Fuel and emission characteristics of co-products of the ethanol dry-grind process [distillers wet grains (DWG), concentrated distillers solubles (referred to as “syrup”), and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS)], and corn stover are evaluated. Biomass co-products from the dry-grind ethanol production process, particularly DDGS, are good sources for the electrical and thermal energy nee...

Introduction Biomass energy has received much attention in recent years. We now use about one third of the U.S. corn crop for biofuels. More recently, attention has focused on cellulosic resources—dedicated energy crops like switchgrass, miscanthus, and corn stover. Now the question has been raised concerning the economics of collecting just the corn cobs for energy instead of the stover. This ...

The ability to accurately and rapidly measure plant cell wall composition, relative monolignol content and lignin-hemicellulose inter-unit linkage distributions has become essential to efforts centered on reducing the recalcitrance of biomass by genetic engineering. Growing (13)C enriched transgenic plants is a viable route to achieve the high-throughput, detailed chemical analysis of whole pla...

To apply bacterial cellulases for efficient saccharification of biomass, three Clostridium thermocellum cellulases and a Thermoanaerobacter brockii β1,4-glucosidase were synthesized in Escherichia coli, and the proportions among them were optimized. When the activities of CelD, CBHA, CBH48Y, and CglT were set at 554, 0.91, 0.91, and 856 mU per assay, respectively, the percent conversion of rege...

To decrease the cost of bioethanol production, biomass recalcitrance needs to be overcome so that the conversion of biomass to bioethanol becomes more efficient. CO(2) laser irradiation can disrupt the lignocellulosic physical structure and reduce the average size of fiber. Analyses with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, specific surface area, and the microstructure of corn stover were u...

To the Editor: There has recently been an explosion of interest in, and research on, the personality of opiate addicts. Individuals with substance use disorders suffer from high rates of non-substance use psychiatric disorders. A survey found axis II disorders in 90% of opiate addicts. Another survey showed that there is a relationship between opiate dependence and some particular personality p...

A kinetic model for xylan hydrolysis in liquid hot water flow-through pretreatment was developed. The model utilized a declining xylan hydrolysis rate constant with increasing conversion in combination with direct xylooligomer degradation. The model was able to describe experimental results from flow-through pretreatment of corn stover and triticale straw at various pretreatment temperatures, a...