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Agriculture waste such as sugarcane bagasse (SCB) is composed mostly of cellulose, a very versatile natural biopolymer with well-established applications in many industries. The purpose of this study was to use combination treatment methods which include alkaline treatment and mild acid hydrolysis assisted with ultrasonication to extract cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) from sugarcane bagasse. Initially, the SCB fibers were treated with sodium hydroxide and aqueous hydrogen peroxide, a bleaching agent before subjected to mild acid hydrolysis followed by ultrasonication at 70% amplitude to defibrillate and disperse the fibers. The study focused on acid hydrolysis using mild sulfuric acid to the alkaline treated cellulose fibers extracted from SCB. The FESEM images of isolated CNFs exhibited diameter in the range 20–30 nm and length of up to several micrometers. This observation suggests that the combined treatment methods are highly effective in isolating CNFs from the plant biomass. Moreover, XRD analysis reveals the presence of peaks at 2θ of 15.2° and 22°, indicating cellulose type I with the crystallinity of 42%. Meanwhile, the FTIR spectra prove that individual CNF was successfully isolated due to the removal of non-cellulosic constituents. This result verifies that amorphous portions such as lignin and hemicellulose were completely removed. CNFs with long entangled network fibrils were successfully extracted from SCB through the combination of alkaline treatment and mild acid hydrolysis assisted with ultrasonication. The CNFs are expected to have high strength and aspect ratio that can be used as reinforced material in manufacturing nanocomposites.

This study presents a potential approach to enhance integrated sequential biohydrogen production from waste biomass using magnetite nanoparticle (Fe3O4 NPs) which is synthesized through waste seeds of Syzygium cumini. Consequences of 0.5% Fe3O4 NPs have been investigated on the thermal and pH stability of fungal crude cellulase. It is noticed that Fe3O4 NPs treated enzyme and control exhibits 100% activity in the temperature range of 45–60 °C and 45–55 °C, respectively. Moreover, Fe3O4 NPs treated enzyme showed extended thermal stability in the temperature range of 50–60 °C up to 12 h. Beside this, Fe3O4 NPs treated enzyme possesses 100% stability in the pH range of 5.0–7.0 whereas control exhibited only at pH 6.0. Enzymatic hydrolysis via Fe3O4 NPs treated enzyme has been employed which produces ∼68.0 g/L reducing sugars from sugarcane bagasse. Subsequently, sugar hydrolyzate has been utilized as substrate in the sequential integrated fermentation that produces ∼3427.0 mL/L cumulative hydrogen after 408 h. This approach may have potential for the pilot scale production of biohydrogen from waste biomass at low-cost in an eco-friendly manner.

Bioplastics are plastics derived from natural resources like corn starch, biomass, sugarcane bagasse, and food waste. Unlike fossil fuel-based plastics, they are bio-degradable entirely or partially. Therefore, bioplastics are relatively less harmful to the environment. Cellulose and starch-based bioplastics are already used for applications like packaging, cutlery, bowls, straws. However, their cost and performance cannot match the conventional plastics. The present study was aimed to produce bioplastic from food waste material. As a result, orange peel is chosen because of its high cellulose content and good availability. The bio-plastic film from orange peel was produced using simple laboratory techniques. Its identification for potential applications is the new area of work. The developed film blends with glycerol as a plasticizer have indicated consistent and promising results. This has excellent strength, flexibility, and disintegration in soiling conditions, morphologically having a rough surface, and confirms the film's bio-degradability nature. Characterization methods such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), powderX-ray diffraction (XRD), and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis confirmed that the developed material's physicochemical and surface morphology belonged to bio-based plastic. A simple, novel, and economic process are described in the manufacturing of bio-based plastic.

To increase the low yield and selectivity of aromatic hydrocarbons during the biomass pyrolysis process, we torrefied the biomass and then co-pyrolyzing with plastics such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene (PS), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and polypropylene (PP) and also single and dual catalyst layouts were investigated by Py-GC/MS. The results showed that non-catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of raw bagasse (RBG) generated no aromatics. After torrefaction non-CFP of torrefied bagasse (TBG) generated low aromatic yield. Indicating that torrefaction would enhance the proportion of aromatics during the pyrolysis process. The CFP of TBG200°C and TBG240°C over ZSM-5 produced the total aromatic yield of 1.96 and 1.88 times higher, respectively, compared to non-CFP of TBG. Furthermore, the addition of plastic could increase H/Ceff. ratio of the mixture, consequently, increase the yield of aromatic compounds. Among the various torrefied-bagasse/plastic mixtures, the CFP of TBG/EVA (7:3 ratio) mixture generated the highest the total aromatic yield of 7.7 times more than the CFP of TBG alone. The dual catalyst layout could enhance the yield of aromatics hydrocarbons. The dual-catalytic co-pyrolysis of TBG200°C/plastic (1:1) ratio over USY/ZSM-5, improved the total aromatics yield by 4.33 times more than the catalytic pyrolysis of TBG200oC alone over ZSM-5 catalyst. The above results showed that the yield and selectivities of light aromatic hydrocarbons can be improved via catalytic co-pyrolysis and dual catalytic co-pyrolysis of torrefied-biomass with plastics.

Jaggery, an unrefined sweetener is prepared by continuous heating of fresh sugarcane juice in different types and capacities of old indigenous and modified plants. The old indigenous plants manufactured by the rural people without any technological advancements have very high fuel consumption (about 3 kg/kg to 4 kg/kg of jaggery produced) and low heat utilization efficiency (15% to 29%). Number of modifications have been suggested by the researchers for the optimization and improvement in the performance parameters of jaggery making processes and plants. The implementation of fins at the external bottom of pans, preheater and economiser in the chimney, efficiency booster in the furnace, freeze pre-concentration system, forced draft through the plant and controlled fuel feeding in the furnace are reported to improve the thermal efficiency in the range of 25% to 50% and reduce the bagasse consumption in the range of 1.75 kg/kg to 2.75 kg/kg of jaggery prepared. The recently published article adopting novel techniques of internal preheating of sugarcane juice in the gutter pan and automatic supply of bagasse in the furnace of a two pan jaggery making plant is claimed to improve the heat utilization efficiency up to 65% and reduce the fuel consumption up to 1.50 kg/kg of jaggery produced with an affordable investment. The present paper summarizes the various technological up-gradations adopted and tested by the researchers for the enhancement of various output parameters of jaggery making units.

Plastic waste is increasing exponentially in these unprecedented times induced by pandemic outbreak of COVID-19. Therefore, in this study, efforts were made to assess the usage of plastic waste, in the form of polyethylene terephthalate fibers (PET-Fs), in concrete. Further, to enhance the properties of concrete, the PET-Fs were coated with sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA), which is another industrial bi-product. The PET-Fs were used in different proportion i.e., 3%, 6%, 9% and 12%, and of different aspect ratios (ARs) i.e., 25, 50 and 75, in the concrete specimens. The concrete specimens prepared in this way, were tested for different properties viz., compressive strength (CS), split tensile strength (STS), flexural strength (FS), workability (W) and density (D). It was observed that incorporation of PET-Fs in the concrete reduces these properties of concrete however, concrete with coated PET-Fs were having better properties than the concrete with uncoated PET-Fs. Therefore, it could be implied that coating of PET-Fs may enhance the applicability of PET-Fs as a construction material.

