Search results for "Biomass"
showing 10 items of 956 documents
Ionic liquids: a highway with many lanes
Return of the Apex Predator : How Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) Re-Establishment Shapes an Ecosystem
2021
Re-establishment of a declined apex predator fish species in a lake ecosystem may have dramatic effects on other fish and plankton community already inhabiting the ecosystem. We studied mechanistically potential impacts of re-establishment of the brown trout (Salmo trutta) in the west-central European Lake Constance focusing on two commercially important fish species: whitefish and Eurasian perch. We compared simulation model outputs from two versions of an allometric trophic network model for Lake Constance, one with and one without the trout as the apex predator. The re-establishment of the declined brown trout reduced the perch population directly by predation and indirectly by increased…
Image analysis with environmental applications
2012
Kaukokartoitusmenetelmiä käytetään tarkkuusmaataloudessa ja metsien inventoinnissa. Pro gradu -tutkielma keskittyy parantamaan analysointiprosessia kasvillisuusmäärien arvioimiseksi esikäsitellyistä ilmakuvista ja digitaalisesta korkeusmallista. Tutkielmassa esitellään evolutiivinen optimointimenetelmä viljapellon biomassojen estimoimiseksi ja tutkitaan biomassaestimaattien tekoa eri menetelmin radiometrisesti korjatuista spektrikaistoista. Tutkielmassa pohditaan myös vaihtoehtoja puulajeittaisten tilavuuksien estimoimiseksi metsistä. Remote sensing methodologies are employed in the fields of precision agriculture and forest industry. This thesis focuses on enhancing analysation process for…
Three zone modeling of downdraft biomass gasification : equilibrium and finite kinetic approach
2013
Mathematical models and simulations are being practiced exceedingly in the field of research and development work. Simulations provide a less expensive means of evaluating the benefits and associated risk with applied field. Gasification is a complex mechanism, which incorporates thermochemical conversion of carbon based feedstock. Therefore, simulation of gasification provides a better comprehension of physical and chemical mechanism inside the gasifier than general conjecture and assist in optimizing the yield. The main objectives of present thesis work involve formulation of separate sub-model for pyrolysis and oxidation zone from published scientific references, and assembling it with p…
Production of ethyl lactate by activated carbon-supported Sn and Zn oxide catalysts utilizing lignocellulosic side streams
2021
In this study, activated carbon-supported Sn and Zn oxide catalysts were prepared from hydrolysis lignin and used for the conversion of model solutions of trioses, hexoses, and lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates to ethyl lactate. Both catalysts, SnO2@AC and ZnO@AC, were able to produce ethyl lactate in high yields. SnO2@AC was a more active and selective catalyst in triose (dihydroxyacetone) conversion, providing 99% yield to ethyl lactate. ZnO@AC, by contrast, was more selective in glucose and hydrolysate conversion, with a yield of 60% and 85%, respectively. The ethyl lactate yields were significantly higher than those from the optimized model solution experiments when using ZnO@AC cata…
Sustainable Biomass-Derived Carbon Electrodes for Potassium and Aluminum Batteries: Conceptualizing the Key Parameters for Improved Performance
2023
The development of sustainable, safe, low-cost, high energy and density power-density energy storage devices is most needed to electrify our modern needs to reach a carbon-neutral society by ~2050. Batteries are the backbones of future sustainable energy sources for both stationary off-grid and mobile plug-in electric vehicle applications. Biomass-derived carbon materials are extensively researched as efficient and sustainable electrode/anode candidates for lithium/sodium-ion chemistries due to their well-developed tailored textures (closed pores and defects) and large microcrystalline interlayer spacing and therefore opens-up their potential applications in sustainable potassium and alumin…
Rapid Quantification of Microalgae Growth with Hyperspectral Camera and Vegetation Indices
2021
Spectral cameras are traditionally used in remote sensing of microalgae, but increasingly also in laboratory-scale applications, to study and monitor algae biomass in cultures. Practical and cost-efficient protocols for collecting and analyzing hyperspectral data are currently needed. The purpose of this study was to test a commercial, easy-to-use hyperspectral camera to monitor the growth of different algae strains in liquid samples. Indices calculated from wavebands from transmission imaging were compared against algae abundance and wet biomass obtained from an electronic cell counter, chlorophyll a concentration, and chlorophyll fluorescence. A ratio of selected wavebands containing near…
Acid-catalyzed mechanocatalytic pretreatment to improve sugar release from birch sawdust : Structural and chemical aspects
2022
This study examined acid-catalyzed mechanocatalytic pretreatment of birch sawdust without a separate impregnation step. Catalyst amount and pretreatment time were the key variables. Pretreated material was mixed with water for hydrolysis (100 °C, 60 min). The efficient release of total reducing sugars from birch sawdust is significant to the path towards biofuels and biochemicals. Based on the results, the structure and surface of birch sawdust changed as a function of mechanocatalytic pretreatment. Milling time caused significant transformations in birch structure and also increased the yields of reducing sugars. The highest yield of total reducing sugar from pretreated sawdust was 23.0% a…
Fast pyrolysis of hot-water-extracted and delignified Norway spruce (Picea abies) sawdust by Py-GC/MS
2019
The thermochemical behavior of Norway spruce (Picea abies) sawdust as such and after various chemical treatments (hot-water extraction, delignification, and hot-water extraction followed by delignification) was investigated by analytical pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. In each case, the yields of major GC-amenable condensable products were semi-quantitatively measured, and the individual compounds were classified into several compound groups. The formation of these groups from feedstock samples with varying mass portions of their structural constituents (carbohydrates and lignin) was determined at 500 °C and 700 °C with a residence time of 5 s and 20 s. The formation of pyro…
Increasing air temperature relative to water temperature makes the mixed layer shallower, reducing phytoplankton biomass in a stratified lake
2023
The depth of the mixed layer is a major determinant of nutrient and light availability for phytoplankton in stratified waterbodies. Ongoing climate change influences surface waters through meteorological forcing, which modifies the physical structure of fresh waters including the mixed layer, but effects on phytoplankton biomass are poorly known. To determine the responses of phytoplankton biomass to the depth of the mixed layer, light availability and associated meteorological forcing, we followed daily changes in weather and water column properties in a boreal lake over the first half of a summer stratification period. Phytoplankton biomass increased with the deepening of the mixed layer …