Low grade crude palm oil (LGCPO) presents as an attractive option as feedstock for biodiesel production due to its low cost and non-competition with food resources. Typically, LGCPO contains high contents of free fatty acids (FFA), rendering it impossible in direct trans-esterification processes due to the saponification reaction. Esterification is the typical pre-treatment process to reduce the FFA content and to produce fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The pre-treatment of LGCPO using two different acid catalysts, such as titanium oxysulphate sulphuric acid complex hydrate (TiOSH) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid dihydrate (5-SOCAH) was investigated for the first time in this study. The optimum conditions for the homogenous catalyst (5-SOCAH) were determined as: 1.5 wt% of acid catalyst dosage, 60 °C reaction temperature, 8:1 methanol molar ratio at 60 min. For the heterogeneous TiOSH, higher catalyst dosages such as 7 wt% is required with a methanol loading of 10:1 (molar ratio) at 120 min to reduce the initial FFA to less than 3%. Under these optimum conditions for both types of catalysts; the FFA levels were reduced from 11.3 % to less than 3 %, individually. This study introduces for the first time two types of acidic catalysts with high catalytic activity for the esterification of FFA content in low grade oils for biodiesel production which could be used for the treatment of wide range of low quality oils.
The faujasite type Y zeolite catalyst was prepared from locally available kaolin. For prepared faujasite type NaY zeolite X-ray, FT-IR, BET pore volume and surface area, and silica/ alumina were determined. The Xray and FT-IR show the compatibility of prepared catalyst with the general structure of standard zeolite Y. BET test shows that the surface area and pore volume of prepared catalyst were 360 m2 /g and 0.39 cm3 /g respectively.
The prepared faujasite type NaY zeolite modified by exchanging sodium ion with ammonium ion using ammonium nitrate and then ammonium ion converted to hydrogen ion. The maximum sodium ion exchange with ammonium ion was 53.6%. The catalytic activity of prepared faujasite type NaY, NaNH4Y and NaHY zeolites
In this research, the effect of reinforcing epoxy resin composites with a filler derived from chopped agriculture waste from oil palm (OP). Epoxy/OP composites were formed by dispersing (1, 3, 5, and 10 wt%) OP filler using a high-speed mechanical stirrer utilizing a hand lay-up method. The effect of adding zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles, with an average size of 10-30 nm, with different wt% (1,2,3, and 5wt%) to the epoxy/oil palm composite, on the behavior of an epoxy/oil palm composite was studied with different ratios (1,2,3, and 5wt%) and an average size of 10-30 nm. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry and mechanical properties (tensile, impact, hardness, and wear rate) were used to examine the composites. The FTIR
... Show MoreAs a reservoir is depleted due to production, pore pressure decreases leading to increased effective stress which causes a reduction in permeability, porosity, and possible pore collapse or compaction. Permeability is a key factor in tight reservoir development; therefore, understanding the loss of permeability in these reservoirs due to depletion is vital for effective reservoir management. The paper presents a case history on a tight carbonate reservoir in Iraq which demonstrates the behavior of rock permeability and porosity as a function of increasing effective stress simulating a depleting mode over given production time. The experimental results show unique models for the decline of permeability and porosity as function effective str
... Show MoreThe objective of this research is to analyze the content of science textbook at the elementary level, according to the dimensions of sustainable development for the academic year (2015-2016). To achieve this goal has been to build a list with dimensions of sustainable development to be included in science textbooks in primary school, after seeing the collection of literature and research and studies, as has been reached to the list of the dimensions of the three sustainable development and social, economic and environmental in the initial image consisted of (63) the issue of sub-divided the three-dimensional, the menu and offered a group of arbitrators and specialists in curriculum and teaching methods, and thus the menu consiste
... Show MoreThe performance of a synergistic combination of electrocoagulation (EC) and electro-oxidation (EO) for oilfield wastewater treatment has been studied. The effect of operative variables such as current density, pH, and electrolyte concentration on the reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was studied and optimized based on Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The results showed that the current density had the highest impact on the COD removal with a contribution of 64.07% while pH, NaCl addition and other interactions affects account for only 34.67%. The optimized operating parameters were a current density of 26.77 mA/cm2 and a pH of 7.6 with no addition of NaCl which results in a COD removal efficiency of 93.43% and a specific energy c
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