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The pulp and paper industry has a high potential to contribute to negative emissions through carbon capture and storage (CCS) applied to existing processes. However, there is a need to investigate how CCS solutions also can be combined with implementation of other emerging technologies in pulp and paper mills. This paper investigates the integration of a novel calcination process in two kraft mills and evaluates its potential combination with capture and storage of CO2 from the calcination plant. The alternative calcination process uses electric gas-plasma technology combined with steam slaking and allows replacing the conventional fuel-driven lime kilns with a process driven by electricity. The novel calcination process generates a pure, biogenic, CO2 stream, which provides an opportunity to achieve negative emissions at relatively lower costs. The potential reduction of greenhouse gas emissions when replacing the lime kiln with the plasma calcination concept depends strongly on the emissions intensity of grid electricity, and on whether fossil fuel or biomass was used as a fuel in the lime kiln. If fossil fuel is replaced and electricity is associated with very low emissions, avoided CO2 emissions reach ~50 kt/a for the smaller mill investigated in the paper (ca 400 kt pulp per year) and almost 100 kt/a for the larger mill (ca 700 kt pulp per year). Further emission reductions could then be achieved through CCS from the electrified calcination process, with capture potentials for the two mills of 95 and 164 kt/a, respectively, and capture and storage costs estimated to 36–60 EUR/tCO2.

The textile industry is resource-intensive, which has a significant impact on global emissions and waste pollution. To meet the demand of textiles over a third of fibres used in manufacturing are sourced from fossil fuels. As the global demand for textiles continues to grow, manufacturers are having to seek innovative approaches to providing sustainable and regenerative cellulose fibres. However, the latest climate change pressures on the textile industry have uncovered grave environmental issues associated with traditional regenerative cellulose production, such as the viscose manufacturing process. The viscose process requires intensive use of hazardous chemicals which leads to water pollution and ecotoxicity. In addition, if forestry products are unsustainably sourced for this process, this can lead to resource scarcity and deforestation. To provide a holistic solution for mitigating these challenges this study uses the by-products of paper manufacturing dissolved in an ionic liquid to produce regenerated cellulose filaments. Paper mill sludge (PMS) is a cellulosic by-product typically used on animal bedding and land spreading. The material has been dissolved in an ionic liquid - 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethyl phosphate - with the aid of a co-solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) - and spun into continuous filaments for textile production. The mechanical properties of paper sludge filaments are found to be competitive with commercial viscose, which is promising for their drop-in replacement. It is also demonstrated that by increasing the concentration of the PMS from 9% to 12.4%, an improvement of the filament properties can be achieved; an increase in modulus from ∼19 GPa to ∼26 GPa and strength from ∼223 MPa to ∼282 MPa. These values are shown to be competitive with other commercial, less sustainable, regenerated cellulose fibres.

The pulp and paper (P&P) sector is a dynamic manufacturing industry and plays an essential role in the Austrian economy. However, the sector, which consumes about 20 TWh of final energy, is responsible for 7% of Austria’s industrial CO2 emissions. This study, intending to assess the potential for improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions in the Austrian context in the P&P sector, uses a bottom-up approach model. The model is applied to analyze the energy consumption (heat and electricity) and CO2 emissions in the main processes, related to the P&P production from virgin or recycled fibers. Afterward, technological options to reduce energy consumption and fossil CO2 emissions for P&P production are investigated, and various low-carbon technologies are applied to the model. For each of the selected technologies, the potential of emission reduction and energy savings up to 2050 is estimated. Finally, a series of low-carbon technology-based scenarios are developed and evaluated. These scenarios’ content is based on the improvement potential associated with the various processes of different paper grades. The results reveal that the investigated technologies applied in the production process (chemical pulping and paper drying) have a minor impact on CO2 emission reduction (maximum 10% due to applying an impulse dryer). In contrast, steam supply electrification, by replacing fossil fuel boilers with direct heat supply (such as commercial electric boilers or heat pumps), enables reducing emissions by up to 75%. This means that the goal of 100% CO2 emission reduction by 2050 cannot be reached with one method alone. Consequently, a combination of technologies, particularly with the electrification of the steam supply, along with the use of carbon-free electricity generated by renewable energy, appears to be essential.

