Effective Utilisation of Halophyte Biomass from Saline Soils for Biorefinering Processes.

The salinity of European soil is increasing every year, causing severe economic damage (estimated 1-3 million hectares in the enlarged EU). This study uses the biomass of halophytes-tall fescue (grass) and hemp of the Bialobrzeskie variety from saline soils-for bioenergy, second generation biofuels and designing new materials-fillers for polymer composites. In the bioethanol obtaining process, in the first stage, the grass and hemp biomass were pretreated with 1.5% NaOH. Before and after the treatment, the chemical composition was determined and the FTIR spectra and SEM pictures were taken. Then, the process of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) was carried out. The concentration of ethanol for both the grass and hemp biomass was approx. 7 g·L-1 (14 g·100 g-1 of raw material). In addition, trials of obtaining green composites with halophyte biomass using polymers (PP) and biopolymers (PLA) as a matrix were performed. The mechanical properties of the composites (tensile and flexural tests) were determined. It was found that the addition of a compatibilizer improved the adhesion at the interface of PP composites with a hemp filler. In conclusion, the grass and hemp biomass were found to be an interesting and promising source to be used for bioethanol and biocomposites production. The use of annually renewable plant biomass from saline soils for biorefinering processes opens up opportunities for the development of a new value chains and new approaches to sustainable agriculture.

Perspectives on the integration of a supercritical fluid extraction plant to a sugarcane biorefinery: thermo-economical evaluation of CO2 recycle systems

Abstract In the present study, the software Aspen Plus® was used to analyse two different systems for CO2 recycle in a SFE process for extraction of more polar compounds using ethanol as co-solvent, the most common co-solvent used due to its environment-friendly nature. The extraction process of β-ecdysone from Brazilian ginseng roots was considered as example in the computational simulations. The first CO2 recycle system, named Recycle A, considered the compression of the CO2 separated in the second flash to the recycle pressure assumed at the first flash tank, its cooling to 25 °C and recirculation, while the second recycle system, named Recycle B, considered the cooling and pumping of the CO2 separated in the second flash, its heating to 25 °C and recirculation. The best techno-economic condition to operate the recycling step would be using Recycle A at 40 bar and 30 °C considering a stand-alone SFE process; and using Recycle B at 40 bar and 40 °C, considering this process in close proximity of a hypothetical sugarcane biorefinery. Therefore, these results suggest that the selection where would be located the SFE plant should be taken into account during the first steps of the process design.