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Biorefinery and Biomass Conversion and Utilization

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2019) | Viewed by 29292

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Prof. Dr. Christophe Len

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1. Sorbonne Universités, Université de Technologie de Compiegne, F-60203 Compiegne, France
2. Chimie ParisTech, CNRS, PSL University, F-75005 Paris, France
Interests: fine chemistry from natural substances: carbohydrates, cyclodextrins, nucleosides, lipids; chemistry and processes for the sustainable development; organic chemistry in green solvents; homogeneous, heterogeneous, and micellar catalysis; continuous flow applied to organic chemistry; organic chemistry under microwave activation
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Dear Colleagues,

Due to the severe degradation of oil-based resources, food and water associated with an increasing population, the 21st century (compared to the previous three) is important for society and future generations. In this context, alternative solutions able to mitigate climate change and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, have to be promoted. Therefore, the replacement of fossil oil by promising renewable resources, such as biomass and waste for the production of fuel and bio-based chemicals, is an interesting option and is the driving force for the development of biorefinery complexes.

The aim of this Special Issue is to cover promising recent research and emerging trends using biomass (lignocellulose, hemicellulose, oil, etc.) and platform molecules (furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural, levulinic acid, glycerol, etc.) in the fields of (i) thermochemical conversion technologies; (ii) physicochemical conversion technologies; and (iii) biochemical conversion technologies. The development of ambitious alternative technologies (flow chemistry, microwave, microreactors, nanocatalysts), as new cornerstones to green chemistry and sustainable development will also be covered.

Prof. Dr. Christophe Len
Guest Editor

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Keywords

biomass
biorefinery
green chemistry
thermochemistry
physicochemistry
biochemistry
chemical catalysis
alternative technologies
microwave
sonochemistry
continuous flow

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 2424 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Conversion of Furfuryl Alcohol into Ethyl Levulinate over Glucose-Derived Carbon-Based Solid Acid in Ethanol

by Geng Zhao, Ming Liu, Xinkui Xia, Li Li and Bayin Xu

Molecules 2019, 24(10), 1881; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24101881 - 16 May 2019

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3655

Abstract

In this study, a carbon-based solid acid was created through the sulfonation of carbon obtained from the hydrothermal pretreatment of glucose. Additionally, ethyl levulinate, a viable liquid biofuel, was produced from furfuryl alcohol using the environmentally benign and low-cost catalyst in ethanol. Studies for optimizing the reaction conditions, such as reaction time, temperature, and catalyst loading, were performed. Under the optimal conditions, a maximum ethyl levulinate yield of 67.1% was obtained. The recovered catalyst activity (Ethyl levulinate yield 57.3%) remained high after being used four times, and it was easily regenerated with a simple sulfonation process. Moreover, the catalyst was characterized using FT-IR, XRD, SEM, elemental analysis, and acid-base titration techniques. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery and Biomass Conversion and Utilization)

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15 pages, 3355 KiB

Open AccessArticle

One-Pot FDCA Diester Synthesis from Mucic Acid and Their Solvent-Free Regioselective Polytransesterification for Production of Glycerol-Based Furanic Polyesters

by Deyang Zhao, Frederic Delbecq and Christophe Len

Molecules 2019, 24(6), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24061030 - 15 Mar 2019

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 6414

Abstract

A one pot-two step procedure for the synthesis of diethyl furan-2,5-dicarboxylate (DEFDC) starting from mucic acid without isolation of the intermediate furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) was studied. Then, the production of three different kinds of furan-based polyesters— polyethylene-2,5-furan dicarboxylate (PEF), polyhydropropyl-2,5-furan dicarboxylate(PHPF) and polydiglycerol-2,5-furandicarboxylate (PDGF)—was realized through a Co(Ac)₂·4H₂O catalyzed polytransesterification performed at 160 °C between DEFDC and a defined diol furan-based prepolymer or pure diglycerol. In parallel to polymerization process, an unattended regioselective 1-OH acylation of glycerol by direct microwave-heated FDCA diester transesterification led to the formation of a symmetric prepolymer ready for further polymerization and clearly identified by 2D NMR sequences. Furthermore, the synthesis of a more soluble and hydrophilic diglycerol-based furanic polyester was also achieved. The resulting biobased polymers were characterized by NMR, FT-IR spectroscopy, DSC, TGA and XRD. The morphologies of the resulted polymers were observed by FE-SEM and the purity of the material by EDX. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery and Biomass Conversion and Utilization)

