A morpholine alkaline basic ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methyl morpholine hydroxide ([Hnmm]OH) was synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR and FT-IR. [Hnmm]OH is highly active in catalyzing the synthesis of biodiesel from the reaction of methanol with soybean oil. The influence of the reaction conditions, including the [Hnmm]OH catalyst amount, the molar ratio of methanol to soybean oil, reacti...

New membrane distillation configurations and a new membrane module were investigated to improve water desalination. The performances of three hydrophobic microporous membranes were evaluated under vacuum enhanced direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) with a turbulent flow regime and with a feed water temperature of only 40 ◦C. The new configurations provide reduced temperature polarizatio...

Powering desalination by waste heat is often proposed to mitigate energy consumption and environmental impact; however, thorough technology comparisons are lacking in the literature. This work numerically models the efficiency of six representative desalination technologies powered by waste heat at 50, 70, 90, and 120 ◦C, where applicable. Entropy generation and Second Law efficiency analysis a...

Many reclamation treatments as well as integrated processes for the purification of olive mill wastewaters (OMW) have already been proposed and developed but not led to completely satisfactory results, principally due to complexity or cost-ineffectiveness. The olive oil industry in its current status, composed of little and dispersed factories, cannot stand such high costs. Moreover, these trea...

E nergy costs are the largest percentage of a hydrocarbon plant’s operating expenditures. This is especially true of the distillation process, which requires substantial energy consumption. Concerns over recent high costs and economic pressures continually emphasise the need for efficient distillation design and operation without a loss of performance. This article illustrates how energy-effici...

One approach to active learning involves taking students through a guided exploration process; one which ensures students will observe phenomena and then be asked questions intended to draw conclusions regarding the observations. In recent years, this has been called inductive teaching, but more recently the expression “inquiry-based instruction” or related terms have become more common. Concur...