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Department of Chemistry, St Peter’s Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai-600 054, India E-mail: priyamanokhar@gmail.com Department of Chemistry, Presidency College, Chennai-600 005, India Manuscript received online 28 August 2018, accepted 10 October 2018 The continuous flow operation of membraneless ethanol fuel cell using alkaline-acidic media is presented in this paper. In this cell, ethanol is used as the fuel and sodium perborate is used as an oxidant for the first time in an alkaline-acidic media. Sodium perborate generates hydrogen peroxide in aqueous medium. At room temperature, the laminar-flow-based microfluidic membraneless fuel cell can reach a maximum power density of 22.25 mW cm–2 with a fuel mixture flow rate of 0.3 mL min–1 . The developed fuel cell features no proton exchange membrane. The simple planar structured membraneless ethanol fuel cell presents with high design flexibility and enables easy integration of the microscale fuel cell into actual microfluidic systems and portable power applications.

The simultaneous energetic use of bio-waste, such as municipal solid waste (MSW) and catering/food waste, and the creation of a closed nutrient cycle is one of the main advantages of anaerobic digestion (AD) biogas plants as they convert waste materials to "desirable" feedstock. When compared to other treatment opportunities of the organic fraction of MSW, AD has several advantages. In comparison to waste incineration plants, AD plants usually need lower investments and the distances for feedstock transport are generally shorter. Nutrients can be easier recovered for agricultural production and wet feedstock does not have to be dried which is required for incineration. Similar to household scale or industrial scale composting, AD processes also recover nutrients, but the energy content of the biomass is not utilised. In many European regions waste management is still a large problem and only few biogas plants use bio-waste for biogas production. Insufficient waste management practices are more dominant in urban areas. At the same time, European countries have to comply with the Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC and with the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) 2008/98/EC to considerably reduce land filling of the biodegradable part of MSW. They also have to comply with the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) 2009/28/EC. AD from waste has the potential to contribute to the European targets of the above mentioned directives. Adjacent upgrading to biomethane quality and grid injection in the natural gas distribution network is an opportunity to efficiently use renewable energy in urban areas. This approach, Waste-to-Biomethane (WtB), is promoted by the UrbanBiogas project (Urban waste for biomethane grid injection and transport in urban areas; May 2011 – April 2014) which is supported by the Intelligent Energy for Europe Programme of the European Union. The use of the untapped fraction of organic urban waste for biogas production is promoted by a bottom-up approach in which cities (municipalities) are directly involved in all UrbanBiogas activities. The objective is to prepare 5 European target cities for the production of biomethane from urban waste which will be fed into the natural gas grids and optionally used for transport. The target cities are: City of Zagreb (Croatia), Municipality of Abrantes (Portugal), City of Graz (Austria), City of Rzeszów (Poland), and North Vidzeme Region including the City of Valmiera (Latvia). Core of the project is the implementation of working group meetings in the target cities, study tours and city exchange visits, in order to elaborate five WtB concepts for the target cities. The present paper gives an overview on options for the use of bio¬waste for biogas production. It shows current European legislation which supports the use of separate collected bio¬waste in AD facilities. Finally, it presents the UrbanBiogastarget cities and the UrbanBiogas activities in order to promote the WtB concepts. Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 1481-1490

Present study was designed to produce biodiesel using Cola lepidota seed oil in the presence of clay catalyst. The extraction was done in petroleum ether and oil was characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The biodiesel produced, was characterized for specific gravity, kinematic viscosity, American petroleum index (API) gravity, flash point, cloud point, aniline point and diesel index. The result from FTIR shows that there was C-N stretching aliphatic amine at 1072.46 cm-1, CH2X alkyl halides at 1226.77 cm-1, C-C stretching (in ring) aromatics at 1442.80 cm-1, N-O asymmetric stretching nitro compounds at 1527.67cm-1, C=C stretching α, β unsaturated esters at 1712.85 cm-1, C-C stretching aromatics at 2924.18 cm-1, O-H stretch or free hydroxyl alcohols or phenols at 3610.86 cm-1. The oil yield was 1.76%. The result revealed that the biodiesel showed the following properties; specific gravity (0.862 g/cm3), viscosity (4.8mm2/sec), API (30.24 oC), flash point (80 oC), cloud point (-2 oC), aniline point (68 oC) and diesel index (1.424). These values were within the recommended limits of American Standard for Testing Material (ASTM D6751). This study reveals that C. lepidota oil is a veritable precursor for biodiesel production and other industrial applications.

