The Chemistry of Biodiesel Production Term Paper

The Chemistry of Biodiesel Production - Term Paper Example Biodiesel is one such form of hydrocarbon based fuels. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines biodiesel fuel as monoalkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from a renewable lipid feedstock, such as vegetable oil or animal fat (Zhang et al. 1). It is made by chemically combining any natural oil, fat or recycled grease with a suitable alcohol in the presence of a catalyst. The general equation that can be used to predict the amount of biodiesel that will be made from fats and oils is as shown: 100 pounds of oil + 10 pounds of methanol > 100 pounds of biodiesel + 10 pounds of glycerol Biodiesel can be used as neat (B 100) or in a blend with petroleum diesel for example a blend of 20 % biodiesel with 80 % petro-diesel by volume, is termed â€Å"B 20† (van Gerpen et al. 22). ... The Biox process involves the use of a co-solvent, tetrahydrofuran (THF), to solubilize the methanol. THF enhances solubility of the alcohol in the triglyceride phase and thus hastens the otherwise slow reaction (van Gerpen et al. 38). With THF the reaction takes 5 to 10 minutes at a low temperature of 30 °C. On the other hand, in the supercritical process a high alcohol to oil ratio (42:1) mixture is subjected to supercritical conditions – temperatures of 350 – 400  °C and pressures of 1200 pounds per square inch and above. So far, the huge capital and operating costs incurred in performing the supercritical reactions have made scaling up of this process to be quite difficult (van Gerpen et al. 40). The most common way to produce biodiesel is through transesterification. Transesterification refers to a catalyzed chemical reaction involving vegetable oil and an alcohol to yield fatty acid alkyl esters (which is the biodiesel) and glycerol. Catalyzed processes ca n be further subdivided into three major processes: acid catalyzed processes, alkali catalyzed processes and enzyme catalyzed processes (Zhang et al. 2). The alkali catalyzed process involves use of a basic catalyst such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide whereas the acid catalyzed process involves the use of an acid such as sulfuric, phosphoric, hydrochloric, or organic sulfonic acids as the catalyst. In enzyme catalyzed processes, lipases are used to catalyze transesterification in either aqueous or non-aqueous systems. Acid catalyzed and alkali catalyzed processes are the ones that continue to receive the most attention largely because the production of enzymes is significantly costly and their reactions remarkably slower (Zhang et al. 2). As mentioned previously,

Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Business Ethics - Essay Example The manager in charge of the project, John Fisher was accused of paying somebody to buy the frozen drinks worth 10000 dollars to help in convincing the Burger king to become a pioneer in frozen Coke promotion that would take place nationally the following year (Lovell, 2012). From this case study, several stakeholders are involved in the malpractice. There is the Burger king franchise that was the organ to help in the testing as a business partner. From their point of view, they felt cheated and moved to court to seek compensation for the loss and expenses incurred. They also were angered that a partnering company used their reputed business name in a malpractice in business. The other stakeholder was the customer that was taking the frozen coke. The customer in this scenario was neither aware of the malpractice nor harmed by the malpractice. The customer however was betrayed by the fact that the biggest beverage company could afford to generate false results to promote a new brand. Though the research was not done to evaluate the drop in the customer loyalty of Coca-Cola then, this angered the customer and made the customer question the trust of other famous products of Coca-Cola (Laufer and Coombs, 2006). The other main stakeholder was Coca-Cola itself. Given the reputation of the company, it was hard for the company to explain the malpractice as well as the firing of employees who attempted to blow the whistle on the company. From the employees’ perspective, the question of ethics in this scenario is whether to quit or to blow the whistle. For the employee, Matthew Whitley, who blew the whistle the dilemma was in either choosing his job or his integrity. In the end when he chose his integrity, he and other employees lost their job. The management of the company had a decision to either preserve their name and fire the then manager, John Fisher or retain the manager and deny the claims of malpractice. In

