eng
Alpha Creation Enterprise
Biofuel Research Journal
2292-8782
2014-06-01
1
2
44
54
10.18331/BRJ2015.1.2.3
5545
Perspective of electrospun nanofibers in energy and environment
Jayaraman Sundaramurthy
mpesuja@nus.edu.sg
1
Ning Li
smurthy@nus.edu.sg
2
P Suresh Kumar
3
Seeram Ramakrishna
seeram@nus.edu.sg
4
Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576.
Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576.
Environmental & Water Technology, Centre of Innovation, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore.
Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576.
This review summarizes the recent developments of electrospun semiconducting metal oxide/polymer composite nanostructures in energy and environment related applications. Electrospinning technique has the advantage of synthesizing nanostructures with larger surface to volume ratio, higher crystallinity with phase purity and tunable morphologies like nanofibers, nanowires, nanoflowers and nanorods. The electrospun nanostructures have exhibited unique electrical, optical and catalytic properties than the bulk counter parts as well as nanomaterials synthesized through other approaches. These nanostructures have improved diffusion and interaction of molecules, transfer of electrons along the matrix and catalytic properties with further surface modification and functionalization with combination of metals and metal oxides.
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_5545_fb2da428bff091a9e9857c1930480e8b.pdf
Electrospinning
Metal oxides
Nanostructures
Dye-sensitized solar cells
Photocatalysis
Hydrogen storage
eng
Alpha Creation Enterprise
Biofuel Research Journal
2292-8782
2014-06-01
1
2
55
57
10.18331/BRJ2015.1.2.4
5546
BiodieselAnalyzer: a user-friendly software for predicting the properties of prospective biodiesel
Ahmad Farhad Talebi
1
Meisam Tabatabaei
meisam_tabatabaei@abrii.ac.ir
2
Yusuf Chisti
y.chisti@massey.ac.nz
3
Biofuel Research Team (BRTeam), Karaj, Iran.
Biofuel Research Team (BRTeam), Karaj, Iran.
School of Engineering, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
The procedures used to experimentally determine the quality parameters of a biodiesel are lengthy and expensive. Occasionally it may be impossible to obtain a sufficient amount of oil for the relevant analyses. This is often the case for algal biodiesel, for example. Here we report on a new software package, the BiodieselAnalyzer© Version 1.1, for predicting the properties of a prospective biodiesel. BiodieselAnalyzer© can estimate 16 different quality parameters of a biodiesel based on the fatty acid methyl ester profile of the oil feedstock used in making it. The current version of the BiodieselAnalyzer© is intended for the Windows platform and is publically available at http://www.brteam.ir/biodieselanalyzer.
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_5546_1a81de4baeadf437a17da0441deda113.pdf
Biodiesel properties prediction
Biodiesel quality parameters
BiodieselAnalyzer
Software
Fatty acids profile
Algal biodiesel
eng
Alpha Creation Enterprise
Biofuel Research Journal
2292-8782
2014-06-01
1
2
58
64
10.18331/BRJ2015.1.2.5
5547
An investigation of biodiesel production from microalgae found in Mauritian waters
Keshini Beetul
keshini.beetul@hotmail.com
1
Shamimtaz Bibi Sadally
2
Nawsheen Taleb-Hossenkhan
3
Ranjeet Bhagooli
r.bhagooli@uom.ac.mu
4
Daneshwar Puchooa
sudeshp@uom.ac.mu
5
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius
Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius
Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius
Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius
The aim of this study was to assess the lipid content and the subsequent potential of different microalgae present in the Mauritian marine water to produce biodiesel. The share of micro-phytoplankton species in the water column was determined. The cyanobacterial mats and endosymbiotic dinoflagellates were characterised morphologically and genetically using RFLP. The samples were quantified gravimetrically and analysed using 1H &13C NMR spectroscopy. Total micro-phytoplankton count amounted to 6.59±1.27x105 cells L-1which was dominated by diatoms (95.2%), followed by dinoflagellates (2.9%) and cyanobacteria (1.9%). The cyanobacterial mats were identified as Leptolyngbya sp. and Nodularia harveyana, and the RFLP characterised the endosymbiotic dinoflagellates as the Symbiodinium clade C. The highest amount of lipid was recorded in the Symbiodinium clade C (38.39±6.58%). 1H and 13C NMR analyses indicated the presence of acyl glycerols. An attempt to synthesise biodiesel by alkaline trans-esterification reaction was also performed and the presence of biodiesel was detected using the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The Infrared analysis yielded peaks at around 1738cm-1 and 1200cm-1 characteristic of the carbonyl and ether groups respectively, indicating the presence of biodiesel.
