Lignocellulosic biomass pyrolysis mechanism: A state-of-the-art review

PROMETHEE: A comprehensive literature review on methodologies and applications

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticlePDF/2013/GC/C2GC36364J

Deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass with ionic liquids

The Report, Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply (generally referred to as the Billion-Ton Study or 2005 BTS), was an estimate of “potential” biomass within the contiguous United States based on numerous assumptions about current and
future inventory and production capacity, availability, and technology. In the 2005 BTS, a strategic analysis was undertaken to determine if U.S. agriculture and forest resources have the capability to potentially produce at least one billion dry tons of biomass annually, in a sustainable manner—enough to displace approximately
30% of the country’s present petroleum consumption. To ensure reasonable confidence in the study results, an effort was made to use relatively conservative assumptions. However, for both agriculture and forestry, the resource potential was not restricted by price. That is, all identified biomass was potentially available, even though some potential feedstock would more than likely be too expensive to actually be economically available.
In addition to updating the 2005 study, this report attempts to address a number of its shortcomings

/pdf/u-s-billion-ton-update-biomass-supply-for-a-bioenergy-and-39t7zcevg2.pdf

U.S. Billion-ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry

Furfural offers a promising, rich platform for lignocellulosic biofuels. These include methylfuran and methyltetrahydrofuran, valerate esters, ethylfurfuryl and ethyltetrahydrofurfuryl ethers as well as various C(10)-C(15) coupling products. The various production routes are critically reviewed, and the needs for improvements are identified. Their relative industrial potential is analysed by defining an investment index and CO(2) emissions as well as determining the fuel properties for the resulting products. Finally, the most promising candidate, 2-methylfuran, was subjected to a road trial of 90,000 km in a gasoline blend. Importantly, the potential of the furfural platform relies heavily on the cost-competitive production of furfural from lignocellulosic feedstock. Conventional standalone and emerging coproduct processes-for example, as a coproduct of cellulosic ethanol, levulinic acid or hydroxymethyl furfural-are expensive and energetically demanding. Challenges and areas that need improvement are highlighted. In addition to providing a critical review of the literature, this paper also presents new results and analysis in this area.

Furfural—A Promising Platform for Lignocellulosic Biofuels

Resistance of bulk canola seed to airflow in the presence of foreign material

Economic Optimization of Sawmill Residues Collection for Bioenergy Conversion

In this work, the whole crop of wheat, barley and canola were cut and left on the field for drying The swath was processed with McLeod harvester, where the grains, chaffs and weed seeds were separated from the straw The mixture of chaff, weed seeds and grains is called graff The graff was collected in the harvester and unloaded to the truck and transported to the central milling unit for further processing and storage The graff was processed in the milling machine where the chaff and grain were separated The clean grain was stored in steel bins and the chaff was stored in open piles for animal feed The entire harvesting operation for each crop was modeled in the EXTEND simulation platform by incorporating the weather data to select the harvesting day and field drying operation A cost model was developed for each crop to estimate the harvesting cost The simulation result showed that the use of 3 swather, 3 McLeod harvester, 6 trucks and 4 milling unit were sufficient for harvesting 8000 ac of crops within the harvest period (Aug 25 to Oct 16) The harvesting cost for wheat, barley and canola were $348, 375 and 338 per acre respectively

Dynamic simulation of McLeod Harvesting System for Wheat, Barley and Canola Crops

Field corn variety Dekalb 743 was combine-harvested in two stages at corn kernel
moisture contents of about 25 and 15% wet basis. Harvest coincided with initiation of onfield
corn stover moisture measurements collected up to twice-daily as grab samples and as
in-situ weights of 2.5 × 2.5 m steel baskets containing stover. Moisture determinations were
made for about a month after the first harvest. Control treatments of tent-sheltered stover
and mower-cut stover were included to aide normalization of data due to direct
sun/precipitation and combine conditioning, respectively. An automatic weather station
collected hourly weather data and soil moisture samples coincided with stover moisture
measures. Overall, grab versus basket weight moisture determinations closely agreed. A
gradual decline in stover moisture, from an initial moisture content of about 50 to 70 % (w.b.)
for the 25 % (w.b.) grain harvest, also exhibited diurnal variation of about 8 % (w.b.). An occasional precipitation event typically resulted in stover moisture reaching original levels
from as low as 15 % (w.b.). No differentiation was made between intra- and inter-cellular
moisture. Conditioning and shattering effect of the combine notably reduced stalk moisture
at an increasing rate compared to non-shattered, mown stalks. Combined stalks often had
moisture 20 % (w.b.) less than mown stalks. Only a small fraction of stalks passed
completely through the combine threshing cylinder and shredder, so the wrangled-action
that stalks experienced as the header snapped ears from the stalks produced a significant
conditioning effect. In general, stover moisture was asymptotical over time and reached
moisture content below 20% w.b. and 15% w.b. for the two stages of harvest. Rainfall added
moisture but the stover quickly dried back to their original state within 4 days period.

Field corn stover moisture relations determined by insitu weight and grab sample techniques

Wood pellets when stored in warehouses results in emission of off-gasses like CO, CO2 and CH4 and simultaneously leads to depletion of O2 in the headspace. The emissions of these gases are potentially dangerous for pellet warehouse workers and can result in fatal accidents. To understand the emission of these gases under a real time scenario a large column container was designed, fabricated and installed in the Clean Energy Research Center, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Canada. The dimensions of the container are 15' in length and 4' in diameter. The container was further insulated to prevent any loss of heat during the storage studies. Thirty thermocouple points and seven pressure transducers have been arranged at different levels of the container to record the temperature and pressure developed during the storage studies. The temperature and pressure data will help to understand the temperature distribution and pressure build up in the container due to stratification of gases. Gas sampling and pellet sampling ports are arranged to at different levels of the container to collect off-gases and pellets during storage studies. The off-gases collected will be further analyzed for their composition like CO, CO2 and CH4 and also for O2 concentration in the container which will help to understand the gas stratification during storage of wood pellets. The pellets collected during the storage period will be further studied to understand the changes in the physical properties like moisture content, length, diameter, durability, bulk density, pellet density, ash content and calorific value. Experiments will be conducted initially in a closed environment and latter with heating and ventilation. The date from the large column container will help to understand and design proper ventilation system for safe storage of wood pellets.

Design and Instrumentation of a Large Column Container to Study the Off-Gassing, Gas Stratification and Physical Properties of Wood Pellets during Storage

Shahab Sokhansanj

Papers

Resistance of bulk canola seed to airflow in the presence of foreign material

Economic Optimization of Sawmill Residues Collection for Bioenergy Conversion

Dynamic simulation of McLeod Harvesting System for Wheat, Barley and Canola Crops

Field corn stover moisture relations determined by insitu weight and grab sample techniques

Design and Instrumentation of a Large Column Container to Study the Off-Gassing, Gas Stratification and Physical Properties of Wood Pellets during Storage