Aqueous extracts of Agave sisalana boles have prebiotic potential

Abstract

This work aimed at evaluating the prebiotic potential of the aqueous extract and crude polysaccharides from Agave sisalana boles by an in vitro screening. Crude polysaccharides were obtained from the aqueous bole extract by precipitation with acetone and resuspension in water. The liquid extract and the polysaccharide solution were then spray dried and submitted to thermal analysis and quantification of metabolites. Prebiotic activity was checked on probiotic strains belonging to the Lactobacillus genus using inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides, fructose and glucose as positive controls. The powder of A. sisalana bole extract, which has recently been identified as a rich source of inulin, exhibited higher potential of fermentation compared with crude polysaccharides.     

Sulfur speciation of Kuwaiti crude oils fractions using two-dimensional gas chromatography

The main objective of this study is to develop a methodology for sulfur compounds speciation using two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector and sulfur chemiluminescence detectors. The methodology enhances the ability to detect and quantify the refractory sulfur in petroleum distillates, and it was utilized to screen the molecular differences between distillates of two Kuwaiti heavy crude oils from different reservoirs but with similar physical properties. Despite the similarity in the physical properties, the detailed comparative analysis indicated significant differences in molecular composition, which suggests substantial differences in crude oil processability based on the reactivity of the detected compounds. The distillates that have been considered in this study include heavy naphtha, kerosene, and gas oil. The compositional differences between the distillates were observed using the two-dimensional gas chromatography system with an in-house developed method. This method groups the sulfur compounds into thiols, benzothiophenes (BTs), and dibenzothiophene (DBTs), and it can handle any atmospheric distillate up 365 °C. Furthermore, the method includes the possibility of identifying and quantifying a total number of 44 sulfur species, which covers the previously mentioned sulfur groups.     

原油乳状液稳定性和破乳研究进展

本文从控制乳状液稳定性的一些因素－界面膜、界面张力、双电层、空间位阻、固体粒子、液晶、油相溶解度、连续相粘度等方面综述了有关乳状液稳定性的一些研究进展。对国内外有关原油乳状液的破乳研究也做了综述。同时，介绍了应用于乳状液稳定性研究的新的实验技术和仪器。     

界面张力弛豫法研究不同分子量原油活性组分界面扩张粘弹性

采用界面张力弛豫法研究了不同分子量原油活性组分在正癸烷-水界面上的扩张粘弹性质,阐述了界面扩张模量的弹性和粘性随扩张频率的变化规律.研究发现,随着原油活性组分分子量的增大,极限扩张粘度明显增大,而极限扩张弹性逐渐增大;当分子量大于某一数值后,极限扩张弹性变化不明显.对界面张力弛豫实验结果进行拟合得到的参数表明,界面上和界面附近的微观弛豫过程的数目随原油活性组分分子量的增加而增加,弛豫过程的特征频率也呈规律性变化.不同原油活性组分的界面扩张粘弹性质可从其不同特征的微观弛豫过程得到解释.     

生物降解原油研究的新方法

利用沥青质包裹烃和沥青质钌离子催化氧化（RICO）产物中的生标对生物降解原油进行了研究。研究表明，虽然原油中的生标受到了严重破坏，但利用这两种方法在沥青质中均可以获得较为完整的生标系列。与其它方法相比，这两种方法简单方便，结果较为可靠、准确，可能是生物降解原油研究的发展方向。     

GEOCHEMISTY OF BICYCLIC ALKANES IN SEDIMENTS, COAL AND CRUDE OILS

By using GC-MS to analyze the extracts of source rocks, coal and crude oil samplesformed in different sedimentary environments in China, New Zealand and Australia, twenty-two compounds of five types of bicyclic alkanes have been dis covered in the samples. Thispaper makes an exposition of stereochemical structure, abundance and distributive features ofthese compounds and their relation to sedimentary environments and thermal evolution. Furt-thermore, it demonstrates how the abundance ratios of bicyclic alkanes to steranes and ter-panes, drimane to homodramane and the relative abundance of C_(15),C_(16),C_(12)-C_(14) series of bicyclic-alkane compounds can be used to judge and determine types of oil and gas forming environ-ments (the depositive environments of source rocks from which the oil and gas wereformed), characteristics of source rocks and degree of maturation.     

微波灰化-氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法测定原油和燃料油中的铅和砷

探讨了使用微波灰化技术消化原油和成品油样品,并使用氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法测定其中铅和砷的含量.研究了铅测定的灰化保护剂和砷测定的灰化助剂,并优化了仪器工作条件和实验条件.该方法测定原油和重油中铅的平均回收率分别为96.8%和96.7%,相对标准偏差分别为1.03%和0.93%;测定原油和重油中砷的平均回收率分别为90.0%和90.3%,相对标准偏差分别为2.39%和2.63%.     

Diffusion-Ordered Spectroscopy (DOSY) as a Powerful NMR Method to Investigate Molecular Mobilities and Intermolecular Interactions in Complex Oil Mixtures

Studying the characteristics and molecular mechanisms of liquid self-diffusion coefficient and viscosity changes is of great significance for, e. g., chemical and petroleum processing. As examples of highly complex liquid,an asphaltene-free high-acid and high-viscosity crude oil and its extracted fractions were studied by comparing their ¹H DOSY diffusion maps. The crude oil exhibited a polydisperse diffusion distribution, including multiple diffusion portions with diffusion coefficients much smaller than that of any single fraction in independent diffusion. The main mechanism that leads to the decreases in the diffusion coefficients of crude oil is attributed to diffusion resistance enhanced by Dynamical Molecular-Interaction Networks (DMINs), rather than by enlargement of the diffusion species caused by molecular aggregation. Constructed through the synergistic interactions of various polar molecules in crude oil, DMINs dynamically bind polar molecules, trap polarizable molecules, and spatially hinder the free motion of non-polar molecules. Overall, this reduces the mobility of all molecular species, as illustrated by the decreased diffusion coefficients. This study demonstrates that DOSY is a powerful NMR method to investigate molecular motion abilities also in complex mixtures. In addition, the insights in the influence of the interaction matrix on the molecular mobility also help to understand the contribution of “structural viscosity” to the viscosity of heavy oil.     

中缅原油管道贯通对进口原油海上运输成本的影响分析

研究了中缅原油管道贯通对我国进口原油海上运输成本的影响.首先分析了我国的主要原油进口地、进口量和海上运输航线等信息,然后选择了三种不同型号油轮,并调查了其载重量、航速、日租金等数据.以不同型号油轮的运输航次及各条航线上的实际运输量为决策变量,总租金(总运输成本)最小化为目标函数,分别建立了中缅原油管道贯通前后我国进口原油海上运输问题的数学模型,并分别给出了求解方法.最后,根据实际统计数据进行计算,分别求出了中缅原油管道贯通前后我国原油海上运输的总成本,结果显示,中缅原油管道贯通后我国进口原油的海上运输成本将降低4.95%.     

解析法确定含蜡原油热质耦合的蜡分子扩散速率

蜡分子扩散过程是在热和质的广义热力学"力"耦合驱动下产生广义热力学"流"的结果,其实质是传热和传质同时存在的复杂耦合不可逆过程.基于非平衡态热力学的基本原理,推导出含蜡原油管输过程蜡分子扩散热质传递的线性唯象方程组;依据质量和能量的守恒关系,得到蜡分子扩散的传热一传质微分方程组,利用拉普拉斯变换求解到其解析解,探讨促使蜡分子扩散的动力学原因,分析输量和季节变化的不同工况对扩散速率的影响.