Biomass Blending and Densification: Impacts on Feedstock Supply and Biochemical Conversion Performance

Abstract

The success of lignocellulosic biofuels and biochemical industries depends on an economic and reliable supply of high‐quality biomass. However, research and development efforts have been historically focused on the utilization of agriculturally derived cellulosic feed‐ stocks, without considerations of their low energy density, high variations in compositions and potential supply risks in terms of availability and affordability. This chapter dem‐ onstrated a strategy of feedstock blending and densification to address the supply chain challenges. Blending takes advantage of low‐cost feedstock to avoid the prohibitive costs incurred through reliance on a single feedstock resource, while densification produces feedstocks with increased bulk density and desirable feed handling properties, as well as reduced transportation cost. We also review recent research on the blending and densifi‐ cation dealing with various types of feedstocks with a focus on the impacts of these pre‐ processing steps on biochemical conversion, that is, various thermochemical pretreatment chemistries and enzymatic hydrolysis, into fermentable sugars for biofuel production.