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69 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Nth-plant scenario for forest resources and short rotation woody crops: Biorefineries and depots in the contiguous US

Estimating the US potential of woody material is of vital importance to ensure cost-effective supply logistics and develop a sustainable bioenergy and bioproducts industry. We analyzed a mature conversion technology for woody resources for the contiguous US that takes advantage of economies of scale: the nth-plant. Here, we developed a database to quantify the total accessible woody biomass within a distributed network of preprocessing depots and biorefineries considering both quality specifications for conversion and a target cost to compete with fossil fuels. We considered two categories of woody biomass: 1) forest residues from trees, tops and limbs produced from conventional thinning and timber harvesting operations as well as non-timber tree removal; and 2) short rotation woody crops such as poplar, willow, pine, and eucalyptus. A mixed integer linear programming model was developed to analyze scenarios with woody feedstock blends at variable biomass ash contents and cost targets at the biorefinery. When considering a target cost of 85.51 dollars/dry ton (2016$) at the biorefinery, the maximum accessible biomass from forest residues in 2040 remained constant at 106 million dry tons regardless of ash targets. Including short rotation woody crops as part of the blend increased the total accessible biomass to 153 and 195 million dry tons at ash targets of 1% and 1.75%, respectively. We concluded from our analysis that woody resources could address about 55% of EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency) target of 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuel.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2020

The effect of moisture on hydrocarbon-based solvent liquefaction of pine, cellulose and lignin

In this report we examined the effect of moisture on the solvent liquefaction of loblolly pine, cellulose, and lignin in tetralin at 280 °C and pressures ranging from 15 to 70 bar. Solvent liquefaction experiments were conducted in a quasi-batch reactor capable of continuous pressure control and external vapor condensation. Moisture was varied by the controlled addition of de-ionized water. Control over the system pressure subsequently impacted the removal of water vapor from the reactor. Liquid yield decreased by 25, 21, and 35 wt%, for pine, cellulose, and lignin, respectively, when moisture content was increased from 1 to 50 wt% at 42 bar. Humins were observed in the solid residue from liquefaction of wet cellulose. Wet lignin yielded a substantial amount of solid residue compared to dry lignin with a corresponding decrease in total phenolic monomer production. It was concluded that the ionic dissociation of water was an important factor in loss of liquid yield in the presence of water. Although water was less than 20 wt% of the solvent loading in these experiments, it strongly influenced the liquefaction of biomass and biomass components.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Enhancing the flowability of woody biomass slurries in wet biorefineries

Feeding wet lignocellulosic biomass (e.g., softwood and hardwood) slurries into high-pressure, high-temperature reactors at an industrially relevant scale presents significant challenges, such as process equipment plugging. Here, in this study, we investigate the possibility of improving the flowability of biomass slurries in an industrial scale wet biorefinery by tuning the physical and chemical characteristics of the biomass particles. To understand the effects of the chemical characteristics of woody biomass on flowability, cellulose pulp particles are produced from pulp sheets via knife milling, pelletizing, and crumbling. These cellulose pulp particles are processed for acid hydrolysis dehydration (AHDH) at one –tonne-per day pilot scale. The levulinic acid yield (a product of cellulose AHDH) and the flowability of the biomass particles are compared using market pulp, 1 mm crumbled pine softwood, a blend of 2 mm hammer-milled pine softwood with 10 wt.% bark, and 2 mm hammer-milled hardwood material with 10 wt.% bark (to represent forest residues). The results indicate that the presence of hemicellulose and lignin influences the flowability of lignocellulosic feedstocks. Crumbled wood particles show poor flowability at the pilot scale, while the presence of fine materials (less than 0.7 mm) and bark improves the flowability of biomass slurries without affecting the organic acid yields (based on C6 carbohydrate content).

09 - BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Distillable amine-based solvents for effective pretreatment of multiple biomass feedstocks

