Title: Enhanced and High Yield Biofuel Production as Sustainable Bioenergy

Abstract:

Bioenergy is an alternative and renewable source of energy has been considered as sustainable environmental friendly process. Biomass waste conversion to biofuel is an effective and promising process to solve and partially contribute alternation of green energy without any consumption of fossil fuel. Besides, greenhouse gases certainly affected on global warming and climate changes. In the process of biomass generation carbon dioxide is utilized via photosynthetic process. The solar energy is naturally absorbed via chlorophyll photosynthesis; as a result, fats, lipids and free fatty acids are synthesized by means of algal growth in saline aqueous phase. Naturally, the source of carbon dioxide is easily providing through fermentation of ethanol process. Since, the theoretical yield of fermentable sugar in ethanol production is low (0.51 g ETOH/g glucose) because of the liberation of carbon dioxide; then, utilization of CO 2 biofixation would enhance the process yield by algal biomass generation. The lignocellulose algal biomass can be reduced to fermentable sugar via dilute acid or enzymatic hydrolysis. Either the sugar or algal residues are used in ethanol fermentation process or in co-digestion for enhanced methane production. The green pigments found in the mesosomes of Cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants has great potential to absorb light intensity while carbon dioxide is incorporated in the photosynthetic process. As a results fats are generated in algal cells. The greenish oil is extracted for transesterification process in production of biodiesel. The potential microalgae stains for generation of lipids would be Chlorella vulgaris, Dunaliella, Scenedesmus quadricauda and Synechococcus spp. The synthesized lipids, fats and free fatty acids are extracted, then distilled to obtain feed for transesterification for generation of methyl- or ethyl-esters used as biodiesel. In the stage of extraction, the remaining residues are processed either for dilute acid hydrolysis to deliver fermentable sugar or as supplement for co-digestion of process waste effluents to produce highly pure methane (purity of methane 97%) in an up flow anaerobic process. The fermentable substrate obtained from lingocellulosic walls of algae goes for ethanol production into a PDMS membrane bioreactor. The process off-gas is directed to a bioreactor for the growth of desired stains of microalgae. The entire processes would have zero waste with efficient generation of biofuels such as ethanol, methane and biodiesel.

Keywords: Biofuel; CO 2 biofixation; High Carbon yield; Membrane bioreactor; Renewable energy

Biography:

Distinguished Professor Ghasem D. Najafpour
A distinguished professor in Chemical Engineering and Chairman of Biotechnology Research Center, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Iran. He is an educated scholar from University of Arkansas, USA with strong background in biological processes. He is deeply involved in research and teaching in biochemical engineering subjects and he has conducted many practical researches in enzyme technology, fermentation processes, biodiesel, biofuel, biosurfactant, Pharmaceutical, medicine formulation, nano-biotechnology, wastewater treatment and biochemical engineering area. In fact, he is a Chemical Engineer and Biotechnologist, B.Sc., Medical Technolog University of Isfahan, Iran (1972), M.Sc., Chemical Engineering University of Oklahoma, USA (1977) and Ph.D., Chemical Engineering University of Arkansas, USA (1983). He served as assistant professor at University of Mazandran, Iran (1983-1989). Visiting Professor at University of Waterloo Canada and University of Arkansas, USA (1990-1991). He also spent his sabbatical leave at University of Arkansas, USA (1992-1993). There, he has expanded his scientific research activities on single cell protein (SCP), Microbial fuel cells, renewable energy and synthetic fuels. He served as associate professor at University of Mazandaran, Iran (1994-1998) and Universiti of Sains Malaysia, Malaysia (1998 – 2005). He served as full professor in Faculty of Chemical Engineering at Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Iran (2005-2018). Since December 2018, he was appointed as
distinguished professor, head of Biotechnology Center in in Faculty of Chemical Engineering at Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Iran.

Since 2008, he is serving as Editor in Chief of highly qualified International Journal of Engineering (www.IJE.ir), indexed in “Web of Science”. He is also Editor in Chief of Iranian Journal of Energy and Environment (www.IJEE.net) since 2010. He is an active member of many international institutes, editor and reviewers of number of international journals and many scientific societies. Often he is invited to many international conferences as keynote speakers.In past decades, he has supervised more than 180 master and 50 Ph.D. students. He has published more than 500 papers in international journals and has written 10 books in the field of
Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. In year 2006, he has published his 1 st edition of his book with Elsevier entitled "Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology". The 2nd edition of "Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology" with 20 chapters is published by Elsevier on Feb. 2015.

A few times, he has been awarded and appointed by the Ministry of High Education of Iran as the best and top researcher in Iranian Universities. He won number of awards for research achievements and winner of gold medal for the Invention/Innovation sponsored by Ministry of Science, Technology Malaysia, 2004. His researches for formulation of transparent soap and natural biodegradable liquid detergent from palm oil’s fatty acids, was patented with SIRIM Berhad,
Malaysia (2003). Currently, he is supervising number of PhD scholars, postdoc research scientists and conducting top research projects on microbial fuel cells, biodiesel biohydrogen, biodiesel, biofuel from algae, bioethanol from agro-wastes, enzyme technology, renewable energy, heterogeneous catalytic processes, synthesis and application of medicine and drug delivery,separation and purification enzymes and bio-based material, wastewater treatment and biological
treatment processes.