Engineering Commons^™

Designing Harvesting And Hauling Cost Models For Energy Cane Production For Biorefineries, Prabodh Illukpitiya, Firuz Yuldashev, Kabirat Nasiru

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The harvesting and hauling operations of bioenergy feedstock is an important area in biofuel production. Production costs can be minimized by maintaining optimal machinery units for these operations. The objective of this study is to design an optimal harvesting unit for bioenergy refinery and estimate harvesting and hauling costs of energy cane. A biorefinery with the annual capacity of processing twenty-five million imp. gallons of ethanol were considered. Given the efficiency of harvesting, a two-row soldier system was considered. Considering the year-round supply of energy cane to the refinery, the optimal machinery unit was designed, and the combined operation costs …

The Politics Of Biomass Energy In California: How External Benefits Are Used To Support An Economically Marginal Sector, Dana L. Dysthe

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Since the 1990s, there has been a decline in biomass energy generation in California. In order to promote state governmental policies aiming to increase biomass energy generation in California, the sector has been linked to a series of external benefits that biomass energy purportedly brings. Through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation, five distinct external benefits were identified that have been used to promote the biomass energy sector. These external benefits are: renewable energy generation, air quality improvements, promotion of forest restoration and fuel removal projects, disposal of wood waste from agricultural and forestry sectors, and rural economic development. …

Hydrologic Impacts And Trade-Offs Associated With Developing Oil Palm For Bioenergy In Tabasco, Mexico, Azad Heidari, Alex Mayer, David Watkins, María Mercedes Castillo

Michigan Tech Publications

Study region: Oil palm cultivation has rapidly expanded worldwide due to demands for food oils and the potential for liquid fuel production. However, there is a scarcity of research on the hydrologic impacts of oil palm plantations at a watershed scale, especially in Latin America. We focus on a watershed typical of intensive palm oil production in Tabasco, Mexico. Study focus: A Soil and Water Assessment Tool model was calibrated to simulate long-term streamflow in the study watershed. The plant growth module was calibrated for leaf area index (LAI) and fruit yield simulations. Oil palm development scenarios were simulated to …

Harvesting Electrical Energy Produced By Electrogenic Bacteria In Microbial Fuel Cells, Chinedu Ahuchaogu, Kausik Das

Pursue: Undergraduate Research Journal

Cellular respiration is the process by which organic matter oxidizes, and the energy stored in the chemical bonds of the food releases. Normally, cellular respiration occurs inside the mitochondria of cells; however, a unique type of bacteria releases electrons externally. These specialized organisms are called electrogenic bacteria. Our goal is to construct a microbial fuel cell (MFC) with electrogenic bacteria, harvest the external electrons created by cellular respiration, and channel them through an external circuit to generate electricity. Mud soil, which has a high number of electrogenic bacteria in the environment, was used to construct an MFC. In the presence …

Potential Economic Impacts Of Allocating More Land For Bioenergy Biomass Production In Virginia, Thomas O. Ochuodho, Janaki R. R. Alavalapati, Pankaj Lal, Domena A. Agyeman, Bernabas Wolde, Pralhad Burli

Pankaj Lal

The growing attention to renewable energy and rural development has created greater demand for production of biomass feedstock for bioenergy. However, forest growth rates and the amount of land in most existing forests may not be sufficient to sustainably supply the forest biomass required to support existing forest products industries and the expanding bioenergy industry. Additionally, concerns about agricultural land use competition have dampened expansion of biomass production on agricultural land base. One of the ways to meet the growing forest biomass feedstock demand for bioenergy production is by allocating currently marginal non-forested land for growing bioenergy feedstocks. In Virginia, …

Improving Wastewater Treatment Using Algal Biofilms And Bioenergy, Nathan Guymon

Research on Capitol Hill

This project represents a collaboration between Utah State University, Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility (CVWRF), and WesTech Engineering, Inc. The goal of the project is to help water treatment plants meet state nutrient standards and reduce operating costs. This is being accomplished in three major sections:

1. Wastewater treatment – microalgae is grown to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from water.

2. Biogas generation – the microalgae is harvested and processed to produce methane gas used to generate power.

3. Fertilizer production – nutrients are also collected from the wastewater and turned into high-value fertilizer.

By creating systems that remove nutrients …

Potential Economic Impacts Of Allocating More Land For Bioenergy Biomass Production In Virginia, Thomas O. Ochuodho, Janaki R. R. Alavalapati, Pankaj Lal, Domena A. Agyeman, Bernabas Wolde, Pralhad Burli

