Byron Govender - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Byron Govender
Catalysts, Feb 25, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
It has been an honour being a member of this research group. My co-supervisor, Dr S. A. Iwarere... more It has been an honour being a member of this research group. My co-supervisor, Dr S. A. Iwarere. Thank you for introducing me to this incredible field of plasma chemistry. I appreciate your patient guidance and always being willing to share your knowledge. Thank you for continuously availing yourself in the laboratory, and encouraging and assisting me when experiments and equipment were not cooperative. Dr A. Lebouvier. Your advice in the initial stages of this project was extremely helpful. Fiona Higginson. Thank you for proof reading my dissertation draft. Your journalistic editing expertise was invaluable.
Catalysts, Oct 31, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Catalysts, 2021
This study explored Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) by combining a non-thermal plasma (NTP), gene... more This study explored Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) by combining a non-thermal plasma (NTP), generated by an arc discharge reactor at pressures >> 1 MPa, coupled with a mullite-coated 2 wt%-Co/5 wt%-Al2O3 catalyst. The FTS product yields and electrical energy consumption for the pure plasma (no catalyst) and plasma-catalytic FTS processes were compared under the scope of various reactor operating parameters, namely, pressure (0.5 to 10 MPa), current (250 to 450 mA) and inter-electrode gap (0.5 to 2 mm). The major products, obtained in low concentrations for both processes, were gaseous C1–C3 hydrocarbons, synthesised in the order: methane >> ethane > ethylene > propane. The hydrocarbon product yields were observed to increase, while the specific required energy generally decreased with increasing pressure, decreasing current and increasing inter-electrode gap. Plasma-catalysis improved the FTS performance, with the optimum conditions as: (i) 10 MPa at 10 s and 2 MP...
It has been an honour being a member of this research group. My co-supervisor, Dr S. A. Iwarere... more It has been an honour being a member of this research group. My co-supervisor, Dr S. A. Iwarere. Thank you for introducing me to this incredible field of plasma chemistry. I appreciate your patient guidance and always being willing to share your knowledge. Thank you for continuously availing yourself in the laboratory, and encouraging and assisting me when experiments and equipment were not cooperative. Dr A. Lebouvier. Your advice in the initial stages of this project was extremely helpful. Fiona Higginson. Thank you for proof reading my dissertation draft. Your journalistic editing expertise was invaluable.
Catalysts
The influence of different catalyst cobalt loadings on the C1–C3 hydrocarbon product yields and e... more The influence of different catalyst cobalt loadings on the C1–C3 hydrocarbon product yields and energy consumption in plasma-catalytic Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) was investigated from the standpoint of various reactor operating conditions: pressure (0.5 to 10 MPa), current (250 to 450 mA) and inter-electrode gap (0.5 to 2 mm). This was accomplished by introducing a mullite substrate, coated with 2 wt%-Co/5 wt%-Al2O3, 6 wt%-Co/5 wt%-Al2O3 or 0 wt%-Co/5 wt%-Al2O3 (blank catalyst), into a recently developed high pressure arc discharge reactor. The blank catalyst was ineffective in synthesizing hydrocarbons. Between the blank catalyst, 2 wt%, and the 6 wt% Co catalyst, the 6 wt% improved C1–C3 hydrocarbon production at all conditions, with higher yields and relatively lower energy consumption at (i) 10 MPa at 10 s, and 2 MPa at 60 s, for the pressure variation study; (ii) 250 mA for the current variation study; and (iii) 2 mm for the inter-electrode gap variation study. The inter-e...
Abstracts: * Byron Govender_Abstract for AIChE 2014.docx (19.0KB) - Uploading Abstracts
The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, 2014
The activity coefficients at infinite dilution, ∞ 13 , for 60 solutes, including alkanes, cycloal... more The activity coefficients at infinite dilution, ∞ 13 , for 60 solutes, including alkanes, cycloalkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, water, acetic acid, thiophene, ethers, ketones, esters, butyraldehyde and acetonitrile in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate [BMPYR][FAP], were determined by gas-liquid chromatography at six temperatures in range of 318.15-368.15 K. The interaction of these 59 organic compounds and water with the IL was described with the partial excess molar Gibbs energies, G E,∞ 1 , enthalpies H E,∞ 1 , and entropies T ref S E,∞ 1 at infinite dilution, calculated from the experimental ∞ 13 values obtained over the temperature range. The gas-liquid partition coefficients, K L were calculated for all solutes. The selectivities for different separation problems were calculated from ∞ 13 and compared to literature values for N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP), sulfolane, and other tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate-based ionic liquids. Comparison with other 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidynium-based ILs shows much lower capability of [BMPYR][FAP] to reveal hydrogen bonds and interact with lone electron pairs and/or polar groups of solutes. In contrast with the former measured ILs, [BMPYR][FAP] was found to posses however very high capacity for benzene. The density of [BMPYR][FAP] in temperature range from 318.15 K to 368.15 K was measured.
