scholarly journals Technoeconomic Assessment of Hybrid Organosolv–Steam Explosion Pretreatment of Woody Biomass

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 4206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sennai Mesfun ◽  
Leonidas Matsakas ◽  
Ulrika Rova ◽  
Paul Christakopoulos

This study investigates technoeconomic performance of standalone biorefinery concepts that utilize hybrid organic solvent and steam explosion pretreatment technique. The assessments were made based on a mathematical process model developed in UniSim Design software using inhouse experimental data. The work was motivated by successful experimental applications of the hybrid pretreatment technique on lignocellulosic feedstocks that demonstrated high fractionation efficiency into a cellulose-rich, a hemicellulose-rich and lignin streams. For the biorefinery concepts studied here, the targeted final products were ethanol, organosolv lignin and hemicellulose syrup. Minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) and Internal rate of return (IRR) were evaluated as economic indicators of the investigated biorefinery concepts. Depending on the configuration, and allocating all costs to ethanol, MESP in the range 0.53–0.95 €/L were required for the biorefinery concepts to break even. Under the assumed ethanol reference price of 0.55 €/L, the corresponding IRR were found to be in the range −1.75–10.7%. Hemicellulose degradation and high steam demand identified as major sources of inefficiencies for the process and economic performance, respectively. Sensitivity of MESP and IRR towards the most influential technical, economic and market parameters performed.

Author(s):  
Johanna Olsson ◽  
Michael Persson ◽  
Mats Galbe ◽  
Ola Wallberg ◽  
Ann-Sofi Jönsson

AbstractEfficient fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass is an important step toward the replacement of fossil-based products. However, the utilisation of all of the components in biomass requires various fractionation techniques. One promising process configuration is to apply steam explosion for the recovery of hemicelluloses and a subsequent hydrotropic extraction step for the delignification of the remaining solids. In this work, the influence of residence time, temperature and biomass loading on lignin recovery from birch using sodium xylene sulphonate as a hydrotrope was investigated. Our results show that residence time, temperature and biomass loading correlate positively with lignin extraction, but the effects of these parameters were limited. Furthermore, when steam explosion was implemented as the initial step, hydrotropic extraction could be performed even at room temperature, yielding a lignin extraction of 50%. Also, hydrothermal degradation of the material was necessary for efficient delignification with sodium xylene sulphonate, regardless of whether it occurs during steam explosion pretreatment or is achieved at high temperatures during the hydrotropic extraction.


1992 ◽  
Vol 270 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Sandhu ◽  
J. W. Hager

ABSTRACTMathematical equations have been formulated to guide an experimental effort to produce an open-celled mesophase pitch foam. The formulation provides an analytical description of homogeneous bubble nucleation and growth, diffusion of the blowing gas through the liquid to the bubble surface, and the average material thickness between bubbles. Implications of the formulation for the experimental production of mesophase pitch foam are discussed.


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1990
Author(s):  
Robert Dürr ◽  
Stefanie Duvigneau ◽  
Carsten Seidel ◽  
Achim Kienle ◽  
Andreas Bück

For efficient operation, modern control approaches for biochemical process engineering require information on the states of the process such as temperature, humidity or chemical composition. Those measurement are gathered from a set of sensors which differ with respect to sampling rates and measurement quality. Furthermore, for biochemical processes in particular, analysis of physical samples is necessary, e.g., to infer cellular composition resulting in delayed information. As an alternative for the use of this delayed measurement for control, so-called soft-sensor approaches can be used to fuse delayed multirate measurements with the help of a mathematical process model and provide information on the current state of the process. In this manuscript we present a complete methodology based on cascaded unscented Kalman filters for state estimation from delayed and multi-rate measurements. The approach is demonstrated for two examples, an exothermic chemical reactor and a recently developed model for biopolymer production. The results indicate that the the current state of the systems can be accurately reconstructed and therefore represent a promising tool for further application in advanced model-based control not only of the considered processes but also of related processes.


Author(s):  
Pak Sui Lam ◽  
Pak Yiu Lam ◽  
Shahab Sokhansanj ◽  
Xiaotao T. Bi ◽  
C. Jim Lim ◽  
...  

Steam explosion is a thermo-chemical pretreatment widely used to disrupt the ultra-structure of the cell wall of the ligno-cellulosic fiber to improve the fractionation of the major ligno-cellulosic components of the biomass for biochemical conversion. In recent years, steam explosion pretreatment has been applied on the fibers for improving the pellet quality of woody and agricultural biomass for thermo-chemical conversion. The improved qualities include high bulk density, low equilibrium moisture content, higher heating value, mechanical strength and moisture resistance. All of these desirable properties allow the steam exploded pellets to be handled and stored outdoors safely, similar to coal. This also raises lots of interests in considering pellets as preferable feedstock for the thermal power plant or bio-refinery facilities. In this chapter, the state of art of research findings on the effect of steam explosion on size reduction and pellet quality of woody and agriculture biomass will be discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 112279 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Padilla-Rascón ◽  
E. Ruiz ◽  
I. Romero ◽  
E. Castro ◽  
J.M. Oliva ◽  
...  

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