There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

1.0. Introduction 4044 2.0. Biomass Chemistry and Growth Rates 4047 2.1. Lignocellulose and Starch-Based Plants 4047 2.2. Triglyceride-Producing Plants 4049 2.3. Algae 4050 2.4. Terpenes and Rubber-Producing Plants 4052 3.0. Biomass Gasification 4052 3.1. Gasification Chemistry 4052 3.2. Gasification Reactors 4054 3.3. Supercritical Gasification 4054 3.4. Solar Gasification 4055 3.5. Gas Conditioning 4055 4.0. Syn-Gas Utilization 4056 4.1. Hydrogen Production by Water−Gas Shift Reaction 4056

/pdf/synthesis-of-transportation-fuels-from-biomass-chemistry-3sckhzoqoz.pdf

Synthesis of transportation fuels from biomass: chemistry, catalysts, and engineering.

Sustainable production of renewable energy is being hotly debated globally since it is increasingly understood that first generation biofuels, primarily produced from food crops and mostly oil seeds are limited in their ability to achieve targets for biofuel production, climate change mitigation and economic growth. These concerns have increased the interest in developing second generation biofuels produced from non-food feedstocks such as microalgae, which potentially offer greatest opportunities in the longer term. This paper reviews the current status of microalgae use for biodiesel production, including their cultivation, harvesting, and processing. The microalgae species most used for biodiesel production are presented and their main advantages described in comparison with other available biodiesel feedstocks. The various aspects associated with the design of microalgae production units are described, giving an overview of the current state of development of algae cultivation systems (photo-bioreactors and open ponds). Other potential applications and products from microalgae are also presented such as for biological sequestration of CO 2 , wastewater treatment, in human health, as food additive, and for aquaculture.

/pdf/microalgae-for-biodiesel-production-and-other-applications-a-54vmwufrsu.pdf

Microalgae for biodiesel production and other applications: A review

Biomass is an important feedstock for the renewable production of fuels, chemicals, and energy. As of 2005, over 3% of the total energy consumption in the United States was supplied by biomass, and it recently surpassed hydroelectric energy as the largest domestic source of renewable energy. Similarly, the European Union received 66.1% of its renewable energy from biomass, which thus surpassed the total combined contribution from hydropower, wind power, geothermal energy, and solar power. In addition to energy, the production of chemicals from biomass is also essential; indeed, the only renewable source of liquid transportation fuels is currently obtained from biomass.

The Catalytic Valorization of Lignin for the Production of Renewable Chemicals

Biofuels produced from various lignocellulosic materials, such as wood, agricultural, or forest residues, have the potential to be a valuable substitute for, or complement to, gasoline. Many physicochemical structural and compositional factors hinder the hydrolysis of cellulose present in biomass to sugars and other organic compounds that can later be converted to fuels. The goal of pretreatment is to make the cellulose accessible to hydrolysis for conversion to fuels. Various pretreatment techniques change the physical and chemical structure of the lignocellulosic biomass and improve hydrolysis rates. During the past few years a large number of pretreatment methods have been developed, including alkali treatment, ammonia explosion, and others. Many methods have been shown to result in high sugar yields, above 90% of the theoretical yield for lignocellulosic biomasses such as woods, grasses, corn, and so on. In this review, we discuss the various pretreatment process methods and the recent literature that...

http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/datastore/234-1388.pdf

Methods for Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Efficient Hydrolysis and Biofuel Production

Oxime-trimethylsilylation method for analysis of wood pyrolysate

The second Renewable Energy 2008 International Conference.

Gas- and coke/soot-forming reactivities of cellulose-derived tar components under nitrogen and oxygen/nitrogen

Two-step hydrolysis of nipa (Nypa fruticans) frond, one of the monocotyledonous angiosperms, was studied in a semiflow hot-compressed water treatment at 2308C/10 MPa/ 15 min (first stage) and 2708C/10 MPa/30 min (second stage). In the first stage, hemicelluloses such as O-acetyl-4O-methylglucuronoarabinoxylan and pectin and para-crystalline cellulose were selectively hydrolyzed, as well as lignin, which was partially decomposed. In the second stage, hydrolysis of crystalline cellulose and some additional decomposition of lignin were observed. In addition, inorganic constituents and free sugars, composed mainly of glucose, fructose, and sucrose, were recovered in cold water (208C/ 10 MPa/30 min) prior to these 2 stages. In total, 97.3% of oven-dried nipa frond sample could be solubilized into cold and hot-compressed water. The degradation products in the water-soluble portion were primarily recovered as various saccharides (hydrolyzed moieties of the polyoses), which were later dehydrated, fragmented and isomerized partly. The residual (2.7%) is composed mainly of lignin associated with 0.4% of Si. A decomposition pathway is proposed for O-acetyl-4-O-methylglucuronoarabinoxylan as the major hemicellulose based on its various hydrolyzed products.

/pdf/two-step-hydrolysis-of-nipa-nypa-fruticans-frond-as-treated-59h6uyzryp.pdf

Two-step hydrolysis of nipa (Nypa fruticans) frond as treated by semi-flow hot-compressed water

Corn (Zea mays) cob is composed of three tissue fractions, chaff, woody ring, and pith, with dry weight percentages of 21.1%, 77.5%, and 1.4%, respectively. In this study, the cell wall components in these tissue fractions were characterized to examine their tissue morphology. The chemical compositions in the three fractions were relatively similar, and hemicellulose was the main component. Through sugar composition analysis, hemicellulose was mainly composed of xylan in all fractions, whereas the proportion of arabinose and galactose was different in the woody ring. From the alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation analysis, lignin in all fractions was composed of guaiacyl, syringyl, and p-hydroxyphenyl lignins, whereas their ratios varied in the three fractions. Furthermore, the amounts of cinnamic acids such as ferulic and p-coumaric acids, which are associated with corn lignin, were also different among the three fractions. With respect to the tissue morphology, the component cells in the three fractions were totally different each other. Furthermore, from the ultraviolet microspectrophotometry of each morphological region in the three tissue fractions, lignin concentration and distribution of cinnamic acids were different from one morphological region to another. The differences in chemical composition and lignin structures influence the decomposition behaviors in various treatments; thus, this information provides a clue to promote efficient utilization of corn cob into value-added chemicals.

/pdf/characterization-of-three-tissue-fractions-in-corn-zea-mays-2ak4eazeuc.pdf

Shiro Saka

Papers

Oxime-trimethylsilylation method for analysis of wood pyrolysate

The second Renewable Energy 2008 International Conference.

Gas- and coke/soot-forming reactivities of cellulose-derived tar components under nitrogen and oxygen/nitrogen

Two-step hydrolysis of nipa (Nypa fruticans) frond as treated by semi-flow hot-compressed water

Characterization of three tissue fractions in corn (Zea mays) cob