Industrial Biotechnology

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...

The use of activated sludge microflora to convert sugars, derived from the hydrolysis of lignocellulose biomass, into lipids for biofuel production is of current research interest in our group. Lipid accumulation in this system has been enhanced by manipulating the carbon-nitrogen (C:N) ratio 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...

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...

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...

Over one fifth of calories consumed by humanity are from rice. Consequently, vast quantities of rice hulls are disposed of as waste, since the hull constitutes 20% of rice mass. Standard practice for disposal of rice hulls is burning, generating pollution and CO 2 , or thrown away in vast...

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is a routine method in the analysis of degradation products in the prehydrolysate or the hydrolysis liquor of lignocellulosic biomass. Cation exchange column chromatography with a metal counter ion has been used for the quantitative analysis of...

Three classes of nonfouling substances, poly[poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] (POEM), poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PSBMA), and perfluoroalkyl tagged poly(ethylene glycol) surfactants (fPEG), were covalently tethered onto the surface of Anopore TM membranes (nominal pore size 0.2...