Catalytic Conversion Of Crop Oil To Petrochemical Substitutes And Other Bio-Based Chemicals

A two-step process was developed for the production of aromatic hydrocarbons from triacyl glyceride (TG) oils such as crop oils, algae oils, and microbial oils. In the first step, TG (soybean) oil was non-catalytically cracked to produce an organic liquid product (OLP). The resulting OLP was then converted into aromatic compounds in a second reaction using a zeolite catalyst, HZSM-5. In this second reaction three main factors were found to influence the yield of aromatic hydrocarbons, namely the SiO2:Al2O3 ratio in the HZSM-5, the reaction temperature and the OLP-to-catalyst ratio. Upon optimization, up to 58 wt% aromatics were obtained. Detailed analyses revealed that most of the alkenes and carboxylic acids, and even many of the unidentified/unresolved compounds which are characteristic products of non-catalytic TG cracking, were reformed into aromatic hydrocarbons and n-alkanes. Instead of BTEX compounds that are the common products of alkene reforming with HZSM-5, longer-chain alkylbenzenes dominated the reformate (along with medium-size n-alkanes). Another novel feature of the two-step process was a sizable (up to 13 wt%) yield of alicyclic hydrocarbons, both cyclohexanes and cyclopentanes. At optimum conditions, the yields of coke (5 wt%) and gaseous products (14 wt%) were found to be lower than those in a corresponding one-step catalytic cracking/aromatization process. Thus this novel two-step process may provide a new route for the production of renewable aromatic hydrocarbons. Aromatization of propylene was performed in a continuous reactor over HZSM-5 catalysts. A full-factorial design of experiments (DOE) methodology identified the effects of temperature (400-500 °C), Si:Al ratio (50-80), propylene feed concentration (8.9-12.5 mol%), and catalyst amount (0.2-1.0 g) on propylene conversion as well as the yields of benzene, toluene, p-xylene, o-xylene (BTX), and total BTX. The Si:Al ratio and amount of the HZSM-5 catalyst influenced all of the responses, while temperature impacted all the responses except the yield of p-xylene. An increase in feed concentration significantly increased the yields of benzene, toluene, and total BTX. An interaction between propylene feed concentration and catalyst amount influenced the yields of benzene, toluene, and total BTX. This interaction indicated that a higher feed concentration promotes aromatization at higher catalyst concentrations. By contrast, the interaction of Si:Al ratio with propylene feed concentration was found significant for p-xylene and o-xylene yields, but not for benzene and toluene, suggesting that xylenes are synthesized on different sites than those for benzene and toluene. These interaction effects demonstrate how the use of DOE can uncover significant information generally missed using traditional experimental strategies. The catalytic conversion of propylene to BTX (benzene, toluene, xylenes) over nanoscale HZSM-5 zeolite was studied. A full-factorial design of experiments (DOE) methodology identified three factors which significantly affected the aromatization process: temperature (400-500 °C), propylene feed concentration (8.9-12.5 mol%), and catalyst amount (0.2-1.0 g). An increase in all three factors significantly increased the yields of benzene, toluene, and total BTX but decreased the yield of xylene. A DOE method was used to determine significant interaction effects which may be missed using parametric experimental strategies. The observed effects showed that nanoscale HZSM-5 catalyst is better suited for facilitating cracking rather than aromatization reactions presumably due to the smaller pore availability compared to micro-sized zeolites. Select experiments in a batch reactor with soybean oil as a feedstock showed that the nanoscale zeolite strongly retained large amounts of water, presumably within its pores, despite prior high temperature calcinations

Formulation and characterization of an apigenin-phospholipid phytosome (APLC) for improved solubility, in vivo bioavailability, and antioxidant potential

The apigenin-phospholipid phytosome (APLC) was developed to improve the aqueous solubility, dissolution, in vivo bioavailability, and antioxidant activity of apigenin. The APLC synthesis was guided by a full factorial design strategy, incorporating specific formulation and process variables to deliver an optimized product. The design-optimized formulation was assayed for aqueous solubility, in vitro dissolution, pharmacokinetics, and antioxidant activity. The pharmacological evaluation was carried out by assessing its effects on carbon tetrachloride-induced elevation of liver function marker enzymes in a rat model. The antioxidant activity was assessed by studying its effects on the liver antioxidant marker enzymes. The developed model was validated using the design-optimized levels of formulation and process variables. The physical-chemical characterization confirmed the formation of phytosomes. The optimized formulation demonstrated over 36-fold higher aqueous solubility of apigenin, compared to that of pure apigenin. The formulation also exhibited a significantly higher rate and extent of apigenin release in dissolution studies. The pharmacokinetic analysis revealed a significant enhancement in the oral bioavailability of apigenin from the prepared formulation, compared to pure apigenin. The liver function tests indicated that the prepared phytosome showed a significantly improved restoration of all carbon tetrachloride-elevated rat liver function marker enzymes. The prepared formulation also exhibited antioxidant potential by significantly increasing the levels of glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and decreasing the levels of lipid peroxidase. The study shows that phospholipid-based phytosome is a promising and viable strategy for improving the delivery of apigenin and similar phytoconstituents with low aqueous solubility

Feasibility analysis of design for remanufacturing in bearing using hybrid fuzzy-topsis and taguchi optimization

