Agricultural, food and other biomass wastes represent an untapped resource of hydrocarbonaceous material with potential for valorisation into fuels and chemical products. A key challenge in this area is directing the characteristics of the products for different applications. Here, the use of different solventswater and simple alcohols-is shown to directly impact on the products arising from the carbonisation of brewers' spent grain (BSG). Unprocessed BSG was carbonised using water, methanol, ethanol and 2-propanol under pressure. The synthesised biochar was analysed using infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetic analysis, elemental analysis and bomb calorimetry. Biochar synthesised in alcohol solvents exhibited significantly different properties to that produced via conventional hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) in water. HTC yielded a biochar with reduced heteroatom content and more favourable properties for application as a solid fuel. The alcohol solvents yielded greater quantities of water soluble oil (WSO), with the yield increasing with alcohol chain length. These trends are correlated with physical properties such as dielectric constant and increased solubility of organics in higher carbon number alcohols. These results show that the choice of solvent can direct the properties of synthesised chars for specific applications or can maximise the yield of bio-oil for fuel.
Brewer’s spent grain (BSG) is a source of lignocellulose that has a potential to be used for chemicals and fuels production, thereby reducing the reliance on fossil sources. There are relatively few investigations on using BSG; hence, the idea to valorise this agro-industrial waste is a great interest as BSG is available in large quantities throughout the year. Two modes of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) have been investigated using the raw BSG. The first mode used the raw BSG as received without pre-treatment while the second mode used the dried BSG with pure water. The conversion, water-soluble oil (WSO) yield and liquid product were measured for both modes. The liquid products were also analysed to determine the types and concentration of valuable products obtained. The characterisation of BSG reveals that the moisture content of the BSG is 74.7 wt.% while the FTIR spectra confirms the presence of lignocellulosic polymer in the BSG. The comparison between the two HTL modes indicates that the direct HTL provides better conversion, higher WSO yield and higher valuable products concentration. Therefore, it is concluded that BSG has a high potential to be converted into valuable products via direct HTL without pre-treatment. This opens a new opportunity for a sustainable alternative to waste valorization.
The good faith principle requires contracting parties to be honest as well as consideringtheir contracting partners in performing their contractual duties. In the event, contract clauses are insufficient to protect the interests of the innocent party in a breached contract, the said innocent party may rely on the good faith principle to ensure the fair. However, applying good faith principles to construction contracts is a difficult task. By nature, construction contracts are unique due to the fact that parties (Client and Contractor) are presumed competent to carry out their parts of the contractual obligations. Controversially, the construction contract is often unfairly prejudicial as the Client would customarily have the upper hand in deciding the terms and conditions of a contract. It is the objective of the research to examine the relevancy of application of good faith principle in construction contractsby employingqualitative content analysis. This study adopts a qualitative research approach, mainly employing library and internet resources with the intention to explore relevant legislation, textbooks, journals, research papers and articles.The comparative approach in this paper used content analysis from primary and secondary legal resources of different jurisdictions in the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Australia to compare the application of the good faith principle in the context of construction contracts. The findings of the research revealsthat the adoption and application of the good faith principle in construction contracts is of limited usage even though it is widely usedin general contract law of United Kingdom, Malaysia and Australia.This article contributes to the knowledge of the good faith principle in construction contracts, particularly with standard form contracts, by highlighting the importance of the good faith principle in achieving a fairer functioning of construction contracts in its application.
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