Study on the possibility of waste mushroom medium as a biomass resource for biorefinery

In order to investigate the possibility of waste mushroom medium as a biomass resource for biorefinery, characteristics of hydrolysate and pretreated biomass obtained from oxalic acid pretreatment were examined. The hydrolysate contained high glucose and low concentrations of inhibitors. The glucose concentration in the hydrolysate particularly increased when temperature gradient was used during pretreatment, compared with that of isocratic condition. The highest increase rate of glucose was 63.16% when pretreatment was performed at 140 °C for 25 min with 0.032 oxalic acid (g/g), and increased temperature to 170 °C. At the same time, ethanol production of Scheffersomyces stipitis using hydrolysate was 15.72 g/L after 48 h, which correspond to an ethanol volumetric productivity of 0.33 g L^?1 h^?1. Most of the lignin and some of the cellulose remained in the pretreated biomass. The total lignin content of the pretreated biomass, represent between 31.81 and 45.05%, compared to 28.8% of the raw material. The calorific value of the pretreated biomass ranged from 4940 to 5111 kcal/kg which represent increase of 3–6% compared to the raw material, due to higher contents of lignin in the pretreated biomass.     

Investigation of the effect of temperature and alkaline concentration on the solubilization of phenolic acids from dilute acid-pretreated wheat straw

This work deals with the investigation of the effect of alkaline concentration and temperature on the solubilization of phenolic materials from wheat straw, an abundant agricultural waste found in Turkey. The solid residue obtained after dilute acid pretreatment of wheat straw (SPWS) was treated by alkaline to solubilize the lignin to phenolic acids. Four different alkaline concentrations at 120 °C and seven different temperatures with 2 M NaOH were evaluated for the degree of solubilization of the phenolic materials, and the antioxidant activities of the soluble phenolic materials were determined. It was found that coumaric and ferulic acids were the major phenolic acids in all of the conditions tested. The highest antioxidant capacity of the hydrolysate of SPWS was obtained with 2 M NaOH at 150 °C where DPPH*, FRAP and TEAC values were found to be 3.23, 10.27 and 13.70 μmol/g WS, respectively.     

High temperature pretreatment and hydrolysis of cotton stalk for producing sugars for bioethanol production

The aim of this work was to evaluate cotton stalk (waste plant material after harvesting the cotton) as feedstock for bioethanol production. Different pretreatment strategies were tried using sodium hydroxide in a high pressure reactor equipped with a pitch blade turbine stirrer, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis using cellulases; the process optimization was carried out using Taguchi experimental design. Best results were achieved when the pretreatment was carried out at 180 °C for 45 min with mixing of substrate at 100 rpm. The sugar yield was evaluated based on pretreatment severity. The hydrolysis efficiency of pretreated cotton plant waste was very good (96%), showing the excellent efficiency of the method in removing the lignin. The material balance in each stage of the process was estimated and the total process efficiency was found to be 53% based on glucose conversion.     

High temperature elemental losses and mineralogical changes in common biomass ashes

The elemental losses from ashes of common biomass fuels (rice straw, wheat straw, and wood) were determined as a function of temperature from 525 °C to below 1525 °C, within the respective melting intervals. The experimental procedure was chosen to approach equilibrium conditions in an oxidizing atmosphere for the specific ash and temperature conditions. All experiments were conducted in air and used the ashes produced initially at temperatures of 525 °C as reactants. Losses during the initial ashing at 525 °C were negligible, except for a K₂O loss of 26% for wood and a Cl loss of 20% for wheat straw. Potassium losses are positively correlated with temperature for all fuel ashes. The K₂O loss for wood ash commences at 900–1000 °C. Carbonate is detected in the wood ashes to about 700–800 °C and thus cannot explain the retention of K₂O in the ashes to 1000 °C. Other crystalline phases detected in the wood ashes (pericline and larnite) contain little or no potassium. Petrographic examinations of high temperature, wood ash products have failed to reveal potassium bearing carbonates, sulfates, or silicates. The release of potassium, thus, appears to be unrelated to the breakdown of potassium-bearing crystalline phases. The straw ashes show restricted potassium loss compared to wood ash. The potassium content declines for both straw ashes from about 750 °C. Cristobalite appears in the straw ashes at about 700–750 °C and is replaced by tridymite in the rice straw ash from about 1100 °C. Sylvite (KCl) disappears completely above 1000 °C. The Cl content starts to decline at about 700 °C, approximately at the same temperature as potassium, suggesting that the breakdown of sylvite is responsible for the losses. The K–Cl relations demonstrate that about 50% of K (atomic basis) released from breakdown of sylvite is retained in the ash. The presence of chlorine in the ash is, therefore, best attributed to the presence of sylvite. Potassium is easily accommodated in the silicate melt formed at temperatures perhaps as low as 700–800 °C from dehydration, recrystallization, and partial melting of amorphous components. Loss of potassium persists for ashes without remaining sylvite and points to the importance of release of potassium from partial melt at temperatures within the melting interval for the fuel ashes.     

