Oil Weight Research Articles

Facile analysis of rice bran oil to compare free unsaturated fatty acid compositions of parental and hybrid rice lines.

Rice bran oil (RBO) has been a popular choice of cooking oil in several Asian countries for decades, and the interest in RBO is fast growing in Western countries due to the high levels of hearty unsaturated fats and other components beneficial to health. Further knowledge of unsaturated fatty acid content and composition in rice lines will assist in improving the quality of rice bran processing by allowing robust extraction of rice bran for oil production. The studies focused on the RBO composition of rice lines with beneficial genotypes are scarce. Accordingly, we investigated the total bran lipid content and composition of three of the most abundant, healthy, unsaturated fatty acids that freely exist in RBO: oleic, linoleic, and α-linolenic acids in nine parental lines (two male sterile lines and seven male lines) and seven hybrid rice lines, by utilizing an efficacious organic extraction to collect RBO and by developing a user-friendly reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methodology. Our results showed that the hybrid lines had the highest oil content (F ratio = 7.2017, p value = 0.0019), while the male lines had the highest levels of two of the three free unsaturated fatty acids analyzed (linoleic acid, mg and oleic acid, mg). Oil weight was negatively correlated with α-linolenic acid (r = -0.6535, p value <0.0001). All three free unsaturated fatty acids were positively correlated. Our samples' natural variation in lipid content suggests that some rice lines are more suitable for oil production.

Preparation and characterization of canola oil-in-water Pickering emulsions stabilized by barley starch nanocrystals

Pickering emulsions (PE) have gained attention in food engineering applications. This study aimed to elaborate stable PE of canola oil by using barley starch nanocrystals (BSNC) as stabilizers which were prepared by acid hydrolysis of the starch and used in five nanocrystals to oil weight ratios (0.026, 0.038, 0.051, 0.076 and 0.102) to stabilize the emulsions. The size of the nanocrystals ranged between 43 and 396 nm and their average size was 141 nm. Emulsion droplet size decreased as the content of BSNC increased. It was observed by backscattering that the sedimentation of the droplets occurred slower in the systems having a higher amount of BSNC. All emulsions were stable to coalescence and creaming during storage and it was observed that, the most stable emulsions were those having nanocrystals to oil ratio of 0.24. Apparent viscosities of the emulsions increased with the content of nanocrystals. It was concluded that barley starch nanocrystals are suitable to produce and stabilize food-grade Pickering emulsions. • Barley starch nanocrystals were obtained by acid hydrolysis of starch. • Barley starch nanocrystals positively stabilized Pickering emulsions of canola oil. • A relatively small number of nanocrystals adequately protected Pickering emulsions against coalescence and phase separation. • Emulsions showed shear thinning behaviors and G′ values were larger that G¨ ones.

Investigation of the toxicity effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on the renal function and blood parameter of the laboratory rate

This study was conducted at the College of Science, University of Al-Qadisiyah, to study the relationship between the toxic environmental effects of BPA compound and some biochemical components on the blood of female and male rats, in this study, 60 male and female rats were used, They ranged in age from 8 to 12 weeks, and their weights ranged from 145-200 grams for females and 85-150 grams for males. Rats were divided into four groups according to the dose, with males and females separated. Two control groups: these two groups, three females and three males, dosed 5.0 ml/kg body weight of corn oil per day, group A. Nine females and nine males were fed BPA orally (every day after dissolving in corn oil at 50 mg./kg body weight). Group III (B): 9 females and 9 males were given BPA orally (every day with corn oil, 100 mg/kg body weight). In group C, nine females and nine males were orally injected with a dose of 200 mg/kg BPA dissolved in corn oil every day. The experiment lasted three months. After the end of the first month of animal adaptation, animals were dosed orally for 2 weeks daily.

