Series Preface ................................................. ix
Preface ........................................................ xi
List of Contributors ........................................... xv
1. The Biorefinery Concept - An Integrated Approach ............ 1
James H. Clark and Fabien E.I. Deswarte
1.1. The Challenge of Sustainable Development .............. 1
1.2. Renewable Resources — Nature and Availability ......... 3
1.3. Impact on Ecosystem Services .......................... 5
1.4. The Biorefinery Concept ............................... 6
1.4.1. Definition ..................................... 6
1.4.2. Different Types of Biorefinery ................. 6
1.4.3. Challenges and Opportunities .................. 14
1.5. Conclusions .......................................... 18
References ................................................. 18
2. The Chemical Value of Biomass .............................. 21
David В. Turley
2.1. Introduction 21
2.1.1. Key Routes of Plant Exploitation for
Chemical Raw Materials ........................ 23
2.2. Plant Oils ........................................... 25
2.2.1. Abundance and Sources ......................... 25
2.2.2. Oil Profiles of Major Oil Crops ............... 26
2.2.3. Oils with Modified Fatty-Acid Content ......... 29
2.2.4. High Erucic Acid Oils ......................... 29
2.2.5. Novel Fatty-Acid Derivatives found in Plants
that have Industrial Uses ..................... 30
2.2.6. Industrial Uses for Glycerol .................. 31
2.3. Carbohydrates ........................................ 31
2.3.1. Starches and Sugars ........................... 32
2.3.2. Cellulose ..................................... 34
2.3.3. Hemicellulose ................................. 35
2.4. Lignin ............................................... 35
2.5. Proteins ............................................. 36
2.5.1. Healthcare Proteins ........................... 36
2.6. Waxes ................................................ 37
2.7. Secondary Metabolites ................................ 37
2.7.1. Glucosinolates ................................ 39
2.7.2. Other Industrial Uses for Secondary
Metabolites ................................... 39
2.8. Prospects Arising from Developments in Plant
Biotechnology and Biorefining ........................ 40
2.8.1. Protection of Conventional Food Crop Chains ... 42
2.8.2. Cell and Tissue Culture ....................... 42
2.8.3. Biorefining ................................... 43
2.8.4. Thermochemical Routes of Exploitation ......... 43
2.9. Concluding Comments ................................... 44
References ................................................. 45
3. Green Chemical Technologies ................................ 47
Francesca M. Kerton
3.1. Introduction ......................................... 47
3.2. What are Green Chemistry and Green Engineering? ...... 48
3.3. Evaluating the Environmental Effects of Chemistry
and Green Metrics .................................... 51
3.4. Alternative Solvents ................................. 52
3.4.1. Supercritical Fluids .......................... 53
3.4.2. Water ......................................... 56
3.4.3. Ionic Liquids ................................. 58
3.4.4. Other Alternatives to VOCs: 'Solventless',
Biphasic and Bio-Sourced Solvents ............. 59
3.5. Energy Considerations: Microwaves, Ultrasound,
Electricity and Light ................................ 61
3.5.1. Microwave-Assisted Chemistry .................. 61
3.5.2. Sonochemistry ................................. 62
3.5.3. Electrochemistry .............................. 64
3.5.4. Photochemistry ................................ 64
3.6. Catalysts ............................................ 66
3.6.1. Homogeneous Catalysts ......................... 66
3.6.2. Heterogeneous Catalysts ....................... 68
3.6.3. Biocatalysts .................................. 70
3.7. Conclusions .......................................... 71
References ................................................. 72
4. Production of Chemicals from Biomass ....................... 77
Apostolis A. Koutinas, С Du, R.H. Wang and Colin Webb
4.1. Introduction ......................................... 77
4.2. Carbohydrates ........................................ 79
4.2.1. Chemical Production from Saccharides .......... 79
4.2.2. Chemical Production from Lignocellulosic
Biomass ....................................... 87
4.3. Vegetable Oils 90
4.4. Chemical Production from Proteins 92.
4.5. Chemical Production through Green Chemical
Extraction of Biomass ................................ 93
References ................................................. 94
5. Biomaterials .............................................. 103
Carlos Vaca-Garcia
5.1. Introduction ........................................ 103
5.2. Wood and Natural Fibres ............................. 104
5.2.1. Molecular Constitution ....................... 104
5.2.2. Wood and Timber .............................. 106
5.2.3. Plant Fibres ................................. 112
5.3. Isolated and Modified Biopolymers as Biomaterials ... 116
5.3.1. Cellulose .................................... 117
5.3.2. Cellulose Esters ............................. 119
5.3.3. Cellulose Ethers ............................. 123
5.3.4. Starch ....................................... 125
5.3.5. Chitin and Chitosan .......................... 127
5.3.6. Zein ......................................... 128
5.3.7. Lignin Derivatives ........................... 128
5.4. Agromaterials, Blends and Composites ................ 129
5.4.1. Agromaterials ................................ 129
5.4.2. Blends of Synthetic Polymers and Starch ...... 132
5.4.3. Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) ................ 133
5.4.4. Wood-Based Boards ............................ 135
5.5. Biodegradable Plastics .............................. 136
5.5.1. Polyglycolic Acid (PGA) ...................... 136
5.5.2. Polylactic Acid (PLA) ........................ 137
5.5.3. Polycaprolactone (PCL) ....................... 138
5.5.4. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) .................. 138
5.5.5. Cellulose Graft-Polymers ..................... 139
5.6. Conclusion .......................................... 140
References ................................................ 141
6. Production of Energy from Biomass ......................... 143
Mehrdad Arshadi and Anita Sellstedt
6.1. Introduction ........................................ 143
6.2. Physical Upgrading Processes ........................ 144
6.2.1. Refinement of Solids to Biofuel .............. 144
6.2.2. Wood Powder .................................. 145
6.2.3. Briquette Production ......................... 145
6.2.4. Pellet Production ............................ 146
6.2.5. Torrefaction ................................. 149
6.3. Micro biological Processes .......................... 149
6.3.1. Organisms and Processes ...................... 149
6.3.2. Microbiological Ethanol Production ........... 150
6.3.3. Production of Butanol from Bacteria .......... 153
6.3.4. Production of Biodiesel from Plants
and Algae .................................... 153
6.3.5. Biogas Production ............................ 154
6.3.6. Hydrogen Production .......................... 156
6.3.7. Artificial Photosynthesis .................... 158
6.4. Thermochemical Processes ............................ 159
6.4.1. Thermal Processing Equipment ................. 159
6.4.2. Gasification ................................. 161
6.4.3. Pyrolysis .................................... 163
6.4.4. Liquefaction ................................. 164
6.4.5. Combustion ................................... 164
6.5. Chemical Processes .................................. 165
6.5.1. Dimethy Ether (DME) .......................... 165
6.5.2. Biodiesel .................................... 166
6.5.3. Rapeseed Methyl Ester (RME) .................. 166
6.5.4. Primary Alcohols ............................. 167
6.5.5. Ethanol from Sugar Feedstock ................. 169
6.5.6. Ethanol from Starchy Feedstock ............... 170
6.5.7. Ethanol from Cellulose Feedstock ............. 171
6.6. Power Generation from Biomass ....................... 174
6.6.1. Fuel Cells ................................... 174
References .......................................... 176
Index ......................................................... 179
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