Search Results (14)

Biodiesel is a sustainable and renewable fuel generated from renewable resources, including vegetable oil or animal fats. It is thought to be a non-toxic fuel that degrades gradually and causes no harm to the environment. In the present study, a non-conventional supercritical method for industrial biodiesel production is investigated. The non-conventional method refers to a single-step interesterification reaction between triglycerides and methyl acetate resulting in methyl esters of fatty acids and triacetin as a secondary product. Process flowsheet modeling, using CHEMCAD chemical engineering software, was used as an investigation tool. The production capacity was set to 25,000 kg/h biodiesel. Methyl acetate requested in the biodiesel production is produced from methanol esterification with acetic acid using an intensified reactive distillation unit. Methanol, in turn, is obtained using synthetic gas derived from biomass as a raw material, the process representing a new method at the industrial level to solve problems related to the energy that is required, storage and disposal of residual materials, and pollution through the release of pollutants into the air. The methanol synthesis process is similar to the one based on natural gas, consisting of three main steps, namely: (i) synthesis gas production, followed by (ii) methanol production, and (iii) methanol purification. Acetic acid is an essential chemical product, generated in the proposed approach by a sustainable method with low energy consumption and low air emissions, more exactly methanol carbonylation. All the processes previously mentioned: (i) biodiesel production, (ii) methyl acetate production, (iii) acetic acid production, and (iv) methanol production were modeled and simulated, leading to the desired biodiesel productivity (e.g., 25,000 kg/h) with the obtained purity being higher than 99%. Relevant discussions regarding the design assumptions used, the simulation and validation results, as well as other technical issues (i.e., electricity and thermal energy consumption) for the system being simulated, are provided, leading to the conclusion that the proposed route is well suited for the desired application and can deliver significant results. The simulation outcomes have provided confidence in the feasibility and effectiveness of the chosen process design, making it a viable option for further development and implementation. Full article

Mulberry leaves, a common traditional Chinese medicine, represent a potential nutritional strategy to improve the fat profile, also known as the lipo-nutrition, of pork. However, the effects of mulberry leaves on pork lipo-nutrition and the microorganisms and metabolites in the porcine gut remain unclear. In this study, multi-omics analysis was employed in a Yuxi black pig animal model to explore the possible regulatory mechanism of mulberry leaves on pork quality. Sixty Yuxi black pigs were divided into two groups: the control group (n = 15) was fed a standard diet, and the experimental group (n = 45) was fed a diet supplemented with 8% mulberry leaves. Experiments were performed in three replicates (n = 15 per replicate); the two diets were ensured to be nutritionally balanced, and the feeding period was 120 days. The results showed that pigs receiving the diet supplemented with mulberry leaves had significantly reduced backfat thickness (p < 0.05) and increased intramuscular fat (IMF) content (p < 0.05) compared with pigs receiving the standard diet. Lipidomics analysis showed that mulberry leaves improved the lipid profile composition and increased the proportion of triglycerides (TGs). Interestingly, the IMF content was positively correlated with acyl C18:2 and negatively correlated with C18:1 of differential TGs. In addition, the cecal microbiological analysis showed that mulberry leaves could increase the abundance of bacteria such as UCG-005, Muribaculaceae_norank, Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group, and Limosilactobacillus. Simultaneously, the relative levels of L-tyrosine-ethyl ester, oleic acid methyl ester, 21-deoxycortisol, N-acetyldihydrosphingosine, and mulberrin were increased. Furthermore, we found that mulberry leaf supplementation significantly increased the mRNA expression of lipoprotein lipase, fatty acid-binding protein 4, and peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor γ in muscle (p < 0.01). Mulberry leaf supplementation significantly increased the mRNA expression of diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (p < 0.05) while significantly decreasing the expression of acetyl CoA carboxylase in backfat (p < 0.05). Furthermore, mulberry leaf supplementation significantly upregulated the mRNA expression of hormone-sensitive triglyceride lipase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (p < 0.05) in backfat. In addition, mulberry leaf supplementation led to increased serum leptin and adiponectin (p < 0.01). Collectively, this omic profile is consistent with an increased ratio of IMF to backfat in the pig model. Full article

