Physio-chemical assessment of beauty leaf (Calophyllum inophyllum) as second-generation biodiesel feedstock

Recently, biodiesels from non-edible vegetable oil, known as second generation biodiesel, are receiving more attention because it can overcome food versus fuel crisis related to edible oils. The Beauty Leaf tree (Calophyllum Inophyllum) is a potential source of non-edible vegetable oil for producing future generation biodiesel because of its sustainability in a wide range of climate conditions, easy cultivation, high fruit production rate, and the high oil content in the seed. In this study, bio-oil was extracted from beauty leaf tree seeds through three different oil extraction methods. The important physical and chemical properties of produced beauty leaf oils were experimentally analysed and compared with commercial edible vegetable oils. Biodiesel was produced using a two-stage esterification process consisting of acid catalysed pre-esterification and alkali catalysed Transesterification. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profile and physicochemical properties including kinematic viscosity, density, higher heating value and acid value were measured using laboratory standard testing equipment following internationally recognized testing procedures. Other fuel properties including oxidation stability, iodine value, cetane number, flash point, cold filter plugging point, cloud point and pour point temperature were estimated using Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) of biodiesel. Physicochemical properties of beauty leaf oil biodiesels are described briefly and compared with recognised biodiesel standards and commercially available biodiesels produced from edible oil feedstock. Quality of produced biodiesel was assessed based 13 important chemical and physical properties through Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) and Graphical Analysis for Interactive Assistance (GAIA) analysis. This study found that Mechanical extraction using the screw press can produce oil from correctly prepared product at a low cost, however overall this method is ineffective with relatively low oil yields. The study found that seed preparation has a significant impact on oil yields, especially in the mechanical oil extraction method. High temperature and pressure in extraction process increases the performance of oil extraction. On the contrary, this process increases the free fatty acid content in the oil. Clear difference was found in physical properties of beauty leaf oils that eventually affected the oil to biodiesel conversion process. However, beauty leaf oils methyl esters (biodiesel) were very consistent and able to meet almost all indicators of biodiesel standards. Furthermore, it showed as a better automobile fuel compared to most of the commercially available biodiesels produced from edible oil sources. Result of this study indicated that, Beauty Leaf oil seed is readily available feedstock to commence the commercial production of 2nd generation biodiesel. The findings of this study are expected to serve as the basis from which industrial scale biodiesel production from Beauty Leaf can be made

Effects of pretreatments of Napier Grass with deionized water, sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide on pyrolysis oil characteristics

The depletion of fossil fuel reserves has led to increasing interest in liquid bio-fuel from renewable biomass. Biomass is a complex organic material consisting of different degrees of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, extractives and minerals. Some of the mineral elements tend to retard conversions, yield and selectivity during pyrolysis processing. This study is focused on the extraction of mineral retardants from Napier grass using deionized water, dilute sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid and subsequent pyrolysis in a fixed bed reactor. The raw biomass was characterized before and after each pretreatment following standard procedure. Pyrolysis study was conducted in a fixed bed reactor at 600 o�C, 30 �C/min and 30 mL/min N2 flow. Pyrolysis oil (bio-oil) collected was analyzed using standard analytic techniques. The bio-oil yield and characteristics from each pretreated sample were compared with oil from the non-pretreated sample. Bio-oil yield from the raw sample was 32.06 wt% compared to 38.71, 33.28 and 29.27 wt% oil yield recorded from the sample pretreated with sulfuric acid, deionized water and sodium hydroxide respectively. GC–MS analysis of the oil samples revealed that the oil from all the pretreated biomass had more value added chemicals and less ketones and aldehydes. Pretreatment with neutral solvent generated valuable leachate, showed significant impact on the ash extraction, pyrolysis oil yield, and its composition and therefore can be regarded as more appropriate for thermochemical conversion of Napier grass

Investigation of correlation between chemical composition and properties of biodiesel using principal component analysis (PCA) and artificial neural network (ANN)

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Biodiesel will provide a significant renewable energy source for transportation in the near future. In the present study, principal component analysis (PCA) has been used to understand the relationship between important properties of biodiesel and its chemical composition. Finally, several artificial intelligence-based models were developed to predict specific biodiesel properties based on their chemical composition. The experimental study was conducted in order to generate training data for the artificial neural network (ANN). Available (experimental) data from the literature was also employed for this modeling strategy. The analytical part of this study found a complex multi-dimensional correlation between chemical composition and biodiesel properties. Average numbers of double bonds in the chemical structure (representing the unsaturated component in biodiesel) and the poly-unsaturated component in biodiesel had a great impact on biodiesel properties. The simulation result in this study demonstrated that ANN is a useful tool for investigating the fuel properties from its chemical composition which eventually can replace the time consuming and costly experimental test

Modern developmental aspects in the field of economical harvesting and biodiesel production from microalgae biomass

Microalgae have been widely explored because of the diverse number of their worthwhile applications and potential as a source biomass for the production of biofuels and value-added materials. However, downstream techniques have yet to be fully developed to overcome techno-economic barriers. Flocculation is a superior method for harvesting microalgae from growth medium because of its harvesting efficiency, economic feasibility. Various kind of bio-flocculation harvesting methods are consider as attractive low cost and environmentally friendly options and able to harvest >90% biomass. Lipid recovery from microalgal cells is a major barrier for the biofuel industry because of process complexity and algae cell structure. Thus, the pretreatment method is necessary to disrupt the cell walls of microalgae and enhance lipid extraction. Many techniques, including dry methods of extraction, are already being implemented but found out that they are not efficient and cost-effective. Various new wet harvesting strategies have been claimed to extract major lipids in cost-efficient (30% less than conventional) way as wet technologies can eliminate the cost of cell drying and associated instruments. It is necessary to develop new methods which are energy and cost-effective, and environmentally friendlier for the commercialization of biofuels. Therefore, this review presents the advances in the progress of various flocculation harvesting methods with special emphasis on innovative bio-flocculation, the underlying mechanism of microalgae and flocculation. In this study also summarize the recent progress on microalgal oil extraction processes, and comparison was made between the processes in terms of sustainability, technology readiness, and applications in larger scales