Media and communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media and communication - Essay Example In this case, today people are experiencing technoculture rather than technocracy since the practices and skills accompanying computer technology today barely resemble the technocratic nature experienced in the 1984 according to Handler, Carolyn (45). In the technoculture era, technology is used in ways which have eroded privacy unlike the technocracy era in which individual privacy was highly respected. Big brother (technocracy) opposes publicity of information not only due to privacy but also for secrecy purposes. Contemporary Global Mediated Communication The forwards march of the internet into every day living was aided and supported by the exceptional demand for smart phones after the introduction of the first iphone in 2007.This has led to a new world order in the technology, telecommunication and media industry. In such a case, face book, Google, Microsoft and apple (contemporary global mediated communications) are moving towards the top of this world order pushing aside other mediated communication which existed in the twentieth century. These forms of media are essentially changing consumers’ performance and dismantling longstanding media, technology and telecoms in twentieth centuries. This contemporary global mediated communications have brought a lot of changes in contrast to the twentieth century media. ... On the same note, the contemporary media has become major channel for software functions music, games and other digital substances which have led to the rewriting of media rules. However, the increasing advantage of the contemporary media as opposed to the twentieth century media is due to lack of pressure from shareholders unlike the case other old media. The Eiffel Tower and the Opera Garnier The Eiffel Tower was constructed for the French revolt referred to as centennial Exposition Universelle. It was meant to be a short-term exhibit of architectural engineering expertise but emerged as the world’s tallest tower up to 1930 according to Spang (34).This makes the building significant to the history of urban space. Opera Garnier has been of great importance in history. This is because its museums and companies have made the city of Paris a popular tourist destination globally receiving more than 30 million tourists per annum. The city was initially the site the French revolt a nd rich cultural setting with wealthy patrons who provided an intellectual atmosphere which invited scholars and artists. The flourish of such people led to the transformation of the city making it the world’s top trade and cultural centre. Worries about Media Change A variety of developments in the Greek community led to the practice of writing. The first writers were the Hippocratic writers who wrote to make medicine a complete participant during the famous Revolution of Wisdom in late fifth century. The invention of writing was the biggest worry for them as now they were to see with their minds what they could not see with their eyes. However writing of poetry preceded the written prose discourse. The likes of face book and Google have

Social science methods - entertainment location Essay

Social science methods - entertainment location - Essay Example These matches were actually scheduled to take place in India itself, but because of the ongoing election process in India it has been relocated to South Africa. All the teams participating in these matches are from India though all the teams must have a compulsory 4 overseas players apart from the Indian players. So South Africans were fortunate enough to watch all world cricket superstars in action at South Africa along with their players also. The South African people's behaviour towards these matches was indifferent at times. I have seen in one of the matches in which the South African fast bowler, probably one of the fastest in the world today Dale Steyn, who is playing for Royal Challengers, Bangalore, hit for a six by former Australian player Mathew Hayden who is playing for Chennai Super Kings. Most of the South African spectators cheered for Hayden rather than Steyn on that occasion. On another occasion when Steyn uprooted the stumps of Hayden, they stood up and clapped for a long period in appreciation of his performances. We can call it as a sporting gesture from the spectators, but really wondered me is that the same thing did not happened when earlier this year the Australians toured South Africa for some test matches. I think the 20-20 cricket match has changed the people's attitude drastically.

Cases Write Up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cases Write Up - Essay Example After 1990, worldwide software companies discovered a new phenomenon called open source business model, and they started developing and distributing open source software. These types of software are distributed free both for private and commercial use. MySQL is the world’s most popular Relational Database Management System. It provides multi-user access to, and runs as a server of, a number of databases. MySQL was first released in 23rd July in 1995 by three Scandinavian founders, Axmark, Larsson, and Widenius. The company was incorporated in 2011 as MySQL AB in Uppsala, Sweden (MySQL, â€Å"About MySQL†). MySQL used open source business model and used it as a viral marketing vehicle for penetrating in the global information technology market. For its open source status, it has gained a higher extent of visibility among the software developers community, including individuals and companies. Using the open access model, MySQL made available its products under a dual lice nsing policy allowing anyone to download them under GPL and use them for individual or commercials purposes. They required no fees for the use, and commercial users can purchase them at the minimum price, much lower than competitive market prices of other database management systems (O’Reilly 8). ... This type of business culture allowed MySQL to become a virtual organization. 120 employees of this organization are scattered across 17 countries across the world, and they efficiently communicated with each other through email and other means of internet communication. It can be stated that this model has provided the company with effective global penetration at a very low cost of operation. MySQL marketing strategy was developed based on the open source business followed by the company. The strategy was to supply a better product at a lower price. Its goal was to penetrate global information technology market to develop a positive distribution network trough a wide installed base (Krishnamurthy 11). This strategy of open source business model helped the company to achieve a tremendous growth in its specific segment of target customers. Thus, open source business model has eventually superseded more traditional business models, and the companies that implemented this model enjoyed higher demand of their open source products. Case question 2 (Google) Google is recognized as the most successful and innovative business in the current internet-based business world. Microsoft has proved its rapid growth through innovations in the sphere of computer technology, whereas Google has showed its innovation in information technology, analytical decision-making, efficient product development, experimentation and other types of relatively unusual and uncommon ways of innovation. Google has been successfully balancing innovative ideas, evaluation methods, and the use of advanced technologies for the evaluation of innovative ideas. Google has made itself recognizable as a leading exponent or a creator of new