In the present study Sugarcane bagasse ash has been used to stabilize the OPC cement and Wheat straws are used as a reinforcement. The attempt has been made to understand the change in the properties of the casted CEB compared to conventional ones. Thereafter, the cost consideration has also been taken in to count to define the better product. Present work support the use of SBA and WS for compressed earth blocks. Simultaneously, study also propose the future scope to determine the durability of the casted product as, both SBA and WS are Bio-degradable materials. However, both SBA and WS are agricultural waste and their disposal as a utilization for strength of earth block is a step towards green development.

Integrated bioprocess strategies may facilitate ethanol production from both C6 and C5 fractions of lignocellulosic feedstocks. We propose a new process concept, SSICF, where sugarcane bagasse is hydrolyzed simultaneously with xylose isomerization and the co-fermentation of C6 and C5 sugars. A commercial cocktail was supplemented with our multi-enzymatic system composed of three recombinant enzymes immobilized in Feroxyhyte magnetic nanoparticles: β-glucosidase, β-xylosidase and xylose isomerase. SSICF was performed using non-GMO Saccharomyces at pH 6.0 and 35 °C for 72 h in a synthetic medium containing cellobiose and xylose, and another medium containing pretreated sugarcane bagasse (PSB). The results of ethanol global yields in SSICF were 77.67% and 73.24% for the synthetic medium and PSB, respectively. In a nutshell, this is the first report of a successful proof-of-concept of SSICF with four rounds of enzyme recycling and a non-GMO yeast, an innovative process with high potential for industrial use.

• Penicillium chrysogenum CCDCA10746 secretome (SPc) produced using raw sugarcane bagasse was used to hydrolyse the hydrothermally pretreated sugarcane bagasse, in order to solubilise xylan to produce xylose with the conversion rate of 67%. The secretome was active in a wide pH range and exhibits increased thermostability (t1/2 8 h) than purified PcX2, a 23 kDa endo-β-1,4-xylanase of GH11 family, identified by mass spectrometry and zymogram. Xylanolytic activity was sensitive to Cu+2 and Zn+2 ions. In trials where enzymes were exposed to lignin-derived phenolic compounds: vanillin, cinnamic acid, and 4-hydroxy-benzoic acid inhibited the 70% activity of xylanase. On contrary, both enzymes showed resistance for tannic acid, additionally PcX2 was resistant to p-coumaric and SPc to gallic acid. PcX2 showed a binding affinity of KM 0.53 mg/mL and Vmax 0.21 U/mg for xylan oat spelt. Ionization of histidine appeared to be a crucial event in substrate binding and catalysis of PcX2 since decrease in fluorescence intensity and optimum activity was observed at pH 6.0.

The generation of energy by thermoelectric plants powered by biomass in Brazil has grown by ∼3% in the last three years. In 2016, 8.8% of the electric energy in Brazil was generated using biomass as an input. However, the generation of residues and the possibility of reapproaching have motivated the planning and uses of electrochemical processes to evaluate the obtained gases (mainly hydrogen and carbon monoxide) as clean energy sources. Although thermochemical processes using biomass as an energy source already exist, few reports regarding the study of this process through electrolysis are available. Herein, we describe a water electrolysis process using sugarcane bagasse, rice husk, and malt bagasse as biomass residues to obtain gases with potential uses as clean energy sources and analyze the mass concentration influences on the behavior of the electrochemical solution. Tafel and cyclic voltammetry analyzes showed a tendency to decrease the kinetics and current of the system with the increase of the biomass residue concentration in the solution. In contrast, sugarcane bagasse concentrations of 0.1%–1% increase the current. The faradaic efficiency and partial current density analysis confirm the results obtained from cyclic voltammetry for hydrogen production, with less faradaic efficiency for hydrogen and reduced current values in the system when the biomass residue concentration is higher. The production efficiency of carbon monoxide formed at the anode increases with the concentration for sugarcane bagasse (2.01–5.21 μA/cm2) with 1% of the biomass in solution.

BACKGROUND Single-cell oils obtained from oleaginous microorganisms by using lignocellulosic waste hydrolysates are an alternative for producing biodiesel. AIMS To isolate a yeast strain able to produce lipids from centrifuged nejayote (CN), hydrolyzed nejayote solids (HNS) and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse (HSB). METHODS In order to identify the yeasts recovered, 26S ribosomal DNA was sequenced. The metabolic profile was assessed by using API20C AUX strips. The nutritional characterization of CN, HNS and HSB was performed by quantifying reducing sugars, total carbohydrates, starch, protein and total nitrogen. The biomass and lipid production ability were evaluated by performing growth kinetics of Clavispora lusitaniae Hi2 in combined culture media. RESULTS Six oleaginous yeast strains were isolated and identified, selecting C. lusitaniae Hi2 to study its lipids production by using nejayote. The C. lusitaniae Hi2 strain can use glucose, xylose, arabinose, galactose and cellobiose as carbon sources. Cultures of C. lusitaniae Hi2 presented the best biomass (5.6±0.28 g/L) and lipid production (0.99±0.09 g/L) at 20 h of incubation with the CN:HNS media in the 25:75 and 50:50 ratios, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The use of CN, HNS and HSB for the growth of C. lusitaniae Hi2 is an option to take advantage of these agro-industrial residues and generate compounds of biotechnological interest.

An experimental study has been carried out to find out impact resistance of the material and to observe the surface property of various particulate fibre combinations of reinforcement material and hardener of a particular size range. These composites are obtained by reinforcing bagasse (Dry, pulpy residue of sugarcane after extracting its juice) and coir (Natural fibre extracted from the outer husk of the coconut) at different percentage of compositions, both individually and as a combination, inside the epoxy resin matrix, with and without a hardener as a catalyst. This fabricated composite is subjected to Drop Weight impact test to determine the sample’s resistance to sudden external force and study the surface properties of various particulate fibre combinations using Optical Microscopy.

Insolubility of cellulose in common solvent had been a challenge in generating cellulose hydrogels. In the present work, hydrogels from sugarcane bagasse extracted cellulose and modify with synthetic polymer, poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and cross-linker, glutaraldehyde (GA) was synthesize. Cellulose was isolated from sugarcane bagasse via pre-treatment with 4 vol% sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and 10 wt% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. The cellulose extracted was dissolved in ZnCl2/CaCl2 solution at 65 ℃ to fabricate self-standing cellulose hydrogel without cross-linker. Another cellulose hydrogel was generated and immersed into 5 wt% GA solution to cross-link the cellulose chains. To improve the stability and swelling properties of cellulose, PVA was introduced into the hydrogel by using GA to cross-link cellulose chains with PVA chains. The resulting hydrogels were characterized with Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and solid state 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for structural determination. Three self-standing cellulose-based hydrogels, including regenerated cellulose (RC), GA cross-linked cellulose (C-GA), followed by PVA and GA cross-linked cellulose (C-GA-PVA) were successfully generated from ZnCl2/CaCl2 dissolution system and each hydrogel possessed different physical aspects. The occurrence of chemical cross-linking reaction between cellulose, GA and PVA was further evidenced by the data analyzed from ATR-FTIR and NMR spectra. The swelling degree of hydrogels generally increase after the addition of PVA and GA into cellulose suspension, showing 52 % (RC), 80 % (C-GA) and 135 % (C-GA-PVA). C-GA-PVA possessed the best swelling capability and potential for possible application as water reservoir in agriculture.

