Utilisation of forest and agricultural residues for the production of fuels and chemicals

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The growing interest in biofuels from lignocellulosic feedstock can provide a path toward replacing petroleum-based fuels. Sustainable biofuels are the potential alternative and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Various feedstock and combinations of processes are used in a biorefinery for the production of several products. India has an agro-based economy with a huge source of biomass availability of 670 million metric tons per annum covering agricultural residues in which 170 million metric tons of surplus biomass are being unutilised or burnt in open lands causing environmental problems. These residues can be a renewable carbon resource and can be converted to fuels, chemicals and bio fertilizer.

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Lignin value addition

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Lignin is a byproduct of the bioethanol industry and also the pulp & paper industry, in both cases produced as waste where only holocellulose is required. More than 70 million tons of lignin are produced annually in the world and around 95% of that is burned. In India 3 -3.5 million tons of lignin are being produced from the paper and pulp industry with an installed capacity of 4.16 million tons/year of paper (Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) and 2G ethanol industry. Lignin is almost inert to traditional biochemical methods. At present, lignin is being utilised for heat and energy applications in the industry. Lignin is a complex organic polymer and rich in aromatic subunits. The exploitation of lignin as a resource for chemicals and the effective valorisation of lignin are key for sustainable and competitive biorefineries.

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Bio Acetic acid production from lignocellulosic biomass

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Acetic acid is chemically produced from a methanol carbonylation reaction, were methanol and CO react to form acetic acid. The methanol carbonylation process is the most employed commercial route, also known as Monsanto process. India imported 457K tons of acetic acid in 2010, which increased to 953L tons by 2020, with a 7.7% rise in the last decade. There is an urgency to reduce the dependency on importing chemicals and develop a self-sustainable process to produce indigenously acetic acid. The research is focused on the production of acetic acid from lignocellulosic biomass by thermochemical conversion. In the process, 2-3 wt.% of acetic acid can be produced from kg of biomass processed. The present work focuses on selecting and screening feedstock and optimising separation processes to improve the acetic acid yields with 99% purity.

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Reforming of pyrolysis by-products for the hydrogen production

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The aims of the present work are to utilise the under-utilised fractions of biomass pyrolysis processes to produce syngas/ hydrogen using steam reforming processes.

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Bio Lubricants Synthesis from Used Cooking Oils

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