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The growing attention to renewable energy and rural development has created greater demand for production of biomass feedstock for bioenergy. However, forest growth rates and the amount of land in most existing forests may not be sufficient to sustainably supply the forest biomass required to support existing forest products industries and the expanding bioenergy industry. Additionally, concerns about agricultural land use competition have dampened expansion of biomass production on agricultural land base. One of the ways to meet the growing forest biomass feedstock demand for bioenergy production is by allocating currently marginal non-forested land for growing bioenergy feedstocks. In Virginia, …

Conversion Of Biomass To Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels Via Anaerobic Digestion: A Feasibility Study, Ahmad Naqi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of biomass as a potential feedstock for the production of liquid hydrocarbon fuels has been under investigation in the last few decades. This paper discusses a preliminary design and a feasibility study of producing liquid hydrocarbon fuels from biomass through a combined biochemical and thermochemical route. The process involves anaerobic digestion (AD) of the biodegradable portion of the biomass to produce methane rich gas. The methane rich biogas stream is purified by removing contaminants and upgraded to liquid hydrocarbon fuel in a gas to liquid facility (GTL) via thermochemical conversion route. The biogas conversion involves two major steps: …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation On Tar Production And Recycling In Fixed Bed Biomass Gasifiers, Jia Yu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Bioenergy has been utilized for domestic purposes since pre-recorded history and it catches the highlight in the recent decades because it naturally benefits the world climate and energy security. Gasification is one of the key technologies to efficiently and economically convert biomass into syngas and further into biofuels. Despite these outstanding advantages, biomass gasification suffers from the formation of unfavorable byproduct tar and the consequential tar elimination. Moreover, the collected tar is toxic and thus requires storage and strict deposit method to avoid environmental pollution.

To understand the mechanisms of biomass gasification and tar production, simulations with Aspen Plus were …

Hydrodeoxygenation Of Acetic Acid As A Model Compound For The Aqueous Phase Catalytic Pyrolysis Oils, Hossein Jahromi, Foster Agblevor

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Catalytic pyrolysis of biomass generates organic, aqueous, gaseous and solid fractions. The organic fraction can be easily hydrotreated to produce hydrocarbons, but the aqueous phase that contains between 10 to 25% soluble organics can pose challenges in wastewater treatment. The aqueous fraction from the catalytic pyrolysis of Pinyon Juniper wood was characterized for its organic content. The fraction contained about 15 wt% organic compounds determined from Karl Fischer analysis. The organic fractions were further characterized using gas chromatography and mass selective detection (GC/MS). The analysis showed that the dissolved organics were composed of acetic acid, ketones, aldehydes, and phenolic compounds. …

Improving The Thermal Stability Of Cellobiohydrolase Cel7a From Hypocrea Jecorina By Directed Evolution, Frits Goedegebuur, Lydia Dankmeyer, Peter Gualfetti, Saeid Karkehabadi, Henrik Hansson, Suvamay Jana, Vicky Huynh, Bradley R. Kelemen, Paulien Kruithof, Edmund A. Larenas, Pauline J. M. Teunissen, Jerry Ståhlberg, Christina M. Payne, Colin Mitchinson, Mats Sandgren

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Secreted mixtures of Hypocrea jecorina cellulases are able to efficiently degrade cellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars at large, commercially relevant scales. H. jecorina Cel7A, cellobiohydrolase I, from glycoside hydrolase family 7, is the workhorse enzyme of the process. However, the thermal stability of Cel7A limits its use to processes where temperatures are no higher than 50 °C. Enhanced thermal stability is desirable to enable the use of higher processing temperatures and to improve the economic feasibility of industrial biomass conversion. Here, we enhanced the thermal stability of Cel7A through directed evolution. Sites with increased thermal stability properties were combined, and …

A Three-Stage Thermochemical Conversion Process For The Production Of Biochar, Alessandro Scova, Vander Tumiatti, Francesco Lenzi

Biochar: Production, Characterization and Applications

Within a French consortium of four companies and five laboratories from two scientific groups, Sea Marconi is one of the industrial partners of the LORVER project (www.lorver.org). The project aims at the sustainable redevelopment of brownfield deriving from the deindustrialization of the Lorraine region (France) by soil reconstruction, cultivation of different non-food biomasses and their final conversion into valuable outputs (biochar, bioenergy, natural fibers, metals).

