• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.381-389
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• 2015

In this study, the effects of moisture content and particles size of ground particles of torrefied larch chips on the pelletizing process were investigated depending on torrefaction conditions ($220^{\circ}C$-50 min, $250^{\circ}C$-50 min, $250^{\circ}C$-120 min). The moisture content in the torrefied chip decreased to 0.69~1.75%, while ash content and calorific value increased compared to untreated chip. In addition, weight loss significantly increased during torrefaction due to hemicellulose degradation. The carbon content in torrefied larch chip increased compare to untreated larch chip, while the hydrogen and oxygen contents decreased. The lignin and glucan contents in torrefied larch chip increased with increasing severity of the torrefaction condition, while hemicellulose decreased. In the particle size distribution of ground particles of torrefied larch chip, larch torrefied at severe conditions was found to produce smaller particles (~1 mm) than that of the larch torrefied at mild conditions. Macropore (over $500{\AA}$) in the torrefied particle was produced during torrefaction. During the pelletizing using ground particles of torrefied larch chip, the pressure needed in pelletizing decreased and pellet length increased with increasing moisture content, regardless of the particle size.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.806-811
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• 2016

Organosolv pretreatment is the process to frationation of lignocellulosic feedstocks to enhancement of enzymatic hydrolysis. This process has advantages that organic solvents are always easy to recover by distillation and recycled for pretreatment. The chemical recovery in organosolv pretreatment can isolate lignin as a solid material and carbohydrates as fermentable sugars. For the economic considerations, using of low-molecular-weight alcohols such as ethanol and methanol have been favored. When acid catalysts are added in organic solvent, the rate of delignification could be increased. Mineral acids (hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and phosphoric acid) are good catalysts to accelerate delignification and xylan degradation. In this study, the biomass was pretreated using 40~50 wt% ethanol at $170{\sim}180^{\circ}C$ during 20~60 min. As a results, the enzymatic digestibility of 2-stage pretreatment of rigida using 50 wt% ethanol at $180^{\circ}C$ was 40.6% but that of 1-stage pretreatment was 55.4% on same conditions, therefore it is shown that the pretreatment using mixture of the organosolv and catalyst was effective than using them separately.

• Journal of Korea Foresty Energy
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2005

After manufacturing fermentation system for degrading pig manure using environmentally friendly technique, performance of the system and characteristics of wood chips and pig manure fermented in the system were analyzed. Results from this study shows that proper fermentation temperature($55{\sim}60^{\circ}C$) reached 3days after the system started and degradation rate, which expresses fermentation performance of system, was $180{\iota}$/day. Even as progressing the fermentation of wood chips and pig manure mixture, the amount of extractives drawn out by alkali, and alcohol-benzene and lignin content was not varied. However, ash content in wood was increased. The inorganic compounds in pig manure seem to be transferred into wood chip. On the other hand holocellulose contents in wood were decreased a little. Holocellulose seems to be consumed as the second carbon source in fermentation process. Results through analysis of inorganic- and heavy metal elements contents in wood chips and pig manure fermented in long term process shows that inorganic elements($Ca^{2+},\;Mg^{2+},\;K^+,\;Na^+$ etc.) contents were increased with fermentation time and heavy metal elements(Cd, As, Cu etc.) which cause environmental pollution were not detected. Number of microorganisms including bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi, the number of C.F.U(Colony Forming Unit) was increased while temperature in fermentation system was abruptly increased.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.208-213
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• 2013

The contents of raw materials which are components of mixed substrate for mushroom cultivation were analyzed to optimize the composition. The pure protein(amino acid) level of soybean meal was the highest, 44.02% followed by those of soybean curd residue(31.5%) and cotton seeds meal(30.6%). The non protein nitrogen(NPN) contents in crude protein of main nitrogen materials were 2.4% for soybean meal and 5.6% for dried soybean curd residue, while those of wheat bran and rice bran used as the carbon source were relatively higher, 17.6% compared to that of nitrogen supplying media. Crude protein content per price was 6.0 for rapeseed meal, indicating that it is high crude protein content per price. Nitrogen-free extract(NFE) considering as an ingredient for mycelial growth were high in alphacorn(72.9%) and wheat bran B(57.2%). Acid detergent fiber(ADF) was high in corncob, 51.88%, its use for cultivation of brown rot fungi including Lentinus lepideus should pay attention because the fungi lack complete lignin degradation activity.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.561-567
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• 2013

