Housekeeping January 24, 2017

Presentation schedule:
Thur Feb 2nd, 4 groups Denmark, Germany, Argentina, Holland
Tue Feb 7th, 4 groups Brazil, Australia, Scotland, India
Presentations MAX 15 min + 5 min for questions
Each presentation approx 15-20 slides.
Stimulate questions/discussion
Report (electronic submission) due on Feb 2
15 pages written (dbl sp. 12 font)
figures, literature cited extra.
Ruberics for presentation and report will be posted this
week.
Tutorial Thur. Jan 26, 9-11 can be used for group meetings.

1
Lecture 3: Biomass Production
Learning Objectives:
-Photosynthesis and energy storage
-Structure and Composition of Biomass
-Morphology/Anatomy of plants
-Photosynthetic productivity of plants
-Silviculture and forest biomass

2
Take home Lab Demonstration
take 3 cups per group.
to prepare yeast:, to 1/4 cup warm water (approx 40 C). Stir in
approx. 1/2 teaspoon of yeast ; let stand 10 minutes.

Add into 1 cup small amount

i)table sugar (1 teaspoon)
ii)starch (1 teasppon)
iii)wood fibre newspaper.
add ?????mls of prepared yeast to each.

1. Report observations table with observations

2. Explain observations- 1 paragraph for each material
Useful References
1. Biomass for Renewable Energy, Fuels and Chemicals.
Klass, D. 1998. Chapter 3 Photosynthesis of
Biomass and its Conversion-Related Properties
(Ebook).
2. Boardman, N.K. 1980. Energy from biological
conversion of solar energy. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Land.
A 295, 477-489
3. Biomass Energy Data Book. US Department of
Energy. http://cta.ornl.gov/bedb/download.shtml ebook
Chapter 1 Introduction Sustainability issues
Appendices
4. Bioprocessing Technologies. 2013. Yang, S-T et al.
Chapter 6-Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass

4
Bioenergy-Jeopardy energy creation
process used by plants and other organisms
to convert the light energy captured from the
$100
sun into chemical energy that can be used to
fuel the organism's activities
What is photosynthesis?

travels from the roots to leaves of a plant

$200 where it participates in photosynthesis
What is water?

6CO2 + 6H2O + Energy --> C6H12O6 + 6O2

$500
What is the chemical reaction
for photosynethsis?

5
Bioenergy-Double Jeopardy
location in plant where photosynthesis takes
place
$200
What are chloroplasts?

membranous disk-like structures that stacked

$400 together in larger structures (grana) that
resemble stacks of coins. Molecules that
absorb light energy (called photosynthetic
pigments) are located here...
What are thylakoids?

Draw the end product of photosynthesis.

$1000

6
Energy Storage in Biomass - Photosynthesis

#2
#3

#4
Carbon
fixation in
Cloroplast

#1
#5
7
Biogenesis of Plant Components
In plant cells Glucose is converted through various
biochemical pathways to produce large molecules
(polymers)
Large molecules serve as energy storage
Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, and Nucleic Acids

Triglycerides are a more

compact form of energy
storage (less O and increaed
C-H bonds
8
Biological Conversion major component fats
Lipids are oils (liquid at room temp) and fats (solid at
room temp).
Plants and animals store excess sugars in the
form of fats
high energy molecules (low Oxygen content).
Very hydrophobic perfect for storage
ester
linkage

9
Fatty Acid Esters
Derived from oil seeds or animals.
contain mainly Triglycerides (95%) + diglycerides,
monoglycerides, free fatty acids, other stuff.
Each vegetable oil has a specific composition of
fatty acids

Can be:
1. saturated fatty acids
Lauric acid (C20:0) - makes up 47% of coconut oil

2. Unsaturated fatty acids

Oleic acid is a monounsaturated (C18:1)- makes up 71% of
olive oil 10
Fatty acid composition

