8^th International Conference on Biofuels, Bioenergy & Bioeconomy December 04-05, 2017 Sao Paulo, Brazil

Prof. Em. Aharon Gedanken obtained his M. Sc. from Bar-Ilan University, and his Ph. D. degree from Tel Aviv University, Israel. After his postdoctoral research at USC in Los Angeles. He got a lecturer position at BIU on Oct. 1975. He spent two sabbatical years at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1980-8l, and 1987-88 as well as a summer in 1984. He also has done research at NIDDK, NIH in the summers of 1989, 1990 and 1991. In 1994 he switched his research interest from Spectroscopy to Nanotechnology. His special synthetic methods of nanomaterials include: Sonochemistry, Microwave Superheating, Sonoelectrochemistry, and Reactions under Autogenic Pressure at Elevated Temperatures (RAPET). Since 2004 he is mostly focused on the applications of nanomaterials. Gedanken has published 782 per-reviewed manuscripts in international journals, and has applied for 38 Patents. His H-Index is 85 according to the WEB of SCIENCE. Gedanken has served as the Department Chairman as well as the Dean of the Faculty of Exact Sciences at Bar-Ilan University. He is on the editorial boards of 4 international journals. He still leads a group of 13 research people. He was a partner in five EC (European Community) FP7 projects one of them, SONO, was coordinated by him. This project was announced by the EC as a “Success Story”. He is a partner in PROTECT a textile project in Horizon 2020. He was the Israeli representative to the NMP (Nano, Materials, and Processes) committee of EC in FP7. He was awarded the prize of the Israel Vacuum Society in 2009 and the Israel Chemical Society for excellence in Research in Feb. 2013.

The lecture will present the use of novel methods such as Microwave radiation and Sonochemistry in converting micro and macro algae into biofuels. The lecture will demonstrate the direct conversion of as-harvested Nannochloropsis algae into bio-diesel without separating the lipidic phase. The results are based on the use of two novel techniques. The first being biotechnology-based environmental system utilizing flue gas from coal burning power stations for microalgae cultivation. This method reduces considerably the cost of algae production. The second technique is the direct transesterification (a one-stage method) of the Nannochloropsis biomass to biodiesel production using microwave and ultrasound radiation with the aid of a SrO catalyst. In the early stages of this research the lipidic phase was first extracted from the microalgae and transestrification followed it. Later we became courageous and carried out the transesterification directly on the as-harvested microalgae. Full conversion to biodiesel was achieved in 5 minutes. The combination of SrO solid catalyst and microwave radiation leads to full conversion (~100%) of the microalgae to biodiesel. The results are based on 1H NMR spectroscopy and HPLC results. I will show how agricultural wastes such as Pine Cones, Cicer Arietinum, Cotton, and Sugar Cane bagasse are converted to a fine chemical such as Levulinic acid in addition to conversion to ethanol. In addition, we have successfully converted a macroalgae, Ulva Rigida, into bioethanol getting 16% ethanol from 1 gram of the algae. These results were obtained by optimizing the production of Ulva rigida co-cultured with fed-fish in an offshore mariculture (fish cages) system is reported. Enhanced production of biomass with elevated content of desired carbohydrates is achieved. This SSF (Simultaneous Saccharification Fermentation) process was accomplished with the help of soft sonication. Finally, I will demonstrate a solar system in which a macroalgae solution is flowing on a catalyst and is being fermented by to ethanol aided by the Solar irradiation. This reaction was conducted in a solar reactor that was designed to perform the conversion of starch, glucose, and ulva rigida to ethanol in a single step. The role of the solar energy is 1) activating the catalysts 2) evaporating the ethanol produced in the process. A continuous flow through the apparatus was continued for more than 30 days. The instrument is presented in Figure 1 below.