Exploring the potential of advanced distillable solvents as efficient biomass pretreatment agents is critical for biorefineries, enhancing fermentable sugar yields while enabling solvent recovery and recycling without suffering significant losses. Here, we employ distillable amine-based solvents for pretreating a wide range of lignocellulosic feedstocks, aiming to facilitate the industrial release of fermentable sugars from diverse feedstocks through enzymatic hydrolysis. Twenty-two diverse feedstocks, sourced from different geographical regions and representing various biomass categories, were surveyed for chemical (mainly carbohydrates and lignin) and lignin (S, G, and H units) profiles. Several solvents, including ethanolamine, ethanolammonium acetate, butylamine, butylammonium acetate, and triethylamine, were tested for the pretreatment of eight selected biomasses. Among these solvents, butylamine emerged as the most effective due to its favorable sugar release, excellent solvent removal rate, and low boiling point, facilitating solvent recovery and recycling. Extending butylamine pretreatment to all 22 feedstocks demonstrated desirable sugar yields and highly efficient solvent removal in the majority of the biomass sources tested. Agricultural residues and their mixtures showed particularly favorable sugar release. Despite minimal changes in cellulose crystallinity, XRD characterization of sorghum, poplar, and pine before and after butylamine pretreatment showed a decrease in intensity and a slight shift of certain peaks, indicating alterations in cellulose structure. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis analyses suggested disruption of biomass linkages in hemicellulose and lignin, enhancing enzymatic digestibility. Scale-up experiments of the mixed agricultural feedstocks in a 1 L Parr reactor achieved over 90% glucose liberation and more than 99% butylamine removal, highlighting the scalability of the method. The resulting hydrolysates supported the growth of diverse bacterial and fungal strains, indicating downstream compatibility with commercial fermentation processes. This study presents butylamine as an effective, recoverable pretreatment solvent for a wide range of lignocellulosic feedstocks, offering a promising solution to key biorefinery challenges. The demonstrated scalability and compatibility with various biomass types and blends underscore its potential for industrial application, advancing sustainable biofuel and biochemical production.

biomass composition↗
NASA NTRS1984

Mechanisms of nitrogen retention in forest ecosystems - A field experiment

Intensive forest management led to elevated losses of nitrogen from a recently harvested loblolly pine plantation in North Carolina. Measurements of nitrogen-15 retention in the field demonstrated that microbial uptake of nitrogen during the decomposition of residual organic material was the most important process retaining nitrogen. Management practices that remove this material cause increased losses of nitrogen to aquatic ecosystems and the atmosphere.

Vitousek, P. M.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Initial plant community responses to hardwood control treatments in restoration of remnant longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) woodlands

Changes in land use over the past century have contributed to substantial losses of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) woodlands in the southeastern USA and replacement with higher density, mixed pine and hardwood stands that suppress understory development and limit application of prescribed fire. To increase understanding of limiting factors and identify potential approaches for restoring longleaf pine woodlands, we studied in this work initial availability of light and soil water and 2-year (2018–2019) plant community responses after controlling overstory hardwoods in five remnant longleaf pine woodlands having no evidence of previous agriculture at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, SC, USA. Seven hardwood control treatments and a non-treated check were compared in a randomized compete block experiment: cutting, cutting + shredding of logging residues, stem injection with imazapyr herbicide, cutting + basal spray with imazapyr herbicide, cutting + basal spray with triclopyr herbicide, cutting + directed foliar spray with a mixture of glyphosate and imazapyr herbicides, and cutting + broadcast foliar spray with the same herbicide mixture. In the year prior to hardwood cutting (2016), understory light availability averaged 23% of full sun. Throughout the year of treatment installation (2017), average soil water content (SWC) was below permanent wilting point (5.5% SWC) where overstory hardwoods were retained; whereas, it was above wilting point (7.5%) where they had been cut. Thus, combined effects of shade and root competition from overstory hardwoods probably limited cover of herbaceous species in the non-treated check. In the 2 years following treatment, hardwood survival averaged > 99%, 62%, 42% and < 1% for the non-treated check, cutting, shredding, and herbicide treatments, respectively. Relative to the non-treated check, herbaceous species richness was increased by shredding, stem injection, basal spray, or directed foliar treatments; herbaceous cover was increased by basal spray or directed foliar treatments; and woody cover was decreased by directed or broadcast foliar treatments. The directed foliar spray was the most effective treatment for achieving many of the desired understory characteristics of a longleaf pine woodland, including a diverse understory dominated by herbaceous vegetation capable of supporting periodic prescribed fires. Although the imazapyr basal spray treatment increased cover of remnant woodland indicator species, none of the treatments increased richness of this species group, suggesting that restoration of native species composition will be expedited by enrichment seedings or plantings.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Deconstruction of Woody Biomass via Protic and Aprotic Ionic Liquid Pretreatment for Ethanol Production

Ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as important solvents for conversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks to fuels and chemicals due to their ability to enable efficient biomass deconstruction and fractionation. Woody biomass derived from forest and agricultural residues has the potential to be used for production of biofuels and its removal from forests can help mitigate disastrous wildfires in fire-prone states like California. This study evaluated woody biomass types (pine, almond, walnut, and fir) from California as potential biofuel feedstocks. The feedstocks were pretreated with the ILs cholinium lysinate ([Ch][Lys]) and ethanolamine acetate ([EOA][OAc]), followed by enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of lignocellulosic sugars to produce ethanol. Under optimal conditions, [EOA][OAc] pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis generated glucose and xylose yields in the range of 24-82 and 14-80%, respectively, while glucose and xylose yields for the [Ch][Lys] ranged between 28-83 and 23-80%, respectively. Maximum fermentable sugar was released from almond wood, and the lowest amount was from pine and fir. Further, blends of feedstocks were also explored, and a blend with a mass ratio of 2/2/1 (almond/walnut/pine) resulted in maximum glucose and xylose (>90%) yields using [Ch][Lys]. Fermentation of this hydrolysate using a C5-utilizing strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae resulted in a maximum ethanol concentration of 17.9 g/L for mixture biomass hydrolysate, corresponding to 60.8% fermentation efficiency. This study represents the first demonstration of the use of these ILs for pretreatment of woody biomass blends that resulted in a high overall conversion efficiency for ethanol production.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of trunk injection with emamectin benzoate on arthropod diversity

Abstract BACKGROUND Pine wood nematode is a major plant quarantine object in the world. Trunk injection is an effective method for controlling pests that cause disease. To evaluate the ecological safety of trunk injection with emamectin benzoates in forests of Pinus massoniana , the community diversity and community composition of soil arthropods and flying insects (Hymenoptera) were studied at different stages of trunk injection. RESULTS The dominant taxonomic groups of soil arthropods were Collembola (30.80%), Insecta (26.42%), and Arachnida (23.84%). The taxonomic groups of flying insects (Hymenoptera) were Ichneumonidae (48.94%), Formicidae (14.10%), and Braconidae (8.44%). Trunk injection with emamectin benzoate has no significant effect on the community diversity indices of total soil arthropods and flying insects (Hymenoptera). However, it has a significant effect on the community diversity indices of detritivores for soil arthropods. It changed the community composition of soil arthropods but did not impact the community composition of flying insects (Hymenoptera). Redundancy analysis of arthropod community structure and environmental variables showed that total potassium, residual of green leaf, and residual of litter leaf have a significant impact on the community structure of soil arthropods, and total phosphorus, total nitrogen, water content, organic matter, and total potassium have a significant impact on the community structure of flying insects (Hymenoptera). CONCLUSION Trunk injection with emamectin benzoate is safe for the ecological environment. This study provides a new insight into the field for the prevention and control of pine wood nematode disease, which is of great significance to forest management and pest control. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Ouyang, Xianheng↗
NASA NTRS2007

Use of AIRS, OMI, MLS, and TES Data in Assessing Forest Ecosystem Exposure to Ozone

Ground-level ozone at high levels poses health threats to exposed flora and fauna, including negative impacts to human health. While concern is common regarding depletion of ozone in the stratosphere, portions of the urban and rural United States periodically have high ambient levels of tropospheric ozone on the ground. Ozone pollution can cause a variety of impacts to susceptible vegetation (e.g., Ponderosa and Jeffrey pine species in the southwestern United States), such as stunted growth, alteration of growth form, needle or leaf chlorosis, and impaired ability to withstand drought-induced water stress. In addition, Southern Californian forests with high ozone exposures have been recently subject to multiyear droughts that have led to extensive forest overstory mortality from insect outbreaks and increased incidence of wildfires. Residual forests in these impacted areas may be more vulnerable to high ozone exposures and to other forest threats than ever before. NASA sensors collect a wealth of atmospheric data that have been used recently for mapping and monitoring regional tropospheric ozone levels. AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder), OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument), MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder), and TES (Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer) data could be used to assess forest ecosystem exposure to ozone. Such NASA data hold promise for providing better or at least complementary synoptic information on ground-level ozone levels that Federal agency partners can use to assess forest health trends and to mitigate the threats as needed in compliance with Federal laws and mandates. NASA data products on ozone concentrations may be able to aid applications of DSTs (decision support tools) adopted by the USDA FS (U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service) and by the NPS (National Park Service), such as the Ozone Calculator, in which ground ozone estimates are employed to assess ozone impacts to forested vegetation.