Insect farming is more ecological than traditional animal farming, as it requires less water and contributes to lower greenhouse gas emissions. In our study, banded cricket (BC) and mealworm larvae (ML) were analyzed. The proximate composition was determined according to Association of Official Analytical Chemists. The mineral content was determined by colorimetry and mass spectrometry. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were obtained from the samples and separated using a gas chromatography apparatus, coupled with a mass spectrometer. Our research confirmed that insects are a rich source of protein, with ML containing significantly more protein than BC (74.41 and 65.66 g/100 g dry matter (DM), respectively). In terms of the content of macrominerals, ML was significantly richer than BC, especially in terms of magnesium content (8.75 g/100 g DM). In terms of the content of saturated fatty acids, BC contained almost twice as much as ML (40.05 and 24.74% of the sum of fatty acids, respectively). EPA and DHA were only detected in the fat of BC. The presented results prove that both ML and BC can be good sources of protein both in human and companion animal diets. The component that is predominantly high in insects is fat, with a favorable fatty acid profile, especially in terms of polyunsaturated fatty acids. This study contributes new knowledge on the nutritional value of edible insects. In this research, we included three different nitrogen conversion factors for crude protein content. Our results partially confirm previous studies by other authors, although they provide new information on the content of fatty acids. Full article

The overconsumption of energy results in the depletion of fossil fuels. Generally, biodiesels are produced from wastes of animal fats and vegetable oils. In this study, we have tried to produce biodiesel from both the wild strain and ion beam mutated strain and compared the concentration of lipids produced from both the strains and their properties. Lipids were extracted from microbes using the Bligh and Dyer method and analyzed using gas chromatography and mass spectrophotometry (GCMS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Extracted lipids (free fatty acids) were converted into biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters) using a base catalyst. The end product biodiesel was characterized and analyzed based on ASTM standards. Full article

This study was conducted to determine the effects of different types of olive cake in the basal diet of Bísaro pigs on the volatile compounds and sensory characteristics of dry-cured loin and “cachaço”. A total of 40 Bísaro breed animals were allocated to four treatments, along with a control group (T1—control, T2—crude olive cake, T3—centrifugation two phases, T4—exhausted, and T5—exhausted with 1% of olive). Various extraction methods (centrifugation, pressing, and exhaustion) were employed for the olive cake used. Furthermore, the extracted olive cake was supplemented with 1% olive oil. Eighty compounds were identified and grouped into eight chemical classes: hydrocarbons, aldehydes, esters, alcohols, ketones, acids, furans, and other compounds. Aldehydes and alcohols were the major groups of compounds, representing 57.06–66.07% and 68.67–75.61% for the loin and “cachaço”, respectively. There were no significant differences between treatments for any of the volatile compounds identified. The major aldehydes were hexanal, heptanal, pentanal, and propanal. These compounds were significantly higher (p < 0.001) in “cachaço”. This significant difference between the two types of dry-cured products was directly related to the amount of total fat content. The major alcohols were 2.3-butanediol, 1-octen-3-ol, 1-butanol, 3-methyl, 1-hexanol, benzyl-alcohol, and glycidol. Except for compounds 2,3-butanediol and benzyl-alcohol, the majority in this group were significantly different in terms of the type of dry-cured product. As for the sensory evaluation, for both dry-cured products, the trained tasters did not detect significant differences between the different treatments. The results showed that the olive cake obtained by different methods of oil extraction did not negatively affect the sensory and volatile components of the processed meat products; thus, they maintained their appeal to the consumer. Full article

