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Co-production of Monosaccharides and Hydrochar from Green Macroalgae Ulva (Chlorophyta) sp. with Subcritical Hydrolysis and Carbonization

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Abstract

Subcritical water hydrolysis and carbonization of the biomass are an emerging green technology for seaweed biomass processing. In this work, a novel approach for co-generation of two energy streams from seaweed biomass (fermentable sugars and solid hydrochar) with subcritical water from a green macroalgae Ulva sp. was developed. It was found that for the released of glucose, xylose, rhamnose, fructose, and galactose, the process temperature is the most significant parameter, followed by salinity, solid load, and treatment time. For the formation of fermentation inhibitor 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), temperature also was the most important parameter, followed by residence time, salinity, and solid load. The optimum parameters for maximal release of total sugars under minimum formation of 5-HMF were 170 °C (800 kPa abs.), 5% solid loading, 40 min residence time, and 100% salinity. The hydrochar yield was 19.4% and hydrochar high heating value was 20.2 ± 1.31 MJ kg−1. These results provide new detailed information on the subcritical hydrolysis and carbonization of Ulva sp. biomass and show co-production of fermentable monosaccharides and hydrochar.

Co-production of hydrolysate and hydrochar from green seaweed Ulva sp. with hydrothermal treatment

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Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely thank Vered Holdengreber from the Electron Microscopy Unit, Inter-Departmental Research Facility Unit, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, for the help with SEM.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the Israeli Ministry of Energy, Infrastructures and Water Resources (grant no. 215-11-032).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Porter School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Semion Greiserman, Michael Epstein, Alexander Chemodanov, Efraim Steinbruch, Meghanath Prabhu & Alexander Golberg

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Semion Greiserman, Efraim Steinbruch & Abraham Kribus

  3. The National Center for Mariculture, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Ltd., Eilat, Israel

    Lior Guttman

  4. Mechanical Systems Design Department, Engineering Division, The Israel Electric Corporation, Haifa, Israel

    Gabriel Jinjikhashvily

  5. School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Olga Shamis & Michael Gozin

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  1. Semion Greiserman
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Figure S1.

Temperature profile inside the reactor for two experimental blocks. The bottom panel is zoon in into the high-temperature time. a. Experimental block 1. b. Experimental block 2. (PNG 1324 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 261 kb)

Figure S2.

The impact of the severity factor (R0) on the total monosaccharides and HMF yields. (PNG 373 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 81 kb)

Figure S3.

FT-IR spectra. (blue spectrum): dried untreated Ulva sp. biomass and (black spectrum): hydrochar. (PNG 650 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 164 kb)

Figure S4.

TG and DTG thermograms. (ablack TG thermogram): Ulva biomass measured under N2 atmosphere; (a, blue TG thermogram): hydrochar measured under N2 atmosphere; (b, black TG thermogram): Ulva biomass measured under air atmosphere; (b, blue TG thermogram): hydrochar measured under air atmosphere; (c, black DTG thermogram): Ulva biomass measured under N2 atmosphere; (c, blue DTG thermogram): hydrochar measured under N2 atmosphere; (d, black DTG thermogram): Ulva biomass measured under air atmosphere; (d, blue DTG thermogram): hydrochar measured under air atmosphere. (PNG 921 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 180 kb)

Figure S5.

DSC thermograms. (ablack thermogram): Ulva biomass measured under N2 atmosphere; (ablue thermogram): hydrochar measured under N2 atmosphere; (b, black thermogram): Ulva biomass measured under air atmosphere; (b, blue thermogram): hydrochar measured under air atmosphere. (PNG 710 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 137 kb)

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Greiserman, S., Epstein, M., Chemodanov, A. et al. Co-production of Monosaccharides and Hydrochar from Green Macroalgae Ulva (Chlorophyta) sp. with Subcritical Hydrolysis and Carbonization. Bioenerg. Res. 12, 1090–1103 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-019-10034-5

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