Wen-Tien Tsai

Wen-Tien Tsai

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140
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Publications

Publications (140)
Article
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This study presents the initial physiochemical characterization of Djulis (Chenopodium formosanum) spent mushroom substrate (SMS) biochar and its application for methylene blue (MB) dye adsorption. Biochar was produced over a wide temperature range; 800 °C and 60-min retention time resulted in the best product having a specific surface area of 289....
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In the waste oil recycling industry, large amounts of oil-containing sludge are still generated, thus posing a resource depletion issue when disposed of or incinerated without energy recovery or residual oil utilization. In this work, chemical activation experiments using phosphoric acid (H3PO4) were performed at a low temperature (600 °C) for 30 m...
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To mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from fossil fuels, the use of biodiesel and its sustainable production have been receiving more attention over the past decade, especially for the reuse of waste cooking oils and non-edible oils as starting feedstocks. For the biodiesel production process, the suitability of a green catalyst is a...
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This study investigates the pyrolysis and adsorption properties of biochar derived from coconut shell (BC-CS), rice husk (BC-RH), and cow manure (BC-CM) under varying thermal treatment conditions. Biochar samples were produced at 800 °C with residence times ranging from 0 to 60 min. Their characteristics were analyzed using their Brunauer–Emmett–Te...
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This study examines the pyrolysis of agricultural residues, namely, coconut shells, rice husks, and cattle manure, in a vertical fixed-bed reactor at varying temperatures from 300 to 800 degrees Celsius for biochar production. The research aimed to evaluate the potential of biochar as biofuels, adsorbents, and soil amendments. Proximate, ultimate,...
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In Taiwan, a considerable amount of coffee residue is produced from commercial activities without valuable utilization. To evaluate high-value valorization in the production of highly porous carbon materials, this study investigated the thermochemical properties of coffee residues and further pyrolysis for producing highly porous biochar products a...
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To valorize livestock manure, the present study investigated the production of biochar from cow dung (CD) by microwave pyrolysis. The pore properties and chemical characteristics of CD and CD-based biochar products were found to correlate with the process parameters like microwave power (300–1000 W) and residence time (5–20 min). The findings indic...
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Porous carbon materials have been widely used to remove pollutants from the liquid-phase streams. However, their limited pore properties could be a major problem. In this work, the effects of post-washing methods (i.e., water washing and acid washing) on the textural characteristics of the resulting biochar and activated carbon products from pineap...
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Over the past two decades, the Taiwan government promulgated some regulatory measures and promotional actions on energy efficiency promotion and renewable energy development. In March 2022, the “Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050” was announced to respond to the Paris Agreement. In order to achieve the goal, the Climate Change Response...
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In this work, the Honduras Mahogany (Swietenia macropnylla King, SMK) seed husk was used as a novel biomass resource for producing activated carbon by physical activation. The texture characteristics and chemical characterization of resulting products were investigated in correlation with the process parameters. Based on the thermochemical properti...
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Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases), including hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), are used in a variety of applications, but they are potent greenhouse gases (GHGs). Therefore, they have been blanketed into the list of items to be phased out under international protocols...
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Rice is the most important cereal in Asia. However, it also results in the generation of large quantities of rice-derived residues (i.e., rice straw and rice husk). Due to the residues richness in lignocellulosic components, they potentially have considerable value in material and/or energy production without illegal burning in open fields. This wo...
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In recent years, the Taiwan government partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Global Mercury Partnership program to follow the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Due to the most important mercury (Hg) emissions from the stationary vent streams, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has promulgated the strict standa...
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Taiwan is a developed nation with a high dependence (97.4%) on imported energy in 2021. Thus, the Taiwan government established the energy policy and regulatory incentives for promoting waste-to-energy (WTE) in recent years. In this work, the updated analysis of energy supply during the period of 2000–2021 in Taiwan was performed by using the natio...
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Lignocellulosic biomass from rice husk (RH) is a renewable resource for fuel production, but it could pose ash-related challenges. This work focused on investigating the effects of pretreatment at different sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentrations (i.e., 0.0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 M) on the calorific values and ash contents of treated RH products...
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In this work, the oily sludge (OS) from a local waste oil recycling plant was reused as a precursor for producing porous magnetic carbon composites (CC) by pyrolysis, followed by carbon dioxide activation. Based on the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the OS feedstock, the preparation experiments were performed at 800–900 °C. From the pore analy...