Mixed hardwood chips were pre-pulping extracted with green liquor prior to kraft pulping in order to recover hemicelluloses for use as biofuels. This green liquor solution containing mainly sodium sulfide and sodium carbonate was applied at different alkali charges (expressed as $Na_2O$) of 0, 1, 3, and 5% on dry wood weight. The extractions were performed at $160^{\circ}C$ for residence times ranging from about 1-2 h to determine the effect of extraction severity on composition of the pre-pulping extract. The severity of hemicellulose extraction time and green liquor charge controls the concentration of acetic acid and monosaccharide sugars available for downstream processing, the accumulation of degradation products such as organic acids and furans in the extract. As the alkali charge was increased, the amount of acetate side chains on the hemicelluloses and the dissolved lignin in the extract increased but the carbohydrate and sugars in the extract decreased appreciably. Hot water extraction (0% alkali addition) released the greatest amount of carbohydrates, up to 29.80 g/L measured as component sugars, but resulted in the greatest decrease in pulp yield. Meanwhile, pre-pulping extraction with 3% green liquor increased the pulp yield while greatly reducing the component sugars to 7.08 g/L. Fundamental data obtained in this study will allow selection of optimum hemicellulose extraction conditions for integrating the extraction operation into the Kraft pulping process.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1 s.129
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• pp.48-57
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• 2005

Phthalate esters are known as plasticizers and some of them suspected as endocrine disrupting chemicals. In this study, in order to identify the mechanism of phthalate esters degradation by white rot fungus, phthalic acid, which is major metabolite in the biodegradation of phthalate esters, was used. Phthalic acid 50 ppm was treated in culture medium with Polyporus brumalis. The availability of ABTS oxidation was different from control and phthalic acid treated group after 4 days of incubation. The activity was gradually increased in control group, but not in phthalic acid treated group. Especially, esterase activity of control group was maximized at 10 days of incubation, and then decreased while the activity of phthalic acid treated group was increased. Glucose was used as a carbon source, and the difference of glucose consumption by control and phthalic acid treated group was not significant. However, after 6 days of incubation the residual glucose in culture medium was rapidly decreased. The consumption rate of phthalic acid treated group was lower than control. These results might indicate that the absorption of phthalic acid in culture medium was occurred by mycelium and metabolized through some pathways as that of glucose was. To clearify the chemical modification of phthalic acid in culture medium, phthalic acid was reacted under in vitro condition which mycelium was excluded. The metabolites were analyzed by GC/MS. The results showed that phthalic acid was converted to phthalic acid anhydride by the extracellular enzymes of P. brumalis.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.34-45
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• 2016

Global warming and climate change have been caused by combustion of fossil fuels. The greenhouse gases contributed to the rise of temperature between $0.6^{\circ}C$ and $0.9^{\circ}C$ over the past century. Presently, fossil fuels account for about 88% of the commercial energy sources used. In developing countries, fossil fuels are a very attractive energy source because they are available and relatively inexpensive. The environmental problems with fossil fuels have been aggravating stress from already existing factors including acid deposition, urban air pollution, and climate change. In order to control greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO2, fossil fuels must be replaced by eco-friendly fuels such as biomass. The use of renewable energy sources is becoming increasingly necessary. The biomass resources are the most common form of renewable energy. The conversion of biomass into energy can be achieved in a number of ways. The most common form of converted biomass is pellet fuels as biofuels made from compressed organic matter or biomass. Pellets from lignocellulosic biomass has compared to conventional fuels with a relatively low bulk and energy density and a low degree of homogeneity. Thermal pretreatment technology like torrefaction is applied to improve fuel efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass, i.e., less moisture and oxygen in the product, preferrable grinding properties, storage properties, etc.. During torrefacton, lignocelluosic biomass such as palm kernell shell (PKS) and empty fruit bunch (EFB) was roasted under an oxygen-depleted enviroment at temperature between 200 and $300^{\circ}C$. Low degree of thermal treatment led to the removal of moisture and low molecular volatile matters with low O/C and H/C elemental ratios. The mechanical characteristics of torrefied biomass have also been altered to a brittle and partly hydrophobic materials. Unfortunately, it was much harder to form pellets from torrefied PKS and EFB due to thermal degradation of lignin as a natural binder during torrefaction compared to non-torrefied ones. For easy pelletization of biomass with torrefaction, pellets from PKS and EFB were manufactured before torrefaction, and thereafter they were torrefied at different temperature. Even after torrefaction of pellets from PKS and EFB, their appearance was well preserved with better fuel efficiency than non-torrefied ones. The physical properties of the torrefied pellets largely depended on the torrefaction condition such as reaction time and reaction temperature. Temperature over $250^{\circ}C$ during torrefaction gave a significant impact on the fuel properties of the pellets. In particular, torrefied EFB pellets displayed much faster development of the fuel properties than did torrefied PKS pellets. During torrefaction, extensive carbonization with the increase of fixed carbons, the behavior of thermal degradation of torrefied biomass became significantly different according to the increase of torrefaction temperature. In conclusion, pelletization of PKS and EFB before torrefaction made it much easier to proceed with torrefaction of pellets from PKS and EFB, leading to excellent eco-friendly fuels.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.397-405
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• 2009