A composite material is created by combining at least two materials to create a unique combination of qualities, one of which comprises stiff, long strands and the other of filaments. And it is mainly concerned with improving ordinary fibre composites to explore the extra possibilities of use. Such typical fibre composites in the accommodation and building areas are suitable as wood alternatives. Many large loads of different yields are supplied, but much of their squandering has no practical use. Horticultural squandering incorporates a variety of dry natural resources and the influence of silanee coupling agents on mechanical characteristics like bending strength, tensile strength, and impact intensity in sugar cane baggage and PP (polypropylene) composites discussed in this Research. The reinforcing material was treated with a 0 percent coupling agent, 10 percent, and 20 percent. This substance was present for the production of composite boards via compression molding. The influence on mechanical parameters such as stress, bending, and impact strengths of the composites were analyzed by the silanee coupling agent.

This manuscript aimed to enhance the mechanical, thermal, and ignition properties of bagasse paper when coated with different coatings synthesized from hydroxyethyl cellulose, 1,3-di-p-toluidine-2,2,2,4,4,4-hexachlorocyclodiphosph(V)azane, Talc powder, NaHCO3, cellulose nanocrystal. The effect of these coatings on the mechanical properties was studied by measuring elongation, tensile strength, and burst strength. The stages of degradation and ash residue of the measuring specimens were determined using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), behind that, the ignition properties as the flame chamber (UL/94), and limiting oxygen index (LOI) was measured according to standards. These tests proved that 1,3-di-p-toluidine-2,2,2,4,4,4-hexachlorocyclodiphosph(V)azane has a direct effect on improving the mechanical characteristics and enhancing the ignition properties of the coated specimens compared to uncoated. In this study the physical, mechanical, thermal, and ignition properties of the bagasse paper sheets were enhanced by easy and low-cost method via synthesis of new coatings based on commercially available chemicals in a reasonable cost.

Simultaneously producing acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) and decolorizing Methyl orange (MO) by fermentation with solid food waste (SFW) was studied. During the batch fermentation with MO concentration from 100 mgL−1 to 1000 mgL−1, carbon source utilization efficiency was above 93% with yields of acetone, butanol and ethanol being 0.13 gg-1, 0.23 gg-1 and 0.04 gg-1, respectively. During the repeated fermentation with the bagasse as the cell immobilization material, carbon source utilization efficiencies were all above 90% in the first 5 cycles fermentation. The maximum butanol and ABE concentration were 12.8 gL-1 and 22.1 gL-1, respectively. The solvent yield of acetone, butanol and ethanol were around 0.13 gg-1, 0.25 gg-1 and 0.06 gg-1, respectively. The MO decolorization had no negative effect on the ABE production and the decolorization efficiencies were all above 99% during batch fermentation or repeated fermentation with electrons transferred from intracellular to extracellular by mediator with the help of azo reductase to decolorize MO.

Sugarcane bagasse was pretreated with lewis acid-mediated glycerol, results showed that 98.47% glucan recovery, 95.31% xylan removal and 49.69% delignification were achieved by pretreatment using 80 wt% aqueous glycerol combined with 1.0 wt% AlCl3 at 150 °C for 1 h. Reutilization experiments of acidified glycerol showed that its pretreatment efficiency was relatively well maintained during four consecutive cycles. Enzymatic in situ saccharification of pretreated bagasse led to about 50% glucose yield at 16 wt% glycerol concentration. After pretreatment, the lignin distributed in pretreatment hydrolysate and pretreated solid residue (referred to as organosolv lignin (OL) and cellulolytic enzyme lignin (CEL), respectively) demonstrated contrasting effect on enzymatic hydrolysis with OL slightly increasing while CEL decreasing cellulose conversion, which could be explained by their differences in hydrophobicity and surface charge. Further analysis of the structure and molecular weights of two lignin samples indicated their great potential for valorization into value-added products.

This study investigated cellulosic ethanol production from sugar cane bagasse (SCB) pretreated by triethylbenzyl ammonium chloride/lactic acid (TEBAC/LA) deep eutectic solvent (DES). The results showed that the pretreatment of SCB with TEBAC/LA DES at 120 °C for 4 h with 1:15 (solid to liquid ratio) resulted in the best cellulose digestibility (88.23 ± 1.24%), which was approximately 228% higher than that of untreated SCB. Furthermore, the maximum cellulosic ethanol concentration of 16.84 g/L was achieved using glucose (36.06 g/L) and xylose (7.36 g/L). Moreover, the ethanol productivity and yield were 0.70 g/(L·h) and 0.42 g/g fermentable sugar, respectively. The efficient bioconversion was ascribed to the remarkable delignification (88.72 ± 1.63%), xylan removal (73.93 ± 0.17%), along with optimum cellulose recovery (95.89 ± 1.54%). Importantly, the enzymatic hydrolysis digestibility remained unchanged after 5 times DES recycling process. Overall, it also provided an insight into the efficient SCB biorefinery of DES systems.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-29T08:30:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-11-01 Suomen Akatemia This work presents a technical analysis of an Integrated Biomass Direct Gasification/Gas Turbine (BIG-GT) technology within a sugarcane industry to produce electricity and thermal energy (process heat) using bagasse as fuel. Four possible configurations for the implementation of this technology were considered. A sensitivity analysis was made to assess the risks and the uncertainty level for each proposed solution. The results indicated that with the BIG-GT implementation the power generation efficiency increases for all the studied configurations as compared to the conventional system (η = 14.3%). For the configurations I, II, and III the efficiency increase was 9.1%, 11.0% and 12.6%, respectively. However, to support these configurations of the system, the fuel (bagasse) consumption is increased beyond the production capacity of the mill, and the additional amount of bagasse must be acquired to other mills. On the other hand, in configuration IV it is only considered the gasification of the bagasse produced in the mill, being the additional needs of thermal energy for the industrial process supplemented through the combustion of other biomass types (sugarcane straw produced in the mill plantations) in a Heat Recovery Steam Generator. In configuration IV, the electricity generation efficiency is only 5.9% higher than the conventional cycle, this efficiency is getting without the need for an external supply of bagasse. Ultimately, the sensitivity analysis showed that the plant's energy performance with the implementation of BIG-GT technology is particularly sensitive to variations related to the gasifier's efficiency. UNESP-Sao Paulo State University Faculty of Engineering Campus of Guaratinguetá Bioenergy Research Institute (IPBEN-UNESP) Laboratory of Energy Systems Optimization (LOSE), Av. Dr. Ariberto Pereirada Cunha, 333 Portal Das Colinas Guaratinguetá University of Oriente Efficiency Energy Study Center (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) Julio Antonio Mella Headquarters, Ave de Las Américas y Casero Department of Environment and Planning - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) University of Aveiro Campus Universitário de Santiago Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre Instituto Superior Técnico University of Lisbon UNESP-Sao Paulo State University Faculty of Engineering Campus of Guaratinguetá Bioenergy Research Institute (IPBEN-UNESP) Laboratory of Energy Systems Optimization (LOSE), Av. Dr. Ariberto Pereirada Cunha, 333 Portal Das Colinas Guaratinguetá Suomen Akatemia: 320229

Recently, the disposal of waste by beneficial and environmentally friendly methods has attracted great attention. In this work, we have studied the production of high-value carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which have remarkable applications by catalytic pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) as an agricultural waste using a two-stage process. Various reaction factors including the effects of zeolite types (HZSM-5, HMOR, and HY), pyrolysis temperatures (450−700°C), and SCB/ZSM-5 ratios (3−12) on SCB pyrolysis were investigated to generate CNTs from pyrolysis products. A Co-Mo/MgO catalyst was used for growing CNTs via the decomposition of pyrolysis products. The morphological structure and quality of CNTs were characterized using TEM and Raman spectroscopy, while the fresh Co-Mo/MgO catalyst was characterized by XRD and TPR analyses. The results showed that zeolite type, pyrolysis temperature, and SCB/ZSM-5 ratio had significant effects on the CNTs yield. The optimum carbon yield (24.9%) was achieved using the HZSM-5 catalyst at the pyrolysis temperature of 500°C and with the SCB/ZSM-5 ratio of 6. TEM observations confirmed the growth of bamboo-like carbon nanotubes (BCNTs) and carbon nano-onions (CNOs) in different proportions according to the reaction parameters. Also, CNTs with the largest diameter distribution range (7−76 nm) were produced using the SCB/ZSM-5 ratio of 6. Raman spectra demonstrated the production of high-quality CNTs under all studied conditions.

