During the milling process of palm oil, the degree of palm fruit ripeness is a critical factor that affects the quality and quantity of the oil. As the palm fruit matures, its chlorophyll level decreases, and since chlorophyll in oil has undesirable effects on hydrogenation, bleachability, and oxidative degradation, it's important to monitor the chlorophyll content in palm oil during the milling process. This study investigated the use of light-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (LICF) for non-invasive and real-time monitoring of chlorophyll content in diluted crude palm oil (DCO) located at the dilution and oil classification point in palm oil mill. An LICF probe was installed at the secondary pipe connected to main DCO pipeline, and the system communicates with a computer located in a separate control room via a Wi-Fi connection. Continuous measurements were recorded with an integration time of 500 ms, averaging of 10, and a time interval of 1 min between each recording during the oil mill's operation. All data were stored on the computer and in the cloud. We collected 60 DCO samples and sent them to the laboratory for American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS) measurement to compare with the LICF signal. The LICF method achieved a correlation coefficient of 0.88 with the AOCS measurements, and it also provided a direct, quantitative, and unbiased assessment of the fruit ripeness in the mill. By incorporating Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and cloud storage, this LICF system enables remote and real-time access to data for chemometrics analysis.
Palm oil is an excellent choice for food manufacturers because of its nutritional benefits and versatility. The oil is highly structured to contain predominantly oleic acid at the sn2-position in the major triacylglycerols to account for the beneficial effects described in numerous nutritional studies. Oil quality and nutritional benefits have been assured for the variety of foods that can be manufactured from the oil directly or from blends with other oils while remaining trans-free. The oxidative stability coupled with the cost-effectiveness is unparalleled among cholesterol-free oils, and these values can be extended to blends of polyunsaturated oils to provide long shelf-life. Presently the supply of genetic-modification-free palm oil is assured at economic prices, since the oil palm is a perennial crop with unparalleled productivity. Numerous studies have confirmed the nutritional value of palm oil as a result of the high monounsaturation at the crucial 2-position of the oil's triacylglycerols, making the oil as healthful as olive oil. It is now recognized that the contribution of dietary fats to blood lipids and cholesterol modulation is a consequence of the digestion, absorption, and metabolism of the fats. Lipolytic hydrolysis of palm oil glycerides containing predominantly oleic acid at the 2 position and palmitic and stearic acids at the 1 and 3 positions allows for the ready absorption of the 2-monoacrylglycerols while the saturated free fatty acids remain poorly absorbed. Dietary palm oil in balanced diets generally reduced blood cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides while raising the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Improved lipoprotein(a) and apo-A1 levels were also demonstrated from palm oil diets; an important benefits also comes from the lowering of blood triglycerides (or reduced fat storage) as compared with those from polyunsaturated fat diets. Virgin palm oil also provides carotenes apart from tocotrienols and tocopherols that have been shown to be powerful antioxidants and potential mediators of cellular functions. These compounds can be antithrombotic, cause an increase of the prostacyclin/thromboxane ratio, reduce restenosis, and inhibit HMG-CoA-reductase (thus reducing) cholesterol biosynthesis). Red palm oil is a rich source of beta-carotene as well as of alpha-tocopherol and tocotrienols.
The influence of sonoluminescence transesterification on biodiesel physicochemical properties was investigated and the results were compared to those of traditional mechanical stirring. This study was conducted to identify the mechanistic features of ultrasonication by coupling statistical analysis of the experiments into the simulation of cavitation bubble. Different combinations of operational variables were employed for alkali-catalysis transesterification of palm oil. The experimental results showed that transesterification with ultrasound irradiation could change the biodiesel density by about 0.3kg/m(3); the viscosity by 0.12mm(2)/s; the pour point by about 1-2°C and the flash point by 5°C compared to the traditional method. Furthermore, 93.84% of yield with alcohol to oil molar ratio of 6:1 could be achieved through ultrasound assisted transesterification within only 20min. However, only 89.09% of reaction yield was obtained by traditional macro mixing/heating under the same condition. Based on the simulated oscillation velocity value, the cavitation phenomenon significantly contributed to generation of fine micro emulsion and was able to overcome mass transfer restriction. It was found that the sonoluminescence bubbles reached the temperature of 758-713K, pressure of 235.5-159.55bar, oscillation velocity of 3.5-6.5cm/s, and equilibrium radius of 17.9-13.7 times greater than its initial size under the ambient temperature of 50-64°C at the moment of collapse. This showed that the sonoluminescence bubbles were in the condition in which the decomposition phenomena were activated and the reaction rate was accelerated together with a change in the biodiesel properties.
