Ultrasonic vibration - assisted pelleting and dilute acid pretreatment of cellulosic biomass for biofuel manufacturing

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems EngineeringZhijian PeiDonghai WangIn the U.S. and many other countries, the transportation sector is almost entirely dependent on petroleum-based fuels. In 2011, half of the petroleum used in the U.S. was imported. The dependence on foreign petroleum is a real threat to national energy security. Furthermore, the transportation sector is responsible for about 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and is growing faster than any other major economic sector. National energy security, economy, environment sustainability are all driving the U.S. to develop alternative liquid transportation fuels that are domestically produced and environmentally friendly. Promoting biofuel is one of the efforts to reduce the use of petroleum-based fuels in the transportation sector. Cellulosic biomass are abundant and diverse. Thus, the ability to produce biofuel from cellulosic biomass will be a key to making ethanol competitive with petroleum-based fuels. Ultrasonic vibration- assisted (UV-A) pelleting can increase not only the density of cellulosic biomass but also the sugar yield. This PhD dissertation consists of fourteen chapters. Firstly, an introduction of the research is given in Chapter 1. Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 present experimental investigations on effects of input variables in UV-A pelleting on pellet quality. Chapter 6 investigates effects of input variables on energy consumption in UV-A pelleting. Chapter 7 develops a predictive model for energy consumption in UV-A pelleting using the response surface method. Chapter 8 investigates effects of input variables on energy consumption, water usage, sugar yield, and pretreatment energy efficiency in dilute acid pretreatment. Chapter 9 develops a predictive model for energy consumption in dilute acid pretreatment using the response surface method. Chapter 10 studies ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) dilute acid pretreatment of poplar wood for biofuel manufacturing. Chapter 11 compares sugar yields in terms of total sugar yield and enzymatic hydrolysis sugar yield between two kinds of materials: pellets processed by UV-A pelleting and biomass not processed by UV-A pelleting in terms of total sugar yield and enzymatic hydrolysis sugar yield. Chapter 12 develops a physics-based temperature model to predict temperature in UV-A pelleting. Chapter 13 develops a physics-based density model to predict pellet density in UV-A pelleting. Finally, conclusions and contributions of this research are summarized in Chapter 14

Experimental investigations of utilizing cellulosic biomass for biofuel productions on multi-platforms

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems EngineeringMeng (Peter) ZhangBiofuels derived from cellulosic biomass offer one of the best near- to mid-term alternatives to fossil fuels. Consuming bioenergy instead of fossil fuels can reduce greenhouse gas emission and benefit to the nation’s energy security. The conversion can be done either on biochemical platform or thermochemical platform. Cellulosic bioethanol is developed as an alternative to petroleum-based liquid fuel on the biochemical platform. It can be used on its own as a sustainable liquid transportation fuel or blended with conventional transportation fuel. On thermochemical platform, combustion is proven to efficiently utilize biomass for heat and power generation by co-firing with coal. To efficient convert cellulosic biomass into biofuels, biomass need to go through size reduction for bioethanol conversion. Particle size is critically important to energy consumption in its preprocessing and the efficiency in bioconversion. In the application of co-firing, the resulting fuel quality after biomass densification is also crucial to make biomass a cost effective solid fuel. This research provide fundamental knowledges and insights in biofuel manufacturing on biochemical and thermochemical platforms. A guidance on the effect of particle size through the whole bioethanol conversion process is provided. An investigation on solid fuel upgrading effects from synchronized torrefaction and pelleting (STP) system is also performed. At last, a preliminary study of a pathway on integrating these two platforms of cellulosic biomass utilization is performed. This half thesis consists of 8 chapters. Firstly, an introduction of this research is given in Chapter 1.Secondly, Chapter 2 provides a literature review on cellulosic bioethanol conversion process. Chapter 3and 4 present a comprehensive study on effect of particle size in both biomass pre-processing and bio-conversion. Chapter 5 reviews application of biomass on thermochemical platform. Chapter 6 studies the fuel upgrading effect from using STP system. A preliminary study on integrating two platforms of cellulosic biomass utilizations is presented in Chapter 7. Finally, conclusions are presented in Chapter 8

Experimental and numerical investigation of biomass mechanical pre-processing

"July 2014."Dissertation supervisor/advisor: Dr. Ali Bulent Koc.Includes vita.In this study, mechanical properties of switchgrass and miscanthus were determined by tensile, compressive and shear tests in longitudinal (along the fiber) and transversal (cross the fiber) directions with special designed tools. A linear cutting platform and a data acquisition system were developed to investigate the biomass cutting performances using conventional cutting and ultrasonic-assisted cutting. Three different blades with 20 kHz vibration frequency were designed by using finite element analysis and verified by experimental modal analysis. Finite element analysis models of biomass cutting were developed to simulate the biomass cutting process. The simulation results showed that finite element analysis method could be used to design the ultrasonic blade and simulate the biomass cutting process. Biomass cutting experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of cutting speed, shear angle, blade profile and ultrasonication on the cutting force and energy consumption of switchgrass and miscanthus cutting. Experimental results showed that ultrasonic cutting could reduce the cutting force and the entire cutting energy consumption. The optimized energy consumption could be achieved when the cutting speed was about 1/3 of the ultrasonic blade vibration speed. For the biomass conventional cutting, the tested cutting speeds did not show obvious effects on cutting performances.Includes bibliographical references (pages 144-150)

