Dark homogenous fungal-based layers called biofinishes and vegetable oils are keyingredients of an innovative wood protecting system. The aim of this study was todetermine which of the vegetable oils that have been used to generate biofinishes onwood will provide carbon and energy for the biofinish-inhabiting fungus Aureobasidiummelanogenum, and to determine the effect of the oil type and the amount of oil on thecell yield. Aureobasidium melanogenum was cultivated in shake flasks with differenttypes and amounts of carbon-based nutrients. Oil-related total cell and colony-formingunit growth were demonstrated in suspensions with initially 1% raw linseed,stand linseed, and olive oil. Oil-related cell growth was also demonstrated with rawlinseed oil, using an initial amount of 0.02% and an oil addition during cultivation. Nilered staining showed the accumulation of fatty acids inside cells grown in the presenceof oil. In conclusion, each tested vegetable oil was used as carbon and energysource by A. melanogenum. The results indicated that stand linseed oil provides lesscarbon and energy than olive and raw linseed oil. This research is a fundamental stepin unraveling the effects of vegetable oils on biofinish formation.
MULTIFILE
Bitumen is a highly valued and much used roofing material, but as an oilbased, non-renewable product, bitumen is now no longer sustainable. In response to this growing need to produce more sustainable construction materials, Icopal bv, Algaecom and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences collaborated on the study to replace part of the fossil oil by Algal oils.
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Oil extraction from Andean lupin beans (Lupinus mutabilis SWEET) via supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) was studied on both lab scale and pilot scale. On the lab scale, the effect of pressure, solvent-to-feed ratio (S/F), sample particle size and temperature on oil yield were evaluated. The oil quality (fatty acid [FA] composition and tocopherol content) were investigated. Five-hour scCO2 extraction yielded about 86% oil of Soxhlet extraction (using hexane as solvent). The fraction of unsaturated FA rose with extraction pressure at specific time. High tocopherol contents were detected in oils extracted at low pressure. An increase in temperature was unfavorable to oil and tocopherol yield, thereby confirming the validity for preserving oil extract quality under a mild scCO2 extraction condition. Oil quality and yield did not have identical optimum settings, opening up possibilities for producing different qualities of oils. Pilot-scale extraction offered comparable oil yield to lab-scale extraction at similar S/F ratio. Economic evaluation showed that it is promising to implement industrial scale scCO2 process for lupin oil extraction. It was predicted that, at a specific industrial scale of extraction (2 × 1000 L, 550 bar, 40°C and S/F of 24), the manufacturing cost of oils got close to actual commercial production cost.
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Horticulture crops and plants use only a limited part of the solar spectrum for their growth, the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR); even within PAR, different spectral regions have different functionality for plant growth, and so different light spectra are used to influence different properties of the plant, such as leaves, fruiting, longer stems and other plant properties. Artificial lighting, typically with LEDs, has been used to provide these specified spectra per plant, defined by their light recipe. This light is called steering light. While the natural sunlight provides a much more sustainable and abundant form of energy, however, the solar spectrum is not tuned towards specific plant needs. In this project, we capitalize on recent breakthroughs in nanoscience to optimally shape the solar spectrum, and produce a spectrally selective steering light, i.e. convert the energy of the entire solar spectrum into a spectrum most useful for agriculture and plant growth to utilize the sustainable solar energy to its fullest, and save on artificial lighting and electricity. We will take advantage of the developed light recipes and create a sustainable alternative to LED steering light, using nanomaterials to optimally shape the natural sunlight spectrum, while maintaining the increased yields. As a proof of concept, we are targeting the compactness of ornamental plants and seek to steer the plants’ growth to reduce leaf extension and thus be more valuable. To realize this project the Peter Schall group at the UvA leads this effort together with the university spinout, SolarFoil, whose expertise lies in the development of spectral conversion layers for horticulture. Renolit - a plastic manufacturer and Chemtrix, expert in flow synthesis, provide expertise and technical support to scale the foil, while Ludvig-Svensson, a pioneer in greenhouse climate screens, provides the desired light specifications and tests the foil in a controlled setting.
This project is to investigate Circular Calcium Carbonate (CCC) that is produced by pyrolysis from paper waste in an innovative process developed by the company Alucha Management B.V. (Alucha) located in Arnhem. Although there is a need to use circular materials in rubber formulations it has not yet been proven that the replacement of mined white fillers (e.g. Kaolin, Calcium Carbonate) by CCC in rubber applications is possible without a significant impact on the processing properties and part performance. The scope of this project is to investigate the use of Circular Calcium Carbonate (CCC) in various rubber formulations and articles made thereof.
The SMEs participating in the NUTSHELL-project approached Avans to assist them in evaluating the pyrolytic extraction of valuable oils from Cashew Nut Shell (CNS). CNS is waste generated in the production of edible cashew nut. For the 2017 the predicted cashew nuts crop yield is 3 million tons; resulting to 2 million tons of CNS waste. CNS contains circa 30-35% brown viscous liquid, called Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) , this is a natural resin containing valuable components, for example cardanol, cardol and anacardic acid. CNSL and its derivatives have several industrial uses as biobased additives, polymeric building blocks and biodiesel. Part of the CNSL can be extracted during the roasting process prior to separating the shell and nut kernel. The shell waste still has a relatively high CNSL concentration that can be isolated by solvents or pressing (expeller). Expeller process is simple and not capital-intensive; therefore it is commonly used in a small scale production. The main disadvantages of the method are the relatively high energy consumption and its low oil recovery, the level of oil in the press-cake remains 3 to 5%. The residual oil produces harmful gases in burning hence hindering the use as fuel. Also the resulting cake is too dense to be further processed to charcoal or other useful application; hence forming a significant waste stream. One of the main advantages of the pyrolysis route as envisaged by the SME partners is using the total CNS biomass. The objective of this project is to study a process where in the pyrolytic isolation of CNSL oils is achieved and the remaining cake can be further pyrolysed to form charcoal or biochar.
