Synthesis of biodiesel from waste cooking oil using immobilized lipase in fixed bed reactor

Waste cooking oil (WCO) is the residue from the kitchen, restaurants, food factories and even human and animal waste which not only harm people's health but also causes environmental pollution. The production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil to partially substitute petroleum diesel is one of the measures for solving the twin problems of environment pollution and energy shortage. In this project, synthesis of biodiesel was catalyzed by immobilized Candida lipase in a three-step fixed bed reactor. The reaction solution was a mixture of WCO, water, methanol and solvent (hexane). The main product was biodiesel consisted of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), of which methyl oleate was the main component. Effects of lipase, solvent, water, and temperature and flow of the reaction mixture on the synthesis of biodiesel were analyzed. The results indicate that a 91.08% of FAME can be achieved in the end product under optimal conditions. Most of the chemical and physical characters of the biodiesel were superior to the standards for 0(#)diesel (GB/T 19147) and biodiesel (DIN V51606 and ASTM D-6751).

PRESSURE-DEPENDENCE OF PHOTOLUMINESCENCE IN IN(X)GA(1-X)AS/AL(Y)GA(1-Y)AS STRAINED QUANTUM-WELLS WITH DIFFERENT WIDTH

A systematic investigation on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of InxGa1-xAs/AlyGa1-xAs (x = 0.15, y = 0, 0.33) strained quantum wells (SQWs) with well widths from 1.7 to 11.0 nm has been performed at 77 K under high pressure up to 40 kbar. The experimental results show that the pressure coefficients of the exciton peaks corresponding to transitions from the first conduction subband to the heavy-hole subband increase from 10.05 meV/kbar of 11.0 nm well to 10.62 meV/kbar of 1.8 nm well for In0.15Ga0.85As/GaAs SQWs. However, the corresponding pressure coefficients slightly decrease from 9.93 meV/kbar of 9.0 nm well to 9.73 meV/kbar of 1.7 nm well for In0.15Ga0.85As/Al0.33Ga0.67As SQWs. Calculations based on the Kronig-Penney model reveal that the increased or decreased barrier heights and the increased effective masses with pressure are the main reasons of the change in the pressure coefficients.

PHOTOLUMINESCENCE INVESTIGATIONS OF CD1-XMNXTE UNDER HYDROSTATIC-PRESSURE

The photoluminescence of Cd1-xMnxTe with x=0.25, 0.40, and 0.60 is investigated at 77 K and different pressures. The pressure coefficients of the photoluminescence bands Cd0.75Mn0.25Te and Cd0.6Mn0.4Te are found to be positive and the magnitudes are about 8 X 10(-3) eV/kbar, which is in good agreement with the pressure coefficients of the interband transition. The pressure coefficient of the photoluminescence bands for Cd0.4Mn0.6Te is found to be -6 X 10(-3) eV/kbar, which is quite different from the pressure coefficient of the interband transition. The possible transition mechanism is discussed in terms of group theory and crystal field theory.

PHOTOLUMINESCENCE STUDIES OF INXGA1-XAS/GAAS STRAINED QUANTUM-WELLS UNDER HYDROSTATIC-PRESSURE

The photoluminescence from InxG1-xAs/GaAs strained quantum wells with thickness from 30 to 160 angstrom have been studied at 77 K under hydrostatic pressure up to 60 kbar. It was found that the pressure coefficients of the exciton peaks corresponding to transitions from the first conduction subband to the heavy-hole subband increased with reduced well width, in contrast to the case of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum wells. Calculations revealed that the increased barrier height with pressure was the major cause of the change in the pressure coefficients. Two peaks related to indirect transitions were observed at pressures higher than 50 kbar. They are attributed to type-I transitions from the lowest conduction-band edge, which are the strain splitted X(xy) valleys, to the heavy-hole subband in the InxGa1-xAs well.

PRESSURE BEHAVIOR OF INXGA1-XAS/GAAS STRAINED QUANTUM-WELLS WITH DIFFERENT WIDTHS

The photoluminescence of InxGa1-xAs/GaAs strained quantum wells with widths of 30 angstrom to 160 angstrom have been studied at 77 K under hydrostatic pressure up to 60 kbar. It is found that the pressure coefficients of exciton peaks from 1st conduction subband to heavy hole subband increase from 9.74 meV/kbar for a 160 angstrom well to 10.12 meV/kbar for a 30 angstrom well. The calculation based on the Kronig-Penney model indicated that the extension of the electronic wave function to the barrier layer in the narrow wells is one of the reasons for the increase of the pressure coefficients with the decrease of well width. Two peaks related to indirect transitions were observed at pressures higher than 50 kbar.