The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, 2014
ABSTRACT
Catalysts, Feb 25, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
It has been an honour being a member of this research group. My co-supervisor, Dr S. A. Iwarere... more It has been an honour being a member of this research group. My co-supervisor, Dr S. A. Iwarere. Thank you for introducing me to this incredible field of plasma chemistry. I appreciate your patient guidance and always being willing to share your knowledge. Thank you for continuously availing yourself in the laboratory, and encouraging and assisting me when experiments and equipment were not cooperative. Dr A. Lebouvier. Your advice in the initial stages of this project was extremely helpful. Fiona Higginson. Thank you for proof reading my dissertation draft. Your journalistic editing expertise was invaluable.
Catalysts, Oct 31, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Catalysts, 2021
This study explored Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) by combining a non-thermal plasma (NTP), gene... more This study explored Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) by combining a non-thermal plasma (NTP), generated by an arc discharge reactor at pressures >> 1 MPa, coupled with a mullite-coated 2 wt%-Co/5 wt%-Al2O3 catalyst. The FTS product yields and electrical energy consumption for the pure plasma (no catalyst) and plasma-catalytic FTS processes were compared under the scope of various reactor operating parameters, namely, pressure (0.5 to 10 MPa), current (250 to 450 mA) and inter-electrode gap (0.5 to 2 mm). The major products, obtained in low concentrations for both processes, were gaseous C1–C3 hydrocarbons, synthesised in the order: methane >> ethane > ethylene > propane. The hydrocarbon product yields were observed to increase, while the specific required energy generally decreased with increasing pressure, decreasing current and increasing inter-electrode gap. Plasma-catalysis improved the FTS performance, with the optimum conditions as: (i) 10 MPa at 10 s and 2 MP...
It has been an honour being a member of this research group. My co-supervisor, Dr S. A. Iwarere... more It has been an honour being a member of this research group. My co-supervisor, Dr S. A. Iwarere. Thank you for introducing me to this incredible field of plasma chemistry. I appreciate your patient guidance and always being willing to share your knowledge. Thank you for continuously availing yourself in the laboratory, and encouraging and assisting me when experiments and equipment were not cooperative. Dr A. Lebouvier. Your advice in the initial stages of this project was extremely helpful. Fiona Higginson. Thank you for proof reading my dissertation draft. Your journalistic editing expertise was invaluable.
Catalysts
The influence of different catalyst cobalt loadings on the C1–C3 hydrocarbon product yields and e... more The influence of different catalyst cobalt loadings on the C1–C3 hydrocarbon product yields and energy consumption in plasma-catalytic Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) was investigated from the standpoint of various reactor operating conditions: pressure (0.5 to 10 MPa), current (250 to 450 mA) and inter-electrode gap (0.5 to 2 mm). This was accomplished by introducing a mullite substrate, coated with 2 wt%-Co/5 wt%-Al2O3, 6 wt%-Co/5 wt%-Al2O3 or 0 wt%-Co/5 wt%-Al2O3 (blank catalyst), into a recently developed high pressure arc discharge reactor. The blank catalyst was ineffective in synthesizing hydrocarbons. Between the blank catalyst, 2 wt%, and the 6 wt% Co catalyst, the 6 wt% improved C1–C3 hydrocarbon production at all conditions, with higher yields and relatively lower energy consumption at (i) 10 MPa at 10 s, and 2 MPa at 60 s, for the pressure variation study; (ii) 250 mA for the current variation study; and (iii) 2 mm for the inter-electrode gap variation study. The inter-e...
Abstracts: * Byron Govender_Abstract for AIChE 2014.docx (19.0KB) - Uploading Abstracts
The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, 2014
The activity coefficients at infinite dilution, ∞ 13 , for 60 solutes, including alkanes, cycloal... more The activity coefficients at infinite dilution, ∞ 13 , for 60 solutes, including alkanes, cycloalkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, water, acetic acid, thiophene, ethers, ketones, esters, butyraldehyde and acetonitrile in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate [BMPYR][FAP], were determined by gas-liquid chromatography at six temperatures in range of 318.15-368.15 K. The interaction of these 59 organic compounds and water with the IL was described with the partial excess molar Gibbs energies, G E,∞ 1 , enthalpies H E,∞ 1 , and entropies T ref S E,∞ 1 at infinite dilution, calculated from the experimental ∞ 13 values obtained over the temperature range. The gas-liquid partition coefficients, K L were calculated for all solutes. The selectivities for different separation problems were calculated from ∞ 13 and compared to literature values for N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP), sulfolane, and other tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate-based ionic liquids. Comparison with other 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidynium-based ILs shows much lower capability of [BMPYR][FAP] to reveal hydrogen bonds and interact with lone electron pairs and/or polar groups of solutes. In contrast with the former measured ILs, [BMPYR][FAP] was found to posses however very high capacity for benzene. The density of [BMPYR][FAP] in temperature range from 318.15 K to 368.15 K was measured.
The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, 2014
ABSTRACT