The present study explores the utilisation of a new raw material from lignocellulose biomass, Meranti wood sawdust (MWS) for high commercial value xylooligosaccharides (XOS) production using immobilised xylanase. The xylanase was immobilised by a combination of entrapment and covalent binding techniques. The hemicellulosic xylan from MWS was extracted using a standard chlorite delignification method. The production of total and derivatives of XOS from the degradation of the hemicellulosic xylan of MWS were compared to the production from the commercial xylan from Beechwood. The utilisation of the extracted xylan from MWS yielded 0.36 mg/mL of total XOS after 60 h of hydrolysis. During the hydrolysis reaction, the immobilised xylanase released a lower degree of polymerisation (DP) of XOS, mainly X2 and X3, which were the major products of xylan degradation by xylanase enzymes. The production of XOS with a lower DP from MWS demonstrated the biotechnological potential of the MWS in the future. The XOS production retained about 70% of its initial XOS production during the second cycle. This is also the first report on the utilisation of MWS wastes in enzymatic hydrolysis using immobilised xylanase for XOS production.
Biodiesel or fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) is one of the best alternative renewable energy source and environmental friendly fuel to replace diesel. Cr-Ti mixed oxides catalysts were synthesized via sol-gel method for the transesterification of cooking palm oil (CPO) to produce FAME. The reactions were conducted in a batch reactor. The effects of calcination time and ethanol solvent volume were studied. The calcination time of the Cr-Ti mixed oxides between 1 h to 5 h and ethanol volume between 20 mL to 60 mL shows effect on the FAME density obtained in the reaction. It was also observed that calcination time affects the catalyst surface area, pore diameter and pore volume. The results shows that the Cr-Ti catalyst prepared at 2 h calcination time with 50 mL ethanol volume has the highest surface area, pore volume and pore diameter among the prepared catalysts and obtained FAME density of 841.5 kg/m3. The FAME density is within the value range of the biodiesel fuel property. Thus, Cr-Ti mixed oxides catalyst shows good potential as heterogenesous catalyst for transesterification of CPO to produce FAME.
Abstract:In this work, response surface optimization strategy was employed to enhance the biodegradation process of fresh palm oil mill effl uent (POME) by Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma virens. A central composite design (CCD) combined with response surface methodology (RSM) were employed to study the effects of three independent variables: inoculum size (%), agitation rate (rpm) and temperature (°C) on the biodegradation processes and production of biosolids enriched with fungal biomass protein. The results achieved using A. niger were compared to those obtained using T. virens. The optimal conditions for the biodegradation processes in terms of total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), specifi c resistance to fi ltration (SRF) and production of biosolids enriched with fungal biomass protein in fresh POME treated with A. niger and T. virens have been predicted by multiple response optimization and verifi ed experimentally at 19% (v/v) inoculum size, 100 rpm, 30.2°C and 5% (v/v) inoculum size, 100 rpm, 33.3°C respectively. As disclosed by ANOVA and response surface plots, the effects of inoculum size and agitation rate on fresh POME treatment process by both fungal strains were signifi cant.
In the present study, photocatalytic degradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) aqueous solution using Ag/CeO2 catalyst with the presence of UV light was evaluated. The effect of process parameters such as pH, initial dye concentration and Ag/CeO2 dosage were investigated using response surface methodology (RSM) based on three levels of Box-Behnken Design. The effect of process parameters and their binary interactions were analyzed using the polynomial regression model. The experimental data and ANOVA analysis showed that the determination coefficient (R2) and adjusted determination coefficient (R2
adj) were 0.9580 and 0.9161, respectively, demonstrated that the model was significant. The response surface plot was successfully established the interaction effect of process parameters on the photocatalytic degradation of AO7 aqueous solution.
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