Agro-industrial Biomass Research Articles

Fluid dynamics model on fluidized bed gasifier using agro-industrial biomass as fuel

The present study shows the experimental and numerical results of thermal gasification of biomass, on the energy potential of agro-industrial waste from the Portalegre region. Gasification tests were performed in a pilot-scale fluidized bed gasifier, in order to study the behavior of peach stones and miscanthus to investigate the effect of gasification temperatures at 750°C, 800°C and 850°C at a constant biomass flow rate of 45kg/h. In order to optimize the operating conditions of the biomass gasification process, a numerical model is developed namely COMMENT code. This model is a computer model of two dimensions describing the biomass gasification processes in a fluidized bed gasifier using peach stone and miscanthus as fuel. Both phases, solid and gaseous, were described using an Eulerian-Eulerian approach exchanging mass, energy, and momentum. The numerical model results are then compared with experimental results. The produced results show the impact of the increased temperature in the calorific value of the syngas. The tests carried out at 750°C shown an increase in CO2 and N2 and a decrease of CO in the range of 5% comparing to the tests carried out at 850°C. In addition, increased temperature favors a decrease in tar production in thermal gasification process. Numerical results shows to be in good agreement with the experimental data.

Lignocellulolytic Capability of Endophytic Phyllosticta sp.

The Dothideomycetes represent the largest fungal class of Ascomycota. It is an ubiquitous class of fungi whose members span a wide spectrum of lifestyles and host interactions. The endophytic fungus Phyllosticta is one members of the Dothideomycetes, causing disease in economic crops. Phyllosticta was screened for the degradation of lignocellulosic biomass of commercial relevance, such as rice straw, rice husk, sorghum, wheat straw, miscanthus, lavender flower, and lavender straw. The highest degrading strains were identified from an initial screen and further analyzed for the secretion of lignocellulosic enzymes during growth on the different biomasses. With Phyllosticta capitalensis (MFLUCC14-0233), maximum activity of arabinase (944.18 U/ml culture), cellulase (27.10 U/ml), xylanase (10.85 U/ml), pectinase (465.47 U/ml), and laccase (35.68 U/ml) activities could be detected in the secretome during growth on lavender flowers and lavender straw. Phyllosticta capitalensis is thus an interesting new strain for the production of lignocellulosic enzymes during growth on cheap agro-industrial biomass.

Towards a Renewable Brazilian Chemistry from Vegetal Biomass

The transition from the current dependence on non-renewable raw materials of the chemical industry to vegetable biomass as an oil substitute has become a strategic challenge to the twenty-first century. Chemicals have the highest potential to add value on a biomass chain because of the importance of conventional chemical industry and fine chemical chemistry for different sectors of economy. This article deals with the economic potential of the vegetable biomass as a source of raw material to support the production of renewable chemicals. The focus is on illustrating the perspectives and challenges for the development of a Brazilian renewable chemical industry, considering that Brazil is one of the largest global producers of agro-industrial biomass for several purposes, especially for food and biofuels.

Sustainable Application of Agro-industrial Biomass Waste for Water Treatment: Recycling of Sunflower Seeds Hulls for Ammonium Removal

Sustainable Application of Agro-industrial Biomass Waste for Water Treatment: Recycling of Sunflower Seeds Hulls for Ammonium Removal

Characterization of Colombian Agroindustrial Biomass Residues as Energy Resources

A physical and chemical characterization of three Colombian agricultural biomass residues was carried out to identify promising feedstocks for thermochemical energy production. The three chosen were sugar cane bagasse (SCB), rice husk (RH), and palm kernel shell (PKS). Results showed that SCB, has high volatile material (87.41 wt % daf), lignocellulosic composition high in hemicellulose (29.68 wt % daf) and cellulose (39.81 wt. daf), high alkali index (4.07), and soft morphology; these characteristics make it a good candidate for fast pyrolysis to produce bio-oil and gas. The RH, despite having a lignocellulosic composition similar to SCB, has slightly less volatile matter than SCB (75.73 wt % daf), a soft morphological structure, and high ash content (19.33 wt %) mainly of noncatalytic species, all of which make RH unattractive for pyrolysis; however, its fixed carbon content makes it very interesting for combustion and gasification processes. On the other hand, the PKS is the biomass with the highest co...