Renewable Energy

This book discusses renewable energy resources and systems as well as energy efficiency. It contains twenty-three chapters over six sections that address a multitude of renewable energy types, including solar and photovoltaic, biomass, hydroelectric, and geothermal. The information presented herein is a scientific contribution to energy and environmental regulations, quality and efficiency of energy services, energy supply security, energy market-based approaches, government interventions, and the spread of technological innovation

WP3 – Innovation in Agriculture and Forestry Sector for Energetic Sustainability

The papers published in this Special Issue “WP3—Innovation in Agriculture and Forestry Sector for Energetic Sustainability” bring together some of the latest research results in the field of biomass valorization and the process of energy production and climate change and other areas relevant to energetic sustainability [1–20]. Moreover, several works address the very important topic of evaluating the safety aspects for energy plant use [21–24]. Responses to our call generated the following statistics:• Submissions (21);• Publications (15);• Rejections (6);• Article types: research articles (13), reviews (2). Of the submitted papers, 15 have been successfully published as articles. Reviewing and selecting the papers for this Special Issue was very inspiring and rewarding. We also thank the editorial staff and reviewers for their efforts and help during the process. For better comprehension, the contributions to this Special Issue are divided into sections, as follows

Ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting of wheat straw: a predictive model for energy consumption using response surface methodology

Cellulosic biomass can be used as a feedstock for biofuel manufacturing. Pelleting of cellulosic biomass can increase its bulk density and thus improve its storability and reduce the feedstock transportation costs. Ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) pelleting can produce biomass pellets whose density is comparable to that processed by traditional pelleting methods (e.g. extruding, briquetting, and rolling). This study applied response surface methodology to the development of a predictive model for the energy consumption in UV-A pelleting of wheat straw. Effects of pelleting pressure, ultrasonic power, sieve size, and pellet weight were investigated. This study also optimized the process parameters to minimize the energy consumption in UV-A pelleting using response surface methodology. Optimal conditions to minimize the energy consumption were the following: ultrasonic power at 20%, sieve size at 4 mm, and pellet weight at 1 g, and the minimum energy consumption was 2.54 Wh

Natural Fiber Based Composites

Entitled “Natural Fiber-Based Composites”, this Special Issue has the objective to give an inventory of the latest research in the area of composites reinforced with natural fibers. Fibers of renewable origin have many advantages. They are abundant and cheap, they have a reduced impact on the environment, and they are also independent from fossil resources. Their ability to mechanically reinforce thermoplastic matrices is well known, as their natural heat insulation ability. In the last twenty years, the use of cellulosic and lignocellulosic agricultural by-products for composite applications has been of great interest, especially for reinforcing matrices. The matrices can themselves be of renewable origin (e.g., proteins, starch, polylactic acid, polyhydroxyalkanoates, polyamides, etc.), thus contributing to the development of 100% bio-based composites with a controlled end of life. This Special Issue’s objective is to give an inventory of the latest research in this area of composites reinforced with natural fibers, focusing in particular on the preparation and molding processes of such materials (e.g., extrusion, injection-molding, hot pressing, etc.) and their characterization. It contains one review and nineteen research reports authored by researchers from four continents and sixteen countries, namely, Brazil, China, France, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, and Vietnam. It provides an update on current research in the field of natural fiber based composite materials. All these contributions will be a source of inspiration for the development of new composites, especially for producers of natural fibers, polymer matrices of renewable origin and composite materials. Generally speaking, these new materials are environmentally friendly and will undoubtedly find numerous applications in the years to come in many sectors. Dr. Philippe Evon Guest Edito

Sustainable Development and Application of Renewable Chemicals from Biomass and Waste

Advancements in efficient energy sources have played a pivotal role in determining the present world energy structure. Renewable biomass energy has been incorporated in industrial regulations and policies in many European countries. Based on the statistics, more than one-seventh of the total world energy consumption is generated from biomass.The renewable energies movement was prompted by two important factors: a) growing world energy consumption and b) the abundance of generated biomass residues, especially in agriculture. In the case of the first, batteries containing different metals are considered, as is the production of items for human consumption (food, clothing, home comfort, etc.). In the second case, the biomass waste from plants and animals, as byproducts of cultivating and production processes, is the main source of generated waste

"Natural Fiber Based Composites", edited by Philippe Evon (Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Coatings)

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Natural Fiber Based Composites" that was published in Coatings and edited by Dr. Philippe Evon. Dr. EVON is Research Engineer at the Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-industrielle (LCA). He has the habilitation to supervise researches (HDR). He specializes in the valorization of wastes from biomass to produce extracts and to design agromaterials. He is mainly developing studies for using biomass as raw material for: - Producing bioactive extracts through fractionation processes using “green” solvents and the twin-screw extrusion technology as continuous extraction technique. - The manufacture of agromaterials by combining single- or twin-screw extrusion technologies with molding processes (e.g. injection-molding or thermopressing). He is the Manager of the LCA’s Industrial Technological Hall “AGROMAT” dedicated to agromaterial’s (https://www6.toulouse.inra.fr/lca/AGROMAT), which is located in Tarbes (South-West of France)