Biomass Group, Nanjing Agricultural University, PO Box 68, 40 Dianjiangtai Road, Nanjing 210031

Keynote speech on Carbon Capture (CCST 2022)

On July 22, 2022, as invited by Dr Chun-fei Wu (Reader of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Queen’s University Belfast, UK Editor-in-Chief of Carbon Capture Science & Technology), Prof. Zhen Fang attended the International Conference on Carbon Capture Science and Technology 2022 (CCST2022) held in Northern Ireland, UK. Prof. Fang gave a lecture on “Pretreatment and hydrolysis of lignocellulosic Biomass for Biorefineries”. He introduced

1. Hydrolysis

      (i) Pretreatment for enzymatic hydrolysis (e.g., 50 °C)

      (ii) Catalytic hydrolysis (e.g., 180 °C)

      (iii) Hydrothermal Hydrolysis

       near CP (374 °C & 22.1 MPa) without catalyst

2. Microbial and Jatropha biodiesel

     Green production with functional catalysts

3. Liquid biofuels

    (e.g., methyl levulinate, γ-valerolactone, 2,5-dimethylfuran, methylfuran) from carbohydrates (e.g., sugars, cellulose) with nanocatalysts

主旨报告碳捕获主题演讲（CCST 2022）

2022年7月22日，方真教授应吴春飞博士（英国贝尔法斯特女王大学化学和化学工程准教授Reader，《碳捕获科学与技术》主编）邀请，在2022年碳捕集科学与技术国际会议（CCST2022，英国北爱尔兰）上做了题为“预处理和水解木质纤维素生物质-生物炼制”的主旨报告，重点介绍了在木质纤维素的预处理和水解（酶解、催化和快速水解）、糖基生物柴油生产以及化学品和生物燃料的合成等方面的工作。

光大交流Visiting Everbright Environment (Group) Co., Ltd (Nanjing) for Collabration

On July 7, 2022, as invited by Dr. Jingwei Wu from China Everbright Environment (Group) Co., Ltd. (Nanjing), Prof. Zhen Fang led biomass group (Drs. Lujiang Xu, Wei Chen, Shuai Gao, Chengyu Dong and Huan Zhang) visited China Everbright Environment (Group) Co., Ltd. for technology exchanges in the treatment of wastes for further collabration in R&D.

In the Exhibition Hall, Dr. Xiaoyu Zheng (Director of the Comprehensive Institute of Everbright Environment Group Technology Research Institute) introduced the development history of Everbright Environment in three major fields of environment, resources and energy, including R&D and commercial plants for waste power generation and co-processing, biomass power generation, hazardous waste and solid waste disposal, environmental restoration, sewage treatment, reclaimed water reuse, water supply, comprehensive water environment management, resource recycling, and equipment manufacturing.

Later, Prof. Zhen Fang gave a lecture on “Pretreatment and hydrolysis of lignocellulosic Biomass for Biorefineries”. He briefly introduced the pretreatment and hydrolysis of lignocelluloses (enzymatic, catalytic and fast hydrolyses), biodiesel production, and synthesis of chemicals and biofuels. Dr. Zheru Shao, Chief Scientist of Everbright International, Director Dr. Xiaoyu Zheng, and the leaders of each group participated in the meeting, and had a lively discussion on the content of Prof. Fang’s lecture. At the same time, Everbright Environment raised current problems and needs for collaborations. It has laid a solid foundation for further in-depth discussion on the technique issues between the two parties.

方真教授一行赴中国光大环境(集团)有限公司开展交流合作

2022年7月7日，方真老师应中国光大环境(集团)有限公司武京伟博士邀请，带领生物质能源研究组（徐禄江副教授、陈伟副教授、高帅副教授、董澄宇博士和张环博士）赴中国光大环境(集团)有限公司开展交流合作，积极探索未来可能的合作方向。

光大环境集团技术研究院综合所所长郑晓宇等带领方真老师参观了光大环境展览厅，并介绍了光大环境的发展历程，在环境、资源、能源三大领域的布局情况，以及垃圾发电及协同处理、生物质发电、危废及固废处置、环境修复、污水处理、中水回用、供水、水环境综合治理、资源循环利用、装备制造等主营业务。

方真老师做了题为“预处理和水解木质纤维素生物质-生物炼制”的专题报告，重点介绍了研究组在木质纤维素的预处理和水解（酶解、催化和快速水解）、生物柴油生产以及化学品和生物燃料的合成等方面的工作。光大国际首席科学家邵哲如、郑晓宇所长、以及各小组组长等参与了交流会，并就方老师报告内容展开热烈讨论，同时也提出了光大环境目前面临的问题和需求，为双方后续进一步深入合作奠定了坚实基础。

Excellent Doctorial Dissertations Award

Dr. Song Tang won Excellent Doctorial Dissertations Award of Nanjing Agricultural University supervised by Prof. Zhen Fang with title “Study on microbial lipid production from rice straw pretreated with polyalcohols and chlorides”.

