Biomass

Composition and Conversion Technologies

Le Cao Nhien
2015-02-27

Biofuel classification

Bioethanol, butanol from starch,

sugar
Biodiesel from plant oils

Biomethane, Bioethanol, butanol,

biodiesel from lignocellulose
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Bioethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen

from algae

Biomass classification and composintion

2 major subdivisions:
Crop: corn, sugarcane, soybean, wheatcontain carbohydrates, glucose, starch
Wood: composed cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin

Starch+cellulose: polymetric forms of glucose, C6 sugar

Hemicellulose: polymer of xylose
Lignin: phenolic polymers
Oils: triglycerides

Ref. integrating bioprocesses into..2012

Starch
Polymer of glucose, 10%30% -amylose and 70%90% amylopectin
The -1,4-glycosidic linkages are bent and prevent the formation of sheets
and subsequent layering of polymer chains.
Starch is soluble in water and relatively easy to break down into utilizable
sugar units.

Glycogen
This is similar in structure to amylopectin.
It is poly (1-4) glucose with 9% (1-6) branches.

It is made by animals as their storage polysaccharide, and is

found mainly in muscle and liver.
Because it is so highly branched, it can be mobilised (broken
down to glucose for energy) very quickly.
It is broken down to glucose by the enzyme glycogen
phosphorylase.

Lignocellulosic
Contains 30%50% cellulose, 20%30% hemicellulose, and 20%30% lignin
Considered to be an abundant resource for the future bioindustry

Cellulosic biomass comprises 35%50% of most plant material

Polymer of glucose with degree of polymerization of 1,00010,000
It is poly (1-4) glucose, but with a different isomer of glucose.

6
5

6
5

O
1

HO
3

1
3

1
3

OH

HO

5
1

4
5

1-4 glycosidic
bonds in starch

1-4 glycosidic
bonds in cellulose

1
3

OH
2

Starch and Cellulose

Whereas the 14 glucose polymer in starch coils up to form granules, the
14 glucose polymer in cellulose forms straight chains.
Hundreds of these chains are linked together by hydrogen bonds to form
cellulose microfibrils.
These microfibrils are very strong and rigid, and give strength to plant cells,
and therefore to young plants and also to materials such as paper, cotton and
sellotape.
O

O
O

O
O

HO

OH
hydrogen bond

O
O

HO

O
O

O
O

HO

O
O

OH

O
O

OH

Comparison between Starch, Glycogen and Cellulose

Hemicellulose
Containing primarily five-carbon sugars such as xylose and arabinose with
some glucose and mannose dispersed throughout
It forms a short-chain polymer that interacts with cellulose and lignin to form a
matrix in the plant wall.
More easily hydrolyzed than cellulose
Much of the hemicellulose in lignocellulosic materials is solubilized and
hydrolyzed to pentose and hexose sugars during the pretreatment stage.

Lignin
Helps to bind the cellulose/hemicelluloses matrix while adding flexibility to the mixture
The molecular structure of lignin polymers is very random and disorganized and
consists primarily of carbon ring structures (benzene rings with methoxyl, hydroxyl,
and propyl groups) interconnected by polysaccharides (sugar polymers).
The ring structures of lignin have great potential as valuable chemical intermediates,
mainly aromatic compounds
Separation and recovery of the lignin is difficult.
Pyrolysis can be used to convert the lignin polymers
to valuable products, but separation techniques to
recover the individual chemicals are lacking

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Oils
Oils can be obtained from oilseeds like soybean, canola, etc. Vegetable oils
are composed primarily of triglycerides, also referred to as triacylglycerols.
Triglycerides contain a glycerol molecule as the backbone with three fatty
acids attached to glycerols hydroxyl groups

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Biomass conversion technology

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Biomass Pretreatment (1/5)

The cellulose and hemicellulose in the biomass are broken down to their monomeric form.
Produce a solid pretreated biomass residue that is more amenable to enzymatic hydrolysis by cellulases
and elated enzymes than native biomass
Removes the lignin in biomass
Hot wash pretreatment:
Responsible for solubilization of the hemicellulose fraction.
Depends on temperature and flow rate, requiring about 816min. About 46% of lignin is removed at high rates
and temperatures.

Acid hydrolysis:
A chemical reaction or process where a chemical compound reacts with water
Break complex polymer structures into its component monomers

Enzymatic hydrolysis
Acid hydrolysis explained earlier has a major disadvantage where the sugars are converted to degradation
products like tars. This degradation can be prevented by using enzymes favoring 100% selective conversion of
cellulose to glucose

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Fermentation (2/5)
Fermentation process where pretreated biomass containing five-carbon and
six-carbon sugars is catalyzed with biocatalysts to produce desired products
Fermentation refers to enzyme-catalyzed, energy-yielding chemical reactions
that occur during the breakdown of complex organic substrates in the
presence of microorganisms (Klass, 1998)
The microorganisms can be yeast or bacteria
Ethanol is produced by the bacteria Zymomonous mobilis or the yeast
Saccaromyces cervisiae.
Succinic acid is produced in high concentrations by Actinobacillus
succinogens obtained from rumen ecosystem

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How to ferment beer?

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Anaerobic Digestion (3/5)

The treatment of biomass with a mixed culture of bacteria to produce
methane (biogas) as a primary product

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Anaerobic Digestion (3/5)

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Transesterification (4/5)
The reaction of an alcohol with natural oil containing triglycerides to produce
monoalkyl esters and glycerol
The alcohols that can be used for transesterification depend on the type of
esters desired. Methanol (CH3OH) gives methyl esters and ethanol
(C2H5OH) produces ethyl esters
A wide variety of vegetable oils and natural oils can be used for
transesterification.

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Transesterification (4/5)

Haas et al. (2006) describe an industrial-scale transesterification process for

the production of methyl esters from the transesterification of soybean oil.
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Transesterification (4/5)

Retrofit of distillation columns in biodiesel production plants, 2010, Nghi Nguye

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Gasification (5/5)
Thermal conversion processes such as gasification and pyrolysis can be used
to convert biomass to synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and
hydrogen (1:1)
Pyrolysis is the direct thermal decomposition of the organic components in
biomass in the absence of oxygen to yield an array of useful products like
liquid and solid derivatives and fuel gases (Klass, 1998).
In the 1800s, coal gasification was used to provide syngas used for lighting
and heating.
With the development of the petroleum industry in the 1940s, the economics
of many of these syngas routes became unfavorable and these were replaced
by petroleum-based processes.
Commercial biomass gasification facilities started worldwide in the 1970s

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Gasification (5/5)

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Pyrolysis (5/5)
The direct thermal decomposition of the organic components in biomass in
the absence of oxygen to yield an array of useful products like liquid and solid
derivatives and fuel gases
ConocoPhillips has funded a $22.5 million and 8 year research program at
Iowa State University to develop new technologies for processing
lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels (C&E News, 2007b). The company wants
to investigate routes using fast pyrolysis to decompose biomass to liquid
fuels.

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Thank You for your Attention!

Le Cao Nhien, Ph.D. Student
Process Systems Design and Control Laboratory
School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungam University
Dae-dong 214-1, Gyeongsan 712-749, South Korea
Email: nhienle10@gmail.com
Website: http://psdc.yu.ac.kr
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