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Summary: Understanding the behaviour of legumes during soaking results of importance since this might affect subsequent processing steps and thus final product quality. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different ultrasound‐assisted soaking conditions (45.8–108.7 W cm−2 for 10–30 min) on the hydration, physicochemical and nutritional properties of kabuli chickpeas. During sonication, the temperature of the soaking media was either controlled at 20 °C (treatment referred to as US) or allowed to rise (treatment referred to as US + T). Selected temperature treatments without sonication (treatment referred to as T) were also included to identify thermal effects. Results showed that higher sonication intensities enhanced water imbibition up to a moisture content of 74.5% (w/w), being more pronounced in treatments where a temperature rise was allowed. Hydration kinetics were well described by the Peleg model (R2 = 0.961–0.998). Samples treated with temperature (US + T; T) showed high solid (0.8–5.1%), di‐ (13.2–59.7%) and α‐galactosyl‐sucrose oligosaccharide (5.4–58.7%) losses. In contrast, high US treatments enhanced oligosaccharides to up to 26.2% as well as pasting properties, while decreasing leaching losses (0.93–3.33%). Nutritional properties of sonicated chickpeas were only slightly affected after cooking following no clear trend. Overall, sonication was an effective pre‐treatment to reduce hydration time of up to 90% in chickpeas, especially when combined with temperature, and could be applied to drastically reduce the processing time of chickpea and chickpea flour in the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this work is to optimize the effects of operating parameters on the yield of products from fast pyrolysis of four palm oil biomasses (empty fruit bunch [EFB], palm shell [PS], palm mesocarp fiber [PMF], and oil palm fronds [OPF]) in a fluidized bed reactor. Three kinetics schemes (simple, global, and advanced) were applied to predict the yield of pyrolytic products (liquid [bio‐oil], gas, and char). The results from the simulation of three kinetics schemes compared with the reported experimental data. The results from global and advanced kinetics schemes showed better prediction than simple kinetics scheme. The influence of the operating parameters such as biomass constituents, vapor residence time, reaction temperature and particle size on the fast pyrolysis of palm oil biomasses was investigated using the global kinetics scheme. Moreover, the yield of pyrolysis products was also classified using the advanced kinetics scheme. The results indicated that EFB biomass with particle size of 0.3 mm gave the maximum yield of liquid product due to its higher cellulose content compared to other palm oil biomasses (OPF, PMF, and PS) at reaction temperature of 773 K and vapor residence time of 1 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was aimed to investigate mechanical properties, color and cell-wall components changes, and durability of pre-dried rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) after superheated steam (SS) treatment. Wood samples were treated at different SS temperatures (140–180°C) for 1–3 h. The highest compression strength parallel-to-grain, hardness and impact strength were found for samples treated at 160°C for 3 h (30.7% higher than untreated), at 150°C for 1 h (26.6% higher than untreated) and at 150°C for 2 h (52.6% higher than untreated), respectively. The surface color became darker after each treatment in comparison with the untreated wood. The number of accessible hydroxyl groups decreased and the relative cellulose crystallinity increased with SS temperature, indicating decreased hygroscopicity of the treated wood. Also, SEM micrographs of wood surface showed consistent decrease in starch particles with treatment temperature. Both decay and termite resistances of treated rubberwood improved with treatment temperature. All the analyzes showed that dried rubberwood treated with SS had some improvements in the mechanical properties, decreased hygroscopicity, and increase resistance to decay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) was treated with superheated steam (140–160 °C) for 1–3 h and then its adsorption ability, mechanical properties, and color changes were investigated. The results of adsorption show decreased equilibrium moisture content (EMC) for all heat-treated cases throughout the hygroscopic range. The Hailwood–Horrobin model was used to analyze the sorption isotherms and determine the monolayer and polylayer moisture contents for untreated and heat-treated rubberwood. The monolayer moisture content clearly decreased with treatment temperature and duration, whereas the reduction in polylayer moisture was relatively smaller. Moreover, the least density of water adsorption sites was found in wood after treatment at 160 °C for 3 h, indicating this as the cause for reduced equilibrium adsorption. All treatment conditions had improved mechanical properties, including compression parallel-to-grain, hardness, and tensile strength. The total color difference of the wood surface increased with increasing temperature and treatment duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on determining the optimal conditions for producing by electrolysis HHO that is suitable for use in motor vehicles and in households. The experiments used electrolyte concentrations of 0.50%, 0.75%, 1.00%, 1.25%, and 1.50% w/w KOH (aq.), and 316 L stainless steel 20 × 30 mm electrode plates. The gap between the plates was adjusted to 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 mm, and experiments were conducted at the steady state temperatures of 40°C, 45°C, 50°C, 55°C, 60°C, 65°C, 70°C, 75°C, 80°C, 85°C, 90°C, and 95°C, for 10 min. It was found that the optimized production conditions for houses or motor vehicles, according to this study, were 7 mm cell gap and 1.50% w/w KOH at 90.0°C ± 1.0°C operating temperature, or 5 mm cell gap and 1.25% w/w KOH at 85.0°C ± 1.0°C operating temperature, respectively. To apply this research to real operation, the methods of real application with vehicles and household appliances were discussed. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38: 268–277, 2019 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spirulina is a cyanobacteria filled with therapeutic and nutritive properties that can be easily digested. It contains 71% protein by weight and a higher percentage of GLA (Gamma-Linolenic Acid) than any other plant. GLA has contributing properties of reducing blood pressure and blood cholesterol. After harvesting, the Spirulina is drained, sun-dried and dried in a convective oven. During the prolonged rainy season in Southern Thailand, convective drying alone can be very slow and energy consuming. Thus, this research investigated the effect of air-impingement technique on thin-layer drying of Spirulina. First, the effects of temperature (40, 50, and 60°C) and film thickness (2 and 4 mm) on the drying rate were obtained using a lab-scale dryer with a product capacity of 600 g. For an air velocity of 1 m/s, an increase in temperature up to 60°C resulted in an increase of the drying rate, while increasing the film thickness to 4 mm increased the drying time by 50%. In the second part of the study, a pilot-scale impingement dryer (1.2 m x 1.2 m x 1 m) was designed and constructed. The dryer consisted of 3 levels and can handle up 2.8 kg of fresh Spirulina per batch when arranged in a 2 mm layer film. The temperature distribution inside the dryer and the effect of air velocity (1.3 and 2.6 m/s) on the drying rate were investigated. From thermocouple measurements, the temperature deviation was less than 10% from top level to bottom level when compared to the average value. Moreover, using the specific moisture evaporation rate as the performance indicator, it was found that an air velocity of 2.6 m/s was more efficient than one of 1.3 m/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]