The performance of a top-lit updraft gasifier affected by biomass (pine wood) particle size, moisture content and compactness was studied in terms of the biochar yield, biomass burning rate, syngas composition and tar content. The highest biochar yield increase (from 12.2% to 21.8%) was achieved by varying the particle size from 7 to 30 mm, however, larger particles triggered tar generation tha...

Qingyu Feng. M.S.A.B.E., Purdue University, December 2013. Biomass Production and Hydrological/Water Quality Impacts of Perennial Crop Production on Marginal Land. Major Professor: Indrajeet Chaubey. Marginal land has been proposed to be a viable choice for biomass production to meet the biofuel development goal set by Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). However, very little informatio...

The rice (Oryza sativa) dwarf mutant d61 phenotype is caused by loss of function of a rice BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1 ortholog, OsBRI1. We have identified nine d61 alleles, the weakest of which, d61-7, confers agronomically important traits such as semidwarf stature and erect leaves. Because erect-leaf habit is considered to increase light capture for photosynthesis, we compared the biomass a...

Previously, the primary product distribution resulting from fast pyrolysis of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin was quantified. This study extends the analysis to the examinations of interactions between cellulose−hemicellulose and cellulose−lignin, which were determined by comparing the pyrolysis products from their native mixture, physical mixture, and superposition of individual component...

3-Hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) is of high industrial interest as a new platform intermediate from bioconversion of renewable materials because it can be converted into a number of large scale commodity chemicals. In this work we studied the production of 3-HPA from bioconversion of glycerol in a two-stage process. In the first stage active biomass is produced. The active biomass is then used ...

Thermochemical conversion of non-edible biomass offers an efficient and economically process to provide valuable fuels and prepare chemicals derived from biomass in the context of developing countries. Pyrolysis has advantages over other thermochemical conversion techniques because it can convert biomass directly into solid, liquid and gaseous products by thermal decomposition of biomass in the...

The Gram-negative bacterium Klebsiella planticola represents an interesting host organism for the production of biotechnological products. Microbial processes – especially those of aerobic cultivation – lead to the generation of considerable amounts of biomass, thus lowering the product yield. These are the reasons for studying methods for the recycling of biomass from K. planticola. It will be...

Effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and influent organic loading rate (OLR) were investigated in a photobioreactor containing PNSB (Rhodobacter sphaeroides)-chemoheterotrophic bacteria to treat soybean wastewater. Pollutants removal, biomass production and ALA yield in different phases were investigated in together with functional microbial population dynamics. The results showed that pro...

This study examined the influence of harvest time on biomass yield, dry matter partitioning, biochemical composition and biological methane potential of reed canary grass harvested twice a month in one-cut (OC) management. The regrowth of biomass harvested in summer was also harvested in autumn as a two-cut management with (TC-F) or without (TC-U) fertilization after summer harvest. The specifi...

Pretreatment has been recognized as a key step in enzyme-based conversion processes of lignocellulose biomass to ethanol. The aim of this study is to evaluate two hydrothermal pretreatments (steam explosion and liquid hot water) to enhance ethanol production from poplar (Populus nigra) biomass by a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process. The composition of liquid and solid...