Disclosed herein are mesocapsules that include agriculturally active ingredients. These mesocapsules are comprised of a polyurea shell and include hydrophilic groups on their surfaces and have a volume-average diameter of about 500 nm or less and some of them have a volume-average diameter on the order of about 300 nm or less. These mesocapsules are suited for delivering active ingredients that are not very soluble in water. Methods for making these mesocapsules include interfacial polycondensation reactions carried out in the presence of surfactants and other methods in which all or most of the surfactant is replaced by adding amino acids to the aqueous phase of the interfacial reaction mixture before forming the final emulsion.

Bioactive agrichemical concentrates and compositions having improved bioactivity comprising combinations of acid solutions and conventional bioactive agrichemical actives or formulations.

A storage stable capsule suspension formulation comprising clomazone encapsulated within a polymeric shell wall of microcapsules, a process for the preparation thereof and method of controlling weeds utilizing said formulation.

Herbicidal injury caused by 6-trisubstituted phenyl)-4-amino-2-pyridinecarboxylates in wheat and barley is reduced with the use of low rates of cloquintocet.

A method and apparatus for exposure correction in scanners are disclosed. In the method, exposure is corrected for pixels received in an image sensor array. Exposure time is tracked for the incoming pixel data and a calibration factor is determined for correcting the gain, and the calibration factor is adjusted based on the tracked exposure time. In the apparatus, a scanner includes an illumination source and a sensor for receiving pixel data. Using values stored in a memory, circuitry is provided for determining a calibration factor, for tracking exposure time for the pixel data and for adjusting the pixel data based on the calibration factor and exposure time.

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for monitored application of mechanical force to samples using acoustic energy and mechanical parameter value extraction using mechanical response models can be used for determining mechanical property parameters of a sample. An exemplary method includes applying acoustic energy to a sample to apply a mechanical force to the sample, measuring a response by the sample during the application of the acoustic energy, measuring a recovery response of the sample following cessation of the application of the acoustic energy, and determining a value for at least one additional mechanical property parameter of the sample based on the response measured during application of the acoustic energy and the recovery response measured following cessation of the application of acoustic energy.

A method for providing a biological logic gate comprising the following steps: subjecting a bistable autoregulatory gene network (GRN) to a noisy background; identifying adjustable parameters of the GRN; using logical stochastic resonance to determine values of the GRN parameters which result in the GRN performing different logic gate functions; and setting the parameter values of the GRN such that the GRN performs a first logic gate function.

The methods described herein enable the evaluation of compounds on subjects to assess their therapeutic efficacy or toxic effects. The target of analysis is the underlying biochemical process or processes (i.e., metabolic process) thought to be involved in disease pathogenesis. Molecular flux rates within the one or more biochemical processes serve as biomarkers and are quantitated and compared with the molecular flux rates (i.e., biomarker) from control subjects (i.e., subjects not exposed to the compounds). Any change in the biomarker in the subject relative to the biomarker in the control subject provides information to evaluate therapeutic efficacy of an administered drug or a toxic effect and to develop the compound further if desired. In one aspect of the invention, stable isotope-labeled substrate molecules are administered to a subject and the label is incorporated into targeted molecules in a manner that reveals molecular flux rates through metabolic pathways of interest.

Meter electronics (20) for quantifying a fluid being transferred is provided. The meter electronics (20) includes an interface (201) configured to communicate with a flowmeter assembly of a vibratory flowmeter and receive a vibrational response and a processing system (203) coupled to the interface (201). The processing system (203) is configured to measure a volume flow and a density for a predetermined time portion of the fluid transfer, determine if the fluid transfer is non-aerated during the predetermined time portion, if the predetermined time portion is non-aerated then add a volume-density product to an accumulated volume-density product and add the volume flow to an accumulated volume flow, and determine a non-aerated volume-weighted density for the fluid transfer by dividing the accumulated volume-density product by the accumulated volume flow.

