Technology Alert: Google Alerts

"Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important.” -- Lisa Hoffman

The following article, interesting though it may be, is not the point of this post. The point is the usefulness of setting Google Alerts.

The key to avoiding information overload is to make the alert tightly focused. This article, for example, resulted from a Google Alert on π-complexation … a term often associated with desulfurization research, but which retrieves far fewer results. And of those, many of them will be relevant to your research interests.

Pick through your stash of articles for key words and concepts specific to your needs. Then Google® them and, based on the results, create Google Alerts using the most promising key words in your list.

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Research on Reactive Adsorption Desulfurization over Ni/ZnO−SiO2−Al2O3 Adsorbent in a Fixed-Fluidized Bed Reactor
Jingxin Fan, Gang Wang, Yu Sun, Chunming Xu, Hongjun Zhou, Guanglin Zhou and Jinsen Gao*
State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, Department of Chemical Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/ie100923v
Publication Date (Web): August 11, 2010
Copyright © 2010 American Chemical Society
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 8610-8973-3993. Fax: 8610-6972-4721.
E-mail: jsgao@cup.edu.cn
Abstract
Reactive adsorption desulfurization of FCC gasoline over a Ni/ZnO−SiO2−Al2O3 adsorbent was carried out in a fixed-fluidized bed reactor at low pressures in the presence of hydrogen. The results show that high temperature, high pressure, high molar ratios of hydrogen-to-oil, and low weight hourly space velocity are favorable to improve the desulfurization ability of adsorbent but not conducive to maintaining the octane number of FCC gasoline throughout the condition range examined. Under optimal operating conditions, ultralow sulfur gasoline can be produced, and the RON loss is only 1 unit. Furthermore, the effect of prereduction and adsorbent characterization data (SEM/EDX, N2 adsorption) reveal that reduction increases the interaction between Ni and S compounds and improves the pore structure of adsorbent, leading to a significant improvement in the desulfurization capability of adsorbent. Take 3-methylthiophene for example, after adsorbing on an active Ni atom via the S−Ni bond, the sulfur of 3-methylthiophene is removed by direct hydrogenolysis of the C−S bond, resulting in the formation of NiSx and 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene in hydrogen atmosphere. The latter is mainly hydrogenated to 2-methyl-2-butene and 2-methylbutane. ZnO acts as a sulfur-acceptor, which can regenerate the active Ni in situ in hydrogen atmosphere. The complete sulfidation of adsorbent particles takes place by ion diffusion.
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Here’s another tip … consider following the Desulfurization Blog (http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/) … and pass the URL on to your friends and colleagues. They will thank you for your thoughtfulness.