Biodiesel is becoming one of the most attractive alternative biofuels for petroleum-based diesel fuels. The castor plant is one of the abundant non-edible oils found in many countries. This paper aims to study Libyan castor oil and its potential for diesel conversion. Experiments were carried out in the laboratories of the Specific Center for Training in the Oil Industries in Al-Zawiya. The oil was extracted using a Soxhlet extractor and n-hexane solvent at 60 °C. Transesterification reactions were conducted in a batch reactor (a three-neck flask was used, where the middle opening carries a reflux condensation unit) at 65 °C. The methanol-to-castor oil molar ratio was 6:1, with a catalyst concentration of 1 wt.% relative to the ca

In this work, the effect of preparing a composite of copper oxide nanoparticles with carbon on some of its optical properties was studied. The composite preparing process was carried out by exploding graphite electrodes in an aqueous suspension of copper oxide. The properties of the plasma which is formed during the explosion were studied using emission spectroscopy in order to determine the most important elements that are present in the media. The electron’s density and their energy, which is the main factor in the composite process, were determined. The particle properties were studied before and after the exploding process. The XRD showed an additional peak in the copper oxides pattern corresponding to the hexagonal graphite struct

Results showed that the optimum conditions for production of inulunase from isolate Kluyveromyces marxianus AY2 by submerged culture could be achieved by using inulin as carbon source at a concentration of 2% with mixture of yeast extract and ammonium sulphate in a ratio of 1:1 in a concentration of 1% at initial pH 5.5 after incubation for 42 hours at 30ºC.

Bioethanol produced from lignocellulose feedstock is a renewable substitute to declining fossil fuels. Pretreatment using ultrasound assisted alkaline was investigated to enhance the enzyme digestibility of waste paper. The pretreatment was conducted over a wide range of conditions including waste paper concentrations of 1-5%, reaction time of 10-30 min and temperatures of 30-70°C. The optimum conditions were 4 % substrate loading with 25 min treatment time at 60°C where maximum reducing sugar obtained was 1.89 g/L. Hydrolysis process was conducted with a crude cellulolytic enzymes produced by Cellulomonas uda (PTCC 1259).The maximum amount of sugar released and hydrolysis efficiency were 20.92 g/L and 78.4 %, respectively. Sugars

A range of batch experiments were carried out for the estimation of the key process parameters in adsorption of Furfural from aqueous solution onto activated carbon in fixed-bed adsorber. A batch absorber model has been used to determine the external mass transfer coefficient (kf) which equal to 6.24*10-5 m/s and diffusion coefficient (Dp) which equal to 9.875*10-10 m2/s for the Furfural system. The Langmuir model gave the best fit for the data at constant temperature (30oC). The pore diffusion mathematical model using nonlinear isotherm provides a good description of the adsorption of Furfural onto activated carbon.

The possibility of using zero-valent iron as permeable reactive barrier in removing lead from a contaminated groundwater was investigated. In the batch tests, the effects of many parameters such as contact time between adsorbate and adsorbent (0-240 min), initial pH of the solution (4-8), sorbent dosage (1-12 g/100 mL), initial metal concentration (50-250 mg/L), and agitation speed
(0-250 rpm) were studied. The results proved that the best values of these parameters achieve the maximum removal efficiency of Pb+2 (=97%) were 2 hr, 5, 5 g/100 mL, 50 mg/L and 200 rpm respectively. The sorption data of Pb+2 ions on the zero-valent iron have been performed well by Langmuir isotherm model in compared with Freundlich model under the studied