A method for calculating efficiency of a power supply system includes: displaying a parameter selection interface on the display unit for selecting power supply parameters and transmission line parameters. Obtaining power supply parameters and transmission line parameters selected by the user via the parameter selection interface when determining the user has finished the selection. Determining a efficiency of a selected power supply of the power supply parameters according to the relationship table, and calculating a sum efficiency according to the obtained power supply parameters and the transmission line parameters and the efficiency of the selected power supply. And calculating a total efficiency of the power supply system according to each sum efficiency when determining that all of the power supplies of the power supply system have been selected.

A sensor information acquisition section acquires angular velocity information (GX, GY, GZ) around three axes acquired by three angular velocity sensors, and acceleration information (AX, AY, AZ) in three axial directions acquired by three acceleration sensors. A posture information calculation section calculates a posture angle and position coordinates in a virtual three-dimensional space based on the angular velocity information (GX, GY, GZ) and the acceleration information (AX, AY, AZ). The posture information calculation section calculates a fixed coordinate system velocity vector based on an inertial coordinate system acceleration vector (A) obtained from the acceleration information (AX, AY, AZ), and calculates position coordinates in a virtual three-dimensional space corresponding to the fixed coordinate system velocity vector.

Described herein is a system and method for detecting underutilized capacity within a storage system environment. The technique comprises collecting performance data of various storage objects within a storage system environment for various performance measures at designated time intervals. The collected performance data may be formatted and stored to a database. One or more parameters may be received specifying at least one performance measure, at least one threshold value, and/or at least one time period. The performance data for target storage objects may be analyzed according to the received parameters to determine any underutilized storage objects. A report may be generated according to the parameters listing the storage objects and address locations of any underutilized storage objects. The report may comprise various information corresponding to the underutilized storage object, such as the business units, tiers, data centers, and levels of service they are associated with.

An asset health monitoring system (AHMS) can assign a confidence indicator to some or all the services of a computing service provider. In response to drops in the confidence indicators, the AHMS can automatically initiate testing of services and/or computing assets associated with the services in order to raise confidence that a particular service and its computing assets will perform correctly. Further, the AHMS can automatically initiate remediation procedures for the particular service and/or specific computing assets that fail the confidence testing. By automatically triggering testing and/or remediation procedures, the AHMS can increase reliability of the computing service provider by preemptively identifying problems.

A calibration system may be provided for calibrating displays in electronic devices during manufacturing. The calibration system may include calibration computing equipment and a test chamber having a light sensor. The calibration computing equipment may be configured to operate the light sensor and the display to gather display performance data. The calibration computing equipment may extract display performance statistics from the display performance data and adaptively select and perform display calibration sequences using the display performance statistics. The calibration computing equipment may be configured to determine whether or not to perform display calibration and whether or not to gather additional display performance data based on display performance statistics extracted during a preceding display calibration sequence. The calibration computing equipment may be configured to iteratively and adaptively perform display calibration sequences until a display is successfully calibrated.

Provided is a pressure-sensitive adhesive for polarizing plates which can adhere a polarizing plate on a liquid crystal cell with good adhesion durability and has the characteristic that a liquid crystal display device obtained therefrom is less liable to cause light leakage even under the environment of high temperature and high humidity and which makes it possible remove the polarizing plate. The pressure-sensitive adhesive for polarizing plates is prepared by irradiating a pressure-sensitive adhesive material comprising (A) an acrylic base polymer having a weight average molecular weight of 1,000,000 or more comprising a monomer having a hydroxyl group in a monomer composition ratio of 10 mass % or less, (B) an acrylic base polymer having a weight average molecular weight of 1,000,000 or more comprising a monomer having a carboxyl group in a monomer composition ratio of 10 mass % or less and (C) an active energy beam-curable compound with an active energy beam, wherein a mass ratio of the component (A) to the component (B) is 100:1 to 100:50, and a storage elastic modulus (G') at 23° C. is 0.3 MPa or more.

