This research thesis validates the potential of tall oil as a renewable feedstock for the production of base-chemicals, especially olefins, as conceived in the thermo-chemical bio-refinery concept. The focus was on the use of hydrotreating and steam cracking technologies with different tall oil feedstocks. Particular advances were accomplished in terms of technology development for high yield o...

In recent years there has been significant interest in harvesting renewable fuels and value-added chemicals from plant feedstocks, especially from perennial grasses such as Arundo donax L. [1, 2, 3]. Some reasons why perennial grasses are desirable as next-generation bioenergy feedstock are: (i) their low soil management requirements and growth on marginal land; (ii) their ability to prevent so...

Public service fleets offer an attractive option for introducing new renewable fuels on a large scale, which allow for the reduction of both greenhouse gas emissions and exhaust air pollutants. This study examines the use of biomethane (bio-CNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) for part of the bus fleet in Dublin, Ireland. The emissions produced from the 2008 fleet based at one of the city’s se...

The thermoplastic materials such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and Nylon have large applications in three-dimensional printing of functional/non-functional prototypes. Usually these polymer-based prototypes are lacking in thermal and electrical conductivity. Graphene (Gr) has attracted impressive enthusiasm in the recent past due to its natural mechanical, thermal, and electrical pro...

This study explores the influence of wastewater feedstock composition on hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) biocrude oil properties and physico-chemical characteristics. Spirulina algae, swine manure, and digested sludge were converted under HTL conditions (300°C, 10-12 MPa, and 30 min reaction time). Biocrude yields ranged from 9.4% (digested sludge) to 32.6% (Spirulina). Although similar higher ...

Carbohydrates are nowadays a very competitive feedstock for the chemical industry because their availability is compatible with world-scale chemical production and their price, based on the carbon content, is comparable to that of petrochemicals. At the same time, demand is rising for biobased products. Brazilian sugar cane is a competitive feedstock source that is opening the door to a wide ra...

Biodiesel is usually produced from food-grade vegetable oils that are more expensive than diesel fuel. Therefore, biodiesel produced from food-grade vegetable oil is currently not economically feasible. Waste cooking oils, restaurant grease and animal fats are potential feedstocks for biodiesel. These inexpensive feedstocks represent one-third of the US total fats and oil production, but are cu...

This paper presents an optimization-based approach for determining how plant feedstocks should be allocated to storage when there are fewer storage vessels than feedstocks. It is assumed here that material from the storage vessels will be subsequently blended for processing in downstream processes. The objective of the feedstock allocation strategy is chosen to ensure maximum flexibility for do...

Currently short-chain polyols such as ethanediol, propanediol, and butanediol are produced either from the petroleum feedstock or from the starch-based food crop feedstock. In this study, a combinational process of enzymatic hydrolysis with catalytic hydrogenolysis for short-chain polyols production using corn stover as feedstock was developed. The enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated corn st...

Developing feedstock-independent biomass pretreatment would be vital to second generation biorefineries that would fully utilize diverse non-food lignocellulosic biomass resources, decrease transportation costs of low energy density feedstock, and conserve natural biodiversity. Cellulose solvent- and organic solvent-based lignocellulose fractionation (COSLIF) was applied to a variety of feedsto...