Investigation on Biosynthesis of Phytosterol Compounds in Ayvalık Olive Variety (Olea europaea L.) During Ripening under Conventional and Organic Cultivation Conditions

Olive oil obtained from the fruit of olive trees (Olea europaea L.) belonging to the Oleaceae family; basically consists of two parts: saponifiable and unsaponifiable parts. The saponifiable fraction represents about 98% by weight of the oil. On the contrary, the unsaponifiable fraction constitutes about 2% of the total oil weight. Phytosterols constitute the largest part of the unsaponifiable fraction and are the most important parameter to establish the purity of olive oil. Olive oil quality is affected by many factors, the most important being the ripening stage. Phytosterol content changes with maturation. Because the metabolic events in its structure continue until the fruit ripens. This study was carried out in Ayvalık olive variety grown with organic and conventional growing techniques during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Fruits obtained from Geyikli region of Çanakkale province were harvested in 8 different maturity stages (September– December) at 15-day intervals. Phytosterol contents of fruits and changes in phytosterols in olive ripening process were determined periodically by gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometer (GC-MS) technique. At the end of the study, the total phytosterol content of the fruits harvested from both conventional and organic orchards during both production seasons in both years, depending on the maturity index. Phytosterol components were found to increase regularly until December, but it decrease after December. While the maximum total sterol amount was determining 2.008 g kg-1 on 08.12.2019, it was 2.520 g kg-1 on 06.12.2020. After this date, it was observed that the total sterol content decreased as a result of over-ripening.

The toxic effects of bisphenol a (BPA) on some biomarker blood of rats

This study was conducted at the College of Science, University of Al-Qadisiyah, to study the relationship between the toxic environmental effects of BPA compound on some biochemical components of the blood of female and male rats. In this study, 60 male and female rats were used, They ranged in age from 8 to 12 weeks, and their weights ranged from 145-200 grams for females and 85-150 grams for males. Rats were divided into four groups according to the dose, with males and females separated. Two control groups: these two groups, three females and three males, dosed 5.0 ml/kg body weight of corn oil per day, group A. Nine females and nine males were fed BPA orally (every day after dissolving in corn oil at 50 mg./kg body weight). Group III (B): 9 females and 9 males were given BPA orally (every day with corn oil, 100 mg/kg body weight). In group C, nine females and nine males were orally injected with a dose of 200 mg/kg BPA dissolved in corn oil every day.

RANCANG BANGUN ALAT KONVERSI PLASTIK MENJADI BAHAN BAKAR MINYAK DENGAN METODE PIROLISIS UNTUK PENANGANAN SAMPAH PLASTIK

The volume of plastic waste is increasing day by day, due to the lack of management technology and plastic is a non-biodegradable material. Plastic waste causes pollution to the environment and living things if left alone. Various efforts have been made to deal with plastic waste, but only cause other problems such as blockage of water flow. This research introduces the technology of converting plastic waste into fuel oil called pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is a method of converting plastic into fuel oil through a thermal decomposition process in the absence of oxygen. The purpose of this study was to determine the weight of oil produced in the pyrolysis process with variations in condenser temperature. The type of plastic used is LDPE, the reactor temperature is constant at 200° C. The pyrolysis process was carried out for 1 hour for each condenser temperature variation at 28° C, 14° C, and 4° C. Based on the research results, the condenser temperature variation at 28° C gets the lowest oil weight, which is 17 grf, while the condenser temperature variation at 14° C produces 32 grf of oil weight, and the highest oil weight is obtained at 4° C condenser temperature variation of 62 grf.

Exposure to tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate induces abnormal sperm morphology and testicular histopathology in male rats

Tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP) is one of the most abundant organophosphate flame retardants in the environment. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of TBEP exposure during adolescence on male reproductive function in adult rats. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were treated with 20 and 200 mg/kg body weight of TBEP or corn oil from postnatal day (PND) 42 to PND 105. A significant increase in the proportion of sperm with abnormal morphology (flattened head and bent tail) and superoxide anion (O2-.) production in the sperm of the 200 mg/kg treated group was observed (p < 0.05). Excessive production of sperm hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was found in both the 20 and 200 mg/kg treatment groups (p < 0.05). Disruption of testicular structure was observed in the 20 and 200 mg/kg treated groups and seminiferous tubule degeneration was observed in the 200 mg/kg treated group. Our study demonstrated the adverse effects of TBEP on male reproductive function in rats.