A new physical pretreatment of plum for drying

In this paper a new physical pretreatment of plums, consists of piercing them by a thin needle, is proposed to increase the rate of drying. The effect of physical pretreatment on drying time was compared with chemical pretreatment that consists of dipping of plums in hot NaOH solution (1%). Drying experiments were carried out in a convective laboratory dryer at 85 °C and 0.81 m/s air velocity. It was observed that pierced plums were dried faster than chemically pretreated plums. After 480 min moisture ratio of pierced sample was 0.07 while for the chemical method it was 0.25. The moisture ratio at any time was compared with seven different mathematical models and the best model was determined according to the best agreement. Accordingly, two-term exponential model for moisture ratio is found to be superior to the other proposed models. The effective diffusivity was found to be 5.471 × 10^?9 m²/s for chemically pretreated and 1.016 × 10^?8 m²/s for physically pretreated plums.     

Thermal degradation of rice straw fibers: Global kinetic modeling with isothermal thermogravimetric analysis

Thermal degradation behavior of rice straw fibers under isothermal heating conditions was studied. The data were modeled by considering the fiber as one pseudo-component using the Málek method. The kinetic model with reaction order n > 1 [i.e., RO(n > 1) = (1 ? α)ⁿ] described the degradation process of rice straw fiber fairly well in a temperature range up to about 265 °C. The kinetic parameters used include activation energy of 116 ± 5 kJ/mol, reaction order of 3.0 ± 0.2, and logarithmic value of pre-exponential factor [ln A] of 18.7 ± 0.1 ln s^?1. The model obtained can be used to aid the development of straw fiber-engineering plastic composites.     

Selective recovery of valuable metals from partial silicated sphalerite at elevated temperature with sulfuric acid solution

The purpose of this work was to study the feasibility at laboratory-scale of a hydrometallurgical process for the selective recovery of valuable metals from partial silicated sphalerite in an oxygen pressure acid leaching system. The factors influencing dissolution efficiency of the ore were investigated and optimized. Under optimum conditions (i.e., temperature of 433 K, sulfuric acid concentration of 41.2 g/L, leaching time of 2.5 h, liquid/solid ratio of 6 mL/g, and pressure of 1.6 MPa) over 97% Zn was extracted into the leach liquor together with 0.3% SiO₂ and 2.9% Pb. The leaching slurry had good solid–liquid separation characteristics, and the filtration rate could be as high as 716 L/m² h. About 96% oxidation of sulfide sulfur to sulfate was achieved under these conditions. Analysis of the content of elemental sulfur in the leaching residues indicated that the fraction of sulfide sulfur determined as elemental sulfur was about 10% at 393 K, and that it decreased with temperature down to 0.5% at 453 K. Ultimate solid residues, which have been concentrated in silica and lead, can be oriented toward the lead smelter after alkali roasting-water washing pretreatment for metal recovery.     

Enhancement of immobilized enzyme activity by pretreatment of β-glucosidase with cellobiose and glucose

In this study, β-glucosidase from Aspergillus niger was pretreated with cellobiose and glucose to prevent loss of enzyme activity, and pretreated β-glucosidase was immobilized on silica gel as a carrier by covalent binding. To enhance the activity of immobilized β-glucosidase, the effects of substrate concentration and reaction conditions, including temperature, time, and agitation speed, were investigated. The optimal concentrations of cellobiose and glucose, temperature, time, and agitation speed were determined to be 0.02 M, 40 °C, 20 min, and 130 rpm, respectively. The activity of immobilized β-glucosidase after pretreatment was increased to about 176% of that of non-pretreated β-glucosidase. In addition, the optimal pH and temperature of the non-pretreated and pretreated immobilized β-glucosidases were both pH 5.5 and 65 °C, respectively. Moreover, the immobilized β-glucosidases were used repeatedly 20 times, and the enzyme activities were maintained at levels higher than 80% of their initial activities.     

