The “Research, Development and Application of Biomass Solid Waste Resources Utilization Technologies” program of Nankai University (Tianjin Technology Engineering Center of Biomass Solid Waste Recycling) belongs to the field of biomass solid waste treatment and disposal. The research achievements of this program was evaluated by Tianjin Science and Technology Evaluation Center, and has reached international leading level.
In this program, biomass solid wastes were processed and utilized in the following ways. Firstly, convert the waste into organic fertilizer and livestock feed by constructing microbial community, investigate the degradation techniques and develop desired degradation devices. Secondly, develop high efficiency ionic liquid synthesis method; then utilize the ionic liquid technology to develop an efficient technique for the cellulose extraction from biomass solid waste based on EDA (Electron Donation Acception) theory. Thirdly, develop new types of carbon catalysts, as well as techniques of cellulose hydrolysis in ionic liquid, in order to develop new methods for the hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) production by using the catalysts in ionic liquid. Therefore, biomass solid wastes would be of lower amount, harmless, and recyclable, which would dramatically relieve the potential environmental pressure. At the same time, this program helps save energy and economical costs, which would greatly promote the sustainable development from social, economic and ecological aspects.
1. Research Contents
(1) We constructed microbial communities which can degrade and convert biomass solid waste into organic fertilizer and livestock feed; therefore efficiently solved the problem of biomass solid disposal and handling.
(2) According to the growth and metabolic characteristics of degrading bacteria and yeast, we developed a bioreactor based on solar energy technology which could greatly improve the resource utilization efficiency.
(3) We designed functionalized ionic liquid to extract cellulose from biomass solid wastes (crop stover, garden and landscaping waste, etc); as well as the catalysis and hydrolysis of cellulose to produce the raw chemical material HMF for industrial usage.
2. Research Achievements
(1) Ten bacteria strains, a Pseudomonas stutzeri strain and a Zymomonas mobilis strain were screened out and identified; which could degrade lignocellulose. Furthermore, five new microbial communities were developed which had high effects in degrading lignocellulose.
(2) Three technical methods were proposed and developed: solid catalyst production from biomass solid waste, fructose production by glucose isomerization and HMF production from fructose.
(3) A method of extracting cellulose by ionic liquid was proposed and developed, which perfectly replaced the existing cellulose production process with a faster extracting speed and higher efficiency.
(4) A reactor was invented which uses solar energy. The reactor is equipped with an energy exchange device which recovers heat from itself when functioning.
(5) A non-odor aerobic reactor was developed which could effectively prevents escaping of bad smell gas such as H2S and NH3. From the inlet of the reactor,thiophilic and nitrogen addictive microorganisms were sprayed for biological deodorization.
(6) For the first time, imidazolium-based ionic liquids synthetic device was proposed and developed. In addition, based on the fact that volatile components have lower boiling temperature and less volatile components have higher boiling temperature, we designed a new synthetic technique which shortened the reaction time and increased the product purity.
3. Economic and Social Benefits
In this program, utilizing biomass solid wastes as raw material, several techniques were developed including organic fertilizer and livestock feed production technique, highly effective cellulose extraction technique and HMF green synthetic technique. These techniques have been applied in 14 enterprises from Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu and Shenzhen, etc, and has gained a sales income of 103 million yuan.
In conclusion, the implementation of the “Research, Development and Application of Biomass Solid Waste Resources Utilization Technologies” program greatly accelerated the development of regional circular economy industry, and extensively promoted energyconservationandemissionreduction.