The most common fuel used for powering compression ignition engines is diesel, whose main components are petroleum products. The constantly growing energy demand involves the implementation of new technical solutions and applying alternative fuels, including renewable ones, such as rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, and animal fats. The most commonly used biofuels are those obtained from chemically processed rapeseeds (transesterification) to provide them with physical–chemical properties similar to diesel fuel. The study presents the results of tests of a power unit fueled with different mixtures of diesel oil and fatty acid methyl esters. The experiment was carried out for a compression ignition engine of 81 kW power with direct fuel injection. Performance parameters of the vehicle power unit and its computer software were modified for the needs of the tests. Those modifications involved increasing the fuel dose and the fuel injection pressure. The test results were statistically analyzed. Based on the results, a simulation of power and torque was performed, depending on the vehicle computer system adjustment and the fuel mixture used. A simulation of the vehicle movement in a non-homogeneous environment (variable road conditions) was performed concerning the vehicle motion kinematics. The simulations were carried out in a V-SIM 5.0 program. The simulation was performed at five speeds, respectively: 0 km/h, 25 km/h, 50 km/h, 75 km/h, and 100 km/h. The simulation made it possible to determine speed, acceleration, time, and distance. The analysis shows that the highest acceleration of 3 m/s² was obtained for the BIO50 mixture, regulation V. The longest road section needed to achieve the maximum speed (100 km/h) was recorded for the BIO10 mixture, regulation II. The simulation duration ranged from 17.9 s to 17.74 s, depending on the adopted variant. Full article

Climate changes caused by the greenhouse effect make it necessary to look for new sources of energy. One of them is waste of a biological origin. They are often difficult to dispose of and such a process can be expensive. Increasingly, they are used to produce biofuels that can replace petroleum-based fuels. They are also an alternative to food-based biofuels. The aim of the work was to propose a method of using fatty waste generated in a plant dealing with tanning animal skins and to evaluate the properties of the produced biofuels. The authors decided to use this waste to produce biodiesel. A patented reactor and technology developed by one of the co-authors was used for this purpose. Two alcohols, butyl and methyl, were used to produce esters in the transesterification process. Animal fats butyl esters (AFBE) and animal fats methyl esters (AFME) have been produced. A high efficiency of the transesterification process was obtained. It amounted to 99.2 (wt.%) for AFME and 98.9 (wt.%) for AFBE. The physicochemical properties of AFBE and AFME biodiesels, diesel fuel, and mixtures of these biodiesels and diesel fuel were tested. Most of the tested properties of AFBE were more favourable than those of AFME. The produced AFBE in relation to AFME was characterized by better cetane number, heat of combustion and calorific value, density, dynamic viscosity, kinematic viscosity, and flash point. For example, the kinematic viscosity for AFBE was 3.6 mm²/s and for AFME 4.1 mm²/s. In contrast, the calorific value of AFBE biodiesel was 39.2 MJ/kg, and that of AFME biodiesel was 38.4 MJ/kg. The use of butanol from the point of view of the properties of the produced biodiesel turned out to be more advantageous in relation to methanol. Due to the fact that the production uses waste fat, the produced biodiesels can be regarded as second-generation biofuels. Producing biodiesel from waste is a way to utilize waste and is beneficial in terms of environmental protection. It can be a way to increase the share of biofuels in the energy balance of regions where large amounts of fat waste products of animal origin are available. Full article

Olive oil is recognised for its beneficial effects on human health, mainly due to it containing oleic acid (a monounsaturated fatty acid), whereas fats of animal origin or margarine, which are often used in recipes for biscuit production, contain mainly saturated fatty acids. The aim of this study was to evaluate the shelf-life and physicochemical properties of biscuits and of the fats contained in original recipe Italian Cantuccini biscuits (50% cow’s butter and 50% margarine). Additionally, the sensory properties of the biscuits were evaluated, including their colour, appearance, taste, flavour, texture and overall acceptability. At the same time, the fat composition of the original recipe was also modified to contain 30% cow’s butter and 70% extra virgin olive oil, in order to replace an aliquot of the saturated fatty acid content with unsaturated fatty acids, in particular with one monounsaturated fatty acid, oleic acid. Colour (CIELab), water activity, relative humidity, hardness and fracturability analyses were conducted on Cantuccini biscuits. Colour (CIELab), free acidity, spectrophotometric characteristics, DPPH assay and fatty acid methyl ester (FAMEs) analyses were conducted on the fat extracted from Cantuccini biscuits prepared from both the original and modified recipes. Full article

