Biodiesel can be prepared from various types of vegetable oils or animal fats with the aid of a catalyst.
Calcium oxide (CaO) is one of the prospective heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel synthesis. Modification
of CaO by impregnation on silica (SiO2) can improve the performance of CaO as catalyst. Egg shells and rice
husks as biomass waste can be used as raw materials for the preparation of the silica modified CaO catalyst.
The present study was directed to synthesize and characterize CaO impregnated SiO2 catalyst from biomass
waste and apply it as catalyst in biodiesel synthesis. The catalyst was synthesized by wet impregnation
method and characterized by x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence, nitr

An innovative two-step noncatalytic esterifcation technique was proposed to synthesize alkyl esters from free fatty acids simulated in waste cooking oil, as a pretreatment process for biodiesel production, without adding any catalyst under normal conditions of pressure and temperature. The efect of methanol:oil molar ratio, reaction time, mixing rate, and reaction temperature were investigated. The results confrmed that the conversion of the reaction was increased when increasing the methanol molar ratio and decreased in prolonged reaction temperature. High conversion (94.545%) was successfully achieved at optimized conditions of 115:1, 65:1 methanol:oil molar ratio in the frst step and second step, respectively, other conditions i

The influence of an aortic aneurysm on blood flow waveforms is well established, but how to exploit this link for diagnostic purposes still remains challenging. This work uses a combination of experimental and computational modelling to study how aneurysms of various size affect the waveforms. Experimental studies are carried out on fusiform-type aneurysm models, and a comparison of results with those from a one-dimensional fluid–structure interaction model shows close agreement. Further mathematical analysis of these results allows the definition of several indicators that characterize the impact of an aneurysm on waveforms. These indicators are then further studied in a computational model of a systemic blood flow network. This demonstr

Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly fuel and a good substitution for the fossil fuel. However, the purity of this fuel is a major concern that challenges researchers. In this study, a calcium oxide based catalyst has been prepared from local waste eggshells by the calcination method and tested in production biodiesel. The eggshells were powdered and calcined at different temperatures (700, 750, 800, 850 and 900 °C) and periods of time (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 hr.). The effect of calcination temperature and calcination time on the structure and activity of the solid catalyst were examined by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Brunaure-Emmett-Teller (BET). The optimum catalyst performance was obtained at 900 °C

An investigation was conducted for dewaxing of lubricating oil fraction by urea to reduce the pour point.In this study mixture of 45 % methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and 55 % toluene was used as a solvent. The studied variables are mixing time (10-70 min), solvent to oil volume ratio (0.5:1- 2:1), urea to wax weight ratio (2- 6) and constant mixing speed 1500 rpm. By analysis of the experimental results, the best operating conditions achieved are mixing time 40 min, solvent/oil 2:1 volume ratio, and urea/wax 4:1 weight ratio. At these conditions the pour point of the lubricating oil decreases from 24 ° C to -13 °C.

De-waxing of lubricating oil distillate (400-500 ºC) by using urea was investigated in the present study. Lubricating oil distillate produced by vacuum distillation and refined by furfural extraction was taken from Al-Daura refinery. This oil distillate has a pour point of 34 ºC. Two solvents were used to dilute the oil distillate, these are methyl isobutyl ketone and methylene chloride. The operating conditions of the urea adduct formation with n-paraffins in the presence of methyl isobutyl ketone were studied in details, these are solvent to oil volume ratio within the range of 0 to 2, mixer speed 0 to 2000 rpm, urea to wax weight ratio 0 to 6.3, time of adduction 0 to 71 min and temperature 30-70 ºC). Pour point of de-waxed oil and yi