The present invention relates to a polymerization-curable composition for the preparation of biodegradable, biocompatible, cross-linked polymers on the basis of polyvinyl alcohol comprising: 5 to 100% by weight of (a) vinyl ester monomer(s) of one of the general formulas (I) to (III): wherein X is oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, or phosphorus; n is 1 to 1000, at least 20% of the n being ≧2; the R1 are selected from hydrogen; straight, branched or cyclic, saturated or unsaturated, n-valent hydrocarbon groups having 1 to 30 carbon atoms, which optionally have heteroatoms and are optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from —OH, —COON, —CN, —CHO, and ═O, and n-valent radicals of biodegradable, biocompatible oligomers and polymers; m is an integer from 1 to 5; the R2 are selected from hydrogen, —OH, ═O, and the options listed for R1; and the R3 are selected from hydrogen, —OH, and the options listed for R1; 0 to 50% by weight of ethylenically unsaturated co-monomers; 0 to 10% by weight of (a) polymerization initiator(s); and 0 to 95% by weight of solvent(s).

Methods are disclosed for synthesizing nanocomposite materials including ferromagnetic nanoparticles with polymer shells formed by controlled surface polymerization. The polymer shells prevent the nanoparticles from forming agglomerates and preserve the size dispersion of the nanoparticles. The nanocomposite particles can be further networked in suitable polymer hosts to tune mechanical, optical, and thermal properties of the final composite polymer system. An exemplary method includes forming a polymer shell on a nanoparticle surface by adding molecules of at least one monomer and optionally of at least one tethering agent to the nanoparticles, and then exposing to electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength selected to induce bonding between the nanoparticle and the molecules, to form a polymer shell bonded to the particle and optionally to a polymer host matrix. The nanocomposite materials can be used in various magneto-optic applications.

A procedure for improved temperature control in controlled radical polymerization processes is disclosed. The procedure is directed at controlling the concentration of the persistent radical in ATRP and NMP polymerizations procedures and the concentration of radicals in a RAFT polymerization process by feeding a reducing agent or radical precursor continuously or intermittently to the reaction medium through one of more ports.

An encapsulant composition is provided, including at least one resin monomer, a filler and a photoinitiator, wherein the at least one resin monomer is selected from the group consisting of acrylic resin monomer, epoxy resin monomer, silicone resin monomer and compositions thereof, and the filler is of about 0.1˜15 weight % of the encapsulant composition. A method for forming encapsulant materials is also provided.

The present invention provides an acrylic resin composition containing a polycrystal of colloidal particles of silicon oxide in an acrylic resin that is formed by curing an acrylic monomer liquid at room temperature and/or an acrylic oligomer liquid at room temperature, wherein a mean distance between the colloidal particles in the polycrystal is 140 to 330 nm. The size of the single crystal that constitutes the polycrystal can be controlled by adjusting the content of silicon oxide and/or the additive amount of impurities. An architectural material, a fashion accessory, and an optical material are provided that are formed by using the acrylic resin composition.

A separator includes a centrifugal drum having a vertical axis of rotation and a feed line for material to be centrifuged. A drive spindle for the centrifugal drum is rotatably mounted on a housing via a bearing, the housing being supported elastically on a machine frame. A drive device includes a motor housing and an electric motor having a stator and an armature which is aligned with the drive spindle. The drive device and the motor housing move with the drive spindle as co-vibrating units during an operation of the separator. The drive device is connected to the machine frame below the bearing at a lower axial end of the bearing via one or more joint elements.

The invention relates to a cartridge (1) for accommodating blood bags (35), which is provided for the separation of blood components for the application in a centrifuge. The cartridge (1) has a partition wall (3) which separates a blood bag section (5) positioned radially inside from a product section (7) positioned radially outside, and a cover (9) disposed in a mounting position above the blood bag section (5). The cover (9) is connected to the partition wall (3) pivotally in a first point (11) and detachably in a second point (13), so that the blood bag section (5) is freely accessible by means of laterally pivoting the cover (9) out of the way. The cartridge is applicable in the rotor of a centrifuge.

Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for separating metallic CNT and semiconducting CNT, comprising treating with a physical separation means of centrifugation, freezing-thawing-squeezing, diffusion, permeation or the like using a gel containing CNT as a dispersed and isolated state (CNT-containing gel), to thereby make semiconducting CNT exist in gel and make metallic CNT exist in solution.

A system for purifying non-potable water to make said water potable includes an intake pump for bringing the non-potable water into the system. At least one centrifugal separator separates the non-potable water into suspended solids, saline water and oil. At least one ozone contact chamber injects ozone into a water stream being injected into at least one of the at least one of the centrifugal separators. A series of progressive filtration components are used for progressively filtering the saline water from the at least one centrifugal separator. The salinization filters then desalinate the progressively filtered saline water.

A gripper unit for handling a vessel for receiving biological material is proposed, inter alia. The vessel has a lid which can assume an open position and a closed position. The gripper unit comprises a gripper for gripping and releasing the vessel, and a lid holder, for holding a lid in a defined position in relation to the vessel. The defined position is an open position of the lid.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus to identify at least one component from a plurality of components in a fluid mixture, the apparatus including a first input channel into which a first flow containing a plurality of components is introduced; a plurality of buffer input channels, into which additional flows of buffer solution are introduced, disposed on either side of the first input channel; wherein the first flow and the additional flows have a flow direction along a length of the apparatus; a detector apparatus which detects and identifies selected components of the plurality of components; a laser which emits a laser beam which damages or kills selected components of the plurality of components; and at least one channel disposed at the another end of the apparatus which is adapted to receive the first flow and the additional flows after operation of the laser on the selected components.

A lipoaspirate collection device to aid in the collection and processing of human tissue and fluid obtained during liposuction for use in point-of-care cell therapy. The collection device includes a collection body and a collection cap. The collection cap may have a fluid port, a lipoaspirate port, a vacuum port, and a relief valve. Within the central cavity of the collection device, a cone shaped may be positioned such that the apex of the cone is positioned underneath the lipoaspirate inlet through which the lipoaspirate fluid and tissue are introduced.

The invention refers to a centrifuge for separating whole blood into its blood components and a method for extracting a highly enriched thrombocyte concentrate out of whole blood. For this purpose, the centrifuge comprises a closed loop and/or open-loop control unit as well as a drive unit coupled to the closed loop and/or open-loop control unit, a rotor (12) having at least two container receptacles (14a, 14b; 16a, 16) for removably holding containers (18, 20, 22, 24) being in fluid communication with each other, at least one sensor arranged between the container receptacles (14a, 14b; 16a, 16b) and coupled with the closed loop and/or open-loop control unit for detecting a separation layer. Herein, a motor/gear unit (30a, 30b, 32a, 32b) coupled to the closed loop and/or open-loop control unit is associated with each of the container receptacles (14a, 14b; 16a, 16b). Each of the motor/gear units is in operational contact through means (34) with each of the containers (18, 20, 22, 24) supported in the respective container receptacle (14a, 14b; 16a, 16b) such that a transfer and back-transfer of blood components between the containers (18, 20, 22, 24) is initiated.

The invention is a decanter centrifuge for separating a first substance and a second substance with different densities, comprising a bowl rotating in use around a horizontal axis of rotation in a direction of rotation, said axis of rotation extending in a longitudinal direction of said bowl, a radial direction extending perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, a base plate provided at one longitudinal end of said bowl, said base plate having an internal side and an external side, an outlet opening provided in said base plate for discharge of one of said substances. A slide valve body is adapted for covering an adjustable part of the outlet opening to delimit an effective area of the outlet opening.

A cartridge (1) for accommodating blood bags (35) to be inserted into a centrifuge is used for the separation of blood components. Said cartridge (1) is provided with a partition wall (3) which separates a blood bag section (5) positioned radially inside from a product section (7) positioned radially outside, wherein a fixture (29) for a filter (31) is provided in the product section (7), a product transport path (36) which leads from the blood bag section (5) via the fixture (29) for the filter (31) to the product section (7). The product transport path (36) coming from the blood bag section (5) leads into the fixture (29) for the filter (31) radially from the outside and from below.

