Warm Cloud Catalyst, Preparation Method Therefor and Application Thereof

Abstract

Disclosed are a warm cloud catalyst, a preparation method and an application thereof. The warm cloud catalyst comprises the following components in parts by weight: plant powder/plant ash/plant carbon powder 80-120 parts; surfactant dry powder 0.5-5 parts or a surfactant solution 15-32 parts; and a thickening agent 2-10 parts. All the components of the catalyst are easily wettable. The plant powder/plant ash/plant carbon powder is used as a dispersing agent and a vapor condensation nucleus; the surfactant can reduce surface tension of some cloud droplets and facilitate combination of the cloud droplets with other cloud droplets upon collision, so as to expand the cloud droplet spectrum; the thickening agent can absorb water and continuously expand to become large droplets in cloud. The catalyst is non-corrosive, is not easily agglomerated, is easy to store, produce and process, and is safe and nontoxic, available in material, and convenient and simple in use.

Claims

1. A warm cloud catalyst, comprising following components in parts by weight: 80-120 parts of a plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder; 0.5-5 parts of a surfactant dry powder or 15-32 parts of a surfactant solution; and 2-10 parts of a thickening agent.

2. The warm cloud catalyst according to claim 1, wherein the plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder comprises dry powders of plant materials or powders resulting from burning or carbonizing of the plant materials, and further comprises non-plant materials having a density smaller than a density of water, wherein the plant materials further comprise a starch, a cellulose, a lignin and/or a colloid which constitute a plant body.

3. The warm cloud catalyst according to claim 1, wherein the plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder has a particle size in a range of 0.5-150 μm.

4. The warm cloud catalyst according to claim 1, wherein the surfactant comprises surface active substances capable of reducing surface tension of water by 20%-85%.

5. The warm cloud catalyst according to claim 1, wherein the thickening agent comprises aqueous phase thickening agents.

6. The warm cloud catalyst according to claim 1, wherein the catalyst comprises the surfactant solution and the mass concentration of a solute is 0.5%-35% in the surfactant solution.

7. A method for preparing a warm cloud catalyst, wherein when the surfactant is in form of a solution, the method comprising: 1) preparing the surfactant solution, wherein in the surfactant solution, the mass concentration of a solute is 0.5%-35%; 2) evenly mixing 15-32 parts by weight of the prepared surfactant solution with 80-120 parts by weight of the plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder to obtain a mixture; and 3) drying the mixture, then adding 2-10 parts of the thickening agent and evenly mixing, and then sieving to obtain a warm cloud catalyst, wherein the warm cloud catalyst comprises the following components in parts by weight: 80-120 parts of a plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder, 15-32 parts of a surfactant solution, and 2-10 parts of a thickening agent.

8. A method comprising: using a warm cloud catalyst in warm cloud precipitation, reservoir and pond water addition, precipitation redistribution, flood prevention and control or drought disasters, wherein the warm cloud catalyst comprises the following components in parts by weight: 80-120 parts of a plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder, 0.5-5 parts of a surfactant dry powder or 15-32 parts of a surfactant solution, and 2-10 parts of a thickening agent.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder comprises dry powders of plant materials or powders resulting from burning or carbonizing of the plant materials, and further comprises non-plant materials having a density smaller than a density of water, wherein the plant materials further comprise a starch, a cellulose, a lignin and/or a colloid which constitute a plant body.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder has a particle size in a range of 0.5-150 μm.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the surfactant comprises surface active substances capable of reducing surface tension of water by 20%-85%.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the thickening agent comprises aqueous phase thickening agents.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the mass concentration of a solute is 0.5%-35% in the surfactant solution.

