Subcritical and supercritical fluid extraction a critical review of its analytical usefulness

Subcritical R134a is suggested as a low-pressure alternative to supercritical CO2 in the supercritical fluid extraction technology in particular of palm oil application. Therefore, a measurement of solubility of palm oil in subcritical Rl34a will be carried out at temperatures of 40, 60, 70 and 80°C and pressures up to 300 bar. The solubility of carotene are also will be measured using UV Spectrophotometer. Results obtained from this study will be compared with the previous work and for the first time, simulation for the SFE process of palm oil will be performed using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and it will be implemented in comparisons as well when the operating conditions of the previous findings are different from this study. It is expected that the solubility of the palm oil in subcritical Rl34a is much higher than SC-C02, and it is expected that R134a could be a viable alternative solvent to supercritical carbon dioxide as R134a could be perform well at a lower pressure used whereas can achieved a higher solubility compared to SC-C0

Student exchange program (outbound mobility):Ryukoku University, Japan

Greetings to all UTM students! Student Exchange Program (Outbound Mobility) - RYUKOKU UNIVERSITY, JAPAN Application for the student exchange program is currently open to Ryukoku University, Japan for FALL semester session (September 2017).The program is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students. Please note that the application deadline is by 5th April 2017. Interested applicants have to submit all required documents that are available at our website to UTM International office. Interested to join the program? Visit and apply now at http://www.utm.my/international/study-abroad/ P/S: Click on JAPAN tab under the Study Abroad/ Student Exchange Opportunities section #StudentExchangeProgram #OutboundMobility #UTMInternationa

Retrofit of water network with regeneration using water pinch analysis

This paper presents the development of a new systematic technique for the retrofit of water network with regeneration based on water pinch analysis. The procedure consists of two parts: retrofit targeting and design for a water network with regeneration unit(s). In the targeting stage, retrofit targets (utility savings and capital investment) were determined for a range of process parameters (total flowrate and/or outlet concentration of the regeneration unit) to obtain a savings versus investment curve. Next, the existing water network was re-designed to meet the chosen targets. A case study on paper making process was used to demonstrate the new methodology

State-of-the-art of hydrogen management in refinery and industrial process plants

Hydrogen has been identified as the best raw material for hydro-treating conventional fuels such as gasoline, kerosene and diesel in oil refineries. Hydrogen is actually created and is in short supply. A new approach to minimize hydrogen waste in the industry that already consumes a large percentage of the world's existing hydrogen and to offset the cost of that hydrogen by recycling is an issue receiving much attention. This paper reviews the concepts and the available tools for hydrogen management in industrial processing plants and oil refineries. In addition, the paper emphasizes the challenges faced by refinery product quality regulations

Catalytic co-pyrolysis of empty fruit bunch and high-density polyethylene mixtures over rice husk ash: thermogravimetric, kinetic and thermodynamic analyses

Rice husk ash (RHA) has been used as a catalyst precursor but there are lack of studies on the application of the resulting catalyst. This study allows researchers to have an insight on using RHA-sourced catalysts in pyrolysis and be encouraged to utilize waste materials in the future. The goal of this study is to examine the effect of catalysts derived from rice husk ash (RHA) using the solvent-free method, labelled as RHA-T, on the catalytic co-pyrolysis of empty fruit bunch (EFB) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) via thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). Comparisons were then made with co-pyrolysis and catalytic co-pyrolysis over raw RHA and Hydrogen-exchanged Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 (HZSM-5). Thermogravimetric analysis was conducted (EFB-to-HDPE mass ratio of 1:1, catalyst-to-feedstock mass ratio of 1:1) in a nitrogen atmosphere, where samples were heated from 30 °C until 700 °C (heating rate 20 °C/min). The order of runs with highest mass loss in the second phase is as follows, with the term ‘BP’ indicating the biomass-plastic feedstock: BP-RHA-T (98.17 wt%), BP-RHA (96.25 wt%), BP (86.82 wt%) and BP-HZSM-5 (70.59 wt%). Kinetic analysis using Coats-Redfern method and comparing between different diffusional reaction models showed that using BP-RHA-T follows a one-dimensional diffusion reaction, similar to the non-catalytic run. Using RHA-T resulted in higher activation energy (83.03 kJ/mol to 84.91 kJ/mol) compared to the non-catalytic run (62.39 kJ/mol to 68.97 kJ/mol). Thermodynamic analysis showed the pyrolysis runs were endothermic and non-spontaneous. Using RHA-T resulted in a higher change of enthalpy, a lower change of Gibbs free energy and a less negative change of entropy. It can be concluded that applying catalysts synthesized using low-cost materials like RHA can improve the degradation of EFB and HDPE via pyrolysis, compared to commercial HZSM-5 catalysts