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11 pages, 1228 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pectin and Neutral Monosaccharides Production during the Simultaneous Hydrothermal Extraction of Waste Biomass from Refining of Sugar—Optimization with the Use of Doehlert Design

by Hanna Pińkowska, Małgorzata Krzywonos, Paweł Wolak and Adrianna Złocińska

Molecules 2019, 24(3), 472; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24030472 - 29 Jan 2019

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3208

Abstract

We propose a one-stage hydrothermal extraction of sugar beet pulp leading to effective co-production of pectin and neutral monosaccharides with a relatively high yield and satisfactory purity without the presence of an acidic catalyst. The optimal experimental design methodology was used for modelling and optimizing the yield of pectin and neutral monosaccharides. In good agreement with experimental results (R² = 0.955), the model predicts an optimal yield of pectin (approx. 121.1 g kg⁻¹ ± 0.47 g kg⁻¹) at a temperature and time of about 118.1 °C and 21.5 min, respectively. The highest yield of the sum of neutral monosaccharides (approx. 82.6 g kg⁻¹ ± 0.72 g kg⁻¹) was obtained at about 116.2 °C and 26.4 min (R² = 0.976). The obtained results are suitable for industrial upscaling and may provide an incentive to implement a new, environmentally friendly, simple, and effective method for treating waste product from the sugar refining industry, which has proved onerous until now. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery and Biomass Conversion and Utilization)

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15 pages, 1565 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Competition between Second-Generation Ethanol and Bioelectricity using the Residual Biomass of Sugarcane: Effects of Uncertainty on the Production Mix

by Lucio Guido Tapia Carpio and Fábio Simone de Souza

Molecules 2019, 24(2), 369; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24020369 - 21 Jan 2019

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3979

Abstract

Several economies around the world are using second-generation (2G) ethanol produced from agricultural residues, like sugarcane straw and bagasse, as a sustainable solution to replace petroleum products. Since first-generation (1G) ethanol uses the sugars of sugarcane, an integrated 1G–2G production would enable the production of more ethanol from the same amount of sugarcane without leading to increased use of arable land. The ethanol production process is complex, involving different high-energy consumption operations such as evaporation and distillation. The economic competitiveness of this process depends heavily on the amount of thermal and electrical energy produced using sugarcane straw and bagasse as input. Thus, the objective of this study was to use the mean-variance methodology to determine the optimal allocation of residual sugarcane biomass between 2G ethanol and bioelectricity productions, with simultaneous objectives of maximizing the return and minimizing the risk for investors of this sector. In this paper, four scenarios are analyzed. The first one is the base scenario that represents the current state of production costs and investments. scenarios 2, 3, and 4 considered four cuts of 10%, 20%, and 40% in the production cost of ethanol 2G, respectively. The results show the optimum biomass allocations and the growth rates of returns as a function of risk growth. It can be concluded that from scenario 4, the production of 2G ethanol becomes financially advantageous for the investor, presenting greater returns with smaller risks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery and Biomass Conversion and Utilization)

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9 pages, 1124 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characteristics of the Water- and Alkali-Soluble Hemicelluloses Fractionated by Sequential Acidification and Graded-Ethanol from Sweet Maize Stems

by Xiaopeng Peng, Shuangxi Nie, Xiaoping Li, Xiong Huang and Quanzi Li

Molecules 2019, 24(1), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24010212 - 08 Jan 2019