Background: In spite of the continuous efforts and investments in the last decades, lignocellulosic ethanol is still not economically competitive with fossil fuels. Optimization is still required in different parts of the process. Namely, the cost effective usage of enzymes has been pursued by different strategies, one of them being recycling. Results: Cellulase recycling was analyzed on Recycled Paper Sludge (RPS) conversion into bioethanol under intensified conditions. Different cocktails were studied regarding thermostability, hydrolysis efficiency, distribution in the multiphasic system and recovery from solid. Celluclast showed inferior stability at higher temperatures (45-55 ºC), nevertheless its performance at moderate temperatures (40ºC) was slightly superior to other cocktails (ACCELLERASE®1500 and Cellic®CTec2). Celluclast distribution in the solid-liquid medium was also more favorable, enabling to recover 88 % of final activity at the end of the process. A Central Composite Design studied the influence of solids concentration and enzyme dosage on RPS conversion by Celluclast. Solids concentration showed a significant positive effect on glucose production, no major limitations being found from utilizing high amounts of solids under the studied conditions. Increasing enzyme loading from 20 to 30 FPU/ gcellulose had no significant effect on sugars production, suggesting that 22 % solids and 20 FPU/gcellulose are the best operational conditions towards an intensified process. Applying these, a system of multiple rounds of hydrolysis with enzyme recycling was implemented, allowing to maintain steady levels of enzyme activity with only 50 % of enzyme on each recycling stage. Additionally, interesting levels of solid conversion (70-81 %) were also achieved, leading to considerable improvements on glucose and ethanol production comparatively with the reports available so far (3.4 and 3.8 fold, respectively). Conclusions: Enzyme recycling viability depends on enzyme distribution between the solid and liquid phases at the end of hydrolysis, as well as enzymes thermostability. Both are critical features to be observed for a judicious choice of enzyme cocktail. This work demonstrates that enzyme recycling in intensified biomass degradation can be achieved through simple means. The process is possibly much more effective at larger scale, hence novel enzyme formulations favoring this possibility should be developed for industrial usage., This work had the fnancial support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/ BIO/04469/2013 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and the MultiBiorefnery project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016403). Furthermore, FCT equally supported the Ph.D. grant to DG (SFRH/BD/88623/2012)., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Due to the health and environment impacts of fossil fuels utilization, biofuels have been investigated as a potential alternative renewable source of energy. Bioethanol is currently the most produced biofuel, mainly of first generation, resulting in food-fuel competition. Second generation bioethanol is produced from lignocellulosic biomass, but a costly and difficult pretreatment is required. The pulp and paper industry has the biggest income of biomass for non-food-chain production, and, simultaneously generates a high amount of residues. According to the circular economy model, these residues, rich in monosaccharides, or even in polysaccharides besides lignin, can be utilized as a proper feedstock for second generation bioethanol production. Biorefineries can be integrated in the existing pulp and paper industrial plants by exploiting the high level of technology and also the infrastructures and logistics that are required to fractionate and handle woody biomass. This would contribute to the diversification of products and the increase of profitability of pulp and paper industry with additional environmental benefits. This work reviews the literature supporting the feasibility of producing ethanol from Kraft pulp, spent sulfite liquor, and pulp and paper sludge, presenting and discussing the practical attempt of biorefineries implementation in pulp and paper mills for bioethanol production.

Current energy shortage and environmental issues resulting from the use of fossil fuels have lead to exploitation of renewable energy resources that includes municipal waste and agricultural residues. These residues are available, indigenous and are environmental friendly but some can not be used directly in combustion process due high moisture content and low volumetric energy unless by briquetting. The study was undertaken to assess the combustion characteristic of binderless briquettes produced from waste paper and groundnut shell. Combustion characteristics investigated were ignition time, burning time, calorific values, burning rate, specific fuel consumption, fuel efficiency and water boiling time. The calorific values of the briquettes ranged from 19.51 - 19.92 MJ/kg, while the thermal efficiency ranges between 13.75 – 21.64%, other results shows that the average burning rate between 0.511 and 1.133 kg/hr and the specific fuel consumption ranges between 0.087 and 0.131 J/g. The recorded boiling time values were between 17.5 and 30.0 minutes for cold start and 15.0 and 20.0 minutes for hot start. The results shows that waste paper and groundnut shell up to 25% in composition composite briquettes were found to have good combustion characteristics which qualify them as alternative to firewood for domestic and industrial energy. However, production of briquettes from waste paper and groundnut shell at mixing ratio of 85:15 was found to comparatively better from all experiment conducted.

Industrial energy efficiency is stated as a major means of reducing the threat of increased global warming, caused by human use of fossil fuels. Energy service companies (ESCOs) have been expected to play an important role in promoting energy efficiency in different sectors of the economy, including industry. Energy related outsourcing in the complex energy intensive pulp and paper industry, with a continuous production process, represents one of the more challenging types of industrial outsourcing. This paper studies the role of ESCOs as a method to promote energy efficiency in the Swedish pulp and paper industry. A questionnaire was used, complemented by in-depth interviews with mill executives in order to gain more knowledge of the issue. The main conclusion from this paper is that the utilization of ESCOs in the pulp and paper industry is higher in activities with a lower level of energy integration in the production process, and on the contrary, the utilization of ESCOs is lower with a higher level of energy integration in the production process. Since the PPI is a mature industry with a globally well-known and well-spread technique, results from this paper, may plausibly be generalized for PPIs in other countries as well. ©2011 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE. Patrik Thollander and Mikael Ottosson, Energy related outsourcing: - The case of ESCOs in the Swedish pulp and paper industry, 2011, IEEE International Technology Management Conference, 329-337. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ITMC.2011.5995962

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-established and informative method of understanding the environmental impacts of consumer products across the entire value chain. However, companies committed to sustainability are interested in more methods that examine their products and activities' impacts. Methods that build on LCA strengths and illuminate other connected but less understood facets, related to social and economic impacts, would provide greater value to decision-makers. This study is a LCA that calculates the potential impacts associated with Bounty® paper towels from two facilities with different production lines, an older one (Albany, Georgia) representing established technology and the other (Box Elder, Utah), a newer state-of-the-art platform. This is unique in that it includes use of Industrial Process Systems Assessment (IPSA), new electricity and pulp data, modeled in open source software, and is the basis for the development of new integrated sustainability metrics (published separately). The new metrics can guide supply chain and manufacturing enhancements, and product design related to environmental protection and resource sustainability. Results of the LCA indicate Box Elder had improvements on environmental impact scores related to air emission indicators, except for particulate matter. Albany had lower water use impacts. After normalization of the results, fossil fuel depletion is the most critical environmental indicator. Pulp production, electricity, and fuels for product production drive fossil fuel depletion. Climate change, land occupation, and particulate matter are also relevant. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by pulp, electricity, papermaking, and landfill methane from the disposed product, drive climate change impacts. Pulp provides significant offsets to balance climate change impacts due to sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Ninety-nine percent of land occupation is for the growth of the trees for pulp production. Papermaking, electricity, and pulp production cause the most potential particular matter formation.

