Biodiesel is a clean and renewable resource that consists of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acid, which could be obtained from the transesterification reaction of vegetable oils and animal fats with alcohols an...Biodiesel is a clean and renewable resource that consists of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acid, which could be obtained from the transesterification reaction of vegetable oils and animal fats with alcohols and catalysts. Biodiesel yield has typically been determined using expensive and laborious techniques. The attempt of this study was to examine the potential of quantifying the biodiesel conversion in real time using refractive index in transesterification process of canola oil with methanol and KOH. Biodiesel yields at five different mixing intensities and reaction times were measured using a refractometer. The measured results were then compared with analytical data obtained from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) technique over a temperature range of 25℃ - 600℃. Experimental results indicated that the FAME conversions at different mixing intensity and reaction time measured from refractometer correlated well to the relative weight losses from TGA method with R2 = 0.93 (p ≤ 0.05);however, the refractometer may over-estimate the biodiesel yield when the reaction rate was too low. Overall, the refractometer technique is cheaper and easier to manage and could provide a reliable prediction of biodiesel yield in real time.展开更多
This study presents field data and results on local fish processing, its energy supply, and consumption in the Northern Province of Zambia. The study also evaluates the impact of processing conditions on fish quality ...This study presents field data and results on local fish processing, its energy supply, and consumption in the Northern Province of Zambia. The study also evaluates the impact of processing conditions on fish quality and cost for the different processing systems available in the selected communities. The result shows that fuelwood is the primary source of energy for fish processing used either in a modified three-stone fire (MTSF) system or a recently developed kiln. The charcoal smoking alternative had the least fuel consumption, yet was not considered as the preferred option due to the high cost of the fuel, a smaller quantity of fish processed per batch and longer processing time. The result also revealed that irrespective of the system used, the type of fish being processed and the pre-smoking drying time had a significant impact on the total energy consumption. Overall, the smoking kiln was found to increase the quantity of fish processed by five folds, reduce fuel use by 48% and reduce the overall smoking time per kilogram fish processed by 39%. A relatively higher fish quality was obtained with the use of the smoking kiln in comparison with the MTSF and the charcoal smoking system. The use of the smoking kiln as a fish processing system is recommended because it improves the quality of the fish, can scale up fish processing due to its capacity and reduces energy use with its associated costs.展开更多
文摘Biodiesel is a clean and renewable resource that consists of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acid, which could be obtained from the transesterification reaction of vegetable oils and animal fats with alcohols and catalysts. Biodiesel yield has typically been determined using expensive and laborious techniques. The attempt of this study was to examine the potential of quantifying the biodiesel conversion in real time using refractive index in transesterification process of canola oil with methanol and KOH. Biodiesel yields at five different mixing intensities and reaction times were measured using a refractometer. The measured results were then compared with analytical data obtained from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) technique over a temperature range of 25℃ - 600℃. Experimental results indicated that the FAME conversions at different mixing intensity and reaction time measured from refractometer correlated well to the relative weight losses from TGA method with R2 = 0.93 (p ≤ 0.05);however, the refractometer may over-estimate the biodiesel yield when the reaction rate was too low. Overall, the refractometer technique is cheaper and easier to manage and could provide a reliable prediction of biodiesel yield in real time.
文摘This study presents field data and results on local fish processing, its energy supply, and consumption in the Northern Province of Zambia. The study also evaluates the impact of processing conditions on fish quality and cost for the different processing systems available in the selected communities. The result shows that fuelwood is the primary source of energy for fish processing used either in a modified three-stone fire (MTSF) system or a recently developed kiln. The charcoal smoking alternative had the least fuel consumption, yet was not considered as the preferred option due to the high cost of the fuel, a smaller quantity of fish processed per batch and longer processing time. The result also revealed that irrespective of the system used, the type of fish being processed and the pre-smoking drying time had a significant impact on the total energy consumption. Overall, the smoking kiln was found to increase the quantity of fish processed by five folds, reduce fuel use by 48% and reduce the overall smoking time per kilogram fish processed by 39%. A relatively higher fish quality was obtained with the use of the smoking kiln in comparison with the MTSF and the charcoal smoking system. The use of the smoking kiln as a fish processing system is recommended because it improves the quality of the fish, can scale up fish processing due to its capacity and reduces energy use with its associated costs.
