Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Specific outcomes of this project will be engineering and process data for supporting sustainable, low cost collection, handling, processing and conversion of biobased feedstocks into high value biofuels, biomaterials, and biochemicals. Analytical and economic descriptions of the various systems will play an important role in this effort. Specific accomplishments for each of the five functional groups follows.

Feedstock Supply Group: In Task 1 (Feedstock Supply) researchers in Puerto Rico obtained sugarcane yields of 120 t/ac and developed growth models. In Task 2 (Harvest, Process, and Handling) a team from the U Tenn and ORNL evaluated corn stover dry matter over time and observed a typical yield of 5.2 tons/ac. Approximately 50% of dm is stalk; biomass in leaf tissue degrades rapidly. Various factors affect dirt contamination of baled stover. They are also evaluating hammermilling methods to densify stover. In Task 3 (Modeling Integrated Feedstock Supply and Process Systems) S Carolina researchers are modeling an energy farm that produces animal feed, produces energy and nutrients from an anaerobic digestor, then returns the nutrients to the field. They have designed a low temperature digestor and are determining operational parameters and costs.

Biofuel Production Group: In Task 1 (Pretreatment for bioconversion processes) U Florida researchers used dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment (121 C, 0.6-1.5% acid, 30-90 min) of rye straw and bermudagrass to increase enzymatic digestibility. Higher acid levels and time increased hemicellulose and cellulose digestion. They are also evaluating detoxification of certain byproducts. Kansas State researchers found that ethanol yields from grain sorghum could be increased by 2.2% by conventional extrusion or by 5.56% by supercritical fluid extraction. In Task 2 (Biological conversion processes) Montana State scientists have begun a project to ferment glycerin (from biodiesel production) into ethanol or citric acid. Louisiana State and Michigan Biotechnology Institute are beginning a collaboration to produce ethanol, succinate, arabinose and xylitol from sugarcane bagasse. Clemson (SC) scientists, anaerobically digesting algal slude, have found: methane production is proportional to biomass loading, and adding 50% waste paper doubles methane production by providing the optimal C:N ratio. U Florida scientists are genetically modifying microbes for ethanol production and have developed strains that can utilize cellulose/hemicellulose oligosaccharides without added enzymes. These strains also have reduced nutrient requirements. Work is underway to develop strains that can produce other products (acetic acid, l-lactic acid, d-lactic acid, and pyruvic acid) at 80-95% of theoretical yield (50 g/L) in mineral salts medium. In Task 3 (Development of improved thermochemical processes for biofuel production) OK State is gasifying perennial grasses and fermenting the syngas to ethanol. Work is progressing on optimization of gasification and determining why the syngas reduces microbial numbers. WV University is thermochemically converting hog and poultry manure into a tar-like fuel that can be blended up to 20% into diesel fuel. Tar yields are 2/3 of initial biomass, and the tar contains 12,000-18,000 BTU/lb. U Nebraska researchers are investigating microemulsion techniques to develop stable fuel blends of ethanol, biodiesel, and diesel.

