Treesearch

The investigation on utilizing macroalgae for industrial scale biodiesel production is an imperative action needed for commercialization. In the present research work, the biooil from marine macroalgae Dictyota bartayresiana was used for biodiesel production using calcium oxide nanocatalyst synthesized using waste collected from building demolition site. The optimization results obtained were the calcination temperature 573 °C, concentration of catalyst 5.62%, methanol to oil molar ratio 14.36:1, temperature 55.7 °C and time 67.57 min for the transesterification with the biodiesel yield of...

Hydrolyzing lignocellulose, the most abundant biomass raw material in nature, into monosaccharides by enzymes and then transforming the sugars into chemicals and fuels by biological or chemical methods is one of the most important parts of biorefining. In lignocellulosic biomass, cellulose is often tightly wrapped by lignin along with hemicelluloses. Although some pretreatments can partially remove lignin, residual lignin in pretreated substrates still physically blocks the accessibility of cellulose, non-productively adsorbs cellulases, and sterically hinders the enzymatic hydrolysis of...

The growing applications of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy in wood quality control and monitoring necessitates focusing on data-driven methods to develop predictive models. Despite the advancements in analyzing NIR spectral data, literature on wood science and engineering has mainly utilized the classic model development methods, such as principal component analysis (PCA) regression or partial least squares (PLS) regression, with relatively limited studies conducted on evaluating machine learning (ML) models, and specifically, artificial neural networks (ANNs). This could potentially...

Alaska yellow-cedar (Cupressus nootkatensis) is a softwood tree species native to the Pacific coast of Canada and is known to contain various biologically active extractive components. Extractives are nonstructural chemical compounds found within wood that are primarily responsible for the durability of the tree itself and can, in some species, fend off attacks from microbes, insects, and other agents. Durability in wood often translates to biological activity in the human body, and some extractive compounds have already been identified as being biologically active. Extractives of Alaska...

Many durable wood species contain extractives with biologically active chemical components that have potential to be used for the development of pharmaceuticals. For this study, extractive compounds from western redcedar (Thuja plicata) were separated by their relative polarities using liquid–liquid fractionation and characterized through gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS). Fractionation was successful at separating the components of western redcedar in a consistent manner, and GC–MS was able to identify the presence of various terpenoid compounds, primarily nezukone and thujaplic...

Commonly the raw material round timber is reduced into smaller parts such as solid wood boards, sheets of veneer, strands, particles, and fibers for further manufacturing and processing. In following steps, the single wooden pieces are joined together by adhesive bonding to achieve the final structures such as various types of wood laminations or wood-based panels. This chapter describes the various mechanical connecting and adhesive bonding solutions. Different mechanical connector systems are introduced in theory and practice. A major part of the chapter is dedicated to wood adhesion and...

Glue laminated timber (glulam) is an engineered wood product composed of wood laminations bonded together with durable adhesives. Glulam is versatile ranging from simple, straight beams to complex, curved structural members and are used in a variety of applications including residential and commercial construction where they are often exposed due to the timeless aesthetic of wood. Glulam beams are also resource-efficient and offer designers highly predictable structural and fire performance when used in accordance with design specifications. However, factory-cut or field modifications to...

Timber structures decay over time with degradation in their structural integrity. Changing environmental conditions, varying loads, exposure to moisture or insect attacks lead to changes in their vibrational response behaviour. Here we present a low-cost device used as a triggered exciter to enable the monitoring of the structural integrity of timber bearers or even power poles in electricity networks. The actuation is initiated by a novel purpose-built, calibrated spring-loaded piezo-electric exciter. The device is connected to a fibre-optical network with optical accelerometers to...

Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) is a promising cathode active material capable of suppressing lithium polysulfide dissolution in lithium−sulfur (Li−S) batteries. However, due to the low S content in SPAN, achieving a high SPAN areal loading without compromising specific capacity and cycling stability would be required. To address this challenge, we took advantage of the inherent porous structure of natural wood and engineered carbonized delignifed wood (CDW) frameworks using a delignification/low-temperature pyrolysis approach. The unique design of the SPAN-impregnated CDW (SPAN@CDW)...

Candidate insecticide products under consideration for use as soil termiticides are required to have specific efficacy data for federal registration by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Data that are collected annually by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (FS) Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), Durability and Wood Protection research work unit (RWU 4723), serve to fulfill this need. The FS group installs and evaluates wooden test pieces on plots of soil treated with candidate termiticide products. Data from these studies are used in the registration...