In the first part of the thesis, chemical analyses were conducted for four populations of switchgrass, SW1-SW8. Each population consisted of 69% leaves, 27% internodes, and 4% nodes. The variations in carbohydrates, lignin, extractives content, Higher Heating Value (HHV), and syringyl:guaiacyl (S:G) ratio were determined among the populations and the morphological portions. The experimental res...

The carbonization of coal to produce metallurgical coke is an alternative route for the feedstock recycling of plastic wastes of different structures and origins. Individual plastics or mixed plastics of domestic origin can be incorporated into typical coking blends as secondary raw materials. The effects of the composition of the plastic wastes on the thermoplastic properties of coal, coking p...

A major challenge in the production of pellets is the high cost associated with drying biomass from 30 to 10% (w.b.) moisture content. At Idaho National Laboratory, a high-moisture pelleting process was developed to reduce the drying cost. In this process the biomass pellets are produced at higher feedstock moisture contents than conventional methods, and the high moisture pellets produced are ...

Powder compaction technology has advanced significantly over the past decades and is considered as an alternative lower-cost process to machining, casting, stamping, forging and other similar metal-working technologies. Feedstock preparation is considered a vital step in producing parts through the powder route because any inhomogeneity within the powder mass would cause inhomogeneous density d...

The technical and economical feasibilities of a novel integrated biomass gasification and fuel cell combined heat and power (CHP) system were analyzed for supplying heat and power in an ethanol plant from distillers grains (DG) and corn stover. In a current dry-grind plant with an annual production capacity of 189 million liters (50 million gallons) of ethanol, the energy cost for ethanol produ...

Anaerobic digestion is a process which breaks down organic matter in simpler chemicals components without oxygen. This process can be very useful to treat arising organic waste such as:-sewage sludge-organic farm wastes-municipal solid wastes-green/botanical wastes-organic industrial and commercial wastes Before being digested, the feedstock has to und ergo pre-treatment. There are various type...

Powder Injection Molding (PIM) is a precision manufacturing process used for production of advanced composites. Mixing of polymeric binder with metal powders, molding of feedstock, de-binding of brown parts and sintering of green samples are four main steps of this process. In the present study, the compounds containing multi-component binder system and aluminum/ nano-alumina (0-9 wt.%) powders...

Exploiting microalgae as feedstock for biofuel production is a growing field of research and application, but there remain challenges related to industrial viability and economic sustainability. A solution to the water requirements of industrial-scale production is the use of wastewater as a growth medium. Considering the variable quality and contaminant loads of wastewater, algal feedstock wou...

This work involves the degradation of plastic waste in the presence of three different nanocatalysts. A thin film of LLDPE was formed with all three nanocatalysts separately in the solvent. Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetric (DSC) analysis of polymers suggest that the presence of these catalysts lowers the degradation temperature and the change mechanism of...