Ethanol Biofuel Research Articles

A Review of automotive green technology: Potential of butanol as biofuel in gasoline engine

In comparison to ethanol biofuel, butanol is considerably less corrosive, permitting the utilization of existing infrastructures used to ship gasoline or diesel for its distribution. Less corrosive also means that butanol can be utilized with no engine alteration. If butanol is mixed with water, it is less likely to split from the main fuel, thus facilitating the storage and distribution of blended fuels. Butanol also comprises a comparable energy content to petrol fuel, with 25% more energy density/liter as opposed to ethanol. All these excellent qualities have led to higher engine performance, enabling the vehicles to achieve higher mileage using butanol with no significant issue. Several challenges and future research directions are discussed and in the last section of this review article, we emphasize the importance of an optical engine to diagnose engine combustion in more detail. The consequence of using butanol on spark ignition engine on cold start and knock phenomena are also worth investigating. Results on the spray, the pressure inside the cylinder, rate of heat release, and detonation are thus required.

Agricultural Structures Management Based on Nonpoint Source Pollution Control in Typical Fuel Ethanol Raw Material Planting Area

Increasing the promotion and application of biofuel ethanol has been a national strategy in China, which in turn has affected changes in the raw material planting structure. This study analyzed the effects of agricultural land-use changes on water quality in a typical maize fuel ethanol raw material planting area. The results revealed that an increase in cultivated land and construction land would also increase the load of TN (total nitrogen) and TP (total phosphorus), while an expansion in forest land would reduce the load. As for crop structures, maize might have a remarkable positive effect on TN and TP, while rice and soybean performed in no significant manner. Furthermore, scenarios under the carbon neutralization policy and water pollution control were carried out to forecast the nonpoint source pollutants based on the quantitative relations coefficients. It was proven that maize planting was not suitable for vigorous fuel ethanol development. Reducing maize area in the Hulan River Basin was beneficial to reducing nonpoint source pollution. However, the area of maize should not be less than 187 km2, otherwise, the food security of the population in the basin would be threatened. Under the change in fuel ethanol policy, this study could provide scientific support for local agriculture land-use management in realizing the carbon neutralization vision and set a good example for the development of the fuel ethanol industry in other maize planting countries.

Significance of sweet sorghum as a multi-purpose crop for sub-Saharan Africa

There is great interest in sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) for promoting resilience in rural livelihoods in Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA). Unlike other crops, sweet sorghum is a multi-purpose crop for grain, feed, fodder, chewing, syrup and biofuel production. The objective of this paper is to analyse information on the diversity within the crop, its adaptation and plant breeding efforts in SSA. We also discuss opportunities that exist in SSA that make the crop an attractive alternative. It is clear from the review that the crop has a wide genetic base, hence significant improvements can be made on a number of preferred traits. The review further outlines four possible production models for the economic development of the sweet sorghum industry in Sub-Saharan Africa; which are (i) production for supply to urban chewing markets, (ii) syrup production, (iii) biofuel production and (iv) fodder production. Although current research focuses on production of ethanol for biofuel, other potential uses such as production for chewing, syrup and fodder cannot be overlooked for most SSA farmers. A lot has to be done on the research front before biofuel production from sweet sorghum can be profitable and technically feasible. Future plant breeding efforts can be tailor made to deliver cultivars with peculiar traits for various end-uses.

Sustainable Biofuels. Strategy for Growth and Energy Security

In Mexico, the goal of economic growth, sustainability, decrease consumption of imported oil fuels and additives meeting the climate change commitments with ethanol biofuel is a development goal not yet resolved. This work is based on the premise that feedstock, the use of agricultural lands as a function of economic, ecological and social aspects, inefficient public policies, disinformation and lack of knowledge, culture and attitude of the population and stakeholders towards biofuels has been identified as critical success factors for the transition of conventional sugar mill to an agro-industrial complex. Therefore, a systematic review of academic and technological research was carried out on the recent innovations and scope for future endeavours in ethanol biofuel. Ethanol can gain importance in developing countries as Mexico, producers, and exporters of oil without refining capacity for environmental, climatic and financial benefits. In such a scenario, investments, and public policies in the sector for increasing production efficiency and crop yields as sugarcane will play a critical role in bioethanol value chain.

Mechanism of Response of Watershed Water Quality to Agriculture Land-Use Changes in a Typical Fuel Ethanol Raw Material Planting Area-A Case Study on Guangxi Province, China.

