Volume 12 Issue 1

The lignocellulosic materials produced after each step of a biorefinery plant using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) technology on wheat straw (Triticum spp.) for bioethanol production were characterized by spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques in order to investigate the macromolecular interactions between the lignin and polysaccharides. In order to valorize the lignin cakes, a purification step was set up and the extraction conditions (acid pretreatment, temperature, time, and NaOH concentration) were optimized by a chemiometric approach in terms of yield and purity. Residual carbohydrate impurities, free and/or chemically bonded to lignin (lignin carbohydrates complexes), were individuate as the most critical factor for a satisfactory lignin extraction. Finally, the lignin samples collected according to the optimized extraction conditions were chemically characterized and low molecular weight, high phenols concentration, and low carboxylic acids content were recognized as interesting features for industrial applications.

Dimensional stability is an important property of wood that is strongly influenced by its water uptake behavior. Heat treatment is one method to improve wood dimensional stability. This study investigated the effects of heat treatment on the water uptake behavior of wood using a wicking test. The thickness of the tested wood sample was similar to that of the surface wood panel in a 3-layer composite floorboard. It was treated at different temperatures ranging from 200 °C to 400 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere for 10 min to provide the test data to investigate the basic theory relating to dimensional stability of heat-treated wood processed at higher temperatures for a short length of time. During the test, the water uptake of larch (Larix gmelinii) and red oak (Quercus rubra) were recorded continuously. The heat-treated wood had a much lower water uptake ability than untreated wood during the early stage of the wicking test; untreated wood exhibited higher total water uptake. Compared with the untreated sample, the red oak wood treated at 400 °C had an average water uptake rate that decreased from 0.28 mg/mm3 per hour to 0.038 mg/mm3 per hour.

In a novel valorization approach for simultaneous pectin extraction and pretreatment (SPEP) of citrus waste (CW) by dilute nitric acid and ethanol, almost all of the CW was converted to bio-derived chemicals in a single-step process at a low/moderate temperature. The SPEP was performed at different temperatures (70 °C and 80 °C), pH (1.8, 3.0, and 4.3), and extraction times (2 h and 3 h) with a full factorial design. The maximum pectin yield of 45.5% was obtained at pH 1.8, 80 °C, and 2 h. The pectin yields at pH 1.8 were much higher than at pH 4.3 and 3. Also, the degree of methyl-esterification at pH 1.8 was higher than 50%, whereas at the higher pH, low methoxyl pectins were extracted. The treated CW obtained after the SPEP, free from limonene, was subjected to separate cellulolytic enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanolic fermentation. The glucose yields in the enzymatic hydrolysates were higher for the CW treated at pH 1.8. The fermentation of the enzymatic hydrolysates by Mucor indicus resulted in fungal biomass yields in the range of 355 to 687 mg per g of consumed sugars. The optimum conditions for obtaining the maximum SPEP yield (glucose + pectin (g) / raw material (g))*100) were pH 1.8, 80 °C, and 2 h, which resulted in a yield of 58.7% (g/g CW).

The solid-state fermentation (SSF) of ammoniated corn straw (ACS) by Pleurotus ostreatus Pl-5 was investigated. The SSF experiments were carried out for 20 d using ACS and corn straw (CS) as the substrates of the experimental group (EP) and control group (CP), respectively. The effects of the ammoniation pretreatment on the CS lignocellulose structure, fungal growth, enzyme production, and components of CS during the SSF process were analyzed. The ammoniation pretreatment effectively degraded the lignin and hemicellulose contents in the CS, by 15.3% and 7.7%, respectively. Thus, the in vitro digestibility (IVD) of the EP was higher than for the CP, and even higher than the ligninase activities (laccase: 661 U/g; MnP: 56.8 U/g) found in the CP. The higher cellulase activities (CMCase: 152.3 U/g; FPA: 224.7 U/g) in the EP improved the cellulose degradation, which also promoted the P. ostreatus Pl-5 growth, and the high total N content significantly increased the EP fungal biomass and amino acid contents. A shorter processing time and a higher level of nutrients were achieved by the SSF of ACS, which showed its potential for use in animal feed production.