The influence of reaction temperature (160-200°C), residence time (45-90min), and liquid-solid ratio (8-16v/w) on oil palm frond (OPF) pre-treated with hot compressed water (HCW) was evaluated using severity factors. Effect of the process parameters studied on pulps composition and digestibility were found to be complex. The results revealed that digestibility could not be predicted merely according to composition. Severity factor was correlated with compositional changes and digestibility with good R-squared values at varied liquid-solid ratios (8-16v/w), but not with overall glucose yield. HCW pretreatment significantly improved the overall glucose yield up to 83.72% with severity of 3.31 and liquid-solid ratio of 8.0 compared to untreated raw OPF which only recorded an overall glucose yield of 30.97%. HCW is therefore an effective method for pretreatment of OPF for glucose recovery.
Some unidentified minor compounds have been observed in the residue from short-path distillation of transesterified palm oil that are not detected in the original palm oil. A method combining short-path distillation to enrich the unknowns with fractionation using solid-phase extraction is described. The fractionated components were identified using GC coupled with MS. The transesterified palm oil was found to contain methyl esters of up to C32 carbon atoms. In the very long chain FAME with carbon numbers > or = 20, both even and odd carbon numbers accounted for 0.26 wt%, with C24 and C26 being the major ones present in the residue after short-path distillation of transesterified palm oil.
Due to its environment-friendly and replenishable characteristics, biodiesel has the potential to substitute fossil fuels as an alternative source of energy. Although biodiesel has many benefits to offer, manufacturing biodiesel on an industrial scale is uneconomical as a high cost of feedstock is required. A novel sulfonated and magnetic catalyst synthesised from a palm kernel shell (PMB-SO3H) was first introduced in this study for methyl ester or biodiesel production to reduce capital costs. The wasted palm kernel shell (PKS) biochar impregnated with ferrite Fe3O4 was synthesised with concentrated sulphuric acid through the sulfonation process. The SEM, EDX, FTIR, VSM and TGA characterization of the catalysts were presented. Then, the optimisation of biodiesel synthesis was catalysed by PMB-SO3H via the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). It was found that the maximum biodiesel yield of 90.2% was achieved under these optimum operating conditions: 65 °C, 102 min, methanol to oil ratio of 13:1 and the catalyst loading of 3.66 wt%. Overall, PMB-SO3H demonstrated acceptable catalysing capability on its first cycle, which subsequently showed a reduction of the reusability performance after 4 cycles. An important practical implication is that PMB-SO3H can be established as a promising heterogeneous catalyst by incorporating an iron layer which can substantially improve the catalyst separation performance in biodiesel production.
The present study defines a novel green method for the synthesis of the nickel oxide nanocatalyst by using an aqueous latex extract of the Ficus elastic. The catalyst was examined for the conversion of novel Brachychiton populneus seed oil (BPSO) into biodiesel. The Brachychiton populneus seeds have a higher oil content (41 wt%) and free fatty acid value (3.8 mg KOH/g). The synthesised green nanocatalyst was examined by the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX) spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained results show that the synthesised green nanocatalyst was 22-26 nm in diameter and spherical-cubic in shape with a higher rate of catalytic efficiency. It was utilised further for the conversion of BPSO into biofuel. Due to the high free fatty acid value, the biodiesel was synthesised by the two-step process, i.e., pretreatment of the BPSO by means of acid esterification and then followed by the transesterification reaction. The acidic catalyst (H2SO4) was used for the pretreatment of BPSO. The optimum condition for the transesterification of the pretreated BPSO was 1:9 of oil-methanol molar ratio, 2.5 wt % of prepared nanocatalyst concentration and 85 °C of reaction temperature corresponding to the highest biodiesel yield of 97.5 wt%. The synthesised biodiesel was analysed by the FT-IR and GC-MS technique to determine the chemical composition of fatty acid methyl esters. Fuel properties of Brachychiton populneus seed oil biodiesel (BPSOB) were also examined, compared, and it falls in the prescribed range of ASTM standards.
Chemical interesterification of rubber seed oil has been investigated for four different designed orifice devices in a pilot scale hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) system. Upstream pressure within 1-3.5bar induced cavities to intensify the process. An optimal orifice plate geometry was considered as plate with 1mm dia hole having 21 holes at 3bar inlet pressure. The optimisation results of interesterification were revealed by response surface methodology; methyl acetate to oil molar ratio of 14:1, catalyst amount of 0.75wt.% and reaction time of 20min at 50°C. HC is compared to mechanical stirring (MS) at optimised values. The reaction rate constant and the frequency factor of HC were 3.4-fold shorter and 3.2-fold higher than MS. The interesterified product was characterised by following EN 14214 and ASTM D 6751 international standards.
Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) provides alternatives technique to produce a nanosize activated carbon from biomass with a high surface area. Herein, this study we prepared empty fruit bunch-based activated carbon (EFBHAC) using HTC technique. The activated carbon was then functionalized with K2CO3 and Cu(NO3)2 to produce bifunctional nano-catalyst for simultaneous esterification-transesterification of waste cooking oil (WCO). The physicochemical properties were performed i.e. N2 sorptions analysis, TPD-CO2/NH3, FESEM, EDX, FTIR and XRD analysis. The results revealed that produced EFBHAC possessed a BET surface area of 4056.17 m2 g-1, with pore volume of 0.827 cm3 g-1 and 5.42 nm of pore diameter resulting from hydrolysis, dehydration decarboxylation, aromatization and re-condensation during HTC process. Impregnation of EFBHAC with K2CO3 and Cu(NO3)2 granted a high amount of basicity and acidity of 9.21 mmol g-1 and 31.41 mmol g-1, respectively, accountable to high biodiesel yield of 97.1%, produced at the optimum condition of 5 wt% of catalyst loading, 12:1 of methanol to oil molar ratio at 70 °C for 2 h. More than 80% of biodiesel was produced after the 5th cycle depicted the good reusability. The transformations from WCO to biodiesel was confirmed via 1H NMR, FTIR and TGA analysis. Fuel properties revealed kinematic viscosity of 3.3 mm2 s-1, cetane number of 51, flash point of 160.5 °C, cloud and pour point of 11 °C and -3 °C, respectively. These results show the excellent potential of waste materials to prepare bifunctional nano-catalysts to produce higher biodiesel yield which has potential to be commercialized.
The efforts have been made to review phyllosilicate derived (clay-based) heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production via lignocellulose derived feedstocks. These catalysts have many practical and potential applications in green catalysis. Phyllosilicate derived heterogeneous catalysts (modified via any of these approaches like acid activated clays, ion exchanged clays and layered double hydroxides) exhibits excellent catalytic activity for producing cost effective and high yield biodiesel. The combination of different protocols (intercalated catalysts, ion exchanged catalysts, acidic activated clay catalysts, clay-supported catalysts, composites and hybrids, pillared interlayer clay catalysts, and hierarchically structured catalysts) was implemented so as to achieve the synergetic effects (acidic-basic) in resultant material (catalyst) for efficient conversion of lignocellulose derived feedstock (non-edible oils) to biodiesel. Utilisation of these Phyllosilicate derived catalysts will pave path for future researchers to investigate the cost-effective, accessible and improved approaches in synthesising novel catalysts that could be used for converting lignocellulosic biomass to eco-friendly biodiesel.
Ultrasound-assisted solvent extraction (UAE) was applied to extract underutilized Madhuca longifolia seed oil. The effect of extraction time, temperature, solvent type, solvent/sample ratio, and amplitude on the oil yield and recovery were investigated. Approximately 56.97% of oil yield and 99.54% of oil recovery were attained using mild conditions of 35 min, 35 °C, 40% amplitude, isopropanol to acetone (1:1), and solvent to sample (20 mL/g). UAE oil yield and recovery were comparable with Soxhlet extraction (SXE) whilst mechanical pressing (ME) yielded
The rising concern about the presence of 3-monochloropropane 1,2 diol ester (3-MCPDE) and glycidyl ester (GE) in food has prompted much research to be conducted. Some process modifications and the use of specific chemicals have been employed to mitigate both 3-MCPDE and GE. Alkalisation using NaOH, KOH, alkali metals or alkaline earth metals and post sparging with steam or ethanol and short path distillation have shown simultaneous mitigation of 51-91% in 3-MCPDE and of 13-99% in GE, both contaminants achieved below 1000 µg/kg. Some of the mitigation methods have resulted in undesirable deterioration in other parameters of the refined oil. When the processed oil is used in food processing, it results in changes to 3-MCPDE and GE. Repeated deep frying above 170 °C in the presence of NaCl and baking at 200 °C with flavouring (dried garlic and onion), resulted in increased 3-MCPDE. Repeated frying in the presence of antioxidants (TBHQ, rosemary and phenolics) decreased 3-MCPDE in processed food. The GE content in foods tends to decline with time, indicating instability of GE's epoxide ring.
In order to evaluate the frying performance of palm-based solid frying shortening against standard olein, the fresh potato chips were fried in both frying media using an open fryer. After frying the chips for 40 h in an open batch fryer, it was found that the frying quality of palm-based solid frying shortening was better than standard palm olein in terms of Free Fatty Acid (FFA) values, Total Polar Content (TPC) and Total Polymeric Material (TPM). Solid shortening gave FFA, TPC and TPM values of 0.7, 15.3 and 2.67%, respectively, whilst standard palm olein gave values for FFA, TPC and TPM of 1.2, 19.6 and 3.10%, respectively. In terms of sensory mean scores, sensory panelists preferred the color of potato chips fried in solid shortening on the first day of frying, while on the third and fifth day of frying there were no significant differences (p < 0.05) in the sensory scores of fried products in both frying mediums. However, on the fifth day of frying, panelists gave higher scores in terms of taste, flavor and crispness for potato chips fried in solid shortening. These findings show that the palm-based solid shortening is better than palm olein when used for deep fat frying in terms of FFA values, total polar content and total polymeric material, especially for starch-based products such as potato chips. The result also shows that, in terms of sensory mean scores, after frying for 40 h, the sensory panelists gave higher scores in terms of taste, flavor and crispiness for potato chips fried in palm-based solid shortening.
