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Valorization of Brassica carinata biomass through conversion to hydrolysate and hydrochar

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Abstract

Carinata meal (CM), the biomass residue obtained after oil is extracted from the seeds of the inedible crop Brassica carinata, needs to be valorized to enhance the feasibility of sustainable aviation fuel production from carinata oil. Various chemical pretreatment methods (acid, alkali, lime, and peroxide) were tested on CM, which was then enzymatically hydrolyzed to produce sugar-rich hydrolysate that is readily fermentable by microorganisms. A maximum glucose concentration of 38 g/L was obtained after pretreatment with concentrated phosphoric acid. Moreover, the CM residue remaining after enzymatic hydrolysis was converted via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) to hydrochar, whose properties, such as combustion profile and surface functional groups, depended on the HTC temperature. The hydrochar had a carbon content (55.8–60.5%) and an ash content (6.6–14.8%) appropriate for use as solid fuel, whose heating value (22.7–25.1 MJ/kg) is close to that of bituminous coal. Both sugar hydrolysate and hydrochar represent renewable coproducts that can add value to the commercial development of fuels and chemicals from Brassica carinata.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank M. Yung of NREL for technical assistance.

Funding

This research was funded by USDA-NIFA Bioenergy-Coordinated Agricultural Projects Grant # 2016–11231 to GPP.

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Author notes

  1. Magdalini Tsarpali and Jessica Martin contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Magdalini Tsarpali & John Kuhn

  2. Patel College of Global Sustainability, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Magdalini Tsarpali, Jessica Martin & George P. Philippidis

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Jessica Martin & John Kuhn

Authors
  1. Magdalini Tsarpali
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  2. Jessica Martin
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Contributions

Magdalini Tsarpali, Jessica Martin, John N. Kuhn, and George P. Philippidis were involved in Conceptualization; Magdalini Tsarpali and Jessica Martin had contributed to investigation, methodology, data curation, software, formal analysis, visualization, and writing the original draft; John N. Kuhn and George P. Philippidis were responsible for supervision, project administration, resources, funding acquisition, and writing, reviewing, and editing.

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Correspondence to George P. Philippidis.

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Highlights

• Value-added coproducts are essential to Brassica carinata commercialization

• Biomass of carinata meal (CM) was chemically pretreated using various methods

• Pretreated CM was enzymatically hydrolyzed to glucose at high concentrations

• Residual CM after enzymatic hydrolysis was converted to hydrochar

• Hydrochar properties varied with hydrothermal carbonization temperature

The original online version of this article was revised: Figure 3 has been replaced with the correct panel (a) of the SEM image.

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Tsarpali, M., Martin, J., Kuhn, J. et al. Valorization of Brassica carinata biomass through conversion to hydrolysate and hydrochar. Biomass Conv. Bioref. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02578-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02578-y

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