Hideki Kanda

Macroalgae are one of potential sources for carotenoids, such as fucoxanthin, which are consumed by humans and animals. This carotenoid has been applied in both the pharmaceutical and food industries. In this study, extraction of fucoxanthin from wet brown seaweed Undaria pinnatifida (water content was 93.2%) was carried out with a simple method using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) as an extractant in semi-continuous flow-type system. The extraction temperature and absolute pressure were 25 °C a

Process design and energy requirement for a practical plant are investigated for an energy-saving drying (dewatering) process invented by the authors in 2002 for high-moisture porous materials. The basic concept of the process involves the extraction of water from a high-moisture porous material by bringing it in physical contact with liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) at room temperature. Water content of DME asymptotically increases to the saturation value and the high-moisture porous material is

We report the results of a molecular dynamics simulation that looked for the triple point of Lennard-Jones fluid in slit-shaped nanopores. The simulation method employed for this purpose is able to maintain vapor-liquid coexistence in a nanopore at a specific equilibrium bulk-phase pressure. The triple point is the freezing point of the critical condensate. The triple-point temperature could be higher or lower than the bulk triple point, depending on the pore size. This is thought to be due to t

We tested a wet extraction method for lipid extraction from Euglena gracilis water slurry at 0.51 MPa and 20 °C using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME). The yields, proximate analyses, elemental composition, and molecular weight distribution properties of the extracts from E. gracilis and the remaining residues obtained by DME extraction were compared with those of the extracts obtained by hexane Soxhlet extraction.

Grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations have been conducted to investigate freezing phenomena of Lennard-Jones (LJ) methane confined in cylindrical nanopores of reduced pore diameter ranging from 4.5 to 9.5 with saturated vapor as equilibrium bulk condition. The arrangement of the LJ particles in frozen state is found to form a hexagonal array within each concentric circular layer. Nonmonotonic dependence of freezing point against pore diameter, which is observed in strongly attractive po

An improved condensation model for the estimation of pore-size distribution in the range of nanometers is examined. In the authors' previous paper, the model proved its reliability in computer experiments employing the molecular dynamics technique. The model is tested here in a real experimental system with a MCM-41-like ordered mesoporous silicate, FSM-16. The study includes how to find the adsorbate−solid interaction strength, which is taken into account as an additional contribution for conde

Microalgae are a sustainable source for the production of biofuels and bioactive compounds. This review discusses significant research on innovative extraction techniques using dimethyl ether (DME) as a green subcritical fluid. DME, which is characterized by its low boiling point and safety as an organic solvent, exhibits remarkable properties that enable high extraction rates of various active compounds, including lipids and bioactive compounds, from high-water-content microalgae without the ne

Extraction of lutein from raw macroalgae <i>Monostroma nitidum</i> was conducted using a simple method employing dimethyl ether (DME) as a solvent. DME extraction enabled omission of conventional drying and cell wall disruption steps, yielding 0.30 mg/g dry lutein from wet <i>M. nitidum</i>. The yield of extracted lutein was higher than that by chloroform-methanol extraction from freeze-dried and cell-disrupted <i>M. nitidum</i>. DME extraction provides a safe, eco-friendly approach that combine