14. A method for preparing a warm cloud catalyst, wherein when the surfactant is in form of a dry powder, the method comprising: a) grinding 2-20 parts of the dry plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder, together with 0.5-5 parts of the surfactant dry powder and 2-10 parts of the thickening agent dry powder, and sieving through a 200-mesh sieve, to obtain a surfactant and thickening agent dry powder with a smaller particle size; b) further fully mixing the rest plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder with the finer dry powder prepared in a), so as to disperse the surfactant and the thickening agent and reduce contents of the surfactant and of the thickening agent; and c) sieving the mixture prepared in b) to obtain the warm cloud catalyst, wherein the warm cloud catalyst comprises the following components in parts by weight: 80-120 parts of a plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder, 0.5-5 parts of a surfactant dry powder, and 2-10 parts of a thickening agent.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder comprises dry powders of plant materials or powders resulting from burning or carbonizing of the plant materials, and further comprises non-plant materials having a density smaller than a density of water, wherein the plant materials further comprise a starch, a cellulose, a lignin and/or a colloid which constitute a plant body.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder has a particle size in a range of 0.5-150 μm.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the surfactant comprises surface active substances capable of reducing surface tension of water by 20%-85%.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the thickening agent comprises aqueous phase thickening agents.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0030] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, brief description is made below on the drawings required to be used in description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only for illustrating the purpose rather than limiting the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a preparation flow of a warm cloud catalyst provided by the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another preparation flow of a warm cloud catalyst provided by the present invention.

[0033] Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0034] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the present invention will be described below clearly and completely. All the other embodiments that are obtained by a person ordinarily skilled in the art without using inventive effort on the basis of specific embodiments of the present invention shall be covered by the protection scope of the present invention. The examples of the present invention are only used to exemplify the specific embodiments, rather than limiting the present invention.

[0035] The warm cloud catalyst provided by the present invention comprises the following components in parts by weight: 80-120 parts of a plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder, 15-32 parts of a surfactant solution or 0.5-5 parts of a surfactant dry powder, and 2-10 parts of a thickening agent, wherein in the surfactant solution, the mass concentration of the solute is 0.5%-35%. In addition, in order to improve the catalytic capability and the precipitation effect of the warm cloud catalyst of the present invention, on the basis of the aforesaid technical solution, preferably, in a further technical solution, one or more of the following definitions may be added: the plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder has a particle size of 0.5-150 μm and has a water content smaller than 0.5%; the surfactant is a silicon-containing or fluorine-containing surfactant or a degradable surfactant; or in the surfactant solution, the solute is one or more selected from the group consisting of polyether modified organosiloxane, polyether modified polydimethylsiloxane and perfluoroalkyl ester solution; and the solvent is water or ethanol. In addition, the surfactant dry powder comprises sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate and Akzo Morwet EFW. The thickening agent comprises aqueous phase thickening agents, such as rheological agents or hydrosol. Preferably, the thickening agent is one or more selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum, konjac gum, guar gum and pectin.

[0036] The present invention provides two methods for preparing the warm cloud catalyst, which, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, specifically include the steps of:

[0037] Preparation Method 1:

[0038] Step 101: preparing a surfactant solution according to a predetermined mass concentration,

[0039] wherein in Step 101, the mass concentration of the surfactant solution is within the range of 0.5%-35%; therefore, after the determination of the dosage of the solute in the surfactant solution, it is needed to determine the dosage of the solvent (water or ethanol) required according to the predetermined mass concentration;

[0040] Step 102: evenly mixing, using a spray mixer, the prepared surfactant solution with plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder according to predetermined parts by weight, to obtain a mixture; and

[0041] Step 103: drying the mixture obtained in Step 102, then adding 2-10 parts of a thickening agent, evenly mixing, and sieving to obtain the warm cloud catalyst.

[0042] Preparation Method 2:

[0043] Step 201: grinding and sieving 2-20 parts of the dried plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder, together with 0.5-5 parts of surfactant dry powder and 2-10 parts of thickening agent dry powder to prepare a mixture of the surfactant and thickening agent dry powders and plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder with smaller particle sizes;

[0044] Step 202: further mixing the rest plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder with the finer dry powder mixture prepared in Step 201, so as to disperse the surfactant and the thickening agent and reduce the contents of the surfactant and of the thickening agent therein; and

[0045] Step 203: sieving the mixture prepared in Step 202 to obtain a final warm cloud catalyst product.

