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Research Project
Biofuels Research Infrastructure for Sharing Knowledge II
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Publications
Integration of gasification and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for combined heat and power (CHP)
Publication . Costa, Paula; Pinto, Filomena; Andre, Rui N.; Marques, Paula
ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the most recent information about the main operations to produce energy from carbonaceous materials, namely biomass and wastes through the integration of gasification, syngas cleaning and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), which have shown to be a good option for combined heat and power (CHP) production, due to high efficiency and low environmental impact. However, some challenges still need to be overcome, mainly when mixed feedstocks with high contents of hazardous contaminants are used, thus syngas cleaning and conditioning is of major importance. Another drawback is SOFC operation, hence new materials especially for the anode has been proposed and tested. An overall process to produce CHP by gasification integration with SOFC is proposed.
Assessment of the effect of autohydrolysis treatment in banana’s pseudostem pulp
Publication . Díaz, Sara; Ortega, Zaida; Benítez Vega, Antonio Nizardo; Costa, Diogo; Carvalheiro, Florbela; Fernandes, M. C.; Duarte, Luís C.
ABSTRACT: Banana's pseudostem pulp (BPP) is a potential by-product obtained in the mechanical fiber extraction of banana's pseudostem. Its chemical characterization revealed to have an interesting composition, with a high polysaccharides content and low content in lignin, which makes it particularly relevant for the biorefinery's biochemical platform. Autohydrolysis pretreatment, studied under isothermal (140 degrees C) and non-isothermal conditions (140-220 degrees C), yielded oligosaccharides, mainly gluco-oligosaccharides, as the main soluble products. The highest oligosaccharides production (24 g/100 g raw material) was obtained at a severity factor of 2.3. Autohydrolysis pretreatment effectively disrupted the structure of the material, inducing an improvement of the enzymatic digestibility from 73% for the raw material up to 90% for the most severe conditions. Two stage autohydrolysis, with increasing severity, was also studied, allowing to obtain a higher amount of oligosaccharides (32 g/100 g raw material) and higher digestibility of the remaining solid (up to 97%).
Efficient extraction of vicine from faba beans using reactive system of high-pressure CO2/water
Publication . Polanowska, Katarzyna; Nowak, Jacek; Lukasik, Rafal M.
ABSTRACT: Vicine from faba bean is a causative agent of favism, a genetic disease, which manifests as hemolytic anemia. Despite that low vicine varieties of faba bean exist, they are not widely cultivated. Several extraction methods of vicine from faba beans have been presented in the literature, however, their low efficiency associated to time-consuming and costly process limit the practical use. This work for the first time addresses the employment of high-pressure CO2-assisted extraction of the pyrimidine glycosides from the faba bean. For this purpose, the effect of temperature, CO2 pressure and time on vicine extraction was scrutinized using Box-Behnken design of experiments. Response surface methodology was used to determine the optimal extraction conditions. At 40.7 °C, 8.1 bar of CO2 pressure and 5.1 min of extraction, 81% of total vicine should be extracted from faba bean.
The Role of Mild Alkaline Pretreatment in the Biorefinery Upgrade of Spent Coffee Grounds
Publication . Ribeiro, Gabriel Mota; Martins, Pedro L.; Oliveira, Ana Cristina; Carvalheiro, Florbela; Fragoso, Rita; Duarte, Luís C.
ABSTRACT: This work proposes a valorization route for spent coffee grounds (SCG), a widespread lignocellulosic residue, encompassing the production of: biomethane, lignin, and oligosaccharides as value-added products obtained simultaneously during a mild alkaline (NaOH) pretreatment. The studied operational variables were the reaction time (60-240 min), temperature (25-75 degrees C), and the NaOH concentration (0-2.5 M). The severity factor suitably describes the global process kinetics, with higher severities (log Mo = 5.5) yielding high product yields, 18.02% and 13.25% (on dry SCG basis) for lignin and oligosaccharides (XGMOS), respectively. Solid yield is negatively impacted by all studied variables (at the 95% confidence level). Conversely, XGMOS yield is positively influenced both by time and catalyst concentration, whereas lignin yield is only (positively) influenced by catalyst concentration. Optimal balance between product formation and potential operational costs is putatively achieved when using 0.625 M NaOH, at 50 degrees C for 60 min. The mild alkaline pretreated biomass (MAP-SCG) was compared to untreated SCG for biomethane production by anaerobic co-digestion with pig slurry (PS), using a ratio of biomass/PS = 1/3 (volatile solids (VS) basis). The proposed valorization route enabled the sequential production of 6.25 kg lignin, 6.36 kg oligosaccharides, and 138.05 kg biomethane per 100 kg of non-extracted SCG (and 287.60 kg pig slurry), in an integrated process that is technically feasible and promotes the circular bioeconomy.
Development of an innovative macroalgae biorefinery: Oligosaccharides as pivotal compounds
Publication . Andrade, Cristiana; Martins, Pedro L.; Duarte, Luís C.; Oliveira, Ana Cristina; Carvalheiro, Florbela
ABSTRACT: Macroalgae have significant advantages over land-living biomass resources and are promising pivotal feedstocks for the onset of the blue bioeconomy. Among these, Ulva lactuca has demonstrated a high potential due to its wide distribution and high productivity. In this work, a detailed chemical characterization of U. lactuca enabled the identification of polysaccharides as the main macromolecular component of the organic fraction. They present a high diversity of sugar constituents and hence can be a relevant source of added-value oligosaccharides for the food/feed industries. Four processes, with increasing operational temperatures, were compared for the selective production of oligosaccharides: Conventional Soxhlet Extraction, Accelerated Solvent Extraction, Hydrothermal treatment (HT) and Dilute Acid Hydrolysis (DAH). All processes presented high oligosaccharide/monosaccharide ratios, with HT and DAH exhibiting the highest oligosaccharides yields (10.6 and 16.6 g/100 g initial biomass, respectively). These oligosaccharides were obtained under milder, more economic conditions than the reported for lignocellulosic (land) plants and can represent an important added-value income of the algae biorefineries and thus contribute to their economic sustainability.
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Funding agency
European Commission
Funding programme
H2020
Funding Award Number
731101