Biomaterials Group: In Task 1 (Raw feedstock evaluation) U Minn scientists continue to optimize their HRC process for lignocellulose pretreatment. They are also developing a low temperature, total liquefaction process to convert biomass to bio-polyols, which are then converted to biopolyesters or biopolyurethanes. U Nebraska scientists are evaluating starch based foams as replacements for non-degradable expanded polystyrene (EPS) as loose-fill packaging material. However, starch?s hydrophilicity, poor mechanical properties and dimensional stability limit their applications. Research is thus directed at evaluating the effect of acetylating the starch, as well as type of starch, solvent (water vs ethanol), and extrusion conditions. In Task 2 (Methodologies for producing biomaterials) scientists at U IL are investigating improved methods of fractionation that ultimately enhance efficiency of bioprocessing and conversion of biomass to biobased products. Investigators at SD State are developing processes to produce microbial gums (gellan, pullulan, scleroglucan, polyhydroxyalkanoate) from condensed corn solubles (CCS), a byproduct of ethanol production from corn. Scientists are also developing methods to recover the gums from cell biomass (ethanol precipitation and supercritical fluid extraction). In Task 3 (Biomaterial applications) researchers at KS University are developing biobased plastics from PLA and starch with improved properties for disposable applications. This team is also developing biobased adhesives from plant protein and byproducts. MS State has developed processes to recover chitin from crustacean shell waste and produce chitosans with various degrees of deacetylation using low temperatures and low concentrations of caustics. These substances may have biomedical applications in supporting bone/tissue growth. Louisiana State scientists have produced non-woven composites (both uniform and sandwich structures) from bagasse and other agricultural fibers (50-70% fiber) using thermal and liquid bonding methods. They are investigating mechanical, wet, thermal, and acoustical properties for automotive applications. U Nebraska scientists have developed a unique process to extract high quality textile fiber bundles from corn stover. This process maintained fiber length and strength at levels comparable to cotton and flax fibers. U Nebraska scientists have blended cellulose fibers (from corn stalks, wood fiber and oat fiber) with starch acetate to make biodegradable packaging foams via extrusion. Fiber incorporation at lower concentration enhanced the physical properties of the foams.

Biobased Chemicals Group: In Task 1 Biochemical Identification, Characterization and Separation from Biofeedstocks Washington State scientists have found that pretreatment of diary manure with concentrated acid, followed by dilute acid hydrolysis produced higher glucose yields than enzyme hydrolysis. U Arkansas researchers are developing a hot water (100-160 C) based extraction process to recover flavonolignans from milk thistle seed. Higher temperatures reduced extraction time. They are also investigating extraction with organic solvents and have found that 60 C ethanol works best. They are also extracting lycopene from watermelon flesh using CO2 supercritical fluid extraction. Investigators at Virginia Tech studied aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) to purify a model protein, lysozyme, from tobacco protein extract. The PEG/sodium sulfate system was most suitable for lysozyme purification, with a predicted lysozyme yield of 87%, a purification factor of 4 and concentration factor of 14. Future work will explore other model proteins to demonstrate the scalability of the technique in processing large quantities of biomass. U Nebraska scientists employed hot hexane or hot ethanol extraction of grain sorghum kernels and sorghum dried distillers grains to recover long-chained lipids. Major components in whole grain were policosanols (37-44%), aldehydes (44-55%) and acids (4-5%). Long-chained lipids from DDG contained 52% policosanols, 23% aldehydes, 6.4% acids and 17% wax esters/steryl esters. Clemson researchers grew the filamentous fungi Pythium irregulare on rice and fiber flax byproducts to produce w-3 enriched oils, which were extracted with supercritical CO2. Room temperature growth yielded the highest growth rate and oil production. A mammalian cell tissue culture laboratory has being used to test bioavailability of the extracts through Caco-2 monolayer system. The particle size of both rice bran and fungal biomass were important for extraction kinetics. Rice ash is being tested as an absorbent compound for primary purification and fractionation of rice bran oil subjected to supercritical carbon dioxide. In Task 2 Process Development U Arkansas scientists are investigating the biocatalytic potential of microbial extremophiles, including: (1) evaluation of physiology of extremophiles and their extremozymes in conjunction with medically and industrially relevant biotransformations, in particular, glycoside hydrolase activities, cellulase activities, and (2) design and evaluation of extremophilic bioreaction systems for conversion of renewable biological wastes, i.e., starch, cellulosic materials, to high value products. In Task 3 Product Application U Illinois researchers are investigating nutrient flows in the dry grind corn process to provide a basis for modifying streams and improving coproduct quality. Syrup (concentrated thin stillage) had 2.2%(db) phosphorus, roughly twice the level in distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). A 40 million gal/y plant produces 2,000 tonne/y DDGS and 16.5 tonne/y phosphorus. U Nebraska researchers evaluated the oxidation of aldehydes to acids in the wax of grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). Aldehydes were oxidized to acids over 4 months in storage at room temperature, with acid content increasing from 5-7% to 42-51% after 135 days.