11
Improvements to Oil production
Important considerations to improve viability as
Biodiesel
1. Agronomy
1. Oil Crop yield
2. Oil content fertilization, sowing time, etc.
2. Plant breeding- hybridization, selection, genomics,
genetic engineering
1. Oil content
2. Value of extraction residue (ie high protein for animal feed)
3. Fatty acid composition
sunflower is 60% linoleic/40% oleic
new type is over 90% linoleic

12
Raw Oil yield
Currently 95% of Biodiesel is produced from
edible oils.

1.5 t/
ha-yr

13
2. Biological Conversion major component Sugars
Biological conversion uses naturally occurring
or genetically modified microorganisms to
convert biomass to liquid or gaseous fuels.
eg. Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
ferments glucose to bioethanol
Main processes
1. Ethanol fermentation
sugar crops
starchy crops
lignocellulosic biomass
2. Anaerobic digestion process - biogas
Uses mixture of complex biomass
14
Eg.municiple solid waste, animal manure
Sugar Crops
Sucrose is found is disaccharide composed of
fructose and glucose.
Derived from sugar crops
plants have high water content of 75%
Sugar Cane (yield approx. 100 t/ha)
soluble sucrose content 10-15% of dry matter
Sugar Beets (yield approx. 50 t/ha)
soluble sucrose content 13-18% of dry matter

15
Starch crops
Starch - Polysaccharide made up of glucan
units (C6H10O5)n
D-glucose units
Disaccharide unit is maltose linked by -1,4 glycosidic
bonds
Two fractions
10-20% amylose linear molecule (500-20,000)
80-90% amylopectin (insoluble), branched (1,000,000s)
Require enzymes for saccharification to simple sugars

16
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/hysta.html
Starch crop
Derived from starch crops
Corn
contains about 70% starch of dry matter
Millet / Sorghum
contains about 75% starch of dry matter

Major component of food stuffs (corn, seeds, potatoes,

rice, tubers, etc)

17
 Lignocellulosics
1. Cellulose (40-44%)
Natures most abundant polymer
Linear homopolymer composed of several thousand
(10,000-14,000) monomer units (-D-glucose) units
linked end to end.
(C6H10O5)n

18
Lignocellulosics
2. Hemicellulose (25-30%)- not uniform
composition
Group of branched heteropolymer.
Molecule has shorter chain length than cellulose,
highly branched.
150 to 200 monosaccharides (5C & 6C sugars)
Amorphous, strongly hydrophilic, water soluble.
(C5H8O4)n

Xylan chain

19
Lignocellulosics
3. Lignin (20-25%) not a sugar!
a high molecular weight, amorphous polymer
3-dimensional structure
made from several hundred phenyl propane units
C9H10O3(OCH3)0.9-1.7

20
Lignocellulosic Biomass
Cell Wall structure
Microfibrils are bundles
of cellulose molecules
(approx. 36 cellulose
chains)
Crystalline mycelles
and amorphous
regions.
Macrofibrils consist of
numerous cellulose
microfibrils dispersed
in hemicellulose and
lignin

http://accessscience.com/popup.aspx?
figID=117510FG0020&id=117510&name=figure
Composition of Lignocellulosic Biomass
Fibre diameter is 25-35 microns
Cell wall is 5-10 microns thick
Cell wall is composed of 3
layers
Layers are made up of microfibrils
Orientation of the microfibrils is
specific for each layer
middle lamella - ML
primary wall - P
secondary wall - S1, S2, S3 layers
W- warty layer

23
Importance of structure and composition of
feedstock

http://www.treehugger.com/
clean-technology/first-
cellulosic-ethanol-biorefinery-
in-the-us-opens.html25
Converting Sucrose to simple sugars
Sucrose can be broken down to its
monosaccharides with enzyme or acid

26
Why are structure and composition important in
lignocellulosic biomass?
Composition of corn Starch is a polymer of
kernel? glucose
composition: requires amylase to break
down starch
Compound Average % Mass
(Dry-basis)
Starch 71.7
Amylose
Hemicellulose 6.2
Cellulose 3.3
+Lignin
Protein 9.5
Amylopectin
Fat 4.3
Ash 1.5

