Survey on readability of online information for upgrading understandability of biomass energy technology

Waste management contributes to renewable energy such as biodiesel production from processes of various types of biomass including vegetable oils, animal fats, and waste of edible oil. Successful waste management effort is influenced by people concern about benefit of waste management including for renewable energy from biomass. It involves their understanding initiated by literacy on biomass energy. To help increase literacy on waste recycle and biomass energy technology, we study readability of online information regarding biomass energy in Indonesian language (Bahasa Indonesia). Indonesia is considered as one of biomass-rich country with a little utilization for energy. The readability is studied by combining two approaches: measurement by readability standard and survey on readability confirming measurement by the standard. This study focuses on the confirmation survey readability standard measured on biomass online information in Indonesian language. In the survey, 19 online text materials were read by respondents and they were asked to give their impression whether the texts are easy or difficult to understand. From this study, what factors influence understandability of text information are shown. The results could be a guidance for preparing text information to raise people concern on waste recycle and renewable energy in general.     

Ethoxylated Soybean Polyols for Polyurethanes

Soybean polyols prepared by ring opening reactions of epoxidized soybean oil with hydrogen active compounds (water, alcohols, organic or inorganic acids, thiols, hydrogen etc.) have a low reactivity in the reaction with isocyanates because the hydroxyl groups are secondary. This paper presents a simple and convenient method to increase the reactivity of soybean polyols with secondary hydroxyl groups by ethoxylation reactions with the preservation of triglyceride ester bonds. The method uses mild reaction conditions: low alkoxylation temperature of 35–45 °C, low pressure of 0.1–0.2 MPa (15–30 p.s.i.) and a superacid as catalyst (HBF₄). The new soybean polyols have a higher reactivity toward isocyanates in polyurethane formation due to the high percentage of primary hydroxyl groups. The primary hydroxyl content was determined by the second order kinetics of polyol reaction with phenyl isocyanate.     

One-Component Spray Polyurethane Foam from Liquefied Pinewood Polyols: Pursuing Eco-Friendly Materials

The use of petroleum-derived products should be avoided regarding the principles of green and sustainable chemistry. The work reported herein, is aimed at the liquefaction of pine shavings for the production of an environmentally-friendly polyol suitable to be used in the formulations of sprayable polyurethane foams. The biopolyols were obtained in high yield and were used to replace those derived from fossil sources, to produce more “greener” polyurethane foams and therefore, less dependent on petroleum sources, since the polyol component was substituted by products resulting from biomass liquefaction. The partial and fully exchange of the polyols was accomplished, and the results compared with a reference foam. The foams were afterward, chemical, physical, morphological, and mechanically characterized. The complete replacement of polyether polyol and polyol polyester has presented some similar characteristics as that used as a reference, validating that the path chosen for the development of more sustainable materials is on the right track for the contribution to a cleaner world.     

Injection-Molded Bioblends from Lignin and Biodegradable Polymers: Processing and Performance Evaluation

This paper investigates the effects of the incorporation of lignin and small quantities of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) as an impact modifying agent on blends of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). The addition of lignin resulted in a slight improvement of flexural strength and modulus of the ternary blending system. Incorporation of ENR into the blend resulted in an increase in notched Izod impact strength from 40 to 135% depending on the concentration of ENR. The addition of lignin into the blend resulted in an improvement of thermal stability of the ternary blend system. Morphological analysis showed a good dispersion of PHBV phases and lignin within the PCL matrix. Rheological characterization revealed that the presence of lignin resulted in increased storage modulus of the bioblend.     

Kinetic Study of Biopolymer (PHB) Synthesis in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alcaligenes</Emphasis> sp. in Submerged Fermentation Process Using TEM

Poly-β-hydroxybuyrate (PHB) is a carbon—energy storage material which is accumulated as intracellular granule in variety of microorganism under nutrient starved conditions. Solid PHB is a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer and is utilizable in various ways similar to many conventional plastics. Ralstonia eutropha (Alcaligenes sp.), a gram negative bacteria accumulates PHB as insoluble granules inside the cells when nutrients other than carbon are limited. In this report effort has been made to analyze PHB granule synthesis inside Alcaligenes sp. NCIM 5085 by transmission electron microscopy and qualitative estimation of PHB was carried out by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy which provide better precision compared to other conventional techniques previously applied for PHB determination. Maximum PHB concentration of 2.20 ± 0.40 g/L and cell biomass of 3.42 ± 0.20 g/L was obtained after 48.0 h of fermentation. Leudking-Piret equation deduced mixed growth associated product formation which varies from earlier reports.     

