A novel encapsulated deep eutectic solvent (DES) was introduced for biodiesel production via a two-step process. The DES was encapsulated in medical capsules and were used to reduce the free fatty acid (FFA) content of acidic crude palm oil (ACPO) to the minimum acceptable level (< 1%). The DES was synthesized from methyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (MTPB) and p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA). The effects pertaining to different operating conditions such as capsule dosage, reaction time, molar ratio, and reaction temperature were optimized. The FFA content of ACPO was reduced from existing 9.61% to less than 1% under optimum operating conditions. This indicated that encapsulated MTPB-DES performed high catalytic activity in FFA esterificatio
... Show MoreThe production of biodiesel generates soap impurities that hinder biodiesel performance and complicate its purification. This study presents a novel approach for soap removal from biodiesel using NiO–doped ZnO nanoparticle (NP) adsorbent. The NPs are synthesized using a gliding arc discharge (GAD) method as a non-thermal plasma source (NTP). NiO doping reduced the bandgap energy by 74%, reduced the crystallite size, and increased the surface area by 78%, entailing lattice strain and structural modifications. Soap removal efficiency was 99.7% for NiO–doped ZnO within 16 min, compared with 95.5% for ZnO. Soap uptake as high as 2320 mg/g NiO–doped ZnO was reported, which could be equally fitted by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms su
... Show MoreIn the present work studies were carried out to extract a cationic dye (Methylene Blue MB) from an aqueous solution using emulsion liquid membrane process (ELM). The organic phase (membrane phase) consists of Span 80 as emulsifier, sulfuric acid solution as stripping agent and hexane as diluent.
In this study, important factors influencing the extraction of methylene blue dye were studied. These factors include H2SO4 concentration in the stripping phase, agitation speed in the dye permeation stage, Initial dye concentration and diluent type.
More than (98%) of Methylene blue dye was extracted at the following conditions: H2SO4 concentration (1.25) M, agitation
... Show MoreThe aim of present work is to study the removal of phenol present in aqueous feed solution by the emulsion liquid membrane technique using kerosene as a diluent, sodium hydroxide as a stripping agent, and sorbitan monooleate (Span 80) as a surfactant. The parameters studied were: surfactant concentration, volume ratio of membrane phase to internal phase, and stirring speed. It was found that more than 98% of phenol can be removed at the conditions were surfactant concentration 2% (v/v), volume ratio of membrane phase to internal phase 5:1 and stirring speed 400 rpm. Maximum phenol extraction efficiency at 7 minutes of process time was observed. It was found that there was a good agreement between the standard kerosene an
... Show More