Energy

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...

The Carboxylate Platform, also known as the MixAlco TM process, is an acidogenic fermentation process using mixed culture inoculums, which offers several advantages compared to conventional bioprocessing, such as: non-sterile fermentation, the use of inexpensive tanks, adaptability to a wide...

Abstract Among the various biomass pretreatment methods, steam explosion is one of the most widely used due to its cost-effective disruption of the plant structure and hence enhanced enzymatic accessibility. The operational parameters including temperature, residence time and acid concentration...

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...

The Effects of Carbon-to-Oxygen ratio upon Supercritical Water Reformation for Hydrogen Production Jared Bouquet 1 , Ryan Tschannen 2 , Aaron Gonzales 2 , and Sunggyu Lee 2 1: Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 2: Ohio University, Athens, OH With the continually growing energy...

Degree of polymerization (DP) of cellulose is considered an important factor to effect on the conversion of Lignocellulose. The higher DP of cellulose, the more difficult conversion of lignocellulose is. In this study, corncobs were pretreated with dilute acid process for production of xylose, and...

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...

As the world's power needs grow, the demand for power from renewable resources, such as wind or solar, is increasing. One major drawback associated with these renewable resources is that the power output is dependent on environmental factors, such as cloud cover and wind speeds. This allows the...

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are being developed for large-scale energy storage, uninterruptable grid-independent power supplies and load-leveling systems for solar or wind power. Aqueous chemistries are used for all current commercial RFBs, therefore, cell potentials are limited to the stability...

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...