Arabica coffee and olive oils mitigate malathion-induced nephrotoxicity in rat: In silico, immunohistochemical and biochemical evaluation

Malathion (MAL) is an organophosphate insecticide that disrupts the body's antioxidant system; it is one of the earliest organophosphate insecticides extensively used as dust, emulsion, and vapor control a wide variety of insect pests under different conditions. This experimentation aims to evaluate the influence of Arabica coffee oil and olive oil on MAL-induced nephrotoxicity in male rat. 6 sets bearing the same number of animals were applied to this experiment. Each set comprised 10 rats. The first set of rats was used as the control group; rats in the second set were exposed to MAL measured at 100 mg/kg body weight for 7 weeks. Animals in the third and fourth set were treated with 400 mg/kg body weight of Arabica coffee oil and olive oil, and 100 mg/kg body weight of MAL. The fifth, together with the sixth set, were fed with a similar proportion of Arabica coffee oil and olive oil as administered to the third set of rats. After the experimental duration, rats of group 2 showed severe biochemical alterations, including significant increases of creatinine, uric acids, and urea nitrogen (BUN), resulting in marked decreases in serum albumin values and total protein (TP). Severe histopathological and immunohistochemical alterations of kidney tissues were observed in exposed MAL-intoxicated rats. Administration of these oils reduced the detected biochemical, histopathological modifications caused by MAL intoxication. Two active ingredients in Arabica coffee oil (oleic acid) and olive oil (hydroxytyrosol) showed good cyclooxygenase-2 (COX 2) interaction. Moreover, oleic acid from coffee oil and olive oil exhibited impressive association with xanthine oxidase (XO). The current finding showed that coffee oil and olive oil could be appraised as possible and a likely deterrence component against nephrotoxicity brought about by MAL.

Optimization and kinetics of biodiesel production from soybean oil using new tetraethylammonium ionic liquids with amino acid-based anions as catalysts

By using amino acids (AAs) as anions, eleven ionic liquids composed of tetraethylammonium (N2222) as a cation were synthesized, namely, [N2222][AA]s. Their structures were characterized by FT-IR and NMR. The alkalinity of the synthesized AAILs was measured using a pH meter. In the transesterification reaction of soybean oil with methanol, tetraethylammonium arginine ([N2222][Arg]) presented the best catalytic capability. The optimal reaction conditions for the transesterification reaction of soybean oil to achieve 98.4% biodiesel conversion were a methanol/oil of 10:1 mol/mol, reaction temperature of 100 °C, catalyst dosage of 20 wt% (based on the oil weight) and reaction time of 60 min. The kinetics study was evaluated and followed the pseudo-first order reaction mechanism, and the activation energy and pre-exponential factor were 34.53 kJ/mol and 1.21 × 104 min−1, respectively. [N2222][Arg] is a promising, operationally simple, sustainable, biodegradable and possibly renewable catalyst for the conversion of vegetable oil or animal fat into biodiesel.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CITRONELLA OIL MICROEMULSION AS A REPELLENT OF AEDES AEGYPTI MOSQUITO

Objective: This study aims to test the effectiveness of Citronella oil microemulsion as a repellent for the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Methods: The preparation of Citronella oil microemulsion was carried out through a high-speed homogenization technique. The microemulsion was formulated with a base of 100 g, consists of Citronella oil in several concentrations 5%, 10%, and 15%, emulsifier (Tween 80 and Tween 20) 10-20% by weight of citronella oil and 80-90% distilled water, made into six formulas (F). The microemulsions were then evaluated for the organoleptic, pH, and transmittance. Results: Based on the organoleptic test showed that F1 was selected as the best formula, a microemulsion with an active ingredient of Citronella oil in a concentration of 5% and an emulsifier 10%. The average pH was 5.35 according to normal skin pH (4-6.5) and the average size of the microemulsion is 2.42±0.09 µm and the PdI (polydispersity index) is 0.68±0.1. The protection power of F1 repellent was 90%, this result showed a significant difference (p-value of 0.005) as compared to Citronella oil without modification (70%), significantly different (p-value 0.001) with Tween 80–Tween 20 (10%) and not significantly different (p-value 0.145) with chemical repellent Product X (97%). Conclusion: Based on the result, it was concluded that the protective power of Citronella oil Microemulsion F1 was almost like chemical repellent Product X.