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In this work, pineapple peel (PP) was reused as a precursor in biochar (BC) production at elevated temperatures (i.e., 500–900 °C) for residence times of 0–60 min. The findings showed that pyrolysis temperature and residence time played a vital role in pore development. As pyrolysis temperature increased from 800 to 900 °C for residence times of 20...
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Large amounts of oil-containing sludge (OS) are produced in the energy, industry and services sectors. It is mainly composed of residual oil and particulate matter, thus posing an environmental threat and leading to resource depletion if it is improperly handled. In this work, the OS feedstock was thermally treated to produce porously magnetic carb...
Article
Service and residential sectors have become significant sources for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relevant to the electricity demand for heating, ventilation & air conditioning (HVAC) in buildings. In Taiwan, the energy efficiency (or energy saving) in buildings is a very important issue because the service and residential sectors in this...
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The edible mushroom industry has grown significantly in recent years due to the dietary change and the demand for heathy food. However, the spent mushroom compost (SMC) will be produced in large quantities after the harvest, thus forming an agricultural waste requiring proper management other than dumping or burning. In this work, two types of SMCs...
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In this work, a novel biomass, the extraction residue of Sapindus pericarp (SP), was torrefied by using an electronic oven under a wide range of temperature (i.e., 200–320 °C) and residence times (i.e., 0–60 min). From the results of the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of SP, a significant weight loss was observed in the temperature range of 200–4...
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The residue remaining after the water extraction of soapberry pericarp from a biotechnology plant was used to produce a series of biochar products at pyrolytic temperatures (i.e., 400, 500, 600, 700 and 800 °C) for 20 min plant was used to produce a series of biochar products. The effects of the carbonization temperature on the pore and chemical pr...
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In recent years, the rapid economic development in Taiwan has resulted in greater complexity in handling industrial hazardous waste. The main aim of this paper was to present a trend analysis of the online reported amounts of industrial hazardous waste from the official database over the past decade (2010–2020). In addition, this study focused on t...
Article
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In the work, water caltrop husk (WCH), locally agricultural residue generated in large quantities, was evaluated as a potential precursor for preparing mesoporous activated carbon (AC) by physical activation under the matrix of activation temperature (600–900℃) and holding times (i.e., 0–150 min). The pore and chemical properties of the resulting A...
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Growing concerns about the circular economy and sustainable waste management for civil applications of non-hazardous mineral industrial waste have increased in recent years. Therefore, this study presents a trend analysis of industrial waste generation and treatment during the years of 2010–2020, and focused on promotion policies and regulatory mea...
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Rice husk (RH) is one of the most important crop residues around the world, making its valorization an urgent and important topic in recent years. This work focused on the production of RH-based biochars at different pyrolysis temperatures from 400 to 900 °C and holding times from 0 to 90 min. Furthermore, the variations in the yields and pore prop...
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A reduction in the energy-related emissions of air pollutants would not only mitigate climate change but would also improve local air quality and public health. This paper aimed to analyze the trends of air quality index (AQI) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Taiwan by using the latest official statistics. In addition, this study also summariz...
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Growing concern about circular bioeconomy and sustainable development goals (SDGs) for the valorization of food waste has raised public awareness since 2015. Therefore, the present study focused on the promotion policies and regulatory measures for the valorization of mandatory recyclable food waste from industrial sources in Taiwan, including the...
Article
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected economic activities in the various sectors due to different levels of lockdown like border closure, stay at home, and social distancing. In this regard, energy use patterns are bound to change. The objective of this paper was to analyze the changes of energy supply and energy consumption in Taiwan through the offi...
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In this work, a mesoporous activated carbon (AC) was prepared from a unique lignocellulosic biomass (water caltrop husk) in triplicate using a single-step physical activation process at lower temperature (i.e., 750 °C) and longer holding time (i.e., 90 min). Based on the pore properties and adsorption properties for removal of methylene blue (MB) a...
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The agricultural industry has been identified as one of the most hazardous industries in developed countries. The main purpose of this paper was to conduct a comprehensive analysis of agricultural accidents (or injuries) in Taiwan during the period of 2009 to 2018. The occupational accident rates (per 1,000 farmers employed) in Taiwan’s agricultura...
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Incineration is the most important technology for treating municipal solid waste (MSW) and industrial waste in Taiwan. Currently, there are 24 large-scale MSW incineration plants operated to generate about 1.2 million metric tons of residual ash (mostly bottom ash) based on approximately 6.5 million metric tons of waste incinerated yearly. To reduc...
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In the past two decades, the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management has become an important environmental issue internationally because it contained hazardous substances like heavy metals and brominated flame retardants. Moreover, some valuable substances were used in the electrical and electronic products, thus representing a...
