Alpha Creation EnterpriseBiofuel Research Journal2292-87824120170301Energy and environmental assessments of bioethanol production from Sri Kanji 1 cassava in Malaysia5375444343010.18331/BRJ2017.4.1.3ENM. HanifDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43000 Kajang, Selangor Malaysia.T.M.I. MahliaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43000 Kajang, Selangor Malaysia.Faculty of Integrated Technologies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei Darussalam.H.B. AditiyaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia.M.S. Abu BakarFaculty of Integrated Technologies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei Darussalam.Journal Article20160811<br clear="all" />According to the Malaysia’s biofuel policy, renewable fuels are crucial for energy sustainability in the transportation sector in the future. This study was aimed to evaluate the potential of bioethanol production from Sri Kanji 1 cassava in Malaysia in terms of energy efficiency and renewability, as well to estimate the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction in CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent. Bioethanol production process from cassava includes cassava farming, ethanol production, and transportation in which the primary energy consumption was considered. The Net Energy Balance (NEB) and Net Energy Ratio (NER) of 25.68 MJ/L and 3.98, respectively, indicated that bioethanol production from Sri Kanji 1 cassava in Malaysia was energy efficient. From the environmental perspective, the GHG balance results revealed that the production and distribution of 1 L of Cassava Fuel Ethanol (CFE) could reduce GHG emissions by 73.2%. Although found promising in the present study, Sri Kanji 1 cassava as bioethanol feedstock should be further investigated by constructing an actual ethanol plant to obtain real life data.Alpha Creation EnterpriseBiofuel Research Journal2292-87824120170301Simultaneous biosorption and bioethanol production from lead-contaminated media by Mucor indicus5455504339210.18331/BRJ2017.4.1.4ENSaman SamadiDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran.Keikhosro KarimiDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran.Industrial Biotechnology Group, Research center of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran.Sanaz BehnamDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran.Journal Article20170105<em>Mucor indicus</em> with different morphologies was used for ethanol production and Pb<sup>2+</sup> biosorption. With increasing Pb<sup>2+</sup> concentration in the cultivation medium, the fungus morphology changed from purely filamentous to mostly filamentous and the biosorption capacity was increased. The maximum adsorption capacity predicted by Langmuir model was 118 mg/g for purely filamentous form. All morphologies were also cultivated in the presence of high Pb<sup>2+</sup> concentration (300 mg/L) in consecutive stages. After the first stage of cultivation, the live biomass was separated and cultivated in a new medium similar to the first stage and cultivation was performed within five stages. All morphologies of <em>M. indicus</em> were able to grow and produce ethanol in the presence of lead at all stages but with lower yields than those cultivated in the absence of lead. The highest ethanol yields of 0.46 and 0.35 g ethanol per g consumed glucose were obtained by mostly filamentous morphology at the first and the last stages, respectively. The presence of lead decreased the glucose consumption rate of all morphologies and the yeast-like morphology consumed glucose within a shorter time than the other morphologies. Different morphologies were able to adsorb lead ions considerably (97–99%) within the five consecutive stages.Alpha Creation EnterpriseBiofuel Research Journal2292-87824120170301Enhanced dark fermentative biohydrogen production from marine macroalgae Padina tetrastromatica by different pretreatment processes5515584339110.18331/BRJ2017.4.1.5ENM. RadhaManonmaniam Sundaranar University, Sri Paramakalyani Centre of Excellence in Environmental Science, Alwarkurichi 627 412, Tamil Nadu, India.A.G. MurugesanManonmaniam Sundaranar University, Sri Paramakalyani Centre of Excellence in Environmental Science, Alwarkurichi 627 412, Tamil Nadu, India.Journal Article20161226Marine macroalgae are promising substrates for biofuel production. Pretreating macroalgae with chemicals could remove microbial inhibitors and enhance the accessibility of the microorganisms involved in the process to the substrates leading to increased product yield. In the present study, <em>Padina tetrastromatica </em>a seaweed species was subjected to different chemical