Speeding up the promotion and application of biofuel ethanol has been a national strategy in China, which in turn has affected changes in the raw material planting structure. This study analyzed the response mechanism of water quality to agriculture land-use changes in a cassava fuel ethanol raw material planting area. The results revealed that an increase in cultivated land and construction land would lead to a rise in the load of TN (total nitrogen) and TP (total phosphorus), while an expansion in forest land and grassland area would reduce the load. As for crop structures, corn would have a remarkable positive impact on TN and TP, while rice and cassava performed in an opposite manner. Furthermore, scenarios under the carbon neutralization policy were carried out to forecast the nonpoint source pollutants based on the quantitative relations coefficients. It was proven that cassava planting was suitable for vigorous fuel ethanol development, but the maximum increase area of cassava should be 126 km2 to ensure economic benefits. Under the change in fuel ethanol policy, this study could provide scientific support for local agriculture land-use management in realizing the carbon neutralization vision and also set a good example for the development of the cassava fuel ethanol industry in other cassava-planting countries.

Impact of Plasma Combustion Technology on Micro Gas Turbines Using Biodiesel Fuels

The adoption of biorenewable alternative fuel resources from biofuels (ethanol or biodiesel) has produced promising solutions to reduce some toxic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from gas turbine engines (GTEs). Despite the reduced hydrocarbon associated with adopting alternative bio-renewable fuel resources, GTE operations still emit toxic gases due to inefficient engine performance. In this study, we assess the impact of the integration of plasma combustion technology on a micro-GTE using biodiesel fuel from animal fat with the aim of addressing performance, fuel consumption, and GHG emission reduction limitations. Laboratory design, fabrication, assembly, testing, and results evaluation were conducted at Kuwait’s Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. The result indicates the lowest toxic emissions of sulfur, nitrogen oxide (NO), NO2, and CO were from the biodiesel blended fuels. The improved thermal efficiency of GTE biodiesel due to the volume of hydrogen plasma injected improves the engine’s overall combustion efficiency. Hence, this increases the compressor inlet and outlet firing temperature by 13.3 °C and 6.1 °C, respectively. The Plasma technology produced a thrust increment of 0.2 kgf for the highest loading condition, which significantly impacted horsepower and GTE engine efficiency and reduced the cost of fuel consumption.

Ethanol biofuel production and characteristics optimization from wheat straw hydrolysate: Performance and emission study of DI-diesel engine fueled with diesel/biodiesel/ethanol blends

Bioethanol has been classified as the most widely utilized biofuel globally because it helps greatly decrease crude oil consumption and pollution. In this study, bioethanol production improved by 3.6-fold after optimization conditions for commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae on hydrolysate obtained from enzymatic saccharification of Aspergillus niger to 1% NaOH pretreated wheat straw. 26.0% bioethanol was obtained after 96 h at 30 °C using 10% (W/V) inoculum size of Saccharomyces cerevisiae at pH 5.0 and 2% molasses additives under static condition. After optimization, bioethanol was produced on a large scale, and distillation was carried out, then bioethanol was characterized using Gas chromatography (GC) analysis and 1H NMR. On large-scale production, 1 kg NaOH pretreated wheat straw was fermented with Aspergillus niger to produce 10 L of hydrolysate that concentrated to 4 L using a rotary evaporator. After concentration, reducing sugar became 35.08 mg/ml, then 2% molasses were added, and the final sugar concentration became 41.7 mg/ml. Finally, reducing sugar was fermented by Saccharomyces cerevesiae to produce 1 L of bioethanol. In addition, the obtained bioethanol was blended by the commercial diesel#1/WCO biodiesel commixture with 10% and 20% by volume. The blends of 50%diesel/50%biodiesel, 10% bioethanol/45%diesel/45%biodiesel, and 20%bio ethanol/40%diesel/40%biodiesel were tested as new fuel blends in a single cylinder air-cooled direct injection diesel engine. The engine performance and emission have been recorded at different engine loads and fixed speeds of 1500 rpm. The obtained results reveal that the engine BTE has been enhanced where the engine NOx was reduced if 10% of bioethanol has been added. While increasing bioethanol to 20% by volume base increases the combustion of unburned hydrocarbon and CO emission.

Distribution Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Agricultural Land Use Non-Point Source Pollution in Typical Biofuel Ethanol Planting Areas.

