Modeling of free fatty acid content in the deodorization process of palm oil refinery using six sigma with response surface methodology

The present study aims to minimize the free fatty acid (FFA) content in Refined Bleached Deodorized Palm Oil of FELDA Vegetable Oils Sdn. Bhd. and KUNAK Refinery Sdn. Bhd. (Sawit Kinabalu) by using Six Sigma with Response Surface Methodology. Process flow of the deodorizing section of the palm oil refinery have been studied. Unit operations from the process flow were identified and the parameters readings from 2011 till 2013 were tabulated. Only parameters' readings from year 2011 and 2012 were used. This data went through multiple regressions and the process parameters were narrowed down from 32 parameters to only six parameters. Then, few tests were conducted such Normality Test and so on. The R-Square value 94.65% correlated the actual and predicted value for validation data set. In the verify phase, it can be 95% confidence interval that the difference between the mean numbers is between -0.00514 and 0.00920 higher in actual value than the predicted value. To achieve 0.050% FFA, the optimal process variables were 340.1°C for boiler temperature (G760T), 64 BAR for boiler pressure (G760P), 270.1°C for heat exchanger (TE704), 68.6°C for pre-distillate fatty acid recycler (TE705), 43.1°C for hot well (TE750) and 12 BAR for steam header B (STEAMB). In this study, the equation model was developed to estimate the actual FFA content and predict the FFA content. Hence, this model can be directly used in the palm oil refinery to predict the FFA content and to optimize

Relationships between soil moisture content and root morphology of three herbs on alpine scoria desert of Mt. Fuji.

Artemisia pedunculosa, Polygonum cuspidatum and P. weyrichii are codominant species on the Hoei second crater of Mt. Fuji. The aim of this study is to describe root systems and the relationship between soil moisture and root morphology of these species. Most of the root distribution of A. pedunculosa was restricted within 20cm depth and was widely spread in the surface soil. More than 1m vertical and shorter horizontal root extension was found for the latter two species. The fine root mass per leaf area (FRMLA) of A. pedunculosa was more than 7 times and 3 times greater than these of P. weyrichii and P. cuspidatum, respectively. From the above results, A. pedunculosa depends on a large area of surface soil water, while the two Polygonum species depend on deep-layer soil water. The vertical root extension of the two Polygonum species is assumed to support their establishment on slope sites where surface soil movement is frequent and moisture content is low

Comparative study of cellulose extraction processes from palm kernel cake

Palm kernel cake (PKC) is one of palm oil industry by-products which are rich in edible cellulose, which can be used as potential source in food and pharmaceutical industry. The extraction of cellulose from PKC involved essentially delignification and hemicellulose removal processes. In this study, three delignification and two hemicellulose removal techniques were comparatively investigated. Response surface methodology (RSM) with D-optimal design was used for the analysis. In this analysis, delignification techniques, hemicellulose removal techniques, and hemicellulose removal time (HRT) were chosen as process factors, whereas quantity of hemicellulose removal, cellulose yield, and cellulose purity were chosen as process responses. The comparative result obtained in this study shows that the combination of liquid phase oxidation (LPO) of delignification technique and alkali treatment of hemicellulose removal was the best method of cellulose extraction from palm kernel. The result of FTIR spectrum analysis of the cellulose produced in this study was similar to those produced commercially validating the cellulose structure. The optimum cellulose extraction method in this study shows that hemicellulose can be removed up to 24 % with cellulose yield 70 % and purity 77%

Response of germination and seedling growth to soil particle size of three herbaceous perennials on alpine zone of Mt. Fuji

Polygonum cuspidatum, P. weyrichii and Artemisia pedunculosa are herbaceous perennials in the alpine zone on Mt. Fuji. The effect of soil particle size on seed germination and seedling growth of these species was investigated. In the experiment three different particle size soils (large particle size LPS, medium particle size MPS, and small particle size SPS) were used. The other experiment was designed under three different watering intervals (every day, every two days, and every four days). Soil particle size had a great impact on seed germination and seedling growth. The highest percentage of seeds germinated in SPS and lowest in LPS soil, irrespective of the species. In the case of A. pedunculosa there was no significant difference of seed germination between SPS and MPS soils. However, the other two species had significantly reduced percentages of seed germination with increasing soil particle size. The maximum root length of seedlings was significantly longer in LPS and MPS compared to the SPS soil group, for all species. The number of root tips was increased with decreasing soil particle size, irrespective of the species. Further, larger aboveground biomass was found in seedlings of SPS than those of LPS and MPS. A. pedunculosa showed a slightly different pattern of seed germination and seedling growth compared to the two Polygonum species. Seed germination of A. pedunculosa was comparatively independent of soil particle size, and it may have conservative water use strategy. On the other hand, seed germination of Polygonum species was highly affected by the soil particle size, and those species may adapt to the water deficit condition by taking up water from deeper soil

An efficient plasmonic photovoltaic structure using silicon strip-loaded geometry

We show that a silicon thin-film photovoltaic structure with silicon strips on the top and grooves on the silver back contact layer can absorb incident solar energy over a broad spectral range. The silicon strips on the top scatter the incident light and significantly help couple to the photonic modes in the smaller wavelength range. The grooves on the silver back contact layer both scatter the incident light and help couple to the photonic modes and resonant surface plasmon polaritons. We find an increase of ∼46% in total integrated solar absorption in the proposed strip-loaded structure compared to that in a planar thin film structure of same dimensions. The proposed structure offers simpler fabrication compared to similar plasmonic-inspired designs

Carbon dioxide removal by adsorption

Carbon dioxide (CO2) among other air pollutants is a major culprit to the greenhouse gases that is fueling global warming. To mitigate global warming, Kyoto Protocal urges 37 industrialized nations and European Union to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to a level of 5.2% on average lower than those of 1990 during the period of 2008-2012. It is therefore essential to develop the CCS technologies to cope with the global demand of CO2 reduction. In this study the technologies of CO2 removal are reviewed

Planting time and mulching effect on onion development and seed production

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate effects of planting time and mulches on bulb growth and seed production of onion (Allium cepa L.) cv. Taherpuri. Planting time and mulches had significant influence on almost all parameters studied. Onion planted on 21 November had better agronomic traits contributing towards yield formation. Growth and seed production was accelerated by black polythene. Seed yield (460.81 kgha-1) was highest in the plots planted on 21 Nov. Seed yield was 529.06 kgha-1 where black polythene mulch was used