Fermentation of industrial biosludge, paper fines, bagasse, and chicken manure to carboxylate salts /
This project focuses on the anaerobic fermentation of biomass to carboxylate salts. Using the MixAlco process, the carboxylate salts can be converted to ketones and hydrogenated into mixed alcohol fuels. Through other studies, it has been determined that countercurrent fermentation of various wastes...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1999.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=731681561&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | This project focuses on the anaerobic fermentation of biomass to carboxylate salts. Using the MixAlco process, the carboxylate salts can be converted to ketones and hydrogenated into mixed alcohol fuels. Through other studies, it has been determined that countercurrent fermentation of various wastes is effective in producing carboxylate salts because it decreases the inhibitory effects of the volatile fatty acids on the microorganisms. This countercurrent fermentation process has been applied to a mixture of paper fines and biosludge, and a mixture of bagasse and chicken manure. In the fermentation, the paper and bagasse serve as the energy sources (carbohydrates) and the biosludge and chicken manure serve as the nutrient sources (minerals, metals, and vitamins). Batch and countercurrent experiments showed that supplemental nutrients were not required for the fermentations. Reproducibility was also demonstrated for both the batch and countercurrent fermentations. The highest total carboxylic acid concentration obtained for the 80% paper/20% biosludge countercurrent fermentation was 20.2 g carboxylic acid/L liquid. For a countercurrent system with a substrate concentration of 40% Paper/60% biosludge, the total carboxylic acid concentration was 29.9 g acid/L liquid. Conversions as high as 50% were achieved for fermentations with both ratios of paper and biosludge. Continuum Particle Distribution Modeling (CPDM) was used to correlate batch fermentation data to countercurrent fermentation data, allowing the prediction of results over a wide range of solids loadings and residence times. In all fermentation systems, the predicted value generally was within 10% of the experimental values for the liquid fermentation product. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Chemical Engineering". |
| Physical Description: | xviii, 252 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-155). |