Acid hydrolysis and hydrogenation reactions were capable to convert xylose obtained from biomass materials using heterogeneous catalysts based on Ni and Ru. Xylose was extracted from sugar cane bagasse using dilute acid sulfuric solutions, and then xylitol was obtained through xylose catalytic hydrogenation. A bimetallic catalyst (Ni 10.0 wt.% and Ru 1.0 wt.%) was prepared by the wet impregnation method, supporting the metallic phase in activated carbon. Sugarcane bagasse was delignified in a three-step pretreatment (acid, basic and organic extractions, respectively), allowing effective hydrolysis of the resulting holocellulose. The acid hydrolysis process for xylose extraction was more effective at the highest concentration of sulfuric acid in the study (2.5% v/v), obtaining a xylose-rich hydrolysate with concentration over 10 g L−1. For the xylose hydrogenation process, conversion of xylose and selectivity to xylitol was near 90 % after 1 h of reaction. Kinetic evolutions were evaluated through a mathematical model in terms of operating time and temperature, providing hydrogenation activation energy values of the order of 40.76 kJ mol−1.

In this study, we have unveiled the novel potential of xylanase production by Bacillus velezensis, previously known only for its PGPR traits. According to our investigations, Bacillus velezensis AG20 produced extracellular xylanase with a fold purification of 5.3 and a yield of 21 %. The purified xylanase (45 kDa) aptly cleaved linear β-(1→4)-xylan with a maximum velocity of 21.0 ± 3.0 U/mL, a turnover of 1.75/s, and a catalytic cycle of 0.571 at optimum pH 7. The temperature of 50 °C was found optimum for enzyme activity. Purified endoxylanase was thermostable and retained its significant residual activities at 50 °C and 60 °C. Metal cations such as Ca2+ and Mg2+ enhanced the substrate catalysis up to 1.5 fold. The purified endoxylanase also demonstrated multi-substrate hydrolyzing properties. However, the enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse produced xylooligosaccharides (XOS), including xylobiose, xylotriose, and xylotetrose. The mixture of released XOS has profound stability in gastric juice, intestinal fluid, and α-amylase and facilitates probiotic bacteria Bifidobacterium. The mixed XOS (300 μg/mL) significantly inhibited the HT-29 and Caco-2 cell proliferation by 90 % and 75 %, respectively, at 48 h. The possible mechanism of XOS uptake through the BIAXP receptor of Bifidobacterium has been contemplated and established using the caver analysis, Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation, and Density Functional Theory (DFT) studies. Thus, here we reveal the utility of this novel bacterial strain in industries as high-temperature catalysts.

The bagasse, which is a typical agricultural and forestry waste, was employed as the silicon source to produce Li4SiO4-based ceramics with superior CO2 sorption performance. It is found that the presence of impurities elements in the bagasse ash will bring complex side reactions and form side products during the sorbent preparation process, which are extremely harmful to the performance of the synthetic sorbent. Pretreatment has been considered as an effective approach to reduce the impurities elements. In this work, the effects and mechanisms of water/acid washing pretreatments on bagasse ash were firstly detailed investigate and compared. The results indicate that the hydrochloric acid washing pretreatment can effectively remove the residual metals (Ca, Fe, etc.) in the sample in addition to the water-soluble impurities (K, P, S, etc.). The maximum sorption capacity of sorbent synthesized by the acid washing pretreatment is about 0.32 g/g sorbent and the superior performance can be well maintained over 10 cycles. A novel technical route utilizing the ash from biomass power plants for in-situ CO2 capture has been developed, which has great potential for carbon capture in the future.

Optimization and control strategies are necessary to keep factory operations profitable while minimizing energy usage. Like many industries, the need for the sugarcane industry to improve its energy and economic efficiency is often interrupted by random variations in process inputs and market prices. Therefore, this study seeks to present a plant-wide steady-state optimal operation policy. The strategy uses a steady-state process model and a surrogate optimization algorithm to find optimal set-points that maximize factory revenue in the presence of disturbances. The controlled variables are considered as the decision variables and, after solving the optimization problem, they are provided as setpoints for the closed-loop control systems. To assign an economic value to optimal plant-wide control, the factory net revenue is defined as the objective function. A Monte Carlo method is used to randomly sample from a distribution of process and economic disturbances and to simulate the effect thereof on the energy efficiency and economics of a sugar mill. With set-point optimization, an 8.5% increase in surplus bagasse production was economically optimal despite a 0.43% reduction in sugar yield, improving the net revenue by 2.4%. Therefore, the optimizer managed to determine the optimal points at which excess energy expenditure no longer justifies the revenue gain from sugar. Considering, the global shift towards bio-based products, the increase in surplus bagasse makes it possible for a relatively large bio-refinery that uses bagasse as feedstock to be annexed to a set-point optimized sugarcane mill.

The accumulation of organic waste is one of the most serious problems facing developing countries. Developing countries getting rid of their wastes by dumping them in the waste landfill and this effect negatively the environment. Moreover, these wastes attract a lot of insects which thread the public health and cause many diseases. This research intended to merge the organic wastes into construction industry and turn it into a useful cheap building material. In an attempt to reduce the initial costs of building materials, sugarcane bagasse (SCB) was used as an additive in the structural brick industry. This study aims to develop cheap building bricks from integrating sugarcane bagasse (SCB) with cement brick mixture to achieve environmental, social and economic sustainability factors by reducing the black cloud and hence its effect on human health. Removing sugarcane bagasse (SCB) that produced from juice shops in Egyptian streets, affect the visual image of the street as well as the quality of Egyptians life. Moreover, integrating wastes in construction industry will improve street appearance and improves environmental conditions by reducing local climate pollution (carbon dioxide emissions and black clouds). The research used experimental method to measure the structural properties of the new cement brick that is integrated with SCB. The results revelled that replacing cement with 1.5% sugarcane bagasse content, will preserve the structural performance of the bricks with respect to ductility and higher strength. In addition, the proposed integration will reduce the initial cost of building materials and this action will affect the price of the Egyptian real estate market.

Pre-treating lignocellulosic biomass is a major technological challenge. Recycling the liquid fraction may reduce chemical inputs and water use but may have lower efficiency. Seven chemical pre-treatments of sugarcane bagasse were compared: four acids (sulfuric, citric, phosphoric, and oxalic), two alkaline (sodium and calcium hydroxides) and an oxidative (alkaline hydrogen peroxide). The liquid fractions resulting from these pre-treatments were reused up to five times. After each pre-treatment cycle, the solid fraction was hydrolyzed with Celluclast 1.5L enzyme in a 1:10 solid-liquid ratio. Sulfuric and oxalic acids solubilized 80% of the hemicellulose over the cycles. Sodium and calcium hydroxides and hydrogen peroxide removed lignin until the fourth cycle. About 70% of lignin were removed with alkaline hydrogen peroxide. This pre-treatment lead to the highest glucose release after the enzymatic hydrolysis, above 50% in the three cycles analyzed. The best efficiency in enzymatic hydrolysis followed the order H2O2-alkaline > NaOH > oxalic acid > phosphoric acid > H2SO4 > citric acid > Ca (OH)2. With the recycling, more than 62% in reagents used in the pre-treatment of sugarcane bagasse were saved, enabling an economy in the costs at this stage of the process.

