Michael A Serio

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I have been the President of Advanced Fuel Research, Inc. (AFR), a private contract research & development and consulting firm, since January 1998 (www.afrinc.com). My expertise is in the areas of biomass pyrolysis and gasification, conversion and utilization of solid wastes, biofuels production and utilization, hydrogen production, thermal degradation of polymers, distributed energy production and coal utilization. I have served as a Principal Investigator and Program Manager on contracts and grants for the NSF, DOE, DOC, DOD, EPA, NASA, and USDA. I was for several years a member of the Editorial Advisory Committee for the international journal, Fuel. I have also served as a Chair, Program Chair, Program Secretary and Trustee for the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Energy & Fuels (ENFL). In my role as a Head Trustee for the ACS-ENFL (since 2002), I manage their investment portfolio. I have authored or co-authored over 170 publications, including two encyclopedia chapters and several patents. My education includes a BS from Cornell ("with distinction") and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in chemical engineering. I am on the Board of Directors of three companies, AFR, Real-Time Analyzers (www.rta.biz), and Image Insight, Inc. (www.imageinsightinc.com).
Supervisors: Jack B. Howard and William A. Peters
Phone: 860-528-9806, x105
Address: Advanced Fuel Research, Inc.
87 Church Street
East Hartford, CT 06108 USA

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Papers by Michael A Serio

Gas Evolution from Torrefaction Processing of Human Solid Wastes

50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Jul 12, 2021

Evaluation of Coal Pyrolysis Kinetics

Fundamentals of the Physical-Chemistry of Pulverized Coal Combustion, 1987

To develop accurate predictive models for coal combustion or gasification, it is necessary to kno... more To develop accurate predictive models for coal combustion or gasification, it is necessary to know the rate and amount of volatiles release as a function of the particle temperature. The volatiles, which can account for up to 70% of the coal’s weight loss, control the ignition, the temperature and the stability of the flame, which can, in turn, affect the subsequent reactivity and burnout of the char. Unfortunately, there is still controversy concerning the rate of coal pyrolysis. For example, at particle temperatures estimated to be 800°C, rates reported in the literature (derived using a single first-order process to define weight loss or tar evolution) vary from less than 1 s-1 1–4 to more than 100 s-1 5–11 with values in between.12–14

A Novel Test Method for Fuel Thermal Stability

The object of this work was to demonstrate that an FT-IR fiber optic probe and a quartz crystal m... more

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95/00039 Progress in coal pyrolysis research

Fuel and Energy Abstracts, 1995

95tooo35 Nitrogen functionality in coals snd coal-tar pitch determined by X-ray photoelectron 8p8... more

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Pyrolysis Processing of Mixed Solid Waste Streams

The NASA objective of expanding the human experience into the far reaches of space will require t... more The NASA objective of expanding the human experience into the far reaches of space will require the development of regenerable life support systems. A key element of these systems is a means for solid waste resource recovery. The objective of this work was to examine the feasibility of pyrolysis processing as a method for the conversion of solid waste materials in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). A composite mixture was made consisting of 10% polyethylene, 15% urea, 25% cellulose, 25% wheat straw, 20% Gerepon TC-42 (space soap) and 5% methionine. Pyrolysis of the composite mixture produced light gases as the main products (C&, H2, Cot, CO, HzO, NH3) and a reactive carbon-rich char as the main byproduct. Significant amounts of liquid products were formed under less severe pyrolysis conditions, but these were cracked almost completely to gases as the temperature was raised. A primary pyrolysis1 model was developed for the composite mixture based on an existing mode...

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE In-Situ Methods for Study of Fuel Thermal Stability

Public reoorSno. burden for this collection ol information is estimated to average 1 hour per res... more Public reoorSno. burden for this collection ol information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, ndudng the time for reviewing instructions, «»rehing existing data sources, gathering and maMaWna the data needed and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comment! regarding tha burden estimate or any other aspect ol this coiecBon of Information,

Char-Oxidation Reactivity at Early and Late Stages of Burn-Off

Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) has been employed in coal science to perform a number of charact... more

Pyrolysis Modeling with Enhanced Predictive Capabilities

SYNOPSIS The objective of this study was to formulate a new methodology for the preparation of in... more SYNOPSIS The objective of this study was to formulate a new methodology for the preparation of input files for pyrolysis models that is based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach. Data obtained on a set of 46 diverse samples indicate that Artificial Neural Network models can be successfully used to generate pyrolysis-model input parameters for samples with an unknown pyrolysis behavior. The results look promising and further study of this approach is needed.

Making Activated Carbon for Storing Gas

Operational Data for a Full Scale Prototype Torrefaction Processing Unit (TPU) for Spacecraft

Secondary reactions of tar in coal pyrolysis

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, 1984.

