Starch: a potential substrate for biohydrogen production

Hydrogen is a clean energy carrier with great potential to be an alternative fuel. Anaerobic hydrogen fermentation seems to be more favorable, since hydrogen is yielded at high rates and various organic waste and wastewater enriched with carbohydrates as substrate result in low cost for hydrogen production. Abundant biomass from various industries could be a source for biohydrogen production where combination of waste treatment and energy production would be an advantage. Carbohydrate‐rich nitrogen‐deficient solid wastes such as starch residues can be used for hydrogen production by using suitable bioprocess technologies. Alternatively, converting biomass into gaseous fuels, such as biohydrogen, is possibly the most efficient way to use these agroindustrial residues. This review summarizes the potential of starch agroindustrial residues as a substrate for biohydrogen production. Types of potential starch agroindustrial residues, recent developments and bio‐processing conditions for biohydrogen production will be discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal degradation of corn starch based biodegradable plastic plates and determination of kinetic parameters by isoconversional methods using thermogravimetric analyzer

Oil shortage and awareness of environment pollution leads to the extensive use of biodegradable starch-based materials against synthetic plastics. The accumulated wastes of these plastics takes more time for natural recycling and the process is complex. Therefore the best option of recycling would be to convert these polymers into a source of energy by pyrolysis. So to understand the pyrolytic behaviour, kinetics of such waste plastics is studied by using thermogravimetric analysis at different heating rates of 10 °C, 20 °C, 40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C and 100 °C in nitrogen atmosphere followed by characterization of the pyrolysis products. The kinetic parameters are obtained for two major stages of decomposition in two different temperature ranges 250–620 °C and 620–855 °C by iso-conversional methods such as Friedman, Coats-Redfern, FWO and Kissinger methods. The regression coefficient data (>0.9) of kinetic plots obtained for different methods best fits to the kinetic equation. Empirical formula of the compound is determined by ultimate analysis is CH_2.214S_0.0018O_0.6910. Proximate analysis gives the idea of volatile component which is74.33%. The range of average value of activation energy is 120.7013 kJ/mol to 140.7707 kJ/mol for the biodegradable plastic plate with different conversion (0.1–0.6) and (0.1–0.3) respectively at two different temperatures. The pyrolysis products obtained using a semi-batch reactor are characterized to know their composition and other properties.     

二氧化碳加氢直接合成二甲醚催化剂的研究——沉淀次序对复合催化剂结构和性能的影响

以草酸乙醇溶液为沉淀剂,采用不同的沉淀次序(并流、反加和正加)制备了CuO-ZnO-Al2O3/HZSM-5复合型催化剂,对CO2加氢直接合成二甲醚反应的催化活性顺序为:并流法催化剂>反加法催化剂>正加法催化剂。3种复合催化剂的还原温度由低到高的顺序为:并流法催化剂<反加法催化剂<正加法催化剂。在沉淀过程中,反加法和正加法均形成类胶体沉淀,相应催化剂的比表面积也较大。IR研究发现,催化剂在1101cm-1处表现Cu/Zn/Al氧化物与HZSM-5分子筛之间相互作用的IR吸收峰强度与其催化活性间存在对应关系。XRD结果表明,并流法得到的催化剂前驱体中有铜锌同形取代现象,有利于催化剂活性的发挥。     

分子筛绿色化合成技术的开发

对现有分子筛合成废液中氨氮及还原性物质的来源进行分析，确定降低排放废水中氨氮浓度及COD的方案。对现有ZRP-5分子筛制备流程进行优化，增加母液及赶胺水回用工序；建立母液浓缩装置，将钛硅分子筛及Β分子筛的合成母液及重排母液应用于ZSM-5分子筛的合成，实现废液的梯级利用。上述措施既解决了因分子筛生产废液的排放造成的环境污染，亦因废物资源化降低了ZSM-5分子筛的生产成本。     

Comparison of the GFFF and LALLS Methods for the Measurement of Starch Granule Size Distribution in Spring Barley Caryopses

A newly developed method GFFF (Gravitational Field‐Flow Fractionation) and the well known method LALLS (Low Angle Laser Light Scattering) were used to assess starch granule size distribution of ten varieties of spring barley. As a distribution criterion, the ratio of starch granule content larger than 8 μm (type A) and smaller than 8 μm (type B) was chosen. Both methods divided the observed set in a similar way. Varieties Akcent, Forum and Atribut formed a variety set with the highest ratio of large and small starch granules. Varieties Scarlet and Kompakt had intermediate ratios. The remaining five varieties Amulet, Novum, Olbram, Tolar and Krona had the lowest ratios of large and small starch granules. Statistical analysis showed that there was a highly significant correlation between the GFFF and LALLS methods.     