Bio-syngas production from agro-industrial biomass residues by steam gasification

This study evaluated the steam gasification potential of three residues from Brazilian agro-industry by assessing their reaction kinetics and syngas production at temperatures from 650 to 850°C and a steam partial pressure range of 0.05 to 0.3bar. The transition temperature between kinetic control and diffusion control regimes was identified. Prior to the gasification tests, the raw biomasses, namely apple pomace, spent coffee grounds and sawdust, were pyrolyzed in a fixed-bed quartz tubular reactor under controlled conditions. Gasification tests were performed isothermally in a magnetic suspension thermobalance and the reaction products were analyzed by a gas chromatograph with TCD/FID detectors. According to the characterization results, the samples presented higher carbon and lower volatile matter contents than the biomasses. Nevertheless, all of the materials had high calorific value. Syngas production was influenced by both temperature and steam partial pressure. Higher concentrations of H2 and CO were found in the conversion range of 50–80% and higher concentrations of CO2 in conversions around 10%, for all the gasified biochars. The H2/CO decreased with increasing temperature, mainly in kinetic control regime, in the lower temperature range. The results indicate the gasification potential of Brazilian biomass residues and are an initial and important step in the development of gasification processes in Brazil.

High xylooligosaccharides (XOS) production from pretreated kenaf stem by enzyme mixture hydrolysis

Advancement in industrial biotechnology offers potential opportunities for economic utilization of agro-industrial biomass such as kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) for the production of value-added products. This work was conducted to evaluate an enzymatic hydrolysis of kenaf stem (that has been pretreated) for xylooligosaccharides (XOS) production. Pretreated kenaf stems were subjected to two enzymatic hydrolysis approaches which are single xylanase (Xyn2) and a mixture of xylanase:arabinofuranosidase (Xyn2:AnabfA). Central Composite Design was used to optimize the enzymatic hydrolysis conditions on the pretreated kenaf stem to achieve maximum hemicellulose conversion. Under the optimized hydrolysis conditions, hemicellulose conversion (95.03%) with the highest XOS yield of 351.46mg/g was achieved at 40°C (pH 4.0) after 48h incubation with Xyn2:AnabfA ratio of 400U:10U. Xylobiose (135.42mg/g) is the main XOS product with xylotriose (102.04mg/g) being the second highest. The high production of XOS yield from the pretreated kenaf stem demonstrated the biotechnological potential of the kenaf in the future.

Physico-chemical Characteristics and Pyrolysis Behavior of Klason Lignins Isolated from Agro-industrial Biomass

Klason lignins lab-isolated from two lignocellulosic biomasses emerging from the processing of agro-industrial products, Aspidosperma australe wood sawdust and Bertholletia excelsa nutshells, with different contents of lignin (27 and 57 wt%, respectively), are characterized. Characterization includes determination of ash content, elemental composition, Fourier-transform infrared spectra, and surface morphological features by scanning electronic microscopy. Pyrolysis behavior of the isolated lignins as well as of the parent biomasses from which they are extracted is comparatively examined by non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis from room temperature up to 1000°C. The lignins exhibit different ash contents and elemental compositions, as well as noticeable differences in their pyrolytic behavior depending on the botanical origin of the bio-resource and with respect to that determined for the untreated parent biomasses. Overall, the lignin isolated from the nutshells is more resistant to degrade than the sawdust-derived lignin, likely due to a more condensed chemical structure.

Xylanase Production by Isolated Fungal Strain, Aspergillus fumigatus RSP-8 (MTCC 12039): Impact of Agro-industrial Material as Substrate

In the present investigation, the imperative role of agro-industrial biomass for improved xylanase production was evaluated using isolated fungal strain. This isolate was identified as Aspergillus fumigatus RSP-8 (MTCC 12039) based on morphological and 18S rRNA ribotyping and the organism was deposited in MTCC, IMTECH Chandigarh with accession number 12039. The isolated fungal strain is mesophilic in nature and produced maximum xylanase at 30 °C, at pH 7 and agitation speed of 150 rpm. Xylanase complex production titers differed with the nature and complexity of carbon source and other physiological growth parameters including aeration, growth temperature, physiological medium pH, initial inoculum levels, etc. Highest xylanase titers (73 U/mL) noticed with hemicellulose isolated from sorghum straw and least with ground nut cake as carbon source among tested agro materials such as rice bran, green gram husk, sorghum straw, groundnut cake and wheat bran. A variation of three fold enzyme titers was observed with different tested carbon sources. Supplementation of glucose as carbon source did not produce any xylanase with this fungal strain revealing the xylanase in this isolate is induced by the carbon source. Variation of hemicellulose concentration as carbon source during the fermentation altered the production xylanase titers. The study suggested that, in xylanase production by A. fumigatus RSP-8, one of the major limiting factors is substrate chemical complexity.

