Kinds Of Biomass Research Articles

Comparison and rapid prediction of lignocellulose and organic elements of a wide variety of rice straw based on near infrared spectroscopy

Rice straw is a major kind of biomass that can be utilized as lignocellulosic materials and renewable energy. Rapid prediction of the lignocellulose (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) and organic elements (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur) of rice straw would help to decipher its growth mechanisms and thereby improve its sustainable usages. In this study, 364 rice straw samples featuring different rice subspecies (japonica and indica), growing seasons (early-, middle-, and late-season), and growing environments (irrigated and rainfed) were collected, the differences among which were examined by multivariate analysis of variance. Statistic results showed that the cellulose content exhibited significant differences among different growing seasons at a significant level (p < 0.01), and the contents of cellulose and nitrogen had significant differences between different growing environments (p < 0.01). Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) models for predicting the lignocellulosic and organic elements were developed based on two algorithms including partial least squares (PLS) and competitive adaptive reweighted sampling-partial least squares (CARS-PLS). Modeling results showed that most CARS-PLS models are of higher accuracy than the PLS models, possibly because the CARS-PLS models selected optimal combinations of wavenumbers, which might have enhanced the signal of chemical bonds and thereby improved the predictive efficiency. As a major contributor to the applications of rice straw, the nitrogen content was predicted precisely by the CARS-PLS model. Generally, the CARS-PLS models efficiently quantified the lignocellulose and organic elements of a wide variety of rice straw. The acceptable accuracy of the models allowed their practical applications. Keywords: rice straw, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy models, rapid prediction, competitive adaptive reweighted sampling, partial least-squares, lignocellulose DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20191202.4374 Citation: Diallo A A, Yang Z L, Shen G H, Ge J Y, Li Z C, Han L J. Comparison and rapid prediction of lignocellulose and organic elements of a wide variety of rice straw based on near infrared spectroscopy. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2019; 12(2): 166–172.

Investigation of biomass (pine wood) gasification: Experiments and Aspen Plus simulation

AbstractBiomass gasification is currently a hot research topic. To achieve a high hydrogen content in the product gas, the gasification feedstock used in this study is air‐dried pine woodchips. Experiments are performed in a downdraft gasifier by varying the operation parameters of the particle size (60 mesh, 80 mesh, 100 mesh), temperature point (700, 750, 800, 850, 900°C), and steam‐to‐biomass mass (S/B) ratio (0, 0.7, 1.4, 2.1, 2.8). The main effects of particle size, temperature, and S/B ratio on the composition of the product gas are analyzed to predict the optimal operation parameters of biomass feedstock. For pine woodchip gasification, the optimal particle size is 80 mesh or 0.17 mm, the preferred temperature is 850°C, and the optimal S/B ratio is 1.4. Although there is an error between the experiment and the simulation, the difference is not significant. The Aspen Plus model can provide guidance for the gasification of pine woodchips and can be extended to the gasification of other kinds of biomass.

Sustainable Carbonaceous Materials Derived from Biomass as Metal-Free Electrocatalysts.

Although carbon is the second most abundant element in the biosphere, a large proportion of the available carbon resources in biomass from agriculture, stock farming, ocean fisheries, and other human activities is currently wasted. The use of sustainable carbonaceous materials as an alternative to precious metals in electrocatalysis is a promising pathway for transforming sustainable biomass resources into sustainable energy-conversion systems. The development of rational syntheses of metal-free carbonaceous catalysts derived from sustainable biomass has therefore become a topic of significant interest in materials chemistry. However, great efforts are still required to develop methods that are low cost, scalable, and environmentally friendly and which afford carbonaceous materials having an electrocatalytic performance comparable to, or even better than, existing precious metal catalysts. Herein, recent achievements in developing metal-free carbonaceous catalysts based on biomass are reviewed and discussed and the critical issues which still need to be addressed are highlighted. The focus is on representative synthesis and optimization strategies applicable to different kinds of biomass, as well as studies of the physicochemical structure and electrochemical performance of the resulting metal-free carbonaceous catalysts. Finally, some guidelines for the future development of this important area are provided.

Py-GC/MS analysis on product distribution of two-staged biomass pyrolysis

Two-staged pyrolysis of biomass was proposed as a promising method by which liquid products would be less diverse and more concentrated, and beneficial to further upgrading or extracting chemicals. Rice straw, cedar wood, and dalbergia wood were selected as representative biomass materials. Thermogravimetric Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR) was initially used to analyze biomass and the three main components. According to the pyrolysis characteristics and the volatile release processes, 270–360°C was selected as the optional temperature range for the low-temperature stage of the two-staged pyrolysis. Then, Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) was used in two stages to analyze three types of biomass, with the first stage at 270°C, 320°C, or 360°C and then the second stage at 550°C. The two-staged pyrolysis could efficiently separate biomass pyrolysis products, especially the enrichment of organic acids, alcohols, and aldehydes in the first stage, and the enrichment of phenolic substances in the second stage. The optimum temperature of the first stage was 320°C, which was suitable for three different kinds of biomass.