Rodrigo Morales-Vera is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, USA. He has

been working in the Biofuels and Bioproducts Laboratory for 6 years. His primary research focus is the bioconversion of biomass to fuels and chemicals. His work for the Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest (AHB) project includes design and modeling the process to make poplar to glacial acetic acid economically feasible and sustainable. He is interested in subjects such as design for the environment, life cycle assessment, industrial ecology and sustainable engineering.

Current commercial production of glacial acetic acid is exclusively by petrochemical routes with a current market price of $550-850/ton. Acetic acid is an intermediate for the production of plastics, textiles, dyes and paints. Production of acetic acid from biomass might be a sustainable and economically feasible alternative to petroleum derived routes. However, when producing pure acid from biomass, conventional liquid liquid extraction (LLE) using ethyl acetate for acetic acid purification is a major expense and requires considerable energy. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare technical and economic feasibility of glacial acetic acid production using ethyl acetate and a tertiary amine (Alamine) in kerosene as organic solvents for LLE purification. Acetic acid production follows the path of pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, acetogen fermentation and acid purification. To meet large energy requirement for the processes, different energy sources including combustion of natural gas and lignin supplemented with natural gas were investigated. Aspen Plus software was used to simulate a biorefinery processing 250,000 tons/year poplar, producing in average 136,300 tons/year of glacial acetic acid. Capital and operating expenses for each configuration and profitability using discounted cash flow analysis to establish minimum selling prices (MSP) were used to assess economic viability. Additionally, Life Cycle Assessment is used to investigate environmental impact. Alamine in kerosene consumed 56% less energy than ethyl acetate during the recovery of acetic acid. Total capital expenses, in average, were 19% lower when natural gas was used as source of energy. The MSP/ton of acetic acid ranged from US$677 to US$819, for the different scenarios. Largest source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is the combustion of biomass and natural gas at the biorefinery. Compared to petroleum based acetic acid, the global warming potentials (GWP) could be reduced by 41% using lignin and natural gas for bio acetic acid production.

Statement of the Problem: Due to increased productivities and cultivation in marginal lands, microalgae have great potential as feedstock for biofuels alternative to plant crops. However, the current cost of producing biofuels from microalgae biomass is still high to envision massive and profitable commercialization in the near future. It is presumed that obtaining other higher-value byproducts in biorefineries would increase the profitability. Among other aspects, access to renewables as well as recycling of nutrients as substitutes for conventional fertilizers would be mandatory.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: We have been proposing alternative multispecies microbial cells-factories for the production of biofuels. Basically, the concept proposes the integration of operations that are exceptionally well performed by single microorganisms (whether naturally occurring or after genetic optimization) into multispecies systems than can execute more complex tasks and/or outperform any single species. We attempt to increase the use of N₂ from the air as a sole source of N-fertilizer for microalgae.

Findings: We used a N₂-fixing cyanobacterium that produces N-rich biomass that could be efficiently converted into biomass of a variety of microalgae. When using oleaginous strains, on-farm oil-production potential yields by ePBR simulations were up to 20-fold higher than those reported for soy oil. On the other hand, when we used microalgae accumulating carbohydrates (60-70% w/w), after a mild acid treatment for biomass hydrolysis and saccharification, bioethanol was produced at nearly 90% of its theoretical yield by fermentation with yeasts. The system also produced protein-rich biomass fractions as potential feed supplement and allowed some recycling of nutrients.

Conclusion & Significance: We have provided strong proof-of-principle suggesting potential for the economic and environmentally sustainable production of biofuels in multispecies biorefineries. Both on-farm demonstration and detailed modeling of environmental performance are required to take these ideas to a next step.

Carole Molina-Jouve is a Professor in the Department of Biochemical Engineering at the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, an Engineering School in Toulouse, and, since 2016, head of the Laboratoire d’Ingénierie des Systèmes Biologiques et Procédés involving 320 persons. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse in 1991. She investigated mass transfer in multi-phase systems with chemical and biological reactions and since 1999, her works focus on the investigation of the intensification of the bioprocess performances dedicated to the biofuel production. Since2005, she is involved in 21 projects in bioenergy supported by national agencies, industrial partners and European Union. She is member in Energy from Biomass Group in the Alliance Nationale de Coordination de la Recherche pour l’Energie (French National Alliance for Energy Research Coordination). She then contributes to pinpoint scientific and technological barriers and identify R&D programs.

