Conversion of Soybean oil to Biodiesel Fuel with Immobilized Candida Lipase on Textile Cloth

The characteristic of biodiesel fuel production from transesterification of soybean oil is studied. The reactant solution is the mixture of soybean oil, methanol, and solvent. A new lipase immobilization method, textile cloth immobilization, was developed in this study. Immobilized Candida lipase sp. 99-125 was applied as the enzyme catalyst. The effect of flow rate of reaction liquid, solvents, reaction time, and water content on the biodiesel yield is investigated. Products analysis shows that the main components in biodiesel are methyl sterate, methyl hexadecanoate, methyl oleate, methyl linoleate, and methyl linolenate. The test results indicate that the maximum yield of biodiesel of 92% was obtained at the conditions of hexane being the solvent, water content being 20 wt%, and reaction time being 24 h.

Experimental Investigations on Interaction of Two Drops by Thermocapillary-Buoyancy Migration

Experiments were performed, in a terrestrial environment, to study the migration and interaction of two drops with different diameters in matrix liquid under temperature gradient field. Pure soybean oil and silicon oil were used as matrix liquid and the drop liquid, respectively. The information on the motions of two drops was recorded by CCD camera system in the experiments to analyze the trajectories and velocities of the drops. Our experiments showed that, upon two drops approaching each other, the influence of the larger drop on the motion of the smaller one became significant. Meanwhile the smaller drop had a little influence on the larger one all the time. The oscillation of migration velocities of both drops was observed as they were approaching. For a short period the smaller drop even moved backward when it became side by side with the larger one during the migration. Although our experimental results on the behavior of two drops are basically consistent with the theoretical predictions, there are also apparent differences. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Thermocapillary migration; Drop; Interaction; Oscillation 1. Introduction A bubble or drop will move when placed in another fluid with temperature gradient. This motion happens as a consequence of the variation of interfacial tension with temperature. Such a phenomenon is already known as Marangoni migration problem. With the development of microgravity science, bubble dynamics and droplet dynamics became a hot point problem of research because this investigation is very important for basic research as well as for applications in reduced gravity environment, such as space material science, chemical engineering and so on. Young et al. first investigated the thermocapillary migration of

Drop migration of middle Reynolds number in a vertical temperature gradient

The experimental investigation of the thermocapillary drop migration in a vertical temperature gradient uns performed on ground. Silicon oil and pure soybean oil were used as experimental medium in drops and as continuous phases, respectively, in the present experiment. The drop migration, under the combined effects of buoyancy: and thermocapillarity, was studied for middle Reynolds numbers in order of magnitude O(10(1)). The drop migration velocities depending on drop diameters were obtained. The present experimental results show relatively small migration velocity in comparison with the one suggested by Young et nl. for linear theory of small Reynolds number. An example of flow patterns inside the drop was observed by PIV method.

