results demonstrated that both electrodes achieved maximum harvesting efficiency with a 2 g/L NaCl concentration. Interestingly, by increasing the NaCl concentration to 5 g/L, the harvesting efficiency reduced dramatically to its lowest value. Generally, the energy consumption decreased with increasing
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