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Biomass for Bioenergy

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Introduction to Materials for Advanced Energy Systems

Abstract

Bioenergy technologies have been deployed for widespread sustainable exploitation of biomass resources in order to efficiently utilize bioenergy and at the same time to guarantee greenhouse gas emission savings for biofuels and bio-liquids. Unlike other renewable energy sources, biomass can be converted directly into biofuels to help meet transportation fuel needs, for instance. The development of advanced materials for bioenergy has been covered a wide range areas: high strength, wear- and corrosion-resistant structural materials such as steel, alloys, and protective coatings, high durability polymers and ceramics; catalysts, allowing for higher selectivity and yield, improved stability and functionality such as bi-/multifunctional catalytic systems; advanced ceramic, polymeric, or metallic membranes for gas separation and separation of inhibitory or intermediary products from biomass pretreatment, efficient separation/recycling of enzymes, the immobilization of cells, and downstream processing in continuous separation of fermentation products needs materials solutions for advanced membranes; hydrolytic enzymes and novel microorganisms; as well as photosynthesis and photosynthetic process materials. Breaking down cellulose, the chemically resistant building blocks of plants, for instance, requires aggressive chemical processes and catalysts, and materials with long lifetimes to contain and manipulate these corrosive chemistries. The cellular membranes of algae are rich in the raw materials for production of hydrocarbon chains of gasoline and diesel fuel, but need their own special chemical routes and catalytic materials for conversion. Many of these chemical processes and catalysts exist in nature, such as in the digestive systems of termites, where cellulose is converted to sugars that can be further fermented to alcohol. Advanced materials and analytical tools are needed to understand the subtleties of these natural fuel production processes, and then to design artificial analogs that directly and efficiently produce the desired end fuels. This chapter will provide a brief review about the advanced materials for biomass processing and bioenergy utilization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chicago, IL, USA

    Colin Tong

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Exercises

Exercises

8.1.1 Part I: General Questions

  1. 8.1.

    Use appropriate units, rounding, significant figures, and show results in regular and scientific notation.

    1. (a)

      On average, a University’s steam plant consumes 21,000 US tons of dry hardwood chips per year. What is the heat content of this biomass?

    2. (b)

      In addition to wood chips, the university uses, on average, 515,000 gallons per year of #6 fuel oil to heat outlying buildings, and as backup for the wood chip system. What is the heat content of the fuel oil used annually?

    3. (c)

      What percentage of the university’s heat comes from biomass?

    4. (d)

      A small natural gas field is located just west of the University. A relatively high-yielding well in this field produces 25,000 MCF (1 MCF = 1000 standard cubic feet) of natural gas per year. How many of these wells would be needed to supply the University’s non-biomass heating needs that are currently being met by #6 fuel oil?

  2. 8.2.

    Briefly describe the development history of bioenergy technologies.

  3. 8.3.

    List major biomass conversion technologies and compare their advantages and disadvantages.

  4. 8.4.

    Describe modern bioenergy conversion pathways from feedstock to products, and their technology barriers and strategies moving forward to realize high volume production.

  5. 8.5.

    List major corrosion resistant materials compatible with biofuels, and compare their advantages and disadvantages.

  6. 8.6.

    Describe the role of nanocatalysts for conversion of biomass to biofuel, and compare main nanocatalysts’ advantages and disadvantages.

  7. 8.7.

    Why using coal liquefaction? Describe the processing pathways, current technology barriers, and strategies moving forward to realize high volume production.

8.1.2 Part II: Thought-Provoking Questions

  1. 8.8.

    Why is Algae promising for future bioenergy? Describe the bioenergy conversion pathways, current technology barriers, and strategies moving forward to realize high volume production.

  2. 8.9.

    Describe current status and future trends of membrane materials for water sustainability in bioenergy.

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Tong, C. (2019). Biomass for Bioenergy. In: Introduction to Materials for Advanced Energy Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98002-7_8

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