植物油脂积累机理和品质改良—利用RNAi改良大豆油脂品质—四合木茎积累三脂酰甘油特征

利用RNAi改良大豆油脂品质 大豆[Glycine max (L.) Merr.]起源于中国，栽培历史悠久，是重要的粮食作物， 同时也是植物油和蛋白的重要来源。随着经济的发展和生活水平的提高，人们不但对大豆的需求量大大增加，同时对大豆的品质也提出了更高的要求。近年来，我国大豆进口量逐年攀升，已远远超过本国生产量。国外转抗除草剂转基因大豆大面积种植大大降低了生产成本，直接影响了我国大豆生产。因此，提高产量和改良品质是当前中国大豆生产所面临的重要课题。基因工程是大豆品种改良更为有效和快速的方法，但是由于历史原因我国的大豆转基因育种与发达国家尚存在一定差距，对我国的大豆生产贡献十分有限。因此，建立高效的大豆转化体系，加强大豆基因工程研究和育种是解决大豆面临困境的关键。 本研究的目的是以我国主要栽培大豆品种（黑农、合丰和东农等）为材料，利用GUS（β-glucuronidase）报告基因和RNAi技术，建立高效的大豆基因转化体系和基因功能研究体系。为大豆产量和品质基因工程改良提供技术手段和理论基础。结果如下： 以大豆下胚轴为外植体，对分生组织产生不定芽的频率进行了研究。培养基中添加高浓度BAP（6-benzylaminopurine）可以诱导外植体分生组织增殖产生不定芽的发生率;在培养基中添加银离子可以明显地促进大豆单个外植体多芽的产生，使得诱导不定芽总数目显著增加;不同基因型大豆再生不定芽能力有着较大区别，黑农44，黑农37，合丰35，合丰39等品种再生能力强;相对于大豆子叶节等再生系统，大豆下胚轴体系具有高效高频的再生特点（总的再生频率高于80%），且重复性好，容易操作。 以大豆下胚轴为外植体，用含有GUS报告基因的根癌农杆菌对其进行遗传转化，并重点对农杆菌菌液浓度、农杆菌侵染时间、乙酰丁香酮（AS）和抗氧化剂浓度等因素对农杆菌大豆转化效率的影响进行了研究。组织化学染色结果显示GUS基因在外植体顶端表达强烈，表达位置主要位于初生芽基部周围的分生组织。 农杆菌浸染时间以 4h 为最佳，此时的GUS瞬时表达频率可达73.0%;培养基中添加浓度为200μmol/L的乙酰丁香酮，可以显著增加GUS瞬时表达频率。抗氧化剂可以显著降低共培养阶段外植体的褐化和坏死率，进而显著提高农杆菌转化效率。用根癌农杆菌转化大豆下胚轴的方法得到了表达GUS基因转基因大豆株系。 利用大豆油酸去饱和酶基因(FAD2-1;Genbank, L43920)在第315-852碱基之间的基因片断构建了反向重复的RNAi表达载体，以农杆菌介导大豆下胚轴转化方法进行转化，并且获得转基因植株。经过PCR，Southern杂交和转基因后代的脂肪酸分析，表明沉默结构已经成功整合到大豆基因组中，并成功抑制了内源基因的表达。与栽培大豆品种相比较，转基因大豆种子的脂肪酸组成发生显著变化，油酸含量由栽培大豆的18.1％增加到71.5％¬-81.9％;亚油酸含量从栽培大豆的46.4％降到了约3.4％。 栽培大豆种子中油酸去饱和比率（ODP, oleic desaturation proportion）为0.76 到 0.84，转基因大豆种子的油酸去饱和比率降为0.06-0.26，表明Δ12-去饱和酶活性降低了74%-94%。上述结果表明，我们构建的RNAi反向重复序列沉默结构高效地抑制了大豆种子FAD2-1基因。 在本研究中，我们通过外源GUS基因的表达和内源FAD2基因的抑制，成功地建立了以大豆下胚轴为外植体的高效农杆菌介导大豆转化体系，并获得了相应的转基因株系。本研究对我国大豆品种基因工程改良以及进一步大豆功能基因组研究有重要参考价值。 四合木茎积累三脂酰甘油特征 四合木(Tetraena mongotica Maxim)是蒺藜科(Zygophyllaceac)四合木属唯一的种，是地球上最具代表性的古老残遗濒危珍稀植物。由于四合木极易燃烧，当地居民称其为“油柴”。 通过对四合木内可能存在的“油”成分进行了分析，我们发现其茎组织含有大量的三脂酰甘油（Triacylglycerols），含量达到46 mg/g DM。在韧皮部中更高，达到90 mg/g DM。我们通过半薄切片对四合木中三脂酰甘油在不同组织的分布和存在形式进行了研究，发现三脂酰甘油主要以油体形式存在于木质部和韧皮部的薄壁组织中。在韧皮部中，几乎所有的薄壁细胞都含有大量的油体。 三脂酰甘油在植物的生长发育中起着非常重要的作用。作为植物生长发育所需的碳源和能量，三脂酰甘油一般储存在植物的种子和果实中。虽然也有关于其在茎和叶中发现的报道，但是含量很少。四合木茎组织含有大量的三脂酰甘油，这种现象可能与四合木茎中存在茎特异油脂合成酶系统有关。因此，克隆相关基因并在作物中表达，将对能源植物的开发具有重要意义。

Heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production

The production of biodiesel is greatly increasing due to its enviromental benefits. However, production costs are still rather high, compared to petroleum-based diesel fuel. The introduction of a solid heterogeneous catalyst in biodiesel production could reduce its price, becoming competitive with diesel also from a financial point of view. Therefore, great research efforts have been underway recently to find the right catalysts. This paper will be concerned with reviewing acid and basic heterogeneous catalyst performances for biodiesel production, examining both scientific and patent literature.