Solvent Assisted Cellulose Depolymerisation

In this thesis, a novel one pot process for lignocellulosic biomass valorization and biofuel production has been developed. Five sources of lignocellulose are utilized to produce biofuel, namely castor stalk, spent coffee grounds, coffee husks, Eucalyptus globulus wood and cotton gin trash. Ionic liquids (ILs) are used as pretreatment solvents for LCB because of several favorable properties including, low vapour pressure, high solubility of cellulose and tunability. Various factors impacting the process economics of biofuel production from biomass are also studied in detail e.g., biomass loading, particle size etc. to optimize a process which is economically more favorable.