Theoretical modelling of the chemical reactivity of fresh biomass chars under non-catalytic conditions

This study developed a model for the chemical reactivity of fresh biomass chars, and built a calculation equation for the char gasification rate using simple gas-solid collision theory (SCT). The effects of pore breaks, pore collapse and thermal annealing on the char reactivity were considered in the modelling. Experimental tests for six acid-washed biomass chars were performed under a CO2 atmosphere and used a thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA) over the temperature range of 1073–1273 K. The results showed that the reactivity of fresh char could be predicted quantitatively by some characteristic properties of certain kind of biomass and their combined parameters. For the instability of the biomass char structure, the internal pore length and gasification temperature showed a good exponential relationship. Good agreement was achieved, and the applicability of the model was demonstrated by comparing the predicted results with experimental data.

Efficient adsorption of methylene blue and lead ions in aqueous solutions by 5-sulfosalicylic acid modified lignin

As a kind of biomass that exists widely in plants, lignin shows much diversity as a functional material. In order to improve the adsorption ability, lignin was chemically modified by 5-sulfosalicylic acid and then used to adsorb methylene blue (MB) and Pb2+ from aqueous solutions. The results showed that the 5-sulfosalicylic acid modified lignin exhibited a high adsorption ability for dyes or heavy metals. The maximum adsorption capacity of the adsorbent approached 83.2 mg/g for MB and 39.3 mg/g for Pb2+ with the adsorbent dosage of 5 g/L at pH 5.85 or 5.35 (corresponding to MB or Pb2+, respectively), initial adsorbate concentration of 200 mg/L, temperature of 318 K and contact time of 12 h. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies indicated that both the adsorption of MB and Pb2+ onto SSAL followed the pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir isotherm model. It means that the adsorption process fits the model of mono-layer adsorption and it was mainly chemical process and accompanied with surface adsorption. The proposed SSAL is low-cost, eco-friendly and highly efficient therefore a promising material for adsorptive removal of MB and Pb2+ from wastewater.

Water hyacinth biomass: chemical and thermal pre-treatment for energetic utilization in anaerobic digestion process

The water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a floating aquatic plant belonging to the Pontederiaceae family. This plant, native to South America, grows on the surface of lakes, rivers and canals in tropical and sub-tropical areas. Because of its human transport in other tropical climate areas and its high grow rate, the water hyacinth is considered one of the prominent invading macrophytes in eutrophic water basins; the quality of water in those regions have been negatively affected. The water hyacinth is characterized by a high content of lignocellulosic biomass, with a 10% average content of lignin, useful in both thermochemical and biochemical processes. The anaerobic digestion process should be considered as a very attractive solution to produce biogas. This kind of biomass needs to be chemically and thermally treated before being directly involved into the anaerobic digestion reaction. This work aims to give a detailed analysis of water hyacinth biomass energy properties in terms of its use in anaerobic digestion processes, before and after targeted treatments, highlighting any improvements that should be made to the procedures by literature. Related process parameters are also investigated. The conducted experimental campaign shows how the thermal pre-treatment at low temperatures increases the volatile solids content from 57% to 74% (w/w), decreasing the ash content.

Hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass model components for product yield prediction and reaction pathways exploration

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a promising technology for crude bio-oil production from a variety of biomass, however, there is a lack of prediction models for the yield of products and the reaction pathways is not well understood. Prediction models for biocrude yield and solid residue (SR) yield were developed by using a mixture design of five model components, including xylan (hemicellulose), crystalline cellulose, alkaline lignin, soya protein and soybean oil in this study. The model predictability was verified by using actual feedstock as well as a mixture of model components based on the chemical composition of the feedstock of concern. The biocrude yield, solid residue yield and quantitative chemical yields obtained from bio-oil were used to explore the reaction pathways as well as possibly existing synergistic and/or antagonistic interactions between two studied model components. It was found that both hemicellulose and lipid (H∗Lip) and cellulose and lipid (C∗Lip) interactions had synergistic effect on the biocrude yield, while SR yield was antagonistically decreased by the cellulose and lignin (C∗Lig) interaction. Maillard reactions between protein and carbohydrates and amide formation between protein and lipid were observed. The carbohydrates and lipid interactions had effects on the acid yield (in H∗Lip), hydrocarbon yield and ketone yield (in C∗Lip), but lignin and lipid (in Lig∗Lip) behaved independently in the HTL processes. The findings of this research can be used to assess the potential of various kinds of biomass, provide guidance for using mixed biomass (co-liquefaction) and tailor the chemical composition of feedstock for a desirable product distribution in HTL processes.

