Tehnologii eficiente energetic pentru producerea etanolului Din biomasă lignocelulozică

ABSTRACT: Currently, biofuels are the most significant alternative fuel aiming to provide clean power for transport, in case sustainable production technologies are employed. Due to the increased tendency of turning over the existing agricultural land to biofuel production, lignocellulosic feedstock is gaining increasing support against the use of first generation feedstock such as sugar cane, corn, wheat or sweet potatoes. However, despite the existing pilot plants, energy intensive technological processes like pretreatment and distillation, as well as high cost of enzymes, still prevent market roll-out of production facilities, extensive researches being conducted in order to find economically feasible alternatives. New close to market techniques, with improved performance in terms of energy and resources, are discussed: the relatively recent SPORL pretreatment, reported as the most effective in size-reduction energy consumption; pretreatment by means of extrusion - a technique in which biomass undergoes continuous mixing, heating and shearing, thus suffering physicochemical disintegration; energy saving pass-through distillation that performs at room temperature, which also offers indirect advantages like the possibility of yeasts and enzymes recovery, and simplified exploitation and maintenance of the distillation equipment. The above mentioned subjects are selected based on their reported performances as well as on their market potential and estimated technical and economic feasibility.REZUMAT: În prezent biocombustibilii reprezintă categoria cea mai importantă de combustibili alternativi, cu impact pozitiv asupra mediului în cazul în care tehnologiile de producţie a acestora sunt sustenabile. Datorită tendinţelor accentuate de utilizare a terenurilor agricole pentru culturi energetice, biomasa lignocelulozică a devinit tot mai atractivă în raport cu resursele de prima generaţie precum porumbul, grâul, cartoful, trestia de zahăr etc. Cu toate acestea, deşi există staţii pilot funcţionale pentru producerea de bioetanol lignocelulozic, costul ridicat al enzimelor sau consumurile energetice ridicate aferente unor procese precum pretratarea şi distilarea împiedică pătrunderea pe piaţă a acestor tehnologii. În consecinţă, cercetările din acest domeniu se orientează către identificarea unor soluţii fezabile economic. Articolul prezintă trei procese noi, performante din punct de vedere al necesarului de resurse, cu un bun potenţial de piaţă: metoda de pretratare SPORL, raportată ca fiind cea mai eficientă din punct de vedere al energiei consumate pentru mărunţirea biomasei; pretratarea continuă prin extrudare, în cadrul căreia biomasa este dezintegrată fizico-chimic printr-un proces de amestecare, încălzire şi strivire/forfecare mecanică; distilarea “pass-through” la temperatura camerei, cu avantaje precum consumul redus de energie, posibilitatea de reutilizare a enzimelor şi drojdiilor, sau uşurinţa în exploatare. Subiectele au fost selectate pe baza rapoartelor privind performanţele, potenţialul de piaţă şi fezabilitatea tehnico-economică

Energy efficient technologies for lignocellulosic ethanol production

Currently, biofuels are the most significant alternative fuel aiming to provide clean power for transport, in case sustainable production technologies are employed. Due to the increased tendency of turning over the existing agricultural land to biofuel production, lignocellulosic feedstock is gaining increasing support against the use of first generation feedstock such as sugar cane, corn, wheat or sweet potatoes. However, despite the existing pilot plants, energy intensive technological processes like pretreatment and distillation, as well as high cost of enzymes, still prevent market roll-out of production facilities, extensive researches being conducted in order to find economically feasible alternatives. New close to market techniques, with improved performance in terms of energy and resources, are discussed: the relatively recent SPORL pretreatment, reported as the most effective in size-reduction energy consumption; pretreatment by means of extrusion - a technique in which biomass undergoes continuous mixing, heating and shearing, thus suffering physico-chemical disintegration; energy saving pass-through distillation that performs at room temperature, which also offers indirect advantages like the possibility of yeasts and enzymes recovery, and simplified exploitation and maintenance of the distillation equipment. The above mentioned subjects are selected based on their reported performances as well as on their market potential and estimated technical and economic feasibility.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hidrólisis y separación de biomasa lignocelulósica en un proceso al sulfito con el objeto de valorizar las principales fracciones dentro del concepto de bio-refinería

ABSTRACT: Physico-chemical and biological processes can be used to transform different pulp and paper industries through integrated forest biorefineries in order to valorise all of the main fractions of the lignocellulosic biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin). In this work, hydrolysis and fractionation processes have been studied in a sulphite pulp mill to obtain not only dissolving pulp from the cellulose but also lignosulphonates from the lignin and fermentation products from the hemicellulose. Delignification and hydrolysis experiments have been carried out at laboratory scale in order to increase the valorization opportunities and trying to decrease the inhibitors in the final by-product. In addition, detoxification or separation treatments have been developed in order to separate the lignosulphonates and other inhibitors from the sugar substrate.RESUMEN:Diferentes procesos físico-químico y biológicos se pueden utilizar para transformar la industria de la pasta y celulosa en bio-refinerías forestales integradas, con el objetivo de valorizar las principales fracciones de la biomasa lignocelulósica (celulosa, hemicelulosa y lignina). En este trabajo se han utilizado diferentes procesos de hidrólisis y fraccionamiento en una industria de pasta celulósica con el fin de obtener no solo la pasta dissolving sino también lignosulfonatos procedentes de la lignina y productos de fermentación de la hemicelulosa. Se han llevado a cabo diferentes experimentos de hidrólisis y deslignificación a escala laboratorio para aumentar las oportunidades de valorización y tratando de disminuirla producción de inhibidores en los sub-productos. Además, se han desarrollado diferentes procesos de detoxificación o separación con el objeto de separarlos lignosulfonatos y otros inhibidores del sustrato de azúcar.Los autores desean agradecer la ayuda de este trabajo al proyecto Europeo KBBE-2012-6-311935 bajo el séptimo programa marco de la Unión Europea. www.brigit-project.eu

