Modeling the Disc Refining of Lignocellulosic Biomass toward Reduced Biofuel Production Cost and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Energy Consumption Prediction and Validation
Abstract
Disc refining is a critical step in the deacetylation and mechanical refining (DMR) pretreatment process for the conversion of herbaceous biomass to biofuels. It is very effective in breaking down the biomass structures to increase enzyme accessibility and sugar yield. However, it is also an energy-intensive process, which consumes fossil electricity, generating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and limits its commercialization in the biorefinery industry. To the authors’ best knowledge, this work is the first to report the development of a physics-based model in predicting the refining energy consumption during the biomass disc refining process. The developed model demonstrated its capability in accurately predicting the refining energy consumption under different operation conditions. Simulations show that the net refining energy consumption, net refining energy efficiency, and specific net energy increase with the increase in rotation speed and the decrease in the refiner plate gap. A convergence trend of these attributes was also observed between larger and smaller refiner plate gaps at increasing rotation speeds. In the scaling-up of the DMR pretreatment process, this model will be a powerful tool in the refiner plate design and operation parameter optimization to reach optimum refining energy consumption to reduce biofuel production cost and GHG emissions.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[1]
- Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scale-Up Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden 80401, Colorado, United States
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1781983
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1783557
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5100-79120
Journal ID: ISSN 2168-0485
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Journal Volume: 9 Journal Issue: 29; Journal ID: ISSN 2168-0485
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 09 BIOMASS FUELS; biomass pretreatment; biomass slurry rheology; biomass structural disruption; disc refiner modelling; disc refining energy
Citation Formats
Li, Yudong, Sievers, David A., and Chen, Xiaowen. Modeling the Disc Refining of Lignocellulosic Biomass toward Reduced Biofuel Production Cost and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Energy Consumption Prediction and Validation. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c01773.
Li, Yudong, Sievers, David A., & Chen, Xiaowen. Modeling the Disc Refining of Lignocellulosic Biomass toward Reduced Biofuel Production Cost and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Energy Consumption Prediction and Validation. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c01773
Li, Yudong, Sievers, David A., and Chen, Xiaowen. Thu .
"Modeling the Disc Refining of Lignocellulosic Biomass toward Reduced Biofuel Production Cost and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Energy Consumption Prediction and Validation". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c01773.
@article{osti_1781983,
title = {Modeling the Disc Refining of Lignocellulosic Biomass toward Reduced Biofuel Production Cost and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Energy Consumption Prediction and Validation},
author = {Li, Yudong and Sievers, David A. and Chen, Xiaowen},
abstractNote = {Disc refining is a critical step in the deacetylation and mechanical refining (DMR) pretreatment process for the conversion of herbaceous biomass to biofuels. It is very effective in breaking down the biomass structures to increase enzyme accessibility and sugar yield. However, it is also an energy-intensive process, which consumes fossil electricity, generating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and limits its commercialization in the biorefinery industry. To the authors’ best knowledge, this work is the first to report the development of a physics-based model in predicting the refining energy consumption during the biomass disc refining process. The developed model demonstrated its capability in accurately predicting the refining energy consumption under different operation conditions. Simulations show that the net refining energy consumption, net refining energy efficiency, and specific net energy increase with the increase in rotation speed and the decrease in the refiner plate gap. A convergence trend of these attributes was also observed between larger and smaller refiner plate gaps at increasing rotation speeds. In the scaling-up of the DMR pretreatment process, this model will be a powerful tool in the refiner plate design and operation parameter optimization to reach optimum refining energy consumption to reduce biofuel production cost and GHG emissions.},
doi = {10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c01773},
journal = {ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering},
number = 29,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu May 06 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Thu May 06 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}
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