Effect of Oil Contamination on the Behavior of Collapsible Soil

Loessial soil is moisture-sensitive soil susceptible to settle when fully saturated. In this study, efforts were made to investigate the effect of oil pollutants on mechanical behavior of soil. The loess soil was contaminated by 2,4,6,8 and 10% dry weight of lamp oil and gasoline. Atterberg limits, direct shear, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) tests were performed to evaluate the behavior of oil-contaminated collapsible soils. The results of Atterberg tests showed that the plasticity of the soil decreased, due to the reduction in the thickness of the absorbed surface layer and double water layer. According to the direct shear test, with increasing contamination up to 10% of lamp oil and gasoline, the cohesion of the soil was decreased from 14.5 kPa to 7.3 kPa and 7 kPa, respectively, which was due to the reduction in soil plasticity and diffuse double-layer. Because of the lubrication of soil particles, the internal friction angle of soil was reduced from 18.5° to 13.6° and 13.9° for 10% lamp oil and gasoline. UCS of contaminated soil increased in low strains due to the apparent cohesion of hydrocarbons and it decreased 31% for gasoline and 53% for lamp oil at high strains due to the softening behavior of the contaminated soil. SEM test revealed that hydrocarbons covered the soil particles and changed the soil fabrication to dispersed skeleton. Generally, collapsible soil contaminated with different lamp oil and gasoline contents showed a decrease in shear strength and UCS with increasing oil content.

Biodiesel production over sodium carbonate and bicarbonate catalysts

Biodiesel, a mixture of alkyl esters (FAME), is viewed as a feasible renewable fuel to substitute fossil diesel. The first-generation biodiesel raises several sustainability issues and new production processes using low-grade fats and heterogeneous catalysts are envisaged. Biodiesel from alimentary grade oil and waste frying oil was produced by methanolysis (oil/methanol = 12 M ratio), at 67 °C, using anhydrous sodium carbonate and bicarbonate, commercial materials as catalysts (5% by oil weight) in a batch reactor at atmospheric pressure. Sodium carbonate had a higher catalytic activity for the methanolysis of the fresh oil (97% of FAME after 90 min) than for the frying oil (12% of FAME after 90 min), which can be attributed to the greater acidity of the fried oil, which promotes the partial neutralization of the catalyst. Sodium bicarbonate, less active than sodium carbonate, showed similar catalytic activities for both fats (84–85% of FAME after 180 min), appearing to be less sensitive to the acidity of the raw material, which may derive from its lower basicity. Both catalysts suffer crystallographic changes during reaction being both converted into similar mixtures of hydrated carbonate/bicarbonate slats, like trona. The methanol solubility of sodium carbonate seems to have a null homogeneous contribution to the catalytic process since the co-produced glycerin presented a pale-yellow color which is characteristic of heterogeneous catalyzed methanolysis processes. Such result was corroborated by thermogravimetric analysis of glycerin which showed small residual masses due to minor solubilization of catalyst. FTIR spectra of glycerin showed low contamination with MONG (Matter Organic Non-Glycerin), thus the contribution of homogeneous catalysis was not meaningful.

CURATIVE EFFECTS OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF PALISOTA HIRSUTA ON NEPHROTOXICITY INDUCED BY CARBON TETRACHLORIDE

This work was done to evaluate the effect of ethanolic extract of Palisota hirsuta on nephrotoxicity induced by carbontetrachloride (CCl4). Biochemical analyses were carried out to determine the levels of creatinine, urea, total protein, chloride, carbonate using assay kits (products of Randox Laboratories Crumlin and Teco Diagnostics), sodium, potassium (method of Tietz,) and malondialdelyde (MDA) level (thiobarbituric acid assay) and the activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Consequently, twenty-five albino rats were divided into 5 groups of 5 rats each, the animals were fed rats mash and water ad libitum. Group 1 (positive control) rats were administered only 0.5 ml/kg body weight of groundnut oil while groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 were induced with 0.5 ml/kg CCl4 and groundnut oil (1:1).The plant extracts were not administered to groups 1 and 2; while groups 3, 4 and 5 were administered 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg body weight of extract respectively. Results showed increased levels of creatinine, urea, chloride, carbonate and malondialdelyde levels and reduced levels of total protein and SOD activity in the group induced with CCl4, but not given the drug extract (negative control). These effects were ameliorated at different dose levels of administration of the drug extract. This work therefore demonstrates the protective effect of P.hirsuta against nephrotoxicity induced by CCL4

