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Monitoring sugar release during pipeline hydro-transport of wheat straw
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- Author(s) / Creator(s)
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Pipeline transport of biomass is an economically viable and technically feasible approach to replace conventional truck delivery approach and make the biomass-based energy industry more competitive with fossil fuel-based plants. A 25 m long and 50 mm diameter closed-circuit pipeline facility was fabricated to experimentally investigate the mechanical and chemical feasibility of transporting agricultural residue biomass-water mixtures (slurries) through pipelines. This research used the pipeline facility to study the loss of sugars (glucose and xylose) while pipelining wheat straw-water mixtures. The release of similar sugars was also measured in shake-flask cultures under controlled conditions. The output of this research is important for bio-processing facilities as a high sugar content slurry would improve the yield of biofuels produced from pipelined lignocellulosic materials. After several hours of recirculating throughout the pipeline, as well as shaking in the flask, a drop in sugar concentration was detected. A microbiological analysis performed on both slurries proved the decline to be due to microbial proliferation. Accordingly, diethyl pyrocarbonate oxidizing antimicrobial agent and glutaraldehyde and bronopol non-oxidizing agents were alternatively tested to restrict microbial proliferation. These agents demonstrated reduced sugar loss and, in turn, showed an enhancement in the yield of glucose and xylose. This research aims at maximizing possible sugar release through mechanical action throughout the pipeline in the presence of antimicrobial compounds, which would increase the yield of biofuel produced from pipelined agricultural residue biomass.
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- Date created
- 2016-01-01
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Type of Item
- Article (Draft / Submitted)