[0046] The methods for preparing a warm cloud catalyst provided by the examples of the present invention are easy to carry out, are highly controllable and can realize preparation of powdery warm cloud catalyst without a lot of manufacturing devices.

[0047] In each of the examples, dust may be generated in the production process, the inhalation of dust is harmful to body health, and therefore the production staff must wear a protective mask during the whole production process to prevent the inhalation of dust. In addition, all the components of the catalyst absorb moisture extremely easily, so during storage of the raw materials and the finished products and during the whole production process, it is necessary to keep the environment dry and the relative humidity lower than 45%, and it is required that the package of the finished product is dampproof and waterproof.

[0048] Next, the following specific examples are given for the warm cloud catalyst and the preparation method thereof in the present invention in conjunction with the above contents, and reference is made to Examples 1-7.

EXAMPLE 1

[0049] The warm cloud catalyst in the present example comprises the following components in parts by weight: 80 parts of plant ash, 3 parts of 200-mesh xanthan gum, and 15.7 parts of a surfactant solution, wherein in the surfactant solution, the solute is embodied as 0.7 parts of polyether modified organosiloxane Silok®8008, and the solvent is 15 parts of water. In addition, in the surfactant solution, the mass concentration of the solute is 4.5%.

[0050] The preparation method of the warm cloud catalyst in the present example is as follows:

[0051] S1: preparing the surfactant solution:

[0052] adding 15 kg of water to 0.7 kg of polyether modified organosiloxane Silok®8008, and fully stirring for mixing for standby use; and

[0053] S2: mixing, in a spray mixer, 80 kg of plant ash having a water content lower than 0.5% with the surfactant solution in a weight ratio of 80:15.7, then drying, adding 3 kg of 200-mesh xanthan gum and fully mixing, and sieving through a 30-mesh airflow sieve to obtain the warm cloud catalyst.

EXAMPLE 2

[0054] The warm cloud catalyst in the present example comprises the following components in parts by weight: 100 parts of plant ash, 6 parts of 200-mesh xanthan gum and 16.3 parts of a surfactant solution, wherein in the surfactant solution, the solute is embodied as 0.8 parts of polyether modified organosiloxane Silok®8008 and 0.5 parts of Silok®8141, and the solvent is 15 parts of water. In addition, in the surfactant solution, the mass concentration of the solute is 8%.

[0055] The preparation method of the warm cloud catalyst in the present example is as follows:

[0056] S1: preparing the surfactant solution:

[0057] adding 15 kg of water to 0.8 kg of polyether modified organosiloxane Silok®8008 and 0.5 kg of Silok®8141, and fully stirring for mixing for standby use; and

[0058] S2: mixing, in a spray mixer, 100 kg of plant ash having a water content lower than 0.5% with the surfactant solution in a weight ratio of 100:16.3, then drying, adding 6 kg of 200-mesh xanthan gum and fully mixing, and passing the sieving through a 40-mesh airflow sieve to obtain the warm cloud catalyst.

EXAMPLE 3

[0059] The warm cloud catalyst in the present example comprises the following components in parts by weight: 120 parts of plant carbon powder, 10 parts of pectin, and 23.5 parts of a surfactant solution, wherein in the surfactant solution, the solute is embodied as 3 parts of polyether modified organosiloxane Silok®8033 and 0.5 parts of Silok®8141, and the solvent is 20 parts of water. In addition, in the surfactant solution, the mass concentration of the solute is 14.9%.

[0060] The preparation method of the warm cloud catalyst in the present example is as follows:

[0061] S1: preparing the surfactant solution:

[0062] adding 20 kg of water to 3 kg of polyether modified organosiloxane Silok®8033 and 0.5 kg of Silok®8141, and fully stirring for evenly mixing for standby use; and

[0063] S2: mixing, in a spray mixer, 120 kg of plant carbon powder having a water content lower than 0.5% with the surfactant solution in a weight ratio of 120:23.5, then drying, adding 10 parts of 200-mesh pectin dry powder, and sieving through a 100-mesh sieve to obtain the warm cloud catalyst.