Reaction against hydrogen peroxide Essay Example for Free

Reaction against hydrogen peroxide Essay The action of catalase on hydrogen peroxide Aim The aim of this experiment is to discover the relationship between the concentration of the substrate and the rate of the reaction catalysed by an enzyme, by looking at the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide under the action of catalase, and to determine a value for Vmax and the Michaelis constant for catalase. Background Theory An enzyme is a protein biological catalyst. Catalysts speed up or slow down the rate at which chemical reactions occur. They are not used up in the reactions and can be retrieved unchanged afterwards. Biological catalysts control the rate of reactions in living things. Each enzyme is substrate specific it can control only one reaction. For example, the digestion of starch is begun in the mouth by the enzyme amylase. An equation for this reaction can be shown like this: Amylase Starch Simple sugars The enzyme only facilitates the reaction, it is not used up. Each molecule of enzyme can be reused indefinitely, unless it is damaged, or denatured. Enzymes are proteins, so they are denatured if the polypeptide chains, which are precisely coiled and folded to form the active site, become unfolded by the kinetic energy from heat, or the covalent bonds are disrupted. Whilst some heat will increase the rate of reaction because of the increased number of collisions between enzyme and substrate, too much heat will denature the enzyme and render it completely ineffective. Enzymes are also affected by the pH at which they have to work. Charged hydrogen or hydroxide ions in acids or alkalis can cancel out the charges on the active sites of the enzymes, and render them ineffective. Hydrogen peroxide is a toxin produced in every cell of living organisms as a by-product of respiration. It is the same chemical that is used to bleach hair, and so must be broken down before it can damage the cells. It decomposes to give water and oxygen. This reaction will occur naturally, but at a very slow rate. To speed it up an enzyme is used. The enzyme which catalyses the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide is called catalase. Catalase is found in all living cells to decompose the hydrogen peroxide. In this experiment it is being obtained from live yeast in a suspension. The method by which catalase works is called the lock and key method. Catalase works because it has an active site. At this point the enzyme attaches to the hydrogen peroxide molecule, because the opposite charges of enzyme and substrate attract each other, forming an enzyme substrate complex. The enzyme catalyses the reaction, and then the new charges on the product repel the enzyme away to act on a new substrate molecule. (see fig 1) The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide has the following formula: catalase 2H2O2 2H2O + O2 The rate of a reaction is a measure of the change in the amount of reactant or product with time. The rate of decomposition H2O2 can be measured using the volume of oxygen produced, from the formula: Rate of reaction = change in amount of product time The rate of reaction is determined by collision theory:- For a reaction between two substances to occur, the enzyme and substrate particles must collide with each other. If more collisions occur in a reaction, rate will increase. If the reactant particles gain energy and collide faster, then each collision will have more energy, there will be more successful collisions, and rate will also increase. In this case, the more collisions between hydrogen peroxide and catalase molecules, the more hydrogen peroxide will decompose. Anything which increases collisions will increase rate. Increasing the concentration of the substrate (hydrogen peroxide) solution means that there are more substrate molecules in the same volume, causing more collisions, and thus increasing rate. The rate of reaction changes with concentration, but the overall yield of oxygen is independent of factors affecting the rate, so measuring the amount of oxygen produced over the whole reaction is meaningless. Instead, the initial rate of reaction can be estimated by measuring the volume of oxygen produced