Experimental investigation of the suitability of 1-butanol blended with biodiesel as an alternative biofuel in diesel engines

Abstract Vegetable oils, biodiesels, bio-alcohols and bio-gas are some of the popular biofuels evaluated for their suitability in compression-ignition (CI) engines. Among these, bio-alcohols can be produced from any kinds of biomass through fermentation and biosynthesis and they do not require extra land for cultivation. Therefore, bio-alcohols can be considered as the next generation alternative fuels for automobiles. Investigations have been already initiated to determine the effects of bioalcohols, such as methanol and ethanol, in automobiles as fuel. However, they pose some problems like miscibility, phase separation, low cetane number and low calorific value. On the other side, the effects of higher alcohols, such as butanol, pentanol, octanol, are investigated very rarely. In this work, the effects of higher alcohol addition on the engine performance and emissions characteristics are investigated on a single cylinder diesel engine. Conventional diesel and biodiesel are taken as the reference fuels. 1-Butanol of blends (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%) was mixed with the remaining biodiesel as the testing fuel blends. Experiments were conducted on a single cylinder compression ignition diesel engine for four load conditions (5 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg and 20 kg) at a constant speed of 1500 rpm. Brake thermal efficiency and emissions of CO, NOx and HC were recorded and discussed. From the experimental results, it is evident that the addition of butanol with biodiesel seems to an alternative fuel that can replace conventional diesel fuel in terms of both engine emissions and performance.

Hydrothermal conversions of waste biomass: Assessment of kinetic models using liquid-phase electrical conductivity measurements

This experimental study proposes the systematic monitoring of liquid phase electrical conductivity as a new technique for evaluating kinetic models for hydrothermal conversion of biomass. The application to the hydrothermal carbonization of three different wooden materials is validated by batch experiments at 200 °C, up to 120 min of reaction time, and at a 7:1 water to solid ratio. Whatever the biomass, the time course of electrical conductivity follows a unique law, unquestionably corresponding to the evolution of solid-phase carbon content. The model tested comes from literature, and is a simple first-order pattern. The network of elementary steps satisfactorily explains the experimental data. The evidence reported demonstrates that the electrical conductivity should become a standard measurement. In fact, this lumped parameter is for the first time used for predicting the time variation of furfural, an important compound ubiquitously found in the HTC liquid phases. Ordered trends also appear from experiments at higher temperatures, up to 440 °C, but the method highlights a different behavior. The observed discrepancies give useful feedback for steering the upgrading of kinetic equations toward a more structured model, which necessarily should account for the bio-crude. Additional runs with potato peels, an entirely different kind of biomass were used here as a stress test for the method, and as expected gave different results. This new response correctly signals that another model is required for describing the process applied to starchy materials, and confirms the power of the proposed technique as a tool for build-up suitable kinetic models.

Development of Portable Venturi Kiln for Agricultural Waste Utilization by Carbonization Process

Many types of kiln or carbonization equipment have been developed, but most of them were designed for big capacity and some also having low performance. This research aims to develop kiln, especially portable metal kiln, which has higher performance, more environmental- friendly, and can be used for several kinds of biomass or agricultural waste (not exclusive for one kind of biomass) as feeding material. To improve the kiln performance, a venturi drum type of portable kiln has been designed with an optimum capacity of 12.45 kg coconut shells. Basic idea of those design is heat flow improvement causing by venturi effect. The performance test for coconut shell carbonization shows that the carbonization process takes about 60-90 minutes to produce average yields of 23.8%., and the highest temperature of the process was 441 °C. The optimum performance has been achieved in the 4th test, which was producing 24% yield of highest charcoal quality (represented by LHV) in 65 minutes process at average temperature level 485 °C. For pecan shell and palm shell, design modification has been done by adding 6 air inlet holes and 3 ignition column to get better performance. While operation procedure should be modified on loading and air supply, depending on each biomass characteristic. The result of performance test showed that carbonization process of pecan shell produce 17 % yield, and palm shell produce 15% yield. Based on Indonesian Standard (SNI), all charcoal produced in those carbonization has good quality level.