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_5547_2fa8a3ac13e791e752188015cb2a69cb.pdf
Biodiesel
Lipid
Microalgae
Mauritian waters
eng
Alpha Creation Enterprise
Biofuel Research Journal
2292-8782
2014-06-01
1
2
65
69
10.18331/BRJ2015.1.2.6
5548
Integrated volarization of spent coffee grounds to biofuels
Mebrahtu Haile
mebrahtu.haile@yahoo.com
1
Land resource management and environmental protection department, college of dry land agriculture and natural resource, Mekelle University, Ethiopia
Biodiesel is a renewable energy source produced from natural oils and fats, and is being used as a substitute for petroleum diesel. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of using spent coffee grounds for biodiesel production and its by-products to produce pelletized fuel, which is expected to help the biodiesel production process achieve zero waste. For this experiment, spent coffee grounds sample was collected from Kaldis coffee, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Extraction of the spent coffee grounds oil was then conducted using n-hexane, ether and mixture of isopropanol to hexane ratio (50:50 %vol), and resulted in oil yield of 15.6, 17.5 and 21.5 %w/w respectively. A two-step process was used in biodiesel production with conversion of about 82 %w/w. The biodiesel quality parameters were evaluated using the American Standard for Testing Material (ASTM D 6751). The major fatty acid compositions found by Gas chromatography were linoleic acid (37.6%), palmitic acid (39.8%), oleic (11.7%), and stearic acid (8.6%). In addition, solid waste remaining after oil extraction and glycerin ratio (glycerin content from 20-40%) was evaluated for fuel pellet (19.3-21.6 MJ/Kg) applications. Therefore, the results of this work could offer a new perspective to the production of biofuel from waste materials without growing plants and/or converting food to fuel.
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_5548_c803c72f8473e7d18d9013726ea9a611.pdf
Spent coffee ground
Spent coffee ground oil
Transesterification
Biodiesel
Pelletized fuel
eng
Alpha Creation Enterprise
Biofuel Research Journal
2292-8782
2014-06-01
1
2
70
76
10.18331/BRJ2015.1.2.7
5549
Optimization of alkali catalyst for transesterification of jatropha curcus using adaptive neuro-fuzzy modeling
Vipan K Sohpal
vipan752002@gmail.com
1
Amarpal Singh
vipan752002@yahoo.co.in
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, Beant College of Engineering & Technology, Post Box No 13, Gurdaspur Punjab, India
Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering Beant College of Engineering & Technology, Post Box No 13, Gurdaspur Punjab, India
Transesterification of Jatropha curcus for biodiesel production is a kinetic control process, which is complex in nature and controlled by temperature, the molar ratio, mixing intensity and catalyst process parameters. A precise choice of catalyst is required to improve the rate of transesterification and to simulate the kinetic study in a batch reactor. The present paper uses an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) approach to model and simulate the butyl ester production using alkaline catalyst (NaOH). The amounts of catalyst and time for reaction have been used as the model’s input parameters. The model is a combination of fuzzy inference and artificial neural network, including a set of fuzzy rules which have been developed directly from experimental data. The proposed modeling approach has been verified by comparing the expected results with the practical results which were observed and obtained through a batch reactor operation. The application of the ANFIS test shows which amount of catalyst predicted by the proposed model is suitable and in compliance with the experimental values at 0.5% level of significance.
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_5549_1459b73384511fd53460fd7f8319a31c.pdf
Biodiesel
Jatropha curcus
Transesterification
Batch reactor
NaOH catalyst
Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference