Bioenergy

The goal of present study is to characterize the effect of pressure and heating rate on the devolatilization behavior of different biomass species. Three biomass species (southern Pine, corn stover, and switchgrass) were studied. A combination of two complementary gasification devices are utilized...

The first step in the conversion process of biomass to biofuels or hydrogen lies in picking an environmentally friendly solvent which is capable of breaking up the crystalline microstructure of cellulose. Once the cellulose is in suspension, enzymes (cellulases) are added to the reactor to...

Plant lignin is a source of useful chemicals, and also the major barrier for saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass for ethanol conversion. The enzymatic lignin degradation/modification could bypass the need for chemical pretreatment and thereby facilitate bioprocess consolidation. Herein, we...

Introduction Hydrogen is produced by biomasses through a variety of pyrolysis and gasification processes. Most of these processes are hampered by the coproduction of tars, a mixture of heavy compounds that may result in fouling of heat exchangers and reactors. A steam reforming step is needed to...

Since biochar properties can vary widely depending on feedstock and processing conditions, making meaningful comparisons between biochar produced by different processes (pyrolysis, gasification, kiln carbonization) and at different locations can be difficult. Biochar characterization methods can...

In an effort developing more efficient and environmentally benign lignocellulosic biomass processing technologies, the authors’ laboratory has been studying plant cell wall degradation process in termite and white-rot fungi. This presentation summarizes the results so far obtained from various...

The utilization of switchgrass as a dedicated energy crop is well documented in the scientific community. However, there has not been any large-scale production of switchgrass as a feedstock for the production of biofuels. In this work, three different varieties of switchgrass were grown on 600...

Woody biomass is renewable only if sustainable production is imposed. How to evaluate the benefit of different biomass crop species on a sustainability scale is a difficult task. Site dependence and regional diversity are the most important factors, while biomass productivity determines the...

Greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting systems consider bioenergy from forests as carbon neutral because, under international greenhouse gas accounting rules, the carbon contained in wood is deemed emitted to the atmosphere at the time of transfer out of the forest ecosystem. This accounting...

Lignocellulosic biomass has tremendous potential as a feedstock to make renewable fuels and petrochemicals from biomass. The current impediment to the utilization of our biomass resources is that most processes to convert biomass are not currently economical because of long residence times, the...