NC State
BioResources
  • Editorialpp 6548-6550Ruffino, R. (2021). "Sustainable design: Aspects of sustainable product development," BioResources 16(4), 6548-6550.AbstractArticlePDF

    When NC State University recently hired me to lead a course concentration in sustainable design, I began to hone in on what sustainable product development and design translate to and its actionable applications. Sustainable product development and design of current and future consumer products and services are methods that create a proactive versus a reactive approach. The development of sustainable products and systems must start at the beginning phase of ideation and continue through the entire process to achieve multiple design purposes and duration with a designated end-of-life plan. In contrast, generally, products are developed with end of life and longevity as a secondary thought, and with recycling as a potential option. If the goal is the longevity of a product or service, one needs to look beyond recycling and more at the concept of development. A sustainable product development approach and design thinking are how to accomplish product longevity.

  • Editorialpp 6551-6552Hart, P. W. (2021). "Trust the literature, but verify – Case study of starch acetate as a barrier material under jungle conditions," BioResources, 16(4), 6551-6552.AbstractArticlePDF

    A case study is presented in which several articles and patents suggested a specific outcome. When the actual experimental work was performed, the results were found to be several orders of magnitude away from predicted values. Close re-inspection of the literature suggested that most of the authors actually extrapolated the results to conditions that were not applicable to their specific studies, resulting in the reporting errors. It is important to use literature to assist in research, but it is equally important not to blindly follow it either.

  • Editorialpp 6553-6555Pinto, R., Corazza, M. L., and Ramos, L. P. (2021). "Bringing the concept of drop-in fuels into the pulp and paper industry," BioResources 16(4), 6553-6555.AbstractArticlePDF

    The pulp and paper sector is undertaking several initiatives to decrease the carbon footprint of its industrial activities. To do so, any emission must be offset by introducing efficient carbon fixation strategies such as reforestation and the development of biobased products and processes. The production of drop-in fuels may play an important role in this scenario. Drop-in fuels provide a good way to add value to otherwise underutilized process streams and wastes, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing other environmental impacts, and improving process sustainability.

  • Editorialpp 6556-6559Hubbe, M. A. (2021). "Energy efficiency – A particular challenge for the cellulose-based products industries," BioResources 16(4), 6556-6559.AbstractArticlePDF

    Wood-processing facilities, including pulp, paper, lumber, and engineered wood facilities, use large amounts of energy for such purposes as evaporative drying and the curing of adhesives. Much of that energy is already being supplied by the incineration of biomass, and there is opportunity to increase the proportion of renewable energy that is used. Specific changes can be made within such factories that allow them to come closer to what is thermodynamically possible in terms of avoiding the wastage of exergy, which can be defined as useful energy. Savings in exergy are often obtained by optimization of a network of heat exchangers within an integrated system. No steam should be allowed to leak to the atmosphere; rather the latent heat (due to phase transitions) and sensible heat (due to temperature changes) are recovered during the heating up of incoming air and water, ideally at a similar range of temperatures. Thus, by a combination of process integration and full utilization of cellulosic residues generated from the process, even bio-based industries can be made greener.

  • Researchpp 6560-6576Yan, Z., Yi, C., Liu, T., Yang, J., Ma, H., Sha, L., Guo, D., Zhao, H., Zhang, X., and Wang, W. (2021). "Effect of lignin-containing highly fibrillated cellulose on the adsorption behavior of an organic dye," BioResources 16(4), 6560-6576.AbstractArticlePDF

    The morphological properties and particle size characteristics of micro- and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) and lignin-containing NFC (LNFC) produced by a microfluidizer processor were investigated. The effects mechanism of lignin-containing on the adsorption of NFC and the stable properties of organic dyes suspension were also studied. The results showed that the preparation process and final performance of NFC were affected by the key factors including lignin, homogenization pressure, and number of homogenization cycles. The increase in the homogeneity of the fibrillated cellulose was minor for the NFC samples, while LNFC samples showed a larger increase in the homogeneity of the particle size distribution. The influence of lignin was reflected both in improved fibrillation efficiency and in the final organic dye dispersion properties achieved by LNFC addition, primarily observed as deceased particle sizes and fibril dimensions. This study indicated that pollution-free dispersion of organic dyes can be realized through the application of lignin-containing NFC.

  • Researchpp 6577-6586Khosravi, E., Roohnia, M., Lashgari, A., Jahanlatibari, A., and Tajdini, A. (2021). "Evaluation of pin penetration probing technique for the assessment of‎ basic density in air-dried wood," BioResources 16(4), 6577-6586.AbstractArticlePDF

    Fast and accurate evaluation of the physical and mechanical properties of engineering ‎materials is of particular importance. The in situ semi-destructive and non-destructive tests versus the ‎static tests for determining the time-consuming physical properties have replaced many traditional ‎methods with reasonable accuracies. Determining the density as one of ‎the most important qualitative and quantitative parameters in the inspection of wood and wood-based ‎products is of great importance. For this purpose, 33 wood specimens from 11 species with varying densities were tested by pin penetration probing. Results were compared with those from ‎the basic density values from traditional methods. The results showed an exponential relationship between the pin penetration depths ‎and the basic density considering the moisture conditions but without any problems. The coefficients of ‎determination while estimating the equality of the basic density via pin penetration probing with the actual ‎basic density for both the testing specimens and the control samples were always over ‎‎0.8. Henceforth, this methodology suggested that the density evaluation could inspire higher precision than what has been achieved in previous efforts.