Lignin is recommended to a tempting alternative precursor of petroleum for fabricating carbon nanofibers (CNFs) due to its high carbon content, low-cost and renewable resources. However, the property of lignin-based carbon nanofibers (LCNFs) is inferior owing to the heterogeneity and 3D-network structure of lignin, which hinders its application in supercapacitors. The latest developments in fractionation technology have shown great potential for overcoming the aforementioned shortcomings. However, most of fractionation methods mainly rely on expensive chemicals and complex reaction process, such as enzymes, multiple solvents, membranes, and dialysis tubes. Herein, we proposed a controllable and effective strategy to fractionate lignin by only changing the ratio of ethanol/water (V/V) as mixture solvent. This gradient extraction method effectively removed the part of lignin with small molecular and branching structure, thus selectively getting the fractionated lignin with high molecular weight, narrow polydispersity index, and good linear structure. Fortunately, when the ratio of ethanol/water was 6:4, the corresponding LCNFs (LCNFs-L60) was obtained with large specific surface area, independent filamentous morphology networks and excellent electrochemical property. Its specific capacitance was up to 405.8 F/g. This way features controllable and sustainable for preparing high-quality LCNFs supercapacitors.

Microbial communities involved in hydrogen (H2) production from enzymatic hydrolysates of agave bagasse were analyzed through 16S rRNA sequencing. Two types of reactor configurations and four different enzymatic hydrolysates were evaluated. Trickling bed reactors led to highly-diverse microbial communities, but low volumetric H2 production rates (VHPR, maximum: 5.8 L H2/L-d). On the contrary, well-controlled environments of continuous stirred-tank reactors favored the establishment of low diverse microbial communities composed by Clostridium-Sporolactobacillus leading to high-performance H2-production (VHPR maximum: 13 L H2/L-d). Cellulase-Viscozyme and Celluclast-Viscozyme hydrolysates led to the co-dominance of Clostridium and Sporolactobacillus, possibly due to the presence of xylose and hemicellulose-derived carbohydrates. Cellulase hydrolysates were linked to communities dominated by Clostridium, while maintaining low abundance of Sporolactobacillus. Stonezyme hydrolysates favored microbial communities co-dominated by Clostridium-Lachnoclostridium-Leuconostoc. Moreover, contrary to the prevailing theory, it was demonstrated that H2 production performance was inversely related to microbial diversity.

The high production of sugarcane in Brazil and its application of ethanol and sugar production results in a higher generation of vinasse and bagasse. The treatment of these residues can be carried out using anaerobic co-digestion procedures. Besides promoting waste treatment, it enables energy exploration through biogas and hydrogen generation. Bioenergy use can also generate steam in sugar and alcohol plants by burning, sugarcane milling, fueling vehicles for the transport of products, among others. These energy applications allow total and efficient, energetic exploring of sugarcane. Hence, this study estimated the production of methane, hydrogen, thermal and electrical energy generated from vinasse and bagasse in the autonomous and annexed Brazilian ethanol and sugar plants. Three scenarios present the use of biogas generated: Scenario 1: energy use of all methane from biogas; Scenario 2: hydrogen production from the remaining methane, after considering the energy autonomy of the ethanol plants; Scenario 3: hydrogen production from all the methane generated. All the scenarios which considered the use of methane led to energy self-sufficiency in the sector. However, only annexed plants present economic feasibility for implementing the project. Scenario 2 is highlighted in this study, once beyond the sector's energetic self-sufficiency, the operational conditions enabled the storage of 9.26E+07 Nm3.d−1 of hydrogen, equal 3.04E+08 ton per year. CH4 and H2 production seen in a global scenario of circular economy and energy security have high benefits, contributing to the gradual transformation of an economy dependent on non-renewable resources into a circular and renewable economy.

Technology valuation of cellulosic ethanol production by Kluyveromyces marxianus CCT 7735 based on the concepts of circular economy was investigated. After an acid-base pretreatment followed by saccharification at 50 °C for 72 h, the sweet sorghum hydrolysate was used to produce ethanol at three temperatures: 37, 42, and 45 °C. About 17.83 g/L of cellulosic ethanol was reached at 42 °C in 24 h, with a yield of 2769.8 L/hasorghum, almost double that obtained for corn straw. This was the best cellulosic ethanol production from sweet sorghum bagasse achieved by K. marxianus strain and, therefore, it was used in the technology valuation. This analysis was carried out through the application of the profit equation, in which the revenue corresponded to ethanol sales in the global market in 2020, and the costs were defined by the activity-based costing method. An integration between 1G and 2G ethanol production, without mixing material streams, was considered to improve the technology valuation analysis. As a result, the equivalent to 17.2% of the profit obtained with the sugarcane juice ethanol was achieved for the sweet sorghum bagasse. Therefore, the technology valuation indicated the potential of sweet sorghum bagasse in the biorefinery ethanol production.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T15:02:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-07-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) FONDECYT This study presents an economical and environmental appraisal of the Biomass Integrated Gasification/ Gas Turbine Combined Cycle (BIG-GTCC) introduction in a Brazilian sugarcane mill to increase the mill power generation potential. The analysis considers the introduction of torrefaction technology as a pretreatment procedure for wet bagasse to settle the feeding problems experienced during the gasifier continuous operation using this powdered feedstock. The environmental impacts after integrating the BIG-GTCC technology were determined using the life cycle assessment. When analyzed for the behavior of expected annual revenue in both configurations, the implementation of gasification of the surplus volume of the plant bagasse appears as the best option from an economic and environmental viewpoint. ? 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Univ Concepcion, Fac Ingn, Dept Ingn Mecan, Edmundo Larenas 219, Concepcion, Chile Univ Bio Bio, Fac Ingn, Dept Ingn Mecan, Ave Ignacio Collao 1202, Concepcion, Chile Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Energy, Campus Guaratingueta, Guaratingueta, SP, Brazil Technol Inst Aeronaut, Lab Combust Prop & Energy, Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP, Brazil Fed Ctr Technol Educ Celso Suckow da Fonseca CEFE, Rua Areal 522,Parque Pereque, BR-23953030 Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Univ Chile, Fac Ingn, Dept Ingn Mecan, Santiago, Chile Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Energy, Campus Guaratingueta, Guaratingueta, SP, Brazil FAPESP: 2018/08419-4 CNPq: 408055/2016-2 CAPES: 88887.512068/202000 CAPES: 88887.467148/20190 CAPES: 88882.433491/201901 FONDECYT: 11180828