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Herbicides are widely used to provide more effective and economic means of weed control in the crop production, horticultural use and landscape management. From the perspective of environmental ecology, food security and human health, it is necessary to control the release of the agrochemicals into the environment from a variety of applications. Th...
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Utilization of cocoa pod husk (CPH) for the preparation of high-surface-area activated carbon (AC) by using low-pollution potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating agent was studied in this work. The thermochemical results of CPH, including the proximate analysis, calorific value, organic and mineral component analyses, showed that the biomass sho...
Article
In this work, water caltrop husk (WCH), a special agricultural residue in tropical and subtropical Asian countries, was used as a potential precursor for preparing torrefied biomass at different temperatures (i.e., 200, 240, 280, 320, and 360 °C) and residence times (i.e., 0, 30, 60, and 120 min). To best of our knowledge, this is currently the fir...
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In this work, the thermochemical analyses of dairy manure (DM), including the proximate analysis, ultimate (elemental) analysis, calorific value, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and inorganic elements, were studied to evaluate its potential for producing DM-based char (DMC) with high porosity. The results showed that the biomass should be an avai...
Article
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In this work, cow manure (CM) was reused as a potential precursor in the production of activated carbon (AC) using a potassium hydroxide activation process at different temperatures (i.e., 500, 600 and 700 °C). The optimal activated carbon from cow manure (CM-AC) with high specific surface area (ca. 950 m2/g) was further investigated for its adsorp...
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Waste cooking oil (WCO) has been considered a low-cost and renewable feedstock for the production of biodiesel and biobased products if it can be economically and efficiently collected and recycled. The objective of this case study is to review the scientific background of WCO recycling in the literature in connection with the regulatory and promot...
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In Taiwan and other countries, glyphosate has been used widely as a non-selective herbicide over 40 years in crop lands and non-crop lands. However, public concerns about its environmental and health risks have increased rapidly because the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reclassified it as Group 2A (probably carcinogenic to huma...
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Using a laboratory-scale pyrolyzer, porous biochars were produced at a wide operating temperature range from 300 to 800 °C for holding times of 30–120 min from biogas digestate (BD), which was derived from the anaerobic digestion unit in a large-scale pig farm. The resulting biochars were characterized by elemental analyzer, oxygen-bomb calorimeter...
Article
In this work, the de-ashed cocoa pod husk (CPH) was reused as an excellent precursor for preparing high-surface-area activated carbons (ACs) by physical activation with carbon dioxide (CO2) as a gasifying agent. A series of experiments were accomplished at different activation temperatures (i.e., 600, 700, 800, and 900 °C) and holding times (i.e.,...
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In order to enhance the adsorption capacity of activated carbon (AC) from cocoa pod husk (CPH) and reuse the solution after the acid-leaching of CPH as a liquid fertilizer, CPH was first leached by acid and then used as a precursor (CPH-A) for preparing ACs by physical activation at a temperature range of 650–850 °C in this work. Based on the proxi...
Article
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In this work, the pore properties and textural characterization of resulting activated carbons (ACs) derived from dried coconut shell (DCS) were investigated in duplicate using a single-step physical activation process. Based on the thermochemical properties of DCS analyzed, the process features its carbonization temperature of 500 °C at a constant...
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The objectives of this paper were to summarize the status of the livestock (pig and cattle) industry and its waste management in Taiwan. The Water Pollution Control Act authorized the reuse of liquor and digestate from anaerobic digestion (AD) as fertilizers for agricultural lands on 24 November 2015. A large number of official databases and litera...
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In this work, cocoa pod husk (CPH), a processing by-product from the cocoa industry, was evaluated as a potential feedstock for preparing biochar fuel at relatively low pyrolysis temperature. First, its thermochemical characteristics, including the calorific value and mineral component analyses, were investigated, showing that the bioresource obvio...
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The objective of this paper was to offer a preliminary overview of Taiwan’s success in green building material (GBM) efforts through legal systems and promotion measures, which are relevant to the contribution to indoor air quality (IAQ) due to sustainability and health issues. In the first part of the paper, the IAQ regulations are summarized to h...
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Among the halogenated hydrocarbons, chloromethanes (i.e., methyl chloride, CH3Cl; methylene chloride, CH2Cl2; chloroform, CHCl3; and carbon tetrachloride, CCl4) play a vital role due to their extensive uses as solvents and chemical intermediates. This article aims to review their main chemical/physical properties and commercial/industrial uses, as...