Please click on the file below for full content of the abstract.

Strengthening The Development Of The Short-Rotation Plantations Bioenergy Sector: Policy Insights From Six European Countries, Carlos Parra-Lopez, Martin Holley, Kevin Lindegaard, Samir Sayadi, Gonzalo Esteban-Lopez, Victor Duran-Zuazo, Christoph Knauer, Hans-Georg Von Engelbrechten, Ralf Winterber, Annika Henriksson, Annette Lamley, Anders Nylander, Susanne Paulrud, Pauline Leonard, Patrick Daly, Lukasz Drzewaszewski, Wojciech Rzewuski

Articles

This paper, based on a participatory methodological framework involving expert stakeholders and researchers from six European countries (Germany, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Sweden and UK), analyses the priority issues for the development of short-rotation plantations (SRP), and proposes a series of policy strategies to strengthen this development. The results indicate that there is a lack of awareness of the multifaceted benefits of SRP at the level of farmers, policy makers and public authorities. More research is required to put a value on the multifunctionality of SRP and justify its public support. Small-scale projects using established technologies are also required with energy …

Understanding The Impacts Of Ammonia Fiber Expansion (Afex™) Pretreatment And Densification On Densified Products Quality And The Bioproducts Yield Through Enzymatic Hydrolysis And Fast Pyrolysis, Vijay Sundaram

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lignocellulosic biomass poses significant challenges during handling, transportation, and storage due to its low bulk density. Densification involves conversion of the low bulk density biomass into a highly compacted product which helps in improving the handling, transporting, and storage obstacles associated with biomass logistics. Besides the logistical challenges, the recalcitrant nature of the lignocellulosic biomass makes it even more challenging during the enzymatic hydrolysis. The carbohydrate components, cellulose and hemicellulose are not readily accessible by the enzymes during the hydrolysis process due to the presence of lignin. Pretreatment is the process to convert the native recalcitrant biomass in the form, …

Hydrologic And Water Quality Impacts From Perennial Crop Production On Marginal Lands, Qingyu Feng

Open Access Dissertations

Marginal lands are proposed as a viable option for producing biofeedstocks as these lands are not heavily engaged in agricultural production or may not be suitable for intensive row-crop food/feed production. However, meeting biofeedstock production goals will require large amount of marginal lands and the unintended consequences of producing biofeedstocks on marginal lands are not fully clear. The overall goal of this study was to evaluate the productivity of biofeedstocks on marginal lands and the potential impacts on hydrologic and water quality processes from the land use conversion.

This study was conducted in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). First, …

Bioenergy From Wastewater-Based Biomass, Ronald C. Sims, Sean K. Bedingfield, Reese Thompson, Judith L. Sims

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has stated that biomass is the only renewable resource that can supplant petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels in the near term. Wastewater is beginning to be viewed as a potential resource that can be exploited for biomass production and conversion to bioenergy. We suggest that using wastewater from municipalities and industries as a resource for cultivating biomass and combining wastewater treatment with the production of biomass for bioenergy would provide benefits to both industries. Two waste-based biomass production systems that currently have large nationwide infrastructures include: (1) wastewater treatment systems that can be used to …

Switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum) Fermentation By Clostridium Thermocellum And Clostridium Saccharoperbutylacetonicum Sequential Culture In A Continuous Flow Reactor, Noelia M. Elia, Sue E. Nokes, Michael D. Flythe

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

The study was conducted to evaluate fermentation by Clostridium thermocellum and C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum in a continuous-flow, high-solids reactor. Liquid medium was continuously flowed through switchgrass (2 mm particle size) at one of three flow rates: 83.33 mL h⁻¹ (2 L d⁻¹), 41.66 mL h⁻¹ (1 L d⁻¹), and 20.833 mL h⁻¹ (0.5 L d⁻¹). The cellulolytic phase was initiated by culturing C. thermocellum (63 °C, 24 h). The temperature was decreased (35) and C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum was inoculated. When metabolism decreased (96 h), the temperature was increased (63 °C; 24 h) …

Switchgrass Storage Effects On The Recovery Of Carbohydrates After Liquid Hot Water Pretreatment And Enzymatic Hydrolysis, Noaa Frederick, Mengxing Li, Danielle Julie Carrier, Michael D. Buser, Mark R. Wilkins