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T10:29:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-07-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Protic ionic liquids (PILs) are promising pretreatment agents that can efficiently deconstruct lignocellulosic biomass for 2G ethanol production. PIL synthesis is less costly than that of aprotic imidazolium-based ILs thereby reducing the final ethanol price. However, a more comprehensive investigation is still necessary in order to better understand how PILs affect biomass during pretreatment. An investigation of process parameters was carried out for pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse using the PIL monoethanolammonium acetate, [MEA]OAc], focussing on main pretreatment parameters — time, temperature, solids loading, and water content. Optimal conditions were found to be 2 h, 150 °C, 15 wt% solids loading and 20 wt% water content. Lignin solubilization of almost 60 wt% was achieved with no carbohydrate losses, leading to 78.6% and 49% of cellulose and hemicellulose yields during saccharification. The addition of hemicellulases increased the hemicelluloses yield in saccharification to up to 66% with a high enzyme loading, 5.8 wt%. Ethanol, isopropanol, isoamyl alcohol and water were tested as anti-solvents; none of which led to higher sugar yields or modified recovered lignin structures, as confirmed by spectroscopic methods. Lignin analysis revealed the presence of S, G and H moieties, low degree of condensation, and a potential to produce aromatic compounds that could add value to the biorefinery. Process and Products Development Department School of Chemical Engineering State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) Department of Chemical Engineering Imperial College London Department of Bioprocess and Biotechnology College of Agricultural Sciences São Paulo State University (UNESP) Department of Bioprocess and Biotechnology College of Agricultural Sciences São Paulo State University (UNESP) FAPESP: 2015/14042-2 FAPESP: 2015/20630-4 FAPESP: 2016/06142-0 FAPESP: 2017/06116-1 CNPq: 304944/2018-1

A low-cost and green biorefinery will increase the economy and revenue from lignocellulosic biomass. This study demonstrated the effect of two-pot sequential pretreatment, comprising of ultrasound ethanol (USEL) synergized ternary deep eutectic solvent (TDES, choline chloride: glycerol: FeCl3·6H2O), with the aim to investigate the effects of USEL, TDES, and USEL + TDES pretreatments on enhancing delignification of sugarcane bagasse (SCB). The results showed that under the optimum TDES pretreatment conditions (FeCl3·6H2O, 120 °C, 3 h), the cellulose content and lignin removal rate (LRR) of SCB reached 47.67 and 82.71%, respectively. Under the optimum synergy conditions (USEL conditions: 100% ethanol, 20 + 28 + 40 kHz, 240 W, 60 min; TDES conditions: FeCl3·6H2O, 120 °C, 3 h), the cellulose content and LRR of SCB reached 66.17 and 86.39%, respectively. After enzymatic hydrolysis, the SCB pretreated with USEL + TDES shows a saccharification rate of 90.31%, which was substantially higher than that of the SCB pretreated with TDES alone (85.68%). X-ray diffraction, particle size, brunauer-emmet-teller, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy analyses were conducted to confirm the efficiency of USEL + TDES on pretreating SCB. Meanwhile, 2D-HSQC NMR analysis revealed that regenerated lignin exhibited well-preserved structures (β-O-4, β-β linkages), making it suitable for depolymerization into monoaromatic compounds. Overall, this work demonstrated that biomass pretreatment with the USEL + TDES was promising for a low-cost biorefinery to efficiently fractionate lignocellulosic biomass into glucose and high-quality lignin with tailored chemical structures.

Characterization and electrochemical evaluation of novel metal-free electrocatalysts obtained by solar pyrolysis is reported. Carbon-based electrocatalysts were prepared from agave bagasse waste, using a sustainable process based on concentrated solar energy as heat source. Agave was processed in a spherical borosilicate glass solar reactor using a heating rate of 30 °C min−1 to a target of 500, 700, or 900 °C, and maintaining temperature for 1 h under inert atmosphere. The structure and composition of the prepared electrocatalysts were influenced by pyrolysis temperature. In addition, electrocatalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction in 0.1 M KOH solution was explored. The electrocatalyst obtained at 500 °C showed the highest activity among all pyrolyzed samples due to its moderate surface area, but mostly due to its higher oxygen content. The metal-free electrocatalysts reported in this work are promising eco-friendly alternative as cathode materials for anion-exchange membrane fuel cells. This study provides a sustainable approach to use agricultural biomass waste to produce valuable materials for electrochemical energy devices.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T10:56:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-07-01 Porosity and pore size distribution are influencing factors of several physical properties of porous media. For solid-state cultivation (SSC), this structural information is also important to determine the free space available for the microbial growth. The aim of this work was to determine the porosity and the pore size distribution of packed beds of pure sugarcane bagasse (SCB) and mixtures of SCB with wheat bran (WB) with and without cultivation with the fungus Myceliophthora thermophila I-1D3b. Computer-aided 2D photographic technique was used to evaluate the changes of the bed porosity due to the fungal growth in a mixture of SCB:WB with weight proportion 7:3 at 75% moisture content after 48 h of cultivation. The results showed a steep reduction of more than 50% of the porosity due to the fungal mycelium. A longitudinal porosity profile was found, and the midsection of the bed was poorly colonized due to the steric hindrance. In the uncultivated beds, no change of the porosity was found when changing moisture content of the samples of SCB and SCB:WB 7:3. A wide pore size distribution was observed for the uncultivated media, with the majority of the voids being too narrow for an adequate fungal growth and quite few, though very large, voids ensuring enough space for the mycelial expanse. X-ray tomography (μ-CT) imaging was used to assess the 3D structure of the bed and the complex network of voids. The 3D images reveal an average porosity quite close to the one obtained using the 2D image analysis. The results here obtained will be of help for more realistic models of heat, mass and momentum transfer to be proposed considering porosity variation and pore size distribution in this SSC system. The 2D technique is quite simple to apply and it is able to provide bulk bed structure, while the 3D technique is sophisticated and will allow detailed microstructure information in future experiments. Food Engineering and Technology Department Institute of Biosciences Humanities and Exact Sciences (IBILCE) São Paulo State University (UNESP), Cristóvão Colombo 2265, Jardim Nazareth Institute of Process Engineering Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg Food Engineering and Technology Department Institute of Biosciences Humanities and Exact Sciences (IBILCE) São Paulo State University (UNESP), Cristóvão Colombo 2265, Jardim Nazareth

For efficient feedstock and energy utilization, integrated biorefinery processes are applied to furfural production from bagasse to convert furfural residue into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)-an important intermediate building block for the production of various biochemicals. Here, a techno-economic analysis of the integrated processes of furfural and HMF production combined with electricity generation under different scenarios was performed to identify the most suitable process design. Simulations revealed that using the whole bagasse in the biorefinery plant and recycling 50% waste from the HMF production to recover unreacted sugar (scenario 2) achieved the maximum furfural and HMF production with minimum CO2 emission, compared with integrated processes without sugar recycling (scenario 1), with 80% (scenario 3) and 60% biomass (scenario 4) bypassed to the biorefinery, and with a standalone combined heat and power system (scenario 5). Moreover, heat integration improved the efficiency of biorefinery plant (scenario 2), with an energy recovery potential of 71%, leading to the maximum profit at 11% internal rate of return. However, the high operating cost associated with the requirement of solvents and catalysts for HMF production represents the largest cost distribution in the proposed integrated processes. Sensitivity analysis revealed that solvent cost was the most important parameter for economic benefit. In addition, improving technological efficiency in the pretreatment and HMF production phases can enhance product yield, thereby benefiting the profitability of this process.

A novel green composite catalyst was prepared by doping CuFe2O4 nanoparticles in the malt bagasse biochar. Composites with different ratios of malt biochar and CuFe2O4 were produced and characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, EDS, HR-TEM, UV–vis, and Zeta potential. The results revealed that CuFe2O4 was successfully supported on the malt biochar surface. The prepared composites showed the band gap energies were narrower than of CuFe2O4, increasing the photocatalytic activity. At 60 min of heterogeneous photo-Fenton, tests under visible light indicated CuFe2O4 removed 39 % of the rhodamine B color, while composites CFO1B3, CFO1B1, and CFO3B1 removed 88 %, 81 %, and 44 % of the dye, respectively. The recycling of the CFO1B3 composite indicated that it can be used in eight cycles without major losses in efficiency. In sunlight, the CFO1B3 composite achieved efficiencies of 100 % for 10 mg L−1 and 50 mg L−1 of rhodamine B at 10 and 20 min of reaction, respectively. In the proposed mechanism, it was verified that the radical OH, O2 − and h+ were the predominant reactive species involved in the degradation to intermediates of low m/z. Results showed that the novel composite formed is a promising photocatalyst for removing organic pollutants in water.