The tremendous advancement in technology, productivity and improved standard of living has come at the cost of environmental deterioration, increased energy and raw material consumption. In this regard, remanufacturing is viable option to reduce energy usage, carbon footprint and raw material usage. In this manuscript, using computational intelligence techniques we try to determine the feasibility of remanufacturing in case of roller bearings. We collected used N308 bearings from 5 different Indian cities. Using Fuzzy-TOPSIS, we found that the roundness, surface roughness and weight play a vital role in design for remanufacturing of roller bearings. Change in diameter, change in thickness and change in width showed minimal influence.  We also used Taguchi analysis to reassess the problem. The roundness of inner and outer race was found to be the most influential parameters in deciding the selection of bearing for remanufacturing. The results suggest the bearing designer to design the bearing in such a way that roundness of both races will be taken cared while manufacturing a bearing. However, using Taguchi the weight of the rollers was found to be of least influence. Overall, the predictions of Taguchi analysis were found to be similar to Fuzzy-TOPSIS analysis

Image Forensics for Forgery Detection using Contrast Enhancement and 3D Lighting

Nowadays the digital image plays an important role in human life. Due to large growth in the image processing techniques, with the availability of image modification tools any modification in the images can be done. These modifications cannot be recognized by human eyes. So Identification of the image integrity is very important in today’s life. Contrast and brightness of digital images can be adjusted by contrast enhancement. Move and paste type of images are Created by malicious person, in which contrast of one source image is enhanced to match the other source image. Here in this topic contrast enhancement technique is used which aimed at detecting image tampering has grown in different applications area such as law enforcement, surveillance. Also with the contrast enhancement, we propose an improved 3D lighting environment estimation method based on a more general surface reflection model. 3D lighting environment is an important clue in an image that can be used for image forgery detection. We intend to employ fully automatic face morphing and alignment algorithms. Also we intend to use face detection method to detect the face existence and 3D lighting environment estimation to check originality of human faces in the image

Isolation and Chracterization of Ficus bengalensis Linn.

Medicinal herbs have a prominent role in human health care. The imposing banyan tree of poetry and legend is a store-house of invaluable remedies for some of the deadliest diseases. Ficus benghalensis Linn. synonyms being Ficus indica Linn.and Ficus cotonaeifolia belongs to the family Moraceae. Present study include phytochemical screening of Ficus benghalensis evidenced that chloroform fraction of Ficus benghalensis Linn shows comparatively better than aqueous fraction and hydro-alcoholic extract. The isolated phytochemical from chloroform fraction of Ficus benghalensis Linn was found as a white amorphous solid compound with melting point of 169-1700C and responded positively to the Salkowski’s test and Lieberman-Burchard test for steroids and triterpenes. Keywords: Ficus benghalensis, triterpenes, heamoptysi

Secure Data Transmission by using Steganography

Steganography is the efficient technique to provide secure data transmission over the network, as the number of users increases effectively. The cryptography is also used to provide security to data over network, but transmission of secured message may be detectable to third party. From security point of view, steganography does not allow to detect the presence of hidden secret other than indeed user, over the communication channel. In this paper, we design a system, which uses features of both cryptography as well as steganography, where TCP/IP header is used as a steganographic carrier to hide encrypted data. Steganography is a useful tool that allows covert transmission of information over the communications channel. Copyright © www.iiste.org Keywords: Steganography, Cryptography, Encryption, TCP/I

An Initial Study of the Catalytic Reforming of Crop Oil‐Derived 1‐Alkenes with HZSM‐5 to Aromatic Hydrocarbons

This study explored the production of aromatic hydrocarbons from the longer‐chain alkenes produced by the pyrolysis/cracking of crop oils. 1‐Tetradecene, serving as a model compound for these alkenes, was reformed in a batch reactor with a HZSM‐5 catalyst to produce a liquid hydrocarbon mixture with a high‐aromatic content. These reactions resulted in a \u3e99% conversion of the 1‐tetradecene feedstock with a yield of up to 22 wt% of aromatic hydrocarbons. Surprisingly, isomers of C3‐substituted benzenes along with xylenes and diaromatics (lower homologs of alkyl‐substituted indanes and naphthalenes) were the main aromatic products rather than their lower‐molecular‐weight (MW) homologs, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, which are commonly formed with high selectivity during zeolite‐catalyzed reforming. The recovery of higher‐MW aromatics, and particularly bicyclic naphthalenes and indanes, provides mechanistic insights for zeolite‐catalyzed alkene reforming reactions suggesting that these higher‐MW aromatics are likely formed near the catalyst surface at pore openings. Furthermore, the production of acyclic diene intermediates in the size range of C7–C10 provides insight into the overall reaction pathway. The results suggest that this reaction pathway may be a commercially viable option for the production of renewable C3‐substituted aromatic chemicals/chemical intermediates as coproducts to complement the kerosene and diesel fuel blendstocks that are the primary products from crop oil cracking

Formulation and Characterization of the Improved Solubility, In Vivo Bioavailability and Antioxidant Activity of Apigenin-Phospholipid Complex (APLC)

In the present study a phospholipid based complex of apigenin (APLC) was prepared with a goal of improving its aqueous solubility, dissolution, in vivobioavailability, and antioxidant activity