Bioethanol production from sago palm waste as an alternative fuel for automotive engines

The increasing demands of petroleum fuels, together with the environmental pollution issues, have motivated the efforts on discovering new alternative fuels. Bioethanol produced from biomass is considered as one of the important alternatives for petroleum fuels. In Sarawak, wastes from sago factories are currently causing serious environment problems. These wastes can be used as favourable feedstock for bioethanol production. The purpose of this research is to produce bioethanol from sago palm waste, and study the effects of bioethanol on corrosion of materials, and performance and emissions of petrol engine. First, bioethanol was produced from sago pith waste (SPW) using microwave hydrothermal hydrolysis accelerated by CO2 (MHH) and microwave assisted acid hydrolysis (MAH). Bioethanol was also produced from sago bark waste (SBW) using microwave aided acid treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis (MAEH). Second, effect of bioethanol and gasoline blends on corrosion of materials was studied using static immersion test. Furthermore, corrosion of materials in biodiesel–diesel–ethanol (BDE) fuel blends was also studied. Finally, the effect of bioethanol on performance and emissions of petrol engine was studied. A maximum of 15.6 g and 30.8 g ethanol per 100 g dry SPW was produced using MHH and MAH, respectively. In addition, a maximum of 30.67 g ethanol was produced from 100 g dry SBW using MAEH. Corrosion of materials and degradation of fuel properties were 2.4 times higher in higher ethanol blends (above E25) compared to lower ethanol blends (up to E25). Corrosion and degradation of materials in BDE fuel blends was 1.7 times higher than petro-diesel. Petrol engine results showed that use of sago waste bioethanol (E25) significantly increased the engine power, torque, brake thermal efficiency, and mean effective pressure by about 4.5%, 4.3%, 9% and 4.2% compared to gasoline (E0), respectively. Emissions results showed a significant reduction in CO, NOx and HC emissions by about 42%, 7% and 5.2%, respectively for E25 compared to E0. This study acclaims that sago bioethanol is a feasible alternative to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels for the automotive industry

Effects of Variable Viscosity on Power-Law Fluids over a Permeable Moving Surface with Slip Velocity in the Presence of Heat Generation and Suction

In this paper, a numerical investigation on the effects of variable viscosity, slip velocity and heat generation or absorption on power-law fluids with heat and mass transfer over a moving permeable surface is carried out. The transformation of the governing boundary layer equations into ordinary differential equations has been performed by applying similarity transformations. The transformed governing equations are numerically solved by using MATLAB BVP solver bvp4c. The obtained results are presented graphically and discussed for various values of the viscosity parameter, the slip parameter, the heat generation or absorption parameter, the Eckert number and Lewis number. The result shows that, the variable viscosity parameter , it is confirmed that the local skin-friction coefficient decreases while heat and mass transfer rates increases. The heat and mass transfer rates increases rapidly on increasing the Prandtl number. The rate of mass transfer is rapidly increased when the Lewis number increased

Energy Efficient Microwave Irradiation of Sago Bark Waste (SBW) for Bioethanol Production

The energy efficiency of microwave irradiation for bioethanol production from sago bark waste (SBW) was studied. The maximum sugar yield of 62.6 % was reached at the biomass loading 20% (w/w). The high ethanol yield of 60.2% theoretical yield, ethanol concentration 30.67 g/l was achieved by diluted sulfuric acid supported microwave irradiation with 40% (w/w) biomass loading at 60 h fermentation. The energy consumption of microwave irradiation to produce 1 g sugar and 1 g ethanol was calculated separately. The lowest energy consumption was noticed while biomass loading and energy input were fixed at 40 % (w/w) and 33 kJ (1100 W for 30 s) respectively, and it is amounted to 1.27 and 1.76 kJ to produce 1 g of sugar after enzymatic hydrolysis and 1 g ethanol after fermentation, individually. Usually, 1 g ethanol can produce approximately 27 kJ of energy, and therefore, the energy input for the microwave pretreatment was only 7% of the energy output. The microwave irradiation technique established for SBW to produce ethanol succeeded in 80% energy savings for producing 1 g ethanol compared to rape straw by microwave pretreatment previously reported

Performance of Petrol Engine using Gasoline–Ethanol–Methanol (GEM)Ternary mixture as Alternative Fuel

Bioethanol fuel produced from biomass and bioenergy crops has been proclaimed as one of the feasible alternative to gasoline in internal combustion engines. In this study, the effect of gasoline–ethanol–methanol (GEM) ternary blend on performance characteristics of petrol engine was studied. Three different fuel blends, namely, E0 (gasoline), G75E21M4 (75% gasoline, 21% hydrous ethanol and 4% methanol) and E25 (25% anhydrous ethanol and 75% gasoline) were tested in a 1.3-l K3-VE spark-ignition engine having four cylinders, dynamic variable valve timing, and electronic fuel injection. The experimental results revealed that using G75E21M4 fuel blend increased the air-fuel ratio, engine power, torque, brake thermal efficiency, and mean effective pressure compared to E0 and E25, however, fuel consumption also increased

Corrosion Characteristics of Copper in Malaysian Bioethanol and Gasoline blends

The present study aims to investigate the corrosion characteristics of copper commonly encountered in the spark ignition (SI) engine fuel system with Malaysian bioethanol and gasoline blends. Static immersion tests in E0 (gasoline), E10 and E85 were carried out at room temperature for 1320 h. Mechanical, physical and chemical properties of copper was investigated before and after immersion tests. Investigations were carried out on change in morphological properties using optical microscope; change in chemical structure using FTIR; change in mass and volume by weight loss measurement; hardness changes using universal hardness tester; and change of chemical properties of the fuel blends using total acid number titration method. The test results showed that corrosion of copper was increased with the high concentration of ethanol in the blends

