This study presents a comprehensive characterization of oak biochar produced via downdraft gasification at 850 °C. The research employs a wide range of advanced analytical techniques to examine the biochar’s physical, chemical, and structural properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a mesoporous structure, while Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis showed a surface area of 88.97 m²/g. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated high thermal stability and carbon content (78.7%). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultimate analysis confirmed the high degree of carbonization, with low O/C (0.178) and H/C (0.368) ratios indicating high aromaticity. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) identified functional groups suggesting potential for CO₂ adsorption. The biochar exhibited a negative zeta potential (−31.5 mV), indicating colloidal stability and potential for soil amendment applications. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy provided insights into the biochar’s crystalline structure and graphitization degree. These findings highlight the oak biochar’s suitability for diverse applications, including soil improvement, carbon sequestration, and environmental remediation. By filling knowledge gaps in oak-specific biochar research, this study underscores the benefits of optimized downdraft gasification and sets a foundation for future advancements in sustainable biochar applications.

In this study, a new air-assisted flare tip was designed, built, and tested under different operating conditions. Lacking sufficient energy to mix with air, low waste gas flow rates will lead to incomplete combustion of these gases. This increases pollutant emissions and soot formation which leads to a decline in flare performance. This flare tip design enhances the waste gas mixing energy through implementation of an air jet in a crossflow orientation. This is done by adjusting the exit area of the waste gas exit by injecting a radial jet of air from an inclined slot jet located around the flare tip. This flare tip design also provides protection for the flare tip from high flame temperatures that can damage through convective cooling. Several tests were conducted to assess the new flare tip design with varying waste gas flow rates of 5, 10, 25, and 120 standard liters per minute (SLPM). These tests also considered varying assistant air flow rates. In addition, test results showed high combustion efficiency of the flaring process and significant soot formation suppression. The new flare tip design yielded better flame behavior with respect to the flare tip, caused by the flame stability that prevented the flame from attaching to the flare tip.

Multidimensional consequences may arise from an accident in the flare system of any chemical or petrochemical plant due to the improperly managed flare system, which can lead to the presence of the toxic and flammable gases. The Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP) is a systematic method used to assess and identify risks that can occur during operation, ensuring risk reduction and the safety of using equipment or units. This study aims to apply the HAZOP technique to identify the hazards associated with the gas flaring process in an air-assisted flare. The air-assisted flare system was subdivided into four sections (nodes), which were analyzed separately. These nodes included the gas supply line, air supply line, pilot flame line, and flare unit. A total of 11 potential high-risk factors related to gas flaring were identified and measured to eliminate or mitigate these risks, which were recommended to reduce the negative effects on human health, the environment, and the economy.

Over the past century, and particularly in the last two decades, there has been a massive increase in the need for efficient and sustainable methods of generating energy from waste items. Due to the exponential rise in effluent-laden wastewater from businesses, the food and agriculture sectors, and the environment, wastewater treatment has also received a lot of attention in recent years. Numerous wastewater treatment methods have been developed throughout the years, but most of them fall short in terms of energy recovery rates, durability, and cost-effectiveness. Since microbial fuel cells carry out bio-electrochemical reactions on organic, biodegradable substances to oxidize them and produce electricity that can be used, they can be a significant help in addressing both of these problems at once. In this overview, we go over the elements that determine the microbial fuel cell’s performance, how they work, how protons and electrons are transferred, the many forms that were created in terms of advantages and disadvantages, and the fuel that these cells run on.

Predicting the mass transfer coefficient (K) is one of the most important parameters in industrial separation processes, as it greatly determines the efficacy of distillation in separating components between the liquid and vapor phases. Traditional approaches find it difficult to model K dependence on operational factors such as reflux ratio, molar feed flow rate, and feed composition. This research combines the Aspen Hysys simulation and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to write K as a function of these variables in a benzene-toluene binary system. Aspen Hysys was used to simulate a continuous distillation column that produced K values under different conditions. This data was used to train an ANN (3:4:1 multilayer perceptron) to predict K. The ANN's training performance was 95.3%, and its predictive accuracy was high. This composite method can improve predictive performance in the optimization of distillation column design and operation. It can be effectively used as a tool in industrial practice.