An apparatus and method to identify at least one component from a plurality of components in a fluid mixture, includes a first input channel containing the fluid mixture of components; at least one buffer input channel, into which at least one additional flow of buffer solution is introduced; a plurality of regions disposed at the other end of the apparatus, which are adapted to receive outputs of at least one selected component of the plurality of components, the selected component which is selectively removed from the first flow to one of the regions; a waste channel through which unselected components are removed from the first flow; a plurality of pumps connected to at least one reservoir, to control flow rates of the first flow and the additional flow(s); and a computer which controls a selection of one of the plurality of components from the fluid mixture.

A vertical centrifugal separator includes a casing, a bowl that is rotatably housed in the casing and provided to separate a solution to be processed which is supplied to an interior of the bowl into a liquid and a solid by an action of centrifugal force and discharge the liquid and the solid, and a discharge assembly that is rotatably housed in the bowl and provided to discharge the solid in the bowl. The bowl and the discharge assembly each have an engagement portion that is engaged or disengaged when the bowl and the discharge assembly are moved relative to each other in an axial direction and a position adjustment mechanism for adjusting a phase between the discharge assembly and the bowl relative to a rotation axis, for example, at a single relative position.

In a decanter centrifuge a bowl is provided and rotates in use around a horizontal axis of rotation, a base plate provided at one longitudinal end of said bowl, the base plate having an internal side and an external side, an outlet opening provided in said base plate, the outlet opening extending through a first angular interval relative to the axis of rotation, and a wall projecting from the external side of said base plate, wherein the wall extends from the vicinity of the outlet opening towards a rim of the base plate, the wall extending through a second angular interval, the second angular interval being at least 30°, and the wall having in a radial plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation an inclination relative to the radial direction of at least 60°.

The invention describes a color-developing composition that contains at least three major components: (1) a leuco dye or a combination of leuco dyes, (2) an color-developer or a combination of color-developers that can form colored complexes with the leuco dyes, and (3) a desensitizer to temporarily remove the effect of the developer so the leuco dye appears in its colorless form. An optional binder may be included so that the composition may be applied to a substrate as an ink. The ink composition may be applied to synthetic polymeric substrates and other substrates that are incorporated into absorbent articles or personal care products.

There is disclosed an indicator composition, the application thereof to substrates, and related products. The indicator composition comprises an organic solvent soluble polymer and a redox sensitive material which displays different visible properties in the oxidized and reduced forms. The organic solvent soluble polymer can be at least partially sulfonated polystyrene. The indicator composition can be dissolved in organic solvents such as acetone, ethanol and ethyl acetate to form inks which can be used in a variety of printing processes. The indicator composition can be used to detect oxidizing agents, oxygen, water, reducing agents, UV light, temperature and the passage of time.

This invention is related to a pharmaceutical combination that contains a Casein kinase 2 (CK2) peptide inhibitor (termed P15) along with the standard chemotherapeutic drugs used in cancer treatment and which are administered together, separated or sequentially. The chemotherapeutic drugs include cisplatin, taxol, alkaloids from Vinca, 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, mitomicin C, imatinib, iressa and velcade (vortezomib). The synergism between the P15 peptide and the anticancer drugs achieves an efficient concentration of each cytostatic drug in the combination which is from 10- to 100-fold lower than that for each cytostatic drug alone. The pharmaceutical combination described in this invention exhibits lower toxicity compared to that reported by the anticancer therapeutics and therefore, it represents a crucial advantage for its use in cancer therapy. Furthermore, the sequential administration of this pharmaceutical combination through the pretreatment with the P15 peptide leads to the chemo sensibilization of refractory tumors to the anticancer therapeutics.

