Scientists at PNNL are partnering with industry and academia to develop basic process technologies for cost-effective conversion of sugars
Converting Biomass to Products
June / July 2006
Volume 4 Number 3
Advancements in bioproducts science and technology are resulting in new opportunities for grower associations, commodity processors and chemical companies as well as for federal agencies interested in the environmental and economic benefits of domestic renewable resources to reduce our dependence on imported oil.
While the increasing prices of oil and potential instabiliy of supply have put biomass-derived fuels in the spotlight, over the long term, bio-based refineries must have a diverse product base to remain viable. Various high-value industrial and consumer products can be produced from biomass more cheaply than oil. They also have a higher market value than biomass-derived fuel or energy, and the current worldwide marketplace is very promising. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is working with private industry, academia and government to rapidly translate scientific discoveries into deployable technologies to make the production of these products a reality.
For nearly 30 years, PNNL has been developing and applying novel thermal, chemical and biological processes to convert biomass to industrial and consumer products, fuels and energy. Honors for technologies resulting from this research include the Presidential Green Chemistry Award and several Federal Laboratory Consortium and R&D 100 Awards.
PNNL's research and development activities address the complete processing scheme, from feedstock pretreatment to purified product recovery. The laboratory applies fundamental science and advanced engineering capabilities to biomass conversion and processing to ensure effective recovery of optimal value from biomass; carbohydrate polymer systems to maximize energy efficiencies; and micro-technology systems for separation and conversion processes. For example, bioproducts researchers in the laboratory's Institute for Interfacial Catalysis develop and demonstrate the utility of new catalyst formulations for production of bio-based chemicals. Here is a sampling of current and recent catalysis projects for biomass conversion.
Corn fiber processing
The objective of this project is to develop an economic process for the separation of corn fiber into its core building blocks. The general component groups in the corn fiber stream derived from corn processing facilities are starch, cellulose, hemicellulose, polyphenolics, oil and ash. This project is developing a technology platform to separate the component groups and convert them into glucose, arabinose, xylose, ferulic acid and to capture the specific components of the oil fraction: triglycerides and sterols. Glucose, xylose and arabinose, the most abundant materials, are being evaluated as a feedstock for either fermentation to ethanol or catalytic conversion to propylene glycol, ethylene glycol and glycerol. The ferulic acid is being evaluated as a feedstock for either fermentation to alcohol or catalytic conversion to propylene glycol, ethylene glycol and glycereol. Although triglycerides and sterols constitute less than one percent of the corn fiber, they are highly sought in existing markets and will contribute significantly to the overall economic viability of the project.
Research on this project was conducted under a CRADA with Archer Daniels Midland and the National Corn Growers Association.
The Department of Agriculture and DOE are jointly funding a project to create value-added products from ethanol dry-mill facilities. The feedstock is hemicellulose that remains after ethanol has been produced from the starch fraction of corn. This material usually is sold as a very low-value animal feed.
The project integrates highly efficient fermentations with high-yielding catalysis to create building-block chemicals, such as itaconic acid used in polymers and polyesters. The value created at smaller dry-mill facilities is expected to improve the overall economics of the plants, which will help the ethanol industry move toward the DOE goal of 30 billion gallons of ethanol by 2020.
Participants in the project are PNNL and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and a commercial partner, Dyadic International, Inc.
Fast pyrolysis is a thermal decomposition process that converts up to 75 percent of solid biomass to a crude bio-oil referred to as fast pyrolysis oil. This intermediate is a candidate for use in biorefineries to produce gasoline-like fuels and other chemicals. Researchers expect recent developments in catalyst formulation to boost the processing efficiency of the bio-oil.
PNNL is evaluating the performance of new catalysts with improved fast pyrolysis oil feedstocks and feedstock fractions. Research to convert the bio-oil to fuels and chemicals is promising, and PNNL is entering into a CRADA with a petroleum-related company to further evaluate this approach. The results will be used to provide a new basis for process economics.
More information on PNNL bioproducts research is available at www.pnl.gov/biobased. For collaboration and licensing opportunities, contact Todd Werpy at todd.werpy@pnl.gov; 509-372-4638.
Judith Graybeal is a senior communications specialist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
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