Comparative Study of the Adsorption of Crude Oil from Surface Water Using Esterified Rice Husk and Saw Dust

The comparative adsorption of crude oil from water surface using sawdust and rice husk absorbents was carried out. The sawdust and rice husk were carbonized and further modified with stearic acid. The prepared adsorbents were characterized using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infra-red (FTIR) Spectroscopy, proximate and physiochemical analysis. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of the initial oil concentration, the dosage of the adsorbents, temperature, pH and contact time on the adsorption capacities of the adsorbents and percentage sorption of the crude oil. The characterization results obtained showed that the surface modification through carbonization and stearic acid activation improved the physiochemical properties of sawdust and rice husk respectively. The FTIR results revealed that the biomass samples have numerous functional groups and the major functional groups present are O-H, N-H, N-CH3, C=C-C, C-Cl, Si-O-Si. The SEM results also showed that carbonization and stearic acid activation of the saw dust and rice husk were able to effect surface modification of the prepared adsorbents by the removal of volatile matters; improvement of porosity hence the improvement of their surface areas respectively. The process parameters investigated were found to influence the adsorption capacity of the absorbents respectively and subsequently the percentage sorption of the crude oil.&#x0D; Meanwhile, the results of the percentage sorption of sawdust and rice husk samples, based on the average weight of oil adsorbed; show 96.577% and 67.327% as their respective adsorption efficiency. Hence, the comparative adsorption efficiency of the carbonized and esterified saw dust and rice husk absorbents, showed that esterified saw dust adsorbent performed better than the esterified rice husk adsorbent.

Superhydrophobic porous polyvinylidene fluoride monolith with outstanding environmental suitability for high-efficient continuous oil/water separation under harsh conditions

The actual cleanup of oil spill and chemical leakage is usually implemented in harsh environments, thus oil absorbents possessing excellent environmental suitability are urgently required for high-efficiency oil/water separation. Herein, a novel three-dimensional porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) monolith with multi-environmental tolerance was facilely prepared via thermally impacted nonsolvent-induced phase separation method. In view of its unique pore structure and low surface energy, the PVDF monolith owned super-hydrophobicity (water contact angle = 154°) and super-oleophilicity (oil contact angle = 0°) without any modification. As an oil absorbent, the porous monolith exhibited outstanding oil/water separation performance for various oils/organic solvents, such as preeminent separation efficiency, high saturation absorption capacity (21.3 g g−1) and rapid absorption speed (reaching saturation state within 15 s). More importantly, the monolith revealed stable and prominent oil/water separation capability under harsh conditions involving intense ultraviolet radiation (72 h), rapidly alternating temperature (−20 to 65 °C), extreme pH, oil-water emulsion, strongly turbulent water, suspended solids (sand and tea leaf). It is worth noting that the monolith was capable of continuously and efficiently separating oil/organic solvent from water by a simple pump-assisted system (soybean oil flux reached 3520 L m−2 h−1 at 0.06 MPa). A small piece of PVDF monolith (0.132 g) was able to continuously separate at least 16,000 times its own weight of soybean oil and could be reused for 5 cycles. Based on the superior environmental suitability and continuous oil/water separation capability, the porous PVDF monolith has a tremendous potential to clean up large-scale oil contaminants in leakage accidents.

