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Water-diesel emulsion fuel has been found as a prominent alternative fuel by various researchers. Alike this technology, cow-urine (Bos indicus urine) emulsified diesel fuel (GMD emulsion) has been explored in this study. Making of homogeneous and stable emulsion is a crucial aspect in this approach while maintaining the diesel standards. Hence, the applicability of this fuel has been examined based on physicochemical properties for diesel engine application. The stability was assessed by creaming index, droplet size, Pdi, and interfacial tension. The minimum droplet size (278 nm) and 0.282 Pdi was obtained with 5.72 HLB value, 4% (v/v) surfactant, and 10% (v/v) of cow-urine through ultra-sonication. The optimized 10% GMD emulsion was found stable for more than 80 days. Viscosity and density of the fuel got increased with cow-urine and surfactant; however, they found within the standard limits. The physicochemical analysis exhibited the feasibility of the GMD emulsion for diesel engine application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiesel is a biological renewable source produced from the conversion of triglycerides to alkyl esters. Palm oil is one of the most used lipid feedstocks for biodiesel production. It becomes necessary to optimize the transesterification reaction parameters to reduce the cost and enhance the quality of biodiesel. This study focuses on the use of homogenous sulfuric acid as a catalyst for the transesterification of palm fatty acids to methyl esters in a batch-scale reactor. A novel examination of transesterification reaction input parameters using the technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution optimization technique and the effect of these parameters on yield, viscosity, and density of palm biodiesel using 3D surface graphs is investigated in this research. The present optimization approach is implemented to find out the optimum ranking of biodiesel production. From the experimental and numerical simulation, optimum results were observed at the catalyst concentration of 6% (w/w), reaction temperature of 70 °C, the reaction time of 120 min, and alcohol to oil molar ratio of 30:1 at which yield of 95.35%, viscosity of 5.0 cSt, and density of 880 kg/m3 of palm biodiesel were obtained. The different physicochemical properties of produced palm methyl esters are obtained within standards set by international authorities. Selected optimized process parameters can be used for commercial-scale biodiesel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid depletion of conventional fuel reserves and the increase in environmental pollution prompted the search for a sustainable energy solution. Biodiesel is one of the most promising energy substitutes with similar properties as conventional diesel fuel. Surplus availability of palm oil makes it suitable for biodiesel production. Due to the lack of availability of review articles that cover the entire process of palm biodiesel production and its optimum use in diesel engines, the authors were motivated to write this article. Cultivation parameters of palm trees, extraction of oil, and physicochemical properties of palm oil–based biodiesel are explained in this review. The production of palm biodiesel from raw oil can be done through pyrolysis, micro-emulsification, blending, hydro-esterification, and transesterification processes. For high biodiesel yield and less cost of operation, the transesterification method is adopted. The performance and emission parameters of diesel engines that operated on palm biodiesel and its blends are also explained. There is a decrease in brake thermal efficiency and an increase in brake-specific fuel consumption observed with the use of palm biodiesel in diesel engines. A reduction in CO and HC emissions and an increase in NOx emissions are found due to the oxygenating nature of palm biodiesel. This article provides the scientific approach to find out the optimum parameters for palm biodiesel production and its efficient use in compression ignition engines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brucella is alpha-2 Proteobacteria mainly responsible for multi-factorial bacterial zoonotic disease brucellosis with low concentration (10–100 CFU) required to establish the infection. In this study, we developed sandwich ELISA with detection range of 102 to 108 cells mL−1 and limit of detection at 103 cells mL−1 by employing polyclonal rabbit IgG (capture antibody, 10 µg mL−1) and mice IgG (detection antibody, 50 µg mL−1) antibody for its detection. Surface Plasmon Resonance evaluated the interaction of detection antibody with whole cell spiked serum samples at LOD of 102 cells mL−1 along with non co-operative interaction of protein albumin. Further, kinetic evaluation study using detection antibody against cell envelope antigen was performed whereby, Equilibrium Dissociation Constant (KD) and Maximum Binding Capacity (Bmax) were found to be 16.48 pM and 81.67 m° for Brucella abortus S99 and 0.42 pM and 54.50 m° for Brucella melitensis 16 M, respectively. During interference study, sandwich ELISA assay cross-reacted with either of the polyclonal antibody of above Brucella species. Upon validation, no cross-reactivity observed with bacteria-closely related to Brucella. In conclusion, developed semi-quantitative sandwich immunoassay is sensitively rapid in whole cell detection of Brucella and will be useful in development of detection assays from environmental and clinical matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing environmental concern, human health and the continuous upgradation in the stringent standards of vehicular emissions have shown much interest in cleaner diesel fuels. Out of various strategies to mitigate the diesel engine emissions, use of water blended diesel in the form of emulsion has grabbed sufficient attention of the fuel research community. Various researches have shown that water-emulsified diesel has sufficient potential to improve the engine performance simultaneously with a significant reduction in the levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions. Micro-explosion phenomenon of combustion in emulsion fuel helps to provide efficient and complete combustion which in turn improves brake thermal efficiency. The current study presents a comprehensive review of the usage of water-emulsified diesel fuel in CI engines. Focusing on the performance, combustion, and emission analysis, it also talks in detail about the principle and the chemistry involved in making of a stable and homogeneous water-diesel emulsion compatible for CI engine. The literature survey concludes two crucial points. First, the water-blended diesel emulsion serves as an economical, fuel efficient, and cleaner combustion technology. Second, the optimum blend ratio, emulsifier quantity, and proper process differs in almost all the research papers and hence needed to be standardized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]