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Publications (3 of 3) Show all publications
Paulsen Thoresen, P., Fahrni, J., Lange, H., Hertzog, J., Carré, V., Zhou, M., . . . Matsakas, L. (2023). On the understanding of bio-oil formation from the hydrothermal liquefaction of organosolv lignin isolated from softwood and hardwood sawdust. Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 7(22)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>On the understanding of bio-oil formation from the hydrothermal liquefaction of organosolv lignin isolated from softwood and hardwood sawdust
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2023 (English)In: Sustainable Energy & Fuels, E-ISSN 2398-4902, Vol. 7, no 22Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Conversion of organosolv lignins isolated with and without an inorganic acid catalyst (H2SO4) from hard- and softwood (birch and spruce) into bio-oil through hydrothermal liquefaction has been investigated. Furthermore, fractions of the isolated bio-oils were catalytically deoxygenated to improve the bio-oil properties. As elucidated through NMR, both biomass source and extraction mode influence the bio-oil product distribution. Depending on whether the lignins carry a high content of native structures, or are depolymerized and subsequently condensed in the presence of sugar dehydration products, will dictate heavy oil (HO) and light oil (LO) distribution, and skew the HO product composition, which again will influence the requirements upon catalytical deoxygenation.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Royal Society of Chemistry, 2023
Keywords
Hardwoods; Heavy oil production; Lignin; Liquefaction; Softwoods; Acid catalyst; Bio-oils; Biomass source; Hardwoods ands; Hydrothermal liquefactions; Isolated BiO; Oil formation; Oil product; Organosolv lignin; Property; Crude oil
National Category
Bioprocess Technology Wood Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-67714 (URN)10.1039/d3se00976a (DOI)2-s2.0-85174410902 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Energy Agency, 2019-005832, 2022-201046
Note

This work was part of the projects “Upgrading of organosolv lignin to jet fuel (GOLdJET FUEL)” and “Eco-efficient biorefinery for competitive production of green renewable shipping fuels (ECO-FORCE FUELS)” funded by the Swedish Energy Agency with reference numbers 2019-005832 and 2022-201046 respectively. Mattias Hedenström, Swedish NMR Centre (Umeå, Umeå University, VR RFI), João Figueira, Swedish NMR Centre (Umeå, Umeå University, Scilife Lab) and the NMR Core Facility (Swedish NMR Centre, SwedNMR, Umeå node), Umeå University are acknowledged for NMR support. FTICR MS equipment was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), the general council of Moselle, Region Grand Est, Metz Metropole and the University of Lorraine (RESEX project).

Available from: 2023-11-06 Created: 2023-11-06 Last updated: 2024-06-07Bibliographically approved
Gunnarsson, C., Baky, A., Castillo, M. d., Eliasson, L., Fahrni, J., Gustafsson, T., . . . Xanthakis, E. (2022). Utvinning av högvärdiga komponenter för förbättrad värdekedja för vall till etanol och bioolja.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Utvinning av högvärdiga komponenter för förbättrad värdekedja för vall till etanol och bioolja
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2022 (Swedish)Report (Other academic)
Alternative title[en]
Extraction of high-value components for improved value chain for ley grass to ethanol and biooil
Abstract [en]

Grass-clover ley holds an importance role for a sustainable crop production and is mainly used as feed for ruminants. But ley also contains proteins, if extracted, suitable for monogastric animals such as pigs and poultry. If these proteins are extracted, the degree of self-sufficiency of proteins in Sweden can increase and better resource utilization is achieved. In this study we evaluated the utilization of fresh and ensiled grass-clover ley in a straw-based agricultural biorefinery for producing protein concentrate, ethanol, bio-oil and biogas.

Practical lab scale tests of extraction of high value components for food and feed applications from the liquid fraction after ley pressing were carried out. Pretreatments of the solid fraction prior to ethanol fermentation, bio-oil production using HTL (hydrothermal liquefaction) and biogas production were tested. The system for production and supply of the ley was described and the potential for increased ley production in Sweden was quantified. The environmental and economic efficiency of the proposed biorefinery system was evaluated using environmental systems analysis and technoeconomic assessment.

In terms of system profitability, a high protein yield in the extracted protein concentrate it is important. To achieve that, a thorough pre-treatment using mechanical biomass disintegration before fractioning is crucial. This may need to be done in several steps. Screw pressing is a common technique for fractionating ley into a liquid and solid fraction. Double pressing combined with enzymatic treatments or only water addition during the second pressing stage were found to increase the protein yield compared to single pressing. Second pressing had no effect on the amino acid profile of the protein concentrate.

After pressing fresh ley, heat coagulation or isoelectric precipitation can be used to precipitate protein concentrates in one- or two-step processes to produce protein fractions with different functional properties. Tests showed that it is possible to recover chlorophyll and carotenoids from the ley using supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. which is a suitable method for food applications as toxic organic solvents can be avoided. The ensiling process degrades the protein into smaller peptides or free amino acids which makes ensiled grass less suitable for protein recovery by heat coagulation or isoelectric precipitation. Fresh and ensiled timothy and meadow fescue showed a similar amino acid profile as soybeans.

