Browsing by Author "Ong, Hwai Chyuan"

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Bioethanol production from acid pretreated microalgal hydrolysate using microwave-assisted heating wet torrefaction
(2020-11-01)
Yu, Kai Ling
;
Chen, Wei-Hsin
;
Sheen, Herng-Kuang
;
Chang, Jo-Shu
;
Lin, Chih-Sheng
This study focused on the bioethanol production from the co-production of solid biochar and liquid hydrolysate under microwave-assisted heating wet torrefaction towards a sustainable green technology. The two indigenous microalgal biomass undergone dilute acid pretreatment using wet torrefaction to produce microalgal hydrolysates and biochar at operating conditions of 160-170 degrees C with holding times of 5-10 min. The hydrolysates were utilized for fermentation with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 29 degrees C in a dark condition at a non-agitation state for 120 h. The concentrations of total reducing sugar, reducing sugar by-product, and bioethanol in the hydrolysates were determined. The carbohydrate-rich microalga C. vulgaris ESP-31 showed a good performance in bioethanol production. Microalgal hydrolysate obtained after the pretreatment consisted of a total reducing sugar with the highest concentration of 98.11 g/L. The formation of by-product 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (5 HMF), which might act as the fermentation inhibitor that led to the low ethanol yield, was also analyzed. The highest ethanol yield achieved was 7.61% with a maximum experimental conversion probability of 95.22%. This study has demonstrated the feasible bioethanol production from microalgal hydrolysate through microwave-assisted heating wet torrefaction using dilute acids and the optimization of bioethanol production can be carried out for better performance in the future study.
Production of microalgal biochar and reducing sugar using wet torrefaction with microwave-assisted heating and acid hydrolysis pretreatment
(2020-08-01)
Yu, Kai Ling
;
Chen, Wei-Hsin
;
Sheen, Herng-Kuang
;
Chang, Jo-Shu
;
Lin, Chih-Sheng
This study employed the microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis pretreatment using wet torrefaction on two indigenous microalgae, Chlorella vulgaris ESP-31 and Chlorella sp. GD with different biomass composition to investigate the yields of solid biochar and total reducing sugar in the liquid hydrolysate. Operating conditions at low temperatures (160, 170 degrees C) with short holding time (5, 10 min) under several concentrations of diluted acid medium (0, 0.1 and 0.2 M) were carried out to investigate the torrefaction severity effects towards the properties of the solid and liquid products. The highest biochar yields of 54.5% and 74.6% are obtained from C. vulgaris ESP-31 and Chlorella sp. GD, respectively under the wet torrefaction conditions with an improvement in the properties for fuel and value-added environmental application. The highest total reducing sugar concentration of 98.11 g/L and 12.08 g/L are obtained in C. vulgaris ESP-31 and Chlorella sp. GD liquid hydrolysates, respectively after acid hydrolysis pretreatment. With the co-production of high total reducing sugar in the liquid hydrolysate that can be utilized for bioethanol production and solid biochar as another value-added product, the acid hydrolysis pretreatment using wet torrefaction can be one of the conversion technologies towards the application of renewable energy production. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.