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Perennial grasses that would be used for bioenergy and bioproducts production will need to be stored for various periods of time to ensure a continual feedstock supply to a bioprocessing facility. The effects of storage practices on grass composition and the response of grasses to subsequent bioprocesses such as pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis needs to be understood to develop the most efficient storage protocols. This study examined the effect of outdoor storage of round switchgrass bales on composition before and after liquid hot water pretreatment (LHW) and enzymatic hydrolysis. This study also examined the effect of washing LHW pretreated biomass …

Identification And Thermochemical Analysis Of High-Lignin Feedstocks For Biofuel And Biochemical Production, Venugopal Mendu, Anne Harman-Ware, Mark Crocker, Jungho Jae, Jozsef Stork, Samuel Morton, Andrew Placido, George Huber, Seth Debolt

Samuel A Morton

Background - Lignin is a highly abundant biopolymer synthesized by plants as a complex component of plant secondary cell walls. Efforts to utilize lignin-based bioproducts are needed. Results - Herein we identify and characterize the composition and pyrolytic deconstruction characteristics of high-lignin feedstocks. Feedstocks displaying the highest levels of lignin were identified as drupe endocarp biomass arising as agricultural waste from horticultural crops. By performing pyrolysis coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we characterized lignin-derived deconstruction products from endocarp biomass and compared these with switchgrass. By comparing individual pyrolytic products, we document higher amounts of acetic acid, 1-hydroxy-2-propanone, acetone and furfural …

Engineering, Nutrient Removal, And Feedstock Conversion Evaluations Of Four Corn Stover Harvest Scenarios, Reed L. Hoskinson, Douglas L. Karlen, Stuart J. Birrell, Corey W. Radtke, W. W. Wilhelm

Douglas L Karlen

Crop residue has been identified as a near-term source of biomass for renewable fuel, heat, power, chemicals and other bio-materials. A prototype one-pass harvest system was used to collect residue samples from a corn (Zea mays L.) field near Ames, IA. Four harvest scenarios (low cut, high-cut top, high-cut bottom, and normal cut) were evaluated and are expressed as collected stover harvest indices (CSHI). High-cut top and high-cut bottom samples were obtained from the same plot in separate operations. Chemical composition, dilute acid pretreatment response, ethanol conversion yield and efficiency, and thermochemical conversion for each scenario were determined. Mean grain …

Multilocation Corn Stover Harvest Effects On Crop Yields And Nutrient Removal, Douglas L. Karlen, Stuart J. Birrell, Jane M. F. Johnson, Shannon L. Osborne, Thomas E. Schumacher, Gary E. Varvel, Richard B. Ferguson, Jeff M. Novak, James R. Fredrick, John M. Baker, John A. Lamb, Paul R. Adler, Greg W. Roth, Emerson D. Nafziger

Douglas L Karlen

Corn (Zea mays L.) stover was identified as an important feedstock for cellulosic bioenergy production because of the extensive area upon which the crop is already grown. This report summarizes 239 site-years of field research examining effects of zero, moderate, and high stover removal rates at 36 sites in seven different states. Grain and stover yields from all sites as well as N, P, and K removal from 28 sites are summarized for nine longitude and six latitude bands, two tillage practices (conventional vs no tillage), two stover-harvest methods (machine vs calculated), and two crop rotations {continuous corn (maize) …

Corn Grain, Stover Yield And Nutrient Removal Validations At Regional Partnership Sites, Douglas L. Karlen, Stuart J. Birrell, Jane M. F. Johnson, Shannon L. Osborne, Thomas E. Schumacher, Gary E. Varvel, Richard B. Ferguson, Jeff M. Novak, James R. Fredrick, John M. Baker, John A. Lamb, Paul R. Adler, Greg W. Roth, Emerson D. Nafziger

Douglas L Karlen

Corn (Zea mays L.) stover has been identified as a major feedstock for cellulosic bioenergy. This report summarizes grain and stover yield as well as N, P, and K removal at several Sun Grant Regional Partnership (SGRP) sites. National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) grain yields were used to assess the relevancy of plot-scale yields with county averages. Seasonal variation in weather patterns caused yields to differ substantially among sites and years. Nutrient removal estimates were significantly influenced by the sampling method (i.e. analysis of hand samples between physiologic maturity and grain harvest versus stover collected during the harvest operation). Based …

Development Of Sustainable Corn Stover Harvest Strategies For Cellulosic Ethanol Production, Stuart J. Birrell, Douglas L. Karlen, Adam Wirt