The Properties of Poly(<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-Lactide) Prepared by Different Synthesis Procedure

Different synthesis methods were applied to determine optimal conditions for polymerization of (3S)-cis-3,6-dimethyl-1,4-dioxane-2,5-dione (l-lactide), in order to obtain poly(l-lactide) (PLLA). Bulk polymerizations (in vacuum sealed vessel, high pressure reactor and in microwave field) were performed with tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate as the initiator. Synthesis in the vacuum sealed vessel was carried out at the temperature of 150 °C. To reduce the reaction time second polymerization process was carried out in the high pressure reactor at 100 °C and at the pressure of 138 kPa. The third type of rapid synthesis was done in the microwave reactor at 100 °C, using frequency of 2.45 GHz and power of 150 W at the temperature of 100 °C. The temperature in this method was controlled via infrared system for in-bulk measuring. The solution polymerization (with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as initiator) was possible even at the temperature of 40 °C, yielding PLLA with narrow molecular weight distribution in a very short period of time (less than 6 h). The obtained polymers had the number-average molecular weights ranging from 43,000 to 178,000 g mol⁻¹ (polydispersity index ranging from 1 to 3) according to the gel permeation chromatography measurements. The polymer structure was characterized by Fourier transform infrared and NMR spectroscopy. Thermal properties of the obtained polymers were investigated using thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry.     

Waste incineration,PVC, and dioxins

Waste incineration is becoming increasingly necessary to tackle the rapidly rising amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW); in China many large cities are already surrounded by a girdle of landfills. Still, the not-in-my-backyard (nimby) syndrome holds strong. This attitude stems from fear of dioxins. These have been associated with incineration (‘dioxin factories’) and at times also with polyvinylchloride. In this paper this issue is analysed. China should build additional trust in MSW incineration, following promulgation of stricter emission standards, enforced by stringent controls.     

Food Industry Co-streams: Potential Raw Materials for Biodegradable Mulch Film Applications

Vast amounts of co-streams are generated from plant and animal-based food processing industries. Efficient utilization of these co-streams is important from an economic and environmental perspective. Non-utilization or under-utilization of co-streams results in loss of potential revenues, increased disposal cost of these products and environmental pollution. At present, extensive research is taking place around the globe towards recycling of co-streams to generate value-added products. This review evaluates various co-streams from food processing industries as raw materials in developing biodegradable agricultural mulching applications. Among the agriculture-based co-streams, potato peels, tomato peels, carrot residues, apple pomace, coffee residues and peanut residues were reviewed with respect to production amount, composition, film forming components and film forming capabilities. Similarly, selected co-streams from slaughterhouses, poultry and fish processing industries were also reviewed and evaluated for the same purpose.     

Comparative Response of Indigenously Developed Bacterial Consortia on Progressive Degradation of Polyhydroxybutyrate Film Composites

The global demand of bioplastics has lead to an exponential increase in their production commercially. Hence, biodegradable nature needs to be evaluated in various ecosystems viz. air, water, soil and other environmental conditions to avoid the polymeric waste accumulation in the nature. In this paper, we investigated the progressive response of two indigenously developed bacterial consortia, i.e., consortium-I (C-I: Pseudomonas sp. strain Rb10, Pseudomonas sp. strain Rb11 and Bacillus sp. strain Rb18), and consortium-II (C-II: Lysinibacillus sp. strain Rb1, Pseudomonas sp. strain Rb13 and Pseudomonas sp. strain Rb19), against biodegradation behavior of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) film composites, under natural soil ecosystem (in net house). The biodegraded films recovered after 6 and 9 months of incubation were analyzed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy to determine the variations in chemical and morphological parameters (before and after incubation). Noticeable changes in the bond intensity, surface morphology and conductivity were found when PHB composites were treated with C-II. These changes were drastic in case of blends in comparison to copolymer. The potential isolates not only survived, but, also, there was a significant increase in bacterial diversity during whole period of incubation. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first report which described the biodegradation potential of Lysinibacillus sp. as a part of C-II with Pseudomonas sp. against PHB film composites.