Intermediate pyrolysis of agro-industrial biomasses in bench-scale pyrolyser: Product yields and its characterization

Pyrolysis of woody biomass, agro-residues and seed was carried out at 500±10°C in a fixed bed pyrolyser. Bio-oil yield was found varying from 20.5% to 47.5%, whereas the biochar and pyrolysis gas ranged from 27.5% to 40% and 24.5% to 40.5%, respectively. Pyrolysis gas was measured for flame temperature along with CO, CO2, H2, CH4 and other gases composition. HHV of biochar (29.4MJ/kg) and pyrolitic gas (8.6MJ/kg) of woody biomass was higher analogous to sub-bituminous coal and steam gasification based producer gas respectively, whereas HHV of bio-oil obtained from seed (25.6MJ/kg) was significantly more than husks, shells and straws. TGA–DTG studies showed the husks as potential source for the pyrolysis. Bio-oils as a major by-product of intermediate pyrolysis have several applications like substitute of furnace oil, extraction of fine chemicals, whereas biochar as a soil amendment for enhancing soil fertility and gases for thermal application.

A renewable chemistry linked to the Brazilian biofuel production

The transition from the current dependence on non-renewable raw materials to biomass as an oil substitute has become a strategic challenge to the twenty-first century. Chemicals have the highest potential to add value on a vegetable biomass chain because of the importance of conventional chemical industry and fine chemical chemistry for different sectors of economy, highlighting compounds that may be used as building blocks, intermediates of synthesis and specialties. This review deals with the economic potential of residual biomass from biodiesel and bioethanol industries as a source of raw material to support the production of renewable chemicals. The focus is on illustrating the perspectives and challenges for the development of a Brazilian renewable chemical industry, considering that Brazil is one of the largest global producers of agro-industrial biomass for several purposes, especially for biofuels.

Perspectives for the Brazilian residual biomass in renewable chemistry

AbstractThe need to change non-renewable raw materials by biomass as an oil substitute has been shown to be a strategic challenge for the 21st century. Chemicals have the highest potential to add value to a vegetable biomass chain because of the importance of conventional chemical industry and fine chemical chemistry for different sectors of the economy; these compounds may be used as building blocks, intermediaries of synthesis, and specialties. This article deals with the economic potential of the usage of residual biomass as a raw material in chemistry, with a special interest in residues from bioenergetic chains (biodiesel and ethanol). It focus on showing a scenario related to the perspectives and challenges for the development of a Brazilian renewable chemistry, considering that Brazil is one of the largest global producers of agro-industrial biomass for several purposes, especially for bioenergy.

Applications of Solid-State Fermentation Process in Biological Detoxification of Industrial Wastes

Solid–state fermentation (SSF) has been a useful technique for utilization of large volumes of agro-industrial biomass in producing value added enzymes and platform chemicals. Herein, the microorganisms are grown on complex biomass as substrate. They draw the nutrients from biomass and in turn generate the useful metabolites and enzymes. In recent past SSF has been observed to be a versatile technique for simultaneous detoxification of ‘toxins or antinutrients’ present in the biomass. SSF based detoxification of agro-industrial wastes has been established in case of; phorbol esters (in jatropha seed cake), ricin (in castor bean cake), caffeine (in coffee husk), gossypol (in cotton seed meal) and glucosinolates (in rapeseed meal) etc. Furthermore, some notable examples have emerged on xenobiotics and dye degradation through this approach. Present review looks at these detoxification studies and their mechanistic aspects, potential applications and further challenges in the area. Keywords: Agro-industrial waste, biodetoxification, bioremediation, dye degradation, plant toxins, solid-state fermentation, jatropha seed cake.