In recent years, important steps into the transition towards biofuels have been taken in order to reduce environmental impacts linked to fossil fuels and to increase energetic independence. Worldwide bioenergy boom – from sciences, technologies, resources, policies – is an important part of the success and sustainability of the bioeconomy. An updated overview of advanced biofuel's production (alcohol, lipids and hydrogen mainly) from real lignocellulosic resources using yeasts or bacteria is proposed. Only few studies have focused on the advanced biofuel production from real lignocellulosic substrates when complex and synergistic effects of inhibitory compounds occur. Lignocellulose pretreatments to produce liquid or gaseous carbon sources for microbial biofuel production are reported and their scientific and technological bottlenecks i.e. initial low carbon content, generation of inhibitors, limitations to gas-liquid transfers, low yields of products from the initial carbon are underlined. The most recent advances on new engineered strains and innovative integrated bioprocesses for alcohol, lipids as biofuel precursor and hydrogen production are discussed. Prospects focus on the development of genetically modified strains, heat valorizations, recycle of by-products and innovative bioprocesses can contribute to the economic and environmental viability of the lignocellulosic pathway for the production of biofuels. On overview of French academic partners involved in biofuel's production in accordance with French National Research Agency strategy is reported and the evolution during the ten passed years is discussed.

Qaun Sophia He has her expertise in the development of biofuels from low value biomass and non-conventional energy crops. Her research interests include biodiesel synthesis and application in non-energy sectors; hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass; and catalyst development and application. She has established the Bioenergy and Bioproducts Lab at the Dalhousie University, Canada. She is a seasoned Chemical Engineer with more than 20 years’ research and industrial experience in China, Germany and Canada.

Development of biofuels is largely driven by the depletion of fossil fuels and increasing concerns over environmental problems caused by extensive use of fossil fuels. Biomass as a renewable source is promising, however current practices use edible crops (vegetable oils for biodiesel and sugarcane/corn for bioethanol), which competes with food and feed supplies. This research addresses the dilemma “Food vs. Fuel” through the utilization of biowastes, including agricultural and forest residues, manure, food processing waste and municipal waste. Hydrothermal liquefaction is a thermochemical process, being able to convert wet biowaste into crude bio-oil. The resulting crude bio-oil, similar to fossil crude, can be further refined to gasoline, diesel and a variety of chemicals. A number of biowastes such as spend coffee ground, K-cup, waste paper, corn stalk and pine bark have been studied in the Bioenergy and Bioproduct Lab at Dalhousie University, Canada. The yields and HHVs of the crude bio-oil are in the range of 20-60 wt.% and in the range of 18-38.9 MJ/Kg respectively. Hydrothermal liquefaction was demonstrated a feasible starting point for biomass conversion in the biorefinery value chain.

Ivo Fouto, is a seasoned business and technical professional with Engineer, Finance and Administration graduation with biotechnology, chemical and energy background in C-level positions in large multinational companies with international exposure. Founder of Cenerbio, company focused in global Pulp&Paper; Bioenergy and Biorefinery project development (Upstream and Downstream integration), utilizing advanced, sustainable and non-transgenic Energy Crops, associated with modern and large scale Agriculture and Geotechnology management tools and technologies.

