Lipase-catalyzed synthesis of biodiesel from acid oil in fixed bed reactor

Acid oil, which is a by-product in vegetable oil refining, mainly contains free fatty acids (FFAs) and acylglycerols and is a feedstock for production of biodiesel fuel now. The transesterification of acid oil and methanol to biodiesel was catalyzed by immobilized Candida lipase in fixed bed reactors. The reactant solution was a mixture of acid oil, water, methanol and solvent (hexane) and the main product was biodiesel composed of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) of which the main component was methyl oleate. The effects of lipase content, solvent content, water content temperature and flow velocity of the reactant on the reaction were analyzed. The experimental results indicate that a maximum FAME content of 90.18% can be obtained in the end product under optimum conditions. Most of the chemical and physical properties of the biodiesel were superior to the standards for 0(#) diesel (GB/T 19147) and biodiesel (DIN V51606 and ASTM D6751).

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.

A three-dimensional analytical solution of the microheater temperature before bubble nucleation

A three-dimensional analytical solution of the microheater temperature based on heat diffusion equation is developed and compared with experimental results. Dimensionless parameters are introduced to analyze the temperature rise time and the distribution under steady state. To study the microheater temperatures before bubble nucleation, a set of working fluids and microheaters are considered. It is shown that the dimensionless time xi(-)(0) required for the temperature rise from room to 95% of the steady state temperature is about 75, not dependent on working fluids and microheaters. Heat transfer to the surrounding liquid is mainly caused by conduction, not by convection and radiation mechanisms. The microheater length affects the surface temperature uniformity, while its width influences the steady temperatures significantly, yielding the transition from heterogeneous to homogeneous nucleation mechanism from square microheaters to narrow line microheaters. 

Light alkenes preparation by the gas phase oxidative cracking or catalytic oxidative cracking of high hydrocarbons

The preparation of light alkenes by the gas phase oxidative cracking (GOC) or catalytic oxidative cracking (COC) of model high hydrocarbons ( hexane, cyclohexane, isooctane and decane in the GOC process and hexane in the COC process) was investigated in this paper. The selection for the feed in the GOC process was flexible. Excellent conversion of hydrocarbons ( over 85%) and high yield of light alkenes ( about 50%) were obtained in the GOC of various hydrocarbons including cyclohexane at 750 degreesC. In the GOC process, the utilization ratio of the carbon resources was high; CO dominated the produced COX (the selectivity to CO2 was always below 1%); and the total selectivity to light alkenes and CO was near or over 70%. In the COC of hexane over three typical catalysts (HZSM-5, 10% La2O3/HZSM-5 and 0.25% Li/MgO), the selectivity to COX was hard to decrease and the conversion of hexane and yield of light alkenes could not compete with those in the GOC process. With the addition of H-2 in the feed, the selectivity to COX was reduced below 5% over 0.1% Pt/HZSM-5 or 0.1% Pt/MgAl2O4 catalyst. The latter catalyst was superior to the former catalyst due to its perfect performance at high temperature, and with the latter, excellent selectivity to light alkenes ( 70%) and the conversion of hexane (92%) were achieved at 850 degreesC ( a yield of light alkenes of 64%, correspondingly).

Synthesis and characterization of carbon black supported Pt-Ru alloy as a model catalyst for fuel cells

A set of bimetallic Pt-Ru catalysts prepared by co-impregnation of carbon black with ruthenium(III) chloride hydrate and hydrogen hexachloroplatinate(IV) hydrate were investigated by temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), chemisorption of hydrogen, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), microcalorimetry of adsorbed CO and a structure-sensitive reaction (n-hexane conversion). The results showed that the volumetric capacities for CO and H-2 adsorption is influenced in the bimetallic Pt-Ru catalysts by the formation of a Pt-Ru alloy. The n-hexane reaction revealed that the reaction mechanism for the pure Pt catalyst mainly occurs via cyclic isomerization and aromatization due to the presence of bigger Pt surface ensembles, whereas the Pt-Ru catalysts exhibited predominantly bond-shift isomerization by the diluting effect of Ru metal addition. The differential heats of CO chemisorption on Pt-Ru catalysts fell between the two monometallic Pt and Ru catalysts extremes. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of drying method on morphology and properties of asymmetric cellulose hollow fiber membrane

Using a dry/wet spinning process, asymmetric cellulose hollow fiber membranes (CHFM) were prepared from a dope composed of cellulose/N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide/water. The formation mechanism for the finger-like macrovoids at the inner portion of as-spun fibers was explained. Naturally drying and three solvent exchange drying methods were tried to investigate their influence on morphology and properties of CHFM. It was found that the ethanol-hexane exchange drying was an appropriate method to minimize morphology change of the as-spun CHFM, whereas the naturally drying caused the greatest shrinkage of the fibers that made the porous membrane become dense. The result, CHFM from ethanol-hexane exchange drying performed the highest gas permeation rate but gas permeation of the naturally dried membrane could not be detectable. The resultant CHFM from the ethanol-hexane exchange drying also showed acceptable, mechanical properties, thus it was proposed to be an appropriate method for gas separation purpose. The experimental results supported the proposed drying mechanism of CHFM. The free water would evaporate or be replaced by a solvent that subsequently would evaporate but the bonded water would remain in the membrane. What dominated the changes of membrane morphology during drying should be. the molecular affinities of cellulose-water, water-solvent and solvent-solvent. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Difference of ZSM-5 zeolites synthesized with various templates

