Bioenergy

The main objective of this study was to investigate the power controlled effect on microwave-accelerated simultaneous extraction and transesterification (in situ transesterification) of dry algal biomass. Experimental runs were designed using a response surface methodology and the process...

Understanding and modeling the depolymerization mechanisms of cellulosic and lignocellulosic substrates by cellulase cocktails is a critical step towards further optimizing the production of monosaccharides from biomass. The Spezyme CP cellulase cocktail combined with the Novo 188 b-glucosidase...

Corresponding author: Shulin Chen. Tel: 509-335-3743; Fax: 509-335-2722 E-mail: chens@wsu.edu An increasing attention has been paid to anaerobic digestion (AD) for converting the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (OFMSW) to renewable energy and reducing environmental impact. Since OFMSW is...

Concerns about dwindling fossil fuel reserves and climate change, energy independence, and depletion of ecosystem goods and services have driven the development of alternative technologies such as biomass-based fuels (biofuels). Although biofuels may be a step towards alleviating the aforementioned...

Microalgae harvest contributes a large portion of cost for microalgae-to-biofuels production. Most current harvest technologies including chemical and mechanical methods are only economically feasible for production of high-value products due to the costs. In this work, we are describing a new...

The current vision of biomass (e.g. plant, algae) conversion technologies is focused on developing the reactive intermediates platform for biofuels and chemicals production. A key challenge in using biomass as a renewable resource is its incredibly diverse polymeric structure. Sugars, furfural, HMF...

Lignocellulosic biorefineries require an efficient system of biomass storage between harvesting and processing. This study reports the effect of storage method and duration on the composition and processing performance of sweet sorghum bagasse. Sorghum bagasse was harvested at 85% moisture content...

A key hurdle in realizing commercial-scale production of biodiesel from cultured algae is efficient harvesting/dewatering of algal cells. In order to produce a gallon of biodiesel from algae, thousands of gallons of water must be processed, even when algal biomass is grown in relatively...

Economic biochemical conversion of cellulose to sugars necessitates minimal addition of water to biomass slurries during conversion, resulting in high-solids systems. The resulting slurries are effectively wet-granular materials. These materials presents difficulties for reactor engineering, as...

Carbochemicals such as furfural and HMF are very useful as intermediates in the production of various chemicals and polymers that have numerous food, fuel and medical applications. These carbochemicals can be obtained from sugar degradation upon hydrothermal treatment of biomass substrates such as...