Abstract
Biomass is a renewable energy source because its supplies are unlimited. Biomass is used for energy production like heat energy, or in various industrial processes as raw material for a range of products. It is derived from animal or plant material. In the last decades, the agro wastes in manufacturing different types of composites has found increased utilization. The agricultural waste materials used for production of plastic composite is receiving the substantial consideration currently. There are various methods for conversion of bio-mass into useful products depending on the application area. To upgrade biomass into a better and more practical fuel, thermal conversion processes is used heat as the dominant mechanism. To produce a fuel that is more practical to store, transport and use a range of chemical processes may be used to convert biomass into other forms. In this paper the main emphasis is given on purification methods of cellulose and use of its products in technical textiles.
1. Importance of bio-mass
Biomass is a renewable energy source because its supplies are unlimited. Biomass
is used for energy production like heat energy, or in various industrial processes as
raw material for a range of products. It is derived from animal or plant material. It can be a grown energy crop, wood or forest residues, waste from food crops like wheat straw or bagasse, horticulture’s yard waste, food processing (corn cobs), animal farming’s manure which is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, or human waste from sewage plants. CO2 is released by burning plant-derived biomass, still it is being classified as a renewable energy source within the EU and UN legal frameworks because photosynthesis cycles the CO2 back into new crops. In few scenario, this recycling of CO2 from plants to atmosphere and back to plants can even be considered as CO2 negative, as a huge portion of the CO2 is moved to the soil during each cycle. Less CO2 without the value related to building new
infrastructure. Co-firing isn’t without issues however; often an upgrade of the biomass is beneficiary.
Upgrading to higher grade fuels are often achieved by different methods, broadly
classified as thermal, chemical, or biochemical. In the last decades, the agro wastes in manufacturing differing types of composites found the increasing utilization. the planet statistics of the Wheat and rice straw indicates that about 710 million metrics many Wheat straw and 670 million many rice straws are produced annually because the agricultural waste, beside the opposite cereal and forest waste. Therefore, it causes a huge environmental impact and this problem is growing annually. The assembly of plastic composites from agro waste materials is receiving the substantial consideration currently
Most biomass used today is home grown energy. Wood logs, bark, chips and sawdust accounts for about 44 percent of biomass energy. But any organic matter can produce biomass energy. Other biomass sources can include agricultural waste products like corncobs and fruit pits. Wood and its waste are used to generate electricity. Paper mills and saw mills use much of their waste products to urge steam and electricity for his or her use. However, since they use such tons’ energy, they need to buy for extra electricity from utilities.
In the last ten years, the agro wastes in manufacturing differing types of composites found the increasing utilization. The world statistics of the Wheat and rice straw indicates that about 710 million metrics many Wheat straw and 670 million many rice straws are produced each year because the agricultural waste, beside the opposite cereal and forest waste. Therefore, it causes an enormous environmental impact and this problem is growing annually. Plastic composites production from agro waste materials is receiving the substantial consideration.
2. Conversion of Biomass
2.1 Thermal conversions
Thermal conversion processes use heat as the dominant mechanism to upgrade biomass into a better & practical fuel. Torre faction, gasification, and pyrolysis are basic alternatives, these are separated principally by the extent to which the chemical reactions involved are allowed to proceed (mainly controlled by the availability of oxygen and conversion temperature.) There are less common, more experimental or proprietary thermal processes that may be beneficial, such as hydrothermal upgrading. Some are developed to be used on high moisture content biomass, including aqueous slurries, and permit them to be converted into more convenient forms.
2.2 Chemical conversion
A range of chemical processes may be used to convert biomass into a fuel that is more practical to store, transport and use, or to exploit some property of the process itself. Many of those processes are based in large part on similar coal- based processes, like the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Biomass can be converted into multiple commodity chemicals.