Congratulations!

生物能源组唐松博士获优博论文

南京农业大学生物能源组2017级博士研究生唐松（男）(导师：方老师），毕业论文《多元醇和氯化物预处理水稻秸秆发酵产微生物油脂的研究》获南京农业大学优秀博士论文。

祝贺唐松同学！

Mr. Zhou and Mr. Song successfully defended their Master theses

On June 2 and June 20, 2022, Mr. Xian-jun Zhou supervised by Dr. Lujiang Xu and Mr. Yan-qing Song supervised by Prof. Zhen Fang, successfully defended their theses. The defending committees were composed of Profs. Wen-qing Yin (chair), Hua Li, associate Profs. Yan-yan Ge & Fei Hu from Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU) and Prof. Zhi-tang Zhong from Jiangsu Agricultural Machinery Technology Extension Station for Mr. Zhou; as well as Profs. Chun-xia He (chair) and Kun-quan Li from NAU, and Prof. Hai-jun Chen from Nanjing Technology University for Mr. Song.

Mr. Zhou and Mr. Song presented their research results for Master theses, the committee members raised relevant questions. Based on the replies and theses reviewed, the panels agreed that Mr. Zhou and Mr. Song had successfully completed their research and course requirements in mechanical, and agricultural mechanization engineering. Mr. Zhou studied the synergistic effect of co-pyrolysis of polyoxymethylene and cellulose with his thesis entitled “Study on Producing Pyridines via Ammoniated Catalytic Co-pyrolysis of Cellulose and Polyoxymethylene and Design of Two-stage Pyrolysis Device”. Mr. Song studied hydrothermal gasification of agricultural wastes in supercritical water with his thesis entitled “Catalytic Gasification of Cotton Stalk over Ni-La/Spent Bleaching Clay to Produce Hydrogen in Supercritical Water”. Both Mr. Zhou and Mr. Song published one first-authored Journal paper.

After the juries voted by secret ballot, the panels agreed to confer Master of Engineering degree to Mr. Xian-jun Zhou, and Master of Science in Engineering degree to Mr. Yan-qing Song, subjected to the approval by the Academic Degrees Committees of the college and university.

Congratulations to Mr. Zhou and Mr. Song!

Papers published:

XJ Zhou, LQ Jiang, H Zhang, CY Dong, LJ Xu*, Catalytic Co-Pyrolysis of Cellulose and Waste Polyoxymethylene to Improve Producing Pyridines Compounds over Commercial HZSM-5 Zeolites under Ammonia Atmosphere, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 158 (2021), 105275.

YQ Song, S Nanda, WJ Cong, J Sun, GH Dong, A Magdziarz, Zhen Fang*, AK Dalai, JA Kozinski, Hydrogen Production from Cotton Stalk over Ni-La Catalysts Supported on Spent Bleaching Clay via Hydrothermal Gasification, Industrial Crops & Products, 186 (2022) 115228.

周贤君同志和宋彦庆同志顺利通过硕士论文答辩

2022年6月2日，6月20日，南京农业大学生物能源组2019级工学硕士研究生周贤君和宋彦庆毕业答辩会在南京农业大学浦口校区举行。南京农业大学的尹文庆教授担任周贤君同志的答辩评委会主席，李骅教授、葛艳艳副教授和胡飞副教授以及来自江苏省农业机械技术推广站钟志堂研究员担任评审委员。南京农业大学何春霞教授担任宋彦庆同志的答辩评委会主席，李坤权教授和南京工业大学的何海军教授担任评审委员。

答辩会上，周贤君同志和宋彦庆同志对其在校期间的学术论文进行汇报，同时答辩委员会主席和各位评委提出了相关问题。根据周贤君同志和宋彦庆同志的问题回答以及学位论文的评阅意见，评委会经过评审决议，一致认为周贤君同志和宋彦庆同志完成了机械，和农业机械化工程的研究和课程要求。周贤君同志在毕业论文《氨化催化共热解纤维素和聚甲醛制吡啶碱研究及双段热解装置设计》中研究了聚甲醛和纤维素热解的协同效应。宋彦庆同志在毕业论文《超临界水中Ni-La/废白土催化棉花秸秆气化产氢的研究》中研究了Ni-La/废白土催化气化棉杆制氢的课题，实现了棉花秸秆的高效制氢。周贤君和宋彦庆同志均以第一作者各发表论文一篇。

经评委会无记名投票表决，一致同意周贤君同志和宋彦庆同志通过硕士学位论文答辩，建议授予周贤君同志专业工程硕士学位，宋彦庆同志工学硕士学位。

祝贺周贤君同志和宋彦庆同志！

发表的论文：

XJ Zhou, LQ Jiang, H Zhang, CY Dong, LJ Xu*, Catalytic Co-Pyrolysis of Cellulose and Waste Polyoxymethylene to Improve Producing Pyridines Compounds over Commercial HZSM-5 Zeolites under Ammonia Atmosphere, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 158 (2021), 105275.

