Haytham Ayoub, Ehab Hussein Bani-Hani^*

Energy Engineering, Vol.117, No.1, pp. 41-47, 2020, DOI:10.32604/EE.2020.010412

Abstract Offshore wind turbine is analyzed theoretically and experimentally for improving wind energy harvesting. The energy produced is calculated at different wind speeds. The wind speed curve is generated by measuring the wind speed on daily base for one year. Curves that show the power extraction for experimental study and from the theoretical calculations are generated. The energy production investigation is expanded over a period of 15 years after comparing the annual energy production in theory and practice. The study shows the cost of electricity over the same time period assuming different interest rates. Three time intervals are shown that are… More >

Brody A. Frost, E. Johan Foster^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.2, pp. 187-203, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.07940

Abstract As the world's population exponentially grows, so does the need for the production of food, with cereal production growing annually from an estimated 1.0 billion to 2.5 billion tons within the last few decades. This rapid growth in food production results in an ever increasing amount of agricultural wastes, of which already occupies nearly 50% of the total landfill area. For example, is the billions of dry tons of cellulose-containing spent coffee grounds disposed in landfills annually. This paper seeks to provide a method for isolating cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from spent coffee grounds, in order to recycle and utilize the… More >

Kunal Wazarkar, Anagha Sabnis^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.1, pp. 57-68, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.07773

Abstract In the present research, cardanol based di-acrylic UV oligomer was synthesized by thiol-ene coupling followed by ring opening reaction with glycidyl methacrylate. The intermediate as well as final diacrylate materials were analyzed by chemical as well as spectroscopic analysis. Further, ultraviolet (UV) radiation curable formulations were prepared by replacing commercial epoxy acrylate with synthesized UV oligomer in 10-50 wt% and applied on wood panels. The coated films were then evaluated for their optical, mechanical, chemical and thermal properties. Studies showed that up to 30 wt% amount of UV oligomer the coatings exhibited at par mechanical and chemical properties. The stain… More >

M. Čekon^*, K. Struhala, R. Slávik

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, Suppl.1, pp. 84-93, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634135

Abstract Cardboard-based packaging components represent a material that has significant potential as a renewable source for exploitation in buildings. This study presents the results of thermal and environmental analyses of existing packaging materials compared with standard conventional thermal insulations.
Experimental measurements were performed to identify the thermal performance of studied cardboard packaging materials. Real-size samples were experimentally tested in laboratory measurements. The thermal resistance and conductivity of all the analyzed samples were measured according to the procedure indicated in the ISO8032 standard. A life-cycle assessment according to ISO 14040 was also performed to evaluate the environmental impacts related to the… More >

Małgorzata Wyciszkiewicz, Agnieszka Saeid^*, Katarzyna Chojnacka

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, Suppl.1, pp. 39-52, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634132

Abstract The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of using B. megaterium in solubilization of phosphates from different secondary raw materials, such as fish bones, poultry bones, ashes and phosphorite, by identification of the effect of different doses of phosphorus-bearing materials on the growth of microbial cells and the effectiveness of the solubilization process. Both FTIR as well as SEM-EDX techniques were used to compare the effect of the acids on renewable phosphorus source. Two doses of mentioned materials were used: 2 and 30 g/L. The effect of solubilization was expressed as the solubilization factor (SF, %), defined… More >

Selma B. Jaconis^1,*, Augusto T. Morita², Paulo L. A. Coutinho³, Suzana Borschiver¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.11, pp. 1221-1230, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00025

Abstract In recent years environmental and sustainability concerns have impacted the global chemical industry and instituted a rush to produce products from renewable raw materials. This dynamic, complex and turbulent organizational scenario, around themes touching on the issue of sustainable development model, was created involving a large number of different actors: chemical/petrochemical industries, agroindustry companies, oil/gas companies, brand owners and end users, biotechnology startups, governments, universities and society. This paper proposed the application of a structured and dynamic method of technological prediction for biopolymers in three levels: systematic monitoring process, relational database and the “alive” Technology Roadmapping visualization tool. The main… More >

Silvia Helena Fuentes da Silva¹, Patricia Soares Bilhalva dos Santos², Darci Alberto Gatto³, Maria Angeles Andres¹, Itziar Egüés^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.6, pp. 527-534, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.04291

Abstract Kraft lignin was liquefied using polyethylene glycol #400 (PEG) and glycerol (G) in a weight ratio of 80/20 (w/w) and sulphuric acid (SA) as catalyst under atmospheric pressure at 160ºC. The three independent variables: reaction time (60, 80 and 100 min), percentage of lignin (15, 20 and 25%, w/w), and catalyst concentration (0, 3 and 6%, w/w), were varied resulting in 27 experimental runs. The effect of these reaction conditions on the properties of the polyols was evaluated. The statistical analysis showed that only “the percentage of lignin” did not influence the properties of the liquefied products, however, reaction time… More >

E. M. Ciannamea^1,*, L. A. Castillo^2,3, R. A. Ruseckaite¹, S. E. Barbosa^2,3

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 21-30, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00043

Abstract Blends of gelatin (Ge) plasticized with varying amounts of glycerol (Gly), buffer solution pH 10 and epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) to enhance hydrophobicity were prepared by mixing and injection-molding. Blends were characterized by rheological tests and microscopy to select optimal conditions for scaling up their processing. The effect of each component on rheological response was analyzed using parallel plate geometry. Coating of gelatin specimens with PDMS during rheological tests led to reliable and reproducible results since water evaporation was prevented. A gradual increment in ESO concentration led to blends with increased degree of phase separation, as evidenced by optical and… More >

Regina Jeziorska*, Agnieszka Abramowicz, Agnieszka Szadkowska, Anna Pasnik and Ewa Spasowka

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.7, pp. 772-783, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2018.634114

Abstract Poly(phenylene oxide)/renewable polyamide 11 (PPO/PA11 20/80) blends toughened with glycidyl methacrylate grafted ethylene-n-octene copolymer (GEOC) were prepared in a co-rotating twin-screw extruder. The reaction between GEOC and PPO/PA11 blend was analyzed by gel content tests. The morphology of PPO/PA11/GEOC blends was observed by scanning electron microscope. The SEM results showed that PPO formed the continuous phase, though it is a minority component of blends. With increasing GEOC content from 5 to 15 wt% the morphology of the blends transformed from droplet-matrix to co-continuous structure, in which both PA11 and PPO phases are continuous. The blend with co-continuous morphology had better… More >

S. Gaidukovs^1,2,*, G. Gaidukova², A. Ivdre^1,3, U. Cabulis³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.7, pp. 755-763, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2018.634112

Abstract This article deals with the study of the viscoelastic and thermal properties of polyurethane (PU) rigid foams from biobased and recycled components. Rapeseed oil (RO) and recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were used to synthesize PU polyols. Addition of adipic acid (ADA) to polyol resulted in improved thermal and viscoelastic properties of foam materials. ADA content was varied from 1 to 6 wt%. Results of the dynamic mechanical spectra indicate an increase of the storage modulus E′ and the loss modulus E″ in the whole temperature range for specimens with higher loading of ADA. In addition, damping factor shifted to higher… More >