Automation of palm oil mills

Automation is the function of monitoring and regulating process operations non-manually or remotely to check or maintain the required processing conditions and product quality, the use of instrumental techniques of analysis in the laboratory and the use of computers for data processing and other miscellaneous applications. Applications where automation is justifiable and the impact of changing trends in automation technology, especially the recent influx of microprocessor-based systems, are discussed briefly. Applications in the palm oil mill where automation is fairly well-developed and is being developed, as well as ideas for future applications are reviewed. An example of a practical approach to automation in palm oil mills is given using automatic control of crude oil dilution.     

Essential oils of Zingiber officinale var. rubrum Theilade and their antibacterial activities

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistilation of the leaves and rhizomes of Zingiber officinale var. rubrum Theilade were analysed by capillary GC and GC–MS. Forty-six constituents were identified in the leaf oil, while 54 were identified in the oil from the rhizomes. The leaf oil was clearly dominated by β-caryophyllene (31.7%), while the oil from the rhizomes was predominantly monoterpenoid, with camphene (14.5%), geranial (14.3%), and geranyl acetate (13.7%) the three most abundant constituents. The evaluation of antibacterial activities using the micro-dilution technique revealed that both the leaf and rhizome oils were moderately active against the Gram-positive bacteria Bacilluslicheniformis, Bacillus spizizenii and Staphylococcus aureus, and the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas stutzeri.     

Tracheal involvement in Wegener's granulomatosis: evaluation using spiral CT

OBJECTIVE: To describe the computed tomography (CT) appearances of tracheal stenosis in Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) and to assess the additional value of reformatted images. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ten patients with tracheal involvement by WG were assessed with spiral CT and both coronal and three-dimensional surface shaded images were generated. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy was also performed in all patients. RESULTS: Ninety per cent of lesions were situated in the subglottic region. In all cases there was circumferential mucosal thickening, in nine cases extending over a relatively short distance (mean 2.4 cm). The degree of narrowing of the axial luminal diameter ranged from 23% to 100%. In three patients there was contiguous involvement of the vocal cords evident on CT, two further cases with mild vocal cord inflammation were identified bronchoscopically. Other CT findings included mucosal irregularity and ulceration (50%), and involvement of the tracheal cartilages (20%). CONCLUSION: Wegener's granulomatosis may involve the trachea with resultant stenosis. Spiral CT is an easily performed, non-invasive technique which provides accurate assessment of tracheal lesions and is complementary to bronchoscopy. The main additional advantage of coronal reformatted images was our added confidence in defining the upper and lower limits of lesions and in the evaluation of vocal cord involvement.     

Low-molecular weight organic compositions of acid waters from vegetable oil soapstocks

Alkaline extracts (soapstocks) from canola, corn, cottonseed, peanut, soybean, and sunflower oil refining were acidified, and identities and concentrations of the low-molecular weight organic components of the resulting acid waters were determined by gas chromatography, followed by mass spectroscopy, and by high-performance liquid chromatography. The main components of each acid water sample, in order of decreasing concentration and after omitting the fermentation product lactic acid, were phosphoric acid, α-glycerophosphate, and glycerol from canola;myo-inositol, phosphoric acid, α-glycerophosphate andmyo-inositol-1-phosphate from corn; glycerol, α-glycerophosphate,myo-inositol-1-phosphate, and β-glycerophosphate from cottonseed; phosphoric acid, glycerol, andmyo-inositol from peanut; α-glycerophospho-1-myo-inositol,myo-inositol-1-phosphate, α-glycerophosphate, and glycerol from soybean; and α-glycerophosphate, glycerol,myo-inositol-1-phosphate, and β-glycerophosphate from sunflower.     

Low-molecular weight organic composition of acid water from coconut oil soapstock

Soapstock from alkaline refining of coconut oil was acidified, and the resulting acid water after neutralization was subjected to gas chromatography, electron-ionization and chemical-ionization mass spectroscopy, and high-performance liquid chromatography. The chief low-molecular weight organic components were C₄−C₁₈ fatty acids, hydroxylated acids, and sugar alcohols. The prevalence of acids and total absence of phosphate compounds make coconut acid water different in composition from the acid waters from other soapstocks.