Characterization of purified fungal endoxylanase and its application for production of value added food ingredient from agroresidues

Xylanase from Aspergillus foetidus MTCC 4898 was purified using ammonium sulphate fractionation followed by ion exchange and gel permeation chromatography with 12.26-fold purity and 29.9% recovery. Purified xylanase was found to be 29.9 kDa. Optimum temperature and pH for xylanase activity of purified xylanase were found to be 50 °C and 5.3 respectively. Presence of additives like polyethylene glycol, sodium azide, Tween 80, KCl and NaCl increased the stability of purified xylanase by 35, 29, 28, 32 and 43% respectively at 50 °C after 180 min. Kinetic parameters like K_m and V_max were found to be 4 mg/ml and 7288 μmol/mg/min respectively. The purified xylanase was found to be an endoxylanase as it produced only xylooligosaccharides (XOS) from birchwood xylan. Production of XOS was carried out from xylan extracted from agro-residues using β-xylosidase free xylanase. Maximum yield of XOS was 7.28 ± 0.14 mg/ml and 4.52 ± 0.21 mg/ml from wheat straw xylan and rice straw xylan respectively. XOS mixture was suitable for food industry looking at its high thermal stability at low pH. Prebiotic effect of XOS was evaluated by in vitro fermentation of XOS using known probiotic strains of Bifidobacterium spp.     

Study on the conditions to brew rice vinegar with high content of γ-amino butyric acid by response surface methodology

In this study, rice vinegar with high content of γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) was prepared by using sprouted rice as raw material, supplemented with red yeast rice, glucoamylase preparation and raw starter complex during saccharification and alcohol fermentation, and the brewing conditions of the rice vinegar with high GABA content were studied. Through Plackett–Burman design, three factors (adding amounts of raw starter complex, red yeast rice and glucoamylase preparation) were identified as significant factors, which were subsequently optimized using Box–Benhnken center-united experiment design. At the optimal conditions, which were 500 g smashed sprouted rice, 4 g red yeast rice, 1.5 g raw starter complex, 1.6 mL glucoamylase preparation, 5 g sodium glutamate, 335 mL water, fermented at pH 6, 28 °C for 5 days, the estimated value of GABA was reached at 147.09 mg/100 mL fermenting mash, and the average experimental GABA value was 145.18 mg/100 mL. After that, the acetic acid fermentation in solid-state through adding wheat bran and chaff into the fermenting mash was carried on for 7 d before maturing for 8 d. In the end, the rice vinegar containing 100 mg/L GABA was prepared.     

Was pretreatment beneficial for more biogas in any process? Chemical pretreatment effect on hydrogen–methane co-production in a two-stage process

The study focused on the mesophilic anaerobic hydrogen production from PPS (pulp and paper sludge) and FW (food waste) pretreated by NaOH or H₂SO₄, and the subsequent thermophilic anaerobic methane production with the effluent in a two-stage process. The maximum hydrogen yield (78.35 mL g^?1 VS_fed) which was 50.21% higher than that of CK, was achieved when 10 g NaOH/100 g TS_substrate was used. However, the maximum methane yield (383.8 mL g^?1 VS_fed) was obtained in CK as well as 64% SCOD removal efficiency was achieved. In short, NaOH/H₂SO₄ pretreatment was suitable to enhance the hydrogen production.     

The optimum conditions for preparing solid fuel briquette of rice straw by a piston-mold process using the Taguchi method

Using the Taguchi method, this study analyzed the optimum conditions for preparing the solid fuel briquette of the rice straw by a piston-mold process. The controllable factors used in this study consisted of the following: (1) the type of binder (such as the rice bran, the soybean residue, and the sawdust of Acacia confuse), (2) the hot-pressing temperature (such as 110, 130, and 150 °C), (3) the size of the smashed rice straw (such as 10–5 mm, 5–2 mm, and < 2 mm), and (4) the percentage ratio of rice straw to binder in a briquette (such as 100/0, 80/20, and 60/40). The percentage contribution of each controllable factor was also determined. The confirmation experiment was carried out according to the optimum conditions. Most interestingly, the size of the smashed rice straw is the most influential factor to solidify fuel briquette, and its value is up to 43.0%.     

