• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.135-140
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• 2005

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes crosslinked with poly(acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) (PAM) were prepared to investigate the effect of aging on their morphology by swelling them for up to 7 days. PAM was used both as a crosslinking agent and as a donor of the hydrophilic-COOH group. A $30 wt\%$ weight loss of the dry membrane was observed in the swelling test after 6 days. The surface of the membrane was dramatically changed after the swelling test. The surface roughness of the PVA/PAM membrane was increased, as determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The swelling loosened the polymer structure, due to the release of the unreacted polymer and the decomposition of the ester bond, thereby resulting in an increase in the free volume capable of containing water molecules. The water molecules present in the form of free water were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The fraction of free water increased with increasing swelling time. The swelling of the membrane may provide space for the transport of protons and increase the mobility of the protonic charge carriers. The proton conductivity of the membranes measured at T= 30 and $50^{\circ}C$ was in the range of $10^{-3} to 10^{-2} S/cm$, and slightly increased with increasing swelling time and temperature.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.257-263
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• 2012

Biodiesel is a renewable energy which is nontoxic and acting as a replacement for conventional diesel which derived from fossil fuel. Classified biodiesel producing way such as acid, base, supercritical and enzyme methods, this study focused on eco-friendly production of biodiesel using supercritical and immobilized enzyme process. Assuming a plant with a production rate of 10,000 tons a year, a PRO II simulator program was used to simulate the product conversion rate and total energy consumption. The product conversion in supercritical process and immobilized enzyme was found to be 91.17% (including 0.9% glycerol) and 93.18% (including 1.0% glycerol) respectively. The result shows that the efficiency of immobilized enzyme process is higher compared to supercritical process but having lower end product purity. From the energy consumption point of view, supercritical process consume about 8.9 MW while immobilized enzyme process consume much lower energy which is 3.9 MW. Consequently, this study certifies that energy consumption of supercritical process is 2.3 times higher than immobilized enzyme process.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.95-100
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• 2016

As an alternative fuel, biodiesel has excellent lubricating property. Previously, our research group reported that the properties of biodiesels depended on their composed molecular structure. In this study, we investigate lubricity and the mechanism of lubricity improvement of synthesized biodiesel molecules. We synthesize four types of biodiesel components from fatty acid via fisher esterification and soybean biodiesel from soybean oil via transesterification in high yield (92-96%). We analyze the lubricity of the five 5 types of biodiesel using HFRR (high frequency reciprocating rig). We estimate that the mechanism of lubricity is relevant to the molecular structure and structure conversion of biodiesel. The test results indicate that the longer the length of molecules and the higher the content of olefin, the better the lubricity of the biodiesel molecules. However, the wear scar size of the first test samples’ do not show a regular pattern with the wear scar size of the second test samples’. Moreover, we investigated the structure conversion of the biodiesels by using GC-MS for the recovered biodiesel samples from the HFRR test. However, we do not detect structure conversion. Thus, we conclude that the lubricity of biodiesel depends on how effectively solid adsorption and boundary lubrication occurs based on the size of the molecule and the content of olefin in the molecule. In addition, HFRR test condition in not sufficient for Diels-Alder cyclization of biodiesel components.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.38-43
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• 2012

Biodiesel is non-petroleum based fuel produced from vegetable oils or animal fats through transesterification. The compositions of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in the feedstocks are important factors for biodiesel quality in terms of low-temperature fluidity and oxidative stability. The goal of this study is to improve the cold flow property of biodiesel from vegetable and animal origin containing highly saturated methyl esters (approx. 50%). In this purpose poly-saturated methyl esters in palm and tallow biodiesel were removed via urea-based fractionation and then the recovered fractions (enriched unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters) were supplemented with cold flow improvers. The highest concentration of unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters (93.8%) was obtained using a urea/fatty acid ratio of 3:1 at the crystallization temperature of $0^{\circ}C$ for 17 hours in incubation, with recovery of 71% and the addition of cold flow improver (Flozol$^{(R)}$ 515, 3,000 ppm) to the enriched poly-unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters reduced the CFPP(cold filter plugging point) of palm biodiesel from $12^{\circ}C$ to $-42^{\circ}C$. In tallow biodiesel both the enrichment of unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters (93.71%) and the addition of cold flow improver (Infineum R408, 3,000ppm) reduced the CFPP from $10^{\circ}C$ to $-32^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.1048-1056
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• 2018