In recent years renewable and cleaner fuel for diesel engines are compulsory due to depletion of fossil fuel. Various types of bio-based fuels are investigated by the researchers. Biodiesel is anticipated as potential contenders of diesel fuel. Though it is possible to utilize pure biodiesel in diesel engines, some burdens like higher density, lower cetane number and lesser calorific value hinder it from replacing conventional diesel completely. Therefore, using blends with biofuels in diesel engines has a preference. Thus, this paper reviews two different approaches on the role of nanoparticles on biofuel production and effects of nanoparticles in biodiesel–diesel fuel blends on performance, combustion analysis and emission characteristics of diesel engines. Wide range of results from previous research studies with potential and application of nanoparticles in bioethanol production, the effect of the addition of nanoparticles into diesel fuel with different biofuels ratios are collected in this review study. There are different engine performances enhancing methods surveyed. Nanoparticles can be utilized in the production of biofuels from feedstock pre-treatment to chemical reaction as catalysts. It was observed from the overall results that by adding nanoparticles, there was a significant reduction in the brake specific fuel consumption about 20% to 23% as compared with biodiesel–diesel blends with and without alcohol as additives. Besides as nanoparticles possess high thermal conductivity, the addition of nanoparticles enhanced the process of combustion and increases the brake power about 2.5% to 4%. Emission results showed that in most reviews, NO x emission is increased by up to 55%, while HC, CO and PM are decreased significantly. It was concluded from the study that a diesel engine could be effectively run and give better performance and effective regulated emissions on the application of added nanoparticles with biodiesel and their blends as fuel in a CI engine.

Biomass torrefaction is a simple and appropriate thermo-chemical treatment/conversion process for upgrading agricultural residues to a high-quality fuel, which could be used as an alternative energy resource to replace fossil fuels. In this paper, reaction kinetics for torrefaction of pelletized agro-residues biomass under dry flue gas conditions were investigated. The two-step mechanism model was used to describe the biomass torrefaction decomposition, and with the experimental data, the kinetic parameters of this model were analyzed. The torrefaction reactions were found to occur in a narrow period of reaction time, and the kinetic parameters were affected by dry flue gas conditions. The model predictions can imitate the thermo-chemical degradation well, and the predicted torrefied solid was shown to contain not only chars but also some intermediate and unreacted fractions. This work provides further insights for understanding torrefaction kinetics of agricultural biomass pellets which are important in designing and operating industrial biomass conversion equipment and apparatus.

Finding a way to efficiently utilize this bio-waste resource is a great challenge due to the depletion of traditional fossil fuels and the environmental impact associated to their use. Rice straw is considered as one of the main cereal straws. It is produced in many countries every year in substantial amounts and it has a high ash content and low protein content. Usually, rice straw is burned by farmers causing many adverse effects on the environment and public health. This research investigates the process synthesis of furfural production through the acid-hydrolysis of rice straws. Furfural is a strategic bio-renewable chemical and has gained attention due to its possibility to produce biofuels and bio chemicals. Aspen Plus® simulation package is employed for process simulation, sizing, and analysis. Results of simulations are validated against an experimental work. Optimization through manipulation of several parameters including acid concentration, reaction temperature, acid/rice straw ratio, catalyst concentration, and type of acid to maximize the furfural yield and reaction conversion. A complete flow sheet is synthesized and sensitivity analysis is studied to reach an optimum process concerning environment and economics. The amount of furfural obtained as a final product from the process represents a yield of 73% per 100 kg/hr of rice straw processed.

Background The objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental impact of the production of a range of liquid biofuels produced from the combination of fermenting sorghum stalk juice (bioethanol) and the pyrolysis/hydrotreatment of residual bagasse (renewable gasoline and diesel). Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) was performed on a farm-to-wheels system that included: (i) sorghum farming, (ii) juice extraction, (iii) juice fermenting, (iv) bagasse pretreatment, (v) bagasse thermochemical treatment (pyrolysis, hydroprocessing, and steam reforming), and (vi) typical passenger vehicle operation. LCIA results were compared to those of petroleum fuels providing the equivalent functional unit—cumulative kilometers driven by spark ignition direct injection (SIDI) vehicles utilizing either renewable gasoline or ‘bioE85—a blend of bioethanol and renewable gasoline,’ and a compression ignition direct injection (CIDI) vehicle utilizing renewable diesel produced from 76 tons of harvested sweet sorghum (1 ha). Results Sweet sorghum biofuels resulted in a 48% reduction climate change impact and a 52% reduction in fossil fuel depletion. Additionally, reduced impacts in ozone depletion and eutrophication were found (67% and 47%, respectively). Petroleum fuels had lower impacts for the categories of non-carcinogenic health impact, smog, respiratory effects, and ecotoxicity, showing tradeoffs between sorghum and petroleum fuels. Conclusion Overall, sorghum biofuels provide advantages in environmental impact categories including global warming potential, fossil fuel depletion and eutrophication, showing potential for sorghum as a promising second-generation feedstock for fuel.