Article
In the study, the biogas digestate was evaluated as a potential feedstock for preparing biochars at a broad temperature range of 300–900 °C. The physico-chemical and pore properties of the resulting biochars (denoted as SDBC, solid digestate biochar), including calorific value (higher heating value), surface area/pore volume/pore size distribution,...
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In the past decades, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), so-called air toxics or toxic air pollutants, have been detected in the atmospheric air at low concentration levels, causing public concern about the adverse effect of long-term exposure to HAPs on human health. Most HAPs belong to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). More seriously, most of them...
Article
Motor vehicles are indicative of transportation facilities in every country. In this regard, tires are important commodities of domestic and international trade due to their major material compositions (i.e., rubber, carbon black and steel coil). However, improper treatment of waste tires, once they have been removed from discarded (end-of-life) ve...
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Since the 1970s, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), so-called air toxics, have been of great concern because they can cause serious human health effects and have adverse effects on the environment. More noticeably, some of them are known to be human carcinogens. The objective of this paper is to investigate the regulatory systems and human health eff...
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The objective of this paper is to offer an in-depth description of Taiwan’s success in green public procurement (GPP) efforts through legal systems and innovative measures, which were relevant to the contribution to the greenhouse gas emissions mitigation addressed in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). To be in acco...
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Based on the data on the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), oven-dried dairy manure was performed at moderate temperatures (673–1,073 K) with proper residence time of 60 min by a vertical fixed-bed pyrolyzer. The thermochemical properties of the dairy manure and its biochar products, such as elemental analysis and calorific value (higher heating val...
Article
Perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), a newly discovered greenhouse gas with the highest radiative efficiency, may have been released into the environment from a variety of industrial and medical uses in small amounts, leading to the potential contribution to the global warming addressed in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Kyoto...
Article
Decomposition reactions during torrefaction start at 563 K, as shown by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), as determined by pretests. Based on these findings, different biochars were produced by torrefaction at 563 K, combined with increasing holding times (10–40 min). The fuel properties of biochar products were investigated by means of calorific v...
Article
Post-extracted algal residue (AR), a processing by-product from a Chlorella production enterprise, was evaluated as a novel feedstock for preparing porous carbon material. Using a thermogravimetric system at the heating rate of 10 °C/min in this work, a combined carbonization–activation process using nitrogen-carbon dioxide (N2-CO2) gases was used...
Article
The utilization of livestock manure for biochar production has received much attention mainly due to the greenhouse gases mitigation and crop/fertilizer production. In this work, a novel biomass, horse manure, was performed at the temperature range of 673-1073 K and different residence times from 0 to 60 min by a vertical fixed-bed pyrolyzer. The t...
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In this work, we used three manure resources from common cattle ruminants (i.e., dairy, beef, and buffalo) to evaluate their thermochemical properties, including elemental analysis, lignocellulosic constituents, calorific value, mineral components, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy...
Article
Taiwan is a developed nation with approximately 98 % of its energy supplied by imported fuels. In this regard, the efficient energy utilization of municipal solid waste (MSW) is thus becoming attractive in Taiwan because the production of electricity from this source in 2012 has increased to 3,057 GWh, of which 2,350 GWh, or 76.8 %, was connected t...
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In this study, the slow pyrolysis (10 °C/min) of chlorella-based residue was investigated for the production of biochar in a thermogravimetric system under the different temperatures of 300–700 °C and holding times of 0–60 min. To evaluate their potential for soil amendment, their nutrient properties were obtained by means of elemental analyzer (EA...
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The utilization of animal manure for biochar production has received much attention mainly due to the global warming and crop production. In this work, goat manure (GM) was evaluated as a potential feedstock for preparing biochars. Its thermochemical characterization was first investigated by the proximate analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (T...
Article
Taiwan, located in a subtropical area, is a high energy-importing nation with approximately 98% of our energy supplied by imported fuels since 2000. In this regard, renewable electricity systems from its richness of solar radiation and strong monsoon are thus becoming attractive due to the energy, economic, and environmental policies for pursuing c...
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The chlorella-based microalgal residue (AR) was tested as a novel precursor for preparing activated carbons. A combined carbonization-activation process with flowing N2 and CO2 gases was used to prepare the carbon materials at the activation temperatures of 800-1000°C and the residence times of 0-30min in this work. The elemental contents, pore pro...
Article
In this work, goat manure (GM) was evaluated as a potential feedstock for preparing biochar. Its thermochemical characteristics were first investigated by the proximate analysis, calorific value, organic and mineral component analysis, showing that the biomass obviously comprises a large percentage of volatile matter and less amount of fixed carbon...