Disclosed is a humidity indicator which contains no heavy metal and has good visibility of a color change that occurs when the humidity is increased. The humidity indicator can be produced by applying an aqueous coating comprising a leuco dye, an acidic compound which is in a solid state at ambient temperature, a deliquescent substance and an aqueous resin emulsion onto a substrate such as a resin film, a nonwoven fabric or a paper, and heating and drying the resulting product.

The present invention relates to a thermochromic color-memory composition containing: (I) an electron donating coloring organic compound, (II) an electron accepting compound, and (III) an ester compound represented by the following formula (1) as a reaction medium which controls color reaction of the components (I) and (II): (in the formula, X represents any of a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and a halogen atom, m represents an integer of from 1 to 3, and n represents an integer of from 1 to 20).

A method is described for optimizing the operation of a reaction section for the synthesis of hydrocarbons from a feed comprising synthesis gas, operated in the presence of a catalyst comprising cobalt, said method comprising the following steps: a) determining the theoretical partial pressure of CO in the reaction section;b) optionally, adjusting the partial pressure of CO determined in step a) to a value of 4 bar or higher;c) determining a new value for the theoretical partial pressure of CO in the reaction section.

A biomass gasification gas purification system includes a dust collector for removing dust in biomass gasification gas (containing tar components) acquired by gasifying biomass by a biomass gasification furnace, a desulfurizer for removing sulfur oxide components in the dust-removed biomass gasification gas, a pre-reforming reactor for reforming tar components in the desulfurized biomass gasification gas, a steam feed unit for feeding steam to an upstream side of the pre-reforming reactor, and a natural-gas feed unit for feeding natural gas on an upstream side of the desulfurizer.

The invention relates to a process for increasing the carbon monoxide content of a feed gas mixture comprising carbon dioxide, hydrogen and carbon monoxide via a catalytic reversed water gas shift reaction, comprising the steps of (1) heating the feed gas mixture having an initial feed temperature of at most 350° C. in a first zone to a temperature within a reaction temperature range in the presence of a first catalyst; and (2) contacting the heated feed gas in a second zone within the reaction temperature range with a second catalyst. This process shows relatively high conversion of carbon dioxide, and virtually no methane or coke is being formed, allowing stable operation.

A method of producing an alumina-supported catalyst for use in a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction, which comprises: calcining an initial γ-alumina support material at a temperature of at least 550° C. to produce a modified alumina support material; impregnating the modified alumina support material with a source cobalt; calcining the impregnated support material at a temperature of 700° C. to 1200° C., and activating the catalyst.

The invention relates to a catalyst and process for making syngas mixtures including hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The process comprises contacting a gaseous feed mixture containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen with the catalyst, where the catalyst comprises Mn oxide and an auxiliary metal oxide selected from the group consisting of La, Ca, K, W, Cu, Al and mixtures or combinations thereof. The process enables hydrogenation of carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide with high selectivity, and good catalyst stability over time and under variations in processing conditions. The process can be applied separately, but can also be integrated with other processes, both up-stream and/or down-stream including methane reforming or other synthesis processes for making products like alkanes, aldehydes, or alcohols.

Iron/carbon (Fe/C) nanocomposite catalysts are prepared for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction. A preparation method includes steps of mixing iron hydrate salts and a mesoporous carbon support to form a mixture, infiltrating the iron hydrate salts into the carbon support through melt infiltration of the mixture near a melting point of the iron hydrate salts, forming iron-carbide particles infiltrated into the carbon support through calcination of the iron hydrate salts infiltrated into the carbon support under a first atmosphere, and vacuum-drying the iron-carbide particles after passivation using ethanol. Using such catalysts, liquid hydrocarbons are produced.

