Waste cooking oil processing over cobalt aluminate nanoparticles for liquid biofuel hydrocarbons production.

The catalytic conversion of waste cooking oil (WCO) was carried out over a synthetic nano catalyst of cobalt aluminate (CoAl2O4) to produce biofuel range fractions. A precipitation method was used to create a nanoparticle catalyst, which was then examined using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray, nitrogen adsorption measurements, high-resolution transmission electron Microscopy (HRTEM), infrared spectroscopy, while a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) was used to analyze the chemical construction of the liquid biofuel. A range of experimental temperatures was looked at including 350, 375, 400, 425, and 450 °C; hydrogen pressure of 50, 2.5, and 5.0 MPa; and liquid hour space velocity (LHSV) of 1, 2.5, and 5 h-1. As temperature, pressure, and liquid hourly space velocity increased, the amount of bio-jet and biodiesel fractional products decreased, while liquid light fraction hydrocarbons increased. 93% optimum conversion of waste cooking oil over CoAl2O4 nano-particles was achieved at 400 °C, 50 bar, and 1 h-1 (LHSV) as 20% yield of bio-jet range,16% gasoline, and 53% biodiesel. According to the product analysis, catalytic hydrocracking of WCO resulted in fuels with chemical and physical characteristics that were on par with those required for fuels derived from petroleum. The study's findings demonstrated the nano cobalt aluminate catalyst's high performance in a catalytic cracking process, which resulted in a WCO to biofuel conversion ratio that was greater than 90%. In this study, we looked at cobalt aluminate nanoparticles as a less complex and expensive alternative to traditional zeolite catalysts for the catalytic cracking process used to produce biofuel and thus can be manufactured locally, which saves the cost of imports for us as a developing country.

(Co/Zn) Al2O4 nano catalyst for waste cooking oil catalytic cracking.

The current work investigated the preparation of Nano-particles of Co/Zn Al2O4 as a catalyst via co-precipitation method. Several analyses, including BET, XRD, HRTEM, EDX, SEM, and FTIR, were used to characterize it. The analysis revealed that the prepared catalyst had an average surface area of 69.20 m2/g, a cross-sectional area of 16.2 m2/molecule, an average particle size of approximately 28 nm, and a pore size of 0.22 cm3/g. The prepared catalyst was used in a bio fuel synthesis process via thermo-catalytic cracking of waste cooking oil (WCO) in a single step batch reactor. Catalyst loading was tested with different weight percentage of 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5%. The pilot study revealed that the best conditions for optimizing bio jet fuel yield were 400 °C, a catalyst loading of 2%, and a reaction time of 30 min.The optimal cut-off from the distillation process of crude liquid bio fuel product which represents a fraction of bio-jet fuel was in the range from 150 to 240 °C.

Interplay between TGF-b1 and miRNA-122 biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly lethal malignancy and clinically validated medications have not yet been developed since there are no reliable diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Based on bioinformatics tools, TGF-b1 gene was the first target gene of miRNA-122, therefore this study was intended to assess the potential interconnection between TGF-b1 and miRNA-122 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in the progression of HCC in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotype (4). In this study, 100 people were included and split into two groups; group I: CHC patients without HCC that were classified into patients CHC without cirrhosis and CHC cirrhotic patients, group II: CHC patients with HCC, and healthy volunteers as control. The expression of miRNA-122 and TGF-b1 genes were analyzed using Real-Time PCR. An upregulation of miRNA-122 gene in cirrhotic and HCC patients compared to both chronic HCV non-cirrhotic, and cirrhotic patients, while, a decrease in expression of TGF-b1 was found in cirrhotic patients compared to HCV non-cirrhotic patients. Although significantly downregulated in HCC patients. Regression analysis indicated that the expression levels of miRNA-122 and TGF-b1 could be regarded as important indicators of the alterations in cirrhotic and HCC patients versus HCV non-cirrhotic patients, also with the chances of HCC versus cirrhosis patients. Our data indicated an interaction between miRNA-122 and TGF-b1, regulated gene expression and recommended the use of these parameters as noninvasive predictive biomarkers and therapeutic targets for HCV induced liver cirrhosis and HCC.

Interplay between TGF-b1 and miRNA-122 biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C

@#Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly lethal malignancy and clinically validated medications have not yet been developed since there are no reliable diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Based on bioinformatics tools, TGF-b1 gene was the first target gene of miRNA-122, therefore this study was intended to assess the potential interconnection between TGF-b1 and miRNA-122 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in the progression of HCC in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotype (4). In this study, 100 people were included and split into two groups; group I: CHC patients without HCC that were classified into patients CHC without cirrhosis and CHC cirrhotic patients, group II: CHC patients with HCC, and healthy volunteers as control. The expression of miRNA-122 and TGF-b1 genes were analyzed using Real-Time PCR. An upregulation of miRNA-122 gene in cirrhotic and HCC patients compared to both chronic HCV non-cirrhotic, and cirrhotic patients, while, a decrease in expression of TGF-b1 was found in cirrhotic patients compared to HCV non-cirrhotic patients. Although significantly downregulated in HCC patients. Regression analysis indicated that the expression levels of miRNA-122 and TGF-b1 could be regarded as important indicators of the alterations in cirrhotic and HCC patients versus HCV non-cirrhotic patients, also with the chances of HCC versus cirrhosis patients. Our data indicated an interaction between miRNA-122 and TGF-b1, regulated gene expression and recommended the use of these parameters as noninvasive predictive biomarkers and therapeutic targets for HCV induced liver cirrhosis and HCC.

Empirical equations and economical study for blending biofuel with petroleum jet fuel.

Distillate of upgraded palm biodiesel was blended in different volume percentages (5, 10, 15, and 20%) with jet A-1. The mixture can be used as a replacement for petroleum Jet fuel. Physical properties of blends were measured and compared with those of jet A-1. Empirical equations were developed to predict the properties of blended fuel, including density, kinematic viscosity, freezing point, H/C ratio, and acid value. The statistical analysis indicated that the proposed equations predictions agree well with the experimental data. The predicted model shows an (R2) between 0.99-0.98, indicating good fitting between the experimental data and proposed model. The distillate of upgraded palm biodiesel was miscible with the kerosene jet A-1 in all volume fractions under study 5-20%. The economic analysis shows that the production cost per unit of the produced bio jet fuel was much higher than the selling price of the petroleum jet fuel. This price difference is due to the raw materials cost; as the palm oil used is nearly three times that of crude oil. The economic evaluation study reveals that the operating cost of prepared bio jet equals to 2360 $/ton, which is a promising result.