Engineering Commons^™

Solvent Selection For Liquid-Liquid Extraction Of Acetic Acid From Biomass Hydrolysate, Emma A. Barber, Mahdieh Aghazadeh, Abigail Engelberth

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Biofuels are one of the most hopeful alternative energy sources to fossil fuels. However, the processing and production of biofuels needs improvement to be economically competitive in the current market. One drawback is the presence of naturally occurring compounds that decrease the bioethanol production rate and yield; these are called inhibitors. A resolution to this problem is to remove the inhibitors from biomass fermentation broth prior to fermentation. This project examined liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) for removal of acetic acid, a major inhibitor. Initially, a stock solution of glucose, xylose, acetic acid, and water was combined with an additional organic solvent …

Energy Systems Analysis For A Solar Economy, Dharik Sanchan Mallapragada

Open Access Dissertations

The use of solar energy for human needs faces challenges owing to its relatively low energy intensity and intermittent availability, coupled with the constrained availability of renewable carbon and land resources. This study uses systems analysis tools to identify carbon and energy efficient transformations of solar energy for different purposes, including transportation fuels and grid-scale energy storage. These efforts have been complemented with a feasibility analysis of existing fossil-energy and other hybrid pathways.

In an era of limited fossil resources, liquid fuels from sustainably available (SA) biomass could meet the energy needs of the transportation sector. We present a method …

Effect Of Plant Hormones On The Production Of Biomass And Lipid In Microalgae, Malihe Mehdizadeh Allaf

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Limited fossil fuel reserves, increasing demand for energy in all parts of the world are some driving forces to look for new sources of transportation fuels. Among different options available, microalgae are currently attracting wide interests as an alternative and renewable fuel source.

Microalgae are single cell photosynthetic organisms that are known for rapid growth and high energy content and as a part of photosynthesis; they produce oil that can be used as a feedstock for biodiesel production. Some algae strains could contain lipid up to 80% of the dry biomass. The amount of lipid production is in direct relation …

Application Of One Dimensional Turbulence (Odt) To Model Fire Spread Through Biomass Fuel Bed, Abinash Paudel

Theses and Dissertations

Each year fires destroy millions of acres of woodland, lives, and property, and significantly contribute to air pollution. Increased knowledge of the physics and properties of the flame propagation is necessary to broaden the fundamental understanding and modeling capabilities of fires. Modeling flame propagation in fires is challenging because of the various modes of heat transfer with diverse fuels, multi-scale turbulence, and complex chemical kinetics. Standard physical models of turbulence like RANS and LES have been used to understand the flame behavior, but these models are limited by computational cost and their inability to resolve sub-grid scales. Application of several …

Optimization Of Mixing In A Simulated Biomass Bed Reactor With A Center Feeding Tube, Michael T. Blatnik

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Producing gasoline-type fuels from lignocellulosic biomass has two advantages over producing alcohol-type fuels from plant sugars: gasoline has superior fuel characteristics and plant lignin/cellulose does not compete with human food supplies. A promising technology for converting lignocellulose to fuel is catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP). The process involves injecting finely ground biomass into a fluidized bed reactor (FBR) at high temperatures, which reduce the biomass to gases that react inside the catalyst particles. This entails complex hydrodynamics to efficiently mix a stream of biomass into a catalyst bed that is fluidized by a separate stream of inert gas. Understanding the hydrodynamics …

Determination Of Kinetic Parameters From The Thermogravimetric Data Set Of Biomass Samples, Karol Postawa, Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

This article describes methods of the determination of kinetic parameters from the thermogravimetric data set of biomass samples. It presents the methodology of the research, description of the needed equipment, and the method of analysis of thermogravimetric data. It describes both methodology of obtaining quantitative data such as kinetic parameters as well as of obtaining qualitative data like the composition of biomass. The study is focused mainly on plant biomass because it is easy in harvesting and preparation. Methodology is shown on the sample containing corn stover which is subsequently pyrolysed. The investigated sample show the kinetic of first order …