Studies of Terminalia catappa L. oil: characterization and biodiesel production

Slow pyrolysis of Terminalia catappa L. municipal solid waste and the use of the aqueous fraction produced for bovine mastitis control

The Terminalia catappa L. tree is an ornamental and shade tree producter of a large amount of biological waste sent to landfills. Therefore, this plant constitutes so-called municipal solid wood waste (MSWW), which causes undesirable impacts on the environment, such as the generation of methane through the action of microorganisms. Sustainable solutions for the proper use and disposal of MSWW are a topic that has assumed great relevance at present due to the high quantities of MSWW generated worldwide. Pyrolysis constitutes an attractive alternative for the sustainable use of MSWW to produce higher value-added products. This study investigated the slow pyrolysis of Terminalia catappa L. fruit and the use of the aqueous fraction produced for bovine mastitis control. We obtained four fractions from the pyrolysis process, with average yields of the aqueous phase (36.22 ± 2.0 %), bio-oil (5.52 ± 0.4 %), biochar (37.55 ± 2.8 %) and gas (20.71 ± 2.0 %). The aqueous fraction was extracted with organic solvents and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC‒MS). The extracts were composed mainly of phenols (50 %), furan derivatives, cyclic ketones, and others with lower contents, such as alcohols and esters. The aqueous fraction had bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, which are responsible for bovine mastitis. In addition, the fraction showed low cytotoxicity against a murine melanoma cell line from a C57BL/6J mouse, B16F10 cells and mouse peritoneal cells.

Effect of some Cultivation Factors and Extraction Methods on Terminalia Catappa L. Seed Oil

Terminalia catappa L. is a common tropic tree for shade and ornament in many countries. Recently, Terminalia catappa L. seed oil has been considered as a new oleaginous seed for dietary and biofuel production. In this study, ripe Terminalia catappa L. fruits originated in Vietnam were collected and seed oil extracted. In our experiment conditions, the effect of tree location, tree age, and annual harvest time on seed weight and seed oil content was investigated. As results, the seeds at the eastern site of the ground obtained not only the biggest size (3.607 g) but also contained the highest oil mass percentage (56.38%). The suitable annual harvesting time for the good seed quality was from March to April. In addition, the Terminalia catappa L. seeds for oil extraction began being harvested in the fourth year with 55.88% oil content compared to 55.99% of the five and six-year-old and trees. After seed drying, the seed oil was extracted by five different methods including cold screw pressing, hot screw pressing, hydraulic pressing, and solvent extracting, and combining method (cold screw pressing then solvent extraction of oil cake). Among the physical methods, cold screw pressing observed the highest oil yield of 77.32%, and the good oil quality was obtained with low free fatty acid (0.550% oleic acid), low acid value (1.080 mg KOH/g oil), and low peroxide value (1.240 meq O2/kg oil). However, the combination of cold screw pressing and cake oil extracting by solvent increased the oil yield by 14.61%. The saponification values fluctuated between 196 to 197 mg KOH/g oil, while the iodine values were in the range of 77.00 and 79.89 g I2/kg oil.

Transesterification of Soybean Oil through Different Homogeneous Catalysts: Kinetic Study

The search for alternatives to fossil fuels has been widely covered, especially in the past two decades. Thus, the role of biodiesel has been important, and its implementation in biorefineries seems feasible due to the sustainability of the process. This way, the knowledge of kinetics is vital to design industrial facilities and to compare the efficiency of catalysts (both typical and innovative ones) during transesterification or other similar processes taking place in a biorefinery, such as biolubricant production through transesterification with superior alcohols. In this work, a thorough kinetic study of homogeneous catalysts (base catalysts, such as KOH, NaOH or CH3OK, and acid catalysts (H2SO4, H3PO4 and p-toluenesulfonic acid, CH3C6H4SO3H)) applied to the transesterification of soybean oil was carried out to provide extensive kinetic data about this process. As a conclusion, a pseudo-first-order reaction mechanism was applied in all cases, with activation energies of 65.5–66 and 92.3 kJ·mol−1 for KOH and CH3C6H4SO3H, respectively, proving the higher activation energy for acid catalysis compared to base catalysis.

