Cellulosic rich biomass production with optimized process parameters by using glycerol pretreatment for biofuels applications
Muhammad Sulaiman,
Hamayoun Mahmood,
Haris Mahmood Khan,
Tanveer Iqbal,
Nehar Ullah Khan,
Muhammad Mujtaba Abbas,
Mohammad Nur-E-Alam,
Manzoore Elahi M. Soudagar
Affiliations
Muhammad Sulaiman
Department of Chemical, Polymer and Composite Materials Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore (New Campus), Kala Shah Kaku 39020, Pakistan; Corresponding authors.
Hamayoun Mahmood
Department of Chemical, Polymer and Composite Materials Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore (New Campus), Kala Shah Kaku 39020, Pakistan
Haris Mahmood Khan
Department of Chemical, Polymer and Composite Materials Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore (New Campus), Kala Shah Kaku 39020, Pakistan
Tanveer Iqbal
Department of Chemical, Polymer and Composite Materials Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore (New Campus), Kala Shah Kaku 39020, Pakistan
Nehar Ullah Khan
Department of Chemical Engineering, UET Peshawar, Pakistan
Muhammad Mujtaba Abbas
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Mohammad Nur-E-Alam
Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Jalan-IKRAM, UNITEN, Kajang, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur 43000, Malaysia; School of Science, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup 6027, WA, Australia; School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University Australia, Melbourne 3000, VIC, Australia; Corresponding authors.
Manzoore Elahi M. Soudagar
Department of Mechanical Engineering and University Centre for Research & Development, Chandigarh University, Mohali 140413, Punjab, India
In this work, we conduct acidified aqueous glycerol pre-treatment (AAG) on rice husks (RH) and utilize the response surface methodology (RSM) to assess the impact of pre-treatment parameters. The primary objective of this research is to optimize the parameters to maximize the cellulose content within RH. The parameters under consideration encompassed temperature (ranging from 80 to 110 °C), retention time (spanning 15 to 45 min), and biomass loading (varying from 5 to 10 wt. %). To achieve this optimization, we perform the Box-Behnken Design (BBD) within the framework of RSM. Additionally, we scrutinize the interactive effects of these parameters on cellulose content. Our findings unveiled a remarkable increase in cellulose content, escalating from 40 % in untreated RH to an impressive 75 % in pre-treated RH under the optimized conditions of 110 °C for 45 min with a 5.0 wt. % biomass loading. To further evaluate the effectiveness of the pre-treatment process, we conduct scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, shedding light on alterations in surface morphology and crystallinity of RH. This investigation yields valuable insights, presenting novel opportunities for the efficient conversion of readily available rice husks into high-value products, such as biofuels and composites.
