Evaluation of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch for Cellulose Production

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) with a cellulose content of 39 wt% is a good promise to be an alternative lignocellulosic feedstock for cellulose production through environmentally friendly extraction process. Therefore, this research was aimed to establish an effective cellulose extraction scheme from OPEFB via introduction of ultrasonication in the alkaline pulping stage for process intensification. The process could greatly reduce alkali solvent usage for cellulose extraction, hence alleviating the environmental impact caused by chemical disposal. Firstly, four distinct pre-treatment techniques had been used to pre-treat the OPEFB powder, namely autoclave, organosolv, acid and microwave pre-treatments. Afterwards, the pre-treated samples further underwent ultrasonic-assisted alkali extraction to extract the cellulose content. It was observed that the autoclave pre-treated ultrasonic extract achieved the highest cellulose content of 77.14 wt% at optimum KOH concentration of 0.75 M, ultrasonic amplitude of 30%, duration of 30 min and temperature of 80 °C. Therefore, the introduction of ultrasonication in alkali extraction of cellulose was indeed an effective approach in establishing a green production scheme of cellulose from lignocellulose.

Reductive Catalytic Fractionation of Lignocellulosic Biomass: A New Promising Method of its Integrated Processing

The review discusses the results of recent studies in the promising field of integrated processing of lignocellulosic biomass – the reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF). The effect of catalysts, cocatalysts, solvents, hydrogen sources and features of lignocellulosic feedstock on the selectivity of monomeric products formation from lignin is considered. RCF processes are performed mostly with the heterogeneous catalysts, which allow implementing the reductive depolymerization of lignin to obtain low-molecular compounds and preserve carbohydrate components of biomass. Among the studied catalysts based on platinum group metals and transition metals, the highest activity is observed for the catalysts containing Pd, Pt, Ru and Ni. Features of the metal also affect the composition of the resulting products. Thus, ruthenium catalysts make it possible to obtain 4-propylguaiacol as the main product, while Ni and Pd – 4-propanolguaiacol. Mo-containing catalysts, owing to their lower hydrogenating activity, can be used to obtain monolignols or their etherified derivatives with the preservation of carbohydrate components of lignocellulosic biomass. However, most efficient in RCF processes are the bifunctional catalysts, which have both the acidic and metallic active sites. Acidic sites promote the cleavage of the ether β-O-4 bonds, whereas metallic sites – the reduction of the formed intermediate compounds. An important aspect of choosing the appropriate catalysts for RCF process is the possibility of their repeated application. The use of a ferromagnetic catalyst or a catalyst basket allows separating the catalyst from the products.

A low-cost environmentally friendly approach to isolate lignin containing micro and nanofibrillated cellulose from Eucalyptus globulus bark by steam explosion

Micro- and Nano-Fibrillated Cellulose (MNFCs) have gained an increasing attention due to their remarkable properties but their production usually requires an intensive multi-step process. This study proposes to find a novel approach involving steam explosion for the production of lignin-containing micro- and nano-fibrillated cellulose (L-MNFCs) using Eucalyptus globulus bark as a new lignocellulosic feedstock. Eucalyptus globulus bark was first pre-treated in alkali conditions by steam explosion in alkaline conditions (200°C, 8 min) or by conventional alkaline cooking in a rotating autoclave (170°C, 60 min), refined and then grinded until the formation of gels. The chemical composition (Ionic chromatography, FTIR-ATR) of the pulps and morphology of the products (Morfi Neo, Optical and Atomic Force Microscopies (AFM), suspension turbidity) have been studied. Nanopapers were produced from lignin-containing microfibrils to investigate the mechanical properties. Results obtained showed that steam explosion produced pulps with slightly higher lignin content (≈ 9 %), containing shorter fibers (≈ 400 µm) and higher amounts of fine elements (≈ 86 %) compared to conventional alkali cooking (≈ 5 %, ≈ 560 µm and 66 %, respectively). AFM images of SteamEx L-MNFC gels showed a web-like structure containing lignin nanoparticles.

Basic Steps to Promote Biorefinery Value Chains in Forestry in Italy

Biorefineries are an important pillar to conduct the transition toward a circular bioeconomy. Forestry value chains produce wood biomass from harvesting and processing residues that have potential to be used in biorefineries, but currently, these residues are mostly used for energy generation. New biorefineries and new methodologies of wood fractionation allow the production of high value-added products based on carbohydrates and lignin. However, biorefineries based on lignocellulosic feedstock are still few in European countries and even less in Italy. The present study analyses the processes involved in a scenario of establishment of forest biorefineries, reviewing the main components and the actual organization of forestry value chains in Italy. The aim is to have a general vision, to identify and to focus the possibilities of the actual value chains and to fill gaps. The development of the territories is thought of in a perspective of a broader repertoire and more branched value chains than simple energy-generation end use, reviewing the tool for a feasibility study that could potentially involve lignocellulosic biorefineries also based on forest-wood industry feedstocks.