Speeding up the promotion and application of bio-fuel ethanol was a national strategy in China, which in turn affected changes in the raw material planting structure. This study analyzed the distribution of nitrogen and phosphorus forms in water bodies and the soil of the typical maize and cassava fuel ethanol raw material planting areas. The results revealed that the maize planting area faced more serious TN and TP pollution. The river pollution was greatly affected by TN, TP, Ex-P and Fe/Al-P in soil, while soil TN and NO3−-N were the main factors influencing its counterpart. Furthermore, the risk assessment of soil nitrogen and phosphorus loss was carried out based on planting structures of crops. We investigated whether the water quality indexes or soil nitrogen and phosphorus loss risk assessment results showed that the Yujiang River stayed significantly less polluted. It was proven that the cassava planting area was more suitable for vigorously developing fuel ethanol. As for the high-risk areas, ecological agriculture promoting and fertilizer controlling measures were suggested. Under the change of the fuel-ethanol policy, this study could provide scientific support for the assessment of the impact of the Chinese national fuel ethanol policy on the water environment of the raw material planting area.

Study on the laminar burning velocity of ethanol/RP-3 aviation kerosene premixed flame

Ethanol biofuel is one renewable liquid fuel which can mix with aviation kerosene and be used as the alternative fuel in aero-engine to release oil security as well as reduce CO2 emission. In the present work, experiments were carried out in a constant volume chamber to obtain the laminar burning velocity (LBV) of ethanol/RP-3 premixed flame. The effects of ethanol addition on the LBV of RP-3 were analyzed experimentally and theoretically. Experimental results show that with the increase of ethanol addition, the LBV of ethanol/RP-3 premixed flame increases. Theoretical analysis indicates that the chemical effect of ethanol addition on the LBV of ethanol/RP-3 plays a decisive role. The three effects of ethanol addition are in the order of chemical > dilution > thermal effect. Sensitivity analysis and reaction pathway analysis of ethanol/RP-3 combustion process shows that with the increase of ethanol addition, the formation of CH3, CH2O, and HCO increase due to the more active radical of OH participates in the primary reactions. In addition, the active radicals of H, O, and OH also increase because of the increase of ethanol addition, which promote the LBV of ethanol/RP-3 premixed flame.

Upcycling glycerin and vinasse by means of microalgae cultivation.

In 2019, the biodiesel / ethanol biofuels sector generated glycerol and vinasse by-products in significant quantities (476 million and 466 billion liters, respectively). Therefore, it is necessary to reuse or treat these products to reduce their environmental impacts. Using them to support the cultivation of microalgae is a sustainable way of valuing and treating these residues. The objective of this work is to systematize the scientific articles that report their use for the cultivation of microalgae and, consequently, the type of algal bioproducts commonly obtained. Glycerol can be used as a source of carbon in algal mixotrophic growth and, therefore, it can increase algal biomass production. The same process can happen with several small molecular weight substances present in the vinasse, but the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus is what makes such effluent attractive for the algal cultivation process. Although there are scientific studies describing the use of these substances for algal growth, this work highlights that they vary significantly according to the reports regarding the operation of such culturing system.

Bifunctional Metal Meshes Acting as a Semipermeable Membrane and Electrode for Sensitive Electrochemical Determination of Volatile Compounds.

The monitoring of toxic inorganic gases and volatile organic compounds has brought the development of field-deployable, sensitive, and scalable sensors into focus. Here, we attempted to meet these requirements by using concurrently microhole-structured meshes as (i) a membrane for the gas diffusion extraction of an analyte from a donor sample and (ii) an electrode for the sensitive electrochemical determination of this target with the receptor electrolyte at rest. We used two types of meshes with complementary benefits, i.e., Ni mesh fabricated by robust, scalable, and well-established methods for manufacturing specific designs and stainless steel wire mesh (SSWM), which is commercially available at a low cost. The diffusion of gas (from a donor) was conducted in headspace mode, thus minimizing issues related to mesh fouling. When compared with the conventional polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane, both the meshes (40 μm hole diameter) led to a higher amount of vapor collected into the electrolyte for subsequent detection. This inedited fashion produced a kind of reverse diffusion of the analyte dissolved into the electrolyte (receptor), i.e., from the electrode to bulk, which further enabled highly sensitive analyses. Using Ni mesh coated with Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles, the limit of detection reached for ethanol was 24-fold lower than the data attained by a platform with a PTFE membrane and placement of the electrode into electrolyte bulk. This system was applied in the determination of ethanol in complex samples related to the production of ethanol biofuel. It is noteworthy that a simple equation fitted by machine learning was able to provide accurate assays (accuracies from 97 to 102%) by overcoming matrix effect-related interferences on detection performance. Furthermore, preliminary measurements demonstrated the successful coating of the meshes with gold films as an alternative raw electrode material and the monitoring of HCl utilizing Au-coated SSWMs. These strategies extend the applicability of the platform that may help to develop valuable volatile sensing solutions.

