| 1. |
- Nitsos, Christos, et al.
(author)
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Evaluation of Mediterranean Agricultural Residues as a Potential Feedstock for the Production of Biogas via Anaerobic Fermentation
- 2015
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In: BioMed Research International. - : Hindawi Limited. - 2314-6133 .- 2314-6141. ; 2015
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Hydrothermal, dilute acid, and steam explosion pretreatment methods, were evaluated for their efficiency to improve the methane production yield of three Mediterranean agricultural lignocellulosic residues such as olive tree pruning, grapevine pruning, and almond shells. Hydrothermal and dilute acid pretreatments provided low to moderate increase in the digestibility of the biomass samples, whereas steam explosion enabled the highest methane yields to be achieved for almond shells at 232.2 ± 13.0 mL CH4/gVS and olive pruning at 315.4 ± 0.0 mL CH4/gVS. Introduction of an enzymatic prehydrolysis step moderately improved methane yields for hydrothermal and dilute acid pretreated samples but not for the steam exploded ones.
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| 2. |
- Nitsos, Christos, et al.
(author)
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Investigation of different pretreatment methods of Mediterranean-type ecosystem agricultural residues : characterisation of pretreatment products, high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis and bioethanol production
- 2018
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In: Biofuels. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1759-7269 .- 1759-7277. ; 9:5, s. 545-558
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Agricultural and agro-industrial lignocellulosic residues represent an important renewable resource for the production of fuels and chemicals towards a bio-based economy. Olive pruning, vineyard pruning and almond shells are important residues from agricultural activities in Mediterranean-type ecosystems. In the current work, bioethanol production from the above three types of agro-residues was studied, focusing on the effect of different pretreatment methods on enzymatic saccharrification efficiency of cellulose and production of second-generation bioethanol. Dilute acid, hydrothermal and steam explosion pretreatments were compared in order to remove hemicellulose and facilitate the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of the hemicellulose-deficient biomass to glucose. Enzymatic hydrolysis was performed in a free-fall mixing reactor enabling high solids loading of 23% w/w. This allowed hydrolysis of up to 67% of available cellulose in almond shells and close to 50% in olive pruning samples, and facilitated high ethanol production in the subsequent fermentation step; the highest ethanol concentrations achieved were 47.8 g/L for almond shells after steam explosion and 42 g/L for hydrothermally pretreated olive pruning residue.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Nitsos, Christos, et al.
(author)
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The Role of Catalytic Pretreatment in Biomass Valorization Toward Fuels and Chemicals
- 2013
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In: The Role of Catalysis for the Sustainable Production of Bio-fuels and Bio-chemicals. - : Elsevier. - 9780444563309 ; , s. 217-260
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose toward fermentable glucose is of paramount importance for the production of ethanol or other high-value chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass via the biochemical route. A pretreatment step is usually required that alters the structure and composition of biomass, reduces its recalcitrance, and allows the efficient enzymatic conversion of carbohydrates into sugars. Biomass pretreatment aims mainly at the selective separation of hemicellulose and/or lignin, either as oligomers or as smaller sugar and phenolic molecules, which can be further converted enzymatically or via chemical catalysis to platform chemicals or fuel precursors. In this chapter, a review of the most widely applied pretreatment methods is presented, with the aim of elucidating the role of chemical or biochemical catalysis in this first step of biomass valorization
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| 5. |
- Stephanidis, S.D., et al.
(author)
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Catalytic upgrading of lignocellulosic biomass pyrolysis vapours : Effect of hydrothermal pre-treatment of biomass
- 2011
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In: Catalysis Today. - : Elsevier BV. - 0920-5861 .- 1873-4308. ; 167:1, s. 37-45
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The main objective of the present work was the study of the effect of hydrothermal pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass (beech wood) on the product yields and bio-oil composition produced from biomass flash pyrolysis as well as from the catalytic upgrading of the biomass pyrolysis vapours. The hydrothermal pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass was performed at a severity factor (Ro) of 3.55 leading to ∼35 wt.% loss of solids, mainly due to solubilization and removal of hemicellulose. The production of sugars (mainly levoglucosan) was significantly increased by the use of the hydrothermally pretreated biomass instead of the untreated biomass in the non-catalytic flash pyrolysis experiments. On the other hand, the concentration of carboxylic acids, ketones and phenols was decreased in the bio-oil derived from the pretreated biomass. The catalysts tested in the upgrading of the biomass pyrolysis vapours were the strongly acidic zeolites H-ZSM-5 and silicalite (with very low number of acid sites) and the mildly acidic mesoporous aluminosilicate Al-MCM-41. The effect of catalysts on product yields and composition of bio-oil in the upgrading of pyrolysis vapours, was similar for both the pretreated and untreated biomass. The use of zeolite H-ZSM-5 decreased the total liquid yield (bio-oil) via decreasing the organic phase of bio-oil and increasing its water content, accompanied by increase of gases and moderate formation of coke on the catalyst. The zeolite silicalite and the Al-MCM-41 induced similar effects with those of H-ZSM-5 but to a less extent, except of the significantly higher coke that was deposited on Al-MCM-41. With regard to the composition of the bio-oil, all the catalysts and mostly the strongly acidic H-ZSM-5 zeolite reduced the oxygen content of the organic fraction, mainly by decreasing the concentration of acids, ketones and phenols in the untreated biomass pyrolysis oil or the concentration of sugars in the pretreated biomass pyrolysis oil. Aromatics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were significantly increased by the use of all catalysts, for both types of biomass feed. A substantial increase in the concentration of phenols was observed in the upgraded bio-oil derived by the hydrothermally pretreated biomass, using the less acidic silicalite and Al-MCM-41 catalysts
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