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Bio-coal: A renewable and massively producible fuel from lignocellulosic biomass.

ABSTRACT: Development of renewable energy is essential to mitigating the fossil fuel shortage and climate change issues. Here, we propose to produce a new type of energy, bio-coal, via a fast pyrolysis coupled with atmospheric distillation process. The high heating values of the as-prepared bio-coals from the representative biomass are within 25.4 to 28.2 MJ kg-1, which are comparable to that of the commercial coals. Life cycle assessment further shows that the bio-coal production process could achieve net positive energy, financial, and environmental benefits. By using available biomass wastes as feedstock, China is expected to have a total bio-coal production of 402 million tons of standard coal equivalent, which is equal to 13% of national coal consumption. It would grant China an opportunity to additionally cut 738 million tons of CO2 emission by substituting an equal amount of coal with bio-coal in 2030.

SUBMITTER: Cheng BH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6941909 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Bio-coal: A renewable and massively producible fuel from lignocellulosic biomass.

Cheng Bin-Hai BH Huang Bao-Cheng BC Zhang Rui R Chen Ya-Li YL Jiang Shun-Feng SF Lu Yan Y Zhang Xue-Song XS Jiang Hong H Yu Han-Qing HQ

Science advances 20200103 1

Development of renewable energy is essential to mitigating the fossil fuel shortage and climate change issues. Here, we propose to produce a new type of energy, bio-coal, via a fast pyrolysis coupled with atmospheric distillation process. The high heating values of the as-prepared bio-coals from the representative biomass are within 25.4 to 28.2 MJ kg<sup>-1</sup>, which are comparable to that of the commercial coals. Life cycle assessment further shows that the bio-coal production process could ...[more]

PMID: 31922006

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Project description:Interest in the use of renewable raw materials in the preparation of materials has been growing uninterruptedly in recent decades. The aim of this strategy is to offer alternatives to the use of fossil fuel-based raw materials and to meet the demand for materials that are less detrimental to the environment after disposal. In this context, several studies have been carried out on the use of lignocellulosic biomass and its main components (cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin) as raw materials for polymeric materials. Lignocellulosic fibers have a high content of cellulose, but there has been a notable lack of investigations on application of the electrospinning technique for solutions prepared from raw lignocellulosic biomass, even though the presence of cellulose favors the alignment of the fiber chains during electrospinning. In this investigation, ultrathin (submicrometric) and nanoscale aligned fibers were successfully prepared via electrospinning (room temperature) of solutions prepared with different contents of lignocellulosic sisal fibers combined with recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) using trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) as solvent. The "macro" fibers were deconstructed by the action of TFA, resulting in solutions containing their constituents, i.e., cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin, in addition to PET. The "macro" sisal fibers were reconstructed at the nanometer and submicrometric scale from these solutions. The SEM micrographs of the mats containing the components of sisal showed distinct fiber networks, likely due to differences in the solubility of these components in TFA and in their dielectric constants. The mechanical properties of the mats (dynamic mechanical analysis, DMA, and tensile properties) were evaluated with the samples positioned both in the direction (dir) of and in opposition (op) to the alignment of the nano and ultrathin fibers, which can be considered a novelty in the analysis of this type of material. DMA showed superior values of storage modulus (E' at 30 °C) for the mats characterized in the preferential direction of fiber alignment. For example, for mats obtained from solutions prepared from a 0.4 ratio of sisal fibers/PET, Sisal/PET0.40dir presented a high E' value of 765 MPa compared to Sisal/PET0.40op that presented an E' value of 88.4 MPa. The fiber alignment did not influence the Tg values (from tan ? peak) of electrospun mats with the same compositions, as they presented similar values for this property. The tensile properties of the electrospun mats were significantly impacted by the alignment of the fibers: e.g., Sisal/PET0.40dir presented a high tensile strength value of 15.72 MPa, and Sisal/PET0.40op presented a value of approximately 2.5 MPa. An opposite trend was observed regarding the values of elongation at break for these materials. Other properties of the mats are also discussed; such as the index of fiber alignment, average porosity, and surface contact angle. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the influence of fiber alignment on the properties of electrospun mats based on untreated lignocellulosic biomass combined with a recycled polymer, such as PET, has been evaluated. The mats obtained in this study have potential for diversified applications, such as reinforcement for polymeric matrices in nanocomposites, membranes for filtration, and support for enzymes, wherein the fiber alignment, together with other evaluated properties, can impact their effectiveness in these applications.

Project description:As a great potential bio-fuel feedstock, the genus Miscanthus has been widely studied around the world, especially Miscanthus × giganteus owing to its high biomass yield in Europe and North America. However, the narrow genetic basis and sterile characteristics of M. × giganteus have become a limitation for utilization and adaptation to extreme climate conditions. In this study, we focused on one of the progenitors of M. × giganteus, Miscanthus sinensis, which was originally distributed in East Asia with abundant genetic resources and comparable biomass yield potential to M. × giganteus in some areas. A collection of 138 individuals was selected for conducting a 3-year trial of biomass production and analyzed by using 104 pairs of SRAP, ISAP, and SSR primers for genetic diversity as well as marker-trait association. Significant differences in biomass yield and related traits were observed among individuals. Tiller number, fresh biomass yield per plant and dry biomass yield per plant had a high level of phenotypic variation among individuals and the coefficient of variation were all above 40% in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The majority of the traits had a significant correlation with the biomass yield except for the length and width of flag leaves. Plant height was a highly stable trait correlated with biomass yield. A total of 1059 discernible loci were detected by markers across individuals. The population structure (Q) and cluster analyses identified three subpopulations in the collection and family relative kinship (K) represented high gene flow among M. sinensis populations from Southwest China. Model testing identified that Q+K was the best model for describing the associations between the markers and traits, compared to the simple linear, Q or K model. Using the Q+K model, 12 significant associations (P < 0.001) were identified including four markers with plant height and one with biomass yield. Such associations would serve an efficient tool for an early selection of M. sinensis and facilitate a genetic improvement of biomass yield for this species.

Dataset Information

Bio-coal: A renewable and massively producible fuel from lignocellulosic biomass.

Publications

Bio-coal: A renewable and massively producible fuel from lignocellulosic biomass.

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