Biomass supply (Upstream) is one of the greatest barriers to the economic deployment of current and future Biorefinery and Bioenergy technologies (Downstream). Quality, homogeneity, composition, availability and production/transportation cost are the main quality criteria and concerns in the viability of any Biorefinery and Bioenergy initiatives. Forestry/Agricultural Residual or Municipal/Industrial waste are specific alternatives, but in general doesn´t meet the downstream quality and cost processing requirements. In general this is not the main sustainable and competitive pathway, for large scale and competitive Biorefinery and Bioenergy conversion alternatives. After many years of intensive development, there are recent successful achievements in dedicated Energy Crops, especially those derivate from Polyploid and C4 monocotyledonous perennial grass from the Saccharum genus, for a perfect feedstock fit in Bioenergy, Biorefinery and Pulp & Paper Industry. The achieved target was focus in: High Biomass yield; Quality Fibers (Pulp & Paper Industry); Fermentable Sugars availability (Ethanol and other fermentable process); High Rusticity and Tolerance to Poor Soils; Flexible Implementation & Operation (mechanization); Scalability; Availability all year long; Low Carbon Impact and Low Production/Transportation cost. Successful results from these programs already generated innovative and proven Energy Crops (Biorefinery Energy Cane - BEC) varieties for dedicated utilization in different application such: Power Generation; Pyrolysis; Gasification; Pulp & Paper, Bio-Ethanol, etc. These innovative Energy Crops are similar and apply the existing and proven technologies of Sugarcane production (planting; treating; harvesting; transporting and processing), with additional benefits derivate from the BEC higher rusticity. The utilization of BEC biomass could benefit the majority of existing Bioenergy and Biorefinery processing technologies, bringing them to a real economic and commercial viability. Recent developments on Crude/Petroleum Oil refinery integration, by upgrading or co-processing Pyrolysis oil in an FCC unit, could now be successful implemented using this innovative, flexible and low cost Energy Crop (Energy Cane).

Wennan Zhang received PhD at Chalmers University of Technology in Energy Engineering in 1995. He has been working on bioenergy since 1996 at Mid Sweden University as a Senior Lecturer and Assocoate Professor. His main work is to lead a biomass gasification research group which is turned to be BTL(biomass-to-liquid) group. A BTL laboratory at Mid Sweden University has been built up under his leadership. The central unit of the laboratory is a 150kW biomass dual fluidized bed gasifier developed by him and his colleague for synthetic gas production. He had been the coordinator of a 4th EU frame-work project “Process simulation of CFB with combustion/gasification of biomass”, from 1998 to 2001. He has developed and taught two courses, “Biofuels” and “Bio-automotive fuels”, to engineer education students at Mid Sweden University since 1998. He is also guest professor in Chinese Academy of Science.

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of algae biomass has been shown to be a feasible technique to treat large amount of wet algae biomass for the production of a biocrude suitable to be used as biofuel similar to fossil oil. From HTL process, biocrude or bio-oil is produced at temperature of 250 to 370 °C and pressure of 5 to 25MPa with a residence time of 5 to 60 min. In the process, up to 85% of the oxygen contained in biomass can be removed as CO2 and water. Thus, only about 10% oxygen remains in the HTL biooil which leads to a high heating value of 35MJ/kg (fossil diesel 42MJ/kg) in comparison to pyrolysis oil with oxygen content 38% and heating value 18MJ/kg. A further process of hydrotreatment and hydrocracking can remove the 10% oxygen completely and finally a drop-in fuel, gasoline or diesel, can be produced. Comparing biomass gasification and pyrolysis, HTL uses wet feedstock and avoids high temperature operation and energy consumption for feedstock drying. However, HTL technology development is so far in the stage of lab-scale study. This paper is to review algae-HTL-diesel process and to identify the feasibility of HTL application to algae. The algae properties and different operation conditions such as temperature, pressure, loading rate, catalysts, heating rate etc. may lead to different quality and composition of end products from algae HTL, which will be reviewed in this paper.

Cheng-Hung Chen got a Master’s degree in Public Finance in National Cheng-Chi University and a PhD degree in Economics in National Taiwan University with two major fields in public economics and international finance. He is an associate Research fellow at Taiwan Research Institute since 2015 and focus on the resources and environment issues, that include energy economics, water resources policies, GHG reduction policies, GHG reduction actions in transportation sector.

