Embodiments of the present disclosure describe binder materials from birch bark, methods of making the binder materials, fuel compositions comprising the binder materials, methods of forming the fuel compositions in the form of pellets and/or briquettes, and the like.

A method and system reprocess soiled animal bedding material commingled with animal manure. In one aspect the soiled animal bedding material is separated in a shaker to send at least a preponderance of said manure to a holding tank. In another aspect the bedding is cleaned, rinsed and color is restored. Said bedding material is subsequently dried and a bedding product, fertilizer product, and/or compacted product is formed. Alternatively, said bedding material is dried (without a compacting step) to form a product. In another aspect, the steps of separation, cleaning, rinsing and/or color restoration may be omitted.

Proposed is a method of emulsifying fuel oil and a desulfurization agent. The method includes (a) a step of adding a desulfurization agent to fuel oil for line mixing thereof, (b) a step of generating droplets in the resulting mixture of step (a), (c) a step of causing the resulting mixture of step (b) to pass through a magnetic field so that the mixture can be magnetized, (d) a step of subjecting the resulting mixture of step (c) to vortex mixing, and (e) a step of causing collision of the resulting mixture of step (d). The method uses fuel oil as a continuous phase and a water-based desulfurization agent as a disperse phase and emulsifies the desulfurization agent in the fuel oil through water-in-oil (W/o) emulsification so that the desulfurization agent can be stably dispersed in the fuel oil. Since the fuel oil and the desulfurization agent are burned together during combustion, sulfur oxides that may occur during the combustion are removed, whereby sulfur oxide emissions are reduced.

Disclosed is a fuel additive which may remove varnish precursor species in a jet fuel. In particular, the fuel additive may be a multi-functional adsorbent which includes a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional interconnected mesoporous or mixed micro-/mesoporous framework and a plurality of internal cavities formed in the mesoporous or mixed micro-/mesoporous framework and the internal cavities include charged sites to accommodate fuel contaminants for varnish formation, such as metal ions and heteroatomic contaminants. In addition, methods of preparing the multi-functional adsorbent and methods for removing varnish precursor species with the fuel additive are provided.

A method for fractionating biomass material according to ash content, the method comprising: grinding the biomass material to produce a ground biomass and sieving the ground biomass through a first screen to yield: a) a first fraction of biomass particles that does not pass through the first screen and which has a first particle size, and b) a second fraction of biomass particles that passes through the first screen and which has a second particle size, wherein the second particle size is smaller than the first particle size, and wherein the second fraction of biomass particles has a higher ash content than the first fraction of biomass particles; and optionally further comprising: passing the second fraction of biomass particles through a second screen having a finer mesh size to produce a third fraction having a smaller particle size and a higher ash content than the second fraction of biomass particles.

A method of synthesis of energetic particles, and associated systems, the method including providing a metal powder, dispersing the metal powder in a first fluid to form a first suspension, contacting the first suspension with an oxide precursor, aqueous ammonium hydroxide and a second fluid, to produce a first product, collecting product solids and inductively heating product solids to produce energetic core-shell particles.

Disclosed is a catalyst for desulfurization, including (a) an oxide selected from among SiO.sub.2, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2, MgO, MnO, CaO, Na.sub.2O, K.sub.2O and P.sub.2O.sub.3, (b) a metal selected from among Li, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Sr, Cd and Pb, and (c) a liquid compound selected from among sodium tetraborate (Na.sub.2B.sub.4O.sub.7.10H.sub.2O), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium silicate (Na.sub.2SiO.sub.3) and hydrogen peroxide (H.sub.2O.sub.2). The catalyst of the invention has a 2:1 type layered structure in which one octahedral layer is interposed between two tetrahedral layers and which has a net negative charge due to occupation of only two of three positively charged sites in the octahedral layer, and the catalyst for desulfurization is provided in the form of a metal chelate compound through chelation with a metal ion, whereby sulfur oxide (SO.sub.x) can be adsorbed and removed at high efficiency upon combustion of a combustible substance.

Disclosed is a desulfurization system using a catalyst for desulfurization, including a coal feed unit for conveying a combustible substance, a spray unit for spraying a catalyst for desulfurization, a coal pulverization unit for pulverizing the combustible substance conveyed from the coal feed unit, and a combustion unit for combusting the pulverized combustible substance, wherein during transfer of the combustible substance from the coal feed unit to the coal pulverization unit, the catalyst for desulfurization is sprayed using the spray unit and is mixed with the combustible substance. The desulfurization system of the invention can be simply and easily applied to various combustion facilities because, during the transfer of the combustible substance from the coal feed unit to the coal pulverization unit, the catalyst for desulfurization is sprayed and is mixed with the combustible substance, thereby efficiently reducing sulfur oxide (SO.sub.x) emission due to combustion of fossil fuel.

The present invention includes a fuel injection amount sensor for detecting an injection amount of oil, a pretreatment desulfurization agent injection amount sensor for detecting an injection amount of a pretreatment desulfurization agent, and a control panel for controlling and monitoring the injection amount of the pretreatment desulfurization agent so that the predetermined desulfurization agent is mixed with the fuel in a predetermined mixing ratio. The fuel injection amount sensor is disposed on a fuel supply line between a fuel tank and a marine engine, and the pretreatment desulfurization agent injection amount sensor is disposed between a downstream fuel supply line installed downstream of the fuel injection amount sensor and a pretreatment desulfurization agent tank.

Proposed is a pretreatment desulfurization system including a desulfurization agent storage tank for storing a liquid-phase pretreatment desulfurization agent and a metering pump for supplying the liquid-phase pretreatment desulfurization agent from the desulfurization agent storage tank to a fuel supply line through which marine fuel oil is supplied to a marine engine in a predetermined ratio. Since a fluid mixture composed of the marine fuel oil and the pretreatment desulfurization agent is supplied to the marine engine, sulfur oxides are adsorbed and removed during combustion of the fluid mixture.