BAE 528  

Biomass to Renewable Energy Processes

 

Instructor:      Dr. Jay J. Cheng          Office: Room 275 Weaver Labs

                                                            Phone: 515-6733;   Fax:  515-7760

                                                            E-mail:   jay_cheng@ncsu.edu

Credit:            3 hours

Class Time:    Tuesday/Thursday, 11:45 am - 1:00 pm       or         Distance Education

Classroom:    Room 158 Weaver Labs                                or         Distance Education

Prerequisites:   Introductory organic chemistry or biochemistry, and microbiology, graduate standing in COE, CALS, PAMS, or CNR, or approval of the instructor.

Course Description:

This course will introduce fundamental principles and practical applications of biomass-to-renewable energy processes, including anaerobic digestion of agricultural and industrial wastes for biogas and hydrogen production, bioethanol production from starch and lignocellulosic materials, biodiesel production from plant oils, biobutanol production, and thermoconversion of biomass and waste materials for renewable energy production. A virtual tour to visit a biogas production facility will be available during the course.  The topics that will be covered in this course include:

ü  Biomass chemistry

Sugars, Starch, Cellulose, Hemicellulose, Lignin, Vegetable oil, etc.

ü  Biomass resources 

Energy crops, Agricultural residues, Herbaceous biomass, Woody biomass, Vegetable oil

ü  Biomass logistics

Harvesting, Transportation, Storage

ü  Kinetics and microbiology of biological processes

ü  Anaerobic digestion for biogas production

Anaerobic microorganisms, Anaerobic process for biogas production, Anaerobic process for hydrogen production, Gas purification processes.

ü  Bioethanol production process

Pretreatment processes, Saccharification and hydrolysis for fermentable sugar production, Fermentation process, Ethanol purification, By-products

ü  Biobutanol production process

Metabolism and pathway, Fermentation technology, Biobutanol recovery

ü  Biodiesel production

Materials, Chemical reactions and catalysts, Biodiesel production process

ü  Thermochemical conversion processes

Combustion, Gasification, Pyrolysis

Textbook:

ü  Cheng, J.J. (2010) Biomass to Renewable Energy Processes. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.

Reference Books:     

ü  Briggs D.E., Boulton C.A., Brookes P.A. and Stevens R. Brewing Science and Practice. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.

ü  Speece, R. (1996) Anaerobic Biotechnology for Industrial Wastewaters. Archae Press, Nashville, TN.

ü  Brown, R.C. (2003) Biorenewable Resources, Iowa State Press, Ames, Iowa.

ü  Bridgewater, A.V., Boocock, D.G.B. (1997) Developments in Thermochemical Biomass Conversion, Blackie Academic and Professional, London.

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