PRINCIPLES OF INTEGRATION THE AGRI-DRONES IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTS. NEW CONCEPTS TOWARDS AGRICULTURE-5.0

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have a crucial contribution to the development of precision agriculture (PA). Agricultural drones or agri-drones make the rapid transition from the military system (UAVs) to domestic applications in the PA, in order to provide the necessary support to farmers for the surveillance of large crops and / or in carrying out operations to protect or stimulate crops. This revolutionary leap contributes to the considerable savings of the farmer, as well as to the revolution of traditional agriculture towards intelligent agriculture or PA. Managerial decisions based on the three principles presented in the paper (EVI - Enhanced Vegetation Index, ZP - Zero Pollution and ROI - Return on Investment) are easier to make through the approach driven by digital technology. The information-based management cycle lays foundations for sustainable PA of the future (agriculture-5.0)

Using CFD to improve the performance of a heat exchanger from a gasifier

In this paper, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis is performed on a gas-liquid heat exchanger fitted on a gasification equipment. The flow and temperature patterns are preliminary investigated using SolidWorks Flow Simulation software, in order to gain insight into the involved physical processes, and to find the exchanger weak points before being manufactured and tested. The analysed equipment tranfers heat from the flue gasses generated by a gasification system, towards a liquid heat transfer medium. This is subsequently sent to a second liquidliquid heat exchanger used to heat water from a boiler. As a result of the analysis, solutions aiming at performance improvement of the equipment are discussed and proposed

Aspects regarding FEM simulation of stress in hammer mill working tool

Considering the need for development and improvement of biomass processing equipment, researchers bring contribution by making suggestions to design also through simulation and modelling of different stresses that occur on equipment’s working tools. In this paper the stress in hammer mill working tools was analysed using FEM simulation with the help of SolidWorks 2016 Premium, projecting the geometric model and FEM simulation for a MC 22 hammer mill. The hammer mill has a four bolts rotor on which are the hammer disposed. The hammer mills rotor frequency is about 2940 rot/min. An important result in FEM simulation was the fact that the maximum reaction in the hammer joint was 11635 N. After FEM simulation experimental research were done using shredded miscanthus and energetic willow, the mill being equipped alternately with 4 types of hammers, with corners processed differently

“Souls Under the Altar”: The ‘Soul’ and Related Anthropological Imagery in John’s Apocalypse

<p>The complete bioconversion of the carbohydrate fraction is of great importance for a lignocellulosic-based biorefinery. However, due to the structure of the lignocellulosic materials, and depending basically on the main parameters within the pretreatment steps, numerous byproducts are generated and they act as inhibitors in the fermentation operations. In this sense, the impact of inhibitory compounds derived from lignocellulosic materials is one of the major challenges for a sustainable biomass-to-biofuel and -bioproduct industry. In order to inimise the negative effects of these compounds, numerous methodologies have been tested including physical, chemical, and biological processes. The main physical and chemical treatments have been studied in this work in relation to the lignocellulosic material and the inhibitor in order to point out the best mechanisms for fermenting purposes. In addition, special atention has been made in the case of lignocellulosic</p><p>hydrolysates obtained by chemical processes with SO2, due to the complex matrix of these materials</p><p>and the increase in these methodologies in future biorefinery markets. Recommendations of different detoxification methods have been given.</p

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INFLUENCE FACTORS OF THE SOIL TILLAGE PROCESS

It is known that the soil tillage process for the sowing of the crops is one of the most important agricultural works involving both large energy consumption and high costs. The quality of seed-bed preparation influences the degree of germination and crop productivity. The soil tillage process is influenced by many factors. Usually, these factors are: pedological factors (soil texture, organic matter, clay mineralogy, soil structure, soil bulk density, moisture content, respectively: external friction, soil- metal adherence, soil cohesion, soil resistance to penetration), technological factors (forward speed, working depth, working width), and constructive factors (type of tool, geometry of tool, technical condition of tool, adjustment mode of tool). All these factors determine the mechanical energy necessary to effectuate the soil tillage process, energy which contain the following terms: energy required to cut the soil, energy required to overcome the external friction forces, energy required to move the soil, energy required to overcome the adhesion forces, energy required for displacement of the tools, and the energy required to overcome the inertia forces (if the speed of the agricultural machine is not constant). In this paper, more complex scheme of the soil tillage process and the relationships between the factors of influence are presented, with concrete application for the agricultural vibro-cultivator used in conservation tillage systems, which can make the preparation of the seedbed for sowing in one pass with minimum consumption of energy, without causing the degradation of agricultural soil

PRECISION AGRICULTURE, THE ROLE OF AGRIDRONES FOR A SUSTAINABLE FARMING ENVIRONMENT. A REVIEW

Unmanned Aerial Systems have an essential contribution to the development and improvement of precision farming (agriculture-4.0). Monitoring the vegetation status of agricultural crops is the main factor in precision farming management. One of the methods used to make decisions at the right time is the use and analysis of crop vegetation indices. UAS monitored values of vegetation indices are calculated by measurement reflectance of sunlight on the surface of crops, values related to the state of development and health of plants. The processing of data recorded for monitored crops can be done online or offline and, depending on the correctness of their interpretation, managerial decisions can influence the ROI indicator of the farm