A 1.5 MW combustion facility burning large bales of soy straw has been built for the purpose of heating 1 ha of vegetable greenhouses located within the complex of Agricultural Plant PKB in Padinska Skela, Serbia. The paper addresses numerical and experimental study of temperature distribution in a cylindrical, 100 m3 (8 m high, 4 m in diameter) hot water storage tank. The water tank optimization, as well as optimization of the heating facility as a whole, were identified as the main goals of the study performed. Water temperature was measured by a temperature probe inserted in the tank. Measurements were conducted in 256 measurement points, both under steady and unsteady water flow conditions. Water tank optimization analysis was carried out utilizing both steady and unsteady state numerical simulation. The results obtained indicated good agreement between the experimental and computational data acquired.

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Ebihara, \"Sterilization Techniques\nfor Soil Remediation and Agriculture Based on Ozone and AOP\" 2010,\nJournal of Advanced Oxidation Technologies Vol. 13 (No. 2), pp.\n138-145(8).\n[31] J. Paw\u253c\u00e9at, Joanna, H. Stryczewska, K. Ebihara, F. Mitsugi, S. Aoqui, T.\nNakamiya, \"Plasma sterilization for bactericidal soil conditioning\", 2010,\nProc. HAKONE XII conference, Tren\u2500\u00ecianske Teplice, Slovakia,\npp.407-411.\n[32] K. Ebihara, H. Stryczewska, T. Ikegami, F. Mitsugi, J. Pawlat, \" On-site\nozone treatment for agricultural soil and related applications\", 2011,\nPrzeglad Elektrotechniczny, Vol. 7, pp. 148-152.\n[33] M. Takayama, K. Ebihara, H. Stryczewska, et al.T. Ikegami, Y.\nGyoutoku, K. Kubo, M. Tachibana, \"Ozone generation by dielectric\nbarrier discharge for soil sterilization\", 2006, Thin Solid Films, Vol.\n506-507, pp. 396-399."]} Shortening of natural resources will impose greater limitations of electric energy consumption in various fields including water treatment technologies. Small water treatment installations supplied with electric energy from solar sources are perfect example of zero-emission technology. Possibility of solar energy application, as one of the alternative energy resources for decontamination processes is strongly dependent on geographical location. Various examples of solar driven water purification systems are given and design of solar-water treatment installation based on ozone for the geographical conditions in Poland are presented.