27
Converting Starch to Dextrose (glucose)
Starch in nature
insoluble in water
resistant to enzymatic breakdown
must grind to fine (3-5mm) meal
in order to expose starch grains
to slurry water
3 step process
1. Gelatinization: FEI
swelling of starch granules (heat & water)-
water molecule disturbs H-bonds between starch molecules
Semi-crystalline amorphous state (gel)
2. Liquefy through addition of Alpha-amylase
partially hydrolyzes the starch to dextrin
3. Hydrolysis through addition of gluco-amylase 28

hydrolyzes dextrins to glucose monomers

Converting Lignocellulosics to monosaccharides
Compositional & Structural Challenges:
wood (etc.) has evolved complex structural and
chemical mechanisms for resisting attack by
microorganisms / animals/insects.
1.Physical Barriers:
1. crystalline cellulose is highly resistant to chemical and
biological hydrolysis.
2. cellulose molecules are linear and have strong tendency
to form intra-&intermolecular hydrogen bonds
3. no pore access for large enzyme molecules

29
Compositional and Structural Challenges
2.Chemical Barriers
1. lignin forms bonds to
Plant Cell Wall
carbohydrates with a number plasma membrane - light green
of different linkages (esters, cellulose - orange
ethers, glycosidic linkages) hemicellulose - light blue
lignin - dark green
each bond requires specific
enzyme
2. Hemicellulose bind the
cellulose fibrils to form
microfibrils and cross-link to
lignin
by removing hemicellulose
leaves pores that can improve
access of enzymes to cellulose.
30
Compositional and Structural Challenges
2.Chemical Barriers (cont.)
3. Lignin is hydrophobic and toxic to micro-organisms

Feedstock cellulose hemi- lignin other

cellulose

Bagasse 40 24 25 11
corn stover 40 25 17 18

Hardwoods 45 19 26 10
Softwoods 45 22 28 6

31
Why do Lignocellulosics Require Pretreatment
Micro-organisms (like yeast) require simple
sugars for conversion to chemicals and biofuels.
Largest challenge of lignocellulosic biorefinergy
most expensive step (18% of total costs)
Goal of pretreatment:
remove structural and compositional impediments to
hydrolysis
1. increase yield of fermentable sugars;
2. increase rate of enzymatic hydrolysis
3. avoid degradation of carbohydrates
4. avoid formation of by-products that can inhibit
subsequent processes
32
Problem:
Calculate the theoretical amount of pure glucose
to generate a litre of bioethanol.
Given: density of Bioethanol = 0.8 kg/L
Fermentation equation:
C6H12O6 + yeast ! 2 C2H5OH + 2CO2 + Heat

33
 glucose ethanol CO2
MW 180 46 44
mass (kg) 0.8 0.76
moles 0.0174 0.0174
molar ratio =1/2*0.0174
mass (kg) =.0087*180
=1.56
34
Continued
Determine the amount of sugarcane baggase or
sugar beet root required to produce the 1 litre of
bioethanol.
sugarcane bagasse 40% cellulose on dry wt
sugar beet root 66% sucrose on dry wt
assume direct conversion to ethanol and no
losses on fermentation

sugarcane bagasse = 3.9 kg

sugar beet root = 2.4 kg

35
Primary Biomass -The Plant Kingdom
Wood occurs in higher plants
Not in any plant lower than fern on taxonomic
level.

No
conductive
tissue conductive tissue

cones

Water/
sugar/
nutrients hebaceous Trees &
moves by Shrubs
capillary or Grasses, maize,
etc fruits
diffusion
36
Herbaceous Plants as Primary Biomass
Die back at end of growing season, having no
persistent woody stem above ground

37
C4 plants advantages for biomass crops
higher solar energy to biomass conversion
efficiency
higher nitrogen use efficiency
higher water use efficiency
Examples: miscanthus, sorghum
Read: C4 Plants as Biofuel Feedstocks: Optimising BiomassProduction and
Feedstock Quality from a Lignocellulosic Perspective by: Caitlin S. Byrt, Christopher
P.L. Grof and Robert T. Furbank