Chemical evaluation of chars produced by thermochemical conversion (gasification, pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization) of agro-industrial biomass on a commercial scale

Technologies for agro-industrial feedstock utilization such as pyrolysis, gasification and hydrothermal carbonization at industrial scale develop rapidly. The thermochemically converted biomasses of these production technologies have fundamentally different properties controlled by the production technology. This is reflected by general properties such as pH or elemental composition. The 13C NMR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and black carbon results confirmed these observations showing that hydrochars have lower proportions of aromatic compounds than biochars (less stable) but are rich in functional groups (higher cation exchange capacity) than biochars. Analyses of pollutants indicate that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as well as dioxin contents of most samples were under the threshold values recommended by International Biochar Initiative and European Biochar Certificate. In conclusion, biochars and hydrochars are entirely different from each other and these materials will probably have a complementary reaction in a soil environment.

Valorization of agroindustrial solid residues and residues from biofuel production chains by thermochemical conversion: a review, citing Brazil as a case study

Besides high industrial development, Brazil is also an agribusiness country. Each year about 330 million metrics tons (Mg) of biomass residues are generated, requiring tremendous effort to develop biomass systems in which production, conversion and utilization of bio-based products are carried out efficiently and under environmentally sustainable conditions. For the production of biofuels, organic chemicals and materials, it is envisaged to follow a biorefinery model which includes modern and proven green chemical technologies such as bioprocessing, pyrolysis, gasification, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and other catalytic processes in order to make more complex molecules and materials on which a future sustainable society will be based. This paper presents promising options for valorization of Brazilian agroindustrial biomass sources and residues originating from the biofuel production chains as renewable energy sources and addresses the main aspects of the thermochemical technologies which have been applied.

Comparative behaviour of agricultural biomass residues during termochemical processing

A study of the pyrolysis and gasification of biomass residues such as oil palm shells and fibers, coffee shells, sugarcane bagasse and beech wood is presented. All of them are abundant agroindustrial biomass residues in Latin American countries. The characterization of the raw materials and products includes proximate analysis (water, ash and volatile matter contents) and ultimate analysis. Pyrolysis and gasification experiments are carried out in a thermobalance and in a pilot scale rotary kiln reactor. Both facilities are equipped with evolved gas analysis. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out using nitrogen as carrier gas by heating up to a temperature of 950 °C. Gasification is performed using water vapour as reaction agent in a concentration of 70 % H2O in nitrogen. The gasification temperature is set to 850 °C. All wastes show similar behavior during pyrolysis in the thermobalance with the main mass loss at temperatures below 550 °C. The solid fraction varied from 18 % for sugarcane bagasse to 27 % for oil palm shells and the gas fraction from 18 % for oil palm shells to 22 % for sugarcane bagasse. The main evolved gases are CO2 (9 – 12%), CO (3.5 – 7.5 %) and CH4 (1.6 – 3 %). H2 was also found but in a very small fraction (0.5 – 0.7 %) (all fractions are referred to the initial dry mass). The heating value of the pyrolysis products from the experiments in the thermobalance of the different wastes presented small variations with a mean value of 6.5 MJ kg-1 for the evolved gas, 20 MJ kg-1 for the tar and 19 MJ kg-1 for the solid residual. The presence of secondary reactions in the rotary kiln affects considerably the amount of gas and tar in the products. The higher heating value of the evolved gases varies between 17 and19 MJ kg-1. The obtained results allow a possible further technological use of these materials as a cheap renewable energy source in countries where these materials can be found.

Ethanol production from agroindustrial biomass using a crude enzyme complex produced by Aspergillus niger