Education and Outreach Group: No activity was reported for Task 1 Development of an Advisory Board for the National Resource Center during the reporting period. For
Task 2 Development of Educational Materials in High-Priority Topic Areas U Nebraska developed a joint undergraduate/graduate course in the Spring 2004 semester entitled Computations in Biological Systems. Course objectives were 1) combining engineering fundamentals with principles from biochemistry and biology for investigating unit operations of bioprocesses, plant systems and animal systems, 2) applying engineering mathematics, numerical methods and programming (spreadsheets and MATLab) for analyzing transport phenomena and reaction kinetics in biological systems and 3) modeling and simulating of unit operations of bioprocesses, plant systems and animal systems. Students? comments were positive. Several S1007 members are interested in synthesizing and transferring to stakeholders new technical information concerning conventional forestry systems for sustainable production of bioenergy. The work includes sharing research results, stimulation of new research directions in national programs of participating countries, and technology transfer to resource managers, planners and industry. The emphasis is on an integrated approach to biological, economic, environmental and social components of forestry systems. Multi-disciplinary partnerships of key stakeholders in forest biomass production research, planning and operations are fostered. One of the primary outputs of this effort in 2002 was a publication that synthesized available ecological, physical, operational, social and economic information, and identified gaps in knowledge related to sustainable biomass production and harvesting systems (Richardson, et al. 2002). It emphasized guiding principles and state of the art knowledge in a concise and distilled form, rather than providing a detailed ?how-to? handbook covering every possible situation. No activity was reported for Task 3 (Development of National Resource Center for Biomass Education) during the reporting period.

Publications
Brune, D.E., Hong Wei-Yen, J.C. Van Olst, M.J. Massingill, J.M. Carlberg and J.R. Benemann. 2002. Integrated Production of Biofuel, Biofertilizer, and High Value Aquatic Biomass in a Controlled Eutrophication Process. The International Conference: Bioenergy, Boise, Idaho 2002.

Brune, D.E., G. Schwartz, J.R. Benemann, M.J. Massingill, J.C. Van Olst, J.A. Carlberg. 2003. Large-Scale Microalgae Cultivation in Agricultural Wastewaters for Biofixation of CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Abatement, Proceedings of DOE Second Annual Carbon Sequestration Conference, Washington, DC, May 2003.

Chiparus, O. and Y. Chen. 2003. An Image Method to Evaluate Bagasse Fiber Dimensions. Bioresource Technology. 90: 305-309.

Chen, Y., Chiparus, O., Sun, L., Negulescu, I., Parikh, D.V., and Calamari, T.A. 2004.
Waste bagasse for production of nonwoven composites. International Sugar Journal.
106(2): 86-92.

Guan, J. and M.A. Hanna. 2004. Functional properties of extruded foam composites of
starch acetate and corn cob fiber. Ind. Crops and Products. 19(3):255-269.

Guan, J., Q. Fang and M.A. Hanna. 2004. Selected functional properties of extruded
starch acetate-natural fiber foams. Cereal Chemistry. 81(2):199-206.

Guan, J., Q. Fang and M.A, Hanna. 2004. Functional properties of extruded starch acetate
blends. J. Polymers and the Environment. 12(2):57-63.

Hwang, K.T., C.L. Weller, S.L. Cuppett and M.A. Hanna. 2004. Changes in composition and thermal transition temperatures of grain sorghum wax during storage. Ind. Crops Prod. 19(2):125-132.

Hwang, K.T., C.L. Weller, S.L. Cuppett and M.A. Hanna. 2004. Policosanol contents and composition of grain sorghum kernels and dried distillers grains. Cereal Chem. 81(3):345-349.

Lakkakula, N.R., Lima, M., Walker, T.H. 2004. Rice bran stabilization and rice bran oil extraction using ohmic heating. Bioresource Technol. 92: 157-161.

Walker, T.H. 2002. Bioprocessing Technologies for Production of Nutraceuticals from
Food and Agricultural Byproducts. Proceedings of the AIT International Conference on
Innovations in Food Processing Technology and Engineering. Bangkok, TH.