• KSBB Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.337-343
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• 2010

It has been well known that organic solvents like t-butanol and n-hexane can protect lipases from the inhibition by short-chain alcohols in the enzymatic transesterification. However, use of the organic solvents should be minimized considering their negative effects on environment and human health. Therefore, use of the greener solvents has been pursued in various are as including the enzymatic biotranformation. In this study, the liquid carbon dioxide ($LCO_2$) was employed as an alternative media for the enzymatic transesterification of canola oil. The conversion in the $LCO_2$ was comparable with those in organic solvents and the supercritical carbon dioxide, and under optimum conditions, the value reached 99.7%. It is expected that this method can provide a new type of biodiesel production process with higher energy efficiency and lower environmental impact.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.155-160
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• 2011

Dimethyl ether draws an attention as a green fuel in recent years. In this study, we investigated dehydration of methanol to produce DME using solid-acid catalysts, a series of zeolite. We found that ceria took a role of promoting the reaction conversion as well as selectivity of DME formation as a cocatalyst to the zeolite catalyst. We varied Si/Al ratio and ceria percentage on the surface of the catalyst to get high performance catalyst. ZSM5-30 with 5 wt% ceria on the surface was found to have excellent DME selectivity and to be little influenced by water content in methanol feed. We proposed a reaction model and obtained kinetic parameters for the DME formation using the catalyst based on experimental results using a microreactor.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.583-588
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• 2010

Esterification of free fatty acid with methanol to biodiesel was investigated in a batch reactor using various solid acid catalysts, such as polymer cation-exchanged resins with sulfuric acid functional group(Amberlyst-15, Dowex 50Wx8), acidic ionic liquids (ILs)-modified silica gels respectively with $-SO_3H$ and $-SO_2Cl$ functional group ($SiO_2-[ASBI][HSO_4]$, $SiO_2-[ASCBI][HSO_4]$) and grafted silica gels respectively with $-SO_3H$ and $-SO_2Cl$ functional group ($SiO_2-R-SO_3H$, $SiO_2-R-SO_2Cl$). The effects of reaction time, temperature, reactant concentration(molar ratio of methanol to oleic acid), and catalyst amount were studied. Allylimidazolium-based ILs on modified silica gels were superior to other tested solid acid catalysts. Especially, the performance of $SiO_2-[ASBI][HSO_4]$ (immobilized by grafting of 3-allyl-1-(4-sulfobutyl)imidazolium hydrogen sulfate on silica gel) was better than that of a widely known Amberlyst-15 catalyst at the same reaction conditions. A high conversion yield of 96% was achieved in the esterification reaction of the simulated cooking oil at 353 K for 2 h. The high catalytic activity of $SiO_2-[ASBI][HSO_4]$ was attributed to the presence of strong Brønsted acid sites from the immobilized functional groups. The catalyst was recovered and the biodiesel product was separated by simple processes such as decantation and filtration.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.135-142
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• 1989

Methyl tert-butyl ether(MTBE) was synthesized from vapor phase reaction of methanol with iso-butylene over HZSM-5 catalysts, and effects of SiO$_2/Al_2O_3$ ratio in the HZSM-5 catalysts and reaction conditions on products distribution have been examined. Acid strength and acid type of each catalyst with different SiO$_2/Al_2O_3$ ratio were measured using pyridine adsorption followed by temperature programmed desorption(TPD) and IR analysis. Reactants and products adsorption characteristics on different acid sites have also been examined. As the SiO$_2/Al_2O_3$ ratio of HZSM-5 catalyst was increased, selectivity to MTBE was improved as a result of decrease in dimethylether(DME) formation at the strong acid sites. Conversion and selectivity to MTBE were also greatly enhanced as $i-C_4H_8/CH_3OH$ reactant ratio was increased, and overall about 80$^{\circ}$C was adequate for the MTBE synthesis. The properties of deposited coke on spent catalysts were examined by TG, DTA and IR spectrum analysis, indicating the amount of the coke deposit in the order of HY > H-Mordenite > HZSM-5. Even if the coke deposited on H-Mordenite was little more in amount than to that on HZSM-5, the former deactivated quickly due to its non-interconnected channel structure. For HY, owing to its lange pore size, significant $i-C_4H_8$ polymerization was occured, and rapid deactivation and severe coke formation has resulted within few hours.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.1363-1368
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• 2008