Effect of Delta Temperature Minimum Contribution in Obtaining an Operable and Flexible Heat Exchanger Network

This paper presents the control structure decision making for heat exchanger networks (HENs) to obtain operable and flexible network. Delta temperature minimum (ΔTmin) contribution is considered in this study. Several studies have been done to determine the effect of ΔTmin-contribution on the annual cost. Usually, HENs designed without consider controllability analysis and control structure decision making. In control structure decision making analysis are done to already designed HEN. Design and controllability analysis for HEN are done seperately. Therefore, there are still lacks of studies on how the ΔTmin-contribution effects the controllability and control structure desion making. Optimal ΔTmin selection is important decision to make in the early stage to avoid inflexible and inoperable heat exchanger networks. The question that needs to be answerd here is how to determine the optimal value of ΔTmin that will have better operating conditions that satisfy process design (HEN), controllability and as well as economy. In this study, this problem will be formulated as a mathematical programming (optimizattion with constraints) and solved by decomposing it into four hierarchiacal stages: (i) target selection, (ii) HEN design analysis, (iii) controllability analysis, and (iv) optimal selection and verification. A case study plant was selected as a case study. Small value of ΔTmin was first implemented and will gradually be increased to see the effect on the operability and flexibility of a case study

A process integration approach for design of hybrid power systems with energy storage

Selection of energy storage technology in hybrid power systems (HPS) is vital due to the unique advantages and capabilities offered by different storage technologies. For an optimal operation, the efficient and economical storage system for an HPS should be selected. This work introduces a new systematic generic framework to determine the most cost-effective storage technology for an HPS. A Power Pinch Analysis tool called the AC/DC modified storage cascade table has been developed to optimise the HPS by considering various storage technologies. The economics of the various types of storage modes was analysed, taking into account the associated energy losses, among others. The method was applied to two case studies with different power trends to evaluate the effect of storage efficiencies and storage form on the performance of HPS. A superconducting magnetic storage system of 26.12 kWh capacity, that gives an investment payback period of 3.6 years, is the most cost-effective storage technology for the small-scale household system in Case Study 1. For the large-scale industrial application presented in Case Study 2, the Lead-Acid battery with a capacity of 15.38 MWh gives the lowest payback period (1.43 years)

Temperature disturbance management in a heat exchanger network for maximum energy recovery considering economic analysis

The design of heat exchanger networks (HEN) in the process industry has largely focused on minimisation of operating and capital costs using techniques such as pinch analysis or mathematical modelling. Aspects of operability and flexibility, including issues of disturbances affecting downstream processes during the operation of highly integrated HEN, still need development. This work presents a methodology to manage temperature disturbances in a HEN design to achieve maximum heat recovery, considering the impact of supply temperature fluctuations on utility consumption, heat exchanger sizing, bypass placement and economic performance. Key observations have been made and new heuristics are proposed to guide heat exchanger sizing to consider disturbances and bypass placement for cases above and below the HEN pinch point. Application of the methodology on two case studies shows that the impact of supply temperature fluctuations on downstream heat exchangers can be reduced through instant propagation of the disturbances to heaters or coolers. Where possible, the disturbances have been capitalised upon for additional heat recovery using the pinch analysis plus-minus principle as a guide. Results of the case study show that the HEN with maximum HE area yields economic savings of up to 15% per year relative to the HEN with a nominal HE area

New advances in process integration research

This paper highlights some of the key recent advances in research related to Pinch Analysis, particularly those developed in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The focus is on the development of systematic conceptual and heuristic design and retrofit techniques for efficient heat, mass and water recovery even though many recent work in the area has also concentrated on the use of mathematical programming

Systematic design and synthesis of heat, mass and water recovery networks using pinch analysis

This paper highlights some of the key recent advances in research related to Pinch Analysis, particularly those developed in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The focus is on the development of systematic conceptual and heuristic design and retrofit techniques for efficient heat, mass and water recovery even though many recent work in the area has also concentrated on the use of mathematical programming