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Life Cycle Assessment Of Air Classification As A Sulfur Mitigation Technology In Pine Residue Feedstocks, Ashlee Edmonson

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Sulfur accumulation during biofuel production is pollutive, toxic to conversion catalysts, and causes the premature breakdown of processing equipment. Air classification is an effective preprocessing technology for ash and sulfur removal from biomass feedstocks. A life cycle assessment (LCA) sought to understand the environmental impacts of implementing air classification as a sulfur-mitigation technique for pine residues. Energy demand and material balance for preprocessing were simulated using SimaPro and the Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET model, specifically focusing on comparing the global warming potential (GWP) of grid electricity versus bioelectricity scenarios. Overall, the grid electricity scenario had a GWP impact over 7 …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Biomass Harvesting For On-Farm Biofuel Production, Michael A. Hagan

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Understanding the energy input and emissions resulting from the development of biofuels is important to quantify the overall benefit of the biofuel. As part of the On-Farm Biomass Processing project, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted on the process to harvest and transport agricultural crop residues ready for processing into biofuel. A Microsoft Excel model was developed that inventories the entire life cycle of the process, including incorporation of stochastic analysis within the model. The LCA results of the agricultural equipment manufacture are presented, along with the results of each step of the process, including fertilizer addition, single …

Nutrients Recycling Strategy For Microalgae-Based Co2 Mitigation System, Xinyi E

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Coal-fired electricity production is the major emitter of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases including NO_x and SO_x. Microalgae-based CO₂ mitigation systems have been proposed to reduce the net CO₂ emission from coal-fired power plants. This study focused on developing an optimum culture media and exploring the possibilities for recycling nutrients, which were added as commercial mineralized chemicals at the beginning of cultivation.

In order to release the nutrients embedded in the cells so that they can be used as a nutrient source for new cells, Scenedesmus biomass was digested by anaerobic bacteria. Results showed …