The extraction and quantitative analysis conditions for astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis, and the structural characteristics of H. pluvialis extract, H. pluvialis hydrolysate and synthetic astaxanthin were investigated using UV/visible and FT-IR spectrometers. Astaxanthin was dissolved in methanol, and then treated to enhance the solubility by sonication for 45 min. With sonication pretreatment, the solubility of astaxanthin increased up to 1.5 times compared to that without sonication. The extracts were hydrolyzed by cholesterol esterase for the analysis of H. pluvialis extract containing astaxanthin ester. A HPLC method using reverse phase C18 column with methanol-water (95:5, v/v) as mobile phase was developed to analyze astaxanthin. After hydrolysis, the absorption spectrum of H. pluvialis hydrolysat was changed to similar pattern to synthetic astaxanthin, confirming the extraction and analysis condition of astaxanthin from H. pluvialis.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.294-302
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• 2010

Toxicity of 3-MCPD that comes from food manufacture and processing is well-known. Recent studies reported that 3-MCPD fatty acid ester which is formed by metabolic material was 10~2000 times as much as 3-MCPD in food. This study made analysis method of 3-MCPD fatty acid esters by recent research and laboratory work, and determined the content of 3-MCPD and 3-MCPD fatty acid esters in sources and meat processing products. 3-MCPD fatty acid esters were analysed by GC/MS, which were hydrolyzed from fatty acid and then transferred 3-MCPD was extracted and reacted with derivative subject. As a result of analysis method validation, LOD was 5.4ppb, LOQ was 9.0ppb.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.155-160
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• 2011

An animal fat is an attractive biodiesel energy source for its high stability against oxidation and low incomplete combustion ratio due to the high heating value and cetane value. However, it requires a refinery process because of the high content of saturated acid and impurity which increas the boiling point. In this study, the optimum biodiesel synthetic process of lard is suggested. Indeed, we demonstrate new biodiesel production processes to alter conventional process of heating and mixing by applying ultrasonic energy. While the optimum reaction temperature and mole ratio of methanol and lard, when using conventional mixing and heating process, were $55^{\circ}C$ and 12, respectively, the reaction time were reduced to 30 minutes by applying ultrasonic irradiation power of 500 W. The new process applying ultrasonic irradiation yielded synthetic biodiesel properties as followings: 3.34 cP of the viscosity, 37.0 MJ/kg of the caloric value and below 0.25 mgKOH/g of the acidic value, which satisfy biodiesel quality criteria.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.217-222
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• 2012

The synthesis of dimethyl carbonate(DMC) is a promising reaction for the use of naturally abundant carbon dioxide. DMC has gained considerable interest owing to its versatile chemical reactivity and unique properties such as high oxygen content, low toxicity, and excellent biodegradability. In this study, the synthesis of DMC through the transesterification of ethylene carbonate(EC) with methanol was investigated by using ionic liquid and metal oxide catalysts. The screening test of different catalysts revealed that choline hydroxide ([Choline][OH]) and 1-n-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium hydroxide([BMIm][OH]) had better catalytic performance than metal salts catalysts such as MgO, ZnO and CaO. The effects of reaction parameters such as reaction temperature, MeOH/EC mole ratio, and carbon dioxide pressure on the reactivity of [Choline][OH] catalyst were discussed. High temperature and high MeOH/EC mole ratio were favorable for high conversion of EC. However, the yield of DMC showed a maximum when carbon dioxide pressure was 1.34 MPa, and then it decreased for higher carbon dioxide pressure. Zinc chloride($ZnCl_2$) was used as co-catalyst with the ionic liquid catalyst. The mixed catalyst showed a synergy effect on the EC conversion and DMC yield probably due to the acid-base properties of the catalysts.