Typical bleached pinewood kraft pulp from a paper mill was immersed in either water or different alcohols, such as methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, and n-butanol, and then refined in a PFI mill. After refining, changes in the internal fibrillation of the fibres were evaluated by measurements of water retention values (WRV), while fibre shortening was determined by measurements of the average weighted fibre length. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of a liquid used for refining on the principal refining effects such as the internal fibrillation and fiber shortening. The highest increase in the internal fibrillation was observed for the pulp samples refined in water, which has the higher dipole moment than the alcohols. For these samples, WRV increased from 93% to 201%, while the average weighted fiber length was reduced by only 0.6 mm. When the pulp was beaten in n-butanol, which was the least polar liquid among the liquids investigated, liquid retention value increased by only 23.5%, while the average weighted fibre length was reduced by 1.37 mm. These results showed the importance of water in the beating of cellulose fibres and demonstrated that the outcomes of this process depended on the dipole moment of the fiber immersion liquid.

Nanocomposite films were prepared by impregnating cellulose nanofiber (CNF) sheets of various chemical compositions, i.e., lignocellulose nanofiber (LCNF), holocellulose nanofiber (HCNF), and bleached kraft pulp-based nanofiber (BKP-NF), with UV-curable resin. The effects of the CNF sheet porosity on the amount of impregnated resin and the tensile properties of the corresponding nanocomposite films were investigated. The defibration efficiency, viscosity, and filtration time of HCNF and BKP-NF were higher than those of LCNF, and these properties increased with defibration time for BKP-NF. The density and porosity of the LCNF sheets were lower and higher, respectively, than those of the HCNF and BKP-NF sheets. The porosity of the CNF sheets was successfully regulated using organic solvents with different polarities. The impregnated resin amount increased as the CNF sheet porosity and the ratio of monomer to oligomer in the resin increased. The tensile strengths and elastic moduli of all of the nanocomposite films were higher than those of the neat resin films. The specific tensile strength of the nanocomposite decreased with increasing impregnated resin content.

Olive tree biomass (OTB) represents an interesting feedstock for bioethanol production. In this study, olive tree pruning was water extracted and pretreated by dilute sulfuric acid to achieve high sugar recoveries from cellulosic and hemicellulosic fractions. Temperature (160 to 200 °C), acid concentration (0 to 8 g acid/100 g extracted raw material), and solids loading (15% to 35% w/v) were selected as operation variables and modified according to a Box-Behnken experimental design. The optimal conditions for the acid pretreatment were 160 °C, 4.9 g sulfuric acid/100 g biomass, and 35% solids loading (w/v), according to multiple criteria that considered the maximization of both the hemicellulosic sugars concentration in prehydrolysate and the overall sugar yield. These optimized conditions yielded a sugar concentration of 79.8 g/L, corresponding to an overall yield of 39.8 g total sugars/100 g extracted OTB. The fermentability of hemicellulosic sugars prehydrolysates from the acid pretreatment was evaluated by Escherichia coli after a detoxification stage by overliming. The prehydrolysates with lower concentrations of toxic compounds were fermented and achieved ethanol yields higher than 80% of the theoretical ethanol yield.

The main objective of this study was to reveal variations in the wood structure and to define the location of the boundary between juvenile and mature wood Larix decidua Mill. from fast growing tree plantations. To reach these findings, the samples of wood from four short-rotation plantations in Central Europe (Poland) were selected and compared. The procedure used to determine the demarcation point between juvenile and mature wood resulted in strong correlations between the width of growth rings and the initial cambial age. It was found that the structure of wood from fast-growing trees differs from commercially available timber. The wood derived from plantations revealed wider annual rings than wood from natural forests. The analysis of the variability of wood structure resulted in defining the location of the boundary between juvenile and mature wood. Based on the analysis of structure of annual rings, the boundary of juvenile wood in fast-growing larch is placed between the 12th and 15th annual ring. The investigated material contained high proportions of juvenile wood, which makes up more than 70% of trunk volume. On the microscopic level, no visible changes, indicating the presence of a mature wood zone, were found.