A flexible and wearable epidermal ethanol biofuel cell for on-body and real-time bioenergy harvesting from human sweat

Flexible and wearable epidermal biofuel cells (BFCs) that are worn on skin for the direct electricity generation from human perspiration are perceived to be a most enticing and promising next-generation energy source for addressing the on-body energy-harvesting challenge of wearable electronics. Previously reported epidermal BFCs are only focused on the utilization of human endogenous substances ( i.e ., glucose or lactate that can be produced by human body) in sweat as the biofuels for power production. Given the substances diversity in human body, some exogenous substances (that cannot be produced by body) are abundant in sweat in certain daily situations, however, their utility for epidermal bioenergy harvesting has been ignored so far. In the present work, we propose the first example of a flexible and wearable epidermal microfluidic human exogenous substance ethanol/oxygen BFC for the simultaneous sweat sampling and sweat bioelectricity generation on skin of individuals who drink alcohol. Certain actual situations that were associated with alcohol absorption and elimination in human body were considered and investigated for skin-on, continuous in situ sweat ethanol bioenergy generation in controlled environments. Such non-invasive flexible and wearable epidermal ethanol BFC expands the scope of human sweat-derived biofuels from endogenous substances to exogenous ones and holds great promise for the skin-worn and real-time bioenergy harvesting from human perspiration, which may open up a new challenge and approach to explore the human sweat for bioenergy conversion. We demonstrated the first example of a flexible and wearable epidermal microfluidic human exogenous substance ethanol/oxygen biofuel cell through a skin-worn, real-time in situ fashion to harvest the continuous electrical power from alcohol drinkers’ perspiration in different real-life scenarios. • The first example of a flexible and wearable epidermal human exogenous substance ethanol biofuel cell. • The simultaneous sweat sampling and sweat bioelectricity generation on skin of individuals who drink alcohol. • Certain actual situations were considered and investigated for skin-on, continuous in situ sweat ethanol bioenergy generation.

An experimental investigation of MPFI gasoline engine fuelled with ethanol and n-butanol

In today’s world, energy security emerged as a decisive challenge among developing economies of the world, India is one such country. Importing the colossal amount of oil to fulfill daily oil demand, uncertainty in the fuel prices, and continuous degradation of air quality thwarts the nation’s economy. To make it less severe, biofuels are observed to be promising alternatives that can overcome the issues of oil import and emission drawbacks. Biofuels seem to be an alternative to conventional fuels due to the advantage of having reduced emissions and better air quality. This paper presents an experimental investigation of biofuels Ethanol and n-Butanol in a Multipoint Fuel Injection (MPFI) Gasoline Engine. It involves the testing of different biofuel blends in a four-cylinder petrol engine to obtain the best biofuel proportion in terms of performance and emission. The analysis of the results shows that the use of biofuel blend in gasoline significantly improves the performance of an engine for ethanol blend of E5 and E10 and the n-butanol blend of B10. Further, there is a considerable decrease in emission parameters for the E5 and B10 blend of biofuel compared with all other tested blends.

Highly Dispersed Mo Sites on Pd Nanosheets Enable Selective Ethanol-to-Acetate Conversion.

The fermentation of biomass allows for the generation of major renewable ethanol biofuel that has high energy density favorable for direct alcohol fuel cells in alkaline media. However, selective conversion of ethanol to either CO2 or acetate remains a great challenge. Especially, the ethanol-to-acetate route usually demonstrates decentoxidation current density relative to the ethanol-to-CO2 route that contains strongly adsorbed poisons. This makes the total oxidation of ethanol to CO2 unnecessary. Here, we present a highly active ethanol oxidation electrocatalyst that was prepared by in situ decorating highly dispersed Mo sites on Pd nanosheets (MoOx/Pd) via a surfactant-free and facile route. We found that ∼2 atom % of Mo on Pd nanosheets increases the current density to 3.8 A mgPd-1, around 2 times more active relative to the undecorated Pd nanosheets, achieving nearly 100% faradic efficiency for the ethanol-to-acetate conversion in an alkaline electrolyte without the generation of detectable CO2, evidenced by in situ electrochemical infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and ion chromatography. The selective and CO2-free conversion offers a promising strategy through alcohol fuel cells for contributing comparable current density to power electrical equipment while for selective oxidation of biofuels to useful acetate intermediate for the chemical industry.