in the early stages of the reaction. This value can then be compared between the different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, and used to plot a graph of substrate concentration against rate, from which values for Vmax and the Michaelis constant (Km) can be obtained. The relationship between substrate concentration and rate of reaction is described by the Michaelis-Menton equation: v = Vmax [S] Km + [S]. Vmax is a measure of the maximum rate at which an enzyme can act, and it is the horizontal asymptote of the graph of substrate against time that is when the amount of enzyme is the limiting factor. The Km is defined as the substrate concentration at which the rate of enzyme action is half Vmax. It is measure of the affinity of an enzyme for its substrate molecule the higher Km, the weaker the binding force between the enzyme and substrate. Both Km and Vmax are constants at a specific enzyme concentration and temperature. Pilot Experiment A pilot experiment was carried out in order to see whether the method was practical and could produce good, reliable results, and to choose the concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and the length of time over which the oxygen would be collected so that no more than 50cm3 of gas was given off. Pilot Method 1. 10cm3 of hydrogen peroxide solution was measured into boiling tubes using a syringe, and the apparatus set up as shown below. 2. Using a 1cm3 syringe the yeast suspension was added to the boiling tube and the stopwatch started. 3. Thirty seconds was timed, and then the burette was taken off the end of the delivery tube, but not out of the water, and the volume of gas collected was measured. 4. This was recorded and repeated for each concentration of hydrogen peroxide, made up as shown in the dilution tables below. Pilot Results Concentration of hydrogen peroxide Initial reading on burette (cm3) Final reading on burette (cm3) Volume of gas collected (cm3) Rate of reaction (cm3/s) to 2dOff scale. Analysis of and Modifications to the Pilot These results show a clear increase in the volume of gas collected as the concentration increases, suggesting that with modifications this method will enable clear conclusions to be drawn. Carrying the experiment out over 30s resulted in too much gas being produced at the highest concentration to be recorded with the apparatus available, so for the main experiment the oxygen will be collected over 15s. More readings will be taken to enable a more reliable graph to be drawn at9 and 20%. The experiment will be repeated three times and any anomalous results will be identified and excluded from the average in order to enable more reliable results. Prediction I predict that initially the rate of reaction will increase with the concentration. As the concentration of hydrogen peroxide increases so will the number of collisions between enzyme and substrate molecules, so the hydrogen peroxide will decompose faster into water and oxygen. I predict that this reaction will obey Michaelis-Menton kinetics, and that the graph of rate of reaction against hydrogen peroxide concentration will give a rectangular hyperbola as shown below: The increase in rate of reaction will not continue indefinitely there will be an asymptote when Rate = Vmax, when all the catalase molecules are catalysing the reaction as fast as possible, and so the rate cannot increase without supplying more enzyme. Main Experiment Plan Fair Test A fair test is one from which a reliable conclusion can be drawn. For a fair test only one variable must be changed at a time. In this experiment the concentration of hydrogen peroxide is being changed, and so all others must be controlled. Variables. Independent Variable:- concentration of hydrogen peroxide Dependent Variable:- volume of oxygen gas collected in 15s Controlled Variables:- temperature, volume of hydrogen peroxide, amount of yeast, apparatus, time.   The reaction will be carried out in a water bath at 20? C. Since water is a good thermal buffer it should be fairly easy to keep the temperature constant.   Volume of hydrogen peroxide solution will be controlled quite easily by using two syringes to measure the water and hydrogen peroxide volumes as dictated by the dilution table below.

