Development a Model for Effective Business English Curriculum in an International University in Thailand

The purpose of this study was to develop a model for effective Business English curriculum in Thailand. This research focuses on Business English curriculum of Assumption University. The subjects of the research includes BE graduates of Assumption University batch thirty-eight, graduate users of BE graduates in Thai employment market, and the Commission of Higher Education’s five domains of learning from the Thailand Qualifications Framework for Thailand’s higher education. This research used Business English curriculum of Assumption University as major data source since it is the biggest producer of Business English graduates in Thailand employment market. The data was collected by means of questionnaires and interviews which were reviewed by three Business English experts for content validity and reliability. The data collected from the questionnaires was descriptive statistically analyzed by Mean and Standard Deviation method. The mean from the analysis indicated the average level of the respondents’ satisfactions towards the current BE curriculum. Standard deviation is used as a measure for analyzing variation or dispersion of the scores around the mean. Content analysis was employed to analyze the interview data. Finally, the results was thoroughly interpreted and analyzed by employing the method of content analysis to reveal the essential elements for developing an effective model for BE curriculum based upon the satisfaction of BE graduates and BE graduate users, the needs of BE graduates and BE graduate users, and TQF’s five domains. The finding revealed that the graduates rated the high level in all four Business English effectiveness criteria. The criteria which received the highest effectiveness is ‘Degree of learning’ (Mean = 3.87), followed by ‘Usefulness of Skills’ (Mean = 3.76), ‘Continuance’ (Mean = 3.73), and ‘Relevance’ (Mean = 3.66), respectively. In addition, the graduate users are highly satisfied with graduates’ ability and core character traits with reference to the TQF’s five domains of learning (Mean = 4.29, SD = 0.70)

A Review of Supercritical Technologies for Lipid-Based Biofuels Production: The Glycerol-free Processes

Supercritical transesterification of lipid-based biomasses, a recent technique to produce biofuel without a catalyst, is discussed. This review focused on a glycerol-free process. The supercritical reactants include dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate (ETA), and methyl tert-butyl ether. The by-products from the glycerol-free process can improve both the quantity and quality of the resultant biofuel. This review suggests that supercritical transesterification of lipid-based biomasses using ETA as a co-reactant can provide the most valuable advantages, as involves inexpensive and renewable resources, which are important for biofuel production and sustainability

Efficient concurrent removal of sulfur and nitrogen contents from complex oil mixtures by using polyoxometalate-based composite materials

The increasingly stringent regulations in relation to the environmental impact of employed industrial processes make compulsory the development of alternative routes towards the reduction of sulfur and nitrogen contents in large scale chemical mixtures. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time the highly efficient application of polyoxometalate (POMs)/layered double hydroxide (LDHs) composites in deep desulfurization (1000 ppm) and denitrogenation (100 ppm) of a complex model oil system under mild conditions (65 °C), with a corresponding decrease of the content to less than 10 and 1 ppm, respectively. The high efficiency of the heterogeneous catalyst along with the high stability and easy recovery of the catalytic system renders them promising candidates for greener catalytic applications

Density of Ethyl Acetate-Palm Oil Mixture in Supercritical Condition

The non-catalytic interesterification of palm oil in supercritical ethyl acetate in continuous system to produce biofuel is complex to understand thermodynamic properties during extreme condition, particularly density of two reactants. In this study, an indirect procedure for density measurement of palm oil and ethyl acetate mixture in a batch system at high temperature and pressure was experimentally investigated using isochoric method. Its apparatus comprise a constant volume reactor which was individually loaded with a mixture of ethyl acetate and palm oil in different molar ratios (10:1 to 30:1) and global densities (0.26 to 0.53 g/cm3). During temperature increment, the changing of pressure was recorded in real-time to obtain the pressure-temperature relationship. After measuring the change of pressure at various global densities, the pressure-temperature related specific global density diagram was successfully constructed. At high global densities and high molar ratios of ethyl acetate to palm oil, the transition point took place closing to the estimated critical point of the mixture. The results will be further employed as database for accurately residence time calculation in continuous reactor, especially for biofuel production from palm oil in supercritical ethyl acetate

Utilization of waste-derived biodiesel in a compression ignition engine

Air pollution has been broadly concerned as a global issue in all regions. Particulate matter (PM) emission mainly originated from the combustion of diesel engine in transport sector is progressively solved for mitigation. The purpose of this study is to preliminary utilize biodiesel from different feedstock as an alternative fuel in a diesel engine. Waste-derived biodiesel was prepared from waste cooking oil (WCOME) and waste chicken oil (CKOME) by transesterification process. Palm oil-derived biodiesel (POME) was also prepared and used as a reference. Fatty acid profiles of the prepared biodiesel were characterized by a gas chromatography–mass​ spectrometer. The biodiesel was analyzed for fuel characteristics under ASTM standards. The engine test was carried out on a single-cylinder diesel engine at the engine speed of 1500 rpm with full engine load. The engine combustion and performance as well as exhaust emissions of waste-derived biodiesel were compared with palm oil biodiesel and diesel fuel. The PM oxidation temperature was indicated by a simultaneous thermal analyzer. The obtained results disclosed that main fatty acids of POME and CKOME were palmitic acid (C16:0) and oleic acid (C18:1) while that of WCOME were oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2). It was evident that kinematic viscosity, specific gravity and flash point of biodiesels were above the limit prescribed by the diesel fuel standard. Lubricity of all biodiesels was bounded by the limitation of diesel specification. CKOME possessed excellent lubricating properties among biodiesels tested. The combustion of WCOME lowered CO, HC and smoke emissions compared to POME while the combustion of CKOME produced similar CO, HC and smoke emissions with more benefit in NOxemissions compared to POME. PM emissions caused by the combustion of biodiesel derived from WCOME and CKOME tended to oxidize easier than those of diesel fuel because the lower temperature for maximum soot oxidation by thermo-gravimetric analysis was obtained. Consequently, biodiesel derived from waste cooking oil and waste chicken oil can be considered as potential candidates to replace the biodiesel derived from palm oil as main feedstock of biodiesel production in Thailand without any penalty in exhaust emissions