  • Researchpp 6587-6598Vititnev, A., Marchenko, R., Rubinskaya, A., and Shishmareva, A. (2021). "Modeling of internally recycled material in fibreboard production facility as a tool for economic and environmental assessment," BioResources 16(4), 6587-6598.AbstractArticlePDF

    A rationale is presented for the wood fibre process modeling of internally recycled content in fibreboard production. Experimental studies were employed to obtain mathematical dependences in order to confirm the possibility of reusing wood fibre at various stages of the technological process. A wood fibre process model of internally recycled content was accrued out in which each processing stage was presented separately. Two methods for the preparation of wood fibre for reuse in fibreboard production were considered. To assess the effectiveness of the technologies proposed, the process modeling of internally recycled content was assessed from an economic and environmental point of view.

  • Researchpp 6599-6612Xu, Y., Chen, S., Du, X., and Yue, X. (2021). "Spray atomization simulation of bamboo kraft black liquor with high solid content at splash-plate nozzle," BioResources 16(4), 6599-6612.AbstractArticlePDF

    Increasing the solids content of pulping black liquor burned in a furnace is a development trend of the alkali recovery system in the pulp and paper industry. However, the viscosity of kraft black liquor increases exponentially with an increase in solids content, especially in the case of non-wood pulping black liquor, such as bamboo. This brings great difficulties to the pulping system and atomization of black liquor at the splash-plate nozzle, which is a complete atomization unit constituted of a splash nozzle and a splash plate. To obtain instructive results for industry, a simulation of the atomization process was made using Fluent software for the bamboo kraft black liquor with solids contents of 70 wt% and 80 wt%, which flowed through splash nozzles with the diameter of 22 or 20 mm. The studies were conducted on the distribution of flow field in the nozzle and atomization region through changing the injection pressure and nozzle diameter. The variation of atomization characteristic parameters, such as liquid film thickness, and breakup length, were elucidated. The results reveal the relationship between spray atomization with injection pressure and nozzle diameter, which provides a theoretical basis for improving the concentration of black liquor entering alkali recovery in the future.

  • Researchpp 6613-6628Tian, G., Chu, Y., Chen, X., Zhong, X., Wang, Z., and Zhang, T. (2021). "Separation and characterization of lignin and sugars in the hydrolysate of hot water extraction of poplar wood by membrane filtration and activated carbon adsorption," BioResources 16(4), 6613-6628.AbstractArticlePDF

    Hot water extraction of poplar wood was conducted at temperatures from 190 to 200 °C for 5 to 8 min. A hemicellulose yield of 81% and a lignin yield of 38% were obtained at 200 °C for 8 min. A combined process of microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and activated carbon adsorption was developed to separate lignin and sugars in the hydrolysate of hot water extraction. Lignin recovery efficiencies of 56.7%, 26.0%, and 13.2% were attained for microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and activated carbon adsorption, respectively. The characterization of lignin revealed diversity in molecular weight and functional groups, which is beneficial for high-value valorization. The obtained hemicellulose sugars from the combined process showed a good recovery rate of 43.8% and remarkable purity of 97.5%. The purified sugars were a mixture of monomers and oligomers that consisted of arabinose, galactose, xylose, glucose, and mannose. Sugar oligomers with degrees of polymerization from 2 to 6 accounted for 21.6% of all sugars.

  • Researchpp 6629-6642James, R. A. M., Castorena, C., and Yuan, W. (2021). "Modeling product distribution of top-lit updraft gasification," BioResources 16(4), 6629-6642.AbstractArticlePDF

    A kinetic model for predicting biochar, producer gas, and tar formations of top-lit updraft (TLUD) gasification was developed. The three main zones within the TLUD gasifier, the pyrolysis, incomplete combustion, and reduction reaction zones, were incorporated into the model and sequentially solved. Validated with experimental data, the model was found capable of predicting biochar yield on pine woodchips at varying airflow rates, biomass moisture contents, and biomass compactness. However, when the particle size was varied, the model underestimated biochar yield. The model also accurately predicted the higher heating value of the producer gas that varied from 3.45 to 3.98 MJ/m3 compared to 3.61 to 3.67 MJ/m3 for the experimental results. The model qualitatively predicted tar content in the producer gas at varying conditions. However, accurate quantification of tar generation in TLUD gasification was not achieved.

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