Characterisation and cleaning of biogas from sewage sludge for biomethane production

This study investigates the conversion of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) into biomethane for automotive fuel or grid injection. A prototype plant was monitored in Northern Italy, based on vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) on synthetic zeolite 13×: this biogas upgrading method is similar to pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and commonly used for other kinds of biomass. Measurements of biogas inlet, biomethane outlet and off-gas were performed including CH4, CO2, CO, H2, O2, N2, HCl, HF, NH3, H2S and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Critical levels were observed in the biogas for of H2S and HCl, whose concentrations were 1570 and 26.8 mg m−3, respectively. On the other hand, the concentration of halogenated VOCs (including tetrachloroethylene and traces of perfluoroalkilated substances, PFAS) and mercaptans were relatively low. A simultaneous and reversible adsorption on 13× zeolite was achieved for H2S and CO2, and carbon filters played a minor role in desulfurisation. The presence of HCl is due to clarifying agents, and its removal is necessary in order to meet the required biomethane characteristics: an additional carbon-supported basic adsorbent was successfully used to remove this contaminant. This study also highlights the interference of CO2 towards HCl if sampling is performed in compliance with the new EU standard for biomethane. High total volatile silicon (TVS) was confirmed in sewage sludge biogas, with a major contribution of siloxane D5: the suitability of this compound as an indicator of total siloxanes is discussed. Results demonstrate that volatile methyl siloxanes (VMS) do not represent a critical issue for the VSA upgrading methodology.

Co-Combustion of Low-Rank Coal with Woody Biomass and Miscanthus: An Experimental Study

This paper presents a research on ash-related problems and emissions during co-firing low-rank Bosnian coals with different kinds of biomass; in this case woody sawdust and herbaceous energy crops Miscanthus. An entrained-flow drop tube furnace was used for the tests, varying fuel portions at a high co-firing ratio up to 30%wt woody sawdust and 10%wt Miscanthus in a fuel blend. The tests were supposed to optimize the process temperature, air distribution (including OFA) and fuel distributions (reburning) as function of SO2 and NOx emissions as well as efficiency of combustion process estimated through the ash deposits behaviors, CO emissions and unburnt. The results for 12 co-firing fuel combinations impose a reasonable expectation that the coal/biomass/Miscanthus blends could be successfully run under certain conditions not producing any serious ash-related problems. SO2 emissions were slightly higher when higher content of woody biomass was used. Oppositely, higher Miscanthus percentage in the fuel mix slightly decreases SO2 emissions. NOx emissions generally decrease with an increase of biomass co-firing rate. The study suggests that co-firing Bosnian coals with woody sawdust and Miscanthus shows promise at higher co-firing ratios for pulverized combustion, giving some directions for further works in co-firing similar multi-fuel combinations.

Economic analysis and energy valorisation of by-products of the wine supply chain: the case of the ‘Mamertino wine PDO’

The paper reports the analysis of biomass derived from maintenance of a vineyard, to assess its potential as an alternative energy source, instead of the usual disposal of the wine supply chain’s residuals. The site studied is within the province of Messina, Sicily, in the area of Mamertino wine PDO, a wine of superior quality. The analysis suggests that use of this kind of biomass may allow a fossil fuel such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to be replaced by a wine wood chip biomass boiler, thus meeting economic and environmental criteria by reason of recycling for sustainability.

Characteristics and kinetics analyses of different genus biomass pyrolysis

Four kinds of biomass (Chinese silvergrass, corn stalk, rice husk and pine) in China were selected as experimental samples for this study. Pyrolysis process of these biomass was researched by thermogravimetric Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy at 10 K/min. The results show that the pyrolysis process of all samples can be divided into three stages, and the comprehensive characteristics of volatile release degree of Chinese silvergrass is the highest, followed by corn stalk and rice husk, the lowest is pine. FTIR spectra results indicate that the pyrolysis gaseous products are mainly CO2, CO, CH4 and H2O. Kinetic parameters of the biomass were analyzed and determined by Coats-Redfern method, and the results show that corn stalk is the most susceptible to pyrolysis because the activation energy of Chinese silvergrass, corn stalk, rice husk and pine are 46.7, 29.3, 54.3 and 58.1 kJ/mol respectively.

A simple strategy for converting starch to novel compressible carbonaceous foam: mechanism, enlightenment and potential application.