EXAMPLE 4

[0064] The warm cloud catalyst in the present example comprises the following components in parts by weight: 100 parts of plant ash, 5 parts of a surfactant dry powder, and 2 parts of 200-mesh xanthan gum.

[0065] The preparation method of the warm cloud catalyst in the present example is as follows:

[0066] 1) grinding, by using a ball mill, 4 kg of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate powder, 1 kg of Akzo Morwet EFW, 2 kg of 200-mesh xanthan gum, and 15 kg of plant ash dry powder having a water content lower than 0.5%, into fine powder having an average particle size smaller than 3 μm;

[0067] 2) fully and evenly mixing 85 kg of plant ash with the prepared fine powder above; and

[0068] 3) sieving the fully and evenly mixed catalyst through a 50-mesh sieve to obtain the final warm cloud catalyst.

EXAMPLE 5

[0069] The warm cloud catalyst in the present example comprises the following components in parts by weight: 100 parts of plant ash, 3 parts of a surfactant dry powder, and 8 parts of guar gum.

[0070] The preparation method of the warm cloud catalyst in the present example is as follows:

[0071] 1) grinding,by using a ball mill, 2.5 kg of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate powder, 0.5 kg of Akzo Morwet EFW, 8 kg of guar gum, and 12 kg of plant ash dry powder having a water content lower than 0.5%, into fine powder having an average particle size smaller than 3 μm;

[0072] 2) fully and evenly mixing 88 kg of plant ash with the prepared fine powder above; and

[0073] 3) sieving the evenly mixed catalyst through a 60-mesh sieve to obtain the final warm cloud catalyst.

EXAMPLE 6

[0074] The warm cloud catalyst in the present example comprises the following components in parts by weight: 100 parts of plant ash, 0.5 parts of a surfactant dry powder, and 4 parts of konjac gum.

[0075] The preparation method of the warm cloud catalyst in the present example is as follows:

[0076] 1) grinding, by using a ball mill, 0.5 kg of Akzo Morwet EFW, 4 kg of konjac gum, and 7 kg of plant ash dry powder having a water content lower than 0.5%, into fine powder having an average particle size smaller than 3 μm;

[0077] 2) fully and evenly mixing 93 kg of plant ash with the prepared fine powder above; and

[0078] 3) sieving the evenly mixed catalyst through a 70-mesh sieve to obtain the final warm cloud catalyst.

EXAMPLE 7

[0079] The warm cloud catalyst in the present example comprises the following components in parts by weight: 100 parts of plant powder, 3 parts of surfactant dry powder, and 5 parts of konjac gum.

[0080] The preparation method of the warm cloud catalyst in the present example is as follows:

[0081] 1) grinding, by using a ball mill, 3 kg of Akzo Morwet EFW, 5 kg of konjac gum, and 7 kg of plant powder having a water content lower than 0.5% into fine powder having an average particle size smaller than 3 μm;

[0082] 2) fully and evenly mixing 93 kg of plant powder with the prepared fine powder above; and

[0083] 3) sieving the evenly mixed catalyst through a 80-mesh sieve to obtain the final warm cloud catalyst.

[0084] In order to verify the technical effects of the warm cloud catalysts of Examples 1-7 of the present invention, the warm cloud catalysts of the present invention had been tested by Guiyan Detection Technology (Yunnan) Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Silok Chemical Co. Ltd. and a self-made cloud chamber. The test results are as shown in Table 1.

