Influence of egg shell as heterogeneous catalyst in the production of biodiesel via transesterification of Jatropha oil

The increase in energy demand together with the negative global environmental impacts of using fossil fuel for energy generations brings a question on dependability on it for sustainable economic growth. The way out is the use of renewable sources of energy such as biodiesel which has significant advantages over its counterpart (fossil fuel). Biodiesel can be produced through various methods such as transesterification, micro emulsion and pyrolysis. The influence of egg shell as heterogeneous catalysts in the production of biodiesel via transesterification of Jatropha oil was investigated. The physical and chemical properties of the catalyst were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Xray fluoroscopy (XRF) characterizations. The crude Jatropha oil was transesterified and 0.1 wt%, 0.2 wt%, 0.3wt%, 0.5wt% and 0.5wt% of egg shell were used as heterogeneous catalyst during transesterification process. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) was used to determine the functional group of the samples. SEM and FTIR characterizations indicate the presence of dispersed particles on the catalyst and ester (biodiesel) on the samples respectively. The maximum percentage of biodiesel yield is 94.3% at the application of 0.2wt% egg shell as catalyst using 1:6 oil to methanol ratio in 1hr at 60-65℃. This indicated that the egg shell has high potential to be used as catalyst in the production of biodiesel via transesterification of Jatropha oil

Effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles on viscosity of transesterified neem oil

Efforts have been made worldwide to find alternative fluids for industrial applications. Vegetable oil appears to be a perfect alternative, but using most of the vegetable oil as a feedstock made its use for industrial purposes challenging. The recent trend is to develop coolants/lubricants from non-edible seed oil. This work investigates the effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles on viscosity of transesterified neem oil. The crude neem oil was purified, transesterified and nanoparticles were dispersed in the transesterified oil at concentrations ranging from 0.0% to 1.0% at 0.2% intervals. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra were used to examine the structures of the samples and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analyses were used to examine the surface morphology of the samples. Viscosity were examined. Among other things, it was found that a small amount of ZnO (0.6%) nanoparticles in the oil could improve the viscosity of the fluid. The nanoliquid with a ZnO concentration of 0.6% appears to have optimal properties

Improving the bending strength of porcelain by replacement of quartz by Rice Husk Ash (RHA)

This study develops the bending strength of porcelain ceramics by substitution of quartz by rice husk ash (RHA) at various temperatures. Rice husk ash was used as a substitute for quartz with different replacement levels (0 to 25 wt%) to produce porcelain at different temperatures; 1000℃, 1100℃, 1200℃,1300℃. The properties of the samples such as, bending strengthand XRD were analyzed. It was observed that progressive substitution of quartz by RHA in a porcelain composition and increase in temperature resulted in early vitrification of the mixture. The bending strength was the highest when the porosity was the least at a temperature of 1200℃ on 20 wt% substitution of RHA. Furthermore, microstructural observations show that the grain size depends on the temperature, the substitution and is directly related to its bending strength

Development of bending strength of porcelain body by the substitution of quartz by RHA at different soaking times: A comparison between experimental and predicted results

The effect of soaking time and substitution of quartz by rice husk ash (RHA) on bending strength of porcelain was investigated. RHA was used as a substitute for quartz with different replacement levels (0 wt% to 25 wt%). The mixed powder was pressed into pellets and at a mould pressure of 91 MPa. All the pellets were sintered at the temperatures of 1200 οC for 1 h, 2 h and 3 h soaking time, at a heating rate of 5 οC per minute. The bending strength and bulk density were the highest at a soaking time of 2 h MPa on 20 wt% of RHA. Porcelain containing RHA has about 7 % weight reduction compared with standard porcelain. The improvement in the properties could be attributed to decrease in porosity as a result of increase in mullite and glassy phase simultaneously. Statistical software Design Expert 7.1 was used. Cubic versus quadratic equation was used in order to design a model on the effect of the parameters on the response. For predicting the optimal point after performing experiments, Cubic versus quadratic equation (Equation 4.1) was fitted to correlate the relationship between independent variables (soaking and RHA wt%) and response (bending strength) and interactive effect of the process variables. Regression coefficients of the quadratic model was evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA). All the terms in the model were tested by student’s F-test and significance of the F-values at probability levels (p ≤0.05) were analyzed. The experimental results were compared with the predicted result and there was good agreement between the two results