Developing green energy technologies has been the strategy taken around the world against climate changes and GHG reduction task. The international institutes and governments thus plan and design related policies and strategies for facing possible obstacles to help green energy technologies successfully develop. The policy instruments can be roughly categorized into three parts, namely (1) setting the target of renewable energy development, (2) developing regulations such as FiT payment, and (3) fiscal incentives. In order to successfully develop green energy development, the Taiwanese government is therefore committed that the generating capacity of renewable energy should reach 20% of gross electricity generation. Furthermore,it also proposes the policies such as the total quantity control, rational feed-in tariff (FiT) rate, subsidies & incentives for demonstration, renewable energy fund, and so on. This aims to facilitate the renewable energy while reaching the reduction goal. Among these strategies, R&D and FiT mechanism are two quite effective ways. The Taiwanese government thus not only keeps increasing the R&D investment but reviews and revises FiT rate regularly per year. Nevertheless, it might cause a fiscal burden for governments while fostering renewable energy. Hence, a proper distribution of funding between these two strategies (i.e. R&D investment and FiT rate) is significantly important. Thus, this paper will explore that if there is a financial income (i.e. energy tax) while this income will be applied to subsidize the strategies such as FiT rate and investing in R&D, how the extent of the impact on the investment distribution is. This aims to clarify the benefits of various technologies with different policy instruments. Further, it will also evaluate the effectiveness for power sector under each policy scenario. The effectiveness contain the total cost for power sector, the carbon emission, and so on.

Fatima Menezes Bento has her expertise in petroleum microbiology and fuels biodeterioration. Her approach and evaluation model is based mainly on microbial prospection, involving knowing of the composition of deteriogenic microbial population, monitoring aspects and control possibility during storage time of diesel, blends of diesel and biodiesel. She has been involved with research, teaching and consulting at UFRGS since 25 years.

Statement of the Problem: Microbial contamination in fuels has been reported since 1895 and it is considered one of the main problems related to the maintenance of stored fuels’ quality. The impact of this contamination in the system depends mainly on the fuel grade, storage time and housekeeping schedules. Among the fuels, the diesel fuel formulation has changed a lot over time, mainly by the reduction of sulfur and addition of biodiesel. The purpose of this study is to describe the steps of detection, monitoring and control to avoid the installation of deteriogenic process during storage time by microbial contamination.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Many studies were conducted to determine the microbial population (composition and growth capabilities) in diesel, blends Bx and biodiesel in lab conditions simulating the storage conditions. Biomass produced at interface oil-water in microcosms is a good indication of deteriogenic process in course, acidic conditions from the water phase; infrared and chromatographic analysis results to oily phase as well.

Findings: Our results have demonstrated that diesel/biodiesel blends are more susceptible to biodegradation and biomass formation during storage. The microbial composition was characterized and monitored by culture and non-culture methods (Illumina high throughput sequencing) and more than 800 genera were identified including Archea. We showed that fuel degradation, as evaluated by HATR-FTIR, was related to interfacial biofilm formation. After 60 days storage, the system treated with a multifunctional biocide package yielded more interfacial biomass, indicating that sub-effective doses may lead to increased microbial growth.

Conclusion & Significance: The determination of the level of microbial contamination is crucial to understand the vulnerability of fuel storage systems. Our results has revealed that microbial contamination is very diverse and that the use of biocide affects microbial community structure in the fuel but that some microorganisms are resistant to the biocide.

Suzana Marques Domingues holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineer (1985) with post-graduation in catalysis (1987), a Master Degree in Chemical Engineer from The Pennsylvania State University (1993) and an MBA from Getúlio Vargas Foundation (2005). She has thirty-two years of industrial and R&D experience, twenty-four of those in the basic petrochemical business at Braskem where she participated in the development of green plastic, then leading engineers and researchers on the technology development of biogas/bioenergy from S&E residues at Cetrel and as a leader of the Bioenergy Center of Excellence at GE Brazilian Research Center in Rio de Janeiro. She also participated in Academic and Industrial Committees and Councils in the state of Bahia to stimulate innovation in industries. Sheis actually a partner at Bizup Business Leverage firm. 

