IIT Guwahati via NPTEL

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

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Overview

Chemical Engineering course by Prof. Kaustubha Mohanty.

Syllabus 13

Week 1 : Introduction
- Lec 1 : Energy and Environment scenario
- Lec 2 : Need for biomass based industries
Week 2: Biomass
- Lec 3 : Biomass basics
- Lec 4 : Dedicated energy crops
- Lec 5 : Oil cropns and microalgae
- Lec 6 : Enhancing biomass properties
Week 3: Biorefinery
- Lec 7 : Basic concepts and types
- Lec 8 : Feedstocks and properties
- Lec 9 : Economics and LCA
Week 4: Biomass Pretreatment
- Lec 10 : Barriers and Types
- Lec 11 : Dilute acid, alkali, ozone
- Lec 12 : Hybrid methods
Week 5: Physical and Thermal Conversion Processes
- Lec 13 : Physical Processes
- Lec 14 : Gasification and Pyrolysis
- Lec 15 : Products and Commercial Success Stories
Week 6: Microbial Conversion Processes
- Lec 16 : Types, fundamentals, equipments, applications
- Lec 17 : Details of various processes
- Lec 18 : Products and Commercial Success Stories
Week 7: Biodiesel
- Lec 19 : Diesel from vegetable oils, microalgae and syngas
- Lec 20 : Transesterification; FT process, catalysts
- Lec 21 : Biodiesel purification, fuel properties
Week 8: Biooil and Biochar
- Lec 22 : Biooil and biochar production, reactors
- Lec 23 : Factors affecting biooil, biochar production, fuel properties characterization
- Lec 24 : Biooil upgradation technologies
Week 9: Bioethanol and Biobutanol
- Lec 25 : Microorganisms, current industrial ethanol production technology
- Lec 26 : Cellulase production, SSF and CBP
- Lec 27 : ABE fermentation pathway and kinetics, product recovery technologies
Week 10: Hydrogen, Methane and Methanol
- Lec 28 : Biohydrogen production, metabolics, microorganisms
- Lec 29 : Biogas technology, fermenter designs, biogas purification
- Lec 30 : Methanol production and utilization
Week 11: Organic Commodity Chemicals from Biomass
- Lec 31 : Biomass as feedstock for synthetic organic chemicals, lactic acid, polylactic acid
- Lec 32 : Succinic acid, propionic acid, acetic acid, butyric acid
- Lec 33 : 1,3-propanediol, 2,3-butanedioil, PHA
Week 12: Integrated Biorefinery
- Lec 34 : Concept, lignocellulosic biorefinery
- Lec 35 : Aquaculture and algal biorefinery, waste biorefinery
- Lec 36 : Techno-economic evaluation
- Lec 37 : Life-cycle assessment
Live Session
- Live Session 17-02-2021
- Live Session 07-04-2021
- Live Session 22-03-2022
- Live Session 23-02-2024
- Live Session 21-02-2025

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

Taught by IIT and IISc professors, and it follows the Indian university syllabus closely.
All videos and assignments are free on NPTEL and SWAYAM.
The certificate is recognised by many Indian universities for credit transfer and by GATE aspirants.
Great for GATE and semester exam preparation.
From Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, a well-regarded name.
Completely free.
Self-paced: start any time.
A clear syllabus (13 parts) you can see before you start.

Disadvantages

The certificate needs a proctored exam at a centre, which has a fee.
Recorded classroom lectures: thorough, but slower than made-for-online courses.
New runs start on fixed dates (January and July).
Learning is free, but the certificate costs money.

Some points apply to every course of this kind; see how we rank.

Free to learn

Free: Every video and assignment is free on NPTEL and SWAYAM. Enrol when the next run opens.
Certificate: Optional. It needs a proctored exam at a centre, which has a fee.