Improvement of ethanol fermentation from lignocellulosic hydrolysates by the removal of inhibitors

In this study, the removal efficiency of fermentation inhibitors in a lignocellulosic hydrolysate by electrodialysis (ED) and the ethanol performance of ED-treated hydrolysate were investigated. The fermentable sugars and inhibitors concentrations in the hydrolysate differed significantly depending on the kind of biomass and acid catalysts. In the mixed hardwood, acetic acid and furfural in the hydrolysate were high as 8.41–8.57 g/L and 2.68–4.23 g/L, respectively, but 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) concentration was relatively low compared with that of mixed softwood. The ED process showed the high effectiveness for removing acetic acid and total phenolic compounds in the hydrolysate without loss of fermentable sugars. However, most of the HMF and furfural remained in the hydrolysate after ED. Ethanol fermentation was not completed in untreated and mixed hardwood ED-treated hydrolysates due to the high concentration of furfural. Meanwhile, ethanol fermentation was successfully performed in a mixed softwood ED-treated hydrolysate pretreated with dicarboxylic acid. The maximum ethanol concentration attained after fermentation with an initial fermentable sugar level of 27.78 g/L was 10.12 g/L after 48 h.     

Dilute acid hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

The overall aim of this work was to establish the optimum conditions for acid hydrolysis of hemicellulosic biomass in the form of potato peel. The hydrolysis reaction was undertaken in a 1l high pressure pilot batch reactor using dilute phosphoric acid. Analysis of the decomposition rate of hemicellulosic biomass (namely Cellulose, Hemicellulose and lignin) was undertaken using HPLC of the reaction products namely, 5 and 6 carbon sugars. Process parameters investigated included, reactor temperature (from 135 °C to 200 °C) and acid concentration (from 2.5% (w/w) to 10% (w/w)). Analysis of the reactor products indicated that high conversion of cellulose to glucose was apparent although arabinose conversion was quite low due to thermally un-stability. However, an overall sugar yield is 82.5% was achieved under optimum conditions. This optimum yield was obtained at 135 °C and 10% (w/w) acid concentration. 55.2 g sugar/100 g dry potato peel is produced after a time of 8 min. The work indicates that the use of potato peel may be a feasible option as a feed material for the production of sugars for biofuel synthesis, due its low cost and high sugar yields.     

Aqueous gelcasting of ZrB2–SiC ultra high temperature ceramics

ZrB₂–SiC ultra high temperature ceramics containing B₄C and C as sintering additives were successfully prepared by aqueous gelcasting and pressureless sintering. Polyacrylic acid (PAA) was used as the dispersant throughout this research. The various effects of zeta potential, pH value, dispersant concentration, solid loading and ball-milling time on the rheology and fluidity behavior of ZrB₂–SiC suspension were investigated in detail. A well-dispersed suspension with 50 vol.% solid loading was prepared at pH 10 with 0.4 wt.% PAA after ball milling at 240 rpm for 24 h. Then crack-free green ZrB₂–SiC ceramics were obtained by gelcasting process and then pressureless sintered at 2100 °C to about 98% relative density. The microstructure and mechanical properties were examined, and the flexural strength and fracture toughness were 405 ± 27 MPa and 4.3 ± 0.3 MPa m^1/2, respectively.     

Sugar production from raw seaweed using the enzyme method

For effective saccharification from raw seaweed using the enzyme method, various environmental factors affecting the apparent viscosity were investigated. When 0.75% of ascorbic acid was used, the apparent viscosity decreased from 500 to 125 cP after 1 h of sterilization, and did not decrease after 2 h of sterilization. In the case of the raw seaweed without the addition of ascorbic acid, it did not decrease significantly. However, when HCl was used, it decreased from 480 to 389 cP after 1 h of sterilization, after which it did not decrease. The apparent viscosity of raw seaweed was strongly affected by the ascorbic acid concentration. For instance, when 1.0% ascorbic acid was used, the apparent viscosity was 92 cP. On the other hand, no further decrease in apparent viscosity occurred upon increasing the concentration above 1.5%. A scale up of the saccharification of raw seaweed using the new enzyme method was carried out. When the new enzyme method was used for the saccharification, 8.8 g/l of sugar was obtained after 6 h of reaction, which was about four times higher than that obtained without the addition of the ascorbic acid and liquozyme. In particular, the sugar production rate was 1.6 g/l/h, which was about 33 times higher than that of the saccharification using Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. A fed-batch experiment for the saccharification was also carried out, where the sugar concentration reached 27.2 g/l after 16 h of reaction.     