2.3 Biochemical conversion.
Biomass being a natural material, many biochemical processes have developed in nature to break down the biomass chemically, and lots of biochemical conversion processes are often harnessed. In most cases, microorganisms are used to perform the conversion process: anaerobic digestion, fermentation, and composting. Glycoside hydrolases are the enzymes involved within the degradation of the main fraction of biomass, like polysaccharides present in starch and lignocellulose. Thermostable variants are being used as catalysts in bio refining applications, since recalcitrant biomass often needs thermal treatment for more efficient degradation.
2.4 Electrochemical conversion
Biomass are often directly converted to electrical energy via electrochemical/electro-catalytic oxidation of the material. This can be performed in a direct carbon fuel cell, direct liquid fuel cells, direct ethanol fuel cell, direct methanol fuel cell, direct formic acid fuel cell, L-ascorbic Acid Fuel Cell (vitamin C fuel cell), and a microbial fuel cell. Consumption of fuel can be done indirectly via a cell system containing a reformer which converts the biomass into a mixture of CO and H2 before it’s consumed within the cell.
3. Methods of purification of cellulose
Delignification is the removal of the structural polymer lignin from plant tissue, so that it can be used for further applications. The biotechnological research is being conducted both on the synthesis of lignin in the plants, and the degradation of lignin by microorganisms. Research is going on for developing industrial applications for the enzymes of microorganisms to degrade lignin. Some fungi are quite proficient at living on wood, because they produce enzymes. such as per- oxidases that catalyze the breakdown of lignin in the presence of oxygen Various efficient methods have been developed by researchers in order to isolate cellulose from cellulosic materials. The cellulose isolation requires the removal of other substances such as hemicelluloses and lignin from wood and cereal straws. However, a protocol originally described by Green using acidified sodium chlorite is frequently applied to delignify wood as an initial step in the isolation of cellulose, which causes serious environmental concerns.
In other words, to obtain cellulose fiber from wood and agricultural residues, using traditional paper producing procedures, consists of degrading a large amount of lignin and hemicelluloses and making them soluble in the aqueous medium. For economically viable exploitation of this biomass, the first and important stage must be the efficient isolation of its major fractions which are cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. The processes currently employed for commercial straw pulping, which use inorganic reagents, achieve high cellulose extraction efficiency only at the expense of the hemicellulose fraction, which undergoes hydrolysis and degradation. These processes not only underexploit the lignin, but also cause serious environmental problems. For these reasons, intensive research is being carried out on the development of environmentally friendly approaches, which
generally involve the use of organic solvents for efficient separation of the three major components.
3.1 Softening of jute fibers using enzymes
Application of enzymes called hydrolases in presence of moisture enhances catalytic degradation of specific carbohydrates such as cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectin’s present in hard barky root ends. The synergistic effect of the 2 biological systems, enzymes and bacteria, brings out the perfect softening of barky tissue during a minimum period of piling. Enzyme application during jute piling causes accelerated maturation of pile referred to as ‘accelerated softening’.
3.2 Softening of cotton fibers using enzymes
The cotton fiber is treated with celluloses, Trichoderma reseal, which increases the softness. The use of celluloses produced by bacteria of genus Bacillus on cotton enhances softness and hygroscopicity and preserving excellent tensile strength.
3.3 Softening of cotton fibers using chemical treatments
The organic solvent treatment involves the treatment of lignocellulosic substances
with Organic solvent in water media in the presence or absence of a catalyst. Acetic acid pulping has been proved to be an effective organic solvent method to delignify and fractionate wood and non-wood. An advantage of delignification with acetic acid is that it can be followed immediately by bleaching, since addition of hydrogen peroxide yields the bleaching agent peracetic acid. Except for paper the acetic pulp could be also used as raw material of cellulose derivatives because of the high content of cellulose. Recently, one of the developments in acetic acid pulping is the Formacell process, based on the addition of 5-10% formic acid to aqueous acetic acid, resulting in improved selectivity of delignification. Besides their role in delignification, organic acids actively take part in the hydrolysis of hemicelluloses. Correspondingly, organic acid based pulping processes include the option for manufacture of dissolving pulps as a feedstock for cellulose derivatives and cellulosic fibres.