Spruce, Joseph P.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dissolved pyrogenic carbon leaching in soil: Effects of soil depth and pyrolysis temperature

We report Pyrogenic organic carbon (PyC) is found in soils as a heterogeneous mixture of thermally altered plant residues that range in their susceptibility to losses via mineralization, leaching, and erosion. Leaching of PyC as DOC (DPyC) within the soil profile is likely influenced by the chemical composition of solid PyC and the dominant soil processes and properties at a particular depth. Here we report the results of a 2-year laboratory decomposition and leaching study designed to investigate the interactive effects of pyrolysis temperature levels (no pyrolysis, 300 °C, and 450 °C) and soil depth (surface soil, 0–10 cm depth; subsurface soil, 50–70 cm depth) on losses of 13 C-labeled jack pine (Pinus banksiana) wood, wood pyrolyzed at 300 °C (PyC300) and wood pyrolyzed at 450 °C (PyC450) as dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Losses of wood and PyC in the 13 C- DOC pool were measured in leachates drained from soils once a month over the course of 1 year, and at one single leaching event after 2 years. We found that pyrolysis temperature levels interacted with time and soil depth to affect losses of wood and PyC as DOC throughout the 1-year incubation and leaching study, with greater DOC losses from wood in surface soil (0.73 ± 0.076% of added C) than in subsurface soil (0.40 ± 0.063% of added C) averaged across sampling time. Monthly DOC losses from PyC were not affected by soil depth. Cumulative data indicated a small contribution of wood (2.86 ± 0.07%), PyC300 (0.40 ± 0.04%), and PyC450 (0.16 ± 0.01%) to total DOC leached from soils. DOC losses from wood and PyC300 (as a proportion of added C) were greater in surface soil than in subsurface soil, whereas DOC losses from PyC450 were unaffected by differences between surface and subsurface soil. Losses of DOC were greater from PyC300 than from PyC450 in surface soil, with no significant differences in DOC losses between PyC300 and PyC450 in subsurface soil. One single leaching event at the end of the 2-year decomposition study resulted in higher DOC losses from wood in subsurface soil than in surface soil likely due to desorption, and no differences in DOC losses between PyC300 and PyC450 regardless of soil depth. Our results suggest strong interactions between the initial physicochemical composition of organic C inputs and soil properties (soil depth as a proxy) that control the mobility and transport of PyC and should be better represented in Earth system models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Pretreatment of Biomass by Selected Type-III Deep Eutectic Solvents and Evaluation of the Pretreatment Effects on Hydrothermal Carbonization

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a novel thermochemical conversion that converts wet biomass into energy dense solid fuel. Residual moisture under subcritical conditions reacts with a lignin-cellulose-hemicellulose matrix with the major reactions being identified as dehydration and decarboxylation. Among other reaction parameters (e.g., temperature, time, pressure), biomass morphology often plays a key role in HTC. The hypothesis of this study was enhancing the porous structure of biomass without significantly affecting biopolymer composition would augment hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). To prove the hypothesis, two type-III deep eutectic solvents (DESs), namely choline chloride:urea (ChCl:Urea, 1:2 mol/mol) and methyltriphenylphosphonium bromide:ethylene glycol (MTPB:EG, 1:4 mol/mol), were studied to pretreat loblolly pine at room temperature and ambient pressure for 1 h. DES pretreatment shows swelling of the biomass, increasing the surface fiber-to-fiber gap length by 52% and 185% for ChCl:Urea and MPTB:EG pretreatments, respectively. The total pore volume remained intact (2.6 × 10 –3 cm 3 /g), although new small pores evolved, and existing pores were abated with DES pretreatment. Hydrochars prepared from DES pretreated loblolly pine showed a high O/C and H/C ratio resulting in a significant increase of energy content (up to 42%) and a decrease of mass yield (up to 50 wt %), indicating an enhancement of HTC severity due to the alteration of surface morphology by DES. Finally, a preliminary process economics revealed that integrated DES pretreatment-HTC would increase fixed capital investment but decrease the cost of operation and manufacturing than the standalone HTC process.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Bioblendstocks to Optimize Mixing Controlled Compression Ignition (MCCI) Engines