{"references": ["M.A. Dasari. Catalytic conversion of glycerol and sugar alcohols to\nvalue-added product. Universitiy of Missouri, 2006.", "K.S. Tyson. Biodiesel R&D Potential. National Renewable Energy\nLaboratory, Montana, 2003.", "L. Sottili, D. Padovani, and A. Bravo. Mechanism of action of grinding\naids in the cement production. Cement Build Mater 2002, 9: 40-43.", "P. Jost and J.M. Schrabback. Creative grinding solutions. Reprint of\nInternational Cemet Review, 2007.", "J. Zheng, C.C. Harris, and P. Somasundaran. The effect of additive on\nstirred media milling of limestone, Powder Technol. 1997, 91: 173-179.", "H. Mingzhao, Y. Wang, and E. Forssberg. Parameter effects on wet\nultrafine grinding of limestone through slurry rheology in a stirred\nmedia mill. Powder Technol. 2006, 161: 10-21.", "W. Oettel and K. Husemann. The effect of a grinding aid on\ncomminution of fine limestone particle beds with single compressive\nload. Int. J. Miner. Process. 2004, 74S: S239-S248.", "G.C. Cordeiro, R.D.T Filho, L.M. Tavares, and E.M.R. Fairbairn.\nUltrafine grinding of sugar cane bagasse ash for application as\npozzolanic admixture in concrete. Cement and Concrete Research.\n2009, 39: 110-115.", "X. Gao, Y. Yang, and H. Deng. Utilization of beet molasses as a\ngrinding aid in blended cements. Construction and Building Materials.\n2011, 25: 3782-3789.\n[10] D. Heinz, M. Gobel, H. Hilbig, L. Urbonas, and G. Bujauskaite. Effect\nof TEA on fly ash solubility and early age strength of mortar. Cement\nand Concrete Research. 2010, 40: 392-397.\n[11] I. Teoreanu and G. Guslicov. Mechanisms and effects of additive from\nthe dihydroxy-compound class on Portland cement grinding. Cement\nand Concrete Research. 1999, 29: 9-15.\n[12] A.A. Jeknavorian, E.F. Barry, and F. Serafin. Determination of grinding\naids in Portland cement by pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass\nspectrometry. Cement and Concrete Research. 1998, 28: 1335-1345.\n[13] M. Hasegawa, M. Kimata, M. Shimane, T. Shoji, and M. Tsuruta. The\neffect of liquid additives on dry ultrafine grinding of quartz. Powder\nTechnol. 2011, 114: 145-151.\n[14] A.T. Albayrak, M. Yasar, M.A. Gurkaynak, and I. Gurgey. Investigation\nof the effects of fatty acids on the compressive strength of the concrete\nand the grindability of the cement. Cement and Concrete Research.\n2005, 35: 400-404.\n[15] M. Katsioti, P.E. Tsakiridis, P. Giannatos, Z. Tsibouki, and J. Marinos.\nCharacterization of various cement grinding aids and their impact on\ngrindability and cement performance. Construction and Building\nMaterials. 2009, 23: 1954-1959.\n[16] L. A. Jardine, C. Porteneuve, and G. Blond. Biomass-Derived Grinding\nAids. US Patent No. 0272554, 2006.\n[17] T. Kocsisov\u251c\u00ed and J. Cvengro\u253c\u00ed. G-phase from methyl ester productionsplitting\nand refining. Petroleum & Coal 2006, 48(2): 1-5.\n[18] T.L. Ooi, K.C. Yong, K. Dzulkefly, W.M.Z. Wan Yunus, and A.H.\nHazimah. Crude Glycerine Recovery from Glycerol Residue Waste from\na Palm Kernel Oil Methyl Ester Plant. J Oil Palm Res 2001, 13: 16-22.\n[19] SNI. 1995. SNI 06-1564-1995: Gliserol Kasar (Crude Glycerine).\nJakarta: Dewan Standardisasi Nasional.\n[20] B. Tran and S. Bhattacharja. Glycerin by-product and methods of using\nsame. US Patent No. 0221764, 2007.\n[21] L.A. Jardine, C.R. Cornman, V. Gupta, and B.W. Chun. Liquid\nAdditive for Intergrinding cement. US Patent No. 0169177, 2006.\n[22] O. Bernard. Cement Grinding Aids. France: Chryso, 2004.\n[23] Y.M. Zhang and T.J. Napier. Effect of particle size distribution, surface\narea, and chemical composition on Portland cement strength. Powder\nTechnol . 1995, 83: 245-252.\n[24] ASTM C150-049. Standard specification for Portland cement.\nAmerican Society for Testing and Materials.\n[25] Urs. Maeder, D. Honert, and B. Marazzani. Cement Grinding Aid. US\nPatent No. 0227890, 2008.\n[26] B. Anna, C. Tiziano , G. Mariagrazia, M. Matteo. Grinding aids: a study\non their mechanism of action.Mapei 2001, 22: 1-10."]} Biodiesel production results in glycerol production as the main by-product in biodiesel industry.One of the utilizations of glycerol obtained from biodiesel production is as a cement grinding aid (CGA). Results showed that crude glycerol content was 40.19% whereas pure glycerol content was 82.15%. BSS value of the cement with CGA supplementation was higher than that of nonsupplemented cement (blank) indicating that CGA-supplemented cement had higher fineness than the non-supplemented one. It was also found that pure glycerol 95% and TEA 5% at 80ºC was the optimum CGA used to result in finest cement with BSS value of 4.836 cm2/g. Residue test showed that the smallest percent residue value (0.11%) was obtained in cement with supplementation of pure glycerol 95% and TEA 5%. Results of residue test confirmed those of BSS test showing that cement with supplementation of pure glycerol 95% and TEA 5% had the finest particle size.

