Recent Advances in Chemical Pretreatment Methods for Biofuel Production Processes

Dear Colleagues,

The growing demand for energy is considered to be one of the most significant challenges of the 21st century. It is important to provide energy for different sectors, such as industry, transportation, and heating systems, from sustainable sources to reduce the harmful impacts of traditional fuels not only on human beings but also on the environment. Biofuels are green energy sources that are compatible with existing liquid transport fuel. As one of the main processes in biofuel production, pretreatment is the main economic and a crucial step. The feedstock, such as biomass, may require pretreatment in order to enhance its conversion into a valuable product in terms of process yield and/or productivity. Besides this, the selection of a proper pretreatment may be mandatory for waste management. It should be noted that an efficient pretreatment technique should minimize the energy requirement, maximize the production yield, and generate less waste and by-products. Chemical pretreatment is the application of different chemicals and reagents, such as alkalis, acids, solvents, and salts. Recent advances in chemical pretreatment techniques (e.g., application of green solvents, the use less solvents, or even a combination of different chemical pretreatment methods) has led to an improvement in the recovery of biofuels.

This Special Issue on “Recent Advances in Chemical Pretreatment Methods for Biofuel Production” aims to introduce novel advances in the development of different chemical pretreatment methods for biofuel production. Papers that describe new findings on chemical pretreatment methods; the development of new, efficient pretreatment processes; or environmental, energy, or economic assessments and modeling of pretreatment processes are welcome. Review articles are also recommended.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• the development of new chemicals and reagents for chemical pretreatment in biofuel production;
• the modeling and optimization of chemical pretreatment processes to increase the biofuel recovery rate;
• the development of novel chemical reagents to enhance the efficiency of pretreatment; and
• the evaluation of pretreatment efficiency in terms of less waste generation and by-products.

Dr. Shahabaldin Rezania
Guest Editor

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