Fossil fuel depletion and pollution are calling for alternative, renewable energies such as biofuels. Actual challenges include the design of efficient processes and catalysts to convert various feedstocks into biofuels. Here, we review nanoferrites heterogeneous catalysts to produce biodiesel from soybean and canola oil. For that, transesterification is the main synthesis route and offers simplicity, cost-effectiveness, better process control, and high conversion yield. Catalysis with nanoferrites and composites allow to obtain yields higher than 95% conversion with less than 5.0 wt.% of catalyst loading at 80 °C in 1–2 h. More than 90% conversion yields can be achieved with a moderate alcohol/oil molar ratio, i.e., between 12:1 to 16:1. Catalyst recovery is easy due to the magnetic properties of nanoferrite, which can be effectively reused up to 4 times with less than 10% loss of catalytic efficiency.

Over the last decades, microalgal biomass has gained a significant role in the development of different high-end (nutraceuticals, colorants, food supplements, and pharmaceuticals) and low-end products (biodiesel, bioethanol, and biogas) due to its rapid growth and high carbon-fixing efficiency. Therefore, microalgae are considered a useful and sustainable resource to attain energy security while reducing our current reliance on fossil fuels. From the technologies available for obtaining biofuels using microalgae biomass, thermochemical processes (pyrolysis, Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL), gasification) have proven to be processed with higher viability, because they use all biomass. However, due to the complex structure of the biomass (lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins), the obtained biofuels from direct thermochemical conversion have large amounts of heteroatoms (oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur). As a solution, catalyst-based processes have emerged as a sustainable solution for the increase in biocrude production. This paper’s objective is to present a comprehensive review of recent developments on the catalyst-mediated conversion of algal biomass. Special attention will be given to operating conditions, strains evaluated, and challenges for the optimal yield of algal-based biofuels through pyrolysis and HTL.

Biodiesel is considered as a potential substitute for fossil fuel due to its renewability, sustainability, environmentally friendliness, and biodegradability, especially with comparable fuel properties to diesel. The chemocatalytic production of biodiesel from plant oils is widely used in industrial production due to its low cost and high conversion rate. However, the disadvantages are high energy consumption and environmentally unfriendly processing such as chemical catalysts, downstream technology and simultaneously produced waste. Therefore, in the past decade, enzyme-catalyzed biodiesel has attracted more attentions due to its sustainability and environmental friendliness. High-cost, enzyme stability and reusability are the main obstacles to the large-scale industrial development of microbial biodiesel. This review first showcases the state-of-the-art of microbial biodiesel production, including (1) lipid accumulation of oleaginous microorganisms from pretreated lignocellulose biomass, and (2) production of biodiesel from microbial oils via transesterification by immobilized lipase. Also, the technological challenges and future developmental trends are discussed, with the goal of providing the possibility of more economical large-scale industrial production. This paper provides opportunities for the sustainable and eco-friendly production of enzymatic biodiesel in the future.

The usage of lignocellulosic biomass in energy production for biofuels and other value-added products can extensively decrease the carbon footprint of current and future energy sectors. However, the infrastructure in the processing of lignocellulosic biomass is not well-established as compared to the fossil fuel industry. One of the bottlenecks is the production of the lignocellulolytic enzymes. These enzymes are produced by different fungal and bacterial species for degradation of the lignocellulosic biomass into its reactive fibers, which can then be converted to biofuel. The selection of an ideal feedstock for the lignocellulolytic enzyme production is one of the most studied aspects of lignocellulolytic enzyme production. Similarly, the fermentation enhancement strategies for different fermentation variables and modes are also the focuses of researchers. The implementation of fermentation enhancement strategies such as optimization of culture parameters (pH, temperature, agitation, incubation time, etc.) and the media nutrient amendment can increase the lignocellulolytic enzyme production significantly. Therefore, this review paper summarized these strategies and feedstock characteristics required for hydrolytic enzyme production with a special focus on the characteristics of an ideal feedstock to be utilized for the production of such enzymes on industrial scales.

