Steam explosion is a rapidly developing technique for the fractionation and modification of lignocellulosics and for the extraction of industrial polysaccharides. This book is a primary integrated presentation of the fundamental and technological aspects of this process, and provides an exhaustive discussion of its prospects for the future. The main topics concern the kinetic and engineering aspects as well as the structure modifcations of the substrates, induced by the steam explosion process. Applications in the pulping and textile industries, in the bioconversion of wood and agricultural biomass, and in polysaccharide extraction are widel discussed. Potential developments of this technique in the activation of lingocellulosics for dissolving and the production of new textile fibers and films are also considered.

Biomass Fractionation Technologies for a Lignocellulosic Feedstock-based Biorefinery reviews the extensive research and tremendous scientific and technological developments that have occurred in the area of biorefinering, including industrial processes and product development using ‘green technologies’, often referred as white biotechnology. As there is a huge need for new design concepts for modern biorefineries as an alternative and amendment to industrial crude oil and gas refineries, this book presents the most important topics related to biomass fractionation, including advances, challenges, and perspectives, all with references to current literature for further study. Presented in 26 chapters by international field specialists, each chapter consists of review text that comprises the most recent advances, challenges, and perspectives for each fractionation technique. The book is an indispensable reference for all professionals, students, and workers involved in biomass biorefinery, assisting them in establishing efficient and economically viable process technologies for biomass fractionation. Provides information on the most advanced and innovative pretreatment processes and technologies for biomass Reviews numerous valuable products from lignocellulose Discusses integration of processes for complete biomass conversion with minimum waste generation Identifies the research gaps in scale-up Presents an indispensable reference for all professionals, students, and workers involved in biomass biorefinery, assisting them in establishing efficient and economically viable process technologies for biomass fractionation

active industrial participation in the organizing committee. Recently, the conference has begun a regular informal industrial roundtable (Session 4). This has become very popular as it allows industrial participants to speak more openly. For a broader perspective, R. James Woolsey, Former Direc tor of Central Intelligence Agency, gave an after-dinner address on "Wagon Trains for the 21st Century: The Role for Biorefineries. " He urged the attendees of the importance of their efforts to develop renewable, benign processes for the United States and the world based on both security and prosperity reasons. These related to energy supply, support of domestic agriculture, global warming, and other issues. With the Twentieth Symposium, we continued the tradition of pro viding an informal, congenial atmosphere that our participants find condu cive to pursuing technical discussion of program topics. The technical program consisted of 35 oral presentations, a roundtable forum, two spe cial topic discussions, and a poster session of 133 posters. This year, tech nical topics included: Session 1: Feedstocks: New Supplies and Processing Session 2: Applied Biological Research Session 3: Bioprocessing Research Session 4: Emerging Opportunities for Industrial Chemicals Session 5: Bioprocess Evaluation and Confirmation Session 6: Enzymatic Processes and Enzyme Production Special topic discussions were held on "Defining the Future Separa tions Needs Derived from Bioprocessing" by Earl Beaver, Monsanto Com pany, St.

In the development of the Severe Accident Analysis Program for the Savannah River production reactors, it was recognized that certain accidents have -the potential for causing damaging steam explosions. Steam explosions can occur when metals, such as the aluminum-based fuel used at Savannah River, are melted and come into contact with water. This condition is unstable, and local turbulence can lead to the generation of great quantities of steam within a few milliseconds. This phenomenon has been observed in several reactor incidents and experiments (BORAX, SPERT-1, SL-1, probably Chernobyl) where it caused damage to the reactor and associated structures. The massive SRS reactor buildings are likely to withstand any imaginable steam explosion. However, reactor components and building structures including hatches, ventilation ducts, etc., could be at risk if such an explosion occurred. The goal for this study was to develop a computer code that could be used parametrically to predict the effects of various steam explosions on their surroundings. This would be able to predict whether a steam explosion of a given magnitude would be likely to fail a particular structure. This would require, of course, that the magnitude of the explosion be specified through some combination of judgment and calculation. The requested code, identified as the K-FIX(GT) code, was developed and delivered by the contractor, along with extensive documentation. The several individual reports that constitute the documentation are each being issued as a separate WSRC report. Documentation includes several model calculations, and. representation of these in graphic form. This report incorporates Report GTRSR-006, which gives an overview of the methods used in the development of K-FIX(GT), and the results of a comparison with experiments in the literature. The authors conclude that the results of the comparison calculation are in reasonable agreement with observations.

Pretreatment of Biomass provides general information, basic data, and knowledge on one of the most promising renewable energy sources—biomass for their pretreatment—which is one of the most essential and critical aspects of biomass-based processes development. The quest to make the environment greener, less polluted, and less hazardous has led to the concept of biorefineries for developing bio-based processes and products using biomass as a feedstock. Each kind of biomass requires some kind of pretreatment to make it suitable for bioprocess. This book provides state-of-art information on the methods currently available for this. This book provides data-based scientific information on the most advanced and innovative pretreatment of lignocellulosic and algal biomass for further processing. Pretreatment of biomass is considered one of the most expensive steps in the overall processing in a biomass-to-biofuel program. With the strong advancement in developing lignocellulose biomass- and algal biomass-based biorefineries, global focus has been on developing pretreatment methods and technologies that are technically and economically feasible. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in methods used for the pretreatment of biomass. An entire section is devoted to the methods and technologies of algal biomass due to the increasing global attention of its use. Provides information on the most advanced and innovative pretreatament processes and technologies for biomass Covers information on lignocellulosic and algal biomass to work on the principles of biorefinery Useful for researchers intending to study scale-up Provides information on integration of processes and technologies for the pretreatment of biomass