Holiday and Comfort Zone Essay Example for Free

Holiday and Comfort Zone Essay The scorching hot sun was beating down on my bare pale skin, the warm light breeze gently brushed through my blonde hair and the cool, shimmery, turquoise water soothed my skin. The smell of coconuts and pina coladas whirled in from the snack bar and the fresh salty air made my whole body calm and relaxed. This is just how the vacation of my lifetime would start and It would soon be my favorite place in the world to visit. My vacation in Mexico brought many exciting adventures and new experiences that brought a positive insight in me as it made me break out of my comfort zone, made me want to travel the world more often, and also to get involved and make a difference in the world. As I glanced out the window on the bus ride to the resort, I couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful scenery that was surrounded all around me. I was ecstatic because I was looking at the most alluring scenery I have ever seen in my life and I knew at this moment I never wanted to go back home. In the whistling wind, the palm trees swayed side to side while brushing against each other and slightly hitting my window. I heard a screeching, loud noise from the brakes and then I finally realized we had arrived at our final destination. As I stepped off the bus, I could smell the salty, clean and fresh air right away and an empty but warm breeze blew against my face. â€Å"Taylor wait for us! We don’t want you to get lost! † My family yelled as I had already started running over to the lobby in excitement. When we got assigned our room we walked around the resort and that’s when it all had hit me. With my mouth wide open, all I could say was, â€Å"this place is absolutely breathtaking. † As we went around to the back, there were 4 fairly large pools on both sides of me, and chairs directly around each of the pools. In the blink of an eye I noticed the beach up ahead of me and I have never seen something more beautiful, serene and relaxing. The sinking feeling as my feet step into the fine, white sand as it started to burn the soles of my feet, I dragged myself over to the shoreline and stepped into the water while it soothed my feet. The beach was a scorching furnace, as I felt it slowly burn my body and my face and the sweat on me was a river running down my forehead. As the day ended, I lay myself in my bed and my thoughts were consumed by all of the stunning scenery that I had witnessed that day in this beautiful and enchanting location and I started to think about it more and more and it made me realize that when I’m older I want to travel the world and witness all the different locations and the beautiful scenery they have to offer and learn about different cultures. I woke up the next morning and jumped out of my bed as I was thrilled to start off the day with a bunch of fun and adventurous activities that I’ve never experienced before. â€Å"Taylor, would you like to swim with the dolphins today and go zip lining? † my mom said as my eyes were wide open and had the biggest smile on my face, I couldn’t help but scream â€Å"YES! †. As we got our stuff packed and soothed the sunscreen all over our body, we were set to go. The water was splashing against our legs and the warm breeze whistled through our hair and the smell of the salty clean air overhead as we walked over to the hut where I would soon experience one of my most memorable moments. As we got into the water, Melanie the dolphin came gliding across the water as we all lined up and pet her. The best part of this whole experience was getting a ride on the dolphin while I held onto her fins and she glided across the whole water.. Dolphins are definitely the most graceful and intelligent sea creatures and the way they interacted and understood us was absolutely outstanding. Also, it was really interesting and heartbreaking learning about the dolphins and how not many of them are surviving because they are being slaughtered and they are dying from toxic exposure. As a result, the dolphins made a huge impact on my life because once I heard what was happening to the dolphins it touched deep into my heart and made me want to make a difference in the world and stop the cruelness of people slaughtering and taking advantage of them. Afterwards, we went over to the zip lining and I couldn’t help but have that stomach drop feeling as we got there. I was standing at the very top and almost ready to go and my fear of heights was almost sickening me out but I knew I had to experience this. My feet lifted off of the platform and I felt pretty comfortable as I felt like I was a superhero for a couple of minutes. I was soaring over the stunning beach and the palm trees just below me and all I could say in my head was, â€Å"this view is just outstanding† and I wish I could stay in that moment forever. For the most part, today I took a leap of faith out of my comfort zone as there was a huge adrenaline rush in me as I was about to soar really high, but being able to experience this made me want to go out and try new things that I could eventually overcome my fear of because life begins just beyond your comfort zone. A day to remember, I will never forget these astonishing experiences that I spent with the lovely dolphins and zip lining over the most gorgeous view. The climate in Mexico made it the best part because without it I wouldn’t have enjoyed the memorable and adventurous activities that I will cherish forever. Since we were in Mexico in February it was sunny almost every day and when it did rain it would only rain for a short period of time during the day. Since it was hot and sunny most of the time, we got a much better experience with the friendly dolphins, zip lining over a tremendous view and other adventurous activities that we will never forget. Also, with this weather I got a golden brown tan from the beaming rays of the sun. However, some days the humidity was really high and it felt as humid as a steam room, as the moist heat stuck to my body. By the middle of the day temperatures can reach up to about 40 degrees, where the sun is just scorching on my body. Without the beautiful weather, my experiences and memorable moments wouldn’t be enjoyed as much and I got a nice golden brown tan. Also with this being said, the bright, warm and sunny summer days encouraged me to think about traveling to a numerous of warm climate places and also experience other vacations where the climate is different. Early in the morning, we exhaustingly started to pack our bags and head off to the airport and as soon as I got on the plane my mind was filled with reflections from my unforgettable vacation. My vacation in Mexico brought many exciting adventures and new experiences that brought a positive insight in me as it made me break out of my comfort zone, made me want to travel the world more often, and also to get involved and make a difference in the world. The lovely scenery made me want to stay in this gorgeous place forever, experiencing new activities in a different location made for a lot of memorable moments that I’ll remember forever, and without the comfortable climate I wouldn’t have enjoyed the trip as much as I did.