Non-traditional Raw Materials Research Articles

Development of Pilot Plant for Bio-Ethanol Processing

The paper outlines achievements obtained in developing a pilot bio-ethanol plant at the Department of Chemical and Mining Engineering (CME), University of Dar es Salaam. The pilot plant consists of: 30 L inoculums tank; 1,700 L fermenter; 1,500 L/day distillation column; and ancillary equipment. The prototype is a platform intended to be used for technology demonstration and research by graduate and undergraduate students studying the production of bio-ethanol using traditional and non-traditional raw materials like coffee mash, cashew fruit, and sisal inulin. The equipment has been developed using locally available engineering resources and the distillation column with 18 sieve tray measures 0.5m diameter 7 m high operates at atmospheric pressure. The condenser is cooled by 15 o C chilled water from utility lines and the reboiler is powered by 63 kW boiler installed at CME. Although the system includes biological, chemical and mechanical engineering details, only the important design issues are presented. A MATLAB code was developed forestimating the number of theoretical plates using the Mc Cabe-Thiele method. The water- ethanol vapour liquid equilibrium VLE data was obtained using relative volatilities estimated by Antoine equations for vapour pressure. The process design was done using various simulation packages and custom programs like Microsoft Excel for mass balance,Microsoft Visio for process and instrumentation (P&I) diagram AutoCAD software for mechanical engineering drawings. After performing hydraulic leak tests, the prototype was tested using blackstrap molasses 80 o brix which was prepared for fermentation using ilution and inoculums formulations developed in Microsoft Excel for water dilution, yeastand nutrients like (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4, KH 2 PO 4, MgCl 2. A batch mash boiling test conducted on the column showed that the response of tray temperatures exhibited first-order delay behavior with an average lag of 17 minutes and a delay of 50 -65 minutes depending on tray distance from the reboiler. Due to lack of feedback control equipment specifically on-linecomposition analyzers and suitable actuators, continuous control of ethanol composition could not be undertaken. It is planned to procure pertinent control hardware during the next phase of the project. However the batch test gave initial ethanol purity of 80% which decreased as the ethanol content in the still was continuously depleted.

Use of nontraditional plant raw material in formulating meat and plant food products

The biochemical composition of the medicinal plants purple coneflower and Jacob’s ladder is investigated. It is established that the plant organs are distinguished by a high protein and balanced fractional composition. Leaves and seeds contain much iron. All coneflower organs have a high vitamin E content. It is suggested to use plant raw material based on the given species of medicinal plants for producing therapeutic and prophylactic food products made from meat raw material.

Acid-resistant materials made from Uzbekistan mineral raw material

The possibility of using local raw material from Uzbekistan for production of acid-resistant materials was determined. The compositions of pastes made from porcelain stone from the Boinaksai deposit and pyroxene wastes from the Koitash ore field wee developed. It was shown that by using nontraditional mineral raw material whose mineral composition is close to the compositions of standard fine ceramic pastes, ceramic materials with good thermomechanical and chemical properties can be obtained.

Nontraditional Raw Materials in the Production of Aluminosilicate Ceramics

Promising nontraditional raw materials for aluminosilicate ceramics are considered: porcelain stones, in particular, quartz-sericite porcelain stone, kaolin from the Zhuravlinyi Log deposit, and complex additives represented by magnesium-bearing minerals (talc, marble, diopside, dolomite).

Structure Formation of Porcelain Based on Nontraditional Raw Materials with a Biologically Active Additive

The mechanism of the reaction between the components of porcelain mixtures based on Gusevskoe stone in the presence of molasses additive with a comprehensive effect is analyzed. The possibility of using this additive as an environmentally pure strengthening additive to produce porcelain articles by single firing on the basis of nontraditional materials is demonstrated.

Prospects in the Development of Aluminosilicate Ceramics

The use of nontraditional raw materials, implementation of fundamentally new methods for mineral material concentration, and introduction of natural additives of complex compositions into aluminosilicate ceramic mixtures opens new opportunities for the development of energy- and resource-saving technologies in ceramic industry.

Prospects for commercial utilization of lean and nontraditional types of mineral raw material

1. The changeover to the production and processing of lean and nontraditional raw materials is requiring the use of new engineering processes or the improvement of existing processes. In this connection, processes of drying, heat-treatment, adsorption, vaporization, and fusion are becoming traditional in the mining industry; in order to implement these processes efficiently as the raw material becomes leaner, it is necessary to involve the use of devices with active hydrodynamic regimes.

Aromatic hydrocarbons formed from synthesis gas on catalysts containing superhigh-silica zeolites

Superhigh-silica zeolites (SHSZ), including those which contain oxides as additives, are promising new catalysts for preparing aromatic hydrocarbons from non-traditional raw material such as methanol, low molar mass olefins, and a mixture of CO and H/sub 2/. The use of synthesis gas as raw material is of particular interest as it enables aromatic hydrocarbons to be obtained without the requirement to include a highly power-consuming stage like methanol synthesis from CO and H/sub 2/. A description is given of the association of Fe, Co, ZrO/sub 2/ ZnO-Cr/sub 2/O/sub 3/, with SHSZ (type ZSM-5) permitting aromatic hydrocarbons to be obtained directly from CO and H/sub 2/. The literature contains no report of the use of Soviet SHSZ for this purpose. Thus the aromatization of the synthesis gas on SHSZ (Soviet grade) is examined in detail and the composition of the aromatic hydrocarbons produced are defined and the effect of the oxide introduced into the zeolite on the products formed is discussed. 7 references, 1 table.