Analysis on Chemical Components of Woods to Predict Ethanol Production Values

This paper deals with analysis on chemical components of woods to predict ethanol production values. The aim is expected to give a reliable value of ethanol production, eliminating the effort needed to directly measure this ethanol production from each wood species. Since the data of wood chemical components is widely available, this result will be valuable in determining a potential use of a wood species as bio-ethanol feedstock. Saccharification and fermentation processes by enzymatic hydrolysis were applied for xylems derived from49 branch trees of Cibodas, 32 branch trees of Purwodadi, and 19 branch trees of Bali Botanical Gardens in Indonesia. Three major wood components were analysed, i.e. cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The results show varied relationships between ethanol production and chemical components of wood. The content of cellulose in wood was not exactly related to its ethanol production. This trend was also occurred for the relationship between hemicellulose and ethanol production. However, lignin content in woods gave an expected trend where the less lignin content, the higher the ethanol production.Furthermore, the ratios of cellulose-hemicelluloses and cellulose-lignin have been quantified. The result showed that the celullose-lignin ratio can potentially be used to predict the value of ethanol production which is expressed by linear regression y = 0.0616x + 0.8341; where R² = 0.4127, x = ethanol production and y = cellulose-lignin ratio. Gymnostoma sumatranum with cellulose content of 43.8% and lignin content of 24.1% (celullose-lignin ratio of 1.8) has actual ethanol production of 12.1 mg/100mg wood meal, compared to 15.7 mg/100mg wood meal resulted from above equation. Therefore, by using its cellulose-lignin ratio, the woods having high ethanol production can be screened from literatures.

Discrimination and Determination of Extractive Content of Ebony (Diospyros celebica Bakh.) from Celebes Island by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Ebony (Diospyros celebica Bakh.) is an endemic plant on Celebes (Sulawesi) island. Extractive compounds within ebony wood cause it to have durability, strength, and beautiful patterns. In this study, we used near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to discriminate between ebony wood samples, based on their origins at different growth sites on Celebes island, and to develop quantitative models to predict the extractive content of ebony wood. A total of 45 wood meal samples from 11 sites located in West, Central, and South Celebes were collected in this study. NIR spectral data were acquired from hot water and ethanol–benzene soluble extracts from ebony wood in this study. The extractive content of the ebony was 10.408% and 10.774% based on hot water solubility and treatment with ethanol–benzene solvent, respectively. Multivariate analysis based on principal component analysis–discriminant analysis revealed that ebony wood from West Celebes differed from most of the wood from South Celebes; however, it was only slightly different from ebony wood from Central Celebes based on NIR spectra data. These findings were in line with the extractive contents obtained. Partial least square regression models based on wood meal spectra could potentially be used to estimate the hot water and ethanol–benzene extractive contents from ebony wood.

Preparation of biochar via dry torrefaction of wood meal in a batch reactor under pressure and its co-combustion behavior with anthracite coal

Biochar was prepared by dry torrefaction of wood meal in a batch reactor under pressurized conditions. The biochar prepared at 340 °C (WMB-340) showed a higher heating value (HHV) of 30.5 MJ/kg, and it was employed to co-combust with anthracite coal (AC) with the HHV of 28 MJ/kg. The WMB-340 underwent two combustion stages, while the AC only showed one combustion stage. The combustion of AC was promoted by WMB-340 at temperatures higher than 490 °C, indicating the existence of a synergetic effect during co-combustion. Blending AC with 10% WMB-340 had no obvious effect on the combustion stage of AC. However, three combustion stages existed when blending more than 10% WMB-340 with AC. The activation energy of AC blended with 10% WMB-340 was 84.5 kJ mol-1, much lower than that of AC (179.3 kJ mol-1), indicating a lower energy for initialization of the blend. Therefore, AC blended with 10% WMB-340 was the optimal ratio for co-combustion in this study.