Biodiesel is a mixture of monoalkyl esters of fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. Agricultural residues are a potential source of raw materials for generating biofuels. The aim of this research was to determine the usefulness of Persea schiedeana Nees fruit as a potential source to be transformed into biodiesel by alkaline transesterification. In this sense, biodiesel was obtained using oil isolated from overripe fruits of P. schiedeana, damaged by the Heilipus lauri pest. The fruits were collected in the municipality of Huatusco, Veracruz, Mexico. The maceration of the fruits with hexane resulted in an oil with a high percentage of free fatty acids (8.36 ± 1.35%). The main components of the biodiesel were methyl oleate (53.12%) and methyl palmitate (25.74%). The dynamic viscosity of the biodiesel complies with ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 and the biodiesel blends with commercial diesel comply with ASTM D675, the calorific value showed an increase with increasing biodiesel concentration in the blends. This study demonstrates that the oil obtained from the overripe and surplus fruits of P. schiedeana is a viable feedstock for the production of a fuel to replace diesel. Full article

The use of biofuel is one method for limiting the harmful impact of diesel engines on the environment. It is also a way of gradually becoming less dependent on the depleting petroleum resources. New resources for producing biodiesel are currently being sought. The authors produced esters from animal fat waste, obtaining a fuel that can power diesel engines and identifying a way to utilise unnecessary waste. The animal fat methyl ester (AME) was produced using a reactor constructed for non-industrial ester production. The aim underlying this paper was to determine whether a diesel engine can be fuelled with AME biodiesel and to test this fuel’s impact on exhaust gas composition and fuel consumption. Fuelling a Perkins 1104D-44TA engine with AME biodiesel led to a reduction in the smoke opacity of the exhaust gas as well as in carbohydrate, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide concentrations. The carbon dioxide concentrations were similar for biodiesel and diesel fuel. Slight increases in nitrogen oxides concentrations and brake-specific fuel consumption were found for AMEs. An engine can be fuelled with AME biodiesel, but it is necessary to improve its low-temperature properties. Full article

Mangalitza pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) becomes more popular in European countries. The goal of this study was to evaluate the fatty acid profile of the raw and thermally processed Mangalitza hard fat from Northern Romania. For the first time, the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-Principal component analysis technique (GC-MS-PCA)—was applied to evaluate the dissimilarity of Mangalitza lipid fractions. Three specific layers of the hard fat of Mangalitza from Northern Romania were subjected to thermal treatment at 130 °C for 30 min. Derivatized samples were analyzed by GC-MS. The highest relative content was obtained for oleic acid (methyl ester) in all hard fat layers (36.1–42.4%), while palmitic acid was found at a half (21.3–24.1%). Vaccenic or elaidic acids (trans) were found at important concentrations of 0.3–4.1% and confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. These concentrations are consistently higher in thermally processed top and middle lipid layers, even at double values. The GC-MS-PCA coupled technique allows us to classify the unprocessed and processed Mangalitza hard fat specific layers, especially through the relative concentrations of vaccenic/elaidic, palmitic, and stearic acids. Further studies are needed in order to evaluate the level of degradation of various animal fats by the GC-MS-PCA technique. Full article