{"references": ["D.E. Lopez, J.G. Goodwin, D.A. Bruce, E. Lotero, \"Transesterification\nof triacetin with methanol on solid acid and base catalysts\", Appl. Catal.\nA, vol. 295, pp. 97-105, Nov. 2005.", "W. Du, Y, Xu, D. Liu, J. Zeng, \"Comparative study on lipase catalyzed\ntransformation of soybean oil for biodiesel production with different\nacyl acceptors\", J. Mol. Catal. B, vol. 30, pp. 125-129, Aug. 2004.", "H.J Kim, B.S. Kang, M.J. Kim, Y.M. Park, D.K. Kim, J.S. Lee, K.Y.\nLee, \"Transesterification of vegetable oil to biodiesel using\nheterogeneous base catalyst\", Catal. Today, vol. 93-95, pp. 315-320,\nSept. 2004.", "S. Gryglewicz, \"Rapeseed oil methyl esters preparation using\nheterogeneous catalysts\", Biores. Technol., vol. 70, pp. 249-253, Dec.\n1999.", "K. Tanabe, W.F. Holderich, \"Industrial application of solid acid-base\ncatalysts\", Appl. Catal. A, vol. 181, pp. 399-434, May 1999.", "Y. Ono, \"Solid base catalysts for the synthesis of fine chemicals\", J.\nCatal., vol. 216, pp. 406-415, Jan. 2003.", "M. Zabeti, W.M.A.Wan Daud, M. K. Aroua, \"Activity of solid catalysts\nfor biodiesel production: A review\", Fuel process. Technol, vol. 90, pp.\n770-777, June 2009.", "K. Jalama, N.J. Coville, D. Hildebrandt, L.L. Jewell, D. Glasser,\n\"Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over Co/TiO2: Effect of ethanol addition\",\nFuel, vol. 86, pp. 73-80, Jan. 2007.", "R. Zennaro, M. Tagliabue, C. H. Bartholomew, \"Kinetics of Fischer-\nTropsch synthesis on titania-supported cobalt\", Catal. Today, vol. 58,\npp. 309-319, May 2000.\n[10] D.A.S. Razo, L. Pallavidino, E. Garrone, F. Geobaldo, E. Descrovi, A.\nChiodoni, F. Giorgis, \"A version of Stober synthesis enabling the facile\nprediction of silica nanospheres size for the fabrication of opal photonic\ncrystals\", J. Nanopart. Res., Vol. 10, pp. 1225-1229, March 2008.\n[11] Z. Yang, W. Xie, \"Soybean oil transesterification over zinc oxide\nmodified with alkali earth metals\", Fuel Process. Technol., vol. 88, pp.\n631-638, June 2007.\n[12] A. Gupta, H.S. Bhatti, D. Kumar, N. K. Verma, R. P. Tandon, \"Nano\nand bulk crystals of ZnO: synthesis and characterization\", Digest J.\nNanomat. Biostruct., vol. 1, pp. 1-9, March 2006.\n[13] B.S. Barros, R. Barbosa, N.R. dos Santos, T.S. Barros, and M.A. Souza,\n\"Synthesis and X-ray characterization of monocrystalline ZnO obtained\nby Pechini Method\", Inorg. Mat., vol. 42, pp. 1348-1351, Jan. 2006.\n[14] Z. Xu, J-Y. Hwang, B. Li, X. Huang, H. Wang, \"The characterization of\nvarious ZnO nanostructures using field-emission SEM\", J-O-M, vol. 60,\npp. 29-32, April 2008.\n[15] C.A. Ferretti, S. Fuente, N. Castellani, C.R. Apesteguia, J. I. Di Cosimo,\n\"Monoglyceride synthesis by glycerolysis of methyl oleate on MgO:\nCatalytic and DFT study of the active site\", Appl. Catal. A, vol. 413-\n414, pp. 322-331, Jan. 2012."]} TiO2 supported nano-ZnO catalyst was prepared by deposition-precipitation and tested for the trans-esterification reaction of soybean oil to biodiesel. The TiO2 support stabilized the nano-ZnO in a dispersed form with limited crystallite size compared to the unsupported ZnO. The final ZnO dispersion and crystallite size and the material transfer resistance in the catalyst significantly influenced the supported nano-ZnO catalyst performance.

Phenol belongs to the recalcitrant pollutants to conventional physical chemical and biological treatments. These compounds are released in the surface water by a considerable number of industries, constituting an environmental hazard. On the other hand, the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been defined as effective processes for treatment of wastewater containing toxic and persistent organic pollutants. In this work, a mathematical model is developed to quantify the variation of chemical oxygen demand (COD) as a function of time during electrochemical oxidation of phenol for a batch system. Depending on applied current density (iappl) with respect to limiting current density (ilim), which decreased during treatment, different operating regimes were identified. In particular, for high organic concentrations or low current densities (iappl ilim), COD decreased linearly over time, indicating a kinetically controlled process. Conversely, for low organic concentrations or high current densities, electrolysis was under mass-transport control and COD removal followed an exponential trend. Model parameters were: current density, initial phenol concentration and electrode area. The present purpose is to use the model as a design tool for the prediction of specific energy consumption for the elimination of a given organic loading (kg COD h-1). The results showed that the increase of density and applied potential caused increase of specific energy consumption of initial phenol concentration decrease in energy consumed . In the mathematical model validation, the model results were compared with experimental results published in the literature. The good agreement between experimental and model predicted data was obtained in all the examined conditions by accounting root mean square error (RMSE) between 0.013-1.22 and R2>0.91.

The first phase of the ReedBASE project commenced in September 2016 and ended in March 2018. It assessed the use of reed biomass as a source of sustainable energy and raw material for other products in parts of the floodplains of the Prut, Danube and Dniester Rivers in Ukraine and Moldova. It was estimated that the project study areas alone could sustainably generate some 100,000 tons of reed biomass per year. In energy terms, this is equivalent to almost 50,000 tons of coal or 39.5 million cubic metres of gas. Using reed biomass would not only provide a substantial amount of energy, but also avoid emitting some 79,000 tons of CO2 from burning fossil fuels. Moreover, conservative estimates indicate that the organic soils in the project area contain around 850,000 tons of carbon, and this amount will increase as the organic matter accumulates over time. ReedBASE also established a cluster of interested organisations in order to enhance their collaboration.