This study investigates ethanol production from simultaneous fermentation and saccharification (SFS) and separated hydrolysis and fermentation (SHS) using enzyme complexes produced by Aspergillus niger strains (ATCC 16404, ATCC 1057, ATCC 9029). The enzyme complexes were produced by solid-state fermentation (SSF) on inexpensive and readily available agroindustrial products: rice byproduct (composed of AFEX-treated rice rust and rice bran), whey and sugarcane bagasse. The ethanol was produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y904 using whey and rice byproduct as the substrate and the enzyme complex produced by A. niger. The best result for solid-state fermentation (40 U/g of dry substrate, A. niger ATCC 16404) was obtained in a 0.5 L rotating drum bioreactor at 40 °C filled half filled with solid biomass composed of rice byproduct (86% wt/wt), whey (12% wt/wt) and CaCl2 (2.0% wt/wt). The best result for ethanol fermentation (11.7 g/L of ethanol) was obtained after 12 h of SFS at pH 4.5 and 35 °C. A comparative study of ethanol production by Trichoderma reesei CCT 2768 and A. niger ATCC 16404 complexes under the same optimised SFS and SSF conditions was also performed, revealing that ethanol production by the A. niger enzyme complex was 2.25 times higher than that by T. reesei. These findings suggest that the ethanol production using crude enzymatic complexes produced by A. niger and agroindustrial biomass described in this paper is very promising in terms of disposal of the whey produced by cheese-making and other dairy food processing.

Graphene-like nanostructures obtained from Biomass

ABSTRACTTwo dimensional (2D) carbon nanomaterials such as few graphite layers or graphene are extensively studied due to their unique properties suitable to be exploiting in a wide range of technological applications. Recently, the growth of high quality graphene monolayers using insects and waste as carbon precursors was reported in the literature. This methodology opened a new way to convert the waste carbon into a high-value-added product. In the present work coconut coir dust, an agroindustrial biomass, was used as biotemplate for preparing carbonaceous materials. Carbon structures were synthesized through pyrolysis under nitrogen atmosphere (100mL/min) at 500, 1000, and 1500°C during 2 hours. Starting materials were coconut coir dust in natura and coconut coir dust hydrothermally treated. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Raman spectra showed the D band for all samples, related to the presence of defects in sp2 carbon structure and G band, indicative of graphite crystallites. It was also observed that the sample carbonized at 1500°C from coconut coir dust treated by hydrothermal method showed G’ band at 2685cm-1 associated with the stacking order along the c-axis. X-ray diffraction analysis showed a broad peak around 2θ= 22° related to the presence of amorphous carbon. By increasing the pyrolysis temperature changes in XRD diffractograms were observed and the sample which was pyrolysed at 1500°C from coconut coir dust hydrothermally treated showed peaks at 2θ= 26.5°, 43° e 45° assigned to (002), (100) (101) graphite plans, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy images showed the presence of overlapping sheets and plates. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images of coconut coir dust in natura unveiled the formation of amorphous sheet. Coconut coir dust in natura and treated by the hydrothermal method pyrolysed at 1500°C, lead to the formation of some graphitic domains and few graphene layers.

Energia alternativa de biomassa: bioetanol a partir da casca e da polpa de banana

A conversão de biomassas agroindustriais em bioetanol com consequente valorização de rejeitos e resíduos, tem sido objeto de estudos de várias pesquisas realizadas no Brasil e no mundo. Neste trabalho foi avaliada a potencialidade do uso da polpa e da casca da banana (Musa cavendishii ), tanto in natura como previamente hidrolisada por ácido e enzimas, como substrato da fermentação alcoólica. Os rendimentos médios em bioetanol (em base úmida de biomassa) obtidos com a polpa (0,48 ± 0,05 g g-1) e com a casca (0,34 ± 0,11 g g-1), ambos in natura, possibilitaram a eficiência do processo de conversão, da ordem de 95% do rendimento teórico. A produtividade máxima alcançada em bioetanol foi de 3,0 ± 0,7 g L-1 h-1 com o uso da polpa e de 1,32 ± 0,03 g L-1 h-1 com a casca. Nas condições operacionais avaliadas o pretratamento dos resíduos com ácido sulfúrico não é recomendado para a produção de bioetanol.

Lipids from heterotrophic microbes: advances in metabolism research

Heterotrophic oleaginous microorganisms are capable of producing over 20% of their weight in single cell oils (SCOs) composed of triacylglycerols (TAGs). These TAGs contain fatty acids, such as palmitic, stearic and oleic acids, that are well-suited for biodiesel applications. Although some of these microbes are able to accumulate SCOs while growing on inexpensive agro-industrial biomass, the competition with plant oil resources means that a significant increase in productivity is desired. The present review aims to summarize recent details in lipid metabolism research and engineering (e.g. direct fatty acid ethyl ester production), as well as culture condition optimization and innovations, such as solid-state or semi-solid-state fermentation, that can all contribute to higher productivity and further advancement of the field.