38
Comparison C3 & C4 plants

Caitlin S. Byrt et al.39

Types of Wood and its Structure
Softwood (conifers) Hardwood (deciduous)
cone bearing Seeds contained in
(naked seed) ovule

Needles
Leaves
Few cell types
(trachieds) Has specialized
Structural support cell types 41

and transport
mainly
coniferous
species
mainly
deciduous

42
Summary of Plant Anatomy Stem Structure
All plants begin
their development Angiosperms

with structure of Monocot Dicot Gymnosperm

HERBACEOUS herbaceous Trees/shrubs Trees/shrubs

(i.e., non-woody) Primary

organisms. growth
(herbaceous)
True WOODY
plants eventually Secondary
develop WOODY growth
stems (xylem).
What is the
function of the Vascular bundles Xylem and
(xylem + phloem
xylem and phloem together)
phloem
separate 43
Tree Structure
Hardwoods

xylem

phloem

44
Softwoods vs Hardwoods

45
Why is Herbaceous Versus Woody Plant Important.....
Implications
1. Storage logs
Space & conditions
Quality requirements
Eg MC/contaminants/ etc.
Eg. OPG power plants
2. Availability
Seasonal versus year round Corn
3. Processing stover
Drying
Material losses
Grinding energy
4. Transport
bagasse
Bulk density & costs
46
considerations
Value of Biomass to the Biorefinery
Composition of Energy value
biomass Lignin (25.2 MJ/kg)
Different value of Cellulose (16.7)
various components Hemicellulose (16.7)
Where the polymers Chemical value
are located within cell Monosaccharides
wall Glucose
How easily you can Xylose
extract Arabinose,
Etc
Phenolics
Structural value
Paper fibre
Nano-cellulose
Silviculture & Forest Biomass

48
Silviculture and Harvesting Practices in NA
Boreal Forest Coniferous even-aged
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OA7FB2vrMo

Clear-cut: removal of
entire stand at same
time.
Regeneration: Natural
regeneration or planting
Hardwood Management uneven-aged
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxHG0IRytlU
Selection-cut: individual
or groups of trees
removed
Regeneration: Natural 49
regeneration
Logging methods www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAJYiABNYNI
Tree length Whole Tree Logging
Or alternative Cut to
length

http:// http://
www.youtube.com/ www.youtube.com/
watch? watch?
v=KpNxCcAOIDU&list=U v=InsFTpA9vkk&list=
Uh41TpGTbqx34- UUh41TpGTbqx34-
Gup4tZUkQ Gup4tZUkQ 50
Questions?
how & why are systems and methods of logging
different for coniferous forests versus deciduous
forests
which forest type would lend itself to bioenergy/
residue generation and why?

51
Recoverable Yield from Forest Resource

Foliage 2.8%
Crown 10.5%

Live & dead branches

7.7%

Wood 62.8%
Stem 72.3%
Bark 9.5%

Above ground 82.8%

Below ground 17.2%

53
Allometric equations predicting yield
Takes advantage of quantitative relationships
between key characteristics (easy to measure)
and other, more difficult to measure, properties
Easy to measure DBH, height
Difficult to measure foliage, branch mass, bark mass.
Douglas Fir, where X = DBH (cm) (@1.3 m)
Foliage (kg) => lnY = -2.8462 + 1.7009 Ln X
Live branches(kg) => lnY = -3.6941 + 2.1382 Ln X
Dead branches (kg) => lnY = -3.529 + 1.7503 Ln X
Stem wood (kg) => lnY = -3.0396 + 2.5951 Ln X
Stem bark (kg) => lnY = -4.3103 + 2.4300 Ln X
Roots (kg) => lnY = -4.6961 + 2.6929 Ln X
54
Relationship of DBH to mass (components)