In this work, a novel pretreatment strategy through combination of ball-milling and LiCl/DMSO dissolution and regeneration was developed, and its effect on bagasse enzymatic hydrolysis was investigated. The results showed that, after ball-milling, the bagasse crystallinity and average particle size were declined from 48.1% to 22.6% and 118.6 μm–20.7 μm, respectively, however, its surface area was augmented from 4.9 m2/g to 10.3 m2/g. Following LiCl/DMSO dissolution and regeneration, a certain amount of lignin (∼26.3%) was removed, and portion of cellulose crystalline structure were swelled and converted from type I to II. The highest yields of glucose and xylose obtained from above combined pretreatment were 87.8% and 84.2%, respectively, which were both significantly higher than those obtained from single ball-milling or LiCl/DMSO dissolution and regeneration. It can be concluded that the combination of ball-milling and LiCl/DMSO dissolution and regeneration was a promising approach for improving bagasse enzymatic saccharification.

The current work is focused to investigate the synergetic interactions between biomass (groundnut shell, bagasse, rice husk, Prosopis juliflora, mixed wood sawdust) and hydro-rich plastics (Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and Polyisoprene (PIP)) in microwave co-pyrolysis. The heating value of co-pyrolysis oil (38–42 MJ kg−1) was enhanced dramatically compared to biomass pyrolysis oil (20–28 MJ kg−1). Among biomasses studied, the energy yield of bio-oil obtained from rice husk with LDPE mixture is higher (42%). Whereas bio-oil from polyisoprene and groundnut shell mixture has the highest energy yield (78%). Each gram of co-pyrolysis feedstock consumed 12–18 kJ of incident microwave energy. An increase in overall energy efficiency in co-pyrolysis (62–70%) is observed compared to that of biomass pyrolysis (46–57%). Actual mass yield (31–47 wt%) of co-pyrolysis bio-crude is lower than its predicted value (42–57 wt%) due to the formation of lighter gases. In the combinations of and hydrogen-rich plastics considered in this study, it was found that co-pyrolysis of LDPE: bagasse has produced bio-crude with the highest yield of aliphatic hydrocarbons (25.78%), and co-pyrolysis of LDPE: rice husk has produced bio-crude with high selectivity of aromatics (11.7%). The extent of de-oxygenation was promoted in the co-pyrolysis due to synergy.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T15:07:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-06-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Understanding the aspects that contribute to improving proteins' biochemical properties is of high relevance for protein engineering. Properties such as the catalytic rate, thermal stability, and thermal resistance are crucial for applying enzymes in the industry. Different interactions can influence those biochemical properties of an enzyme. Among them, the surface charge-charge interactions have been a target of particular attention. In this study, we employ the Tanford-Kirkwood solvent accessibility model using the Monte Carlo algorithm (TKSA-MC) to predict possible interactions that could improve stability and catalytic rate of a WT xylanase (XynA(WT)) and its M6 xylanase (XynA(M6)) mutant. The modeling prediction indicates that mutating from a lysine in position 99 to a glutamic acid (K99E) favors the native state stabilization in both xylanases. Our lab results showed that mutated xylanases had their thermotolerance and catalytic rate increased, which conferred higher processivity of delignified sugarcane bagasse. The TKSA-MC approach employed here is presented as an efficient computational-based design strategy that can be applied to improve the thermal resistance of enzymes with industrial and biotechnological applications. Brazilian Ctr Res Energy & Mat, Brazilian Biorenewables Natl Lab, Campinas, SP, Brazil Rice Univ, Ctr Theoret Biol Phys, Houston, TX USA Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Biosci Letters & Exact Sci, Dept Phys, Sao Jose Do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil Brazilian Ctr Res Energy & Mat, Brazilian Biosci Natl Lab, Campinas, SP, Brazil Univ Fed Triangulo Mineiro, Inst Exact Sci Nat & Educ, Theoret Biophys Lab, Uberaba, MG, Brazil Univ Fed Mato Grosso do Sul, Inst Biosci, Microorganisms & Gen Biochem Lab, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Biosci Letters & Exact Sci, Dept Phys, Sao Jose Do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil FAPESP: 2016/13998-8 FAPESP: 2017/09662-7 CNPq: 141985/2013-5 FAPESP: 2017/14253-9 FAPESP: 2018/11614-3 FAPESP: 2014/06862-7 FAPESP: 2016/19766-1 FAPESP: 2019/22540-3 CNPq: 429829/2016-7

Agave salmiana is one of the most used agave species to produce aguamiel, but once the aguamiel extraction is done, agave bagasse is discarded or used as animal feed. Agave bagasse contains high content of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, making it an excellent natural source of biopolymers. This study evaluated the effect of A. salmiana polysaccharide concentration (0, 0.5, or 1.0%) on the stability of oil-in-water indomethacin nanoemulsions under different conditions of pH (5, 7, or 9) and storage temperatures (4, 25, or 40 °C). The effects of these nanoemulsions on the cellular uptake and the production of nitric oxide as an anti-inflammatory biomarker were also evaluated. Indomethacin nanoemulsions were highly influenced by the pH, temperature, and the concentration of the agave bagasse polysaccharides (ABP) present in the continuous phase. In an in vitro model, using human skin fibroblast cells, the ABP-coated indomethacin emulsions showed improved cellular uptake of indomethacin by 3.03 and 6.33 times over the indomethacin nanoemulsion without ABP. Indomethacin nanoemulsions with 0.5% and 1.0% ABP reduced nitric oxide production by 30% comparing to indomethacin nanoemulsion without ABP. This study demonstrated the potential of agave bagasse polysaccharide as a natural emulsion stabilizer and an enhancer of topical anti-inflammatory activity of indomethacin.

This study aims to investigate the role of water and ethanol in ethanol/water mixed solvent system, co-liquefaction of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and sugarcane bagasse (SCB) to produce high quality bio-oil. It was revealed that various ethanol/water mixing ratios led to various reaction mechanisms, which indicates that there is a clear synergy effect between water and ethanol liquefaction process in three reaction media. The conversion and bio-oil yield approach were in the order of pure water

This paper aimed to modify the ignitability of the bagasse paper by using talc powder, 1,3-di-aniline-2,2,2,4,4,4-hexachlorocyclodiphosph(V)azane, and nanocellulose crystal. The formation of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) was detected using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). Thermal analysis as thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) of the specimens recorded the improvement of the highest % of ash residue at 750 °C compared to the untreated one. The shape of the flame spread was studied. The ignition properties were studied for the untreated and treated specimens by limiting oxygen index (LOI) and flame chamber (UL/94), which recorded enhancing compared to the untreated specimen. This improvement was recorded either by measuring the mechanical properties (tensile strength, burst strength, elongation, and elasticity) of the specimens. The current article showed that the treated specimen was recorded the highest values compared to the untreated one in all physical, mechanical, and ignition properties, so these treatment paper sheets may be used as fire-retardant packaging materials.

