A Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Model of a Yellow Poplar Forest Residue Reductive Catalytic Fractionation Biorefinery
Date
2022-09-13
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Environmental Engineering Science
Abstract
The incentive to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has motivated the development of lignocellulosic biomass conversion technologies, especially those associated with the carbohydrate fraction. However, improving the overall biomass valorization necessitates using lignin and understanding the impact of different tree parts (leaves, bark, twigs/branchlets) on the deconstruction of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose toward value-added products. In this work, we explore the production of chemicals from a yellow poplar-based integrated biorefinery. Yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) is an ideal candidate as a second-generation biomass feedstock, given that it is relatively widespread in the eastern United States. Herein, we evaluate and compare how the different proportions of cellulose, hemicellulose (xylan), and lignin among leaves, bark, and twigs/branchlets of yellow poplar, both individually and as a composite mix, influence the life-cycle GHG model of a yellow poplar biorefinery. For example, the processing GHG emissions were reduced by 1,110 kg carbon dioxide (CO2)-eq, 654 kg CO2-eq, and 849 kg CO2-eq per metric ton of twigs/branchlets, leaves, and bark, respectively. Finally, a sensitivity analysis illustrates the robustness of this biorefinery to uncertainties of the feedstock xylan/glucan ratio and carbon content.
Description
This is the accepted version of the following article: Luo, Yuqing, Robert M. O’Dea, Yagya Gupta, Jeffrey Chang, Sunitha Sadula, Li Pei Soh, Allison M. Robbins, et al. “A Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Model of a Yellow Poplar Forest Residue Reductive Catalytic Fractionation Biorefinery.” Environmental Engineering Science, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2021.0472, which has now been formally published in final form at Environmental Engineering Science at https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2021.0472. This original submission version of the article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers’ self-archiving terms and conditions.
Keywords
biomass hydrolysis, biorefinery, life-cycle assessment, Liriodendron tulipifera L, reductive catalytic fractionation
Citation
Luo, Yuqing, Robert M. O’Dea, Yagya Gupta, Jeffrey Chang, Sunitha Sadula, Li Pei Soh, Allison M. Robbins, et al. “A Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Model of a Yellow Poplar Forest Residue Reductive Catalytic Fractionation Biorefinery.” Environmental Engineering Science, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2021.0472.