Article
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Pingtung County, located in the southernmost part of Taiwan, has been selected as one of the Smarter Cities Challenge by the International Business Machines (IBM) in 2013 due to its innovative promotion for renewable energy exploitation in recent years. In this regard, the objective of this paper will be to present an in-depth analysis of the succe...
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In this work, a planetary ball milling was used to modify the surface properties of calcite-based material from waste oyster shell under the rotational speed of 200-600 rpm, grinding time of 5-180 min and sample mass of 1-10 g. The milling significantly changed the microstructural properties of the calcite-based minerals (i.e., surface area, pore v...
Article
Torrefaction is a mild pyrolysis process in the relatively low temperature, which aims to upgrade the thermochemical and physical properties of biomass as a high energy-density fuel. In this study, coffee residue, a processing by-product from the soluble coffee industry, was torrefied at the temperature range of 503–623 K with residence time of 10...
Article
Some phenols, including pentachlorophenol, dichlorophenol, alkylphenols (nonylphenol & octylphenol) and bisphenol-A, have been identified as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These phenolic EDCs are extensively used in a wide range of household products, thus posing potential health risks for humans exposed to them. From the viewpoints of ecot...
Article
Paraquat (1,1′-dimethyl-4,4′-dipyridinium chloride), also known as methyl viologen, is frequently used as a quaternary ammonium herbicide (broadleaf weed killer) around the world due to its excellent effect within plant cells in crop protection and horticultural use. However, it has caused many cases of human poisoning, with the lungs being the pri...
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The energy conservation achieved by utilizing waste heat in the energy and industrial sectors has became more and more important after the energy crisis in the 1970s because it plays a vital role in the potential energy-efficiency improvement. In this regard, cogeneration (combined heat and power, CHP) systems are thus becoming attractive due to th...
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This article aimed to address two categories of environment friendly fluorocarbons (i.e., hydrofluoroethers and hydrofluoro-olefins), which are used as replacements for potent greenhouse gases like hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFC). In the work, the author will introduce the new-generation fluorocarbons on the basis of th...
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The objective of this paper was to provide a preliminary analysis of energy utilization from biological wastewater treatment sludge (biosludge) in Taiwan, a densely populated country (estimate 640 persons/km 2) with a high dependence (over 99%) on imported energy. The discussion focused on the status of biosludge generation and its management in th...
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The objective of this paper was to provide a preliminary analysis of the utilization of energy derived from waste wood in Taiwan, a highly industrialized country with a high dependence (over 99%) on imported energy. The discussion focuses on the status of waste wood generation and its management over the past decade. Findings show that the quantiti...
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Biosludge is a by-product of secondary wastewater treatment processes. Due to its high contents of organic carbon and plant nutrients, this bioresource can be practically reused as raw feedstock for making organic fertilizers and building materials. The objective of this paper was to provide a preliminary analysis of biosludge utilization in Taiwan...
Article
Taiwan, although not a Party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Kyoto Protocol, has diligently strived to advance technological and social changes for mitigating the use of potent greenhouse gases, including hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HF...
Article
Biochars have received increasing attention in recent years because of their properties pertaining to soil fertility and contaminant immobilization as well as serving as carbon sinks. In this work, a series of biochars were produced from dried swine manure waste by slow pyrolysis at different temperatures (i.e., 673-1073 K). The characterization of...
Article
With the rapid industrialization and economic development in the past decades, heavy environmental loads caused some serious environmental scenarios in Taiwan, an island country with a dense population and only limited natural resources. As a result, environmental education in Taiwan has been a leading tool to promote sustainable development since...
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Exhausted coffee residue (ECR), a processing by-product from the soluble coffee industry, was evaluated as a potential feedstock for preparing biochar fuel. Its thermochemical characteristics were first investigated using the standard methods, showing that the biomass obviously comprises a large percentage of volatile matter and less amount of ash....
Article
In a variety of medical and industrial uses, small amounts of perfluorodecalin (C 10 F 18) may have been released into the environment. However, it may significantly contribute to the global warming due to its highly radiative efficiency and global warming potential (GWP). Using the chemical similarity approach, this article aimed at calculating th...
Article
A series of porous biochars were prepared from common bamboo precursors at high carbonization rates (i.e., 110–170 K/min) in an induction-heating pyrolysis system. Under the investigated experimental conditions, the heating rate of around 150 K/min was found to be the optimum for producing microporous biochar materials with high surface area (over...