In this study, the technoeconomic feasibility of bioenergy production from sawdust under four different case scenarios is simulated and compared. These scenarios include: (1) heat and electricity generation from raw sawdust; (2) pellet production from sawdust; (3) and (4) integrated biorefinery approach for the simultaneous manufacturing of multiple products (steam-exploded and torrefied pellets) and co-products (furfural, hydroxy methyl furfural (HMF), acetic acid), along with heat and electricity generation. Economic assessments such as cost analysis, payback time (PBT), net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) were determined for these scenarios. The results showed that the approach of producing torrefied pellets, furfural, and acetic acid, along with co-generated heat and electricity, in terms of multiproducts and profitability (NPV (at 7%): USD 38.29 M) was preferable over other alternatives. In terms of simplified technology and other economic indices (PBT: 2.49 year, IRR: 51.33%, and return on investment (ROI): 40.1%), the scenario for producing pellets from wood sawdust was more promising than others. If plant capacity was not a limiting factor, the optimal size for the combined heat and power (CHP) plant was between 250–300 kt for the main product. Additionally, untreated and treated pellet plants equipped with CHP had an optimal size of 150–200 kt of wood pellets per year.
This research was aimed to determine the hydrophilic bioactive extractives of Arizona cypress. The extractives of Arizona cypress were isolated and characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Hydrophilic compounds of the extractives were mildly isolated by soaking the wood flour in ethanol: water (9:1 v/v) solution followed by n-hexane extraction to remove the lipophilic moieties. Raw extract of Arizona cypress was further purified to isolate the bioactive phenols using dichloromethane-ethanol in a solvent-solvent system and precipitation with potassium acetate. The bioactivity of the hydrophilic extracts of Cupressus arizonica was determined and compared with the raw hydrophilic extractives of Cupressus sempervirens and Picea excelsa. The total phenol content was determined according to the folin-ciocalteu method. The antioxidant capacity was determined by iron (II) chelating activity and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. From the GC/MS analysis, different amounts of bioactive moieties, including matairesinol (MAT), curcumin, dienestrol, arctigenin (ARC) and sescoisolariciresinol (SEC), were found in the extract of C. arizonica wood knots. Comparative evaluation of the total phenolics by folin-ciocalteu analysis showed that extraction by simple soaking could precisely indicate the quantity of phenolic compounds in the extracts. The antioxidant activity of extracts indicated by DPPH radical scavenging and iron (II) chelating capacity showed that the antioxidant activity is dependent on the amount and category of bioactive phenols in the extracts.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.