Kraipat Cheenkachorn

Biodiesel as an Additive for Diesohol

This article discusses the use of biodiesel as an additive for diesohol—a mixture of regular diesel and ethanol. Physical and chemical properties of the diesohol blends were obtained and compared with those of regular diesel. The results showed that, in general, the fuel properties of diesohol with biodiesel as an emulsifier satisfy the requirement of regular diesel, although there is a tendency that increasing fraction of biodiesel results in more carbon residue. Engine performance and emissions of a selected blend (5% vol. biodiesel in the 95:5 diesel:ethanol mixture) were tested on a light-duty truck with a 2.5 L inter-cooled direct injection diesel engine. The results showed that biodiesel-emulsified diesohol produced less maximum power output than regular diesel. No significant difference in the emissions of CO2, CO, and NOx between diesohol and regular diesel was observed. But the use of diesohol resulted in a reduction of particulate matter.

Over-expression of CYP78A98, a cytochrome P450 gene from Jatropha curcas L., increases seed size of transgenic tobacco

abstract Article history:Received 30 August 2015Accepted 9 November 2015Available online 26 November 2015 Background: Jatropha curcas L. (further referred to as Jatropha), as a rapidly emerging biofuel crop, has attractedworldwideinterest.However,Jatrophaisstillanundomesticatedplant,thetruepotentialofthisshrubhasnotyetbeenfully realized.ToexplorethepotentialofJatropha,breeding anddomestication are needed.Seedsizeisoneofthemostimportanttraitsofseedyieldandhasbeenselectedsincethebeginningofagriculture.IncreasingtheseedsizeisamaingoalofJatrophadomesticationforincreasingtheseedyield,butthegeneticregulationofseedsize in Jatropha has not been fully understood.Results: We cloned CYP78A98 gene from Jatropha,ahomologueofCYP78A5 in Arabidopsis.WefoundthatCYP78A98 was highly expressed in male flower, female flower, stem apex, leaf and developing seed. However,its transcripts were hardly detected in root and stem. CYP78A98 protein localized in endoplasmic reticulum(ER) and the hydrophobic domain at the N-terminus was essential for the correct protein localization.Furthermore, INNER NO OUTER promoter (pINO) drove specific overexpression of CYP78A98 in transgenictobaccoseedsresultedinincreasedseedsizeandweight,aswellasimprovedseedproteinandfattyacidcontent.Conclusions: The results indicated that CYP78A98 played a role in Jatropha seed size control. This may help us tobetter understand the genetic regulation of Jatropha seed development, and accelerate the breeding progress ofJatropha.©2015PontificiaUniversidad Catolica de Valparaiso. Production and hosting byElsevier B.V. Allrights reserved.

An investigation of diesel-ethanol-biodiesel blends for diesel engine: Part 2 - Emission and engine performance of a light-duty truck.

Abstract In this experimental study, the performance of a selected diesohol-biodiesel blend consisting of 84.00% (vol.) diesel, 0.25% hydrous ethanol, 4.75% anhydrous ethanol, and 11.00% biodiesel was tested on a light-duty truck with a 2.5L inter-cooled direct injection diesel engine. Emission and engine performance tests for the diesohol-biodiesel blend and regular diesel were conducted on a chassis dynamometer using a Bangkok Driving Cycle. It was found that the two fuels show no significant difference on the emissions of CO2 and NOx. However, running the test engine on diesohol-biodiesel blend resulted in lower particulate matter and CO emissions compared to regular diesel. It also yielded a lower maximum power output due to its lower heating value. There was no significant difference in the fuel consumption of the two fuels.

An investigation of diesel-ethanol-biodiesel blends for diesel engine: Part 1. Emulsion stability and fuel properties.

Abstract Diesohol, a blend of regular diesel and ethanol, is one of the potential alternative fuels to reduce the use of regular diesel. In the present study, biodiesel offers its alternative application as an emulsifier for diesohol blends, in which both hydrous and anhydrous alcohols were blended with regular diesel at different compositions. The emulsification tests were initially conducted to obtain homogeneous diesohol emulsion. The selected blends with different compositions were tested for physical and chemical properties to meet the diesel fuel requirements. The results show that only the blend of 84.00% (vol.) diesel, 0.25% hydrous ethanol, 4.75% anhydrous ethanol, and 11.00% biodiesel can meet the requirements of standard diesel.

Study of Recyclability of EMIM-Ac in Rice Straw Pretreatment

Pretreatment is a vital process for the conversion of lignocellulose biomass into energy. The pretreatment process is known to enhance solubilization and dissociation of the complex lignocellulose structure. This study focused on efficacy of ionic liquid pretreatment, using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMIM-Ac), of rice straw for sugar production in the comparison with acid and alkaline pretreatment. The results showed that EMIM-Ac pretreatment resulted in dramatic changes in chemical structures and microscopic morphology of rice straw. These observations were associated with the high levels of sugar production. Evaluation of EMIM-Ac recyclability demonstrated that absolute methanol was an anti-solvent to yield the higher sugar levels than water and acetone. In summary, these findings show that EMIM-Ac ionic liquid is the efficient method for rice straw pretreatment due to high sugar yields and recyclability.