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Applied Sciences
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Biorefineries and Sustainable Biomass Conversion: Recent Advances
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Biorefineries and Sustainable Biomass Conversion: Recent Advances

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 10858

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mariya Marinova

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, ON, Canada
Interests: biomass conversion processes; renewable products—energy and chemicals; process integration; circular economy
Dr. Simon Barnabé

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières，Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
Interests: biomass, lignocellulosic residues; Industrial microbiology; 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels; community scale biorefinery

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past decade, significant developments have been achieved in the field of biomass conversion. The focus has been on agricultural and forest biomass as well as on algal biomass. With respect to products, the interest in bioenergy and biofuels has been succeeded by an increasing interest in chemicals and materials and, more recently, in feed and food products. Various biorefinery configurations, from standalone to integrated, have been explored.

Recently, the development of technologies for sustainable conversion of biomass, cascading biomass valorization, and bioproducts used in the context of the circular bioeconomy have become priorities. The environmental and economic aspects of the replacement of fossil-based products with green alternatives have been addressed.

In this Special Issue, we invite submissions exploring breakthroughs in the field of biomass conversion processes and biorefinery development. Contributions can focus on recent trends in chemical, biological and thermochemical conversion processes, biobased products, energy and fuels, biocircular economy, modeling and integration, and lifecycle analysis and economic assessment of sustainable biomass conversion processes. Review papers are also welcomed.

Dr. Mariya Marinova
Dr. Simon Barnabé
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • innovative biomass pretreatment and conversion technologies
  • lignin
  • hemicelluloses
  • and cellulose valorization
  • sustainable biorefinery development
  • integrated biorefineries
  • biocircular economy
  • strategic innovation
  • environmental assessment of biorefineries

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 597 KiB  
Article
Electrifying with High-Temperature Water Electrolysis to Produce Syngas from Wood via Oxy-Gasification, Leading to Superior Carbon Conversion Yield for Methanol Synthesis
by Sylvain Larose, Raynald Labrecque and Patrice Mangin
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(6), 2672; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11062672 - 17 Mar 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1749
Abstract
Due to concerns regarding fossil greenhouse gas emissions, biogenic material such as forest residues is viewed nowadays as a valuable source of carbon atoms to produce syngas that can be used to synthesise biofuels such as methanol. A great challenge in using gasified [...] Read more.
Due to concerns regarding fossil greenhouse gas emissions, biogenic material such as forest residues is viewed nowadays as a valuable source of carbon atoms to produce syngas that can be used to synthesise biofuels such as methanol. A great challenge in using gasified biomass for methanol production is the large excess of carbon in the syngas, as compared to the H2 content. The water–gas shift (WGS) reaction is often used to add H2 and balance the syngas. CO2 is also produced by this reaction. Some of the CO2 has to be removed from the gaseous mixture, thus decreasing the process carbon yield and maintaining CO2 emissions. The WGS reaction also decreases the overall process heat output. This paper demonstrates the usefulness of using an extra source of renewable H2 from steam electrolysis instead of relying on the WGS reaction, for a much higher performance of syngas production from gasification of wood in a simple system with a fixed-bed gasifier. A commercial process simulation software is employed to predict that this approach will be more efficient (overall energy efficiency of about 67%) and productive (carbon conversion yield of about 75%) than relying on the WGS reaction. The outlook for this process that includes the use of the solid oxide electrolyser technology appears to be very promising because the electrolyser has the dual function of providing all of the supplemental H2 required for syngas balancing and all the O2 required for the production of a suitable hot raw syngas. This process is conducive to biomethanol production in dispersed, small plants using local biomass for end-users from the same geographical area, thus contributing to regional sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefineries and Sustainable Biomass Conversion: Recent Advances)
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20 pages, 6912 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Lignin Recovery from the Pre-Hydrolysate of Kraft-Based Dissolving Pulp Production Processes
by Adil Mazar, Naceur Jemaa, Waleed Wafa Al Dajani, Mariya Marinova and Michel Perrier
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(1), 454; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11010454 - 5 Jan 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3445
Abstract
A pre-hydrolysate is an aqueous stream obtained during the production of hardwood kraft dissolving pulp. It is rich in sugars and contains dissolved organic matters. The purpose of this study is to investigate the optimization of lignin recovery from wood pre-hydrolysates and to [...] Read more.
A pre-hydrolysate is an aqueous stream obtained during the production of hardwood kraft dissolving pulp. It is rich in sugars and contains dissolved organic matters. The purpose of this study is to investigate the optimization of lignin recovery from wood pre-hydrolysates and to characterize the extracted lignin. The optimal conditions for lignin extraction have been determined to be (a) a filtration temperature of 40 °C, (b) a sulfuric acid concentration of 8.5 kg·m−3, and (c) a coagulation time of 180 min. Using these conditions, high filtration rates have been obtained and the extracted lignin has a low content of impurities (8.3%), a low molecular weight (1270 Da), and a very low polydispersity (Mw/Mn = 1.22). Compared to kraft lignin, the pre-hydrolysate lignin has a much lower molecular weight and could be a potential candidate for niche applications. A high lignin recovery rate is possible (52% of the total lignin content in the pre-hydrolysate). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefineries and Sustainable Biomass Conversion: Recent Advances)
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19 pages, 2228 KiB  
Article
Methanol Production from Pyrolysis Oil Gasification—Model Development and Impacts of Operating Conditions
by Zhihai Zhang, Benoit Delcroix, Olivier Rezazgui and Patrice Mangin
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(20), 7371; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10207371 - 21 Oct 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4775
Abstract
A novel process model simulating methanol production through pyrolysis oil gasification was developed, validated, then used to predict the effect of operating conditions on methanol production yield. The model comprised gasification, syngas post-treatment, and methanol synthesis units. The model was validated using experimental [...] Read more.
A novel process model simulating methanol production through pyrolysis oil gasification was developed, validated, then used to predict the effect of operating conditions on methanol production yield. The model comprised gasification, syngas post-treatment, and methanol synthesis units. The model was validated using experimental data from the literature, and the results obtained by the model were consistent with reference data. The simulation results revealed that gasification temperature has a significant impact on syngas composition. Indeed, rising temperature from 400 °C to 600 °C leads to higher syngas stoichiometric number (SN) value. Conversely, SN value decreases when the gasifier temperature is above 1000 °C. Moisture content in pyrolysis oil also affects both syngas composition and SN value; an increase in the first (from 10 to 30%) leads to an increase in SN value. The Rectisol unit deeply influences the syngas SN value and methanol yield, the best results being obtained with operating conditions of −20 °C and 40 bar. Increasing the operating temperature of the methanol synthesis unit from 150 °C to 250 °C leads to an increase in the yield of methanol production; the yield decreases beyond 250 °C. Although high pressures favor the methanol production yield, the operating pressure in the synthesis unit is limited at 50 bar for practical considerations (e.g., equipment price, equipment requirements, or operational risks). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biorefineries and Sustainable Biomass Conversion: Recent Advances)
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