07 Alternative energy sources (bioconversion energy)

value than chunk wood by the end of storage. Evaluation of fungal activity during storage showed that marked increase in spore counts was closely associated with heat development. increasing temperature. The release of nitrogen-containing species does not seem to be greatly affected by the other constituents of the fuel, and proteins appear to be suitable model compounds for the nitrogen in biomass.

0501615 Ethanol fermentation of acid-hydrolyzed cellulosic pyrolysate with Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Yu, Z. and Zhang, H. Bioresource Technology, 2004, 93, (2), 199 204. Acid-hydrolysis of cellulosic pyrolysate to glucose and its fermentation to ethanol were investigated. The maximum glucose yield (17.4%) was obtained by the hydrolysis with 0.2 tool/1 sulfuric acid using autoclaving at 121C for 20 min. The fermentation by Saceharomyces eerevisiae of a hydrolysate medium containing 31.6 g/1 glucose gave 14.2 g/1 ethanol after 24 h, whereas the fermentation of the medium containing 31.6 g/l pure glucose gave 13.7 g/1 ethanol after 18 h. The results showed that acid-hydrolysed pyrolysate could be used for ethanol production. Different nitrogen sources were evaluated and the best ethanol concentration (i5.1 g/l) was achieved by single urea. S. cerevisiae (R) was obtained by adaptation of S. eerevisiae to the hydrolysate medium for 12 times, and 40.2 g/1 ethanol was produced by it in the fermentation with the hydrolysate medium containing 95.8 g/1 glucose, which was about 47% increase in ethanol production compared to its parent strain.

0501619 Identification of the compounds in the aqueous phases from liquefaction of lignocellulosics
Tancr, F. et al. Fuel Processing Technology, 2005, 86, (4), 407-418. In this study, the compounds in the liquid phases produced from the liquefaction of the lignocellulosic material have been investigated. For this purpose, liquid phases obtained from liquefaction of cotton stalk and cellulose and paper plant soIid waste treated with aqueous acetic acid (HAc) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (15% by mass) at high initial inert gas pressure and high temperature were selected for the analyses. Phenolic compounds, cyclic compounds, unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons and other compounds (benzoquinone, aliphatic alcohols) and furans were identified by TLC, GC and GC/MS equipped with capillary column. It was concluded that lignocellulosic substances were converted into various water-soluble compounds in the liquefaction processes. Furans and cyclic ketones may be cyclization products of dicarbonyl intermediates formed by aldol condensation reaction of lowmolecular mass compounds formed from degradation products of the initial stages of liquefaction.

05/01616 Evaluating livestock manures for biogas production: a GIS based method
Batzias, F. A. et al. Renewable Energy, 2005, 30, (8), 1161-1176. The Animals (data)Base for Energy Potential Estimation (ABEPE), presented in this paper, is a GIS based biomass resource assessment application using a relational database management system to estimate biogas production from livestock manures. Energy and biogas potential of livestock residues of all major groups of stock-raising animals (cattle, pigs, sheep/goats, poultry, etc.) were evaluated. The calculations were based on geographical and time-depending data of Greece. Typical input data included population of animal groupings, by-product factors, availability factors, energy factors, etc. for the period 1970-1998. Output included manure production, available energy and biogas quantities. Furthermore, 'ABEPE' can perform time-depending prediction of all types of output, based on past and present trends. As a case example, the prediction results for the year 2010 are herein presented. The possibility of biogas upgrading in order to be distributed through the national natural gas network is also discussed.

0501620 system

Intelligent solar-powered automobile-ventilation

Huang, K. D. et al. Applied Energy, 2005, 80, (2), 141-154. This study adopts airflow management technology to improve the local temperature distributions in an automobile to counteract the greenhouse effect. The automobile's temperature can be reduced to almost the outside temperature before the driver or passenger gets into the vehicle. When the engine is idling, the greenhouse-control system can be activated to remove the hot air from the car. An appropriate negative pressure is maintained to prevent stuffiness and save energy. The greenhouse-control system requires electrical power when the engine is idle, and a battery cannot supply sufficient power. An auxiliary solar-power supply can save energy and reduce the greenhouse effect of sunlight, while creating a comfortable traveling environment. It ensures that the engine is not overburdened and increases its service life, conserving energy, protecting the environment and improving comfort.

