Advanced Materials Research Vols. 1070-1072

Abstract: The experiment of economic and exhaust emission characteristics of diesel engine fueled with 20% waste cooking oil bio-diesel blended with 80% diesel (B20) in different fuel delivery advance angle were performed. The fuel delivery advance angle is optimized under medium load condition by using the MATLAB software. The results show that the Optimized fuel delivery advance angle of B20 is at BTDC 15.225 °CA.

Abstract: In this study, cellulolytic enzyme lignin (CEL) was blended with polycaprolactone (PCL) by twin-screw extrusion and injection molding. The thermal, mechanical properties and the morphology of the PCL/CEL blends were investigated as a function of CEL content. The results showed that the CEL in the blends acting as nucleus accelerated the crystallization of PCL when CEL was not more than 10 wt%, but retarded PCL to crystallize with more CEL addition. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) revealed that the thermal stability of the PCL/CEL blends was almost unaffected by increasing CEL content. Mechanical test showed that, although the elongation at break and the impact strength were decreased, the strength and the modulus of the PCL/CEL blends were significantly higher than those of the neat PCL. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations indicated that the CEL and the PCL were in good miscibility and there was a good adhesion at the interface of the CEL filler and the PCL matrix, suggesting that CEL could be potential filler used in PCL-based materials to reduce the cost of the friendly material, whereas increased its strength and modulus.

Abstract: The main hurdle to the commercialization of lipase-catalyzed production of biodiesel is the cost of enzyme and feedstock oil. In order to reduce the cost of biodiesel production, the lipase-producing whole cells of Aspergillus niger and immobilized onto biomass support particles (BSPs) were used for the production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil. This article studies this technological process, focusing on optimization of several process parameters, including the water content, catalyst loading and molar ratio of methanol to waste cooking oil. The results indicate that the water content of 20%(based on oil weight), BSPs-immobilized cell catalysts of 6% and methanol/oil molar ratio of 4:1 are the optimum conditions for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil. Under the optimum conditions, the maximum methyl ester (ME) content in the reaction mixture reaches 84.7 wt.% after 72 h. In addition, the whole-cell biocatalysts showed excellent reusability, retaining 73% productivity after 6 batches. Our results suggest that whole-cell A. niger immobilized on BSP is a promising biocatalyst for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil.

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of silage additives on the anaerobic digestion performance of hybrid penisetum to produce methane. Specifically, we evaluated the effects of adding lactic acid bacteria (0, 1.0×10⁵, 1.5×10⁵, 2.0×10⁵ cfu.g^-1) and cellulase (0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03 g.t^-1) during ensilage for 45 days on biogas production of hybrid penisetum. The silage additives lactic acid bacteria (1.0×10⁵cfu.g^-1, 2.0×10⁵cfu.g^-1) and cellulase (0.03g.t^-1) had a positive effect on the anaerobic fermentation performance of hybrid penisetum silage. The hybrid penisetum amended with 0.03 g.t^-1 of cellulase showed the best biochemical methane potentials, with a methane yield of 218.15l_N kg^-1 ODM_added. The results of this study clearly demonstrate that type and concentration of additives influence biogas production by silage.

Abstract: For the conversion of cellulose into biofuel by microorganisms is being studied intensively. This research isolate and screen efficient cellulolytic microorganism from bamboo forest soil based on growth rate on CMC plate, the size of transparent circle, disintegration effect of filter paper, and CMC enzyme activity assay. As a result, efficient cellulose-decomposing fungus J6-1 was obtained. The strains possessed higher filter paper degrading ability and CMC enzyme activity, disintegrating the filter paper into 42.3% at the 5th days and reaching the highest CMC enzyme activity 6.87IU/mL after 120 hours of shake flask fermentation. Strains J6-1 is preliminarily identified as Penicillium by morphological observation and a great potential cellulolytic strains.

Abstract: The optimum conditions for selective depolymerization of wheat stalk under microwave-irradiation were determined by orthogonal experiments. Sulfuric acid was used as pretreated reagent. The liquid product (bio-oil) was examined by the gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The analysis of GC/MS of bio-oil indicated that furfural and butyrolactone were the main components, whose relative contents were 60.9% and 45.8% under its optimum conditions, respectively.

Abstract: The torrefaction of rice husk was performed in a laboratory-scale torrefaction reactor at different temperatures (200, 230, 260, and 290 °C) for 30 min. It was found that the decomposition of hemicellulose was the direct reason for changes in the fuel properties of solid products after torrefaction. As the torrefaction temperature rose from 200 °C to 290 °C, the yield of torrefied rice husk decreased gradually from 97.47% to 67.03%, whereas the yields of liquid and noncondensable gas products increased from 2.01% to 15.67% and from 0.52% to 17.30%, respectively. Liquid products contained water and a small amount of acetic acids. CO₂ and CO were the main gas products of rice husk torrefaction.

Abstract: With the rapid development of economy and a large number of energy consumption, the countries all over the world are faced with the depletion of fossil energy resources. Meanwhile, a large number of fossil energy extraction cause geological disasters frequently and the greenhouse effect, which lead to global warming, acid rain and other serious environmental problems. As a representative of the biomass energy, crop straws have advantages of wide distribution, large amount, low price and cleaning, which will be an ideal choice in the future. But it is hard to be efficiently used because of the special structure of crop straws. Through fermentation engineering and gene engineering, people can greatly improve the efficiency of utilization of crop straws, which offers a very promising way to make a breakthrough for energy consumption.

Abstract: In this paper, for the purpose of providing a scientific reference for saving energy and improving the efficiency of diesel engine, the impact of ethanol diesel-oil alternative fuel and waste heat recovery are investigated on the basis of thermodynamic analysis. The results illustrate that, after using ethanol diesel alternative fuel, engine performance parameters are of no big change, however, the exhaust emissions are significantly reduced; Recycling the energy contained in the exhaust gas and cooling water, can achieve the purpose of energy conservation and emissions reduction, beside improving the thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency of the diesel engine.

Abstract: In this work, the pyrolysis behavior of bituminous coal (BC) wheat straw (WS) and the blends were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. It was found that the main thermal degradation stage of BC and WS lies in different temperature range and there is nearly no overlapping. Interaction was observed during the co-pyrolysis process of BC and WS. At high temperatures, the volatile releasing is slightly inhibited by WS addition. Coats-Redfern method was used to analyze the apparent kinetic parameters. The results indicated that both the two reaction stages during pyrolysis process are well correlated by first-order reaction. The variation trend of activation energy value further confirm the synergistic effects between BC and WS. The experimental results may provide useful data for co-thermochemical utilization of biomass with coal.