1.       PREPARATION, THERMAL PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF GELATIN MOLDING COMPOUND RESIN
Kajornsak Chuaynukul¹ , Thummanoon Prodpran^1,*, Soottawat Benjakul²

¹Department of Material Product Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Prince of Songkla University,  15 Kanchanawanish Road, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand

²Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Prince of Songkla University, 15 Kanchanawanish Road, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand

ABSTRACT : Gelatin molding compound resin, a raw material for compression molding, was prepared from bovine gelatin or fish gelatin mixed with glycerol at 25% of protein via heat-pretreatment of gelatin concentrate solution at 90 °C for 2 h, followed by drying and pelletizing. Bovine and fish gelatin resins had different chemical compositions and characteristics. Upon heat-pretreatment in resin preparation, both gelatins underwent partial degradation, as indicated by increased free-amino group content compared to the original gelatin powders (p<0.05). Thermal properties of obtained gelatin molding compound resins were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). The thermal properties of gelatin resins depended on gelatin type and pre-conditioning condition used. Generally, the gelatin resins with pre-conditioning at 25 °C and 60% RH for 2 days prior molding exhibited the glass-transition temperature (T_g) of 52.6 – 57.9 °C and degradation temperature (T_d) of 248.83 – 249.35 °C, depending on gelatin type.  Therefore, this thermal characteristic could suggest the range of processing temperature which was possibly used for thermal forming of gelatin resins.

Keywords: Bovine and fish gelatin, molding compound resin, thermal properties, compression molding.

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2.       REACTIVE EXTRACTION OF MICROALGAE FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION; AN OPTIMIZATION STUDY

El Shimi, H^1*; Attia, N²; El Sheltawy, S¹; El Diwani, G²

¹Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt

²Chemical Engineering and Pilot Plant Department, National Research Center, Egypt

ABSTRACT: Concerns about energy security and declining of fossil fuels have led to growing worldwide interests in renewable energy sources such as biofuels. Algal biodiesel is a technically alternative and renewable diesel fuel without excessive engine modifications. This paper provides the biodiesel production from Spirulina-platensis microalgae via reactive extraction methodology "in-situ transesterification" using alcohol and acid catalyst, since the engineering factors that strongly affect the percentage yield of algal biodiesel like oil-to-alcohol molar ratio, acid-catalyst concentration, time and temperature of reaction were studied. The lipids content of Egyptian Spirulina-platensis microalgae was estimated to be 11% wt. The weight of the co-product glycerol obtained was employed to estimate the percentage yield of algal biodiesel. Experiments to look for algal biodiesel was successful; since 84.7% as a yield was achieved at 1:3714 molar ratio of oil-to-alcohol, 100% (wt./wt. oil) catalyst concentration, 8h reaction time and 65^oC reaction temperature with continuous agitation at 650 rpm. Various properties of biodiesel were investigated according to EN 14214 standards. Spirulina-platensis methyl esters were closest to a practical biodiesel as seen from its properties.

Keywords: Renewable energy; Biofuels; Algal biodiesel; Spirulina-platensis; Reactive extraction; In-situ transesterification; Yield; Lipids; Standards.

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3.       ALUMINIUM IN COAL FLY ASH (FA), IN PLANTS GROWN ON FA, AND IN THE LEACHATES FROM FA.

Jerzy Bilski¹, Kyle McLean, FakiraSoumaila, Erin McLean, and Candace Kraft

 Vallev City State University, Valley City, ND 58072

ABSTRACT: Two coal fly ashes (FA), one from Montana semi-bituminous coal and another from North Dakota lignite alone or in combination with bottom ash ( BA) from Montana semi-bituminous coal were tested as plant growth media for the following plant species: barley (Hordeumvulgare), oats (Avena sativa), rye (Secalecereale), wheat (Triticumaestivum), regreen; a hybrid between wheatgrass (Agropyroncristatum) and winter wheat (Triticumaestivum), and triticale; a hybrid between wheat (Triticumaestivum) and rye (Secalecereale). The concentration of Al, in coal ashes and in plant seedlingswas determined using Inducted Coupled Plasma Spectrophotometry (ICP). All tested plant species germinated and grow in FA and/or FA + BA containing media. These data demonstrate that tested plants can grow on media consisting of coal ash, and therefore these plants can be used to cover FA or BA residue piles. In summary, the presence of sphagnum peat moss and soil in coal ash based plant growth media expressed ameliorative role by reducing the presence of Al in plant growth media and in plant seedlings grown on these media, but it did not translate into the decrease of the presence of Al in the leachate from these media. Elevated concentrations of Al in the leachate may cause some environmental health concerns and require further investigations. 

