Microalgae as Biofuels Feedstocks: An Assessment of the Yields and Fuel Quality
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Wood particles having fibers aligned in a grain, wherein: the wood particles are characterized by a length dimension (L) aligned substantially parallel to the grain, a width dimension (W) normal to L and aligned cross grain, and a height dimension (H) normal to W and L; the L.times.H dimensions define two side surfaces characterized by substantially intact longitudinally arrayed fibers; the W.times.H dimensions define two cross-grain end surfaces characterized individually as aligned either normal to the grain or oblique to the grain; the L.times.W dimensions define two substantially parallel top and bottom surfaces; and, a majority of the W.times.H surfaces in the mixture of wood particles have end checking.
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Fast pyrolysis of biomass followed by water separation to produce pyrolytic lignin and hydrotreating of the lignin could be used to produce a stable volatile low-oxygen intermediate liquid. Such a liquid could be converted into a finished motor-fuel in a refinery, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure and economies of scale of refineries. Hydrotreating just the lignin would consume less hydrogen while preserving about half of the energy of the original oil. The aqueous by-products could be reformed to produce the needed hydrogen and would contain much of the unwanted acids and unstable oxygenates. To assess such intermediate liquids, several pyrolytic lignins were prepared by mixing pyrolysis oil with water at 1:1 and 3:1 ratios. The carboxylic acidity in the pyrolytic lignin was reduced to 24 and 10 mg-KOH/g-lignin compared to 81 in the whole oil. These lignins were hydrotreated using Ni-Mo(S)/alumina, Pt/char, or Pd/C(activated) in a semi-batch 1 L stirred autoclave. The oil was stabilized under hydrogen at 150-280 degrees C, then water and light organics were removed by partial depressurization. Hydrodeoxygenation was then performed at 340-400 degrees C. Total pressure was controlled at 70 or 170 bar with hydrogen gas. Organic liquid yields of 39-56% were obtained. For many experiments the organic oxygen content was <7%, acidity was < 7 mg-KOH/g-oil, the volatility was greater than or equal to 94% and, on a carbon basis, the total yield of organic products miscible in hydrocarbons at a 1:10 ratio was over 50%. These properties are probably acceptable to a refinery.The residual liquids left in the reactor at the end of the experiment comprised 60-85% of the organic-phase product while the rest was condensate. 13C-NMR of the residual liquids showed that they were 50-80% aliphatic. 13C-NMR coupled with GC-MS identified phenolic compounds as the main oxygenates in most residual liquids.
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Wood particles having fibers aligned in a grain, wherein: the wood particles are characterized by a length dimension (L) aligned substantially parallel to the grain, a width dimension (W) normal to L and aligned cross grain, and a height dimension (H) normal to W and L; the L.times.H dimensions define two side surfaces characterized by substantially intact longitudinally arrayed fibers; the W.times.H dimensions define two cross-grain end surfaces characterized individually as aligned either normal to the grain or oblique to the grain; the L.times.W dimensions define two substantially parallel top and bottom surfaces; and, a majority of the W.times.H surfaces in the mixture of wood particles have end checking.
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The invention provides methods for modifying lignin content and composition in plants and achieving associated benefits therefrom involving altered expression of newly discovered MYB4 transcription factors. Nucleic acid constructs for modifying MYB4 transcription factor expression are described. By over-expressing the identified MYB4 transcription factors, for example, an accompanying decrease in lignin content may be achieved. Plants are provided by the invention comprising such modifications, as are methods for their preparation and use.
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The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Accelergy Corporation, an advanced fuels developer with technologies exclusively licensed from Exxon Mobil, undertook Subtask 3.11 to use a recently installed bench-scale direct coal liquefaction (DCL) system capable of converting 45 pounds/hour of pulverized, dried coal to a liquid suitable for upgrading to fuels and/or chemicals. The process involves liquefaction of Rosebud mine coal (Montana coal) coupled with an upgrading scheme to produce a naphthenic fuel. The upgrading comprises catalytic hydrotreating and saturation to produce naphthenic fuel. A synthetic jet fuel was prepared by blending equal volumes of naphthenic fuel with similar aliphatic fuel derived from biomass and 11 volume % of aromatic hydrocarbons. The synthetic fuel was tested using standard ASTM International techniques to determine compliance with JP-8 fuel. The composite fuel thus produced not only meets but exceeds the military aviation fuel-screening criteria. A 500-milliliter synthetic jet fuel sample which met internal screening criteria was submitted to the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright–Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, for evaluation. The sample was confirmed by AFRL to be in compliance with U.S. Air Force-prescribed alternative aviation fuel initial screening criteria. The results show that this fuel meets or exceeds the key specification parameters for JP-8, a petroleum-based jet fuel widely used by the U.S. military. JP-8 specifications include parameters such as freeze point, density, flash point, and others; all of which were met by the EERC fuel sample. The fuel also exceeds the thermal stability specification of JP-8 fuel as determined by the quartz crystalline microbalance (QCM) test also performed at an independent laboratory as well as AFRL. This means that the EERC fuel looks and acts identically to petroleum-derived jet fuel and can be used interchangeably without any special requirements and thus provides a pathway to energy security to the U.S. military and the entire nation. This subtask was funded through the EERC–DOE Joint Program on Research and Development for Fossil Energy-Related Resources Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC26- 08NT43291. Nonfederal funding was provided by Accelergy Corporation.
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The 2016 Billion-Ton Report (BT16), Volume 2: Environmental Sustainability Effects of Select Scenarios from Volume 1, jointly released by the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is a pioneering effort to analyze a range of potential environmental effects associated with illustrative near-term and long-term biomass-production scenarios from the 2016 Billion-Ton Report, Volume 1. This chapter of the 2016 Billion-Ton Report, Volume 2, was authored by NREL researchers Ethan Warner, Yimin Zhang, Danny Inman, Annika Eberle, Alberta Carpenter, Garvin Heath, and Dylan Hettinger.