Organosolv pretreatment of plant biomass for enhanced enzymatic saccharification

Biological valorization of low molecular weight lignin

Conversion of coal fly ash to zeolite utilizing microwave and ultrasound energies: A review

Jet turbine fuels have not been completely replaced by biomass-derived fuels due, in part, to the lack of the aromatic and cycloalkane hydrocarbons in bio-jet fuels. Such molecules play a critical role in traditional jet fuels for combustion characteristics and material compatibility. To date, this problem has been addressed by blending bio-jet fuel with traditional petroleum-based oils. In order to produce a 100% biomass-derived jet fuel, a suitable bioresource is needed for synthesizing aromatic and cycloalkane fuel compounds. Lignin, the only biomass component rich in aromatic benzene ring structures, is currently underutilized for low-value heat or treated as process waste because of its high chemical resistance. In this review, a four-step pathway of pretreatment, depolymerization, hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), and alkylation to convert lignin into jet-fuel-range aromatic hydrocarbons and cycloalkanes is explored. While many studies about these processes can be found in the literature for biomass and bio-derived molecules, the purposes of those studies were often for something other than lignin valorization. For example, pretreatment processes focus on cellulose and hemicellulose as desired products while lignin is handled as a waste. Most HDO studies focus on the upper phase of bio-oil which contains primarily water and phenolic monomers, ignoring the bottom phase which contains the larger, main components from depolymerization. Many alkylation studies used single, pure components; by comparison, the feedstocks from HDO of lignin-derived bio-oil are mixtures of varying complexity. This review of each process can be used to guide pathway integration and optimization.

Producing jet fuel from biomass lignin: Potential pathways to alkyl-benzenes and cycloalkanes

Catalytic depolymerization of the hydrolyzed lignin over mesoporous catalysts.

Comparison of homogeneous and heterogeneous acid promoters in single-step aqueous-organosolv fractionation of eucalyptus wood chips.

Effects of mesostructured silica catalysts on the depolymerization of organosolv lignin fractionated from woody eucalyptus.

Coal fly ash (CFA) was used as raw material for zeolite synthesis using the fusion method. In detail, it was mixed with NaOH (with ratio of 2.25) and treated under various temperatures. The synthesized zeolite was characterized using various techniques i.e. X-rayfluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and BET surface area analysis. It was found that the surface area of the synthesized zeolite was in the range of 49-69 m 2 /g depending on the preparation conditions, compared to the surface area of CFA about 17 m 2 /g. In addition, according to the XRD result, it was proven that the form of zeolite

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Synthesis of zeolite from coal fly ash: its application as water sorbent

In this study, the effects of an alkali-acid purification process on the properties of eucalyptus lignin isolated from a methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK)/methanol/water-based organosolv fractionation process were evaluated. The results showed that the treatment reduced the content of carbohydrates, ash, nitrogen and sulfur, and improved lignin solubility (up to 218%) in five organic solvents (acetone, methanol, ethanol, tetrahydrofuran and dimethyl sulfoxide) and removed lignin fractions with smaller molecular weights. However, analysis by Py-GC/MS, solid state NMR and 2D-HSQC NMR indicated that the alkali-acid treatment process did not cause changes to the monomeric lignin subunits and linkages of the lignin polymer. The treated lignin showed slightly higher thermal stability at temperatures <250 °C, though its maximum rate of decomposition occurred at 325 °C, 26 °C lower than that of the untreated lignin. On the basis of these results, the significant improvement in solvent solubility of the lignin by the treatment process will widen lignin application.

Effects of an alkali-acid purification process on the characteristics of eucalyptus lignin fractionated from a MIBK-based organosolv process

Computer simulation plays a key role in chemical process design. Currently, there are a large number of widely accepted commercial software. For example, Aspen Plus which was used to simulate offshore petroleum production processes, but it is often too costly to purchase and maintain a valid software license. On the other hand, since open-source software is freely accessible, the simulation models developed using open-source software could be studied, reviewed, and modified by any interested parties. This would help promoting technology transfer and knowledge dissemination in both academic and industry sectors. We specifically focus on the simulation of chemical process using the modeling software to evaluate thermal and chemical behaviour of the system which uses the chemical processes related to offshore petroleum production facilities as an example to demonstrate the software capabilities of both Aspen Plus and DWSIM. This work emphasizes on the comparison of simulation results calculated by commercial software namely Aspen Plus vs. open-source software called DWSIM (An open-source sequential modular steady state simulator) [1]. The simulation was carried out under the steady-state conditions, adiabatic processes, and negligible pressure losses. Finally, simulation results from DWSIM and Aspen Plus were compared with the heat and mass flow diagram which was used as reference. It was found that the discrepancy between simulation and reported values was in general less than 5%. It has been demonstrated that free and open-source software like DWSIM could potentially perform similar tasks as commercial software.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/463/1/012057/pdf

Thepparat Klamrassamee

Papers

Comparison of homogeneous and heterogeneous acid promoters in single-step aqueous-organosolv fractionation of eucalyptus wood chips.

Effects of mesostructured silica catalysts on the depolymerization of organosolv lignin fractionated from woody eucalyptus.

Synthesis of zeolite from coal fly ash: its application as water sorbent

Effects of an alkali-acid purification process on the characteristics of eucalyptus lignin fractionated from a MIBK-based organosolv process

Modeling of chemical processes using commercial and open-source software: A comparison between Aspen Plus and DWSIM