Towards Comparable Carbon Credits: Harmonization of LCA Models of Cellulosic Biofuels

Decarbonization programs are being proposed worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models or tools. Although such models are broadly accepted, varying results are often observed. This study describes similarities and differences of key decarbonization programs and their GHG calculators and compares established LCA models for assessing 2G ethanol from lignocellulosic feedstock. The selected LCA models were GHGenius, GREET, JRC’s model, and VSB, which originated calculators for British Columbia’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Renewable Energy Directive, and RenovaBio, respectively. We performed a harmonization of the selected models by inserting data of one model into other ones to illustrate the possibility of obtaining similar results after a few harmonization steps and to determine which parameters have higher contribution to closing the gap between default results. Differences among 2G ethanol from wheat straw were limited to 0.1 gCO2eq. MJ−1, and discrepancies in emissions decreased by 95% and 78% for corn stover and forest residues, respectively. Better understanding of structure, calculation procedures, parameters, and methodological assumptions among the LCA models is a first step towards an improved harmonization that will allow a globally accepted and exchangeable carbon credit system to be created.

Fractionation of Cynara cardunculus L. by Acidified Organosolv Treatment for the Extraction of Highly Digestible Cellulose and Technical Lignin

One of the primary targets for the new lignocellulosic feedstock-based biorefinery is the simultaneous valorization of holocellulose and lignin. Acidified organosolv treatment is among the most promising strategy for recovering technical lignin, water-soluble hemicellulose, and cellulose pulp with increased accessibility to hydrolytic enzymes. In this work, a design-of-experiment (DoE) approach was used to increase the cellulose recovery, digestibility, and the delignification of Cynara cardunculus L. feedstock. In the first treatment, the milled biomass was subjected to microwave-assisted extraction using an acidified GVL/water mixture to separate lignin and hemicellulose from cellulose. In the second treatment, the cellulose pulp was hydrolyzed by cellulolytic enzymes to demonstrate the enhanced digestibility. At the optimal condition (154 °C, 2.24% H2SO4, and 0.62 GVL/water ratio), the cellulose pulp showed a cellulose content of 87.59%, while the lignin content was lower than 8%. The cellulose recovery and digestibility were equal to 79.46% and 86.94%, respectively. About 40% of the initial hemicellulose was recovered as monosaccharides. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of the two-step organosolv treatment for biomass fractionation; however, as suggested by DoE analysis, a confirmative study at a low temperature (<154 °C) should be performed to further increase the cellulose recovery.

Location of Biorefineries Based on Olive-Derived Biomass in Andalusia, Spain

A biorefinery integrated process based on lignocellulosic feedstock is especially interesting in rural areas with a high density of agricultural and agro-industrial wastes, which is the case for olive crop areas and their associated industries. In the region of Andalusia, in the south of Spain, the provinces of Jaén, Córdoba and Seville accumulate more than 70% of the olive wastes generated in Spain. Therefore, the valorisation of these wastes is a matter of interest from both an environmental and a social point of view. The olive biorefinery involves a multi-product process from different raw materials: olive leaves, exhausted olive pomace, olive stones and olive tree pruning residues. Biorefinery processes associated with these wastes would allow their valorisation to produce bioenergy and high value-added renewable products. In this work, using geographic information system tools, the biomass from olive crop fields, mills and olive pomace-extracting industries, where these wastes are generated, was determined and quantified in the study area. In addition, the vulnerability of the territory was evaluated through an environmental and territorial analysis that allowed for the determination of the reception capacity of the study area. Then, information layers corresponding to the availability of the four biomass wastes, and layers corresponding to the environmental fragility of the study area were overlapped and they resulted in an overall map. This made it possible to identify the best areas for the implementation of the biorefineries based on olive-derived biomass. Finally, as an example, three zones were selected for this purpose. These locations corresponded to low fragility areas with a high availability of biomass (more than 300,000 tons/year) in a 30 km radius, which would ensure the biomass supply.

Improving bio-butanol production from lignocellulosic feedstock by tailoring metabolic perturbations

The objective of this study is to enhance bio-butanol production using lignocellulosic feedstock via supplements of metabolism perturbation. Metabolic perturbations are non-substrate-based chemical additives that can reinforce metabolic flux towards butanol formation, or increase tolerance to microbial inhibitors in the feedstock. Typical metabolic perturbations include CaCO3, ZnSO4, methyl red, and furan derivatives such as furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). In this study, we stepwise tailored metabolic perturbations to maximize butanol production from pure sugar and lignocellulosic feedstock. Under optimized conditions of 4 g/L CaCO3, 2 mg/L ZnSO4, butanol production exceeded 10g/L in wheat straw hydrolysate, which was significantly higher than that obtained in the absent of ZnSO4 and CaCO3. As compared to traditional lignocellulosic feedstock post-treatment method, metabolic perturbations method shows advantages in terms of productivity and economics. Improved bio-butanol production is related to the overexpression of NAD(P)H dependent genes.

Improving bio-butanol production from lignocellulosic feedstock by tailoring metabolic perturbations

The objective of this study is to enhance bio-butanol production using lignocellulosic feedstock via supplements of metabolism perturbation. Metabolic perturbations are non-substrate-based chemical additives that can reinforce metabolic flux towards butanol formation, or increase tolerance to microbial inhibitors in the feedstock. Typical metabolic perturbations include CaCO3, ZnSO4, methyl red, and furan derivatives such as furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). In this study, we stepwise tailored metabolic perturbations to maximize butanol production from pure sugar and lignocellulosic feedstock. Under optimized conditions of 4 g/L CaCO3, 2 mg/L ZnSO4, butanol production exceeded 10g/L in wheat straw hydrolysate, which was significantly higher than that obtained in the absent of ZnSO4 and CaCO3. As compared to traditional lignocellulosic feedstock post-treatment method, metabolic perturbations method shows advantages in terms of productivity and economics. Improved bio-butanol production is related to the overexpression of NAD(P)H dependent genes.