Valorisation of Biowastes for the Production of Green Materials Using Chemical Methods

With crude oil reserves dwindling, the hunt for a sustainable alternative feedstock for fuels and materials for our society continues to expand. The biorefinery concept has enjoyed both a surge in popularity and also vocal opposition to the idea of diverting food-grade land and crops for this purpose. The idea of using the inevitable wastes arising from biomass processing, particularly farming and food production, is, therefore, gaining more attention as the feedstock for the biorefinery. For the three main components of biomass—carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins—there are long-established processes for using some of these by-products. However, the recent advances in chemical technologies are expanding both the feedstocks available for processing and the products that be obtained. Herein, this review presents some of the more recent developments in processing these molecules for green materials, as well as case studies that bring these technologies and materials together into final products for applied usage

Thermal-Diffusive Processes of an Electron-Hole Non-Local Semiconductor Model with Variable Thermal Conductivity and Hall Current Effect

In this work, a novel model is presented that describes thermal diffusion processes through non-local semiconductor materials. The material under study is subjected to the influence of a strong magnetic field, which creates a Hall current. Interference between the excited electrons and the excited holes of a non-local semiconductor that had been exposed to temperature was present, and thermal conductivity depending on changes in graduated temperature were accounted for. The governing equations are written in a dimensionless form in one dimension (1D) where the thermal conductivity is taken as a function of temperature through electronic and elastic deformation (ED and ED) processes. Laplace transforms in one dimension with initial conditions were used to convert partial differential equations to arrive at exact formulas of solutions. To obtain the exact linear solutions, some boundary conditions taken on the free surface of the non-local semiconductor were used. Using numerical methods of inverse Laplace transforms, the complete solutions of the physical quantities under study were obtained. To further understand how various variables (thermal memory, variable thermal conductivity, and Hall current) affect the non-local semiconductor, numerical physical fields were simulated, and are graphically depicted, and discussed herein

Suppl. material for JIFF 23524588-20230027 - Impact of instant controlled pressure drop texturing on the drying of yellow mealworms

   Insects are increasingly being evaluated as promising protein sources for the food and feed sectors. However, to be accepted as a viable food source, insects must undergo proper processing. Drying is a crucial step in insect processing, as it inhibits the growth of harmful microorganisms, improves their stability and extends their shelf life. After drying, insects can be further processed into various forms, to make them more socially acceptable as food and feed. During drying, biological materials are prone to shrinking, which usually affects their quality. Shrinkage of dried biological material results in a compact structure and causes a significant reduction in water diffusivity. It is typically escorted with unsatisfactory organoleptic quality and problems with grinding. Therefore, including retexturing and structure-expanding techniques in regular drying procedures is becoming essential. The instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) technique was suggested as a texturing technique for yellow mealworms. DIC treatment successfully overcame shrinkage at treatment conditions of 0.194 MPa/32 s and above, resulting in enhanced water diffusivity of 1,833 and 682% for DIC-treated larvae at 0.45 MPa/25 s, dried at 50 and 60 °C, respectively, as compared to blanched larvae. Furthermore, DIC caused a 125% increase in the specific surface area of the dried meal, and a more uniform particle size distribution, both of which reflect the influence of this pretreatment on grinding and, consequently, the end product's quality. Finally, experimental data of sorption isotherms at 20, 30, and 40 °C were fitted with Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB), and Oswin models to represent the sorption behaviour.</p