Richard Venditti

Highlights (1)
•Sludge to ethanol process simulation and economic evaluation were conducted.
•Fractionating sludge to remove ash decreased CAPEX and production costs.
•Fractionated virgin sludge scenario reached NPV of US$ 11.4 million and IRR of 28%.
•Minimum ethanol revenue was US$ 0.32 per liter for the most profitable case.
•Risk analysis showed a 99.8% probability of business success for proposed scenario.


1)… Show more

Highlights (1)
•Sludge to ethanol process simulation and economic evaluation were conducted.
•Fractionating sludge to remove ash decreased CAPEX and production costs.
•Fractionated virgin sludge scenario reached NPV of US$ 11.4 million and IRR of 28%.
•Minimum ethanol revenue was US$ 0.32 per liter for the most profitable case.
•Risk analysis showed a 99.8% probability of business success for proposed scenario.


1) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988314001029 Show less

• The production of six regionally important cellulosic biomass feedstocks were analyzed using consistent life cycle methodologies and system boundaries to identify feedstocks with the lowest cost and environmental impacts
• Cradle-to-gate environmental impacts from these modeled supply systems were quantified for nine mid-point indicators using SimaPro 7.2 LCA software.
• Using forest-based biomass feedstocks instead of agricultural feedstocks would result in lower cradle-to-gate… Show more

• The production of six regionally important cellulosic biomass feedstocks were analyzed using consistent life cycle methodologies and system boundaries to identify feedstocks with the lowest cost and environmental impacts
• Cradle-to-gate environmental impacts from these modeled supply systems were quantified for nine mid-point indicators using SimaPro 7.2 LCA software.
• Using forest-based biomass feedstocks instead of agricultural feedstocks would result in lower cradle-to-gate environmental impacts and delivered biomass costs for biofuel production in the southern U.S. Show less

Highlights (1)
• Mechanical refining improved the enzymatic hydrolysis sugar recovery.
• The increase in sugar recovery correlated with the water retention value.
• Mechanical refiners with different mechanisms affected the biomass digestibility differently.
• A maximum in absolute enzymatic hydrolysis improvement due to refining was observed.
• The maximum occurred at conditions that produced intermediate hydrolysis conversions.

1)… Show more

Highlights (1)
• Mechanical refining improved the enzymatic hydrolysis sugar recovery.
• The increase in sugar recovery correlated with the water retention value.
• Mechanical refiners with different mechanisms affected the biomass digestibility differently.
• A maximum in absolute enzymatic hydrolysis improvement due to refining was observed.
• The maximum occurred at conditions that produced intermediate hydrolysis conversions.

1) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960852413012595 Show less

• The objective of this research was to examine the alcohol yields and GHG emissions from the thermochemical conversion process for six different feedstocks on a gate-to-gate basis.
• Compared with the baseline, loblolly pine produced the highest alcohol yields, an 8.5% increase, and the lowest GHG emissions per liter of ethanol, a 9.1% decrease.

• In this research, an alkaline treatment was applied to pinewood (PW), switchgrass (SG), and coastal bermuda grass (CBG) in order to extract hemicelluloses to subsequently produce a novel biosorbent
• Alkaline extraction at 75 °C recovered 23% of the biomass as a predominantly hemicellulose material with a number average degree of polymerization of 450.
•The cross-linked hemicellulose–DTPA–chitosan material has good potential for environmental engineering applications.

•Lignin is an abundant, underutilized natural resource that has potential to be used as a biomaterial but is currently hampered in its use by not being uniform in structure and composition and is thermally unstable due to phenolic group.
• Irradiation at very low dosages was determined to facilitate the grafting of styrene monomer to lignin, decreasing the OH content by 23%.
•This work has demonstrated that the application of low dosages of γ-irradiation is a promising method to attach… Show more

•Lignin is an abundant, underutilized natural resource that has potential to be used as a biomaterial but is currently hampered in its use by not being uniform in structure and composition and is thermally unstable due to phenolic group.
• Irradiation at very low dosages was determined to facilitate the grafting of styrene monomer to lignin, decreasing the OH content by 23%.
•This work has demonstrated that the application of low dosages of γ-irradiation is a promising method to attach functional molecules onto lignin for use in various applications Show less

• Fossil carbon emissions from lignocellulosic biofuels are substantially lower than emissions
from conventional gasoline
• The complex nature of wood uses and how wood fuels and products interact in their environments, as well as the methods needed to understand these impacts and summarize the relative benefits of different alternatives, are discussed herein.
• Policies that fail to consider life-cycle implications are discussed, identifying their unintended consequences.

• In this study, a typical deinking process was investigated using the techniques of experimental design to determine the relative effects of process chemical additions, pH, pulping and flotation times, pulping and flotation consistencies and pulping and flotation temperatures on the final deinked pulp properties.
• It was determined that the grade of recycled paper had by far the greatest influence on final brightness, followed by the effect of the deinking process and then by the effect… Show more

• In this study, a typical deinking process was investigated using the techniques of experimental design to determine the relative effects of process chemical additions, pH, pulping and flotation times, pulping and flotation consistencies and pulping and flotation temperatures on the final deinked pulp properties.
• It was determined that the grade of recycled paper had by far the greatest influence on final brightness, followed by the effect of the deinking process and then by the effect of the individual process variables.
Show less

• Energy consumption during production is an important aspect in the determination of the “green” nature of these MFC-based materials.
• A summary of the fiber and mechanical energy costs for different fibers and processing conditions with economic potential is presented.

• In this research, novel applications for modified hemicellulose are developed making it a valuable biomaterial for absorbency applications in health care and medical textiles.
• The hemicellulose citrate–chitosan crosslinked foam is elastic, very soft, highly porous and durable.
• Analysis of the hemicellulose citrate–chitosan foams with FTIR, DMA, and SEM confirms the crosslinked and hygroscopic behavior of the materials.