Renewable Chemicals and Energy from Lignocellulosic Biomass Jher Hau Yeap 10/7/2013

Overview  Introduction to lignocellulosic biomass  Applications  From cellulose  From hemicellulose  From lignin  Examples  Questions and discussion

What is lignocellulosic biomass?  Plant dry matter (biomass)  Three classifications  Virgin biomass  Energy crops  Waste biomass (non-edible)

Composition of biomass  % Cellulose (six carbon)  % Hemicellulose (five carbon)  % Lignin (aromatic polymers)

Why biomass?  Renewable  Versatile  Cheap and readily available  Does not compete with food sources

Corn stover Image courtesy of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Bioenergy Program

Corn cobs

Switchgrass

Main applications  Platform chemicals  Second generation biofuels (produced from sustainable feedstock)

Platform chemicals  Basis of compounds found at home or industry  A “platform” for other chemicals

Chemicals from cellulose  Saccharification into glucose  Hydroxymethylfurfural(HMF), levulinic acid, formic acid  Fermentation to ethanol

Chemicals from hemicellulose  Saccharification into xylose and isomers  Furfural  Fermentation (some strains of yeast)

Chemicals from lignin  Various phenols  Guaiacol (1 methoxy group), syringol (2 methoxy groups)

Derivatives from platform chemicals  2,5-Dimethylfuran(DMF) from HMF (similar thermal efficiency to gasoline)  Gamma-valerolactone(GVL) from levulinic acid  Liquid alkanes from GVL  Furfuryl alcohol from furfural  2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid(FDCA) from HMF

Second generation biofuels  GVL in gasoline  Liquid alkanes from GVL  Ethanol from fermentation  DMF

Example: Plastic bottles from FDCA

Example process: GVL

Comparison: Ethanol from biomass vs corn  Corn is major food source, along with high fructose corn syrup  Ethanol from biomass does not cut into food chain

Questions?  Will this become mainstream?  What problems might arise?  Compare to other renewable energy(eg. solar, wind)?

References  Alonso, D. M., Bond, J. Q., & Dumesic, J. A. (2010). Catalytic conversion of biomass to biofuels. Green Chemistry, 12(9),  Wettstein, S. G., Alonso, D. M., Gürbüz, E. I., & Dumesic, J. A. (2012). A roadmap for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to chemicals and fuels.Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, 1(3),  Alonso, D. M., Wettstein, S. G., Mellmer, M. A., Gurbuz, E. I., & Dumesic, J. A. (2013). Integrated conversion of hemicellulose and cellulose from lignocellulosic biomass. Energy & Environmental Science, 6(1),  GLBRC 2012 Science Report. Retrieved October 7, 2013 from