Effect of CH3COOH and K2CO3 on Hydrothermal Pretreatment of Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Accelerated phosphorus recovery from aqueous solution onto decorated sewage sludge carbon

In search of efficient phosphorus resource recovery and pollution remediation should be highly concerned due to the view of phosphorus nonrenewable and eutrophication. This work presented a new insight into conversion of sewage sludge into favorable carbonaceous adsorbent for accelerated removing and recovering phosphorus from aqueous solution, what addressed the issues of phosphorus recovery and pollution remediation as well as sludge disposal. Ca and water hyacinth were evolved to decorate sludge derived carbon. Effect of mass ratio of sludge, water hyacinth and calcium carbonate on the morphologies and adsorption kinetics was investigated. The adsorbents (SW-Ca-112) resulted from sludge in the presence of water hyacinth and CaCO₃ in a mass ratio of 1:1:2 had the highest adsorption capacity of 49.50 mg/g P and adsorption rate. Decoration of Ca favored adsorption ability and the presence of water hyacinth accelerated the adsorption rate due to the enhanced porosity. Formation of acicular Ca₅(PO₄)₃OH nanoparticles contributed to the favorable adsorption process. Thus, the contribution of decorated Ca and water hyacinth to the adsorption ability and rate to phosphorus was understand, providing important information on resource utilization of sewage sludge as efficient adsorbent for immobilizing phosphorus from aqueous solution.

Marsilea spp.-A novel source of lignocellulosic biomass: Effect of solubilized lignin on anaerobic biodegradability and cost of energy products

The present study concerns the liquefying potential of an unusual source of lignocellulosic biomass (Marsilea spp., water clover, an aquatic fern) during combinative pretreatment. The focus was on how the pretreatment affects the biodegradability, methane production, and profitability of thermochemical dispersion disintegration (TCDD) based on liquefaction and soluble lignin. The TCDD process was effective at 12,000 rpm and 11 min under the optimized thermochemical conditions (80 °C and pH 11). The results from biodegradability tests imply that 30% liquefaction was sufficient to achieve enhanced biodegradability of about 0.280 g-COD/g-COD. When biodegradability was >30% inhibition was observed (0.267 and 0.264 g-COD/g-COD at 35-40% liquefaction) due to higher soluble lignin release (4.53-4.95 g/L). Scalable studies revealed that achievement of 30% liquefaction was beneficial in terms of the energy and cost benefit ratios (0.956 and 1.02), when compared to other choices.

Mechanistic investigation in ultrasound induced enhancement of enzymatic hydrolysis of invasive biomass species

This study has assessed four invasive weeds, viz. Saccharum spontaneum (SS), Mikania micrantha (MM), Lantana camara (LC) and Eichhornia crassipes (EC) for enzymatic hydrolysis prior to bioalcohol fermentation. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomasses of weeds has been conducted with mechanical agitation and sonication under constant (non-optimum) conditions. Profiles of total reducible sugar release have been fitted to HCH-1 model of enzymatic hydrolysis using Genetic Algorithm. Trends in parameters of this model reveal physical mechanism of ultrasound-induced enhancement of enzymatic hydrolysis. Sonication accelerates hydrolysis kinetics by ∼10-fold. This effect is contributed by several causes, attributed to intense micro-convection generated during sonication: (1) increase in reaction velocity, (2) increase in enzyme-substrate affinity, (3) reduction in product inhibition, and (4) enhancement of enzyme activity due to conformational changes in its secondary structure. Enhancement effect of sonication is revealed to be independent of conditions of enzymatic hydrolysis - whether optimum or non-optimum.

An assessment of the potential of invasive weeds as multiple feedstocks for biofuel production

The present study assessed the feasibility of five invasive weeds, namely, Arundo donax, Saccharum spontaneum, Mikania mikrantha, Lantana camara and Eichhornia crasspies, as a feedstock for biofuels production.

Catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction of water hyacinth

Thermal and catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction of water hyacinth was performed at temperatures from 250 to 300 °C under various water hyacinth:H2O ratio of 1:3, 1:6 and 1:12. Reactions were also carried out under various residence times (15-60 min) as well as catalytic conditions (KOH and K2CO3). The use of alkaline catalysts significantly increased the bio-oil yield. Maximum bio-oil yield (23 wt%) comprising of bio-oil1 and bio-oil2 as well as conversion (89%) were observed with 1N KOH solution. (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR data showed that both bio-oil1 and bio-oil2 have high aliphatic carbon content. FTIR of bio-residue indicated that the usage of alkaline catalyst resulted in bio-residue samples with lesser oxygen functionality indicating that catalyst has a marked effect on nature of the bio-residue and helps to decompose biomass to a greater extent compared to thermal case.