Non-edible oil sources (i.e., Palm Acid Oil, waste animal fat) usually contain relatively high amount of free fatty acids (FFA) that make them inadequate for direct base catalyzed transesterification reaction. Enzymatic biodiesel synthesis can solve several problems posed by the alkaline-catalyzed transesterification, and has certain advantages over the chemical catalysis of transesterification, as it is less energy intensive, allows easy recovery of glycerol and the transesterification of glycerides with high free fatty acid contents. In this study, we synthesized biodiesel through enzymatic catalyzed process using high free fatty acid containing waste oil in biodiesel reactor (1 ton/day) and optimized the biodiesel production processes.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2015

Bio diesel has advantages to reduce GHG(Greenhouse Gas) compare with the fossil fuel by using oil comes from plant/animal sources and even waste such as used cook oil. The diversity of energy feeds brings the positive effects to secure the national energy mix. In this circumstance, micro-algae is one of the prospective source, though some technical barriers. We analyzed the bio diesel which was derived from Dunaliella tertiolecta LB999 through the BD100 quality specifications designated by the law. From that result, it is revealed that the oxidation stability is one of the properties to be improved. In order to find the reason for low oxidation stability, we analyzed the oxidation tendency of each FAME components through some methods(EN 14111, EN14112, EN16091). In this study, we could find the higher double bond FAME portion, the more oxidative property(C18:1${\ll}C18:3$) in bio diesel and main unsaturated FAME group is acted as the key component deciding the bio diesel's oxidation stability. It is proved experimentally that C18:3 FAME are oxidized easily under the modified accelerated oxidation test. We also figure out low molecular weight hydrocarbon and FAME were founded as a result of thermal degradation. Some alcohol and aldehydes were also made by FAME oxidation. In conclusion, it is necessary to find the way to improve the micro-algal bio diesel's oxidation stability.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2009

Biodiesel is estimated to be the best recycling energy source as an alternative fuel for transportation vehicles which represents the biggest share of greenhouse effect gas exhausts. Thus, in order to widely expand use of biodiesel and to enhancement its reliability, studies on quality improvement of biodiesel is needed. In this study, we have produced biodiesel(BD100, BD20) through esterification reaction using raw material of waste frying oil and analyzed compatibility with 24 items of quality criteria. As waste frying oil has high contents of unsaturated fatty acid such as Oleic acid, Linoleic acid and Linolenic acid, it is confirmed that there is no problem in using the same as a raw material of biodiesel. The result of analyzing the quality criteria items of biodiesel showed that it satisfied all the quality criteria except the oxidation stability of BD100, which was 2 hours, fatty acid methyl ester of BD20, which was 18.6w% and the filter plugging point, which was $-5^{\circ}C$. We believe that it will contribute to improved utilization of waste resources as alternative energy if studies on technology to improve quality of some items are provided.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.762-767
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• 2009

In this study, the feasibility of using vegetable oil extracted from tropical crop seed as a biodiesel feedstock was investigated by producing biodiesel and analysing the quality parameters as a transport fuel. In order to produce biodiesel efficiently, two step reaction process(pre-treatment and transesterificaion) was required because the tropical crop oil have a high content of free fatty acids. To determine the suitable acid catalyst for the pre-esterification, three kinds of acid catalysts were tested and sulfuric acid was identified as the best catalyst. After constructing the experimental matrix based on RSM and analysing the statistical data, the optimal pre-treatment conditions were determined to be 26.7% of methanol and 0.982% of sulfuric acid. Trans-esterification experiments of the pre-esterified oil based on RSM were carried out, then discovered 1.24% of KOH catalyst and 22.76% of methanol as the optimal trans-esterification conditions. However, the quantity of KOH was higher than the previously established KOH concentration of our team. So, we carried out supplemental experiment to determine the quantity of catalyst and methanol. As a result, the optimal transesterification conditions were determined to be 0.8% of KOH and 16.13% of methanol. After trans-esterification of tropical crop oil, the produced biodiesel could meet the major quality standard specifications; 100.8% of FAME, 0.45 mgKOH/g of acid value, 0.00% of water, 0.04% of total glycerol, $4.041mm^2/s$ of kinematic viscosity(at $40^{\circ}C$).