Statistical optimization of hydrolysis process for banana peels using cellulolytic and pectinolytic enzymes

Dried and ground banana peels (BP) were pretreated and hydrolyzed using a combination of cellulolytic and pectinolytic enzymes. Central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize cellulase, β-glucosidase and pectinase concentrations and hydrolysis time for production of glucose and reducing sugars. Design expert software was used to analyze and evaluate the data. The interactions between filter paper cellulase and β-glucosidase concentrations were statistically significant at a 95% confidence level in production of glucose and reducing sugars from BP. The validation experiment was carried out with cellulase, β-glucosidase and pectinase at 8 FPU/g cellulose, 15 IU/g cellulose and 66 IU/g pectin, respectively, for 15 h in a laboratory fermenter. The glucose and reducing sugars concentrations of 28.2 and 48 g/l, respectively, obtained through the validation experiment were higher than the theoretical values for glucose and reducing sugars predicted by the software. Glucose, galactose, arabinose, xylose and galacturonic acid concentrations increased with time, but a significant increase in fructose concentration was not observed. Process optimization also led to about 40% savings in hydrolysis time, indicating scale-up potential for the process.     

Optimization of enzymatic pretreatment for n-hexane extraction of oil from Silybum marianum seeds using response surface methodology

An investigation on enzymatic pretreatment for n-hexane extraction of oil from the Silybum marianum seeds was conducted. The optimum combination of extraction parameters was obtained with the response surface methodology (RSM) at a four-variable and five-level central composite design (CCD). The optimum parameters of enzymatic pretreatment were as follows: enzyme concentration of 2.0% (w/w), temperature of 42.8 °C, reaction time of 5.6 h, and pH of 4.8. After enzymatic pretreatment, the oil was extracted by n-hexane for 1.5 h, and the oil yield on a dry basis was 45.70%, which well matched with the predicted value (45.86%). The results of the effects of the enzymatic pretreatment for n-hexane extraction of oil from the aspects of oil yield, microstructure and the fatty acid compositions showed that the enzymatic pretreatment had not affected on the fatty acid compositions, but could cause structure breakage of the S. marianum seeds and accelerate releasing extra oil, which increased the oil yield by 10.46% compared with n-hexane extraction for 1.5 h without enzymatic pretreatment, and confirmed the efficacy of enzymatic pretreatment for n-hexane extraction of oil from the S. marianum seeds.     

Improved γ-alumina support based pseudo-boehmite shaped by micro-extrusion process for oxygen carrier support application

γ-Alumina extrudates for chemical-looping combustion in fluidized bed reactors were shaped by varying acetic acid concentrations between 0.07 and 3.76 M. Influence of pseudo-boehmite peptization on structural properties, microstructure, chemical phases and attrition resistance was determined. With addition of acetic acid, the d₉₀ of boehmite agglomerates after 1 h kneading decreased from 134 to 40 μm at pH 4. Due to this, the extrusion diameter was reduced from 1500 to 200 μm, as well as median pore radii (from 30.1 to 5.3 nm). Porosity was about 70%. Addition of more than 1.87 M acid lead to a slight increase in mesopore sizes caused by some pore blocking caused by the formation of aluminium acetate salts. A small micropore surface was determined with t-layer model from Harkins and Jura. Higher attrition resistance was observed for samples peptized with lower acid concentration because of the closer contact between particles after decomposition.     

Preparation and properties of porous alumina ceramics with uni-directionally oriented pores by extrusion method using a plastic substance as a pore former

Porous alumina ceramics with uni-directionally aligned pores were prepared by an extrusion method using 0–40 vol.% poly (vinyl acetate) (PVAC) as the pore former. A paste was prepared by mixing 25 mass% distilled water, 4 mass% methylcellulose, 8 mass% oleic acid and 0.8 mass% ammonium poly (carboxylic acid). This paste was molded into a 10 mm Ø body using a ram-type extruder, dried at room temperature for 24 h, calcined at 600 °C for 1 h and sintered at 1500 °C for 2 h in air. The PVAC added to the paste was homogeneously dispersed and formed particles 0.1–150 μm in size which extended in the extrusion direction and were converted to through-hole pores after sintering. The resulting pore size distribution in the samples was bimodal, centered at about 0.4 μm with a broad peak at about 70 μm dia. The resulting porous alumina ceramics showed high gas permeability because of their uni-directionally oriented through-hole pore structure.