Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Metabolic Modeling And Engineering Of Gas Fermentation In Bubble Column Reactors, Jin Chen Nov 2017

Metabolic Modeling And Engineering Of Gas Fermentation In Bubble Column Reactors, Jin Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

Gas fermentation is an attractive route to produce alternative fuels and chemicals from non-food feedstocks, such as waste gas streams from steel mills and synthesis gas (mainly CO and H2) produced from municipal solid waste through gasification. While commercial development of gas fermentation technology is underway, many research problems must be addressed to further advance the technology towards economic competitiveness. A particularly important challenge is to develop integrated metabolic and transport models that describe gas fermentation in industrially relevant bubble column reactors. I have developed and evaluated a spatiotemporal metabolic model for bubble column reactors with the syngas …


Life Cycle Analysis For Algae Biofuels-Using Local Situations To Factor In The Cost/Benefit Of High-End Products Along With Nutrient Remediation And Co2 Sequestration, John Korstad, Joe T. Moore Nov 2017

Life Cycle Analysis For Algae Biofuels-Using Local Situations To Factor In The Cost/Benefit Of High-End Products Along With Nutrient Remediation And Co2 Sequestration, John Korstad, Joe T. Moore

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

Algae as a feedstock for commercial biofuels is best suited for sunny and warm areas with abundant fresh, salt, or brackish water. Optimum areas worldwide are in the tropics. Logical areas in North America include the Southeast Gulf coast and perhaps New Mexico. Additional practical areas on smaller scale probably lie in metropolitan locations, especially near international airports. The cost-benefit of these endeavors can be enhanced when factors such as high-end products alongside collaboration with sewage treatment or other waste water remediation, industrial carbon dioxide sequestration, reduced transport distance of fuels, and other aspects of the local economy are taken …


Strategies For The Production Of Cell Wall-Deconstructing Enzymes In Lignocellulosic Biomass And Their Utilization For Biofuel Production, Sang-Hyuck Park, Rebecca Garlock Ong, Mariam Sticklen Feb 2017

Strategies For The Production Of Cell Wall-Deconstructing Enzymes In Lignocellulosic Biomass And Their Utilization For Biofuel Production, Sang-Hyuck Park, Rebecca Garlock Ong, Mariam Sticklen

Rebecca Ong

Microbial cell wall-deconstructing enzymes are widely used in the food, wine, pulp and paper, textile, and detergent industries and will be heavily utilized by cellulosic biorefineries in the production of fuels and chemicals. Due to their ability to use freely available solar energy, genetically engineered bioenergy crops provide an attractive alternative to microbial bioreactors for the production of cell wall-deconstructing enzymes. This review article summarizes the efforts made within the last decade on the production of cell wall-deconstructing enzymes in planta for use in the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass. A number of strategies have been employed to increase enzyme yields …


Designing And Development Of A Photobioreactor For Optimizing The Growth Of Micro Algae And Studying Its Growth Parameters, Sarmila Katuwal Jan 2017

Designing And Development Of A Photobioreactor For Optimizing The Growth Of Micro Algae And Studying Its Growth Parameters, Sarmila Katuwal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the estimated value of materials required to grow 1g of biomass and the analysis of the light intensity with respect to flow path and flow rate. This thesis aims to design the sparger for a flat plate Photobioreactor, study the flow patterns at different flow rate of air flow and check the performance of flat plate PBR by growing the cyanobacteria. The estimated value to produce 1g of biomass (C44.6H7O25N7.68P0.9S0.3) was 0.099g of N, 0.493g of C, 0.160 g of Na, 0.026 g of P, …


Catalytic Hydrotreatment For The Development Of Renewable Transportation Fuels, Lilu Funkenbusch Jan 2017

Catalytic Hydrotreatment For The Development Of Renewable Transportation Fuels, Lilu Funkenbusch

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Biologically-derived feedstocks are a highly desirable source of renewable transportation fuel. They can be grown renewably and can produce fuels similar in composition to conventional fossil fuels. They are also versatile and wide-ranging. Plant oils can produce renewable diesel and wood-based pyrolysis oils can be made into renewable gasoline. Catalytic hydrotreatment can be used to reduce the oxygen content of the oils and increase their viability as a “drop-in” transportation fuel, since they can then easily be blended with existing petroleum-based fuels. However, product distribution depends strongly on feedstock composition and processing parameters, especially temperature and type of catalyst. Current …