The sensitization for energy issues and environmental resulting from burning fossil fuels encourage the search for materials, inputs and renewable sources of energy. The biofuel is one of these renewable sources and is produced from vegetable oils extracted from raw material such as castor (Ricinus communis). It has been investigated as a raw material due to the high oil content in the seed, the possibility of plantations in regions with water deficit and high agricultural productivity. In front of the possibility of developing a simplified process for the production of biodiesel, such as in situ transesterification, which avoids the previous separation of the oil existing in the micelle, the present work aims to evaluate the kinetic behavior of extraction from castor oil using ethanol as solvent. In this context, experimental data were obtained about the kinetic from castor oil using ethanol in several conditions of temperature, as well as, fitting mathematical models able to describe the kinetic of the system castor-oil-ethanol. The castor seed used in the work were characterized about its humidity, oil content and acidity, having been obtained 4.86 %, 43.3 % and 2.1 %, respectively. The experiments were carried out in batch using sealed Erlenmeyer flasks in a thermostatic bath with reciprocal agitation to investigate the extraction process at different temperatures (25, 35 and 45 ºC) and solid-liquid ratio equal to 0.08 (g/ml). The percentage extractions were quantified in times of 15, 30, 45, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300, 480, 600 and 1440 min. For description of kinetics extraction, the fit of three different kinetic models to the experimental data was tested, pseudo-first order (PFO), pseudo-second order (PSO) and Patricelli. From the calculation of the corrected Akaike information criterion (AICc), the PSO model was the one that best described the extraction kinetics. In this way, the results obtained in this work contribute to expand the knowledge about the extraction process of castor oil with ethanol as solvent. A sensibilização para questões energéticas e ambientais decorrentes da queima de combustíveis fósseis incentivou a busca por materiais, insumos e fontes renováveis de energias. O biocombustível é uma dessas fontes renováveis e é produzido a partir de óleos vegetais extraídos de matérias primas como a mamona (Ricinus communis). Ela tem sido investigada como matéria-prima devido ao alto teor de óleo na semente, a possibilidade de plantio em regiões com déficit hídrico e à sua elevada produtividade agrícola. Diante da possibilidade de desenvolvimento de um processo simplificado para a produção de biodiesel, como o de transesterificação in situ, que evita a separação prévia do óleo presente na micela, o presente trabalho busca avaliar o comportamento cinético da extração do óleo de mamona empregando etanol como solvente. Nesse contexto, foram obtidos dados experimentais sobre a cinética da extração de óleo de mamona com etanol em diferentes condições de temperatura, bem como, ajustar modelos matemáticos capazes de descrever a cinética do sistema mamona-óleo-etanol. As sementes de mamona empregadas no trabalho foram caracterizadas acerca de sua umidade, teor de óleo e acidez, tendo sido obtido 4,86 %, 43,3 % e 2,1 %, respectivamente. Os experimentos foram realizados em batelada utilizando frascos erlenmeyer selados em banho termostático com agitação recíproca para investigar o processo de extração em diferentes temperaturas (25, 35 e 45 ºC) e razão sólido-líquido 0,08 (g/mL). As extrações percentuais foram quantificadas em tempos de 15, 30, 45, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300, 480, 600 e 1440 min. Para descrição da cinética de extração, foi testado o ajuste de três modelos cinéticos diferentes aos dados experimentais, pseudo-primeira ordem (PFO), pseudo-segunda ordem (PSO) e Patricelli. A partir do cálculo do critério de informação de Akaike corrigido (AICc) o modelo PSO foi o que melhor descreveu a cinética de extração. Deste modo, os resultados obtidos neste trabalho contribuem para ampliação dos conhecimentos acerca do processo de extração de óleo de mamona com etanol como solvente.

Aiming to mitigate wastewater pollution arising from the palm oil industry, this university-industry research-and-development project focused on the integration of serial treatment processes, including the use of moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR), pre-treatment with sand filters and activated carbon filters, and membrane technology for aerobically-digested palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment. To assess the potential of this sustainable alternative practice in the industry, the developed technology was demonstrated in a pilot-scale facility: four combinations (Combinations I to IV) of unit operations were developed in an integrated membrane-filtration system. Combination I includes a MBBR, pre-treatment unit comprising sand filters and activated carbon filters, ultrafiltration (UF) membrane, and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane, while Combination II excludes MBBR, Combination III excludes UF membrane, and Combination IV excludes both MBBR and UF membrane. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to evaluate potential environmental impacts arising from each combination while achieving the goal of obtaining recycled and reusable water from the aerobically-digested POME treatment. It is reported that electricity consumption is the predominant factor contributing to most of those categories (50–77%) as the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides, and volatile mercury during the combustion of fossil fuels. Combination I in the integrated membrane-filtration system with all unit operations incurring high electricity consumption (52 MJ) contributed to the greatest environmental impact. Electricity consumption registers the highest impact towards all life cycle impact categories: 73% on climate change, 80% on terrestrial acidification, 51% on eutrophication, and 43% on human toxicity. Conversely, Combination IV is the most environmentally-friendly process, since it involves only two-unit operations – pre-treatment unit (comprising sand filters and activated carbon filters) and RO membrane unit – and thus incurs the least electricity consumption (41.6 MJ). The LCA offers insights into each combination of the operating process and facilitates both researchers and the industry towards sustainable production.

The sustainability of biodiesel adoption in diesel engines are dependent on its environmental friendliness relative to lower pollutant emissions. Biodiesel was produced from extracted Parinari polyandra oil via alkali catalyzed methanolysis. Performance and emission analysis of a diesel engine was conducted on a diesel engine, operated under different operating conditions, using varied Parinari polyandra biodiesel blends. Exhaust emissions, like total hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides were measured. The biodiesel properties were found to be similar to fossil diesel. B10 was found to be the optimal blend in improving the engine performance in terms of speed, power and thermal efficiency. B30 demonstrated stable performance characteristics without any modification of the diesel engine. The exhaust emissions from biodiesel blends combustion were found to be lower than that of diesel, except nitrogen oxides. High percentage reduction of greenhouse gases, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, was recorded at 81.7% and 65.7%, respectively. The utilization of Parinari polyandra biodiesel for engine application was found to be a viable means of heightening adoption of sustainable biofuels and minimizing pollutant emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels.

Background The depletion of fossil fuel and its huge environmental problem are currently a concern for a scientific community in the area of energy engineering. This opened research opportunities for searching alternate renewable energy sources especially biofuel production from lignocellulose biomass resources. The main objective of this paper is to review the delignification and hydrolysis capabilities of microorganisms (bacteria and fungi). Results Currently, different types of lignocellulose biomass pretreatment technologies are available. All of the technologies are either in lab scale or in pilot scale. Among the pretreatment technologies, biological pretreatments attract many attentions because of their eco-friendly advantages, performed at a mild temperature and do not produce inhibitory compounds during the pretreatment process. Industrial-scale biofuel production using biological delignification and hydrolysis process is still at lab scale, and intensive research works are required. The cost of biofuel production from lignocellulose biomass is currently expensive. Conclusion Searching for the best microbial strains having efficient lignin-degrading and polysaccharide-hydrolyzing capabilities is vital to realize industrial-scale biofuel production from lignocellulose biomass. Process optimization along with genetic engineering of microorganisms is seen as a potential for biofuel production from lignocellulose biomass.