A New Essential Oil from the Leaves of the Endemic Andean Species Gynoxys miniphylla Cuatrec. (Asteraceae): Chemical and Enantioselective Analyses

A previously uninvestigated essential oil (EO) was distilled from Gynoxys miniphylla Cuatrec. (Asteraceae) and submitted to chemical and enantioselective analyses. The qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted by GC-MS and GC-FID, over two orthogonal columns (5%-phenyl-methylpolysiloxane and polyethylene glycol stationary phases). Major constituents (≥2%) were, on both columns, respectively, as follows: α-phellandrene (16.1–17.2%), α-pinene (14.0–15.0%), germacrene D (13.3–14.8%), trans-myrtanol acetate (8.80%), δ-cadinene (4.2–4.6%), β-phellandrene (3.3–2.8%), (E)-β-caryophyllene (3.1–2.0%), o-cymene (2.4%), α-cadinol (2.3–2.6%), and α-humulene (1.7–2.0%). All the quantified compounds corresponded to 93.5–97.3% by weight of the whole essential oil, with monoterpenes counting for 53.8–55.6% of the total, and sesquiterpenes for 38.5–41.4%. For what concerns the enantioselective analyses, the chiral components were investigated through a β-cyclodextrin-based enantioselective column (2,3-diethyl-6-tert-butyldimethylsilyl-β-cyclodextrin). A total of six chiral metabolites were analysed and the respective enantiomeric excess calculated as follows: (1S,5S)-(−)-α-pinene (98.2%), (1S,5S)-(−)-β-pinene (11.9%), (1R,5R)-(+)-sabinene (14.0%), (R)-(−)-α-phellandrene (100.0%), (R)-(−)-β-phellandrene (100.0%), and (S)-(−)-germacrene D (95.5%). According to the chemical composition and enantiomeric distribution of major compounds, this EO can be considered promising as a cholinergic, antiviral and, probably, analgesic product.

Molecular composition of low-temperature oxidation products in a simulated crude oil In-situ combustion

In-situ combustion (ISC) is a thermal enhanced oil recovery process in which energy is generated by the combustion of a portion of the oil within the reservoir. Low temperature oxidation (LTO) is one of the dominant mechanisms controlling fuel availability in ISC and affects the physical properties of the crude oil, thus the characterization of the crude oil and its LTO products are essential for a better understanding of the ISC process. In this study, a thermal oxidation experiment of a heavy crude oil was carried out to investigate the molecular changes associated to coke formation during ISC. More than half of the component was depleted by combustion or thermal pyrolyzed out, leaving a coke-like solid in the reactor with a yield of a quarter by weight of the crude oil. More than 90% of the coke-like solid is toluene soluble. Condensate oil expelled from the reactor was collected with a yield of about 15 wt% of the crude oil. Small-molecule oxidation products, such as ketones, fatty acids, phenolic compounds were identified in the condensate by GC–MS. High-resolution mass spectrometry results showed that the molecular composition of oxygen- and sulfur-containing compounds changed largely, with the generation of highly oxygenated compounds and sulfoxides. A substantial portion of large-molecule hydrocarbons were survived and enriched in the residue. The main components in the toluene insoluble substance, namely oxidation coke, are methanol soluble and composed of highly oxygenated compounds. The results indicate that oxidation and thermal cracking are both the important reaction in the simulated ISC, the molecular composition is instructive for the understanding of pyrolysis and oxidation behavior of coke formation from the crude oil.

Degradable Ti3C2Tx MXene Nanosheets Containing a Lignin Polyurethane Photothermal Foam (LPUF) for Rapid Crude Oil Cleanup

As two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials with high photothermal conversion performance, MXenes have great potential for applications in photothermal-assisted crude oil recovery. In this study, MXene nanosheets modified a lignin-based polyurethane foam obtained with solar-to-heat conversion properties for heavy oil recovery. The adsorbent achieved a high solar absorption rate (>95%), and its surface maximum temperature reached up to 83.5 °C owing to the great solar-to-heat effect of MXenes. Due to the superb dispersibility of MXenes in polyol, the resulting bio-based foam adsorbent had a high thermal conductivity. Moreover, with the increase of temperature, the viscosity of the heavy crude oil decreases, which enables the adsorbent to adsorb more than seven times (7.6 ± 0.2 g/g) its weight of crude oil under 1 sun illumination (1.00 kW/m2) in 4 min. In addition, Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets containing lignin-based adsorbents readily degraded in alkaline solutions (degradation efficiency > 93%, in a methanol/0.5 mol/L NaOH aqueous solution mixture (1:1, v/v) for 8 h at 60 °C). The molecular dynamics simulation revealed that lignin had lower interaction energy with the solvent solutions when methanol was present, allowing the lignin molecules to unfold and make more contact with the solvent molecules. As a result, the β-O-4 bond of lignin is more likely to be exposed to accelerate the degradation process. The solid residues of degradation were only titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, which were harmless to the environment. With their excellent rapid heavy oil removal performance, degradability, and environmental friendliness, these bio-based adsorbents pinpoint a promising solution to clean up high-viscous crude oil spills.