KEY WORDS: coal ash, aluminum, plant growth media, leaching

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 4.       ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND COAL FLY ASH CHEMICAL COMPOSITION.

Garret Hecker and Jerzy Bilski¹

Valley City State University, Valley City, ND 58072

 

ABSTRACT:It is widely known that FA particles emitted from coal-fired plants contain several toxic trace metals (1). On the other hand, due to the availability of large quantity of FA and the presence of high concentrations of Ca and Mg in most FA sources, FA appears to be a suitable soil amendment for limiting purposes and to enhance Ca and Mg contents in the soil (2, 3). FA utilization as a soil amendment indicates the necessity to take precautions against the excessive accumulation of heavy metals by plants grown on a media with coal FA. The diversity of chemical properties among FA suggests that every use of FA as a soil amendment should follow its detailed chemical analysis because it has been established that leachate from places with high concentration of FA may affect water supply. Pollutants associated with FA include several elements (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and V) whose excessive presence in the environment may become toxic (1, 4, 5, 6). In this study we discuss environmental toxicology of listed above trace elements present in coal ash. Our work is based on the literature review and performed by ourchemical analysis of coal FA to determine the concentration of mentioned above potentially toxic trace elements using inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP).  We compared the concentrations of these elements to the levels present in the soil, and diverse water sources. Based on these comparison, we speculated about the environmental safety of coal FA as a material to be utilized as plant growth media. Our own results of chemical analysis have been included into this short review as marked in bold.Overall, our work should contribute to the phytoremediation of coal FA deposits and prevent water and air erosion of FA.

KEY WORDS: coal fly ash, environmental toxicology.

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5. ASSESSMENT OF EFFLUENT SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM INDUSTRIAL ZONES OF NEIGHBORING DISTRICTS NEAR GWALIOR, MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA

Digvijay S. Chauhan^1*   Dinesh S. Narwariya¹      Prabha Chauhan²

¹Research Scholar, Department of Chemistry,S.M.S. Govt. Model Science College, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh

²Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry,S.M.S. Govt.  Model Science College, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh

 

ABSTRACT: The present research work deals with the assessment of pollution due to the untreated industrial waste water; collected from Banmore, Ghirongi and Malanpur Industrial area near Gwalior district. The study reveals that textile, soap, polymer, chemical, agriculture, pharmaceutical, dairy and food products industries are some of the major industries contributing to the pollution in the surrounding environment. Monthly Changes in physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, pH, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, oil and grease, chlorides, chemical oxygen demand and biological oxygen demand for a period from July, 2013 to Nov, 2013 were assessed by standard analytical procedures. And then, the results were compared with BIS and found that some of the parameters showing that the level of pollution was above the permissible limits. Especially COD, BOD and TDS observations showed that this water cannot even be used for irrigation until and unless treated thoroughly. The finding of the study pointed out the need to implement common objectives and programmes for improvement in the industrial effluent treatment methods. This paper aim to evaluate and assess the impact of pollutants on human health.

Key words- Effluent, Physico-chemical parameters, BIS, Impact, COD, BOD

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6.       CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSION IN ASSAM, INDIA- A MATHEMATICAL STUDY BASED ON ATTRIBUTES

Sumit Nandi* and Pijush Basak^#

*Department of Chemistry and ^#Department of Mathematics, Narula Institute of Technology, Agarpara, Kolkata-700109, West Bengal

 

ABSTRACT: Carbon dioxide emission in different countries including India is much alarming presently. In India, emission increases day by day in all states including Assam. Assam is the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in north east region of India. Increased emission of carbon dioxide from different attributes includes mainly liquid fuel, solid fuel, gaseous fuel and cement industry. The present study has tried to analyze the attribute based emission of this global warming gas in the state of Assam. Here, a mathematical model has been developed for carbon dioxide emission based on these four attributes. To study the behavior of the said attributes in the developed model, we have applied least square method utilizing the data set of twenty one years in Assam. Future prediction of carbon dioxide emission in Assam can be made from the solution of our environmental model by which remedial measures can be taken to prevent the enhancement of this global warming gas.

Key words: Carbon dioxide emission, Global warming, Least square method, Solid fuel, Liquid fuel, Gaseous fuel.   

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