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The reaction kinetics of gasification are important for the design of gasifiers using biomass feedstocks, such as lignin, produced in biorefinery processes. Condensed and uncondensed lignin samples used in the present study were prepared using the SEW (SO2-ethanolwater) fractionation process applied to spruce wood chips: the dissolved lignin is precipitated during the recovery of SO2 and ethanol from the spent fractionation liquor. The gasification of char made from condensed and uncondensed SEW lignin was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) at atmospheric pressure using either CO2 or steam. The main aim of this study was to quantify the reaction rate during the gasification process, which was found to be best described as zeroorder. All experiments were performed at constant temperatures between 700 and 1050 °C to obtain the necessary information for describing the reaction rate equation in an Arrhenius form; the heating rate was 20 °C/min for both samples. The experiments led to almost similar results for both samples. The activation energies of CO2 gasification were approximately 160 kJ/mol and 170 kJ/mol for uncondensed and condensed lignin char, respectively. The activation energies of steam gasification were approximately 90 kJ/mol and 100 kJ/mol for uncondensed and condensed lignin char, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) are fractionated by SO2–ethanol–water mixture. [•] Fractionation of OPEFB feedstock produces cellulosic fibers and spent liquor. [•] Spent liquor contains dissolved hemicellulose sugars (mostly monomers) and lignin. [•] Fractionation and sugar hydrolysis is hindered by the high cation content of OPEFB. [•] Acidic leaching of OPEFB only partly removes cations; more intense deashing needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The focus of this study is to develop a process for conditioning spent liquor produced by SO2–ethanol–water (SEW) fractionation of spruce chips/softwood biomass for fermentation to butanol, ethanol, and acetone/2-propanol (so-called ABE process) by Clostridia bacteria. This study is an integral part of a project which aims at creating an economic process that can utilize cheap forestry residues such as twigs, cones, treetops, branches, and bark to produce renewable chemicals and liquid fuels. The results of this study suggest that the proposed scheme for conditioning of SEW spent liquor from spruce/softwood biomass can be successfully applied to produce chemicals and biofuels by ABE fermentation. Butanol, acetone, and ethanol are produced at a total yield of around 0.25 g/g sugars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The present study proposes the use of market rejected and waste vegetables as a supplement for improved acetone–ethanol–butanol (ABE) solvent production. In the present study, three different perishable vegetables were evaluated as supplements for ABE fermentation. These vegetables were found to stimulate the solvent production at as low as 1% (w/v) concentration. The supplementation showed improved production of solvents using 4-fold diluted SO2–ethanol–water (SEW) spent liquor supplemented with 25g/l glucose as a substrate. The maximum total solvent production obtained with 5% (w/v) supplementation of carrot, cabbage and tomato was 9.96g/l, 10.49g/l and 10.65g/l, respectively as compared to the control value of 7.43g/l. The applicability of vegetables was successfully evaluated as a complex medium for solvent production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: SO2–ethanol–water (SEW) spent liquor from spruce chips was successfully used for batch and continuous production of acetone, butanol and ethanol (ABE). Initially, batch experiments were performed using spent liquor to check the suitability for production of ABE. Maximum concentration of total ABE was found to be 8.79g/l using 4-fold diluted SEW liquor supplemented with 35g/l of glucose. The effect of dilution rate on solvent production, productivity and yield was studied in column reactor consisting of immobilized Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792 on wood pulp. Total solvent concentration of 12g/l was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.21h−1. The maximum solvent productivity (4.86g/lh) with yield of 0.27g/g was obtained at dilution rate of 0.64h−1. Further, to increase the solvent yield, the unutilized sugars were subjected to batch fermentation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The objective of this study is to develop a process for conditioning spent liquor produced by SO2-ethanol-water (SEW) fractionation of spruce wood chips for fermentation to butanol, ethanol and acetone/isopropanol, i.e., by means of the so called acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) process using Clostridia bacteria. This study serves as part of an overall project aiming at the development of economic processes for producing chemicals and biofuels from mixed forest biomass via SEW fractionation and ABE fermentation technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the toxicological effect of seven novel cholinium, guanidinium, and tetramethylguanidinium carboxylate ionic liquids (ILs) from an ecotoxicological point of view. The emphasis was on the potential structure-toxicity dependency of these surface-active ILs in aqueous environment. The median effective concentrations (EC50) were defined for each IL using Vibrio (Aliivibrio) fischeri marine bacteria. Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposomes were used as biomimetic lipid membranes to study the interactions between the surface-active ILs and the liposomes. The interactions were investigated by following the change in the DPPC phase transition behaviour using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Critical micelle concentrations for the ILs were determined to clarify the analysis of the toxicity and the interaction results. Increasing anion alkyl chain length increased the toxicity, whereas branching of the chain decreased the toxicity of the ILs. The toxicity of the ILs in this study was mainly determined by the surface-active anions, while cations induced a minor impact on the toxicity. In the DSC experiments the same trend was observed for all the studied anions, whereas the cations seemed to induce more variable impact on the phase transition behaviour. Toxicity measurements combined with liposome interaction studies can provide a valuable tool for assessing the mechanism of toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cell membrane is mainly composed of lipid bilayers with inserted proteins and carbohydrates. Lipid bilayers made of purified or synthetic lipids are widely used for estimating the effect of target compounds on cell membranes. However, the composition of such biomimetic membranes is much simpler than the composition of biological membranes. Interactions between compounds and simple composition biomimetic membranes might not demonstrate the effect of target compounds as precisely as membranes with compositions close to real organisms. Therefore, the aim of our study is to construct biomimetic membrane closely mimicking the state of natural membranes. Liposomes were prepared from lipids extracted from L-α-phosphatidylcholine, Escherichia coli , yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and bovine liver cells through agitation and sonication. They were immobilized onto silicon dioxide (SiO 2) sensor surfaces using N-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine-N′-2-ethanesulfonic acid buffer with calcium chloride. The biomimetic membranes were successfully immobilized onto the SiO 2 sensor surface and detected by nanoplasmonic sensing. The immobilized membranes were exposed to choline carboxylates. The membrane disruption effect was, as expected, more pronounced with increasing carbohydrate chain length of the carboxylates. The results correlated with the toxicity values determined using Vibrio fischeri bacteria. The yeast extracted lipid membranes had the strongest response to introduction of choline laurate while the bovine liver lipid extracted liposomes were the most sensitive towards the shorter choline carboxylates. This implies that the composition of the cell membrane plays a crucial role upon interaction with choline carboxylates, and underlines the necessity of testing membrane systems of different origin to obtain an overall image of such interactions. Unlabelled Image • Natural lipid extracts were processed into small unilamellar liposomes. • Liposomes were immobilized on the sensor surface as supported vesicle layers (SVLs). • Choline carboxylates showed different effect on SVLs from the studied extracts. • Nanoplasmonic sensing enabled fast screening of biomimetic membrane interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SO2-ethanol-water (SEW) spent liquor from spruce chips was successfully used for batch and continuous production of acetone, butanol and ethanol (ABE). Initially, batch experiments were performed using spent liquor to check the suitability for production of ABE. Maximum concentration of total ABE was found to be 8.79 g/l using 4-fold diluted SEW liquor supplemented with 35 g/l of glucose. The effect of dilution rate on solvent production, productivity and yield was studied in column reactor consisting of immobilized Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792 on wood pulp. Total solvent concentration of 12 g/l was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.21 h(-1). The maximum solvent productivity (4.86 g/l h) with yield of 0.27 g/g was obtained at dilution rate of 0.64 h(-1). Further, to increase the solvent yield, the unutilized sugars were subjected to batch fermentation., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)