pretreatment in order to remove phenolic content and to enhance biohydrogen production. Different mineral acids (i.e., HCl, H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub>, and HNO<sub>3</sub>) and bases (NaOH and KOH) were applied for effective pretreatment of the seaweed. Dilute sulphuric acid treatment of seaweed resulted in the highest cumulative biohydrogen production of 78 ± 2.9 mL/0.05 g VS and reduced phenolic content to 1.6 ±0.072 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g. Optimization of three variables for pretreatment (i.e., substrate concentration, acid concentration, and reaction time) was examined by Response Surface Methodology. After the optimization of the pretreatment conditions, phenolic content was decreased to 0.06 mg GAE/g. and enhanced biohydrogen production was observed. Structural changes due to pretreatment was studied by FTIR and XRD analyses. The results clearly indicated that the dilute sulphuric acid pretreatment was effective in removing phenolic content and enhancing biohydrogen production.Alpha Creation EnterpriseBiofuel Research Journal2292-87824120170301The in-process removal of sterol glycosides by ultrafiltration in biodiesel production5595644339010.18331/BRJ2017.4.1.6ENAndré Y. TremblayDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5Alessandro MontpetitDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5Journal Article20161215Minor components found in biodiesel can affect its stability and cold flow properties. Without extensive post treatments, trace compounds such as sterol glycosides (SG) can remain at unacceptable levels in finished biodiesel fuels. This study proposes to remove SG from reacted Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) mixtures using ultrafiltration. Degummed soybean oil was transesterified using methanol and a catalyst (sodium methoxide). The mixtures were immediately ultrafiltered after the reaction and the FAMEs from the retentate and permeate were analyzed for SG. The highest separation for SG (86 %) was obtained when the reaction conditions were 0.7 wt.% catalyst and 4:1 MeOH:Oil ratio. The lowest separation (0%) was observed at 0.3 wt.% catalyst and 4:1 MeOH:Oil ratio. The higher separations were explained by the deprotonation of the hydroxyl groups on SG. This decreased the solubility of SG in the reacted FAME phase. The separation was lowest, when unreacted oil along with monoacylglycerides (MG) and diacylglycerides (DG) solubilized SG in the reacted mixture. The separation was also low when high methanol to oil ratios were used in the transesterification. The lowest concentration of SG measured in FAMEs treated by ultrafiltration was 3.4 ppm. The results indicate that ultrafiltration is an effective method to remove SG from soybean FAMEs.Alpha Creation EnterpriseBiofuel Research Journal2292-87824120170301Glycerol transesterification with ethyl acetate to synthesize acetins using ethyl acetate as reactant and entrainer5655704227810.18331/BRJ2017.4.1.7ENAmin ShafieiDepartment of Chemistry, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran.Hajar RastegariDepartment of Chemistry, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran.Hassan S. GhaziaskarDepartment of Chemistry, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran.Mohammad YalpaniR&D Department, Farzin Chemicals Sepahan Co., Montazerie Industrial Complex, Villashahr, Isfahan, 85131-14461, Iran.Journal Article20161215Transesterification of glycerol with ethyl acetate was performed over acidic catalysts in the batch and semi-batch systems. Ethyl acetate was used as reactant and entrainer to remove the produced ethanol during the reaction, through azeotrope formation. Since the azeotrope of ethyl acetate and ethanol forms at 70 <sup>o</sup>C, all the experiments were performed at this temperature. Para-toluene sulfonic acid, sulfuric acid, and Amberlyst 36 were used as catalyst. The effect of process parameters including ethyl acetate to glycerol molar ratio (6-12), reaction time (3-9 h), and the catalyst to glycerol weight (2.5-9.0%), on the conversion and products selectivities were investigated. Under reflux conditions, 100% glycerol conversion was obtained with 45%, 44%, and 11% selectivity to monoacetin, diacetin, and triacetin, respectively. Azeotropic reactive distillation led to 100% conversion of glycerol with selectivities of 3%, 48% and 49% for monoacetin, diacetin, and triacetin. During the azeotropic reactive distillation, it was possible to remove ethanol to shift the equilibrium towards diacetin and triacetin. Therefore, the total selectivity to diacetin and triacetin was increased from 55% to 97% through azeotropic distillation.