Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Organic Solvents’ Effects On Kenaf (Hibiscus Cannabinus L.) Biomass Conversion In Subcritical Water, Bahar Meryemoglu, Arif Hasanoglu, Mehtap Kurtulus, Sibel Irmak

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Kenaf biomass was hydrolyzed under subcritical water conditions in the presence of various organic solvents. The solvents tested were tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetone, xylene (mixed isomers) and methanol. The organic compounds released into hydrolysates, total organic contents, water-soluble total phenols, and the molecular weight distributions of the polysaccharides in the hydrolysates, solid residues leftover after hydrolysis and gaseous products formed during the solubilization process were determined. The results showed that organic solvents significantly enhanced the dissolution of kenaf biomass (methanol < (omp)xylene ≤ acetone ~ tetrahydrofuran). The hydrolysis percentage was found to be between 75-82% depending on the type of the solvent. Hydrolysis yield and total organic carbons released into hydrolysates highly differed when the solubilization process was performed under carbon dioxide pressure and this effect considerably varied based on the type of solvent used in hydrolysis process. The main gas product formed during hydrolysis process was carbon dioxide with ~80% composition. Morphological measurements of the solid biomass residues left after hydrolysis showed substantial degradations with increasing number of pores on the biomass surfaces.

Minimizing Ethanol Concentration In Organosolv Pretreatment For The Saccharification Of Loblolly Pine, Nelson B. Heringer

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Organic solvent pretreatment, commonly known as organosolv, is a method used to prepare biomass for enzymatic hydrolysis for the production of biofuels. This method common uses ethanol as the organic solvent. However, this creates an economic issue with the product stream, as ethanol becomes a product and input. This project sought to explore how decreasing the use of ethanol in organosolv pretreatment affected the recoverability of sugars after enzymatic hydrolysis. Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) was pretreated at 170 °C for 60 minutes in 1% dilute sulfuric acid and an ethanol concentration varying from 65% to 35%. Compositional …

Induction Of Cellulase In High Solids Cultivation Of Trichoderma Reesei For Enhanced Enzymatic Hydrolysis Of Lignocellulose, Danielle Empson

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

This project aimed investigated cellulase in-situ production for large-scale on-farm production of lignocellulosic biofuel. Cellulase activity and glucose released by T. reesei with corn stover and wheat bran as co-substrates for solid state cultivation (SSC) were examined. Co-cultivation has previously increased T. reesei cellulase, but corn stover and wheat bran have not been co-cultivated (Dhillon, Oberoi et al. 2011). This work compared cellulase activity and glucose concentration of corn stover co-cultivated with 0-40% wheat bran in high solids. Samples with at least 20% wheat bran exhibited increased cellulase activity. However, the average glucose concentration without wheat bran was 3.29 g/L …

Flash Hydrolysis Of Microalgae Biomass For Biofuels Intermediates Production, Protein Extraction, And Nutrients Recycle, Jose Luis Garcia Moscoso

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Microalgae have shown much higher growth rates and productivity when compared to conventional agricultural crops, aquatic plants and tree species, requiring much less land area than other biodiesel feedstock. To harness that potential the hydrothermal liquefaction of algae biomass was studied and a new process called "Flash Hydrolysis" was developed to use water under subcritical conditions, this process capitalizes on the difference in reaction kinetics of algae polymeric components and fractionates proteins in liquid phase in seconds of residence time.

The main objectives for this study are: Analyze the effect of temperature in FH process to maximize the extraction of …

Minimizing Wash Water Usage After Acid Hydrolysis Pretreatment Of Biomass, Noaa Frederick

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract Dilute acid pretreatment, needed to prepare biomass for saccharification, results in the production of a number of byproducts, which inhibit subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation steps. In order to improve saccharification yields in the enzyme hydrolysis step, the pretreated biomass is often rinsed with room temperature water to remove these byproducts. High-density poplar was pretreated with 1% dilute sulfuric acid at 140 ºC for 40 minutes. After pretreatment the biomass was washed with water volumes equal to 0, 1 ½, or 3 times the biomass volume. The rinsed biomass was then enzymatically hydrolyzed and the concentrations of byproducts and …