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Title: Effect of Feedstock Variability, Feedstock Blends, and Pretreatment Conditions on Sugar Yield and Production Costs

Abstract

Mass production of sustainable biofuels replacing fossil fuels will significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. However, biomass feedstock variability, availability, and affordability pose significant risks for the sustainable production of biofuels in biorefinery plants. To derisk the sustainable production of biofuels, this work investigates the sugar yields and production costs of four different feedstocks as well as their blends, using different pretreatment methods: deacetylation and dilute acid pretreatment (DDA) and deacetylation and mechanical refining pretreatment (DMR). We found that not only feedstock species variability, but also feedstock harvesting techniques have large impacts on both sugar yields and production costs. Single-pass harvested corn stover (SPCS) showed higher sugar yields and lower production costs than multipass harvested corn stover, followed by sorghum and switchgrass. The highest glucose yields of 91% and 95.3%, which corresponds to the lowest sugar production costs of 0.2286 dollars per pound and 0.2490 dollars per pound, were observed for SPCS using DDA and DMR, respectively. The difference in sugar yields and production costs due to feedstock variability can be largely mitigated by increasing deacetylation severity, especially in DMR. Higher deacetylation severity resulted in decreased sugar production costs in the case of DMR in contrast to increased costs inmore » the case of DDA. Blending switchgrass and sorghum into corn stover, which can significantly increase the feedstock availability and sustainability, resulted in sugar yields and production costs of roughly the weighted average of those derived from constituent individual feedstocks, respectively. Thus, blending feedstocks of different biomass species is a potential successful strategy for sustainable production of biofuels to replace fossil-derived fuels.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office
OSTI Identifier:
1845042
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1845680
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5100-80750
Journal ID: ISSN 2296-598X; 792216
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Energy Research
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Frontiers in Energy Research Journal Volume: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 2296-598X
Publisher:
Frontiers Media SA
Country of Publication:
Switzerland
Language:
English
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS; alkaline pretreatment; biomass pretreatment; biomass to biofuel conversion; dilute acid pretreatment; feedstock blend; mechanical refining; technoeconomic analysis

Citation Formats

Li, Yudong, Tao, Ling, Nagle, Nick, Tucker, Melvin, Chen, Xiaowen, and Kuhn, Erik M. Effect of Feedstock Variability, Feedstock Blends, and Pretreatment Conditions on Sugar Yield and Production Costs. Switzerland: N. p., 2022. Web. doi:10.3389/fenrg.2021.792216.
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Li, Yudong, Tao, Ling, Nagle, Nick, Tucker, Melvin, Chen, Xiaowen, & Kuhn, Erik M. Effect of Feedstock Variability, Feedstock Blends, and Pretreatment Conditions on Sugar Yield and Production Costs. Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2021.792216
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Li, Yudong, Tao, Ling, Nagle, Nick, Tucker, Melvin, Chen, Xiaowen, and Kuhn, Erik M. Fri . "Effect of Feedstock Variability, Feedstock Blends, and Pretreatment Conditions on Sugar Yield and Production Costs". Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2021.792216.
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@article{osti_1845042,
title = {Effect of Feedstock Variability, Feedstock Blends, and Pretreatment Conditions on Sugar Yield and Production Costs},
author = {Li, Yudong and Tao, Ling and Nagle, Nick and Tucker, Melvin and Chen, Xiaowen and Kuhn, Erik M.},
abstractNote = {Mass production of sustainable biofuels replacing fossil fuels will significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. However, biomass feedstock variability, availability, and affordability pose significant risks for the sustainable production of biofuels in biorefinery plants. To derisk the sustainable production of biofuels, this work investigates the sugar yields and production costs of four different feedstocks as well as their blends, using different pretreatment methods: deacetylation and dilute acid pretreatment (DDA) and deacetylation and mechanical refining pretreatment (DMR). We found that not only feedstock species variability, but also feedstock harvesting techniques have large impacts on both sugar yields and production costs. Single-pass harvested corn stover (SPCS) showed higher sugar yields and lower production costs than multipass harvested corn stover, followed by sorghum and switchgrass. The highest glucose yields of 91% and 95.3%, which corresponds to the lowest sugar production costs of 0.2286 dollars per pound and 0.2490 dollars per pound, were observed for SPCS using DDA and DMR, respectively. The difference in sugar yields and production costs due to feedstock variability can be largely mitigated by increasing deacetylation severity, especially in DMR. Higher deacetylation severity resulted in decreased sugar production costs in the case of DMR in contrast to increased costs in the case of DDA. Blending switchgrass and sorghum into corn stover, which can significantly increase the feedstock availability and sustainability, resulted in sugar yields and production costs of roughly the weighted average of those derived from constituent individual feedstocks, respectively. Thus, blending feedstocks of different biomass species is a potential successful strategy for sustainable production of biofuels to replace fossil-derived fuels.},
doi = {10.3389/fenrg.2021.792216},
journal = {Frontiers in Energy Research},
number = ,
volume = 9,
place = {Switzerland},
year = {Fri Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2022},
month = {Fri Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2022}
}
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https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2021.792216
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