Douglas L Karlen

To prepare for a 2014 launch of commercial scale cellulosic ethanol production from corn/maize (Zea mays L.) stover, POET-DSM near Emmetsburg, IA has been working with farmers, researchers, and equipment dealers through “Project Liberty” on harvest, transportation, and storage logistics of corn stover for the past several years. Our objective was to evaluate seven stover harvest strategies within a 50-ha (125 acres) site on very deep, moderately well to poorly drained Mollisols, developed in calcareous glacial till. The treatments included the following: conventional grain harvest (no stover harvest), grain plus a second-pass rake and bale stover harvest, and single-pass …

Compounds Released From Biomass Deconstruction: Understanding Their Effect On Cellulose Enzyme Hydrolysis And Their Biological Activity, Angele Djioleu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The effect of compounds produced during biomass pretreatment on cellulolytic enzyme was investigated. Liquid prehydrolyzates were prepared by pretreating switchgrass using 24 combinations of temperature, time, and sulfuric acid concentration based on a full factorial design. Temperature was varied from 140°C to 180°C; time ranged from 10 to 40 min; and the sulfuric acid concentrations were 0.5% or 1% (v/v). Identified products in the prehydrolyzates included xylose, glucose, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), furfural, acetic acid, formic acid, and phenolic compounds at concentration ranging from 0 to 21.4 g/L. Pretreatment conditions significantly affected the concentrations of compounds detected in prehydrolyzates. When assayed in …

High-Solids Anaerobic Digestion Of The Organic Fraction Of Municipal Solid Waste State Of The Art, Outlook In Florida, And Enhancing Methane Yields From Lignocellulosic Wastes, Gregory Richard Hinds

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biotechnology that employs natural microbial metabolism under oxygen-free conditions to stabilize organic waste. AD has been shown to be the most environmentally sustainable technology for treating the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), as it allows for the recovery of energy and nutrients from the waste. AD of OFMSW also saves landfill space and reduces leachate generation and fugitive methane emissions from landfills. High-solids AD (HS-AD) technologies (those designed to process feedstocks with >15% total solids content) have been shown to yield additional benefits when compared with liquid AD (L-AD) for treating OFMSW, including …

Application Of 3d Printing Technology In Porous Anode Fabrication For Enhanced Power Output Of Microbial Fuel Cells, Bin Bian

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are widely researched for application in wastewater treatment. However, the current anodes used in MFCs often suffer from high fabrication cost and uncontrollable pore sizes. In this thesis, three-dimensional printing technique was utilized to fabricate anodes with different micro pore sizes for MFCs. Copper coating and carbonization were applied to the printed polymer anodes to increase the conductivity and specific surface area. Voltages of MFCs with various anodes were measured as well as other electrochemical tests such as linear sweep voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. 3D copper porous anode produced higher maximum voltages and power densities …

Uintah Basin’S Wastewater Evaporation Ponds Could Yield Bioenergy | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

LOGAN, Utah, Sept. 15, 2015 – The wastewater evaporation ponds that support the oil and natural gas extraction industries in the Uintah Basin may soon help spur the development of alternative bio-based fuels.

Modeling Water Quality For Switchgrass Crop Production: Implications For Bioenergy Sustainability In East Tennessee, Zachariah Tzvi Seiden

Masters Theses

With passing of the US Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, there has been considerable research conducted on the sustainability of bioenergy crop production in the United States; switchgrass has shown particular potential for bioenergy production in East Tennessee. Many studies evaluating the environmental impact switchgrass has on runoff and water quality use the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for watershed modeling. Because SWAT is a lumped watershed model, it evaluates the result of hydrological processes for each hydrologic response unit (HRU), without accounting for the physical interactions between these HRUs. The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) …

Water Quality Effects Of Cellulosic Biofuel Crops Grown On Marginal Land, Ruoyu Wang

Ruoyu Wang

Characterization Of Genetically Modified High Biomass Producing Tobacco Plant, Pankaj Singh Kuhar

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Global warming and peak oil has clouded our energy security. In light of this situation, bioethanol as emerged as one of the most amenable solutions to the problem. However bioethanol has its own shortcomings and transgenics seem imperative to exploit its full potential. A high biomass producing line in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi) was identified during a routine genetic transformation, termed giant recombinant (GR). To characterize the phenotype of the giant line, growth rate and lignocellulosic composition was analyzed relative to the non-transgenic control line. The GR line accounted for 240% more biomass than the untransformed line …