Nattawut Chaiyut

Biodiesel production from waste cooking palm oil using calcium oxide supported on activated carbon as catalyst in a fixed bed reactor

A reactor has been developed to produce high quality fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from waste cooking palm oil (WCO). Continuous transesterification of free fatty acids (FFA) from acidified oil with methanol was carried out using a calcium oxide supported on activated carbon (CaO/AC) as a heterogeneous solid-base catalyst. CaO/AC was prepared according to the conventional incipient-wetness impregnation of aqueous solutions of calcium nitrate (Ca(NO3)2·4H2O) precursors on an activated carbon support from palm shell in a fixed bed reactor with an external diameter of 60 mm and a height of 345 mm. Methanol/oil molar ratio, feed flow rate, catalyst bed height and reaction temperature were evaluated to obtain optimum reaction conditions. The results showed that the FFA conversion increased with increases in alcohol/oil molar ratio, catalyst bed height and temperature, whereas decreased with flow rate and initial water content in feedstock increase. The yield of FAME achieved 94% at the reaction temperature 60 °C, methanol/oil molar ratio of 25: 1 and residence time of 8 h. The physical and chemical properties of the produced methyl ester were determined and compared with the standard specifications. The characteristics of the product under the optimum condition were within the ASTM standard. High quality waste cooking palm oil methyl ester was produced by combination of heterogeneous alkali transesterification and separation processes in a fixed bed reactor. In sum, activated carbon shows potential for transesterification of FFA.

Calcium Oxide Derived from Waste Shells of Mussel, Cockle, and Scallop as the Heterogeneous Catalyst for Biodiesel Production

The waste shell was utilized as a bioresource of calcium oxide (CaO) in catalyzing a transesterification to produce biodiesel (methyl ester). The economic and environmen-friendly catalysts were prepared by a calcination method at 700–1,000°C for 4 h. The heterogeneous catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The effects of reaction variables such as reaction time, reaction temperature, methanol/oil molar ratio, and catalyst loading on the yield of biodiesel were investigated. Reusability of waste shell catalyst was also examined. The results indicated that the CaO catalysts derived from waste shell showed good reusability and had high potential to be used as biodiesel production catalysts in transesterification of palm oil with methanol.

Utilization of Biodiesel Wastes as a Bioresource for the Preparation of Activated Carbon

In this research, biodiesel wastes such as palm shells (PS) and Jatropha curcas fruit shells (JS) were used for the synthesis of activated carbon by chemical activation method using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating agent. The effects of acidic treatment in hydrofluoric acid (HF), impregnation ratio, activation temperature and activation time on the adsorption capacity of methylene blue (MB) and iodine (I2) solution were examined. The results showed that HF-treated activated carbons exhibited high adsorption capacities by eliminating ash residues, which might fill up the pores. In addition, the adsorption capacities of methylene blue and iodine solution were also significantly influenced by the types of raw materials, the activation temperature and the activation time. The highest adsorption capacity of methylene blue of 257.07 mg/g and iodine of 847.58 mg/g were obtained from Jatropha curcas wastes.

Effect of TiO2 Nanoparticles on Tensile and Photodegradation Behavior of Biopolymer Films Based on Poly(Butylene Succinate)

Tensile and photodegradation behavior of poly (butylene succinate)/titanium dioxide nanoparticles (PBS/TiO2) composite films were investigated over a range of filler content 0-10 wt%. The surface of TiO2 nanoparticles was treated using propionic acid (C3H6O2) and n-hexylamine (C6H15N) order to disperse them into the bipolymer matrices. The nanocomposite materials were prepared by solvent evaporation technique and compression molding machine. All samples with a wide range of filler addition exhibit the translucency. The surface morphology showed that a uniform dispersion of filler in the matrix existed when the nanoparticles content was less than 5 wt%. The results indicated that the percentage of weight loss of the nanocomposite films was higher than the neat PBS owing to UVA and UVC irradiation. Functionalized TiO2 nanoparticles existing on the surface area suppressed photodegradation of the inner and backside of film specimens. The biopolymer films can easily be degraded by photocatalytic oxidation of TiO2 under UV irradiation. The introduction of modified TiO2 into PBS matrix improved the tensile modulus of the nanocomposites.

Effect of Surface Treatment on Interfacial and Properties of Water Hyacinth Fiber Reinforced Poly(Lactic Acid) Composites

Surface treatment of water hyacinth fiber (WHF) was investigated as a mean of improving interfacial of WHF reinforced poly (lactic acid) (PLA) composites. Fiber was treated with sodium hydroxide 15% w/v at 85 °C for 3 h. The composite materials were processed using internal melt mixer and compression molding machine. The weight content of fibervaried from 5 to 25% w/w.The mechanical and thermal properties of pure PLA and composites were compared using universal testing machine, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetricanalysis (TGA).The best mechanical properties of composite were achieved at fiber mass content of 20% w/w in this study, which showed an increase oftensile modulus by 21.6% compared to those of pure PLA. The high tensile modulus but low elongation at break indicates that this material exhibits brittle behavior. The results of TGA andDSC experiments indicated that the addition of fiber enhanced the thermal stability of the composites and WHF can act as a nucleating agent for PLA crystallites. The morphology, evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), indicated that a uniform dispersion of fiber in the PLA matrix existed. Alkali treatment of fiber increased the interfacial bonding strength and the wettability of the fiber by PLA leading to the enhancement in mechanical properties of the composites.

Preparation and Properties of Nanocomposites Based on Poly(Lactic Acid) and Modified TiO2

In this study, poly (lactic acid) (PLA)-TiO2 nano particle nano composites were prepared and the severe aggregation of TiO2 nano particles in polymer matrixwere reduced by themodification of TiO2 surface with propionic acid and n-hexylamine. The resulting products were characterized by FT-IR, DSCand SEMtechniques so as to have a better understanding of bondingbetween the polymer and nano particles. All of nano composites with a wide range of TiO2 additionexhibit the high transparency. SEM micrographs of the nano composites showed of the TiO2 nano particles were uniformly dispersed in polymer matrices. Photodegradation of PLA-TiO2 nano particle nano composites were also investigated. The results indicated that nano composites could be efficiently photodegraded by UV irradiation in comparison with pure PLA.