Biogas from residues has been used as source of energy for a long time, especially in Europe and Asia, and an important drive for the circular economy. Brazil, with large natural resources and a well-developed agriculture, forest and bioenergy businesses, as well as a large population that generates a significant amount of domestic waste and sewage, has the potential to be a prominent player as a scalable producer, but there is a long way ahead of us. According to Brazilian Atlas for GHG Emissions, the installed capacity of bioenergy from biogas is still timid, 254 MW, with most of the projects related to biogas from landfills. Biogas/biomethane is a versatile source of energy, capable of generating power, thermal and automotive energy. With regulatory framework in place to support the production and commercialization of biogas in Brazil, it should be expected a production increase from residues, especially with large availability like vinasse from S&E segment. Nevertheless, it seems that some issues are still refraining it from happening. Variations in feed quality, contaminations, upsets and performance issues are some of the hurdles that influences production, feasibility and scalability of biodigestion of residues. This paper will provide an overview on the potential of biogas generation in Brazil and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities to add value to the energy content wasted in the vinasse of S&E industry, provide a new source of revenue with biogas/biomethane, complement the energy matrix with this flexible fuel and, furthermore, reduce the impact to the environment.

Dr. Henrique M Baudel is Technology and R&D Director at America Biomass Technologies and associate researcher at the Biomass Valorisation Group of the

Chemical Engineering Department, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil.

Medium-scale biomass-based biorefineries have been identified as a promising route to the creation of local and regional agroindustrial clusters in Brazil. By delivering multiple products from starchy and lignocellulosic biomasses, a biorefinery constituted by integrated plants and processes can make feasible the economic exploitation of a myriad of lowvalue agricultural and industrial residues. In principle, different biomass components can be converted into sugars and other carbon-rich products, which in turn can be transformed into high-valued chemical products and high-volume biofuels, while generating electricity and process heat for self-consumption. In this scenario, the high-value products enhance profitability, the high-volume fuels contribute to support energy needs, and the power production reduces costs while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, the biorefinery concept envisages the maximal value derived from the biomass feedstock at minimal impact to the environment. This paper describes biorefineries constituted by integrated plants that produce ethanol, active carbon, food-grade carbon dioxide and single-cell protein (SCP) extract. Agricultural residues such as sugarcane bagasse and straw, eucalyptus, rice shells and corncobs were used as major lignocellulosic feedstocks. The mentioned biorefinery concept has been built on two different biomass-to-products platforms. The "sugar platform" is based on chemical and biochemical conversion processes, particularly the fermentation of sugars extracted from cellulosics, while the "carbon platform" is based on thermochemical routes with emphasis on the carbonisation of the cellulignin fractions.

Paulo Cesar Manduca has his expertise in international affairs, strategic studies and Brazil’s external policy. He has been working as a Researcher at University of Campinas since 1998, last five years at Interdisciplinary Center on Energy Planning. Presently, he is coordinating the project “Biofuels in International Relations: Between Global Governance and Energy Independence for Brazil, the European Union and the United States” with FAPESP support.

Europe has outlined a well-defined strategy for the development of bioeconomy in order to places EU enterprises at the forefront of the new phase of economic development. In this strategy, biofuels play a central role since they allow the capitalization of a vast industry sector with a systemic effect on R&D into biomass chain. In this way, Europe absorbs experiences abroad. Argentina and Brazil occupy a prominent position among the largest exporters of commodities, biofuels inclusive. Do they recognize the potential of biofuels as a fomenter of the bioeconomy following the European model? Do they have strategies to transition to a new economy phase in order to improve their positions in world’s wealth distribution? The aim of this analysis is to discuss the potential of biofuels as fomenters of bioeconomy in both countries and provide answers for the research questions in order to evaluate the strategies and barriers to their executions. Among the potential obstacles, the analysis highlights the fact that both countries have recently become major producers of fossil energy, that is, oil exploitation in Brazilian coast, and, shale gas in Argentinian Patagonia. A great attracting force of fossil fuels and the emergence of oil populism have placed these countries into a furcation position to invest in innovation in bioenergy and biomaterials or develop traditional industries linked to fossil fuels.

