Synthesis Of Bio-Aviation Fuel From Candlenut (Aleurites Moluccanus) Oil Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction

There is increasing interest in producing bio-aviation fuel from non-edible crops to reduce the amount of fossil fuels consumed annually. Moreover, bio-aviation fuel produced from renewable resources can significantly reduce environmental pollution by lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The present study aimed to synthesize bio-aviation fuel from candlenut oil as an alternative fuel. The extraction of oil from candlenut seeds was conducted using supercritical CO2 (scCO2). The oil yield increased as the scCO2 pressure, temperature, and extraction time increase. The central composite design (CCD) of experiments was used to design the experimental conditions for candlenut oil extraction. Using response surface methodology (RSM), the experimental conditions were optimised for maximum oil extraction. At a scCO2 extraction temperature of 60 oC, pressure of 30 MPa, and 90 min reaction time, maximum of 65±0.3% of candlenut oil was extracted. The modified Gompertz mathematical model was utilized to elucidate lipids extraction behavior from candlenut seeds using scCO2

Comparison of amino acids profile and antioxidant activities between edible bird nest and chicken egg

Edible bird’s nest (EBN) and eggs are sources of high quality protein. The objectives of this study were to compare the amino acid profile between EBN and eggs to determine the differences in nutrition composition and antioxidant properties. Amino acid profile and antioxidant properties (DPPH, ABTS and FRAP) of four samples, raw EBN (EBNraw), EBN hydrolysates (EBNh), commercial chicken egg (Eggcomm) and free range chicken egg (EggFR) were determined and correlated with one another. It was found that EBN raw and EBNh have significantly higher (p<0.05) DPPH and ABTS activities compared to Eggcomm and EggFR, whereas Eggcomm and EggFR have significantly higher (p<0.05) FRAP activities compared to EBNraw and EBNh. Amino acid profile analysis showed that Eggcomm and EggFR have significantly higher (p<0.05) methionine, cysteine, lysine and isoleucine content compared to EBNraw and EBNh. Histidine, proline, phenylalanine and tryptophan in EBN were found to have significant (p<0.01) positive correlation with DPPH and ABTS antioxidant activities assays, while methionine and cysteine in chicken eggs have significant (p<0.01) positive correlation with FRAP activity. In conclusion, both EBN and chicken eggs are good sources of proteins and essential amino acids, but EBN showed higher antioxidant activities

The Pest Location And Size Of Distributed Generation (DG) in A Radial Distribution Systems

Abstract: The DG is a new member in distribution systems that enhances the system performance. The DG improves voltage profiles, reduces real power losses, release the system capacity, increases the system reliability, delay the infrastructure upgrading, and environmentally friendly compared to the traditional power sources. Achieving the aforementioned benefits requires\installing the DGs in the appropriate location with the appropriate size. Integrating DGs in\distribution systems is an optimization problem with constraints imposed by the system\planner. This optimization problem can solved by deterministic optimization techniques such as sequential quadratic programming (SQP) or heuristic optimization techniques such as\particle swarm optimization (PSO). The PSO is a relatively new optimization technique that\mimics the bird flocking and fish schooling. A hybrid PSO-based solution technique is developed to solve the problem at hand. The proposed technique is validated on 69-bus test\system. The results obtained clearly indicate the efficiency of the developed approach in finding the optimal location and size of DG. Keywords: generation, distribution ,radial, particle, swarm optimization, heuristic. I-DG INTEGRATION PROBLEM DG is gaining increasing popularity as a viable element of electric power systems. The presence of DG in power systems may lead to several advantages such as supplying sensitive loads in case of power outages, reducing transmission and distribution networks congestion, and improving the overall system performance by reducing power losses and enhancing voltage profiles. Recent awareness of conventional/traditional thermal power plants and harmful impacts on the environment and the urge to find more environmentally friendly substitutes for electrical power generation, rapid advances made in renewable energy technologies, and the attractive and open electric power market are a few major motives that led to the high penetration of DG in most industrial nations power grids. To achieve the most from DG installation, special attention must be made to DG placement and sizing. The problem of optimal DG placement and sizing is divided into two subproblems: Where is the optimal location for DG placement and how to select the most suitable size? Many researchers proposed different methods such as analytic procedures as well as deterministic[1-6) and heuristic In most of the reviewed literature work on the DG deployment problem, the problems of DG optimal sizing and placement were not simultaneously addressed due to the difficult nature of the problem as it combines respectively discrete and continuous variables for potential bus locations and DG sizing in a single optimization problem. This combination creates a major difficulty to most derivative-based optimization techniques and it increases the feasible search space size considerably. In this thesis, the DG sizing subproblem is solved using an improved SQP deterministic method; while the two subproblems are addressed simultaneously via an enhanced PSO metaheuristic algorithm