Evaluating microdistribution of adsorbed and free oil in a lacustrine shale using nuclear magnetic resonance: A theoretical and experimental study

The occurrence states (adsorbed or free) directly control the transport and production of shale oil, and free oil is the most common potential product available using existing technologies. A variety of theories and experimental methods have been developed to estimate the adsorbed and free oil amounts in shale pore-fracture systems, however, it is difficult to clarify the microdistribution characteristics of shale oil in in-situ pore systems using these methods. In the study described here, by integrating experimental and theoretical models, an effective method was developed to reveal the microdistribution of oil confined in nanoporous shales from the Dongying Sag, in the Bohai Bay basin, China. Centrifugation–nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments were combined with the modified Langmuir equation, and then applied to estimating amounts of adsorbed and free oil. And the microdistribution characteristics of shale oil were then analyzed by the adsorption ratio theoretical model. Furthermore, the mechanisms of controlling the adsorbed, free amounts and microdistribution of shale oil were also discussed. The primary results demonstrated that the modified Langmuir equation (Langmuir-like equation) was an effective and accurate technique for evaluating the adsorbed and free oil amounts in shales. We estimated that adsorbed and free oil amounts ranged from 5.8023 to 29.7995 mg/g, and from 3.9510 to 25.6410 mg/g, respectively, at a temperature of 20 °C, while the adsorbed oil weight ratios were 0.2778–0.7023 (mean 0.5438). The average value of the adsorbed oil density was approximately 2.0231 g/cm³, which was 2.6994 times that of the free oil. The average adsorbed layer thickness was 0.7433 nm, which equaled nearly two molecular diameters. The adsorbed and free oil microdistribution was clearly described by the adsorption ratio theoretical model and the T₂ spectrum. The adsorbed oil was mainly confined to micropores, while free oil was stored in meso- and macropores—and that pore microstructures affected shale oil microdistribution characteristics. The amount of adsorbed oil was mainly controlled by micropore volume and specific surface area, while the amount of free oil was closely associated with total volume of the larger pores. We also noted that the more complex the pore structure, the lower the free oil content and the higher the adsorption ratio. The amount of adsorbed oil was closely related to the shale composition, and increased with TOC content. The amount (ratio) of adsorbed oil also increased with increasing clay mineral content, and was negatively proportional to the quartz + feldspar content. The authors are confident that the study described in this paper has delivered new insights into the microdistribution of adsorbed and free oil in shale pore-fracture systems.

Identifying the volatility spillover risks between crude oil prices and China's clean energy market

&lt;abstract&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the global economy has been hit hard, and the development of renewable energy and energy transitions has become a common choice for all countries. The development of clean energy firms has become a hot topic of discussion among scholars, and the relationship between the stock prices of clean energy firms and the international crude oil market has attracted more attention. In this paper, we analyze the volatility connectedness between crude oil and Chinese clean energy firms from 2016 to 2022 by building time-varying vector autoregressive models with stochastic volatility components and time-varying spillover index and dynamic conditional correlation GARCH models. The results of the shock effects analysis show that international crude oil volatility had a significant short-term positive impact on Chinese clean energy firms during the COVID-19 outbreak period. Regarding spillover analysis, firms with large total market capitalization tended to be the senders of volatility spillovers, while smaller firms were likely to be the recipients. In terms of dynamic correlation analysis, the correlation between international crude oil and each clean energy firm was found to be volatile, and the dynamic correlation coefficient tended to reach its highest point during the COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, from the optimal portfolio weighting analysis, it is clear that all optimal weights of international crude oil and medium clean energy firms will increase during an epidemic outbreak, and that more assets should be invested in clean energy firms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/abstract&gt;