Effect of Heat Treatment on the Chemical Structure and Thermal Properties of Softwood-Derived Glycol Lignin

A large-scale glycol lignin (GL) production process (50 kg wood meal per batch) based on acid-catalyzed polyethylene glycol (PEG) solvolysis of Japanese cedar (JC) was developed at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Tsukuba, Japan. JC wood meal with various particle size distributions (JC-S < JC-M < JC-L) (average meal size, JC-S (0.4 mm) < JC-M (0.8 mm) < JC-L (1.6 mm)) and liquid PEG with various molecular masses are used as starting materials to produce PEG-modified lignin derivatives, namely, GLs, with various physicochemical and thermal properties. Because GLs are considered a potential feedstock for industrial applications, the effect of heat treatment on GL properties is an important issue for GL-based material production. In this study, GLs obtained from PEG400 solvolysis of JC-S, JC-M, and JC-L were subjected to heating in a constant-temperature drying oven at temperatures ranging from 100 to 220 °C for 1 h. All heat-treated GL series were thermally stable, as determined from the Klason lignin content, TMA, and TGA analyses. SEC analysis suggests the possibility of condensation among lignin fragments during heat treatment. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, thioacidolysis, and 2D HSQC NMR demonstrated that a structural rearrangement occurs in the heat-treated GL400 samples, in which the content of α–PEG-β–O-4 linkages decreases along with the proportional enrichments of β–5 and β–β linkages, particularly at treatment temperatures above 160 °C.

Managing Properties of Alumina Based Granules Prepared by Disk (Dished) Molding

Alumina-based spherical granules were prepared by disk granulation. Products of gibbsite thermoactivation in various reactors were used as the initial materials. In the course of molding, combustible additives (starch, carbon, wood meal) were added to the thermoactivated gibbsite powder, and NaOH (10 %), C2H5OH (15 %), Н3ВО3(6 %) to the wetting solution (H2O). With the product of centrifugal thermoactivation of hydrargillite, the prepared granules were stronger at the larger average size of pores; addition of NaOH, C2H5OH and H3BO3led to an increase in the specific surface area and micropore proportion but had different effects on the mechanical strength of the granules. Introduction of combustible additives (wood meal, activated carbon) affected only slightly the specific surface area, favored an increase in the total pore volume and mesopore volume, resulted in a decrease in bulk density and mechanical strength of the granules. Conditions were determined for preparation of a highly effective strong dessicant with large specific surface area (up to 340 m2/g) and average pore diameter up to 3.4 nm. Conditions were determined for preparation of strong ultramacroporous granules that are highly active to the Klaus process.

Elastic Wood-Filled Floor Coverings for Children’s Play Areas

According to modern standards, all courtyard, school and public playgrounds on which gaming equipment is installed must undergo tests of shock absorption of the surface under and around the equipment to prevent serious injuries to the child. In this regard, widely spread coatings on the basis of rubber chips. However, they not only do not meet the aesthetic requirements, but can also worsen the environmental situation when operating indoors. The paper describes a method for producing composites from wood flour and a silicone binder. The effect of wood meal content on the water absorption of composites as well as the effect of silicone content on the density of the results of the research showed that an increase in the content of wood flour significantly increases the water absorption of the resulting composite, that the composite material obtained with the addition of filler from wood meal, the values ​​of the maximum and minimum elastic moment increased, since the presence of fillers imparts a restriction on the deformation of the composite, and, consequently, the composite becomes harder and harder. As a result of the studies carried out, it can be concluded that the use of silicone as binder and shredded wood waste as a filler makes it possible to obtain good quality elastic flooring with high aesthetic, operational and environmental properties.

High-purity lignin isolated from poplar wood meal through dissolving treatment with deep eutectic solvents

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have potential applications in biomass conversion and green chemicals due to their cost-effectiveness and environmentally friendly properties. This study reports on a feasible method of using DESs for lignin selective extraction from poplar wood meal. DESs obtained from various hydrogen-bond donors and acceptors were used to evaluate the dissolving capacity of lignin from poplar wood meal. Among the various DESs, lactic acid: choline chloride (9 : 1) exhibits the optimal extraction capacity, which is capable of selectively dissolving 95% of lignin from poplar wood meal at 120°C for 6 h. The purity of isolated lignin reaches 98% after regeneration in water. From Fourier Transform-IR, nitrobenzene oxidation and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, the results demonstrate that the DESs can selectively cleave ether linkages and damage the non-condensation section of lignin, thereby facilitating lignin dissolution from wood meal. Thus, this study provides a promising route for the extraction of high-purity lignin from biomass materials.

Effect of ozonation on composting Japanese cedar wood meal

Ozonized Japanese cedar wood meal was evaluated as a feedstock for compost. The composting experiment performed in a 1.8 m3tank during a 4-week period showed that the decomposition of organics was accelerated by the ozonation of wood meal during thermophilic phase. The same is true for decay test of white-rot (WR) fungus. The tested brown-rot (BR) fungus did not show any effect. Accordingly, the lignin degradation by ozone is advantageous for composting. In addition, liberation of ammonia, one source of odor development, was suppressed during the thermophilic phase of composting of ozonized wood meal.