Engineering Commons^™

Bridging Thermochemical And Biochemical Conversion: Impact Of Biochar Addition On The Anaerobic Digestion Of Aqueous Pyrolysis Condensate, Neha Batta

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Profitable treatment of low value waste biomass is one of the biggest challenges of the industry. Where most of the current treatment strategies, such as pyrolysis, are efficient in complete breakdown of hard to synthesize, low value waste biomass such as lignocellulosic wastes, it leads to the generation of secondary waste thereby compromising its efficiency. The aim of this research is to utilize the aqueous pyrolysis condensate as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion, previously adapting the microbial consortia to the acidity and other potential organic inhibitors present in the APC, to produce energy in the form of biogas following the …

Value-Added Lipids Extraction From Wet Microalgae Using Ionic Liquids, Yujie Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Microalgae have gained interest as sources of renewable lipids in the biofuel sector due to their ability to sequester carbon dioxide into triacylglycerol (TAG), a biodiesel feedstock. However, industrial-scale production of microalgae exclusively for fuel production is limited by technical and economic challenges. Some marine microalgae can accumulate large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and other unsaturated fatty acids, which are high-value compounds linked to the prevention of various cardiovascular diseases. This thesis therefore examines the extraction of lipids and DHA from two microorganisms (Chlorella vulgaris, a model organism for lipid production, …

Improved Fermentation Design And Screening Devices For Biobutanol Production, Garret Christopher Munch

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A worldwide increase in demand for renewable fuels has revived interest in fermentatively produced butanol. However, butanol fermentation suffers from low product yields and productivity. The work presented in this thesis addresses part of these research and development needs at three levels: innovative fermentation process design; genetic manipulation for strain enhancement; and the development of a new tool for anaerobic process characterization and optimization.

Product yield could be increased through traditional fermentation engineering. Co-fermentation of butyric acid with glycerol increased the butanol yield from 0.45 mol/mol (mols C in butanol / mol C in substrates) to 0.51 mol/mol. In building …

Design, Fabrication And Applications Of Efficient Conductive Polymers For Photocatalytic Antimicrobials, Chunbo Liu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Designing new antimicrobial surfaces which are effective under visible light irradiation without leaching toxic ions is a current challenge for effective disinfection. A new polymeric system poly[2,11’-thiophene-ethylene-thiophene-alt-2,5-(3-carboxyl) -thiophene] (PTET-T- COOH) with broad light absorption was synthesized. Its photocatalytic disinfection performance against staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and streptococcus suis (S. suis) was evaluated, showing over 99.999% inactivation (higher than 5-log inactivation) in 2 h for both bacteria, under visible light irradiation at a low concentration of PTET-T-COOH (0.1 mg/mL). In addition, a PTET-T-COOH/polyurethane (PU) polymeric coating was designed and fabricated. Chemical attachment was confirmed between PTET-T-COOH and PU using various thermophysical …