ZSM-5 zeolites with similar SUM ratio were synthesized successfully using various templates (n-butylamine (BTA), ethylamine (ETA), isopropylamine (IPA), ethylenediamine (EDA), ethanol (ETL), ethanol-ammonium (ETL-AM) and no template (NT)) under hydrothermal conditions. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, XRF, NH3-TPD and BET surface area measurements in order to understand the template effects and the differences of the ZSM-5 samples. The synthesis of ZSM-5 with organic templates was relatively easier than those with inorganic templates and without template. SEM results revealed that ZSM-5 synthesized with different templates had different morphology and particle size. The Si/Al ratio and BET specific surface area of the sample with ethanol as template was the lowest. NH3-TPD results showed that the sample synthesized without template had fewer strong acid sites than others. n-Hexane cracking reaction was carried out over the samples to evaluate the catalytic properties. All ZSM-5 zeolites were effective in n-hexane cracking reaction, especially for the sample synthesized without template. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microencapsulation of n-hexadecane as a phase change material in polyurea

For thermal energy storage application, polyurea microcapsules about 2.5 mum in diameter containing phase change material were prepared using interfacial polycondensation method. In the system droplets in microns are first formed by emulsifying an organic phase consisting of a core material ( n-hexadecane) and an oil-soluble reactive monomer, toluene-2, 4-diisocyanate (TDI), in an aqueous phase. By adding water-soluble reactive monomer, diamine, monomers TDI and diamine react with each other at the interface of micelles to become a shell. Ethylenediamine (EDA), 1, 6-hexane diamine (HDA) and their mixture were employed as water-soluble reactive monomers. The effects of diamine type on chemical structure and thermal properties of the microcapsules were investigated by FT-IR and thermal analysis respectively. The infrared spectra indicate that polyurea microcapsules have been successfully synthesized; all the TG thermographs show microcapsules containing n-hexadecane can sustain high temperature about 300 degreesC without broken and the DSC measurements display that all samples possess a moderate heat of phase transition; thermal cyclic tests show that the encapsulated paraffin kept its energy storage capacity even after 50 cycles of operation. The results obtained from experiments show that the encapsulated n-hexadecane possesses a good potential as a thermal energy storage material.

Separation of enantiomers by nanoliquid chromatography and capillary electrochromatography using a bonded cellulose trisphenylcarbamate stationary phase

A cellulose trisphenylcarbamate-bonded chiral stationary phase was applied to nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) with nonaqueous and aqueous solutions as the mobile phases. Several chiral compounds were successfully resolved on the prepared phase by nano-LC. The applicability of nonaqueous CEC on a cellulose derivative stationary phase was investigated with the organic solvents methanol, hexane, 2-propanol, and tetrahydrofuran (THF) containing acetic acid, as well as triethylamine as the mobile phases. Enantiomers of warfarin and praziquantel were baseline-resolved with plate numbers of 82 300 and 38 800 plates/m, respectively, for the first eluting enantiomer. The influence of applied voltage, concentration of nonpolar solvent, apparent pH, and buffer concentration in the mobile phase on the electroosmotic flow (EOF) and the mobility of the enantiomers was evaluated. Enantioseparations of traps-stilbene oxide and praziquantel were also achieved in aqueous CEC with plate numbers of 111 100 and 107 400 plates/m, respectively, for the first eluting enantiomer. A comparison between nonaqueous CEC and aqueous CEC based on a cellulose trisphenylcarbamate stationary phase was discussed. Pressure-assisted CEC was examined for the chiral separation of praziquantel and faster analysis with high enantioselectivity was acquired with the proper pressurization of the inlet vial.

Capillary electrochromatographic separation of enantiomers on chemically bonded type of cellulose derivative chiral stationary phases with a positively charged spacer

Positively charged chiral stationary phases (CSPs) were prepared for capillary electrochromatography (CEC) separation of enantiomers by chemically immobilizing cellulose derivatives onto diethylenetriaminopropylated silica (DEAPS) with tolylene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI) as a spacer reagent. Anodic electroosmotic mobility was observed in both nonaqueous and aqueous mobile phases due to the positively charged amines on the surface of the prepared CSPs. For comparison, the traditionally used 3-aminopropyl silica (APS) was also adopted as the base material instead of DEAPS to prepare CSP. It was observed that the EOF on the DEAPS-based CSP was 18%-60% higher than that on the APS-based CSP under nonaqueous mobile phase conditions. Separation of enantiomers in CEC was performed on the positively charged CSPs with the nonaqueous mobile phases of pure ethanol or mixture of hexane-alcohol and the aqueous phases of acetonitrile-water or 95% ethanol. Fast separation of enantiomers was achieved on the newly prepared CSPs.

Assembly of the highest connectivity Wells-Dawson polyoxometalate coordination polymer: the use of organic ligand flexibility

Through tuning the length of flexible bis(triazole) ligands and different metal ion coordination geometries, four Wells-Dawson polyoxoanion-based hybrid compounds, [Cu-6(btp)(3)(P2W18O62)] center dot 3H(2)O (1) (btp = 1,3-bis(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)propane), [Cu-6(btb)(3)((P2W18O62) center dot 2H(2)O (2), [Cu-3(btb)(6)(P2W18O62)] center dot 6H(2)O (btb = 1,4-bis(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)butane) (3), and [Cu-3(btx)(5.5)((P2W18O62) center dot 4H(2)O (btx = 1,6-bis(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)hexane) (4), were synthesized and structurally characterized. in compound 1, the metal-organic motif exhibits a ladder-like chain, which is further fused by the ennead-dentate [P2W18O62](6-) anions to construct a 3D structure. In compound 2, the metal-organic motif exhibits an interesting Cu-btb grid layer, and the ennead-dentate polyoxoanions are sandwiched by two Cu-btb layers to construct a 3D structure