Posted by Ben Proudlove on Mon, Mar 08, 2010 @ 10:10 AM
Available in the UK and Ireland from Merrow Scientific (elsewhere in the world from Rubotherm) the Isosorp HyGrA range is an economically priced range allowing researchers with limited budgets the opportunity to utilise the Rubotherm patented technology to carry out gravimetric studies while subjecting samples to a wide range of conditions.
No longer are researchers limited to doing research to 20bar - simply because that's all the instrument can go to; the Isosorp HyGrA system allows sample mass change to be measured from Ultra High Vacuum to 200bar and from 77K to 770K (a wide range of other conditions including much higher pressures can be analysed using other systems from the Rubotherm range)
Systems are available for sorption research using gases, vapours and supercritical fluids so opening a wide range of applications such as hydrogen, CO2, methane storage; vapour adsorption and supercritical extraction. Further information can be seen on the economical gravimetric sorption analysis page
Posted by Ben Proudlove on Tue, Dec 01, 2009 @ 12:17 PM
Further to their interview with Professor Kitagawa's group Science Watch have followed this up with an interesting Q&A session with Professor Kimoon Kim discussing the work at POSTECH in Korea looking at rigid and flexible MOFs for such applications as hydrogen or CO2 storage.
Metal Organic Frameworks (also known as Porous Coordination Polymers) can be designed and synthesised to meet many application demands and current research is pushing the boundaries in terms of being able to meet the hydrogen storage capacity requirements set by the US guidelines as well as being useful for the capture of CO2...
Posted by Ben Proudlove on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 @ 05:34 AM
This post on worldchanging.com details the new development at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico where they are using sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water to syngas.
Using an iron oxide that loses an oxygen molecule at high temperature (1500degC) and retrieves one when cooled down the system can be used to convert CO2 to CO and also H2O to H2. So you can either use it for making Syngas or Hydrogen generation for use in fuel cells.
This is quite an interesting development as it means a relatively low energy demand (the system uses heat from the Sun to generate the 1500degC needed) unlike some other alternative fuel sources. The syngas can then be converted to synthetic fuel via Fischer Tropsch reactions or the hydrogen could be used for electricity generation through fuel cells.
Synthetic fuels can be used though the existing infrastructure so relatively easily employed as an alternative to current car fuels. The hydrogen usage in fuel cells can also be either utilised in mobile fuel cells (e.g. those located in a car) or perhaps easier can be utilised through larger static fuel cells to feed back electricity into the grid (and then distributed where needed).
So does that mean in the future all you'll need is a Sandia type system, a fuel cell, some water and a bit of sunshine. So looks like the UK will be oil dependent for a while longer then......
Posted by Ben Proudlove on Wed, Sep 02, 2009 @ 02:07 PM
Two of our main product ranges that we supply in the UK market greatly benefit from the use of powerful earth magnetic technology.
Autoclave Engineers first developed and launched their magnedrive powered laboratory stirred reactors back in 1958 leading the world in this development. This was a way of having a sealed reactor free from risk of leakage or contamination that could be accurately stirred even when run at high pressures. This was achieved using a magnet coupling between driver magnets (rotated by an motor) and an encapsulated inner magnet assembly which leads to a shaft and impeller, so as the driver magnets are rotated the impeller and shaft are also rotated. Such are the strength of the magnets used that accurate controlled stirring can be achieved even at high torque requirements and under high pressures or temperatures.
The other excellent use of magnets comes from Rubotherm. Many years ago the research team in the Thermodynamics dept at the Ruhr University in Bochum had a project requiring gravimetric analysis of samples at raised pressures. Conventional gravimetric systems have a direct connection between the precision balance and the sample - which is great for low pressure applications, but once you get above 20bar or so or start to look into things like corrosive vapours then you get a bit stuck as your balance is in the same area as the sample you wish to subject to the high pressure etc, and doing so will damage the balance, so conventional systems weren’t any use.
So using a magnet/electromagnet coupling, a position sensor and a cracking control system they devised a magnetical coupling gravimetric system for measuring mass change/transfer of sample while subjected to a wide range of conditions.
This technology was eventually patented and a spin off company formed (Rubotherm). Systems have now been supplied all over the world for a variety of applications, including gas storage (e.g. hydrogen, CO2 or Methane into zeolites or MOFs), corrosion testing, biomass and coal gasification, polymer degradation and lots more. We’ve been up to pressures as high as 2000bar, temperatures as high as 1600degC and no problem at all dosing corrosive things over samples and measuring mass change.
The latest development allows TGA type measurements at raised pressures. Why would you want to do that? Well with some applications it allows you to imitate the real life conditions that would effect your sample and measure accurately what happens, for example HP TGA on oil, biomass or coal gasification, degradation of materials used in off shore drilling….. This hasn’t been possible until now as other TGA systems only operate at atmospheric pressures.
So thanks to the attraction of the magnet our customers in the UK are able to push their research into new and exciting areas……
Posted by Ben Proudlove on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 @ 02:29 PM
British project aims to use energy from coal to produce clean electricity
Very interesting article looking at a recent development in commercial coal gasification in the UK and using the syngas produced to generate energy either using the hydrogen in fuel cells or a process like the Fischer Tropsch (FT) process to turn the syngas into a synthetic petroleum substitute.
Coal and biomass gasification are things we and our suppliers at Rubotherm are actively involved in on a research scale. Using the Rubotherm MSB or HP TGA these gasification processes can be carried out at high temperatures and raised pressures to get an understanding of the process and product produced.
FT research is something Merrow Scientific are also actively involved in in the UK market with our fixed bed and slurry reactors from Autoclave Engineers. Mainly carried out in oven based environments this custom configured systems allow users to carry out exact research on a small scale to develop alternative fuel sources.
Posted by Ben Proudlove on Wed, Aug 12, 2009 @ 02:30 PM
August is traditionally a holiday month all over the world, with many companies (particularly those in Southern Europe) traditionally closing for the entire month. However this year we’re finding that August (and also September) has become the month of conferences.
Last week Merrow Scientific was present at a very well attended 42nd IUPAC congress in Glasgow.
Good to see such an active community on various topics including one close to our hearts, hydrogen storage. So our Rubotherm gravimetric sorption systems went down well. As well as several further enquiries for the new unique high pressure TGA system based around the Rubotherm MSB (magnetic suspension balance) technology - including coal and biomass gasification.
And next week it’s on to the British Zeolite Association annual conference, again lots of focus on unique storage materials for such applications as hydrogen storage. Good to see lots of effort being pushed into the new fuel sector.
And then the following month it’s on to the RAPS (Polymer Science) meeting and the Surface Area, Pore Size and Related Measurements meeting at Imperial College……
So a busy month ahead at conferences rather than holidays, but given the state of the weather…….