Fossil fuel conversion -- Measurement and modeling. Topical report, September 14, 1993--June 30, 1997

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95/01163 A priori simulation of coal pyrolysis experiments based on coal elemental compositions

Fuel and Energy Abstracts, 1995

c paper discusses nondestructive testing methods for equipment (drift tmnsport facilities; mainly... more

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97/01127 Pyrolysis of scrap tires: can it be profitable?

Fuel and Energy Abstracts, 1997

In this study thermoplastic polymer containing wastes were subjected to successive pyrolysis and ... more In this study thermoplastic polymer containing wastes were subjected to successive pyrolysis and fixed-bed gasification in the same reactor. The height of the fixed bed depends on the pyrolysis temperature. With decreasing bed height. the gas yield is increased and the yield of condensable hydrocarbons is decreased. Typically, the system is used for simultaneous processing of brown-coal briquettes, compacted polymer wastes, and tar-oil-solid-water mixtures to produce a synthesis gas.

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98/00428 Extension of a coal pyrolysis model to biomass feedstocks

Fuel and Energy Abstracts, 1998

In view of the tremendous diversity of biomass feedstocks, a great need exists for a . robust, co... more In view of the tremendous diversity of biomass feedstocks, a great need exists for a . robust, comprehensive model that could be utilized to predict the composition and properties ofpyrolysis products as a function of feedstock characteristics and process conditions. The objective of this work was to adapt an existing coal pyrolysis model and make it suitable for the pyrolysis of biomass. The soundness of this approach is based on numerous similarities between biomass and coal. There are important differences, however, which preclude direct application of the coal model.

Experiments and Modeling of Multi-Component Fuel Behavior in Combustion

When Government drawings, specifications, or other data are used for any purpose other than in co... more When Government drawings, specifications, or other data are used for any purpose other than in connection with a definitely related Government procurement operation, the United States Government thereby incurs no responsibility nor any obligation whatsoever; and the fact that the government may have formulated, furnished, or in any way supplied the said drawings, specifications, or other date, Is not to be regarded by implication or otherwise as in any manner licensing the holder or any other person or oorporation, or conveying any rights or permission to manufacture, use, or sell any patented invention that may in any way be related thereto. This technical report hus been reviewed and Is approved for publication.

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Development Of A Fire Detection System Using Ft-ir Spectroscopy And Artificial Neural Networks

Fire Safety Science, 2000

Extensive measurements of flaming and smoldering fires and nuisancelenvironmental sources were pe... more Extensive measurements of flaming and smoldering fires and nuisancelenvironmental sources were performed with Fourier Transform Infrared (lT-IR) spectroscopy of gas phase products. A neural network model was formulated using the so-called Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) network approach. The LVQ approach contains input and output layers with a hidden layer being a Kohenen layer. The hidden layer learns and performs classification. The inputs to the network are concentrations (from FT-IR measurements) of eighteen (18) gas species. The outputs of the network are classification of the input data as a flaming fire, smoldering fire, nuisance or environmental source. The network was trained and tested using the test data collected during this project. The results were very successful as, among the 248 cases tested, only 12 cases were misclassified, mostly due to the difficulties in classifying the modes of combustion during a transition from a smoldering to a flaming fire. Each case represents the gas phase concentration data at a time step from one of the validation fires, which were different types of fires from the training set. A first generation fire detection system using FT-IR gas measurements and neural networks has been built and implemented.

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Kinetics of Carbon-Dioxide Activation of Chars Derived from Waste Tires

ABSTRACT

Mercury, SO2 and No Removal from Flue Gas by Adsorption on Activated Carbons

The Effects of Moisture and Cations on Liquefaction of Low Rank Coals

The role of calcium in reducing liquefaction yields from low rank coals has been suggested in pre... more The role of calcium in reducing liquefaction yields from low rank coals has been suggested in previous work by Whitehurst et al. and Mochida et al. It is also consistent with work which shows an effect of calcium on reducing pyrolysis tar yields. The role of calcium may be to provide a nascent crosslink site in the coal by allowing coordination of groups like carboxyl and hydroxyl which are prone to such reactions. Otherwise, these sites would be more likely to coordinate with water (through hydrogen bonding) then with each other. There have been no studies of the effects of cation type and the associated moisture on liquefaction yields. Studies were done on samples of Argonne Zap Lignite and Wyodak subbituminous coals which have been demineralized and then exchanged with calcium, barium or potassium cations. Two sets of samples were prepared: 1) vacuum-dried; 2) exposed to water vapor until an equilibrium moisture content was reached. The samples were characterized by FT-IR transmission analysis in KBr pellets, programmed pyrolysis in a TG-FTIR system and liquefaction in donor solvent. The pyrolysis and liquefaction results are discussed in the current paper.