In this project, a team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the University of Maine, and Mainstream Engineering developed an integrated process for the product of bioblendstocks to optimize mixing controlled compression ignition (MCCI) engines. The objective was to improve the energy density, sooting propensity, and cetane number of base diesel fuel while maintaining cold weather behavior. The process converts woody biomass (e.g. sawmill residues) into bio-oil through selective fast pyrolysis; the bio-oil is then selectively upgraded to form selectively oxygenated, minimally-branched hydrocarbons using non-noble metal catalysts in combination with metal-catalyzed hydrogenation. Advanced predictive models, in conjunction with existing property databases, and experimental testing are used to evaluate overall bioblendstock properties and their impact on base diesel fuel. An iterative, targeted upgrading approach was implemented to optimize the proposed bioblendstock’s properties. Assessment methodologies included techno-economic analysis, life-cycle assessment, property testing, and engine testing. Ultimately, the project team successfully produced a viable bioblendstock while identifying critical process points related to scale-up efforts. It was found that producing pyrolysis oils at 500 degrees C and with pine particle sizes of 1-2 mm led to bio-oil with a higher yield (of approximately 45 wt%) and rich amounts of aromatic alcohols. The resultant pyrolysis oil was then upgraded using a sequence of mild hydrotreating, followed by catalytic etherification and esterification, followed by another final mild hydrotreating to produce a blendstock containing saturated species with a limited, but non-zero, amount of oxygen. The aromatic alcohols produced by pyrolysis were especially helpful in this regard, as the resulting bicycloethers and derivatives exhibited high cetane numbers. While most bulk properties of the bioblendstock met or exceeded targeted thresholds, viscosity and cloud point notably fell outside the expected range; this could be addressed by blending limits and/or through the use of additives that are commonplace in current refinding practices. Identification of a bioblendstock that can be produced economically at scale while improving the performance and emissions characteristics of internal combustion engines positively affects the economy by boosting domestic fuel production and the environment by decreasing harmful emissions and increasing efficiency.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS2011

Variability of Basal Melt Beneath the Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf, West Antarctica

Observations from satellite and airborne platforms are combined with model calculations to infer the nature and efficiency of basal melting of the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, West Antarctica, by ocean waters. Satellite imagery shows surface features that suggest ice-shelf-wide changes to the ocean s influence on the ice shelf as the grounding line retreated. Longitudinal profiles of ice surface and bottom elevations are analyzed to reveal a spatially dependent pattern of basal melt with an annual melt flux of 40.5 Gt/a. One profile captures a persistent set of surface waves that correlates with quasi-annual variations of atmospheric forcing of Amundsen Sea circulation patterns, establishing a direct connection between atmospheric variability and sub-ice-shelf melting. Ice surface troughs are hydrostatically compensated by ice-bottom voids up to 150m deep. Voids form dynamically at the grounding line, triggered by enhanced melting when warmer-than-average water arrives. Subsequent enlargement of the voids is thermally inefficient (4% or less) compared with an overall melting efficiency beneath the ice shelf of 22%. Residual warm water is believed to cause three persistent polynyas at the ice-shelf front seen in Landsat imagery. Landsat thermal imagery confirms the occurrence of warm water at the same locations.

Bindschadler, Robert↗
DOE OSTI2020

Carbon Cycling, Environmental & Rural Economic Impacts of Collecting & Processing Specific Woody Feedstocks in Biofuels

Woody biomass will be an essential feedstock for a large-scale cellulosic biofuel industry. The life cycle carbon accounting for the production of biofuels from woody feedstocks is complex and has engendered significant controversy. Issues such as below ground carbon, carbon debt, varied regional forest practices, multiple parallel forest product lines, and development of realistic counterfactual scenarios all contribute to the complexity. DOE funded CORRIM to develop comprehensive and definitive lifecycle inventories and assessments on the production of fuels from woody feedstocks. CORRIM brought together expertise in forest practices, short rotation woody crops, bioconversion of woody biomass, process modeling, and life cycle assessment to successfully accomplish this goal. The CORRIM team has developed data on forest productivity, fuel usage, and fuel production for six regionally specific forest systems. These six forest systems include three current commercial systems; southern pine plantations, Douglas-fir plantations, naturally regenerated Northeastern (NE) spruce/fir, and three ‘short rotation woody crops’, poplar, eucalyptus and willow, which are at different stages of demonstration in the US. The fuel production systems include cellulosic ethanol and bio-oil based hydrocarbons. The project was successfully reviewed at the BETO Program review in March 2015, 2017, and 2019 and has resulted currently in 19 publications and reports and 35 presentations at both national and international conferences, with more in the pipeline. See publications and presentations for links to each document. Finally, and most importantly, CORRIM has gone beyond the scope of the original DOE proposal to work closely with GREET at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to incorporate all the life cycle data and scenario models into their modeling system. GREET is the most widely used and definitive information source for evaluating lifecycle carbon emissions for fuels. The incorporation of CORRIM data from this project guarantees the results of the research will be extensively used and widely disseminated. Technical process improvements and policy relevant accomplishments are detailed in the relevant programmatic sections in the full report including citations therein. Highlights are summarized here for easy reference.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