Ethanol Biofuel Cells: Hybrid Catalytic Cascades as a Tool for Biosensor Devices.

Biofuel cells use chemical reactions and biological catalysts (enzymes or microorganisms) to produce electrical energy, providing clean and renewable energy. Enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) have promising characteristics and potential applications as an alternative energy source for low-power electronic devices. Over the last decade, researchers have focused on enhancing the electrocatalytic activity of biosystems and on increasing energy generation and electronic conductivity. Self-powered biosensors can use EBFCs while eliminating the need for an external power source. This review details improvements in EBFC and catalyst arrangements that will help to achieve complete substrate oxidation and to increase the number of collected electrons. It also describes how analytical techniques can be employed to follow the intermediates between the enzymes within the enzymatic cascade. We aim to demonstrate how a high-performance self-powered sensor design based on EBFCs developed for ethanol detection can be adapted and implemented in power devices for biosensing applications.

Functional screening of a Caatinga goat (Capra hircus) rumen metagenomic library reveals a novel GH3 β-xylosidase.

Functional screening of metagenomic libraries is an effective approach for identification of novel enzymes. A Caatinga biome goat rumen metagenomic library was screened using esculin as a substrate, and a gene from an unknown bacterium encoding a novel GH3 enzyme, BGL11, was identified. None of the BGL11 closely related genes have been previously characterized. Recombinant BGL11 was obtained and kinetically characterized. Substrate specificity of the purified protein was assessed using seven synthetic aryl substrates. Activity towards nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (pNPG), 4-nitrophenyl-β-D-xylopyranoside (pNPX) and 4-nitrophenyl-β-D-cellobioside (pNPC) suggested that BGL11 is a multifunctional enzyme with β-glucosidase, β-xylosidase, and cellobiohydrolase activities. However, further testing with five natural substrates revealed that, although BGL11 has multiple substrate specificity, it is most active towards xylobiose. Thus, in its native goat rumen environment, BGL11 most likely functions as an extracellular β-xylosidase acting on hemicellulose. Biochemical characterization of BGL11 showed an optimal pH of 5.6, and an optimal temperature of 50°C. Enzyme stability, an important parameter for industrial application, was also investigated. At 40°C purified BGL11 remained active for more than 15 hours without reduction in activity, and at 50°C, after 7 hours of incubation, BGL11 remained 60% active. The enzyme kinetic parameters of Km and Vmax using xylobiose were determined to be 3.88 mM and 38.53 μmol.min-1.mg-1, respectively, and the Kcat was 57.79 s-1. In contrast to BLG11, most β-xylosidases kinetically studied belong to the GH43 family and have been characterized only using synthetic substrates. In industry, β-xylosidases can be used for plant biomass deconstruction, and the released sugars can be fermented into valuable bio-products, ranging from the biofuel ethanol to the sugar substitute xylitol.

First Report of Powdery Mildew Caused by Podosphaera fusca on Helianthus tuberosus in China.