Fatty Acid Content in Biomasses: State-of-the-Art and Novel Physical Property Estimation Methods

In line with the growing environmental awareness developed along the last decades, modern societies are urged to evolve into sustainable economics where the reuse of organic wastes represents the key feedstock for a green transaction. The oil phase obtained from different biomasses has the potential to be a source of food supplements, medicines, cosmetics, or feedstock for biofuel production. In the present work, the composition of 104 different biomasses including seeds, peels, flowers, plants, and leaves has been reviewed for the lipid content. Based on the most frequent fatty acids screened, experimental data for normal boiling point temperature, normal melting point, critical properties, and acentric factor were collected and compared with the most common estimation methods, which are functions of the molecular structure and interaction between different functional groups. New predictive equations have been proposed to reduce the estimation deviation and to provide simple correlations to be used in simulation software when dealing with biomass processes. For all the properties, the estimations proposed have an absolute average deviation equal to or lower than 4.6%.

Physicochemical properties of Malaysian-grown tropical almond nuts (Terminalia catappa)

The seeds of Terminalia catappa from Malaysia were analyzed for their physicochemical properties. The following values were obtained: moisture 6.23 ± 0.09 %, ash 3.78 ± 0.04 %, lipid 54.68 ± 0.14 %, protein 17.66 ± 0.13 %, total dietary fibre 9.97 ± 0.08 %, carbohydrate 7.68 ± 0.06 %, reducing sugar 1.36 ± 0.16 %, starch 1.22 ± 0.15 %, caloric value 593.48 ± 0.24 %. Studies were also conducted on amino acid profile and free fatty acid composition of the seed oil. Results revealed that glutamic acid was the major essential amino acid while methionine and lysine were the limiting amino acids. The major saturated fatty acid was palmitic acid, while the main unsaturated fatty acid was oleic acid followed by linoleic acid. In addition, the seed was rich in sucrose and had trace amount of glucose and fructose. Briefly, the seed was high in proteins and lipids which are beneficial to human.

Optimization of biodiesel production from animal fat residue in wastewater using response surface methodology

Animal fat residues (AFR) from waste water were used as feedstock to produce biodiesel by a two-step acid-catalyzed process. Treatment of the AFRs with 5.4% (w/w) of 17 M H2SO4 at a methanol/AFR ratio of 13:1 (50%w/w) at 60 °C converted more than 95% of the triglycerides into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) with an acid value (AV) of 1.3 mgKOH/gbiodiesel. Response surface methodology indicated that a lower AV cannot be reached using a one-step acid catalyzed process. Thus a two-step acid catalyzed process was employed using 3.6% catalyst and 30% methanol for 5 h for the first step and 1.8% catalyst and 10% methanol for 1 h in the second step, resulting in a yield higher than 98% and an AV of 0.3 mgKOH/gbiodiesel. The product thus conforms to the European norm EN14214 concerning biodiesel.

Studies on Guizotia abyssinica L. oil: biodiesel synthesis and process optimization

Guizotia abyssinica seeds, a common bird feedstock, have been explored for the potential of biodiesel synthesis. The oil was extracted from the seeds by solvent extraction and composition of G. abyssinica oil was examined. The reaction parameters for biodiesel synthesis have been optimized. Temperature, oil: methanol ratio, catalyst type and catalyst concentration were found to have significant role on ester conversion. According to this study, the maximum yield of ester (98.7%) can be obtained with optimized sodium methoxide catalyst dosage (0.6%) at an operational temperature of 65 degrees C. Methyl ester of G. abyssinica oil was also studied for its oxidation stability and low temperature properties. Further, the synthesized product was blended in diesel at 5-20% ratios and evaluated for physico-chemical properties.