Biodiesel is becoming one of the most attractive alternative biofuels for petroleum-based diesel fuels. The castor plant is one of the abundant non-edible oils found in many countries. This paper aims to study Libyan castor oil and its potential for diesel conversion. Experiments were carried out in the laboratories of the Specific Center for Training in the Oil Industries in Al-Zawiya. The oil was extracted using a Soxhlet extractor and n-hexane solvent at 60 °C. Transesterification reactions were conducted in a batch reactor (a three-neck flask was used, where the middle opening carries a reflux condensation unit) at 65 °C. The methanol-to-castor oil molar ratio was 6:1, with a catalyst concentration of 1 wt.% relative to the ca

Production of fatty acid esters (biodiesel) from oleic acid and 2-ethylhexanol using sulfated zirconia as solid catalyst for the production of biodiesel was investigated in this work.

       The parameters studied were temperature of reaction (100 to 130°C), molar ratio of alcohol to free fatty acid (1:1 to 3:1), concentration of catalyst (0.5 to 3%wt), mixing speed (500 to 900 rpm) and types of sulfated zirconia (i.e modified, commercial, prepared  catalyst according to literature and reused catalyst). The results show the best conversion to biodiesel was 97.74% at conditions of 130°C, 3:1, 2wt% and 650 rpm using modified catalyst respectively. Also, modified c

Wheat straw was modified with malonic acid in order to get low cost adsorbent have a good ability to remove copper and ferric ions from aqueous solutions, chemical modification temperature was 120°C and the time was 12 h. Parameters that affect the adsorption experiments were studied and found the optimum pH were 6 and 5 for copper and iron respectively and the time interval was 120 min and the adsorbent mass was 0.1 g. The values for adsorption isotherms parameters were determined according to Langmuir [qmax were 54.64 and 61.7 mg/g while b values were 0.234 and 0.22 mg/l] , Freundlich [Kf were 16.07 and 18.89 mg/g and n were 2.77 and 3.16], Temkin [B were 0.063 and 0.074 j/mol and At were 0.143 and 1.658 l/g] and for Dubinin-Radushkev

Development and population expansion have the lion's share of driving up the fuel cost. Biodiesel has considerable attention as a renewable, ecologically friendly and alternative fuel source. In this study, CaO nanocatalyst is produced from mango leaves as a catalysis for the transesterification of waste cooking oil (WCO) to biodiesel. The mango tree is a perennial plant, and its fruit holds significant economic worth due to its abundance of vitamins and minerals. This plant has a wide geographical range and its leaves can be utilized without any negative impact on its growth and yield. An analysis was conducted to determine the calcium content in the fallen leaves, revealing a significant quantity of calcium that holds potential fo

Animal fats are a good, promising and ethical alternative source for biodiesel production, but they need more complex treatments than vegetable oils. Iraqi butchery plants waste fats (sheep fat) which are suggested as feedstock to produce biodiesel. This type of fat contains a large quantity of free fatty acids (FFAs) (acid number 49.13 mg KOH/g of fat). The direct transesterification of such fats produce high amount of soap instead of desired biodiesel, so a pre-treatment step (to reduce FFAs) is necessary before transesterification. This step was done by esterification of the free fatty acids in the fat by adding ethanol and using 1% acid catalyst (H2SO4) for 30 minutes. The results showed that the acid number of sheep fat after pre-tr

Iraqi kaolin was used for the preparation and characterization of NaY zeolite for biodiesel production via esterification reaction. Oleic acid was used usually as a typical simulated feedstock of high acid number for the esterification reaction.

   The chemical composition for the prepared Nay zeolite is as following:  (Ca₂.6Na₁.K_0.1)(Al₆.3Si₁₇.₇)O₄₈.16H₂O, the silica to alumina ratio in the prepared catalyst was found equal to 2.6 and Na₂O content was 12.26 wt. %, with relative crystallinity equal to 147.4 % obtained by the X-ray diffraction. The surface area result shows that the prepared catalyst has 330 m²

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the most common process for dealing with primary and secondary wastewater sludge. In the present work, four pre-treatment methods (ultrasonic, chemical, thermal, and thermo-chemical) are investigated in Al-Rustumya Wastewater Treatment plant in order to find their effect on biogas production and volatile solid removal efficiency during anaerobic digestion.
Two frequencies of ultrasonic wave were used 30 KHz and 50 KHz during the pre-treatment. Sodium hydroxide was added in different amounts to give three pH values of 9, 10 and 11 in chemical pre-treating processes. The sludge was heated at 60oC and 80oC through thermal pre-treatment experiment. Also, the sludge was treated thermo-chemically at 80 oC and pH

In this study, a low-cost biosorbent, dead mushroom biomass (DMB) granules, was used for investigating the optimum conditions of Pb(II), Cu(II), and Ni(II) biosorption from aqueous solutions. Various physicochemical parameters, such as initial metal ion concentration, equilibrium time, pH value, agitation speed, particles diameter, and adsorbent dosage, were studied. Five mathematical models describing the biosorption equilibrium and isotherm constants were tested to find the maximum uptake capacities: Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, Sips, and Khan models. The best fit to the Pb(II) and Ni(II) biosorption results was obtained by Langmuir model with maximum uptake capacities of 44.67 and 29.17 mg/g for these two ions, respectively, w

Stable new derivative (L) Bis[O,O-2,3;O,O-5,6(carboxylic methyliden)]L-ascorbic acid was synthesized in good yield by the reaction of L-ascorbic acid with dichloroacetic acid with ratio (1:2) in presence of potassium hydroxide. The new (L) was characterized by 1H,13C-NMR, elemental analysis (C,H) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). The complexes of the ligand (L) with metal ion, M+2= (Cu, Co, Ni, Cd and Hg) were synthesized and characterized by FTIR, UV-Visible, Molar conductance, Atomic absorption and the Molar ratio. The analysis evidence showed the binding of the metal ions with (L) through bicarboxylato group manner resulting in six-coordinated metal ion.