Helianthus tuberosus L. (Jerusalem artichoke) is an herbaceous perennial plant in the Asteraceae that is native to North America but introduced to China in the 17th century. The tubers of H. tuberosus are used as a vegetable, for the pharmaceutical production of inulin and as a source of ethanol biofuel, several B vitamins and minerals。From June to September 2009, severe powdery mildew infection was observed on H. tuberosus in a vegetable garden at Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China. Approximately 60% of leaves on individual plants were symptomatic, and almost 70% of the plants were infected. Initially, discrete powdery mildew colonies appeared on the upper surface of the leaves and on stems of the plants. Later, mycelial growth was amphigenous, thick, forming irregular white patches, covering the whole leaf surface. Eventually, leaves turned yellow, withered, and abscissed. Microscopic observations showed that conidia on infected leaves were ellipsoid-ovoid to barrel-shaped, with distinct fibrosin bodies visible in their cytoplasm, measuring 28 to 38 × 15 to 22 μm (n = 40). Conidiophores were unbranched, straight, 80 to 210 × 8 to 14 µm (n = 40) in size, and produced two to six immature conidia in chains with intercellular diaphragms. Foot cells of conidiophores were cylindrical and 45 to 65 μm × 8 to 14 µm (n = 40), with slight constrictions at basal septa, and followed by one to three short cells. Fungal hyphae were septate, branched, and flexuous to straight and 5 to 8 µm wide with indistinct to slightly nipple-shaped appressoria. These structures are typical of the genus Podosphaera, although chasmothecia were not observed. The sequence of ITS1-5.8s-ITS2 region of rDNA were amplified from conidia collected from infected leaves with universal primers ITS1F and ITS4 (White et al. 1990), sequenced and analyzed using the BLASTn search of GenBank. Amplicons were 603 bp (GQ927254) and exhibited 99.83% sequence identity with sequence of P. fusca from Cucurbita pepo (KJ698669) in Italy (Pirondi et al. 2015). The fungal species was identified as P. fusca (synonym P. xanthii ) by morphological characteristics and molecular analysis (Braun and Takamatsu 2000; Braun and Cook 2012). Pathogenicity tests were conducted by gently pressing the infected leaves onto leaves of six healthy H. tuberosus plants while six noninoculated plants served as controls. Plants were maintained in a greenhouse at 25 ± 2°C. Eight days after inoculation, symptoms similar to those observed under natural conditions developed on the inoculated leaves of H. tuberosus plants, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. The fungus on inoculated leaves was morphologically identical to that first observed in the field. P. fusca parasitizes a large number of asteraceous species including Euryops pectinatus (Saenz et al. 2000), Coreopsis lanceolata (Garibaldi et al. 2007), Cosmos caudatus (Siddiqui et al. 2011), Herba eupatorii (Ding et al. 2013) and etc. Powdery mildew caused by P. fusca has been reported on H. tuberosus in Russia (Farr and Rossman 2019). Golovinomyces ambrosiae was previously recorded on H. tuberosus in China (Huang et al. 2017; Radisek et al. 2018). This is the first report to our knowledge of powdery mildew P. fusca on H. tuberosus in China. It could cause significant yield losses and become a threat to production of H. tuberosus .

Design and Optimization of the Process of Preparing Biofuel Ethanol from Lignocellulose

Fossil resources are increasingly exhausted and energy problems are facing severe challenges. The synthesis of ethanol from abundant lignocellulose is conducive to alleviating energy shortage, reducing environmental pollution, and achieving sustainable development. In this paper, compared with the traditional process, the whole process simulation of lignocellulose to biofuel ethanol is established, and a deep-eutectic solvents (DES) pretreatment process for Lignocellulose is proposed. Firstly, to verify the feasibility of the process, the steady-state simulation of the biofuel ethanol production process is carried out using Aspen Plus. Secondly, based on the steady-state simulation, the process is optimised to obtain the optimal operating parameters. Finally, DES is used as an entrainer to increase the concentration of ethanol, and its mechanism is investigated by molecular dynamics simulation (MD). The simulation results show that the DES has good effect in pretreatment and extractive distillation. The final yield of ethanol is 16.8 kg/h and the purity is 99 %. The results of molecular dynamics simulation show that the interaction between DES and water is much larger than that between DES and ethanol. The results are consistent with the process simulation results.

Progress in applying surfactants to lignocellulose hydrolysis for sugar production

Lignocellulose is a major biomass resource for the production of biofuel ethanol. Due to its abundance, environmental friendliness and renewability, the utilization of lignocellulose is promising to solve energy shortage. Surfactant can effectively promote the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose. By discussing the influence and mechanism of different surfactants on the enzymatic hydrolysis, we provide references for finding appropriate surfactants in enzymatic hydrolysis process.

Variable ethanol concentrations and stable carbon isotopes reveal anthropogenic ethanol contributions to rainwater

Abstract The recent rapid increase in ethanol use as a biofuel and emission to the atmosphere may impact air quality and oxidizing capacity in the atmosphere. However, the global models show large uncertainties on sources of atmospheric ethanol. Concentrations and compound-specific stable carbon isotope ratios of ethanol (δ13Cethanol) in rainwater were measured in samples collected in six countries and 16 different locations over a two-year period (n = 270 for concentration; n = 111 for δ13Cethanol). Ethanol concentrations ranged from below the limit of detection ( 0.15), indicating that biofuel ethanol in rainwater is locally supplied during rain droplet formation. The results of this study are significant because they shed new insight into the role of anthropogenic emission of ethanol to the atmosphere. This study is particularly relevant as ethanol production and usage as a biofuel continues to increase globally.