Industrial Biotechnology

In order to improve enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency, several approaches including liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment, adding surfactant, magnetic stirring and fed-batch hydrolysis were investigated, in which Sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB) was chosen as the feedstock. The experiment results showed...

Glycerol is a viable renewable feedstock that has emerged as a consequence of triglyceride conversion to biodiesel. In addition to glycerol conversion to commodity chemicals such as propylene glycol and epichlorohydrin, formation of higher-value specialty chemical products such as 1,3-...

Woody biomass is a reliable renewable source of raw materials for energy and chemicals. Woody biomass is structurally composed of cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses and other minor components. The compositions vary from species to species. The complexity / heterogeneity of woody biomass presents...

Miscanthus, a perennial grass, is an attractive biofuel feedstock compared with corn and poplar due to its high energy yield per hectare and low agricultural inputs such as water and soil nutrients. Recent studies have shown the three primary components of miscanthus, cellulose, hemicellulose, and...

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a proven technology for waste treatment. However, as the organic material becomes more valuable and being treated as resources, traditional AD process is no longer adequate. The Bioprocessing and Bioproduct Engineering Laboratory at Washington State University has been...

As oil is a fast depleting resource (BP, 2010), much is expected by the production of biofuels as valid options to replace fossil-oil transportation fuels. Biorefineries are not an entirely new concept. Many of the traditional biomass conversion technologies such as the sugar and paper industries...

So much research has been dedicated to understand the effects of various factors on enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocelluloses. It has been understood that removal of hemicelluloses is very important to improve lignocellulosic substrate digestibility. It has also been identified that improving enzyme...

Mineral acids have been used effectively for the pretreatment of cellulosic biomass to improve sugar recovery and promote its conversion to ethanol; however, substantial capital investment is required to enable separation of the acid, and corrosion-resistant materials are necessary. Disposal and...

Production of biodiesel by esterification or transesterification of long-chain fatty acids is a well known process, but the fuel product has characteristics making it not fully compatible with petroleum diesel engines. A better option is to convert fatty acid molecules to hydrocarbons by removing...

A major challenge in developing biorefinery is that the availability of biomass often limits the scale of the plant thus the feasibility of an operation. We proposed an integrated lipid-based platform as one technical option. According to this concept, different biomass resources will be first...