Investigation of phospholipid separation from soybean oil for biodiesel production

In the United States, as per ASTM standards, pure biodiesel (B100) is considered to be an alternative fuel under the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Biodiesel refers to a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources (such as vegetable oils), which can be used in unmodified diesel-engine vehicles. In recent years, biodiesel fuels have received significant attention both as a possible renewable alternative fuel and as an additive to existing petroleum-based fuels. Besides just an additional fuel supply, biodiesel exhibits several advantages when compared to existing petroleum fuel.;The state of Iowa and Iowa State University through the Iowa Energy Center sponsors research regarding alternate energy and efficiency. The Iowa Energy Centers\u27 Biomass Energy Conversion (BECON) facility in Nevada, Iowa houses the state\u27s most innovative and collaborative biomass conversion projects for developing new fuels and chemicals from biomass and enhancing existing processes. The biodiesel pilot plant at BECON is one of such projects. The pilot plant evolved slowly from producing biodiesel at a laboratory scale with fats and oils to pilot scale production in batches. Efforts were made to make this a continuous process starting from preparing feedstock to final production of biodiesel. The work represented by this thesis was undertaken in order to get one step closer to the goal of making a continuous process.;Crude soybean oil contains impurities that can be classified into two categories: oil insoluble and oil soluble. The oil insoluble impurities consists of seed fragments and meal fines, free water and long chain hydrocarbons or waxes. Most of these materials can be removed by filtration. The oil-soluble materials include free fatty acids, phosphatides, gummy or mucilaginous substances and some other compounds. Phosphatides in soybean oil are most commonly referred to as \u27gums\u27. Currently, at BECON the soybean oil produced from the soybean processing plant was stored in a tank and the gums (mainly phosphatides) were removed by gravity separation by settling in the tank and through filtering. Gravity separation takes a long time to remove the gums and it is not very efficient in removing gums because some can not be removed. Therefore, a process capable of separating gums in real time to match with the speed of soybean oil production was needed at the pilot plant. Centrifugal separation of gums is fast and is widely used in the food processing industry. Therefore, centrifugal degumming was chosen and a degumming system was put in place as a tool to demonstrate its use for the biodiesel industry. This thesis will describe the system and main process parameters, which can be varied to get optimum results. Because of time constraint, verifying the effects of all the process parameters on the degumming of oil was beyond the scope of this project. However a system has been developed and its performance is demonstrated here

Value creation by Turkish enterprises

This study focuses on the resurgence of the automotive and appliance sectors in Turkey’s recent years. The analysis of both these sectors reveals some interesting lessons about technology management and investment strategies for companies to invest in Turkey. We discuss the major changes and project the future in both industries. Turkey seems to be a clear winner though there are some factors that could reverse the trend. The research is a joint field study partne rship between Carnegie Mellon and Sabanci Universities

Prevalence of voiding and defecatory dysfunction in postmenopausal women with pelvic organ prolapse: a prospective observational study

Background: Primary objective of this work was to study the prevalence of voiding and defecatory dysfunction in women with pelvic organ prolapse and correlate the stage and compartment of prolapse with voiding and defecatory dysfunction. The secondary objective was to correlate stage of prolapse with flow rate and post void residue and to study the voiding dysfunction in pelvic organ prolapse.Methods: A prospective observational cohort study in 120 post-menopausal women scheduled for vaginal hysterectomy pelvic floor repair. Short form of pelvic floor distress inventory (PFDI-20) and International prostate symptom questionnaire I-PSS score for Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)was employed.Results: The prevalence of voiding dysfunction in this study was 78% and defecatory dysfunction was 77%. Higher stage of prolapse had significant correlation with voiding dysfunction. (P value was 0.028). Women with posterior compartment defect had more voiding dysfunction with the significant P value (p value was 0.04). Pre-operative voiding dysfunction resolved post operatively in 86%, the p<0.000 which was highly significant.Conclusions: Women with pelvic organ prolapse had high prevalence of voiding and defecatory dysfunction. Stages of prolapse have positive correlation with voiding dysfunction. Pre-operative voiding dysfunction resolved after vaginal hysterectomy and pelvic floor repair