Mode II fracture toughness of glass–epoxy laminated composites under various heating conditions and strain rates

The high performance of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) leads this composite to become one of the favourite research topics in engineering. The GFRP is widely used in building structure and other engineering application. In the design of composite structures, the damage-tolerant consideration of composite structure is essential, especially under environmental factor and dynamic effect. Hence, the damage stability of the composite under loadings should be investigated. In this study, the mode II fracture toughness of glass/epoxy laminated composite is evaluated under various strain rates and heating temperatures. The GFRP laminated specimens were fabricated by hand layout method with the heat-treated temperature of 40 �C, 60 �C and 80 �C. The experimental mode II fracture toughness data were obtained from the end-notched flexure (ENF) test method with the strain rate from 1 mm/min to 5 min/min. The experimental results showed that the mode II fracture toughness of the GFRP laminate composite increase with the increase in strain rate. However, the mode II fracture toughness of the GFRP laminate composite is relatively insensitive to heating temperature.

Plasma chemokines CXCL10 and CXCL9 as potential diagnostic markers of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis still remains to be a challenge with the currently used immune based diagnostic methods particularly Interferon Gamma Release Assay due to the sensitivity issues and their inability in differentiating stages of TB infection. Immune markers are valuable sources for understanding disease biology and are easily accessible. Chemokines, the stimulant, and the shaper of host immune responses are the vital hub for disease mediated dysregulation and their varied levels in TB disease are considered as an important marker to define the disease status. Hence, we wanted to examine the levels of chemokines among the individuals with drug-resistant, drug-sensitive, and latent TB compared to healthy individuals. Our results demonstrated that the differential levels of chemokines between the study groups and revealed that CXCL10 and CXCL9 as potential markers of drug-resistant and drug-sensitive TB with better stage discriminating abilities

Role of matrix metalloproteinases in multi-system inflammatory syndrome and acute COVID-19 in children

INTRODUCTION: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a serious inflammatory sequela of SARS-CoV2 infection. The pathogenesis of MIS-C is vague and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) may have an important role. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are known drivers of lung pathology in many diseases. METHODS: To elucidate the role of MMPs in pathogenesis of pediatric COVID-19, we examined their plasma levels in MIS-C and acute COVID-19 children and compared them to convalescent COVID-19 and children with other common tropical diseases (with overlapping clinical manifestations). RESULTS: Children with MIS-C had elevated levels of MMPs (P < 0.005 statistically significant) in comparison to acute COVID-19, other tropical diseases (Dengue fever, typhoid fever, and scrub typhus fever) and convalescent COVID-19 children. PCA and ROC analysis (sensitivity 84–100% and specificity 80–100%) showed that MMP-8, 12, 13 could help distinguish MIS-C from acute COVID-19 and other tropical diseases with high sensitivity and specificity. Among MIS-C children, elevated levels of MMPs were seen in children requiring intensive care unit admission as compared to children not needing intensive care. Similar findings were noted when children with severe/moderate COVID-19 were compared to children with mild COVID-19. Finally, MMP levels exhibited significant correlation with laboratory parameters, including lymphocyte counts, CRP, D-dimer, Ferritin and Sodium levels. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that MMPs play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of MIS-C and COVID-19 in children and may help distinguish MIS-C from other conditions with overlapping clinical presentation

Targeting codon 158 p53-mutant cancers via the induction of p53 acetylation

Abstract: Gain of function (GOF) DNA binding domain (DBD) mutations of TP53 upregulate chromatin regulatory genes that promote genome-wide histone methylation and acetylation. Here, we therapeutically exploit the oncogenic GOF mechanisms of p53 codon 158 (Arg158) mutation, a DBD mutant found to be prevalent in lung carcinomas. Using high throughput compound screening and combination analyses, we uncover that acetylating mutp53R158G could render cancers susceptible to cisplatin-induced DNA stress. Acetylation of mutp53R158G alters DNA binding motifs and upregulates TRAIP, a RING domain-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase which dephosphorylates IĸB and impedes nuclear translocation of RelA (p65), thus repressing oncogenic nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-ĸB) signaling and inducing apoptosis. Given that this mechanism of cytotoxic vulnerability appears inapt in p53 wild-type (WT) or other hotspot GOF mutp53 cells, our work provides a therapeutic opportunity specific to Arg158-mutp53 tumors utilizing a regimen consisting of DNA-damaging agents and mutp53 acetylators, which is currently being pursued clinically

Synthesis and characterization of polypyrrole decorated graphene/β-cyclodextrin composite for low level electrochemical detection of mercury (II) in water

Mercury (Hg(II)) is considered as one of the most toxic element that directly affects the human health and the environment. Therefore, in this study, we propose a sensitive and disposable electrochemical sensor for the detection of Hg(II) in various water samples using polypyrrole (PPy) decorated graphene/-cyclodextrin (GR-CD) composite modified screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE). The GRCD/PPy composite was synthesized by chemical oxidation of PPy monomer in GR-CD solution using FeCl3. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) is used for the detection of Hg(II) and the DPV results reveal that GR-CD/PPy composite modified SPCE has high sensitivity towards Hg(II) than bare, GR, GR-CD and PPy modified SPCEs. The optimization studies such as effect of pH, accumulating time and effect of scanning potential towards the detection of Hg(II) were investigated. The GR-CD/PPy composite modified SPCE could detect the Hg(II) up to 51.56 M L−1 with the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.47 nM L−1. The obtained LOD was well below the guideline level of Hg(II) set by the World’s Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In addition, the fabricated GR-CD/PPy composite modified SPCE selectively detected the Hg(II) in the presence of potentially interfering metal cations