Preparation of new materials from biomass is good for sustainable development. Carbon/carbonaceous foams (CFs), as important materials widely applied in both military and civil use, are usually made from nonrenewable materials at high temperature (usually over 1000 °C) and high pressure (at MPa magnitude). Although some biomass raw materials have been used, there is still a fascinating issue waiting to be discussed. That is, what kind of biomass would be suitable for making CFs, or what the biggest challenge might be if these raw materials are used. Herein, a CF with advanced compressibility was made from starch with a simple and energy efficient strategy. The product can be made at much lower temperature (below 500 °C) and pressure (∼190 Pa) than conventional strategies. The understanding of the conversion mechanism provides inspiration for the conversion of other biomass into value-added carbonaceous materials. Due to the presence of reactive groups on the surface of the as-prepared CF, the product can be further modified or used as a substrate to prepare composites for catalysis, phase change energy storage, sensors, water purification, and so on. In this work, its potential application in oil/water separation was demonstrated.

Influence of Wet Torrefaction Pretreatment on Gasification of Larch Wood and Corn Stalk

Biomass was wet-torrefied to improve its properties prior to gasification. Two kinds of biomass were employed as feedstock, including the larch wood and corn stalk. For both larch wood and corn stalk, the oxygen content of torrefied samples reduced greatly, while the carbon content increased. All of these features had a positive effect on the gasification process, which was discussed in the research. During steam gasification, all of the wet-torrified biomass samples yielded higher amounts of H2 and CO compared to the raw biomass samples, showing the superiority of the wet torrefaction (WT). During CO2 gasification, the CO production was also significantly improved by WT. The kinetic characteristic parameters for the gasification of raw and torrefied biomass samples were determined using the random pore model. It was found that the activation energy of gasification could be reduced by the WT process.

Pengaruh Jenis Bahan terhadap Proses Gasifikasi Sampah Organik Menggunakan Updraft Fixed Bed Reactor

&lt;p&gt;Organic wastes has potential as a renewable energy resource. The waste could be converted as a gaseous fuel through gasification method. The objective of this reserach was to study the performance of gasification of various organic waste using fixed bed updraft gasifier especially in term of production of heat and stability of gas production. The raw material that used are rice husk, sawdust pellet, and wood branch. The stabilization of gas production was measurdd based on the time interval of gas could be burnt. The result shows that the kind of biomass has influenced the heating rate and stability of gas production. Sawdust pellet have the biggest burning stabilisation, that is 45 minute of burning time, compare to rice husk that have 15 minute burning time, and wood branch that have 30 minutes burning time. The main problem of gasification of organic waste was less stabilization of gas production due to low material compaction and uncontinuous mass flow.&lt;/p&gt;

A grey-relation-based method (GRM) for thermogravimetric (TG) data analysis

Thermogravimetric analyzer was applied to analyze 22 solid materials and their mixtures at a heating rate of 10 K min−1 under nitrogen atmosphere. A grey-relation-based method for thermogravimetric (TG) data analysis was proposed, which introduced a mass loss vector (MLV) as numeric form of TG curves and calculated grey relations between MLVs of different materials as criterion. The method was applied to TG data, exemplifying its applications in classification of some solid wastes, simulation of biomass based on three compositions and interaction analysis of two materials. The results indicated that paper category could be represented by cellulose below 673 K while textile category could be represented by cellulose and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). 12 kinds of biomass could be simulated with all relation values larger than 0.92 between experimental and calculated data. Influences of interaction between PVC, paper and poplar wood were quantitatively analyzed, which showed less influence between paper and poplar than PVC and poplar.

Development of an ultra-small biomass gasification and power generation system: Part 1. A novel carbonization process and optimization of pelletization of carbonized wood char

Small-scale, distributed and low cost biomass power generation technologies are highly required in the modern society. The biomass pretreatment process, that is, a combination of carbonization and pelletization processes of cedar wood were explored in this study. For the carbonization process, a novel carbonizer composed of one carbonization chamber and one combustion chamber was tested, and the mass and energy balances during cedar wood carbonization at 400–500°C were analyzed, respectively. During the initial heating stage, about 22kg of wood with dry basis should be supplied into the combustion chamber through several batches. When the temperature in the carbonization chamber reached to the range of 200–220°C, the combustion chamber could be self-heated by burning the pyrolysis gas (tar vapor, CH4, H2, CO) sent from the carbonization chamber. The specific wood consumption for producing 1kg of wood char was within 3.6–4.4kg, which presented an increase trend with increasing the carbonization temperature. Moreover, this carbonization system can deal with different kinds of biomass with various water contents and shapes. For the pelletization process, effects of adding amount of the binder (poval solution), water and the carbonization temperature on the pellet quality were studied so as to explore the optimal condition for making high quality pellets from the crushed wood char. The results indicated that there was an optimal ratio among char, added water, and the binder for making high quality pellets. Considering the energy transfer efficiency and pellet quality, the mass ratio of 0.93:0.32:0.10 for 450°C-char in the dry basis: added water plus water in char: poval solution was the optimal condition for making high quality pellets.