The direct dissolution method is another way to isolate cellulose from cellulose sample. More recently, Zhang and co-workers found that sodium hydroxide/urea and sodium hydroxide/thiourea aqueous solution can dissolve cellulose directly and quickly. Both solvent systems are inexpensive, less toxic and simple. However, spinning solutions containing high concentration of cellulose are unstable, which is a disadvantage in industrial applications. Moreover, the dissolution mechanism for cellulose in these solvent systems is not clear. A study identified that a sodium hydroxide/thiourea/urea aqueous solution can dissolve quickly in direct dissolution method. They found that the new solvent they introduced is more powerful in dissolving cellulose, and can be used to prepare more stable spinning solutions containing higher concentrations of cellulose than aqueous solution used before. This method does not require activation treatment. Besides time methods, the other methods that can be applied in cellulose isolation are the Jayme-Wise methods and Diglyme-HCI methods. According to the study of Cullen and Macfadane, the Diglyme-HCI method leaves a small lignin residue in the crude cellulose while in Jayme-Wise methods; the a-cellulose produced is relatively pure. They conclude that the Diglyme-HCI method, with or without bleaching, appears to be a simple, fast method for extracting a-cellulose from hardwoods and softwoods.
4. Use of bio-mass in technical textiles
4.1 Eco-friendly natural fibers in disposable sanitary napkins
High cost of sanitary napkin: Financial constraints make it difficult for a major section of the women to buy quality sanitary napkins, with merely 68 per cent of the rural communities able to afford them. Wood pulp a threat to environment: Current sanitary products are non-biodegradable and flushing them down the toilet will clog up the sewage system.
The wood pulp fibres are manufactured with a lot of chemicals: Most sanitary pads are made or bleached with chlorine compounds that contain trace of the organ chlorine-dioxin.
Sanitary napkin causing skin infection: For ordinary sanitary napkin used continuously for two hours, its surface may have bacteria numbering up to 107 per square centimeter and this contamination may seriously affect the health of the women. Symptoms of infection during menstruation include external genital infection, skin itch, ascending infections. In view of these threats, some alternative measures have to be taken in order to produce eco-friendly sanitary napkins. So eco-friendly treatments and chemical treatments, which are less hazardous to the environment can be identified and incorporated to the fibres to make it more suitable for production of sanitary napkins. Application of enzymes is mainly demand today for producing environment-friendly products.
4.2 Manufacture of Straw Medium Density Fiberboard (SMDF)
The processing of straw is not similar to that of wood, in the early stage of the composite material process the harvested and baled wheat straw is seduced (chopped), hammer milled, screened, and pre-wetted before defibration. The processing steps are almost same like those in conventional wood- based systems and involve resination, drying, mat-forming, pre-pressing and, finally, hot pressing. During hot pressing a synthetic resin binder (adhesive) is typically added to bind the fibers together to form a composite material.
MDF is produced in a dry fiber process. Fibers and adhesive bonds decides the strength of MDF. Thereby, the adhesives are necessary to make sure effective bonding between the fibers. Formaldehyde based MDF-products, for instance UF, MUF, and PF resins are widely used sort of resins for Typical MDF-products like cabinet doors, shelves, laminated floors, furniture and panels for building construction.
4.3 Use of banana fibre for making paper -boards
Pulp and Paper industry is considered to be the highest consumer of forest raw material. Due to the continuous use of plant raw materials like bamboo, soft wood, hard wood the forest areas covering such plant materials are day-by-day decreasing at an alarming rate. Considering the gradual shortage of conventional cellulosic raw material, emphasis has been given on utilization of new fibrous raw material for the manufacture of pulp, paper, board and other cellulose based products. Unlike paper, the demands of paperboards are also day by day increasing Paperboards are mostly used as packaging media. However, some boards are used for some special purposes. Cellulosic leather boards are used in making bags, suitcase, footwear and allied industries. Substantial quantities of such specialty boards are imported. The main characteristics of these boards are that they exhibits high tensile and bursting strength, good water repellency, smooth and easy punchability, good stiffness, high flexing index, high resistance to abrasion and dimensional stability. Likewise, solid toughen board is additionally a kind of specialty paperboard suitable for packaging of machine, tools, food products etc. items. Solid board has certain advantages over conventional corrugated fiberboard Wild banana plants (Musa velutina) were collected from hilly areas of Arunachal Pradesh and paper within the sort of press cuttings and office waste are obtained from the market. The foreign materials like plastics, strings, clips etc. were sorted out prior to used. For extraction of banana fibre, the sheaths were opened manually from the stem and washed with cold water. The sheaths were cut 90 cm length then air-dried. The sheaths were then processed through a machine i.e. fibre responder and the crude fibers were collected. These were then washed with cold fresh water. The separated banana fibres were then treated initially with an enzyme prior to
bleaching. Enzyme treatment removes certain gummy material also as lignin from fibre.