Biodiesel as an alternative to diesel fuel produced from vegetable oils or animal fats has attracted more and more attention because it is renewable and environmentally friendly. Compared to conventional diesel fuel, biodiesel has slightly lower performance in engine combustion due to the lower calorific value that leads to lower power generated. This study investigates the effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as an additive to the rice bran methyl ester (RBME). Artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface methodology (RSM) was used for predicting the calorific value. The interaction effects of parameters such as dosage of MWCNTs, size of MWCNTs and reaction time on the calorific value of RBME were studied. Comparison of RSM and ANN performance was evaluated based on the correlation coefficient (R²), the root mean square error (RMSE), the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and the average absolute deviation (AAD) showed that the ANN model had better performance (R² = 0.9808, RMSE = 0.0164, MAPE = 0.0017, AAD = 0.173) compare to RSM (R² = 0.9746, RMSE = 0.0170, MAPE = 0.0028, AAD = 0.279). The optimum predicted of RBME calorific value that is generated using the cuckoo search (CS) via lévy flight optimization algorithm is 41.78 (MJ/kg). The optimum value was obtained using 64 ppm of < 7 nm MWCNTs blending for 60 min. The predicted calorific value was validated experimentally as 41.05 MJ/kg. Furthermore, the experimental results have shown that the addition of MWCNTs was significantly increased the calorific value from 36.87 MJ/kg to 41.05 MJ/kg (11.6%). Also, the addition of MWCNTs decreased flashpoint (−18.3%) and acid value (−0.52%). As a conclusion, adding MWCNTs as an additive had improved the physicochemical properties characteristics of RBME. To our best knowledge, no research has yet been performed on the effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes-additive in physicochemical property of rice brand methyl ester application so far. Full article

Due to uncontrolled consumption of fossil fuel it is necessary to use alternative resources as renewable energy. Among all the available liquid fuels biodiesel has drawn attention for producing less emissions and having less aromatic contents than diesel and because it can also be obtained from inferior grade feedstocks. Since the various uses of fats and oils have increased, a significant amount of waste animal fat and used edible oil is generated every year. In this work, we produced biodiesel from littered edible oil fraction (LEOF) via hydrolysis followed by catalytic esterification. Nearly 90% free fatty acids (FFA) content was achieved at 275 °C, after 45 min during hydrolysis and linoleic acid (C18:2) was observed to be the highest component. Compared to refined soybean oil (SBO) the reaction rate was accelerated by the auto-catalytic behavior of free fatty acids (FFA) in littered edible oil fraction (LEOF). For catalytic esterification, S-TiO₂/MCM-41 catalyst was directly synthesized and characterized by using XRD, SEM, NH₃-TPD and Brunauer Emmett Teller (B.E.T). The parameters such as; SO₄⁻² content, TiO₂ loading and calcination temperature were varied to get optimum free fatty acids (FFA) conversion. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) conversion was 99.29% using 1% S-TiO₂/MCM-41 catalyst at 240 °C whereas 86.18% was observed with 3.5% catalyst at 180 °C with 20 min. Thus, using S-TiO₂/MCM-41 catalyst in esterification via hydrolysis would be a better option for treating low quality feedstocks. Full article

Due to the concern on the availability of recoverable fossil fuel reserves and the environmental problems caused by the use those fossil fuels, considerable attention has been given to biodiesel production as an alternative to petrodiesel. However, as the biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils and animal fats, there are concerns that biodiesel feedstock may compete with food supply in the long-term. Hence, the recent focus is to find oil bearing plants that produce non-edible oils as the feedstock for biodiesel production. In this paper, two plant species, soapnut (Sapindus mukorossi) and jatropha (jatropha curcas, L.) are discussed as newer sources of oil for biodiesel production. Experimental analysis showed that both oils have great potential to be used as feedstock for biodiesel production. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) from cold pressed soapnut seed oil was envisaged as biodiesel source for the first time. Soapnut oil was found to have average of 9.1% free FA, 84.43% triglycerides, 4.88% sterol and 1.59% others. Jatropha oil contains approximately 14% free FA, approximately 5% higher than soapnut oil. Soapnut oil biodiesel contains approximately 85% unsaturated FA while jatropha oil biodiesel was found to have approximately 80% unsaturated FA. Oleic acid was found to be the dominant FA in both soapnut and jatropha biodiesel. Over 97% conversion to FAME was achieved for both soapnut and jatropha oil. Full article