The plant cell wall is the most abundant carbon reservoir in nature and is a renewable source of biofuels. To break down this biomass and convert it into fermentable sugars, a set of multiple enzymes is needed. Here, we characterize the enzymatic repertoire necessary for the degradation of sugarcane bagasse “in natura” and pre-treated using Aspergillus clavatus as a model. 135 unique peptides were identified by Mass Spectrometry MS/MS. 23 of these proteins belong to classes of enzymes involved in biomass degradation and were differentially expressed on various substrates. Each pretreatment changed the sugarcane bagasse composition, which, in turn, led to the differential expression of A. clavatus holocellulases. The deconstruction of “in natura” bagasse demanded the largest set of enzymes due to the structural complexity of this material. Not only different sources of biomass but also different pretreatments of the same source will determine the enzymes required for the most efficient biomass conversion, avoiding the use of non-essential enzymes and consequent financial expense. Understanding A. clavatus nutritional strategies by proteomic analysis of secretome can improve the technology applied to biomass conversion and by-product synthesis.

[EN] For producing second-generation ethanol (cellulosic ethanol) and other value-added bioproducts, magnetic graphene oxide (GO-MNP) was synthesized in this work and used as the immobilization support for an industrial cellulase-and xylanase-containing preparation. GO-MNP characterization by TEM, SEM and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy showed that the magnetic nanoparticles are homogeneously distributed onto the GO sheets surface. The enzymatic preparation was immobilized by means of carbodiimide cross-linking chemistry using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS). The supported final biocatalyst (GO-MNP-Enz) showed high activity for the hydrolysis of pretreated sugarcane bagasse (PSB) and presented relative endoglucanase, xylanase, beta-glucosidase, and beta-xylosidase activities of 70%, 66%, 88%, and 70%, respectively, after 10 cycles of hydrolysis of their respective substrates. The biocatalyst also maintained approximately 50% and 80% of its efficiency for cellulose and xylan hydrolysis, respectively, being the TOF (g.g(-1).h(-1)) the highest observed when compared with previous results reported in literature. These findings suggest that GO-MNP-Enz may be a prospective candidate for industrial applications such as second-generation ethanol production. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Sao Paulo State Research Support Foundation (FAPESP) contract number 2018/06241e3 funding this work. Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) funding the doctoral scholarship of Fernando Roberto Paz-Cedeno in Brazil and in the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV), Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ), Valencia, Spain. Authors acknowledge financial support from PGC2018-097277-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE) project and Severo Ochoa Program (SEV-2016-0683).

Sugarcane bagasse is a rich source of cellulose (32-45%), hemicellulose (20-32%) and lignin (17-32%), 1.0-9.0% ash and some extractives. Huge amount of the generation of sugarcane bagasse has been a great challenge to industries and environment at global level for many years. Though cellulosic and hemicellulosic fractions in bagasse makes it a potential raw substrate for the production of value-added products at large scale, the presence of lignin hampers its saccharification which further leads to low yields of the value-added products. Therefore, an appropriate pretreatment strategy is of utmost importance that effectively solubilizes the lignin that exposes cellulose and hemicellulose for enzymatic action. Pretreatment also reduces the biomass recalcitrance i.e., cellulose crystallinity, structural complexity of cell wall and lignification for its effective utilization in biorefinery. Sugarcane bagasse served as nutrient medium for the cultivation of diverse microorganisms for the production of industrially important metabolites including enzymes, reducing sugars, prebiotic, organic acids and biofuels. Sugarcane bagasse has been utilized in the generation of electricity, syngas and as biosorbant in the bioremediation of heavy metals. Furthermore, the ash generated from bagasse is an excellent source for the synthesis of high strength and light weight bricks and tiles. Present review describes the utility of sugarcane bagasse as sustainable and renewable lignocellulosic substrate for the production of industrially important multifarious value-added products.

Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) is a waste material widely used in concrete industry. It can be used as partial replacement of cement in concrete mixes and can be a suitable alternative in preparation of concrete mixes due to its good pozzolanic properties. In order to examine the characteristics, composition and morphology of bagasse ash, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis of ScBA were performed. In order to optimize the percent replacement of cement by ScBA, the cement has been partially replaced by ScBA in proportions of 0%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by weight in concrete mixes. The various outcomes of replacement by ScBA have been analyzed through evaluation of different properties like workability (WkA), compressive (CS) and split tensile strength (STS) for 7 days, 28 days, 90 days and 180 days. A durability property of concrete was also evaluated by the method of sulphate resistance. The results further reveal that the CS of concrete mix was relatively higher at 10% replacement of cement by ScBA and was observed decreasing beyond 10% replacement. It was also found that addition of ScBA in the replacement percentage significantly enhanced the sulphate resistance. The minimum strength loss obtained were 1.24% and 5.02% for 90 days and 180 day at 10% ScBA replacement. The results indicate that ScBA is a pozzolanic material possessing good binder properties and can potentially be used in concrete mixes as a partial replacement of costly cement.

India is the largest producer of sugar in the world and thereby produces tremendous amount of bagasse. Sugar industries utilize the bagasse to recover energy and the waste byproduct commonly termed as sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA) is discarded in landfills that impacts the environment at large. The SBA primarily contains calcium oxides, silica and aluminium ion that has the potential for developing sustainable building material. This study aims to find the effect of the industrial byproducts, micro silica (MS) and SBA on the durability and strength properties of M40 grade of concrete. In this study, the cement was partially substituted with varying percentages of SBA while MS was replaced by 10% of weight of cement. The durability of the blended concrete against sulphate and chloride attack was assessed by immersing the cured concrete cubes in 5% diluted (v/v) acids (sulfuric and hydrochloric). The loss in weight of the concrete cubes and compressive strength was examined at the end of 56 days and 90 days distinctly in both the acids. The blended concrete gives optimal resistance to sulphate and chloride attack when cement is replaced in the concrete with 10% SBA and 10% MS by weight.

The brake pad material was fabricated using asbestos-free agro-waste sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) at low cost by a compression molding technique. SCBA in varying proportions (0%, 5%, and 10% weight) was added to the composite mixture containing epoxy resin as a binder. The size of the SCBA particle was 300 µm. The fabricated brake pad was subjected to mechanical, physical, and tribological analyses. The obtained results were compared with conventional asbestos-based brake pad material. The results showed that the sample having 10% SCBA as filler content has high tensile strength, flexural strength, density, low water, and oil absorption. Also, the hardness test and impact test results revealed the suitability of SCBA in brake pad material.

Assessment of Pozzolonic activity of certain industrial waste is important due to an increasing need of cementitious material. This study was undertaken to widen the scope of using pozzolanic waste like fly ash and bagasse ash as a supplement to cement. Sugarcane bagasse ash (BA) is a solid waste obtained from the cogeneration combustion boilers in sugar industry and fly ash (FA) is a waste product generated during coal combustion in thermal power plants. The present study is an attempt to determine the pozzolanic activity of BA and FA. Physical properties such as particle size, surface area and specific gravity of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), Sugarcane bagasse ash and fly ash were determined using HORIBA zeta analyzer, BET surface area analyzer and Standard Le-chatelier flask respectively. The chemical composition of OPC, BA and FA was obtained using X-ray florescence (XRF) and the mineralogical analysis was carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Frattini test was conducted to determine hydroxyl ion (OH–) concentration and calcium ion concentration (Ca+2) which is represented through solubility curve. Strength activity index (SAI) was based on the compressive strength test performed on mortar cube specimen which were cast by partial replacement of cement with bagasse ash and fly ash at 10, 20 and 30 percent by weight. The SAI for both BA and FA blended cement mortar was determined after 3, 7, and 28 days of curing and the results compared. The physical and chemical properties of FA and BA meet the requirements as a Pozzolonic material, based on the mineralogical analysis and strength activity index, blending OPC with 20 percent FA or 10 percent BA is beneficial.