[0085] In the above, the surface tension was tested using a platinum ring method by an automatic interface tensometer with a model number JYW-200A.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Ex- Ex- Ex- Ex- Ex- Ex- Ex- am- am- am- am- am- am- am- ple 1 ple 2 ple 3 ple 4 ple 5 ple 6 ple 7 Bulk density 0.35 0.4 0.65 0.5 0.54 0.42 0.68 (g/cm.sup.3) Sedimentation 0.25 0.29 0.75 0.6 0.5 0.2 0.7 velocity (m/s) Surface tension 18 18 21 22 22 23 22 of 10% aqueous solution (dyne/cm) Transverse drift Good Good Good Good Good Good Good effect

[0086] The test results indicated: for the warm cloud catalysts provided by examples 1-7 of the present invention, the bulk density measured by a bulk density meter was 0.32-0.74 g/cm.sup.3, which was 15%-35% of that of traditional warm cloud catalysts sodium chloride and calcium chloride (2.15 g/cm.sup.3). The average sedimentation velocity, measured by a stopwatch, in a PVC pipe having a height of 6.5 m and a diameter of 0.8 m was 0.19-0.75 m/s, which was only 6-24% of that of traditional warm cloud catalysts sodium chloride and calcium chloride (3.13 m/s, average diameter of 75 μm). Thus, the obtained warm cloud catalysts could stay in the air for a long time and have good transverse drift effect, fully ensuring the time of collision between the catalysts and the cloud droplets.

[0087] The specific surface areas of the warm cloud catalysts of Examples 1-7 were extremely large, up to 47.5m.sup.2/g in the case where the average diameter of the particles was 17 μm; the shortest time it took for the finished product to coalesce with water was several milliseconds; and the surface tension of the 10% aqueous solution thereof was only 24%-45% of the surface tension 72.5 dyne/cm of the water.

[0088] As tested in a self-made cloud chamber (the volume of a steam room being 20 cubic meters, a dry powder spraying machine was used to spray 10 g of the catalyst at a time), the products of Examples 1-7 were all capable of dispersing fog rapidly within 12-40 seconds in a 40° C. steam room, and fog regeneration was delayed for 5-10 minutes, while the blank control took about 5 minutes to disperse fog and delayed fog generation.

[0089] The tests demonstrated that the products of Examples 1-7 were all capable of forming precipitation effect under simulated conditions, and all the properties thereof were far superior to those of traditional inorganic salt warm cloud catalysts. Moreover, the products were non-corrosive, were not easily agglomerated, were easy to store, produce and process, and were safe and nontoxic, available in material, and convenient and simple in use.

[0090] In addition, when the warm cloud catalysts prepared in Examples 1-7 of the present application were used for precipitation, the warm cloud catalysts could stay in the air for a long time, and had good transverse drift effect, fully ensuring the time of collision thereof with cloud droplets, and it took a relatively short time for the warm cloud catalysts to coalesce with water.

[0091] In addition, the material, namely the plant ash/plant powder/plant carbon powder, used in the present invention comprises the dry powders of plant materials or the powders resulting from burning or carbonizing thereof, and further comprises non-plant materials having a density smaller than that of water, wherein the plant materials further comprises starch, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and/or colloid which constitute a plant body. The surfactant used in the present invention further comprises surface active substances capable of reducing the surface tension of water by 20%-85% when the surfactant is at the lowest critical micelle concentration value. The thickening agent comprises aqueous phase thickening agents.

[0092] In conclusion, the technical effects achieved by the present invention mainly include:

[0093] 1. explicitly proposing for the first time, in the research on weather modification catalysts, taking the surface tension difference as the power for collision and coalescence of cloud droplets and taking the reduction of the surface tension of water as the focus of the research on warm cloud catalysts;

[0094] 2. proposing for the first time the concept that the nuclei for warm cloud precipitation are hydrophilic wetting nuclei, so as to make it clear that the various hydrophobic nuclei in the atmosphere are non-cloud condensation nuclei;

[0095] 3. using for the first time a thickening agent as a source of particles capable of growing into large droplets in the cloud to start the collision mechanism, thereby solving the problem that large condensation nuclei in the cloud fall too fast at the beginning; and

[0096] 4. using for the first time the method of combining three kinds of materials, i.e., a surfactant, a thickening agent and plant powder/plant ash/plant carbon powder, for preparing the warm cloud catalysts.

[0097] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not used to limit the present invention. For a person skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and variations. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements etc. within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall all be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.