Biofuel from hydrocracking of Cerbera manghas oil over Ni-Zn/HZSM-5 catalyst

The effects of reaction temperature on the hydrocarbon composition of biofuel produced in hydrocracking of Cerbera manghas oil with Ni-Zn/HZSM-5 catalyst were investigated. The incipient wetness impregnation method was applied to prepare the Ni-Zn/HZSM-5 catalysts. Furthermore, the properties of catalysts were measured by X-ray diffraction, atomic absorption spectrometry, and nitrogen physisorption. Hydrocracking process was carried out in Parr USA pressure batch reactor at pressure of 20 � 5 bar after flowing H2 for 1 h. The reaction with a catalyst/oil ratio of 1 g/150 mL proceeded at various temperatures of 350, 375 and 400 �C for 2 h. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was�used to analyze biofuel. The most abundant hydrocarbon compounds in biofuel were identified as pentadecane and heptadecane (a major diesel fuel compound) with a different amount at different reaction temperatures. It can be said that the hydrodecarboxylation/decarbonylation routes were the predominant reaction pathways and oxygen removal occurred during hydrocracking. The Cerbera manghas oil can be recommended as a promising biofeed to produce the gasoil as an alternative transportation fuel.

A Critical Review of Biofuels as an Alternative Fuel to Diesel in Gulf Regional Corporation (GCC) Region: Current Market Trends and Future Opportunitie

Bio Fuels are considered as good alternatives for conventional fossil fuels. By the year 2020, in the GCC region these fuels are able to meet around 0.5 - 1% of total transportation fuel demand. This industry grew at rate of 3.4% over the period of 2015-2020 with a strong projected growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Bio fuels are used to operate automotive for mining and construction industries. Critical barriers in foreign investments pose a major challenge for growth of this sector in the GCC region. The presented work discusses situation and growth predictions of Bio-Fuel industry in the GCC region. It also discusses about current growth, trends, opportunities and challenges being faced by major companies operating in the GCC region.

Adsorbed Natural Gas Storage for Vehicular Applications

The use of adsorbed natural gas (ANG) as a transportation fuel is a relatively cleaner alternative compared to that of gasoline and is important from the perspective of environmental safety. However, unlike gasoline and diesel, natural gas requires compression, liquefaction, and adsorption techniques for its storage, as it has a very low volumetric energy density. Among all storage techniques, adsorption-based natural gas (ANG) storage is considered as more economical and relatively safe technology due to its mild temperature and pressure conditions for the storage. This chapter will summarize the recent advances in the area of ANG with reference to various synthetic storage materials recently developed for the purpose and their efficiency towards storage and deliverability of natural gas. Particular emphasis will be given to adsorbents based on porous carbon materials, metal organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks for the said application. The synthetic procedure for the above adsorbents, followed by their efficiency to store and deliver natural gas, will be discussed. Finally, in the conclusion, the future scope of the technology will be summarized.

Gasoline like fuel from plastic waste pyrolysis and hydrotreatment

Recycling of plastic waste is desirable to lower environmental pollution and fulfil the requirements of circular economy. Energetic utilization is another possibility, however, municipal solid waste containing plastics is usually combusted to generate heat and electricity. An attractive way of dealing with plastic waste is pyrolysis, which has the potential of producing liquid hydrocarbons suitable as a transportation fuel. The pyrolysis results of three plastics produced in the largest amount globally, namely polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene as well as their mixtures are presented. The experiments were performed in a laboratory scale batch reactor. The pyrolysis oils were further processed by distillation to provide gasoline and diesel like (distillation cuts at 210 and 350 °C) hydrocarbons. The gasoline fractions were analysed by GC-MS and the composition was compared with the EU gasoline standard. It was found that the oils from PE, PP and PS contain compounds present in standard gasoline. Mixing PS with PE and PP before the pyrolysis, or the oils afterward produces much closer results to standard requirements as PS pyrolysis generates mostly aromatic content. As standard maximizes the olefin content of gasoline to 18 Vol%, hydrogenation was also performed using Pd based catalyst. The hydrogenation process significantly reduced the number of double bonds resulting in low olefin content. Results show that the pyrolysis of plastic waste mixtures containing PE, PP and PS is a viable method to produce pyrolysis oil suitable for gasoline-like fuel extraction and further hydrogenation of the product can provide gasoline fuels with low olefin content.

A review on the effects of ethanol/gasoline fuel blends on NOX emissions in spark-ignition engines

Ethanol can be used as an alternative fuel for spark-ignition (SI) engines to increase the octane number and oxygen content of ethanol/gasoline blends, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels and the exhaust emissions of incomplete combustion products. Although it is widely agreed that ethanol can reduce CO and HC exhaust emissions, the literature on ethanol and NOX emissions is far from conclusive; hence there is a need for an in-depth, updated review of ethanol/gasoline blends in SI engines and the relative production of NOX emissions. In light of that, the present work aims to provide a comprehensive literature review on the current state of ethanol combustion in SI engines to shed definitive light on the potential changes in NOX emissions under various operating conditions. The first part of this paper discusses the feasibility of ethanol as an alternative transportation fuel, including world production and ethanol production processes. The physicochemical properties of ethanol and gasoline are then compared to analyze their effects on combustion efficiency and exhaust emissions. Then, the pathways of NOX formation inside the cylinder of SI engines are discussed in depth. Finally, we review and critically discuss the effects of ethanol concentration in blends and different engine parameters on NOX formation.

Kinetic and Transesterification Properties of Lipase from Sprouted Melon (Cucumeropsis manni) Seeds

Crude lipase (acetone powder) was extracted from freshly sprouted melon seeds (Cucumeropsis manni). The activity, kinetic properties (effect of time, pH, and enzyme and substrate concentration, respectively) as well as the ability of the crude lipase to catalyze the production of methyl esters (biodiesel) were examined. The enzyme activity was determined using n-hexane as the solvent (1:2 v/w solvent: substrate ratio) and the transesterification product was analyzed by HPLC. A linear relationship was observed between reaction time and rate of lipolysis with the optimal activity at 2hr of incubation. Furthermore, the lipase was optimally active at acid pH 5 and lipolysis was achieved optimally when the amount of enzyme was 2.0g. Rate of lipolysis was observed to increase linearly at concentrations up to 5.0g of substrate above which a drop in the rate, with no apparent decrease in activity, was observed. The Km (6.25g) and Vmax (13.33%FFA/hr) were also determined. Analysis of the transesterification product yielded 0.61% alkyl ester, 0.81 %FFA, 93.17% TAG, 4.15% 1, 3-DAG and 1.26% 1, 2-DAG while transesterification efficiency was determined to be at 0.588%. Biodiesel (alkyl esters) prepared with the crude lipase was had a density of 0.872 g/mL while its cloud and pour points were 22°C and 12°C, respectively. The results from this research showed that an active lipase was isolated from sprouted melon seeds. However, the fuel properties of the biodiesel produced did not meet international transportation fuel standards. In order to be used industrially, better reaction conditions need to be established for the lipase.