The fibres were then washed with cold water and bleached with single stage
hydrogen peroxide solution.
4.4 Wheat Straw Pulp as Reinforcing Aid for Recycled Softwood Pulp
Repeated papermaking decreases the bonding potential of pulp fibers. For efficient utilization of secondary fibers, it's important to seek out ways to recover this lost
potential. Number of methods are in practice; mechanical refining, chemical additives, enzyme treatment, physical fractionation, and blending. Blending of fresh pulp with recycled fibers helps in upgrading the recycled pulps. Generally, the blending pulp used are stronger than the recycled pulps; mostly virgin softwood pulps are used. Wheat straw fibers are good in fiber bonding potential, which they keep even on repeated papermaking. Blends of wheat straw pulps and recycled softwood pulps can combine the advantages of high bonding potential of wheat straw fibers and high inherent strength of softwood fibers to result in a more economical and environment friendly papermaking furnish. Wheat straw pulps enhance strength of recycled pulps and therefore the blends containing about 40 to
60% offer the simplest combination of tensile and tear strengths.
4.5 Biomass fibers
Biomass fibers are obtained from renewable biomass resources like natural animal and plant fibers, recycled fibers and synthetic fibers. As resources of textile raw materials are decreasing, developing biomass fibers will convince to be an vital step in expanding the market of sustainable textiles. Also, using biomass fibres is going to be an effecient method in establishing sustainable fibres within the textile industry. Natural fibers are produced in each of the countries in the world. Various products like textiles, ropes, brushes, carpets, mattresses, mats, paper, board materials, etc. are manufactured from it. The development of renewable, biodegradable biomass fiber also promotes the growth of other industries like chemical fiber industry. There is a considerable growth in biomass fiber industry in China. It produces over 200 million tons of biomass fibers. With such large biomass fiber resources, it paves thanks to significant development of this industry.
4.5 Biomass as fuel
Textile sector, being a major consumer sector of primary energy, must adopt measures to enhance its competitiveness. Biomass is a preferred and viable alternative energy source for the sector, while simultaneously develops an entire forest industry devoted to the supply of forest solid fuels. The main advantages are the reduction of external dependence on imported fuel due to the utilization of an endogenous natural resource, the creation and preservation of jobs, the increased competition in this sector by reducing energy costs, the utilization of national technology and therefore the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions.
5. Potential for use of biomass in textile
Biomass to get rid of dyes from textile wastewater
An organic process was investigated for effective textile wastewater treatment. The
method includes of a basic step performed by selected fungal biomasses, mainly dedicated to the effluent decolourisation, and of a subsequent stage by means of activated sludge, so as to scale back the remaining COD and toxicity. The treatment with Trametes pubescens MUT 2400, selected over nine strains, achieved excellent results in regard to all parameters. The finishing scale-up introduces a moving bed bioreactor with the supported biomass of the fungus allowed to verify the effectiveness of the treatment with high volumes. Despite promising results, further steps must be taken so on optimize the use of these biomasses for a full exploitation of their oxidative potential in textile wastewater
treatment.
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Authors:
1. Ms. S.M. Bairagadar, Lecturer
2. Mr. Parvez Mulla student textile department
3.Ms.Saniya Mulla student textile department