A gasification-liquefaction disposal method, system and equipment for MSW are disclosed. The method involves the MSW pretreatment of dehydrating and separating, thus reducing water and inorganic substance content of the waste. Then, the MSW is introduced into a plasma gasifier (23) by a carbon dioxide air-sealed feeding device (13) and gasified therein to obtain hydrogen-rich syngas. The hydrogen-rich syngas is then cooled, deacidified, dedusted and separated to obtain carbon dioxide. Then, the hydrogen-rich syngas is catalyzed to produce methanol product in a methanol synthesis reactor (52). The separated carbon dioxide is sent back to a carbonation reaction chamber (2007) of a gasification system to perform carbonation reaction with calcium oxide, thereby releasing heat to provide assistant heat energy for gasification and avoiding greenhouse gas from being discharged into environment. Exhaust gas is returned to the plasma gasifier (23) for remelting treatment, thus forming a closed-loop circulation production system and realizing the disposal of the MSW with zero discharge and no pollution, thereby avoiding dioxin pollution and converting the MSW to chemical raw materials and fuel needed by mankind. The method, system and equipment are suitable for harmless and recycling disposal of MSW, industrial high polymer waste, composting waste and waste in waste sorting sites.

There is provided a method for upgrading hydrocarbon compounds, in which hydrocarbon compounds synthesized in a Fisher-Tropsch synthesis reaction are fractionally distillated, and the fractionally distillated hydrocarbon compounds are hydrotreated to produce liquid fuel products. The method includes fractionally distilling heavy hydrocarbon compounds synthesized in the Fisher-Tropsch synthesis reaction as a liquid into a first middle distillate and a wax fraction, and fractionally distilling light hydrocarbon compounds synthesized in the Fisher-Tropsch synthesis reaction as a gas into a second middle distillate and a light gas fraction.

A process for producing hydrocarbons and, optionally, oxygenates of hydrocarbons is provided. A synthesis gas comprises hydrogen, carbon monoxide and N-containing contaminants selected from the group consisting of HCN, NH3, NO, RXNH3-X, R1—CN and heterocyclic compounds containing at least one nitrogen atom as a ring member of a heterocyclic ring of the heterocyclic compound. The N-containing contaminants constitute, in total, at least 100 vppb but less than 1 000 000 vppb of the synthesis gas. The synthesis gas is contacted at an elevated temperature and an elevated pressure, with a particulate supported Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalyst. The catalyst comprises a catalyst support, Co in catalytically active form supported on the catalyst support, and a dopant selected from the group consisting of platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), ruthenium (Ru) and/or rhenium (Re). The dopant level is expressed by a formula. Hydrocarbons and, optionally, oxygenates of hydrocarbons are obtained.

The present invention pertains to a reactor tube comprising a fixed bed of Fischer-Tropsch catalyst particles, wherein the catalyst particles in 5% to 40% of the fixed bed volume at the upstream end have an average outer surface to volume ratio (S/V) in the range of between 3.0 to 4.5 mm−1, and the catalyst particles in the remaining fixed bed volume have an average outer surface to volume ratio (S/V) in the range of between 4.5 to 8.0 mm−1, and wherein the difference between the average S/V of the particles at the upstream end and the average S/V of the particles in the remaining fixed bed volume is at least 0.5 mm−1.

A process for sulfiding a cobalt-molybdenum bulk catalyst precursor to form a bulk sulfided alcohol synthesis catalyst. The process steps include contacting an oxidic bulk cobalt-molybdenum catalyst precursor with an amount of a sulfur-containing compound which is in the range of about 1 to about 10 moles of sulfur per mole of metals, at one or more temperatures at or in excess of about 300° C. in a medium which is substantially devoid of added hydrogen, so as to form a sulfided bulk cobalt-molybdenum catalyst product. Also described are processes for forming the catalyst precursor, processes for producing an alcohol using the catalyst product and the catalyst product itself.

The invention provides for a method of forming methanol by combining a mixture of methane, water and carbon dioxide under reaction conditions sufficient to form a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Hydrogen and carbon monoxide are reacted under conditions sufficient to form methanol. The molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide is at least two moles of hydrogen to one mole of carbon monoxide and the overall molar ratio between methane, water and carbon dioxide is about 3:2:1. Methane, carbon dioxide and water are bi-reformed over a catalyst. The catalyst includes a single metal, a metal oxide, a mixed catalyst of a metal and a metal oxide or a mixed catalyst of at least two metal oxides.