YQ Song, S Nanda, WJ Cong, J Sun, GH Dong, A Magdziarz, Zhen Fang*, AK Dalai, JA Kozinski, Hydrogen Production from Cotton Stalk over Ni-La Catalysts Supported on Spent Bleaching Clay via Hydrothermal Gasification, Industrial Crops & Products, 186 (2022) 115228.

Hydrogen production from cotton stalk over Ni-La catalysts supported on spent bleaching clay via hydrothermal gasification

Recently, master student Mr. Yan-qing Song supervised by Prof. Zhen Fang, collaborated with Dr. A Magdziarz at AGH University of Science and Technology (Poland), Prof. AK Dalai University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and Prof. JA Kozinski at Lakehead University (Canada) published a research article in Industrial Crops & Products about hydrogen production from cotton stalk with Ni-La/ supported on spent bleaching clay (SBC) catalysts.

Cotton stalk was gasified to produce H₂ with Ni-La based catalysts in subcritical and supercritical water. Approximately 90% H₂ yield was obtained under optimized conditions (360 ^oC, 0.5 g Ni-La catalyst loading, 0.5 g biomass and 10 min) by an orthogonal design with Ni-La/SBC. In addition, the H₂ yield of rice and wheat straw increased by 41.5 and 39.5 times, respectively at optimized conditions. It was found that the activity of Ni-La materials supported with SBC ash and Al₂O₃ was similar, with H₂ yields of 108.3% and 115.1% at 380 ^oC, respectively in 5 min. Catalysts were characterized by NH₃-TPD, TPR, XRD, BET and XPS. SBC ash provided a high specific surface area (94.4 m²/g) for the Ni-La catalyst. La-promoted Ni/SBC (0.19 mmol/g) had a stronger acidity than Ni/SBC (0.16 mmol/g). Ni-La/SBC had a broad reduction peak, indicating the uniform dispersion of Ni on the support. Ni-La/SBC materials not only realized the reuse of SBC but also effectively promoted the hydrothermal gasification of agricultural wastes. Related results were published：

YQ Song, S Nanda, WJ Cong, J Sun, GH Dong, A Magdziarz, Zhen Fang*, AK Dalai, JA Kozinski, Hydrogen production from cotton stalk over Ni-La catalysts supported on spent bleaching clay via hydrothermal gasification, Industrial Crops & Products, 186 (2022) 115228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2022.115228.

Ni-La materials supported in SBC ash for hydrothermal gasification of cotton stalk with 135.5% H₂ yield. (水热条件下Ni-La/废白土催化气化棉花秸秆，H₂产率为135.5%。)

水热条件下Ni-La/废白土催化棉花秸秆气化产氢

最近，硕士生宋彦庆在方真老师的指导下，与波兰AGH科技大学A Magdziarz博士, 加拿大Saskatchewan大学 AK Dalai院士以及加拿大Lakehead 大学工学院院长JA Kozinski院士在国际学术期刊 Industrial Crops & Products发表题为“水热条件下Ni-La/废白土催化棉花秸秆气化产氢”的研究性论文。

使用Ni-La基催化剂在亚临界和超临界水中催化气化棉秆生产H₂。以Ni-La/废白土（SBC）为催化剂，通过正交实验，筛选出最优反应条件：360 ^oC、0.5 g Ni-La/SBC、0.5 g 棉杆、10 分钟，获得了约 90% 的 H₂ 产率。此外，优化条件下水稻和小麦秸秆的H₂产量分别提高了41.5倍和39.5倍。同时，发现 SBC 灰和 Al₂O₃ 负载的 Ni-La 材料的活性相似，在 380 ^oC 下反应 5 分钟的 H₂ 产率分别为 108.3% 和 115.1%。通过NH₃-TPD、TPR、XRD、BET和XPS对催化剂进行了表征。 SBC灰为 Ni-La 催化剂提供了高比表面积 (94.4 m²/g)。La 促进的Ni/SBC (0.19 mmol/g)比Ni/SBC (0.16 mmol/g)具有更强的酸性。Ni-La/SBC 有一个较宽的还原峰，表明 Ni 在载体上均匀分散。Ni-La/SBC材料不仅实现了废白土的再利用，还有效促进了农业废弃物的水热气化。详情可见：

YQ Song, S Nanda, WJ Cong, J Sun, GH Dong, A Magdziarz, Zhen Fang*, AK Dalai, JA Kozinski, Hydrogen production from cotton stalk over Ni-La catalysts supported on spent bleaching clay via hydrothermal gasification, Industrial Crops & Products, 186 (2022) 115228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2022.115228.