The depletion of fossil fuels, rising of earth temperatures and declining of air quality are an unavoidable phenomenon today. This condition is a result of increased and excessive use of fossil fuels. Bioethanol fuel is one solution to reduce this problem that is sourced from renewable raw materials. Sorghum seeds are raw materials that have the potential to be made bioethanol due to they have a high carbohydrate content (70%). The test is performed the use of pertalite-bioethanol blends fuels was on a four-stroke gasoline engine without modification. The percentage of the mixture volume of fuel used is 10% bioethanol-90% pertalite (E10), 15% bioethanol-85% pertalite (E15) and 20% bioethanol-80% pertalite (E20). Engine speeds vary from 1000 to 4000 rpm, and properties of the sorghum seeds bioethanol-pertalite blends are measured and analyzed. The purpose of this study is to investigate engine performance and exhaust emissions at gasoline engine by using the sorghum seeds bioethanol-pertalite blends with different mixed ratios (E10, E15 and E20). The Engine performance includes engine torque, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and thermal brake efficiency (BTE) analyzed. In addition, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are measured as gasoline engine exhaust emissions. The results show that BSFC decreased while BTE increased for a fuel blends containing 20% bioethanol at 3500 rpm engine speed, with each maximum value of 246.93 g/kWh and 36.28%. It is also found that CO and HC emissions are lower for the sorghum seeds bioethanol-pertalite blends. Based on the research results, it can be concluded that the sorghum seeds bioethanol-pertalite blends can improve engine performance and reduce exhaust gas emissions.

Castor oil is an alternative fuel as a substitute for diesel fuel. The property that approaches diesel fuel makes jatropha oil help reduce fossil fuel dependence. Abundant raw materials and high cetane properties make castor oil widely used as fuel in diesel engines. This study aims to observe the consumption of fuel and soot emissions produced by diesel engines using a mixture of diesel fuel with castor oil content of 30%. Based on the results of experiments that have been carried out, fuel consumption and soot emissions have increased. The highest increase occurred in SJ30 fuel at 25% loading. Low heating value is a major cause of increased consumption and soot emissions.

The biodiesel from lignocellulosic materials has been widely recognized as an alternative fuel to meet energy requirements worldwide, facing fossil fuel depletion, and emerging energy policies. In this work, the biorefinery approach was applied for biodiesel production from jatropha and palm oils in order to make it economically competitive by the utilization of residual biomass as the feedstock for obtaining hydrogen via steam reforming of glycerol and gasification. The linear chains for hydrogen and diesel were simulated using UniSim software and main stream properties were collected from the literature or predicted by correlations. The proposed scheme of biorefinery was analyzed through environmental and techno-economic assessment to identify the feasibility of this process to be implemented. Three different blends of oils (JO10-PO90, JO20-PO80, and JO30-PO70) were considered in the environmental analysis to determine alternatives for reducing potential environmental impacts (PEIs). It was found that the acidification potential highly contributed to the environmental impacts attributed to the use of fossil fuels for heating requirements, and JO30-PO70 blend exhibited the lowest PEI value. The economic indicators were calculated to be 8,455,147.29 $USD and 33.18% for the net present value and internal rate of return, respectively. These results revealed that the proposed combined biomass biorefinery is feasible to be scaled up without causing significant negative impacts on the environment.

Bentonite, especially Sodium (Na) Bentonite is a type of clay that is used as a basis for water-based drilling mud in the of oil and gas wells drilling throughout the world including Indonesia, bentonite used in Indonesia is still partially imported from abroad. Sodium Bentonite can be substituted with ordinary clay which is treated by beneficiation throught addition of Na2CO3. The area of Musi Rawas Utara (Muratara) Regency of South Sumatra Province contains clay reserves resulting from pyroclastic deposit which will be investigated as potential subtitutional materials of imported API Bentonite. Clay samples from 6 different locations were prepared by first looking for the best % swell of sample beneficiation combination from all over the 36 combinations through the free swell test, the results obtained that the 4% BWOC Na2CO3 combination gave the best % swell. From this, 24 samples were prepared for various measurements of mud properties using standard equipment and procedures following the API RP 13 B for water-based mud with drilling grade Na-bentonite (API Bentonite) as standard material. The test includes 7 properties which are divided into 16 measurement units namely density, rheology, filtration, solid and liquid content, sand content, pH and methylene blue capacity etc. The test results show that the Na2CO3 beneficiation is able to change ionically the characteristics of the clay, but from the aspect of the suitability of the value of each test parameter to the standard value shows that none of the samples has full compatibility, which is mean that Muratara clay technically cannot be used as a substituent material of API Bentonite.

Synthetic gas generated from the gasification of biomass feedstocks is one of the clean and sustainable energy sources. In this work, a fixed-bed downdraft gasifier was used to perform the gasification on a lab-scale of rice husk, sawdust, and coconut shell. The aim of this work is to find and compare the synthetic gas generation characteristics and prospects of sawdust and coconut shell with rice husk. A temperature range of 650–900 °C was used to conduct gasification of these three biomass feedstocks. The feed rate of rice husk, sawdust, and coconut shell was 3–5 kg/h, while the airflow rate was 2–3 m3/h. Experimental results show that the highest generated quantity of methane (vol.%) in synthetic gas was achieved by using coconut shell than sawdust and rice husk. It also shows that hydrogen production was higher in the gasification of coconut shell than sawdust and rice husk. In addition, emission generations in coconut shell gasification are lower than rice husk although emissions of rice husk gasification are even lower than fossil fuel. Rice husk, sawdust, and coconut shell are cost-effective biomass sources in Bangladesh. Therefore, the outcomes of this paper can be used to provide clean and economic energy sources for the near future.