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4037

Abstract

Sweet maize stems were treated with hot water and potassium hydroxide to fractionate hemicellulosic polymers. The results showed that the water-soluble hemicelluloses were mainly composed of glucose (27.83%), xylose (27.32%), and galactose (16.81%). In comparison, alkali-soluble hemicelluloses fractionated by acidification and a graded ethanol solution (10%, 20%, 35%, 50%, 65%, and 80%) were mainly composed of xylose (69.73 to 88.62%) and arabinose (5.41 to 16.20%). More highly branched hemicelluloses tended to be precipitated in a higher concentration of ethanol solution, as revealed by the decreasing xylose to arabinose ratio from 16.43 to 4.21. Structural characterizations indicated that alkali-soluble hemicelluloses fractionated from sweet maize stems were mainly arabinoxylans. The results provided fundamental information on hemicelluloses composition and structure and their potential utilization in the fields of biofuels, biochemicals, and biomaterials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery and Biomass Conversion and Utilization)

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8 pages, 1104 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Water Content and Particle Size on Yield and Reactivity of Lignite Chars Derived from Pyrolysis and Gasification

by Yong Huang, Yonggang Wang, Hao Zhou, Yaxuan Gao, Deliang Xu, Lei Bai and Shu Zhang

Molecules 2018, 23(10), 2717; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23102717 - 22 Oct 2018

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3263

Abstract

Water inside coal particles could potentially enhance the interior char–steam reactions during pyrolysis and gasification. This study aims to examine the effects of water contents on the char conversion during the pyrolysis and gasification of Shengli lignite. The ex-situ reactivities of chars were further analyzed by a thermo gravimetric analyzer (TGA). Under the pyrolysis condition, the increase in water contents has monotonically decreased the char yields only when the coal particles were small (<75 µm). In contrast, the water in only large coal particles (0.9–2.0 mm) has clearly favored the increase in char conversion during the gasification condition where 50% steam in argon was used as external reaction atmosphere. The waved reactivity curves for the subsequent char–air reactions were resulted from the nature of heterogeneity of char structure. Compared to the large particles, the less interior char–steam reactions for the small particles have created more differential char structure which showed two different stages when reacting with air at the low temperature in TGA. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery and Biomass Conversion and Utilization)

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17 pages, 1362 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Biodetoxification of Phenolic Inhibitors from Lignocellulose Pretreatment using Kurthia huakuii LAM0618^T and Subsequent Lactic Acid Fermentation

by Yuejiao Xie, Qing Hu, Guodong Feng, Xu Jiang, Jinlong Hu, Mingxiong He, Guoquan Hu, Shumiao Zhao, Yunxiang Liang, Zhiyong Ruan and Nan Peng

Molecules 2018, 23(10), 2626; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23102626 - 12 Oct 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3278

Abstract

Phenolic inhibitors generated during alkaline pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomasses significantly hinder bacterial growth and subsequent biofuel and biochemical production. Water rinsing is an efficient method for removing these compounds. Nevertheless, this method often generates a great amount of wastewater, and leads to the loss of solid fiber particles and fermentable sugars. Kurthia huakuii LAM0618^T, a recently identified microorganism, was herein shown to be able to efficiently transform phenolic compounds (syringaldehyde, hydroxybenzaldehyde, and vanillin) into less toxic acids. Taking advantage of these properties, a biodetoxification method was established by inoculating K. huakuii LAM0618^T into the NH₃/H₂O₂-pretreated unwashed corn stover to degrade phenolic inhibitors and weak acids generated during the pretreatment. Subsequently, 33.47 and 17.91 g/L lactic acid was produced by Bacillus coagulans LA204 at 50 °C through simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) from 8% (w/w) of NH₃/H₂O₂-pretreated corn stover with or without K. huakuii LAM0618^T-biodetoxification, indicating biodetoxification significantly increased lactic acid titer and yield. Importantly, using 15% (w/w) of the NH₃/H₂O₂-pretreated K. huakuii LAM0618^T-biodetoxified corn stover as a substrate through fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation, high titer and high yield of lactic acid (84.49 g/L and 0.56 g/g corn stover, respectively, with a productivity of 0.88 g/L/h) were produced by Bacillus coagulans LA204. Therefore, this study reported the first study on biodetoxification of alkaline-pretreated lignocellulosic material, and this biodetoxification method could replace water rinsing for removal of phenolic inhibitors and applied in biofuel and biochemical production using the alkaline-pretreated lignocellulosic bioresources. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefinery and Biomass Conversion and Utilization)

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