Particle emissions from biodiesels with different physical properties and chemical composition

Biodiesels produced from different feedstocks usually have wide variations in their fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) so that their physical properties and chemical composition are also different. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the physical properties and chemical composition of biodiesels on engine exhaust particle emissions. Alongside with neat diesel, four biodiesels with variations in carbon chain length and degree of unsaturation have been used at three blending ratios (B100, B50, B20) in a common rail engine. It is found that particle emission increased with the increase of carbon chain length. However, for similar carbon chain length, particle emissions from biodiesel having relatively high average unsaturation are found to be slightly less than that of low average unsaturation. Particle size is also found to be dependent on fuel type. The fuel or fuel mix responsible for higher particle mass (PM) and particle number (PN) emissions is also found responsible for larger particle median size. Particle emissions reduced consistently with fuel oxygen content regardless of the proportion of biodiesel in the blends, whereas it increased with fuel viscosity and surface tension only for higher diesel–biodiesel blend percentages (B100, B50). However, since fuel oxygen content increases with the decreasing carbon chain length, it is not clear which of these factors drives the lower particle emission. Overall, it is evident from the results presented here that chemical composition of biodiesel is more important than its physical properties in controlling exhaust particle emissions

Unanswered issues on decarbonizing the aviation industry through the development of sustainable aviation fuel from microalgae

Concerns have been raised about the effects of fossil fuel combustion on global warming and climate change. Fuel consumer behavior is also heavily influenced by factors such as fluctuating fuel prices and the need for a consistent and reliable fuel supply. Microalgae fuel is gaining popularity in the aviation industry as a potential source of energy diversification. Microalgae can grow in saltwater or wastewater, capture CO2 from the atmosphere and produce lipids without requiring a large amount of land. As a result, the production of oil from microalgae poses no threat to food availability. The low carbon footprint of microalgae-derived fuels has the potential to mitigate the impact of traditional aviation fuels derived from petroleum on climate change and global warming. Therefore, aviation fuels derived from microalgae have the potential to be a more environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to conventional fuels. Gathering microalgal species with a high lipid content, drying them, and turning them into aviation fuel is an expensive process. The use of biofuels derived from microalgae in the aviation industry is still in its infancy, but there is room for growth. This study analyses the potential routes already researched, their drawbacks in implementation, and the many different conceptual approaches that can be used to produce sustainable aviation fuel from microalgal lipids. Microalgae species with fast-growing rates require less space and generate lipids that can be converted into biofuel without imperiling food security. The key challenges in algal-based aviation biofuel include decreased lipid content, harvesting expenses, and drying procedure that should be enhanced and optimized to increase process viability

Alternative fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from marine transport and promote UN sustainable development goals

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has placed stricter controls on several aspects of global maritime transport operations to protect the environment. In light of this, the goal of this study is to examine and assess the different prospective paths and technologies that will assist the shipping industry in decarbonizing its operations. We consider how the utilisation of various alternative energy sources reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from marine transportation and contributes to the promotion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). The complexities associated with maritime industry operations using alternative energy sources are also explored. Biofuel as an alternative energy source, including biomethanol and biodiesel, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry by 25% to 100%. However, the current supply of biofuels can only meet about 15% of the total demand which is not sufficient to sustainably power the entire marine fleet. There are several issues associated with these biofuels, including oxidation, ecological consequences, feedstock availability, technical and operational constraints, and economic factors that must be addressed before their full potential may be achieved

Enhanced Biogas Production During Anaerobic Digestion of Steam-pretreated Lignocellulosic Biomass from Williams Cavendish Banana Plants

peer reviewedIn the context of green energy valorisation, this study reports the chemical analysis and improvement of biogas production via anaerobic digestion of treated and untreated agricultural waste lignocellulosic biomass from Williams Cavendish banana plants (WCLB). With a worldwide annual production of 26 million tons of dry matter (DM), large amounts of this waste are abandoned in plantations after fruit harvesting. Steam explosion (SE) and steam cracking (SC) pretreatments were investigated at severity factors of 3.16 and 4.29, respectively, to improve the biogas potential over 135 days under mesophilic conditions. The study revealed a carbon (C)/nitrogen (N) ratio of 27.3, indicating that WCLB has sufficient N content for successful fermentation. The proportions of liquid and solid fractions recovered after SC were 20% and 80%, respectively, whereas SE yielded 17% and 83% liquid and solids, respectively. The neutral sugar content of the studied fractions indicated that glucose and xylose constituted the highest hexose and pentose fractions, respectively, in WCLB. The highest and lowest total biogas potentials were obtained from LFSC (280 mL g-1 of DM) and untreated WCLB (240 mL g-1 of DM), respectively. The methane yield from untreated WCLB and combined solid and liquid fractions from SE and SC were 40, 42, and 51%, respectively, of the theoretical methane potential. The maximum biogas production rate (7.8 mL g-1 d-1) was obtained with SFSC. This study reveals that SC deconstructs WCLB efficiently and thereby greatly enhances methane production