This is a review of the biomass-fed chemical process projects to renewable chemicals which were published in Chemical Engineering Progress (CEP) and Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN) from 1/1/16 to 10/31/16, including activity in bioplastics,…
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Catalysis in Renewable Chemicals: Noteworthy Developments 2015-2016
By Dr. Bernard Cooker, LEC Partners Introduction The use of catalysts, both living entities, such as microorganisms, and otherwise inert synthetic and biologically-derived materials, such as supported transition metals and enzymes, are frequently key to the…
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The Industrial State of Biofuels Technologies
By Dr. Gerald Kutney, LEC Partners A myriad of biofuel technologies exist, but which ones are truly industrial processes? The question is not always easy to answer. And one must define what is meant by an…
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Biodiesel Equipment Values 2017
By Catherine Rein, MBA, ASA Sr. Appraiser, LEC Partners As we enter 2017, we’re seeing several headwinds which are depressing values in the biodiesel equipment market. While much of the process equipment used in the biodiesel…
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Transitioning to the New BioRefining Era & Future Vision for Ethanol Plants
Transitioning to the New BioRefining Era & Future Vision for Ethanol Plants by Joel Stone, EVP, LEC Partners Many of those who have listened to me talking about the transition to a bioeconomy, have heard…
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Ionic Liquids: A Key Enabler of Biomass Processing?
By Dr. Lorenz Bauer, LEC Partners Potential Of Ionic Liquids For Biomass Pretreatment The explosion of interest in using biomass to produce chemicals and fuels has motivated a renewed search for improved methods for pretreatment that…
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Lignocellulosic Biomass Deconstruction
By Dr. B. Cooker, Chemical Processing Solutions, Consultant with LEC Partners Summary Cheap, plentiful lignocellulosic biomass (LCB), consisting of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, is deconstructed to release useful chemical intermediates in the bioeconomy. These include…
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The King of Biofuels – A Guide to Pyrolysis’ Progress and Prospects
Biofuels Digest recently invited two of our noted biofuels experts, Dr. Lorenz Bauer and Dr. Terry Mazanec, to lead webinars on the field of pyrolysis and to discuss its progress and future prospects. Dr. Bauer…
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Hydrofoil Impellers vs. Pitched Blade Turbines in Lignocellulosic Slurries
In a previous article (ref 1), it was stated that both pitched blade turbines and hydrofoils could be successfully used to agitate high-solids lignocellulosic materials, but that the hydrofoil could do the job with less…
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Biomass Pyrolysis Comes of Age
By Dr. Lorenz Bauer, LEC Partners After many years of development biomass pyrolysis is finally maturing as a commercial technology. Pyrolysis is not incineration. The goal is to use heat in the absence of oxygen to…
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