Fossil fuels are a major contributor to climate change, and as the demand for energy production increases, alternative sources (e.g., renewables) are becoming more attractive. Biofuels such as bioethanol reduce reliance on fossil fuels and can be compatible with the existing fleet of internal combustion engines. Incorporation of biofuels can reduce internal combustion engine (ICE) fleet carbon dioxide emissions. Bioethanol is typically produced via microbial fermentation of fermentable sugars, such as glucose, to ethanol. Traditional feedstocks (e.g., first-generation feedstock) include cereal grains, sugar cane, and sugar beets. However, due to concerns regarding food sustainability, lignocellulosic (second-generation) and algal biomass (third-generation) feedstocks have been investigated. Ethanol yield from fermentation is dependent on a multitude of factors. This review compares bioethanol production from a range of feedstocks, and elaborates on available technologies, including fermentation practices. The importance of maintaining nutrient homeostasis of yeast is also examined. The purpose of this review is to provide industrial producers and policy makers insight into available technologies, yields of bioethanol achieved by current manufacturing practices, and goals for future innovation.

Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) ( NRF-2019R1A2C1010557 ). The authors would also like to thank the University of Malaya for supporting Ph.D. student through research grant GPF046A-2018 . Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s) The demand for renewable energy sources is gradually escalating due to the spontaneously growing population and global economic development. The access to fossil fuels is gradually declining due to the limited available reserves. Hence, renewable energy resources, technology choice, and energy policy are always being revised due to the modernization of society. Meanwhile, the liquid energy sources such as methyl ester from locally produced vegetable oils are readily accepted by many countries globally, although it is currently being blended (up to 20%) with diesel. Oxides of nitrogen are the most substantial emissions from diesel engines produced due to high combustion temperature. The addition of alcohol in the fuel reduces the NOx formation since alcohols have high latent heat of evaporation. The present study's primary purpose is to investigate the effect of different alcohol types on engine performance and emission characteristics. For this purpose, seven test fuels and neat diesel were used. The test fuels P20 (20% palm biodiesel with 70% neat diesel and 10% alcohol on a volume basis), D70P20E10, D70P20Pr10, D70P20B10, D70P20Pe10, D70P20H10 were prepared and tested on a single-cylinder, 4-stroke, DI-diesel engine at different speeds at 100 % load. The P20E10 ternary fuel blend illustrated the most practical combination of all the bioethanol-based blends, which considerably improves the BTE, BSFC and reduces NOxformation at high speed compared to other types of alcoholic fuel blends. Also, the P20E10 fuel blend improved the cloud point of neat diesel.

International audience; This article presents a life cycle assessment of bio-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles with a cradle to grave scope and provides a comparison with petrochemical PET bottles for 13 environmental impact categories. Besides the baseline bio-based PET bottles, which are produced from Brazilian sugarcane reflecting status-quo, two alternative hypothetical bio-based product systems were considered: European wheat straw and European crops market mix composed of maize, wheat and sugar beet. The land-use change (LUC) impacts were assessed based on a deterministic model. The end-of-life impact was assessed using the EASETECH model. Baseline bio-based PET bottles performed overall worse than conventional petrochemical PET bottles, offering only better performance (about 10%) in abiotic depletion (fossil fuels). Comparable performance is observed for climate change (2% difference without the LUC, and 7% with LUC impacts). Using European crops for ethanol production (alternative 1) instead of Brazilian sugarcane resulted in a worse environmental performance, due to lower yields attained compared to Brazilian sugarcane. When wheat straw was considered as biomass feedstock for ethanol production (alternative 2), similar environmental performance with petrochemical PET bottles was seen.

Biomass materials, an important source of chemical feedstocks, could replace fossil fuels as a resource in the future. The chemical feedstocks from biomass materials are used in many medical and pharmaceutical products and in fuels, chemicals, and functional materials. Biomass materials are expected to be used in biomedical engineering fields, especially due to their low biotoxicity. By the way, most of the demand for bio-application fields is an application targeted for customized production, so a high formability is required for production. Research on three-dimensional (3D) printing technology capable of satisfying these requirements has been ongoing. Manufacturing additives need to be investigated to use biomass materials as a resin or bioink safely for 3D printing, which is a technique widely used in biomedical engineering fields. In this study, a projection microstereolithography (PμSL) system, a 3D printing technique, was made that uses a biomass-based resin. Biomass materials are designed to be photocurable for use in the PμSL process. Various PμSL process parameters were investigated using the biomass-based resin to determine the optimum fabrication conditions for 3D structures. This study demonstrated that a biomass-based resin can be used in the PμSL process. We provide a method for its application in various biomedical engineering fields.