In this study, we investigated the potential of producing bioethanol from Liriodendron tulipifera by using oxalic acid pretreatment. Amounts of fermentable sugars, mostly xylose and glucose, in the liquid fraction (hydrolysate) was $40.22g/{\ell}$ after the biomass was pretreated with 0.037 g/g of oxalic acid for 20 minutes at $160^{\circ}C$. Production amounts of ethanol was $8.6g/{\ell}$ from the 72 hours of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) on solid fraction of the pretreated sample. At the same condition, when the reaction time increased to 40 minutes, $32.66g/{\ell}$ of fermentable sugars in the hydrolysate and $9.5g/{\ell}$ of ethanol was produced from the process of pretreatment and SSF. As a result of analyzing the fermentation inhibitors, such as acetic acid, 5-HMF, furfural and total phenolic compounds, as the reaction time increased, the amount of the fermentation inhibitors in the hydrolysate increased. Production of the fermentation inhibitors was more affected by initial concentration of oxalic acid rather than reaction time. $3.39{\sim}5.78g/{\ell}$ of acetic acid was produced by pretreatment with 0.013 g/g of oxalic acid, and the amount of furfural produced by decomposition of xylose was 2~3 times higher than the amount of 5-HMF produced by decomposition of glucose. All the hydrolysates contained more than $5g/{\ell}$ of total phenols considered as the degradation product of lignin. Therefore, by analyzing the amount of fermentable sugars and fermentation inhibitors in the hydrolysate, and producing ethanol from SSF of solid fraction of the pretreated sample, the biomass pretreated with 0.037 g/g of oxalic acid for 20 minutes at $160^{\circ}C$ can be expected to produce the most ethanol.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.255-264
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• 2009

To evaluate the effects of chemical pretreatments of lignocellulosic biomass on enzymatic hydrolysis process, Populus euramericana was pretreated for 1 hr with 1% sulfuric acid ($H_2SO_4$) at $150^{\circ}C$ and 1% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at $160^{\circ}C$, respectively. Before the enzymatic hydrolysis, each pretreated sample was subjected to drying process and thus finally divided into four subgroups; dried or non-dried acid pretreated samples and dried or non-dried alkali pretreated samples and chemical and physical properties of them were analyzed. Biomass degradation by acid pretreatment was determined to 6% higher compared to alkali pretreatment. By the action of acid ca. 24.5% of biomass was dissolved into solution, while alkali degraded ca. 18.6% of biomass. However, reverse results were observed in delignification rates, in which alkali pretreatment released 2% more lignin fragment from biomass to the solution than acid pretreatment. Unexpectedly, samples after both pretreatments were determined to somewhat higher crystallinity than untreated samples. This result may be explained by selective disrupture of amorphous region in cellulose during pretreatments, thus the cellulose crystallinity seems to be accumulated in the pretreated samples. SEM images revealed that pretreated samples showed relative rough and partly cracked surfaces due to the decomposition of components, but the image of acid pretreated samples which were dried was similar to that of the control. In pore size distribution, dried acid pretreated samples were similar to the control, while that in alkali pretreated samples was gradually increased as pore diameter increased. The pore volume which increased by acid pretreatment rapidly decreased by drying process. Alkali pretreatment was much more effective on enzymatic digestibility than acid pretreatment. The sample after alkali pretreatment was enzymatically hydrolyzed up to 45.8%, while only 26.9% of acid pretreated sample was digested at the same condition. The high digestibility of the sample was also influenced to the yields of monomeric sugars during enzymatic hydrolysis. In addition, drying process of pretreated samples affected detrimentally not only to digestibility but also to the yields of monomeric sugars.