SIMULATION STUDIES OF THE REMOVAL OF WATER FROM ETHANOL BY A CATALYTIC DISTILLATION PROCESS

A new approach based on catalytic distillation (CD) technology was proposed to remove water from ethanol. Isobutylene was introduced to react with water in the CD column. The commercial software simulation tool Aspen Plus was used to investigate the effects of key design factors such as operating pressure and temperature, reactant ratios, reflux and distillate to feed ratios, number of separation and reaction stages, and feed and reaction zone location. It was found that the CD technology offers potential advantages of reduced energy consumption and reduced capital cost over traditional approaches for the removal of water from ethanol.     

Fluorescence and IR characterization of epoxy cured with aliphatic amines

Cure reactions of the stoichiometric mixtures of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and two very low molecular weight aliphatic polyether diamines (PED) were studied by using fluorescence and mid- and near-IR spectroscopic techniques. As the cure proceeded, the primary amine groups in PED are converted to the secondary and the tertiary amines. Near-IR spectral analysis was used to calculate the concentration of the three amine groups as a function of cure time. The decrease in the fluorescence intensity of DGEBA at about 307 nm was observed due to more effective quenching of the tertiary amine groups in PED, in comparison to the primary and the secondary amine groups. A large decrease in fluorescence intensity at 75 and 95 °C cure was observed. The amount of all the amine species was estimated from NIR spectra to shed light on the cure kinetics of PPO (polypropylene oxide) in comparison with PEO (polyethylene oxide) epoxy, as well as to explain their fluorescence behavior.The fluorescence intensity changes were correlated to the extent of epoxy reaction obtained by mid- and near-IR spectroscopy.     

月桂醇聚氧乙烯醚硝酸酯助燃降污性能的研究

通过柴油发动机台架试验证明 ,月桂醇聚氧乙烯醚硝酸酯用作柴油添加剂 ,既可提高柴油的燃烧性能 ,又可降低排放尾气中的一氧化碳 (CO)、未燃碳氢化合物 (HC)、氮氧化物 (NOx)含量及烟度等多种功能 ,是一种良好的多功能柴油助燃消烟添加剂。     

镁钴铝类水滑石催化合成安息香甲醚

采用共沉淀法制备了镁钴铝类水滑石化合物(MgCoAl-HTLcs),并用 X 射线衍射、扫描电子显微镜、NH_3程序升温脱附等方法对 MgCoAl-HTLcs 进行了表征,并以 MgCoAl-HTLcs 为催化剂催化苯甲醛与甲醇反应合成安息香甲醚,研究了n(Mg):n(Co):n(Al)、催化剂用量、原料配比、反应温度、反应时间对合成反应的影响。表征结果显示,MgCoAl-HTLcs 的晶相完整,表面主要为弱酸、弱碱性。催化合成安息香甲醚的适宜条件为:MgCoAl-HTLcs 催化剂用量0.10 g(约为原料总质量的0.23%),n(Mg):n(Co):n(Al)=0.4:1.6:1.0,V(苯甲醛):V(甲醇)=3:50,反应温度50℃,反应时间150 min。在此条件下,苯甲醛的平衡转化率达77.49%,安息香甲醚选择性接近100%。为洁净合成安息香甲醚开辟了一条新的途径。     

籼米淀粉超微粉体的制备及其性质

研究了籼米淀粉超微粉体的一种新的制备方法 ,通过正交实验确定了酶处理淀粉的最佳条件 ,考察了淀粉的溶解度和膨润力。结果表明 ,酶处理淀粉的最佳工艺参数为 :水解温度４５℃ ,时间为２５ｈ ,酶用量为水解淀粉的４５%。随着粒径的减小 ,淀粉的溶解度增大 ,膨润力下降。