55
Equations for predicting mass of tree biomass (@8cm)
Total foliage ln Y = 3.765 + 1.617 ln X 0.0 kg
Live branches ln Y = 4.236 + 2.430 ln X 0.8 kg
Dead branches ln Y = 2.116 + 1.092 ln X 0.15 kg
Stem wood ln Y = 3.493 + 2.723 ln X 2.17 kg
Stem bark ln Y = 4.574 + 2.574 ln X 0.79 kg Big leaf Maple

Foliage ln Y = 4.2612 + 2.0967 ln X 0.099 kg

Live branches ln Y = 5.3855 + 2.7185 ln X 0.3 kg
Dead branches - ln Y = 2.5766 + 1.444 ln X 0.43 kg
Stem wood - ln Y = 4.4907 + 2.7587 ln X 1.24 kg
Stem bark - ln Y = 4.2063 + 2.2312 ln X 0.43 kg

Ponderosa56Pine
Y= mass (kg) X = DBH (cm)
Equations for predicting tree biomass
Above ground biomass for short rotation
hardwoods:
ln Y = - 2.1923 + 2.5792 ln X
Y= mass (g) X = DBH (mm)
Planting density (stems/ha) = 8,749 to Big leaf Maple
17,500
DBH range may be 5 8 cm
What is the yield of a hybrid Salix spp.
that is 50 mm DBH and 10,000 stems/
ha?

=2.69 kg/stem * 10,000 stems/ha

=26.9 tonnes/ ha Ponderosa57Pine
Justification for Biomass Harvest
1. Improves wood utilization from the annual allowable
cut by gaining access to sites which may not
normally be harvested because of low utilization
levels
Mixedwood stands in Ontario
Southern Region: Harvest Area

3,500

3,000
2,553
2,500
2,363
hectares/year

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

1990- 1995- 2000- 2005- 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090
94 99 04 09
Year

MNR wood
58
Historical (Forecast) Crow n Supply : MIX Historical (Actual) Wood Utilization : MIX Predicted Wood Supply : MIX
supply, 2008
Justification for Biomass Harvest
1. Re-distributes fixed general operating costs
over a greater volume of fibre (operational
trial)
n 50-100 m3/ha
n 20% additional material (lower value)

59
Justification for Biomass Harvest
2. Opportunities for site conversion
Improve forest management on sites which are
currently in non commercial trees

60
Operational Biomass
Harvest Trial in
Eastern Ontario
-NRCan, FPInnovations, U of T,
EOMF, SFLs

61
Block 187 Harvest
n Control n Biomass harvest
Conventional tree-length Whole tree system
system n Two piles
n Manual topping & n Skidded full tree to roadside (cable
skid.)
delimbing at stump
n Tops and limbs from commercial
trees
n Small/unmerchantable removed
(biomass) cedar, balsam fir
(grapple skid.)

62
Manually removing tops/branches

64
Forest Residue piles

65
Block 187 1 yr Post Harvest
Control
n Control
Lots of slash
Difficult to find planting
sites
Suspected less efficient
planting operation

Control
Control

66
Block 187 1 yr Post Harvest
Biomass
n Biomass harvest site
Less slash/dwd
More planting sites?

Biomass
site

67
Take Away... CC Biomass Harvest
n Biomass recovery contributed +60% of the
commercial harvest
36.2 odt/ha 21.3 odt/ha

n Cost to recover biomass to roadside $61/odt

n DWD removal from site was only 17% more
n Regeneration treatment was not significantly
influenced by the biomass harvest

68
Storage of Woody Biomass

69
Wood chip storage trial

70
Hybrid willow storage

71
72
Photosynthesis Efficiency &
Biomass Yield

76
Understand Biomass Conversion route selection
Main Platform Biochemical
High MC
Conversion Reaction kinetics depend on
catalysts/enzymes reacting with
Pathways substrate
Less inhibiting compounds
1.Biological
2.Thermal
3.Chemical

What are
favourable
characteristics for
each platform?
Thermo-chemical
Low MC
High conc. C,H
Low conc. O
79
Low ash
Sourthern Forest Research Partnership Inc. Fixed carbon/volatile