In biodiesel production, soap formation creates phase separation problem during purification process resulting in low the biodiesel yield and ester content. This research evaluates the effect of water contents (0.05-1 wt%) on the saponification reaction of refined palm oil (RPO). In
comparison, saponification of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) with varying water contents (0.05-1wt%) are determined. From a microscopic point view, soap should act as a mass-diffusion barrier affecting a lower reactant mass flux to the reaction zone. Regarding soap formation in biodiesel production,
the high-water content leads to soap formation in FAME and RPO due to hydrolysis, neutralization and saponification reaction. This work suggests that the soap formation behaviour in biodiesel production should be addressed; and thus, the optimal water content in raw material oils should be
determined.
Intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide (i-a-SiO:H) films were used as front and rear buffer layers in crystalline silicon heterojunction (c-Si-HJ) solar cells. The surface passivity and effective lifetime of these i-a-SiO:H films on an n-type silicon wafer were improved by increasing the CO2/SiH4ratios in the films. Using i-a-SiO:H as the front and rear buffer layers in c-Si-HJ solar cells was investigated. The front i-a-SiO:H buffer layer thickness and the CO2/SiH4ratio influenced the open-circuit voltage(Voc), fill factor (FF), and temperature coefficient (TC) of the c-Si-HJ solar cells. The highest total area efficiency obtained was 18.5%(Voc=700 mV,Jsc=33.5 mA/cm2, andFF=0.79). The TC normalized for this c-Si-HJ solar cell efficiency was −0.301%/°C.
This paper reports the preparation of wide gap p-type hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon oxide (p-μc-SiO:H) films using a 40 MHz very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. The reported work focused on the effects of the CO2/SiH4ratio on the properties of p-μc-SiO:H films and the effectiveness of the films as an emitter layer of crystalline silicon heterojunction (c-Si-HJ) solar cells. A p-μc-SiO:H film with a wide optical band gap (E04), 2.1 eV, can be obtained by increasing the CO2/SiH4ratio; however, the tradeoff betweenE04and dark conductivity must be considered. The CO2/SiH4ratio of the p-μc-SiO:H emitter layer also significantly affects the performance of the solar cells. Compared to the cell using p-μc-Si:H (CO2/SiH4= 0), the cell with the p-μc-SiO:H emitter layer performs more efficiently. We have achieved the highest efficiency of 18.3% with an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 692 mV from the cell using the p-μc-SiO:H layer. The enhancement in theVocand the efficiency of the solar cells verified the potential of the p-μc-SiO:H films for use as the emitter layer in c-Si-HJ solar cells.
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