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 aim of the research is the detection of heavy metals using (Inductively coupled Plasma ICP) for samples in Tigris river at intakes of water treatment plants Baghdad (Sharq dejla, Al-Wathba, Al-Wahda, and Al-Dora) and samples at Tigris banks near (Al-Adhamya, Al-Shuhda bridge and al-Jadrya).
All the recorded results were fitted with Iraqi standers No. 25 in 1967 for all samples with heavy metals (arsenic Ar, Cadmium Cd, Chromium Cr, Zinc Zn, Lead Pb, Copper Cu, Nickel Ni, Manganese Mn, Ferrous Fe) where all concentration were lower than standard values except Cadmium (0.01- 0.014) in plants intakes and (0.027- 0.048) in river samples while the standard value is (0.005).
Other tests such as chemical oxygen demand and oil &
Background: With the increasing demands for adult orthodontics, a growing need arises to bond attachments to porcelain surfaces. Optimal adhesion to porcelain surface should allow orthodontic treatment without bond failure but not jeopardize porcelain integrity after debonding.The present study was carried out to compare the shear bond strength of metal bracket bonded to porcelain surface prepared by two mechanical treatments and by using different etching systems (Hydrofluoric acid 9% and acidulated phosphate fluoride 1.23%). Materials and Methods: The samples were comprised of 60 models (28mm *15mm*28mm) of metal fused to porcelain (feldspathic porcelain). They were divided as the following: group I (control): the porcelain surface left u
... Show MoreExpired drug Metoclopramide was investigated as an antibacterial corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in 0.5M H3PO4 solution using the electrochemical method at 30oC and 60oC. The results showed that this drug is an efficient inhibitor for carbon steel and the efficiency reached to 82.244 % for 175 ppm at 30oC and 76.146% for 225 ppm at 60oC. The adsorption of drug on carbon steel surface follows Langmuir adsorption isotherm with small values of adsorption-desorption constant. The polarization plots revealed that Metoclopramide acts as mixed-type inhibitor. Some parameters of inhibition process were calculated and discussed. The surface morphology of the carbon steel speci
... Show MoreThe effect of thickness variation on some physical properties of hematite α-Fe2O3 thin films was investigated. An Fe2O3 bulk in the form of pellet was prepared by cold pressing of Fe2O3 powder with subsequent sintering at 800 . Thin films with various thicknesses were obtained on glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. The films properties were characterized by XRD, and FT-IR. The deposited iron oxide thin films showed a single hematite phase with polycrystalline rhombohedral crystal structure .The thickness of films were estimated by using spectrometer to be (185-232) nm. Using Debye Scherrerś formula, the average grain size for the samples was found to be (18-32) nm. Atomic force microscopy indicated that the films had
... Show MoreMicroalgae have been increasingly used for wastewater treatment due to their capacity to assimilate nutrients. Samples of wastewater were taken from the Erbil wastewater channel near Dhahibha village in northern Iraq. The microalga Coelastrella sp. was used in three doses (0.2, 1, and 2g. l-1) in this experiment for 21 days, samples were periodically (every 3 days) analyzed for physicochemical parameters such as pH, EC, Phosphate, Nitrate, and BOD5, in addition to, Chlorophyll a concentration. Results showed that the highest dose 2g.l-1 was the most effective dose for removing nutrients, confirmed by significant differences (p≤0.05) between all doses. The highest removal percentage was
... Show MoreOsteoarthritis (OA) is recognized as a main public health difficult. It is one of the major reasons of reduced function that diminishes quality of life worldwide. Osteoarthritis is a very common disorder affecting the joint cartilage. As there is no cure for osteoarthritis, treatments currently focus on management of symptoms. Pain relief, improved joint function, and joint stability are the main goals of therapy. The muscle weakness and muscle atrophy contribute to the disease process. So, rehabilitation and physiotherapy were often prescribed with the intention to alleviate pain and increase mobility. Medical therapy provides modest benefits in pain reduction and functional improvement; however, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dru
... Show MoreConcentration of natural occurring radioactive material (NORM) in Markazia Degasing Station in North Rumaila oilfield (NDS) was measured in this study. Then, radiological assessment due to existing of NORM in different samples including soil, sludge, scale, oil, and water collected from different stages of oil and gas production NDS was done. Radioactivity concentration of Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 were measured using gamma spectrometry system based on HPGe detector with efficiency of 30%. The results show that some locations within NDS are contaminated with NORM. The activity in Bq/kg of Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 range between 15.19 in oil to 68.73 in sludge, 8.5 in oil to 23.45 in sludge and 80.23 in oil to 319.73 in saline water samples r
... Show MoreThe reaction oisolated and characterized by elemental analysis (C,H,N) , 1H-NMR, mass spectra and Fourier transform (Ft-IR). The reaction of the (L-AZD) with: [VO(II), Cr(III), Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II)], has been investigated and was isolated as tri nuclear cluster and characterized by: Ft-IR, U. v- Visible, electrical conductivity, magnetic susceptibilities at 25 Co, atomic absorption and molar ratio. Spectroscopic evidence showed that the binding of metal ions were through azide and carbonyl moieties resulting in a six- coordinating metal ions in [Cr (III), Mn (II), Co (II) and Ni (II)]. The Vo (II), Cu (II), Zn (II), Cd (II) and Hg (II) were coordinated through azide group only forming square pyramidal
... Show MoreIn this research Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique was applied to study the filtration process in water treatment. Eight models have been developed and tested using data from a pilot filtration plant, working under different process design criteria; influent turbidity, bed depth, grain size, filtration rate and running time (length of the filtration run), recording effluent turbidity and head losses. The ANN models were constructed for the prediction of different performance criteria in the filtration process: effluent turbidity, head losses and running time. The results indicate that it is quite possible to use artificial neural networks in predicting effluent turbidity, head losses and running time in the filtration process, wi
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