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The Biodegradabilities of Different Oil-Based Fatliquors

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Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society

Abstract

The biodegradabilities of different oil-based fatliquors derived from rape oil, fish oil, castor oil or mineral oil variants were investigated by evaluating the respiration curves, BOD5/COD values, COD (chemical oxygen demand) and TOC (total organic carbon) removal ratios. Simultaneously, degradation kinetics of the fatliquors were also studied. The results indicated that the BOD5/COD values and the COD and TOC removal ratios of all the natural oil based products are higher than 0.45 and 85%, respectively, implying that all of them are biodegradable. The mineral oil based fatliquors have lower than 0.2 and 10% values, showing unbiodegradable characteristics and were used as the control. The biodegradability order is castor oil > fish oil > rape oil > mineral oil product. Further study indicated that the differences in biodegradability result from the varying fatty acid composition (such as ricinoleic acid and polyunsaturated fatty acids). The higher the active group content, the more beneficial for modification reactions and result in a higher biodegradation rate. The degradation kinetics studies revealed that the degradation rate constants (k) of castor oil, fish oil and rape oil products are 0.87, 0.84 and 0.81 d−1 for the sulfated fatliquor, and 0.95, 0.93, 0.85 d−1 for the oxidized–sulfited fatliquors, respectively; indicating that the overall degradation rate followed the same trend as the biodegradability order where castor oil > fish oil > rape oil, whether the fatliquors underwent modification as sulfated or oxidized–sulfited.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support from the Hi-tech Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, Project Number: 2007AA03Z341) and National Science Foundation of China (Project Number: 20976110).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Clean Technology of Leather Manufacture, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, People’s Republic of China

    Zhaoyang Luo, Chunchun Xia, Haojun Fan, Xin Chen & Biyu Peng

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  1. Zhaoyang Luo
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  2. Chunchun Xia
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  3. Haojun Fan
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  4. Xin Chen
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  5. Biyu Peng
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Correspondence to Haojun Fan.

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Luo, Z., Xia, C., Fan, H. et al. The Biodegradabilities of Different Oil-Based Fatliquors. J Am Oil Chem Soc 88, 1029–1036 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-010-1749-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-010-1749-9

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