The initial hypothesis that mechanical pressing may disintegrate the lignocellulosic structure of ley sufficiently to produce a sugar stream with a high concentration of sugar for further fermentation by enzymatic hydrolysis was not confirmed. The content of sugars released after the enzymatic hydrolysis was relatively low. The fibre fraction after the mechanical pressing can be suitable for ethanol production if an additional pretreatment method will be incorporated. Fermentation of pressed and steam-exploded ensiled mixed ley showed promising results. The bio-oils produced with the HTL-process were described of high quality, i.e., high carbon content and low ash content. Although, the obtained materials are not directly integrable in today's refineries, the ensiling did not seem to affect the material's potential for biofuel production. The methane potential tests that were carried out in the project of the liquid residual fraction after protein extraction and after the HTL process showed that both can be suitable for methane production, but they showed great behavior differences.

The results from the environmental system analysis showed that extraction of high-quality products from ley, straw and sawdust according to the studied system reduces climate impact (CO2 eq) when the use of ethanol, bio-oil and biogas replaces fossil fuels, protein concentrate replaces soy as feed and carbon dioxide replaces fossil carbon dioxide. At present, the climate impact from extracted protein concentrate is higher than for soybean meal. Grass source for protein extraction followed by ethanol and bio-oil production as an alternative to straw-based ethanol and bio-oil production did not seem to improve the profitability of the studied biorefinery system. Profitability may be improved if protein extraction is performed the whole all year and not seasonal. Higher prices of the extracted protein concentrate may also improve profitability.

The potential for increased grassland cultivation in Sweden for biorefining was estimated at approximately 3.4 million tonnes grass per year. This included incorporating grassland in the crop rotation in grain-dominated areas, intensification of existing grassland cultivation, utilization of fallow and abandoned arable land for grassland cultivation.

Based on the results and the experience acquired from this project, we suggest an extraction plant for grass-clover ley that operates for both fresh and ensiled grassland all year. The plant needs to be supplemented with more advanced technologies such as membrane filtration for the extraction of amino acids from the ensiled ley during the winter season. The protein extraction plants should be located near farms. The extraction plant is also suggested to be located together with a biogas plant to enable co-digesting residual fractions with manure. Thereby, enabling plant nutrients and minerals in digestate to be returned to arable land. Utilizing the solid fiber fraction for biofuel production with fermentation and HTL in large-scale processes remains promising.

Publisher
p. 106
Series
RISE Rapport ; 2022:79
Keywords
Agriculture, biorefinery, grass-clover, protein, HTL, biofuel
National Category
Agricultural Biotechnology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-59787 (URN)978-91-89711-19-8 (ISBN)
Available from: 2022-07-06 Created: 2022-07-06 Last updated: 2024-08-05
David, R., Fahrni, J., Marcolli, C., Mahrt, F., Brühwiler, D. & Kanji, Z. (2020). The role of contact angle and pore width on pore condensation and freezing. Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics, 20(15), 9419-9440
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The role of contact angle and pore width on pore condensation and freezing
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2020 (English)In: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics, ISSN 1680-7316, E-ISSN 1680-7324, Vol. 20, no 15, p. 9419-9440Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

It has recently been shown that pore condensation and freezing (PCF) is a mechanism responsible for ice formation under cirrus cloud conditions. PCF is defined as the condensation of liquid water in narrow capillaries below water saturation due to the inverse Kelvin effect, followed by either heterogeneous or homogeneous nucleation depending on the temperature regime and presence of an ice-nucleating active site. By using sol-gel synthesized silica with well-defined pore diameters, morphology and distinct chemical surface-functionalization, the role of the water-silica contact angle and pore width on PCF is investigated. We find that for the pore diameters (2.2-9.2 nm) and water contact angles (15-78<span classCombining double low line"inline-formula">ĝ</span>) covered in this study, our results reveal that the water contact angle plays an important role in predicting the humidity required for pore filling, while the pore diameter determines the ability of pore water to freeze. For <span classCombining double low line"inline-formula"><i>T</i>>235</span> K and below water saturation, pore diameters and water contact angles were not able to predict the freezing ability of the particles, suggesting an absence of active sites; thus ice nucleation did not proceed via a PCF mechanism. Rather, the ice-nucleating ability of the particles depended solely on chemical functionalization. Therefore, parameterizations for the ice-nucleating abilities of particles in cirrus conditions should differ from parameterizations at mixed-phase clouds conditions. Our results support PCF as the atmospherically relevant ice nucleation mechanism below water saturation when porous surfaces are encountered in the troposphere. © Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Copernicus GmbH, 2020
Keywords
cirrus, cloud microphysics, condensation, freezing, ice mechanics, nucleation, saturation
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-50120 (URN)10.5194/acp-20-9419-2020 (DOI)2-s2.0-85090533941 (Scopus ID)
Note

Funding details: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, SNF, 200021_156581; Funding details: National Science Foundation, NSF, 200021_156581; Funding text 1: Acknowledgements. We would like to thank Hannes Wydler for all of his technical assistance during this project. We would also like to thank Lukas Huber at EMPA Dübendorf for performing the water sorption measurements. Robert O. David, Zamin A. Kanji, Dominik Brühwiler and Jonas Fahrni acknowledge support for this work from SNF grant no. 200021_156581.; Funding text 2: Financial support. This research has been supported by the Swiss; Funding text 3: National Science Foundation (grant no. 200021_156581).

Available from: 2020-11-04 Created: 2020-11-04 Last updated: 2023-05-22Bibliographically approved
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0003-2396-6687

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