Luma Sh. Al-Saadi is a seasoned business and technical professional with Engineer, Finance and Administration graduation with biotechnology, chemical and energy background in C-level positions in large multinational companies with international exposure. Founder of Cenerbio, company focused in global Pulp&Paper; Bioenergy and Biorefinery project development (Upstream and Downstream integration), utilizing advanced, sustainable and non-transgenic Energy Crops, associated with modern and large scale Agriculture and Geotechnology management tools and technologies..

Homogenous base catalysis of biodiesel production from feedstock that contains high free fatty acids (FFA) content would require a pre-treatment step to reduce the FFA level. Drying of such feedstock is required if it has high water content. All these add to the costs of biodiesel production from high FFA and water triglyceride source, hence the need to investigate process conditions which could allow for direct base-catalysed methanolysis of such low quality feedstock. This study investigated the comparative catalytic activities of alkali-metal hydroxide and methoxide as homogeneous base catalysts for transesterification of rapeseed oil containing high levels of FFA and water. The investigation was carried out using a mesoscale oscillatory baffled reactor in a continuous mode. The oscillatory mixing conditions in the reactor ensured that the reactions were kinetics-controlled. The operating conditions investigated were: methanol to rapeseed oil molar ratios (4:1-13:1), catalyst loadings (0.5-2 wt %), FFA (0.061wt %) and water 0.05wt% (contents of the rapeseed oil, reaction temperature (40-600C), and residence times (3-16min). Design of the experiment was used to optimise the reaction conditions. A complete conversions were achieved under wide range of moderated reaction conditions. Overall, the NaOCH3 catalyst showed higher catalytic activity than NaOH under the same operating conditions, i.e. the turnover frequency of the NaOCH3 was more than that of NaOH catalyst under all the reaction conditions. Our findings demonstrate that there are optimal process conditions that could be exploited for continuous productions of biodiesel at high conversions from low quality oleaginous feedstock that contain up to 5wt% FFA and 3wt% water.

Silvio Ricardo Taboas, is speaker of the YSATÎ Board.He is an executive of large global corporations in the segments of energy, food, cement, automotive,logistics, agribusiness and business consulting. Since 2006, he has been dedicated to start-ups and silent management turnaround through his own company, tabVlae, which developed the business of YSATÎ (www.ysati.com.br) and owns exclusive rights regarding the patent.

The Patent granted in 2017: A method and a system for converting large quantities of wastewater into water andfertilizer Field of the invention The present invention relates to a method and system for would make it possible to process huge amount of waste water. converting wastewater from sugar, bio-ethanol and biodiesel production into substantially purified water and a powder containing the waste. A single process line consisting of a system according to the invention is able to handle a quantity of wastewater of up to 20000 m3/day. Background for the invention The traditional production of bio-ethanol from sugar cane is based upon fermentation and distillation. The wastewater – the so-called vinasse – from this process is today being sprayed to the fields. However this way of depositing the vinasse is not environmentally acceptable and methods have been investigated to avoid the deposit of vinasse on the fields. Specifically in Brazil the amount of vinasse produced per year amount to around 450 billion liters/year. The dry matter of the vinasse is high in Potassium (K+) and is needed for adequate growth of the sugar cane. Today Brazil import Potassium for fertilization in the range USD 4 billions/year. By retrieving the Potassium from the Vinasse one can reduce the importation of Potassium and use existing source of Potassium as a dry fertilizer. Description of prior art The converting of wastewater into fertilizer is a normal process with evaporation and drying. The evaporation have been done utilizing either tubular or plate evaporation. For the drying step normally the use of a spray dryer or a spin flash drying is being used. The quality of the water (condensate) produce by the evaporation step is generally undefined as vinasse contains volatile solid components which components are at least partly stripped during the evaporation process and therefore ends up in the purified water (condensate) as impurities. For many years scale dispersants and sequestering agents has been used in different types of water treatment with the objective of minimizing scale formation i.e. avoiding salts crystallization on membranes or heat exchange surfaces but it has never been recognized that the use a sequestering agent with dewatering of vinasse.

