Effect of ultrasonic irradiation on the properties and performance of biodiesel produced from date seed oil used in the diesel engine.

In the present study, the effect of ultrasound irradiation on the transesterification parameters, biodiesel properties, and its combustion profiles in the diesel engine was investigated. Moreover, date seed oil (DSO) was firstly utilized in the ultrasound-assisted transesterification reaction. DSO was extracted from Zahidi type date (Phoenix dactylifera) and was esterified to reduce its Free Fatty Acid (FFA) content.

Optimal pretreatment determination of kiwifruit drying via online monitoring.

Background: Pre-treating is a crucial stage of drying process. The best pretreatment for hot air drying of kiwifruit was investigated using a computer vision system (CVS), for online monitoring of drying attributes including drying time, colour changes and shrinkage, as decision criteria and using clustering method. Slices were dried at 70 °C with hot water blanching (HWB), steam blanching (SB), infrared blanching (IR) and acid ascorbic 1% w/w (AA) as pretreatments each with three durations of 5, 10 and 15 min.