Biomass is one of the most important sources of renewable energy. It is expected that in the coming decades, biomass will play a major role in replacing fossil fuels. The most commonly used biofuels include wood pellet, which is a cost-effective, uniform and easy-to-use material. In view of the growing interest in this type of resource, novel methods are being investigated to improve the quality of pellet. This article presents the results of a laboratory study focusing on wood pellets refined with waste sunflower cooking oil applied by spraying. In this work, authors attempted to modify the energy parameters of wood pellets with the use of waste cooking oil. Addition of waste cooking oil, applied at the rates of 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% and 12% relative to the weight of pellets, increased the calorific value of the pellets without decreasing their durability. The highest dose of the modifier (12%) on average led to a 12–16% increase in calorific value. In each case, the addition of sunflower oil resulted in decreased contents of ash in the pellets; on average a decrease of 16–38% was observed in the samples treated with the highest dose of the modifier. The treatment led to a higher content of elements affecting the heating value, i.e., carbon and hydrogen, which on average increased by 7.5–12%, and 7.0–10.0%, respectively. The presented method seems to be a promising way of increasing the calorific value of pellets. Further research on refining the method and the possibility of using it in industry is necessary.

Microalgae biofuel is expected to be an ideal alternative to fossil fuels to mitigate the effects of climate change and the energy crisis. However, the production process of microalgae biofuel is sometimes considered to be energy intensive and uneconomical, which limits its large-scale production. Several cultivation systems are used to acquire feedstock for microalgal biofuels production. The energy consumption of different cultivation systems is different, and the concentration of culture medium (microalgae cells contained in the unit volume of medium) and other properties of microalgae vary with the culture methods, which affects the energy consumption of subsequent processes. This review compared the energy consumption of different cultivation systems, including the open pond system, four types of closed photobioreactor (PBR) systems, and the hybrid cultivation system, and the energy consumption of the subsequent harvesting process. The biomass concentration and areal biomass production of every cultivation system were also analyzed. The results show that the flat-panel PBRs and the column PBRs are both preferred for large-scale biofuel production for high biomass productivity.

This paper aims to analyze the economic feasibility of generating a novel, innovative biofuel&mdash, bioenergy&mdash, obtained from deposit bio-components by means of a pilot installation of sewage sludge bio-conversion. Fuel produced from sewage sludge biomass bears the potential of being considered a renewable energy source. In the present study, 23 bioconversion cycles were conducted taking into consideration the different contents, types of high carbohydrate additives, moisture content of the mixture as well as the shape of the bed elements. The biofuel was produced using post fermentation sewage sludge for industrial energy and heat generation. Based on the presented research it was concluded that the composite biofuel can be co-combusted with hard coal with the optimal percentage share within the range of 20&ndash, 30% w/w. Sewage sludge stabilized by means of anaerobic digestion carried out in closed fermentation chambers is the final product. The average values of the CO2, CO, NO, NOx and SO2 concentrations in flue gas from co-combustion of a bioconversion product (20% w/w) and coal were 5.43%, 1903 ppm, 300 ppm, 303 ppm and 179 ppm, respectively. In total, within a period of 4.5 years of the plant operation, 1853 Mg of fuel was produced and successfully co-combusted with coal in a power plant. The research demonstrated that in the waste water treatment sector there exists energy potential in terms of calorific value which translates into tangible benefits both in the context of energy generation as well as environmental protection. Over 700,000 Mg of bio-sewage sludge is generated annually in Poland. According to findings of the study presented in the paper, the proposed solution could give 970,000 Mg of dry mass of biomass qualified as energy biomass replacing fossil fuels.

The depletion of fossil fuel has drawn growing attention towards the utilization of renewable biomass for sustainable energy production. Technologies for the production of algae derived biofuel has attracted wide attention in recent years. Direct thermochemical conversion of algae obtained biocrude oil with poor fuel quality due to the complex composition of algae. Thus, catalysts are required in such process to remove the heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. This article reviews the recent advances in catalytic systems for the direct catalytic conversion of algae, as well as catalytic upgrading of algae-derived oil or biocrude into liquid fuels with high quality. Heterogeneous catalysts with high activity in deoxygenation and denitrogenation are preferable for the conversion of algae oil to high-grade liquid fuel. The paper summarized the influence of reaction parameters and reaction routes for the catalytic conversion process of algae from critical literature. The development of new catalysts, conversion conditions, and efficiency indicators (yields and selectivity) from different literature are presented and compared. The future prospect and challenges in general utilization of algae are also proposed.

The electric power system is currently undergoing a period of unprecedented changes. Environmental and sustainability concerns lead to replacement of a significant share of conventional fossil fuel-based power plants with renewable energy resources. This transition involves the major challenge of substituting synchronous machines and their well-known dynamics and controllers with power electronics-interfaced generation whose regulation and interaction with the rest of the system is yet to be fully understood. In this article, we review the challenges of such low-inertia power systems, and survey the solutions that have been put forward thus far. We strive to concisely summarize the laid-out scientific foundations as well as the practical experiences of industrial and academic demonstration projects. We touch upon the topics of power system stability, modeling, and control, and we particularly focus on the role of frequency, inertia, as well as control of power converters and from the demand-side.

The research on the environmental impacts of corn-derived products has been mainly on cultivation techniques and the production of biofuels, so there is limited information on the impacts produced by the transformation of corn for human consumption. The tortilla is a millennial product derived from corn of which consumption is increasing in North America. The aim of this study is to identify the environmental hotspots of the tortilla using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The process studied included only the corn&ndash, nixtamalisation&ndash, dough&ndash, tortillas production. The functional unit is one kg of tortillas packed in kraft paper. The impacts of the tortilla production process were evaluated using SimaPro 8.5.0 software, considering ReCiPe Midpoint. The production has the greatest impact in 15 of the 18 impact categories. The normalisation reveals that the most significant impacts concentrate in the categories terrestrial acidification (TA), particulate matter formation (PMF), marine ecotoxicity (MET) and fossil fuel depletion (FD). Improvements in the cultivation could mean more environmentally friendly tortilla production.