Production of methyl esters from waste cooking oil and chicken fat oil via simultaneous esterification and transesterification using acid catalyst

Low cost and environment friendly sulfonated carbon catalyst was prepared from glycerol and concentrated sulfuric acid via in situ carbonization and sulfonation. The physico-chemical properties of catalyst were determined using various techniques. The textural properties of glycerol derived sulfonated carbon catalyst (SCG) revealed amorphous structure with low surface area and pore volume. The total acid density of catalyst is found to be 35117.14 μmol/g. SCG catalyst showed remarkable catalytic performances for simultaneous esterification and transesterification using waste cooking oil (WCO) and chicken fat oil (CFO). By using WCO, the highest FAME yield achieved was 92.3% at an optimum conditions of 5 wt% catalyst loading with 22:1 methanol to WCO molar ratio and 100 °C reaction temperature for 3 h. The SCG catalyst also maintained FAME yield >90% for two consecutive cycle for reusability. Meanwhile, using CFO, the highest FAME yield obtained was 90.8% at an optimised condition of 5 wt% catalyst loading with 18:1 methanol to CFO molar ratio and 70 °C reaction temperature for 1 h. The quality assessment of WCO methyl ester met both international standards (EN14214 and ASTM D675). The amount of sulfur in biodiesel is lower than the maximum limit of ASTM D6751

GENETIC DIVERGENCE OF JESSO-BALAM RICE (Oryza sativa L.) OF BANGLADESH

In total 27 genotypes of Jesso-Balam pure line rice germplasm were studied for fourteen morpho-physiological and four physico-chemical characters at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, during T. Aman 2009 and T. Aman 2011 seasons. According to principal component scores, the two-dimensional scatter diagram (Z1-Z2) has apparently distributed the genotypes into seven clusters. According to Mahalanobis’ D2 statistic for the studied characters, the genotypes were clubbed into seven groups. The highest number of genotypes (6) were included in clusters I and III and the lowest two (2) in cluster V and VII. It was also revealed that no duplicate was existed among the genotypes. The intra-cluster distance was maximum (0.77) in cluster III and minimum (0.28) in cluster VII, while the maximum intercluster distance (28.37) was observed between the clusters III and IV and the minimum (2.49) between the clusters I and VII. The cluster V has produced the highest means for plant height (148.18 cm), straw yield per hill (39.97 g), panicle length (28.14 cm) and protein content (9.61%). But, the cluster IV has showed the highest means for seedling height (69.5 cm), flag and penultimate leaf area (1059.5 cm2), culm diameter (5.8 cm), filled grain number per panicle (3.64), grain length (8.63 mm) and 1000-grain weight (21.78 g), while the cluster VII had the highest means for grain yield per hill (31.27 g) and effective tiller number per hill (13.5) and the lowest mean for days to maturity (144). Therefore, the genotypes of cluster V need to be crossed with the genotypes of cluster IV or cluster VII, for developing new Balam rice with maximum other good characters. Finally, it could be concluded that the studied Jesso-Balam pure lines germplasm is a good source of valuable genes

Chemical composition of clays for pottery in Malaysia: a review

Pottery in Malaysia is been known for its utilized functions and unique properties. Clays as the pottery’s raw materials are a major factor that affecting the quality and reliability of some pottery products. Observations on clays’ elements and phases are very helpful for productions of the good pottery. Hence, in this review, chemical compositions of clays in terms of elements and phases structures are discussed. Basically, the most elements found in clays are Si, Al, Fe, Ti, K and Ca. Depends on location, the concentrations for those clays elements in Malaysia are at range of 24.8 – 32.4 for Si, 10.8 – 19.0 for Al, 0.09 – 2.12 for Fe, 0.08 – 1.13 for Ti and 0.45 – 3.39 for K. Several studies reported, they exist in form of oxide compound which are SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, TiO2, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O and P2O5. The percentages of elements in clays do not only determine the clays characteristics, but also influence the physical, mechanical and chemical properties of the end product. Increase of major element like silica arises the melting point, lowers the fluidity, and enhances the hardness and tensile strength. Meanwhile, increase alumina content enables the green body to withstand the sintering temperature and also increase the hardness of the pottery

Yield performance of Ficus carica as affected by different rate of chicken manure

The objectives of this study are to study the development of the fruit of Ficus carica as affected by the different rates of chicken manure. The experiment was conducted at Glasshouse and Nursery Complex (GNC), IIUM Kuantan Campus. The experiment was arranged in a randomized, completely block design (RCBD). Four rates of chicken manure used were 0 g (T1), 150 g (T2), 300 g (T3) and 450 g (T4) respectively. Based on this study, it showed that there was a significant difference between treatments on all parameters collected. From all parameters, thirteen parameters showed the highest value from treatment consist of 450 g of chicken manure (T4). Meanwhile, no fruit produces from treatment with no fertilizers applied (T1). This indicates that higher performance was produced from the greater amount of chicken manure used. So, it was recommended to increase chicken manure rate on fig to increase yields productivity