0501617 Exergetic optimisation of a production process of Fischer-Tropsch fuels from biomass

Prins, M. J. et al. Fuel Processing Technology, 2005, 86, (4), 375-389. An exergy analysis of Biomass Integrated Gasification-FischerTropsch process is presented. The process combines an air-blown, atmospheric gasifier, using sawdust as feedstock, with a FischerTropsch reactor and a steam-Rankine cycle for electricity generation from the Fischer-Tropsch tail gas. Results show that the rational (exergetic) efficiency is 36.4%, consisting of 34.5% efficiency to Fischer-Tropsch diesel and wax, and 1.9% efficiency to electricity. The largest exergy losses take place in biomass gasification and in generation of electricity from the Fischer-Tropsch tail gas. Recommendations are given for process improvements, which increase the rational efficiency to 46.2%.

0501621 Lipid constituents of peat humic acids and humin. Distinction from directly extractable bitumen components using TMAH and TEAAc thermochemolysis
Guignard, C. et al. Organic Geochemistry, 2005, 36, (2), 287 297. Humic acids and humin from an acidic peat were investigated using solid state ~3C NMR and pyrolysis with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and tetraethylammonium acetate (TEAAc). The degradation products were compared with the solvent extractable lipids. The latter appeared to originate mostly from plant material, whereas the products derived from the humic fractions showed a more complex structure, partly inherited from natural insoluble material. The major products of TMAH thermochemolysis were aromatic compounds derived from lignin moieties, hydrocarbons and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) partly incorporated via ester or ether bonds. Aliphatic hydrocarbons were present as n-alkene/n-alkane doublets with a Gaussian distribution in the C17-C35 range. These unsaturated and saturated hydrocarbons arose from resistant biopotymers. Bifunctional aliphatic compounds were also incorporated into the humic structure, contributing to alkyl bridges. Thermochemolysis of humin produced more aliphatic structures than did humic acids. The application of TEAAc thermochemolysis allowed identification of a wide range of products initially retained in the humic macromolecules via non-covalent bonds, thereby indicating that weak bonds such as hydrogen bonds play a key role in the structure of humic substances. The association of thermochemolysis using TMAH and TEAAc thus allows covalently-bound fatty acids, trapped fatty acids and trapped fatty acid methyl esters present in the structure of humic acids or humin to be distinguished.

0501618 Formation of HNCO, HCN, and NH3 from the pyrolysis of bark and nitrogen-containing model compounds
Hansson, K. et al. Combustion and Flame, 2004, 137, (3), 265-277. Bark pellets have been pyrolysed in a fluidized bed reactor at temperatures between 700 and 1000C. Identified nitrogen-containing species were hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ammonia (NH3), and isocyanic acid (HNCO). Quantification of HCN and to some extent of NH3 was unreliable at 700 and 800C due to low concentrations. HNCO could not be quantified with any accuracy at any temperature for bark, due to the low concentrations found. Since most of the nitrogen in biomass is bound in proteins, various protein-rich model compounds were pyrolysed with the aim of finding features that are protein-specific, making conclusions regarding the model compounds applicable for biomass fuels in general. The model compounds used were a whey protein isolate, soya beans, yellow peas, and shea nut meal. The split between HCN and NH3 depends on the compound and temperature. It was found that the HCN/NH3 ratio is very sensitive to temperature and increases with increasing temperature for all compounds, including bark. Comparing the ratio for the different compounds at a fixed temperature, the ratio was found to decrease with decreasing release of volatile nitrogen. The temperature dependence implies that heating rate and thereby particle size affect the split between HCN and NHa. For whey, soya beans, and yellow peas, HNCO was also quantified. It is suggested that most HCN and HNCO are produced from cracking of cyclic amides formed as primary pyrolysis products. The dependence of the HNCO/HCN ratio on the compound is fairly small, but the temperature dependence of the ratio is substantial, decreasing with

05/01622 Performance and characteristics of an anaerobic baffled reactor

Wang, J. et al. Bioresource Technology, 2004, 93, (2), 205-208. The performance and the characteristics of a laboratory scale anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) were investigated using synthetic wastewater. The experimental results showed that among different volatile fatty acids (VFAs), acetate was the main intermediate of acidogenic degradation of glucose. The VFA concentration decreased longitudinally down the reactor. The analysis of the biogas composition revealed that methane concentration increased steadily from compartment 1 to 5, while hydrogen content decreased in the first compartments. There was no detectable hydrogen in the last two compartments. The methane-producing activity of anaerobic sludge in different compartments depended on the substrate, which suggests

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Fuel and Energy Abstracts July 2005