Due to the reduction of fossil fuels’ resources and their contribution to environmental problems, biodiesel fuels have attracted significant attention as substitutes for diesel fuels. However, since their NOₓ emissions are higher than that of diesel fuels in most cases and also because of their higher viscosity than diesel, fuel additives are used to enhance their properties and reduce emissions. In this study, the effect of n-hexane and n-hexadecane addition to biodiesel and diesel fuels on exhaust emissions and performance of a single-cylinder diesel engine was investigated by using grey-based Taguchi method. Fuel additive, the additive amount, and fuel type were considered as the operating parameters. Three fuel types including diesel, rapeseed oil biodiesel, and cottonseed oil biodiesel were used in this investigation, while n-hexane and n-hexadecane were considered as the two fuel additives. As well as, three levels were assigned to the additive amount which were 4, 8, and 12%. Based on the operating parameters and their levels, the plan of experiments was generated according to L₁₈ orthogonal array. Using grey relational analysis, this multi-response optimization problem was first transformed into a single response optimization. Then, this single system response, which is known as grey relational grade, was utilized in Taguchi approach for statistical evaluations. The results demonstrated that rapeseed was the best selection for fuel type compared to cottonseed and diesel in order to have the optimum system responses and hexadecane gave better results for system optimization in comparison with hexane additive. As well as, the analysis of variance showed that fuel type was the predominant operating factor influencing the grey relational grade which means fuel type was the most important parameter in the simultaneous optimization of exhaust emissions and engine performance. The Taguchi results also revealed that the optimum condition of engine performance and exhaust emissions happened when engine was fueled with rapeseed biodiesel containing 12% hexadecane as an additive. The confirmation test result validated the reliability of Taguchi approach in this investigation.

To characterize coprophilous fungi for converting lignocellulose into lipids, four fungal strains utilizing cellulose microcrystalline and xylan were screened. The fungi were identified as Cladosporium sp. F1, Circinella sp. F6, Mycocladus sp. F49, and Byssochlamys sp. F52 based on the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequence similarity. The strain F52 accumulated 336.0 mg/L reducing sugars on cottonseed shells treated with ethanol. The combination of F1 + F52 increased the reducing sugar accumulating rates. However, the activities of avicelase and xylanase were not correlated with the reducing sugars accumulated by the test strains. Strains F6 and F52 produced higher cellular lipids (above 530.7 mg/L) than other strains. However, the strain F52 could produce more cellular lipids with xylose and mannose as the sole carbon sources. The results indicated that the reducing sugar contents accumulated by the different strains were influenced by the fungal taxa and ligocellulosic types. With fibrolytic and lipid accumulating activities, diverse fungi harboring in herbivore feces need to be further characterized.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of calcium lignosulfonate associated with whole cottonseed in high-concentrate diets for sheep. Eight Dorper crossbred sheep with an average live weight of 42.5 ± 1.70 kg were assigned to two 4 × 4 Latin squares. The following experimental diets were evaluated: control diet (without calcium lignosulfonate) and diets with inclusion of 50, 100, and 150 g of calcium lignosulfonate/kg fresh matter. Diets were composed of soybean meal, ground corn, and whole cottonseed. Feed intake, digestibility, metabolic characteristics, and feeding behavior were evaluated. The intake of nutritional components did not show significant differences as a function of the lignosulfonate levels in the diet; however, the increase in calcium lignosulfonate levels linearly decreased the dry matter digestibility. Rumen ammonia nitrogen concentrations decreased linearly as the lignosulfonate levels in the diets were increased. There was no effect of lignosulfonate levels on blood parameters or feeding behavior of the animals. The use of lignosulfonate associated with cottonseed decreases the digestibility of dry matter and the concentration of rumen ammonia nitrogen, but does not change the intake of nutritional components, the blood parameters, or the feeding behavior of sheep.