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Sargassum spp is an invasive macroalgae and an alternative feedstock for bioethanol production. Sargassum spp biomass was subjected to high-pressure technology for biomass fractionation under different operating conditions of temperature and residence time to obtain glucan enriched pretreated solids (32.22 g/100 g of raw material). Enzyme hydrolysis process at high pretreated solid loading (13%, w/v) and enzyme loading of 10 FPU/g of glucan was performed, obtaining 43.01 g/L of glucose corresponding to a conversion yield of 92.12%. Finally, a pre-simultaneous saccharification and fermentation strategy (PSSF) was performed to produce bioethanol. This operational strategy produced 45.66 g/L of glucose in the pre-saccharification stage, and 18.14 g/L of bioethanol was produced with a glucose to bioethanol conversion yield of 76.23%. The development of this process highlights the feasibility of bioethanol production from macroalgal biomass in the biorefinery concept.

Etude des resultats obtenus en matiere de reduction des emissions de gaz a effet de serre, suite a la mise en oeuvre des politiques definies, au cours des conferences internationales de la decennie 90. Etude des perspectives a moyen et long terme, en fonction des differents scenarios envisages lors de congres internationaux

Nitrocellulose is a cellulose derivative that has many potential applications. Nitrocellulose can bemade through nitration reactions by reacting cellulose and nitric acid at low temperatures. Cellulose can be obtained from lignocellulose biomass such as palm oil empty fruit bunches (POEFBs). In this study, techno-economic evaluation of nitrocellulose production from POEFBs was investigated with various types of alkaline and acid pretreatments. Pretreatment of POEFBs with alkaline and acid was used to purify cellulose fraction as raw material for nitrocellulose. The combination process of POEFBs pretreatment with alkaline and acid can be classified into 4 process routes such as ammonium hydroxide and sulfuric acid pretreatment (Route-1), ammonium hydroxide and acetic acid pretreatment (Route-2), sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid pretreatment (Route-3), and sodium hydroxide and acetic acid pretreatment (Route-4). The results showed that ammonium hydroxide and sulfuric acid pretreatment (Route-1) was the most profitable route to produce nitrocellulose. Economic parameter values such as return of investment (ROI), payback period (PBP), net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) from ammonium hydroxide and sulfuric acid pretreatment (Route-1) were 11.49%, 5.85 years, US$ 442,427 and 13.35%.

The short-circuit computations are usually performed in power system studies to determine currents and voltages in the power grid under fault. The interconnection of Distributed Generation (DG) increases the short-circuit currents and may cause that electric equipments overcome their capacity limits. At the same time, the increment of renewable energy sources and other forms of DG, introduces more uncertainties to the network. This issue has motivated the development of methodologies to evaluate the effects of DG on distribution networks. The fuzzy sets theory is implemented to evaluate the impact of uncertainties (of both power generation and network parameters) on fault levels considering the IEC Standard 60909. The solution is compared to Monte-Carlo Simulation (MCS) which is the most usual simulation used to solve stochastic problems.

In this study, microwave-assisted hydrothermal carbonization of waste coconut shell (feedstock) is reported. It is a thermo-conversion technique in which the feedstock was transformed into energy-rich carbonaceous material under mild conditions. The process was conducted in a microwave oven by heating the waste coconut shell in deionized water inside a pressurized vessel. The effects of different process conditions on the product yields, and the energy properties of the hydrochars were studied by varying the reaction temperature from 150 to 200 °C and residence time from 5 to 30 min. The results showed that there was transformation of the feedstock in the process due to the decarboxylation, dehydration, and demethanation reactions. This led to changes in the chemical and structural compositions, as well as increase in the energy properties of the prepared hydrochars. The higher heating value increased from 15.06 MJ/kg in the feedstock to 19.76 MJ/kg in the hydrochar. The energy properties of the hydrochars prepared in this study showed that microwave-assisted hydrothermal carbonization process could be a technique for converting waste coconut shell into high value-added product.

Abstract The paper presents a comparative study of the effect of porous layer parameters on the thermal performance of capillary-assisted evaporators. The results show that there are optimum particle sizes that are associated with maximum boiling heat rates and heat transfer coefficients. The results also show that the layer thickness has monotonic effect on the evaporators’ performance but its impact is less pronounced compared to that of the particle size. The trends are explained in terms of the contradicting effects that exist within the layer. Agreement in trend, and to a lesser degree in value, is obtained between the analytical and experimental results with the discrepancy explained in terms of the inaccuracies of the empirical formulae used and the effect of condensation on the tube wall thermal resistance. Boiling heat transfer coefficients of up to 5 kW/m2 °C were achieved.

Abstract An experimental study was performed to investigate pyrolysis products, char morphology, and reactivity of char derived from large wood cylinders. Wood samples with various sizes (i.e. sawdust with particle size