Water hyacinth is a rapidly growing troublesome aquatic weed plant, which causes eutrophication in water bodies and irreversible damage to the ecological system. In this work, we have investigated the water hyacinth biomass (WHB) hydrolysis efficacy of dilute alkaline (DA) pretreatment followed by biological pretreatment with white-rot fungus Alternaria alternata strain AKJK-2. The effectiveness of the dilute alkaline (DA) and biological pretreatment process on WHB was confirmed by using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR), and was further visualized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM). XRD spectra showed the increase in the crystallinity of pretreated samples, attributed to the elimination of amorphous components as lignin and hemicellulose. FTIR peak analysis of pre-treated WHB showed substantial changes in the absorption of cellulose functional groups and the elimination of lignin signals. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed firm, compact, highly ordered, and rigid fibril structures without degradation in the untreated WHB sample, while the pretreated samples exhibited loose, dispersed, and distorted structures. XRD indices (Segal, Landis, and Faneite), and FTIR indices [Hydrogen bond intensity (HBI); Total crystallinity index (TCI); and Lateral order crystallinity (LOI)] results were similar to the aforementioned results, and also showed an increase in the crystallinity both in alkaline and biological pretreatments. Alkaline pretreated WHB, with these indices, also showed the highest crystallinity and a crystalline allomorphs mixture of cellulose I (native) and cellulose II. These results were further validated by the CLSM, wherein fluorescent signals were lost after the pretreatment of WHB over control. Overall, these findings showed the significant potential of integrated assessment tools with chemical and biological pretreatment for large-scale utilization and bioconversion of this potential aquatic weed for bioenergy production.
In this research, vaporÀliquid equilibrium (VLE) data were determined at 318.15 K for the mixtures propan-1-ol + 2,2,4-trimethylpentane and butan-1-ol + 2,2,4-trimethylpentane in an isothermic Othmer still with recirculation, where the temperature was kept constant by means of a proportional-integral (PI) cascade control for the vapor phase. The equilibrium concentration for each phase was determined by gas chromatography, and the vapor phase was considered as nonideal. The consistency of the data was verified by means of the Van Ness direct test of thermodynamic consistency, supported by several thermodynamic methods based on the GibbsÀDuhem equation. The correlation of the VLE data was carried out using the Wilson local composition model. The alkanol + 2,2,4-trimethylpentane mixtures studied exhibit positive contributions from ideality and azeotropic behavior.
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