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Economic and Environmental Sustainability of Vegetative Oil Extraction Strategies at Integrated Oilcane and Oil-Sorghum Biorefineries
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Corrosion-resistant polyurethane coatings from structure-homogenized biorefinery lignin through fractionation and oxypropylation
Using lignin for polyurethane (PU) synthesis is challenging because of its heterogeneous structure, i.e., broad molecule weight (MW) distribution and diverse hydroxyl (OH) functionality. This complexity influences the crosslinking reaction between lignin and isocyanate and affects the quality of PU products. Here, we propose a two-step strategy for lignin structure homogenization by lowering its MW and uniforming OH functionality (step 2). Step 1 involves a bioethanol fractionation process, yielding fractionated lignin with one order lower MW than the raw lignin while exhibiting better processability for the subsequent process. Step 2 is performed by an oxyalkylation process using fractionated lignin that converts phenolic and carboxylic OHs to aliphatic OHs. As a result, we obtained structure-homogenized lignin with good compatibility and crosslinking with hexamethylene diisocyanate for PU coating synthesis. Moreover, PU coatings prepared from structure-homogenized lignin display a defect-free microscopic structure and show better corrosion resistance than coatings fabricated from its raw lignin alternative. Overall, the structure homogenization process is a beneficial way of using lignin as biopolyol in PU synthesis toward the application-oriented design of corrosion-resistant lignin-based PU coatings.
Mineral-hydrogel composites for mitigating harmful algal bloom and supplying phosphorous for photo-biorefineries
Harmful algal blooms (HAB) are a major environmental concern in eutrophic aquatic systems. To mitigate HABs and recover the phosphorus that drives algal growth, this study developed hydrogel composites seeded with calcium phosphate and wollastonite particles, which first adsorb phosphate (P) and then precipitate it as calcium phosphate. Using a fast-growing cyanobacterium, Synechococcus elongatus 2973, as a model microalga, we found that the mineral-hydrogel composites reduced dissolved P in BG11 media from 5.1 mg/L to 0.31 mg/L, initially reducing the biomass growth rate by up to 73 % and ultimately reducing the total biomass concentration by 75 %. When applied to municipal wastewater and agricultural run-off, the composites removed 96 % and 91 % of the dissolved P, respectively. Moreover, when the recovered P-enriched composites were reused as a slow-release bio-compatible fertilizer in a photobioreactor, they effectively supported algal growth without blocking light and interfering with photosynthesis. The P-enriched composites could tune the P concentration in the culture medium and significantly promote algal lipid accumulation. Finally, this study demonstrates the mineral-hydrogel composites' potential to treat point sources of P pollution and subsequently facilitate photoautotrophic biofuel production as a nutrient, effectively recycling the captured P.
Design of a High-Rate Wastewater Treatment Process for Energy and Water Recovery at Biorefineries
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Sustainable Graphite and Jet Fuel from Biorefinery Residue
Abstract Battery‐grade graphite and aviation fuel are traditionally produced from non‐renewable, fossil carbon feedstocks and result in substantial greenhouse gas emissions. Biomass holds exciting potential as a renewable and sustainable feedstock for the production of graphite and aviation fuel, but challenges exist including the necessity of a catalyst when producing graphite and low selectivity when producing aviation fuel. A process to convert a biomass‐derived feedstock into graphite without the use of a catalyst and fuels with high selectivity towards sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is innovated. Heavy bio‐oil undergoes a conversion process similar to the commercial production of synthetic graphite including coking at 500 °C, calcination at 1000 °C, and graphitization at 2800 °C. The resulting biographite exhibits excellent performance in lithium‐ion battery configurations with specific capacity of ~330 mAh g −1 and a 96.8 % capacity rebound after high rate cycling. The liquid hydrocarbon co‐product from coking is suitable for hydrotreating into SAF. The aviation fuel fraction (70 wt % of the fuel produced) meets ASTM standards and is composed primarily of cycloalkanes (~80 wt %) which improves energy density compared to paraffins produced by other SAF pathways and may replace aromatics for elastomer swelling in traditional jet fuel with less soot production.
Economic, energetic, and environmental analysis of lignocellulosic biorefineries with carbon capture
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An integrated biorefinery approach to obtain xylo-oligosaccharides from corncob using lactic acid-rich fermentation broth
Although xylo-oligosaccharides production from lignocelluloses via lactic acid hydrolysis is advantageous in terms of high yields with less by-products, the use of high purity lactic acid inevitably increases the cost of xylo-oligosaccharides production. The utilization of lactic acid-rich fermentation broth for xylo-oligosaccharides production can avoid the separation and purification of lactic acid. However, the feasibility of lactic acid-rich fermentation broth for xylo-oligosaccharides production from lignocelluloses was unclear. In this work, the results indicated that the highest xylo-oligosaccharides yield of 72% was obtained from corncob by lactic acid-rich fermentation broth pretreatment and xylanase hydrolysis. Subsequently, monosaccharides-rich hydrolysate (90.9 g/L) was obtained from solid residues of corncob by cellulase hydrolysis. Lactic acid-rich fermentation broth was produced by Weizmannia coagulans fermentation of the monosaccharide-rich hydrolysate. Besides, the obtained xylo-oligosaccharides and lactic acid mixture might be used as feed additives, avoiding the purification and separation of lactic acid or xylo-oligosaccharides. Meanwhile, the production cost of feed grade xylo-oligosaccharides from this work was much lower than the current market price. Overall, this work proposed a new strategy for efficient and environmental-friendly production of xylo-oligosaccharides from corncob.
Progress and Outlook of Solar-Powered Biomass for Biorefineries: A Minireview
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Efficacy, economics, and sustainability of bio-based insecticides from thermochemical biorefineries
The efficacy, economics, and sustainability of a bio-based insecticide produced from the catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass is reported. This synergistic approach to fuels and agrochemical production can improve both energy and food sectors.
Carbon capture from corn stover ethanol production via mature consolidated bioprocessing enables large negative biorefinery GHG emissions and fossil fuel-competitive economics
Potential to capture 70% of feedstock carbon while >50% of feedstock lower heating value is converted to biofuel and coproducts.
Economic and Environmental Impact of Recovering and Upgrading Lignin via the ALPHA Process on an Ethanol Biorefinery
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Metagenomes and Metagenome-Assembled Genomes from Microbiomes Metabolizing Thin Stillage from an Ethanol Biorefinery
Here, we report the metagenomes from five anaerobic bioreactors, operated under different conditions, that were fed carbohydrate-rich thin stillage from a corn starch ethanol plant. The putative functions of the abundant taxa identified here will inform future studies of microbial communities involved in valorizing this and other low-value agroindustrial residues.
Nth-plant supply: corn stover supplies and costs in a fleet of biorefineries-Interactive Visualization
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