Mixture Effects of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylenes (BTEX) to Lung Carcinoma Cells via a Hanging Drop Air Exposure System

A recently developed hanging drop air exposure system for toxicity studies of volatile chemicals was applied to evaluate the cell viability of lung carcinoma A549 cells after 1 h and 24 h of exposure to benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) as individual compounds and mixtures of 4 or 6 components. The cellular chemical concentrations causing 50% reduction of cell viability (EC50) were calculated use a mass balance model and came to 17, 12, 11, 9, 4 and 4 mmol/kg cell dry weight for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m-xylene, o-xylene and p-xylene respectively after 1 h of exposure. The EC50 decreased by a factor of four after 24 h of exposure. All mixture effects were best described by the mixture toxicity model of concentration addition, which is valid for chemicals with the same mode of action. Good agreement with the model predictions were found for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and m-xylene at four different representative fixed concentration ratios after 1 h of exposure but lower agreement to mixture prediction was obtained after 24 h of exposure. A recreated car exhaust mixture, which involved the contribution of the more toxic p-xylene and o-xylene, yielded an acceptable but lower quality prediction as well.

A simplified kinetic model for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene over Pd-NaBr/Al2O3 catalyst

The oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene is gaining considerable importance in recent years as a promising alternative for styrene production. This vapour phase reaction has been studied over Pd-NaBr/Al2O3 catalyst in the temperature range 623-793 K in a fixed bed reactor. Kinetic analysis of this reaction has been done using a recursion procedure developed in this work from first principles. The advantage of this method is the absence of any restriction on the conversion level as it uses an integrated rate equation. The rate of styrene formation was found to follow a linear relationship with concentration of ethylbenzene and shows a Langmuir type dependence on the concentration of oxygen.

Coking kinetics on the catalyst during alkylation of fcc off-gas with benzene to ethylbenzene

The production of ethylbenzene from the alkylation of dilute ethylene in fee off-gases with benzene has been commercialized in China over a newly developed catalyst composed of ZSM-5/ZSM-11 co-crystallized zeolite. The duration of an operation cycle of the commercial catalyst could be as long as 180 days. The conversion of ethylene could attain higher than 95%, while the amount of coke deposited on the catalyst was only about 10 wt.%. Thermogravimetry (TG) was used to study the coking behavior of the catalyst during the alkylation of fee off-gas with benzene to ethylbenzene. Based on effects of reaction time, reaction temperature, reactants and products on coking during the alkylation process, it is found that the coking rate during the alkylation procedure follows the order: ethylbenzene > ethylene > propylene > benzene for single component, and benzene-ethylene > benzene-propylene for bi-components under the same reaction condition. Furthermore, the coking kinetic equations for benzene-ethylene, benzene-propylene and ethylbenzene were established. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Polyaniline as nonmetal catalyst for styrene synthesis by oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene

Polyaniline was used as a nonmetal catalyst in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene and yield of 22.9% at 573 K and similar to 40% at 673 K were obtained, respectively. An indirect oxidative dehydrogenation mechanism was proposed based on the results of pulse reactions.

Sequential application of soil vapor extraction and bioremediation processes for the remediation of ethylbenzene-contaminated soils

Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is an efficient, well-known and widely applied soil remediation technology. However, under certain conditions it cannot achieve the defined cleanup goals, requiring further treatment, for example, through bioremediation (BR). The sequential application of these technologies is presented as a valid option but is not yet entirely studied. This work presents the study of the remediation of ethylbenzene (EB)-contaminated soils, with different soil water and natural organic matter (NOMC) contents, using sequential SVE and BR. The obtained results allow the conclusion that: (1) SVE was sufficient to reach the cleanup goals in 63% of the experiments (all the soils with NOMC below 4%), (2) higher NOMCs led to longer SVE remediation times, (3) BR showed to be a possible and cost-effective option when EB concentrations were lower than 335 mg kgsoil −1, and (4) concentrations of EB above 438 mg kgsoil −1 showed to be inhibitory for microbial activity.

Zeolite-encapsulated Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes as catalysts for partial oxidation of benzyl alcohol and ethylbenzene

Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes of dimethylglyoxime and N,N-ethylenebis(7-methylsalicylideneamine) have been synthesized in situ in Y zeolite by the reaction of ion-exchanged metal ions with the flexible ligand molecules that had diffused into the cavities. The hybrid materials obtained have been characterized by elemental analysis, SEM, XRD, surface area, pore volume, magnetic moment, FTIR, UV-Vis and EPR techniques. Analysis of data indicates the formation of complexes in the pores without affecting the zeolite framework structure, the absence of any extraneous species and the geometry of encapsulated complexes. The catalytic activities for hydrogen peroxide decomposition and oxidation of benzyl alcohol and ethylbenzene of zeolite complexes are reported. Zeolite Cu(II) complexes were found to be more active than the corresponding Co(II) and Ni(II) complexes for oxidation reactions. The catalytic properties of the complexes are influenced by their geometry and by the steric environment of the active sites. Zeolite complexes are stable enough to be reused and are suitable to be utilized as partial oxidation catalysts.