Biodiesels and biolubricants are synthetic esters produced mainly via a transesterification of other esters from bio-based resources, such as plant-based oils or animal fats. Microwave heating has been used to enhance transesterification reaction by converting an electrical energy into a radiation, becoming part of the internal energy acquired by reactant molecules. This method leads to major energy savings and reduces the reaction time by at least 60% compared to a conventional heating via conduction and convection. However, the application of microwave heating technology alone still suffers from non-homogeneous electromagnetic field distribution, thermally unstable rising temperatures, and insufficient depth of microwave penetration, which reduces the mass transfer efficiency. The strategy of integrating multiple technologies for biodiesel and biolubricant production has gained a great deal of interest in applied chemistry. This review presents an advanced transesterification process that combines microwave heating with other technologies, namely an acoustic cavitation, a vacuum, ionic solvent, and a supercritical/subcritical approach to solve the limitations of the stand-alone microwave-assisted transesterification. The combined technologies allow for the improvement in the overall product yield and energy efficiency. This review provides insights into the broader prospects of microwave heating in the production of bio-based products.
The purpose of this paper was to carry out microwave induced pyrolysis of oil palm biomass (shell and fibers) with the help of char as microwave absorber (MA). Rapid heating and yield of microwave pyrolysis products such as bio-oil, char, and gas was found to depend on the ratio of biomass to microwave absorber. Temperature profiles revealed the heating characteristics of the biomass materials which can rapidly heat-up to high temperature within seconds in presence of MA. Some characterization of pyrolysis products was also presented. The advantage of this technique includes substantial reduction in consumption of energy, time and cost in order to produce bio-oil from biomass materials. Large biomass particle size can be used directly in microwave heating, thus saving grinding as well as moisture removal cost. A synergistic effect was found in using MA with oil palm biomass.
Pretreatment is an essential upstream process to deconstruct oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFBF) prior to sugars production. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of OPEFBF pretreatment using palm oil mill effluent (POME) as solvent. The effect of alkali catalyst (5%w/w NaOH and ammonia), temperature (90,120,135 °C) and time (60,120,180 min) on the efficiency of pretreatment (OPEFBF-to-solvent ratio of 1:25) was also investigated. The results indicated that POME-pretreatment (135 °C, 180 min) enhanced glucose yield by only ~56%. Glucose production was increased about 5.8-fold to 495.3 ± 5.9 mg g-1 OPEFBF when NaOH was added in POME-pretreatment (Na-P). The xylose production from OPEFBF was increased about 3.7-fold after ammonia-catalyzed POME-pretreatment. About 12.1 ± 0.2 g L-1 of ethanol was produced from Na-P-hydrolysate at molar conversion of 59.4 ± 1.4%. This research provides new insight into the use of POME as a cost-effective pretreatment solvent of OPEFBF to reduce upstream process cost by cutting down water usage.
Biomass and lipid production by the marine diatom Chaetoceros affinis were characterized under continuous light with aeration. Media based on palm oil mill effluent (POME; 10, 20 and 30 % v/v in distilled water) were used together with a standard control medium. The maximum biomass concentration on day 12 of batch cultures in control medium was 821 ± 71 mg L-1. Under identical conditions, in the best POME medium (20 % POME v/v in distilled water with other inorganic components), the biomass concentration was reduced by ∼11 % to 734 ± 66 mg L-1. The lipid content of the biomass grown in the control medium was 50.8 ± 4.5 % by dry weight, but was a little lower (48.9 ± 4.1 % by dry wt) in the above specified best POME medium. In the best POME medium, oleic acid was the major fatty acid (72.3 ± 5.2 % by weight) in the total lipids extracted from the biomass and monounsaturated fatty acids were the main type of fatty acids (74.6 ± 5.2 %). POME levels of >20 % in the medium suppressed both biomass and lipid production relative to the medium with 20 % POME.
Basal stem rot disease caused by the basidiomycete fungus, Ganoderma boninense is the most serious disease of oil palm in Malaysia. The disease can be identified by dry rotting of internal parts of the stem with fruiting bodies or basidiomata of the fungus occurring at the oil palm stem base. The stem lesion allows the basal stem rot disease to be distinguished from the other root diseases
(Turner, 1981).