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

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jie/95/2/95_162/_pdf

Effects of Different Solvents on Hydrogenation of Acetic Acid over Pt/TiO2 for Bioethanol Production

The relationship between the microfibril orientation in the tracheid S2 layer and the lignin content of coniferous woods

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for carrying out an efficient supercritical or subcritical solubilization treatment of biomass. SOLUTION: The subject method for decomposing and liquefying the biomass is characterized in that one or more kinds selected from the group consisting of lignocellulosic biomass, cellulosic biomass, a nitrogen-containing polysaccharide and protein-based biomass is treated in a 1-octanol supercritical or subcritical solvent in the temperature range of 195 to 500°C and in the pressure range of 1 to 100 MPa. COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Method for collecting and converting biomass into valuable resource using 1-octanol supercritical or subcritical solvent

大量生産, 大量消費, 大量廃棄が美徳と考えられた20世紀の人類文明に対する反省から, 21世紀においては環境調和型社会の構築が求められている。46億年という地球の長い歴史の中で, ほんの一瞬にすぎない200年余りの短期間に石油などの化石資源が多用され, 様々なエネルギー及び環境問題を引き起こしてきた。このような中, 化石資源由来の燃料や化学物質を循環型資源から創り出そうとする動きが近年活発化し, 再生可能なバイオマス資源によるポスト石油化学が21世紀において注目されている。このような背景のもと, 環境負荷の小さな超臨界流体技術を用いた新規なプロセスによるバイオエネルギー及びバイオマテリアルの創製が活発に検討されている。本稿ではその成果と現状を紹介する。

Efficient Utilization of Woody Biomass with Supercritical Fluid Technologies

Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) wood was treated by two-step semi-flow hot-compressed water (the first stage: 230 °C/10 MPa/15 min, the second stage: 270 °C/10 MPa/15 min), and produced lignin-derived products in the hot-compressed water-soluble portions at the first and second stages, and the final residue of the second stage was characterized with alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation method and gel permeation chromatographic analysis. As a result, the lignin-derived products at the first stage, where hemicellulose was also decomposed, consisted of lignin-based monomers and dimers and oligomers/polymers in the water-soluble portion. A large part of the oligomers/polymers was, however, recovered as the precipitate during 12 h setting after hot-compressed water treatment. By the analysis of nitrobenzene oxidation products, there were relatively higher contents of ether-type lignin in the precipitate at the first stage than in original beech wood. Since the ether linkages of lignin are more preferentially cleaved by this hot-compressed water, lignin-based polymeric fractions were flowed out from the porous cell walls from which hemicellulose was removed. On the other hand, at the second stage condensed-type lignin remained in the precipitate and residue. Based on these results, decomposition behavior of lignin in Japanese beech wood as treated by the two-step semi-flow hot-compressed water was discussed regarding the topochemistry of lignin structure.

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Shiro Saka

Papers

Effects of Different Solvents on Hydrogenation of Acetic Acid over Pt/TiO2 for Bioethanol Production

The relationship between the microfibril orientation in the tracheid S2 layer and the lignin content of coniferous woods

Method for collecting and converting biomass into valuable resource using 1-octanol supercritical or subcritical solvent

Efficient Utilization of Woody Biomass with Supercritical Fluid Technologies

Characterization of lignin-derived products from Japanese beech wood as treated by two-step semi-flow hot-compressed water