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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Biomass And Biofuels In Maine: Estimating Supplies For Expanding The Forest Products Industry, Jonathan Rubin, Kate Dickerson, Jacob Kavkewitz Nov 2007

Biomass And Biofuels In Maine: Estimating Supplies For Expanding The Forest Products Industry, Jonathan Rubin, Kate Dickerson, Jacob Kavkewitz

Energy & the Environment

This paper estimates the renewable energy potential of Maine’s forest resources, and how much energy these resources could potentially provide the state. Using the most recent state-specific data available, and a methodology similar to the Billion Tons Report, we find that ethanol production from Maine’s forest residues could potentially provide 18% of Maine’s transportation (gasoline) fuels with a fermentation wood to ethanol process. Making Fischer-Tropsch diesel (F-T diesel) using forest residues can replace 39% of Maine’s petro-diesel consumption. Actual levels of biofuels that can be produced will depend on conversion factors and forestry residue removals that are subject to uncertainty.


Potential Bleaching Techniques For Use In Distillers Grains, Jessica A. Saunders, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Padmanaban G. Krishnan Jun 2007

Potential Bleaching Techniques For Use In Distillers Grains, Jessica A. Saunders, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Padmanaban G. Krishnan

Kurt A. Rosentrater

The ethanol industry is booming. And extensive research is currently being pursued to develop alternative uses for distillers dried grains (DDG) and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), coproducts of the ethanol production process. Currently, DDG and DDGS are used exclusively as livestock feed. previous research has shown promising avenues for the use of DDG and DDGS in human foods. The low starch, high protein and high fiber grains seem ideally suited for medical conditions such as diabetes and Celiac's disease. Processing methods need to be investigated to create functional flours that can be used effectively. Refining aspects such as …


Quantifying Total And Sustainable Agricultural Biomass Resources In South Dakota, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Russell Persyn, Dennis Todey Jun 2007

Quantifying Total And Sustainable Agricultural Biomass Resources In South Dakota, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Russell Persyn, Dennis Todey

Kurt A. Rosentrater

Conversion of biomass is considered the next major advance in biorenewable fuels, energy, and products. Wholesale conversion to biomass utilization could result in removal of current crop residues from agricultural fields or even implementation of different crops and cropping strategies (i.e., switchgrass). To date, the driver for biomass processing has been economics and limitations on the conversion of the lignocellulose. Over the last forty years significant investments and resultant changes in management practices in the agricultural sector have focused on soil and water conservation. One of the major efforts has focused on conservation-till or no-till, with the goal of retaining …


Physical Properties Of Low Oil Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles (Ddgs), Jessica A. Herr Saunders, Kurt A. Rosentrater Jun 2007

Physical Properties Of Low Oil Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles (Ddgs), Jessica A. Herr Saunders, Kurt A. Rosentrater

Kurt A. Rosentrater

Corn-based ethanol production is exponentially growing in the U.S. As the use of ethanol as a fuel source increases, so does the need to find valuable uses for coproducts of the production process, such as distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). DDGS is a good source of nutrients, energy, and protein. Currently DDGS is sold by ethanol processors as livestock feed, thereby increasing profit for the production plants. As the industry continues to grow, there will be a growing need to find additional uses for DDGS. Physical and chemical properties of coproduct streams are becoming increasingly investigated, as these characteristics …


Characterization Of Chemical And Physical Properties Of Distillers Dried Grain With Solubles (Ddgs) For Value Added Uses, Rumela Bhadra, K. Muthukumarappan, Kurt A. Rosentrater Jun 2007

Characterization Of Chemical And Physical Properties Of Distillers Dried Grain With Solubles (Ddgs) For Value Added Uses, Rumela Bhadra, K. Muthukumarappan, Kurt A. Rosentrater

Kurt A. Rosentrater

One of the fastest growing industries in the United States is the fuel ethanol industry. Since 2000 there has been an increase of more than 300%. There was production of 4.9 billion gallons of ethanol in 2006. The major coproducts from this industry include Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) and carbon dioxide. DDGS is used as a livestock feed since it contains high quantities of protein, fiber, amino acids, and other nutrients. The goal of this study was to quantify various chemical and physical properties of DDGS, Distillers Wet Grains (DWG), and Distillers Dried Grain (DDG) from several plants …


Economic Analysis Of Cellulase Production Methods For Bio-Ethanol, Jun Zhuang, Mary A. Marchant, Sue E. Nokes, Herbert J. Strobel Jan 2007

Economic Analysis Of Cellulase Production Methods For Bio-Ethanol, Jun Zhuang, Mary A. Marchant, Sue E. Nokes, Herbert J. Strobel

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

The cost of cellulase enzymes has limited the feasibility of producing ethanol from fibrous biomass. Traditional submerged fermentation (SmF) was compared to an alternative method of producing cellulase, solid state cultivation (SSC). Results from an economic analysis indicated that the unit costs for cellulase enzyme production were $15.67 (The prices are all 2004 prices in this article, except otherwise stated. We deflated newer prices to 2004 prices using a deflation factor 0.9 per year and inflated older prices to 2004 prices using an inflation factor 1.1.) per kilogram ($/kg) and $40.36/kg, for the SSC and SmF methods, respectively, while the …