Turning biofuel waste into wealth in a single step

Lignin is a bulky chain of molecules found in wood and is usually discarded during biofuel production. But in a new method to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, the simple addition of formaldehyde could turn it into the main focus.

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CrazyNeutrino said:

Turning biofuel waste into wealth in a single step

Lignin is a bulky chain of molecules found in wood and is usually discarded during biofuel production. But in a new method to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, the simple addition of formaldehyde could turn it into the main focus.

More…

I was speaking to people from the CSIRO Division of Forestry Research four years ago about lignin. They had spent more than 20 years (more than 30 years?) trying to convert lignin into something that is useful. To directly quote what they said: “lignin can be turned into absolutely anything except money”.

Lignin is one of the three major components of plant cell walls, the other two being cellulose and hemicellulose. Cellulose and hemicellulose are both turned into valuable materials.

I’ve was looking into the chemical formula for lignin a fortnight ago. It’s really interesting. It’s made from one of three different monomers, different plants use different monomers. The chemical formulas of the three monomers are https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Monolignols_general.svg Each monomer contains a benzene ring linked to a three carbon chain ending in an alcohol group.

These monomers are cross-linked in a random way. “Lignin was first mentioned in 1813 by the Swiss botanist A. P. de Candolle, who described it as a fibrous, tasteless material, insoluble in water and alcohol but soluble in weak alkaline solutions, and which can be precipitated from solution using acid.”

I was looking into lignins recently for a completely different reason. I was interested to know if these large random polymers could act as enzymes in much the same way that proteins can. Do you know? If so, then lignins could potentially replace proteins in alien and/or prehistoric life forms.

CrazyNeutrino said:

Turning biofuel waste into wealth in a single step

Lignin is a bulky chain of molecules found in wood and is usually discarded during biofuel production. But in a new method to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, the simple addition of formaldehyde could turn it into the main focus.

More…

Thinking a bit. All of the world’s coal seam gas is derived from lignin. Taking that thought further, without lignin, coal would not be flammable.

That’s because coal is derived from plant wall materials that have been heated in an oxygen-free environment. If you heat cellulose and hemicellulose then all you end up with is carbon and water. Pure carbon (with water) doesn’t pyrolyse. The first step of burning is pyrolysis, the heat vapourises flammable gases than then burn. Pure carbon has no flammable gases. Lignin, however, has an excess of hydrogen and pyrolysis produces methane and other flammable gases from the component of coal derived from the lignin. So lignin is what makes coal flammable.

If you don’t believe me, try to get a flame off sugar, which is a carbohydrate like cellulose and hemicellulose. It can’t be done without adding some extra flammable component such as alcohol – or lignin.

Plants produce lignin in their cell walls to deter predators such as insects and antelopes. The lignin is indigestible. On the other hand, there must be some sorts of fungi that eat lignin. If not, then dead wood wouldn’t rot and the rainforest floor would have a thick carpetting of peat.

Looking again at the link in the OP

> lignin makes up almost a third of plant biomass, and its molecular structure gives it an energy density 30% greater than that of the sugars that are traditionally processed into biofuel.

Completely true.

mollwollfumble said:

Thinking a bit. All of the world’s coal seam gas is derived from lignin. Taking that thought further, without lignin, coal would not be flammable.

That’s because coal is derived from plant wall materials that have been heated in an oxygen-free environment. If you heat cellulose and hemicellulose then all you end up with is carbon and water. Pure carbon (with water) doesn’t pyrolyse. The first step of burning is pyrolysis, the heat vapourises flammable gases than then burn. Pure carbon has no flammable gases. Lignin, however, has an excess of hydrogen and pyrolysis produces methane and other flammable gases from the component of coal derived from the lignin. So lignin is what makes coal flammable.

If you don’t believe me, try to get a flame off sugar, which is a carbohydrate like cellulose and hemicellulose. It can’t be done without adding some extra flammable component such as alcohol – or lignin.

Carbon burns. Just consider the use of coke as a fuel. While it’s true that in the case of paper or wood, it is the burning of gaseous decomposition products that causes the flame, solids can burn (directly). If you don’t believe me, try putting a lit match to steel wool. Although there is no flame, the steel wool does burn.

KJW said:

mollwollfumble said:

Thinking a bit. All of the world’s coal seam gas is derived from lignin. Taking that thought further, without lignin, coal would not be flammable.

That’s because coal is derived from plant wall materials that have been heated in an oxygen-free environment. If you heat cellulose and hemicellulose then all you end up with is carbon and water. Pure carbon (with water) doesn’t pyrolyse. The first step of burning is pyrolysis, the heat vapourises flammable gases than then burn. Pure carbon has no flammable gases. Lignin, however, has an excess of hydrogen and pyrolysis produces methane and other flammable gases from the component of coal derived from the lignin. So lignin is what makes coal flammable.

If you don’t believe me, try to get a flame off sugar, which is a carbohydrate like cellulose and hemicellulose. It can’t be done without adding some extra flammable component such as alcohol – or lignin.

Carbon burns. Just consider the use of coke as a fuel. While it’s true that in the case of paper or wood, it is the burning of gaseous decomposition products that causes the flame, solids can burn (directly). If you don’t believe me, try putting a lit match to steel wool. Although there is no flame, the steel wool does burn.

Just throw the sugar on a fire.

roughbarked said:

KJW said:

mollwollfumble said:

Thinking a bit. All of the world’s coal seam gas is derived from lignin. Taking that thought further, without lignin, coal would not be flammable.

That’s because coal is derived from plant wall materials that have been heated in an oxygen-free environment. If you heat cellulose and hemicellulose then all you end up with is carbon and water. Pure carbon (with water) doesn’t pyrolyse. The first step of burning is pyrolysis, the heat vapourises flammable gases than then burn. Pure carbon has no flammable gases. Lignin, however, has an excess of hydrogen and pyrolysis produces methane and other flammable gases from the component of coal derived from the lignin. So lignin is what makes coal flammable.

If you don’t believe me, try to get a flame off sugar, which is a carbohydrate like cellulose and hemicellulose. It can’t be done without adding some extra flammable component such as alcohol – or lignin.

Carbon burns. Just consider the use of coke as a fuel. While it’s true that in the case of paper or wood, it is the burning of gaseous decomposition products that causes the flame, solids can burn (directly). If you don’t believe me, try putting a lit match to steel wool. Although there is no flame, the steel wool does burn.

Just throw the sugar on a fire.

OK. Sorry, I was accidentally using the Mythbusters definition of “fire”. For Mythbusters, something isn’t considered to be “on fire” until a flame is visible. I don’t approve of the Mythbusters definition of “fire”.