Panatpong Boonnoun

Solvent Extraction of Biologically Derived 1,3-Propanediol with Ethyl Acetate and Ethanol Cosolvent

This study examined the use of ethyl acetate and its mixture with ethanol as cosolvent for the extraction of biologically derived 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) from a fermentional process. Experimental results on extraction of the fermentation model mixture revealed that ethyl acetate was a suitable solvent, having the distribution coefficient of 1,3-PDO of 0.22 at 303.15 K. The temperature (303.15 to 323.15 K) was found not to have a significant effect on the distribution coefficient. On the other hand, the addition of glycerol into the feed aqueous stream (at the concentrations of 4, 8, 12 g/L) was found to increase the distribution coefficient of 1,3-PDOs, however, the compound selectivity decreased. When ethanol was used as a cosolvent at the volume ratio of ethyl acetate to ethanol of 90:10, the distribution coefficient increased from 0.22 to 0.31 at 303.15 K. This decreased the number of theoretical stages (NTS) required to achieve 90% recovery of 1,3-PDO from the aqueous phase from 3 to 2 stages at the solvent to feed (S/F) ratio of 9. In addition, the extraction results with actual fermentation broth at 303.15 K indicated that the use of ethanol cosolvent could improve the distribution coefficient of 1,3 PDO from 0.14 to 0.20.

Wet Extraction of Lipids and Astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis by Liquefied Dimethyl Ether

Recently, a simple method for the extraction of lipids from wet cyanobacterial microalgae using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) without drying, cell disruption, or heating was proposed. Herein, the versatility of this method was evaluated using Haematococcus pluvialis at 0.59 MPa and 25°C. Direct extraction of lipids from H. pluvialis of moisture-rich microalgae was successfully achieved, in a lipid extraction yield of 30.0% of the dry weight of the microalgae. The astaxanthin concentration in the extracted lipid was 0.33%, which was lower than the 1.82% achieved by the commonly-used acetone extraction, which incorporates drying and cell disruption. The carbon and hydrogen content were improved after DME extraction. In addition, 92% of water in the wet H. pluvialis was removed. Compared with other extractions, liquefied DME combines drying, cell description, and solvent extraction into one step.

TRANSESTERIFICATION OF PALM OIL AT NEAR-CRITICAL CONDITIONS USING SULFONATED CARBON-BASED ACID CATALYST

This study aims to investigate the production of biodiesel by transesterification of purified palm oil (PPO) at near-critical conditions using a carbon-based catalyst, synthesized by incomplete carbonization of naphthalene in sulfuric acid. The catalyst shows good activity for the reaction; with the most suitable condition found to be at a methanol-to-PPO molar ratio of 12:1, a carbon-based catalyst-to-PPO mass ratio of 0.5 wt.%, a reaction time of 30 min, and a reaction temperature of 270°C. This resulted in a FAME yield of about 95%. However, FAME yields were found to decrease after each reaction cycle from around 95% in the first to 61% in the second cycle, and to only 45% in the third cycle, as a result of catalyst deactivation due to acid leaching.

Response Surface Methodology to Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Essential Oil from Amormum krevanh Pierre

Abstract Response surface methodology was employed to investigate the effects of operating conditions and predict the optimal conditions for supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of essential oil from Amomum krevanh Pierre. The factors investigated were operating temperature (33–67°C), the operating pressure (91–259 bar), and the extraction time (20–70 min). The main effect of the operating pressure and the interaction effect between the operating temperature and the extraction time were found to be significant factors. From the response surface model, an optimal condition for essential oil content within the range of experimental study was found to be at 33°C, 175 bar, and 70 min, which gave the oil yield of 17.3 mg/g dry wt. The essential oil yield obtained at all conditions were higher than that obtained by organic solvent extraction (9.74 mg/g dry wt.) while the composition of the extract was similar, which were 1,8-cineole (70.87%), β-pinene (8.89%), and limonene (4.81%).