This study focused on the development of an effective Ni-loaded catalyst using woody biomass for tar decomposition. Microwave irradiation was utilized to heat biomass for catalyst preparation. The amount of Ni adsorbed on biomass was 9.0 wt%. Thermal treatment of the nickel-loaded biomass at 600 °C resulted in a fine dispersion of nickel particles with a diameter of approximately 4.5 nm. The catalytic activity of the prepared catalyst for the decomposition of biomass tar derived from Japanese cypress was investigated in a two-stage fixedbed reactor. The nickel-loaded char showed high activity for tar decomposition at a relatively low temperature of 600 °C. The yields of H₂, CO, and total gas obtained with the nickel-loaded char were approximately 5.2, 2.8, and 3.5, respectively, times higher than those obtained without a catalyst.

Portable generators are very useful as an electricity source for survival during times of disaster in addition to their use at construction sites and for outdoor leisure. Because highly concentrated carbon monoxide is present in the exhaust of generators, generators should not be used indoors. However, when a disaster occurs, it is assumed that portable generators are used near disaster victims. Therefore, it is necessary to secure exhaust emissions to prevent secondary damage. This study considers the treatment of exhaust emissions from cartridge-gas fueled portable generators from this point of view. The following observations were made. 1) The permitted upper limit of the carbon monoxide concentration contained in the exhaust gas for a refuge tent was calculated by modeling. 2) The differences among the exhaust performances when using commercial cassette gas fuels with various compositions were not confirmed. 3) Exhaust emissions were improved by attaching the three way catalyst under an engine exhaust port and adjusting the Lambda.

The present paper provides a brief overview of the most recent techniques for microalgae lipid analysis such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The application of HPLC technique is to break down lipid into smaller fractions such as neutral lipid and polar lipid. MS technique is known as less sensitive than GC technique thus requires coupling with other techniques in order to analyze the microalgae lipid. On the other hand, NMR technique provides comprehensive information on the molecular structure of microalgae lipid but it has disadvantage as the signals may overlap in the spectrum. Notably, GC coupled with flame ionization detector (FID) is the fundamental method which is fast with high accuracy when analyzing microalgae lipid.