Marcelo Maciel Pereira is an Associate Professor at the Chemistry Institute of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ - Brazil). He obtained the MSc and the Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. His research interests focus on kinetics and catalysis, hydrocarbons, biomass conversion, zeolites, CO2, greenhouse gas emissions, and sequestration.

The production of green Hydrocarbon and green hydrogen in the standard refinery is a powerful approach to shortening our path to sustainable. However, second generation biomass is composed of reactive compounds and shows low density; than previously biomass should be transformed into a biocrude that fits the conditions of the oil industry. Herein this goal was archived in two steps. Firstly biomass was converted into a black bio-crude (density 1.1-1.2 gcm-3, C,H,O composition in wt.% at about 60,10, and 30 respectively) that behaves like an oil-feed under the realistic refinery condition. Biomass can be fully converted, and the type of bio-crude can be tailor made by the reaction condition. Secondly, biocrude and model compounds were converted under realistic refinery condition into valuable products. For instance, bio-aromatics was obtained by using a pilot plant at laboratory scale of fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) operation at 5000C, 10 mLmin-1 of feed were injected during one minute using 20g of a commercial catalyst and a simplified catalyst. Saturated hydrocarbon up to diesel fraction was produced at 300-4000C at hydrogen partial pressure of 50 bars. Bio-hydrogen was produced by couple pyrolysis of biocrude producing hydrogen and coke in the spent catalyst followed by reverse boudouard reaction in the presence of oxygen for CO production. Thanks to the bio-crude stability it can be stored, transported and converted into value products, fitting the requirements of up-, middle- and down- stream of oil industry. The present approach brings a central idea, i.e., the "future refinery", able to largely mitigate CO2 emission, is just the standard, and the regular one and the key for reach such goal is to redesign biomass into a tailor-made bio crude proper for the refinery. Therefore oil could be partially or, in the future, entirely substitute by the bio-crude.

Regiane Alves de Oliveira is a researcher with a bachelor in biological sciences, currently developing a doctoral thesis on Bioenergy field, in partnership with University of Campinas, National Laboratory for Bioethanol Science and Technology, and Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik und Bioökonomie e.V. (ATB). She has experience of multidisciplinary works developed with professionals in chemistry, engineering, and natural sciences areas. The current focus is on microbiology, bioprocesses, biochemicals, enzymes, biofuels, and Bioeconomy.

Lactic acid is a compound widely used in food, pharmaceutical, medical and chemical industries. Produced from sugars through fermentation, it has emerged as a potential chemical compound to synthesize renewable and biodegradable plastics, uses in medical field, as well as possible precursor of higher cost molecules in the chemical industry. Its use on industrial scale is still limited due to the relatively high cost of production, comparing to petrochemical products. In order to the lactic acid produced by fermentation be economically competitive, it is necessary to keep low costs which is linked to process performance (upstream and downstream processes). Bearing all this in mind, the performance of the microorganisms Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus coagulans were evaluated aiming the production of L lactic acid. The production strategy intends to facilitate both production and purification of lactic acid with positive impacts on costs and environment, meaning lower costs and no undesired by-products. Tests were performed in bioreactors using different substrates and conditions for each microorganism. Alternative fermentations strategies were tested and their performance evaluated. As results, it was possible to achieve high lactic acid titer, productivity and yields, as well as optimize the conditions for two substrates: one for 1G-lactic acid production, and other for 2G-lactic acid production.