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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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23 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

From Petroleum to Biobased Crude: A Thermoplastic Polyurethane from Lignin-Oil Without Isocyanates

The movement to transfer from petroleum-based products and materials to renewables does not necessarily have to bypass the use of oil. A new type of "black-gold" is readily abundant from the earth's most abundant source of aromatic carbon: lignin. While fractionation of petroleum yields fuels and chemicals for a diverse set of industries, lignin fractionation using targeted catalysts has demonstrated the ability to generate monomers and oligomers rich in functional groups for polymer synthesis. This study explores the use of lignin-oil, generated from reductive catalytic fractionation of popular wood, to a hydroxyl-rich mixture of aromatics that is used to synthesize a thermoplastic non-isocyanate polyurethane. The lignin-oil is first converted to a cyclocarbonated derivative using a benign synthetic sequence and further polymerized with a diamine to yield the non-isocyanate TPU. While more work is underway to optimize the reaction conditions and meet typical mechanical properties of commercial materials, initial analysis shows thermoplastic behavior and flexible properties consistent with traditional thermoplastic polyurethanes.

BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Identification of Known and Novel Monomers for Poly(hydroxyurethanes) from Biobased Materials

Sourcing polymers from biobased materials is desirable for a transition to a more sustainable world. However, finding new monomers sourced from biobased molecules requires extensive experimental effort, due to the fact that most biomolecules lack the functional groups or properties needed to serve as a monomer in a particular polymeric system without chemical modification. In this work, we demonstrate a computational screening method to obtain monomers of a non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU), polyhydroxyurethane (PHU), from biomolecules. Our method generates candidate monomers from a list of 15 selected biobased starting molecules by performing chemical transformations that are standard to chemical catalysis and organic synthesis on these starting molecules and then screening the results for molecules with moieties that can be used as monomers for a PHU. Product molecules from two generations of reaction, a total number of 20,057, were analyzed automatically to identify molecules that have two or more epoxy or cyclic carbonate functional groups as candidates for further derivatization. These 21 candidate molecules were then subjected to another two generations of reaction, producing a set of 17,913 additional molecules. Further scrutiny of this set for desired functional groups characterizing PHUs and querying against the PubChem database was carried out, and 15 known molecules that are commercially available were identified, with the desirable features that they are predicted to be derived from biobased starting molecules in four or fewer steps. Moreover, molecule space generated from this process was primarily comprised of molecules that were not known to PubChem, indicating the framework also has the ability to generate novel candidate monomers that originate from biobased starting points.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Technology Case Study: Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Analysis for Microalgae Conversion Pathways to Fuels and Products

This technology case study report details the cost and sustainability prospects for an emerging feedstock - microalgae - converted to fuels and products via a fractionation and upgrading approach termed combined algae processing (CAP). Detailed techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) are conducted for the conversion of farmed algae biomass, with two primary scenarios considering the conversion of either high-compositional-quality biomass enriched in lipids (high-lipid [HL]) or lower-quality biomass enriched in protein (high-protein [HP]). Each scenario employs a different biorefinery configuration tailored towards extracting the maximum value from the given biomass composition. The HL scenario produces fuels and non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) as the primary products, while the HP scenario products fuels and a residual solid coproduct which can be used as a co-feed for producing thermoplastics. The results for the HL scenario were particularly promising, with a minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of $\$$3.68 per gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) and fuel GHG emissions translating to 54%-76% reduction compared to petroleum fuels depending on the coproduct handling method used. In contrast, the HP scenario faced more challenges in producing biofuels economically, projecting an MFSP of $\$$7.92/GGE despite significant revenues from the residual algae solids. LCA results for the HP case reflected a 24% reduction potential in biorefinery-level GHG emissions. However, these GHG reductions were primarily associated with the thermoplastic coproduct, which accounted for 93% of all biorefinery outputs by mass. Using a process-level allocation method, carbon intensity results were less promising, indicating a net increase in fuel GHG emissions versus petroleum fuels and highlighting the reliance of this scenario on the thermoplastic coproduct.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

BETO 2021 Peer Review - CAP Process Research

Combined Algal Processing (CAP) is an algae biorefining approach that employs pretreatment and extraction operations to fractionate algal biomass into an organic liquid phase containing lipids, an aqueous hydrolysate phase containing carbohydrates and protein, and a residual solid phase containing insoluble matter. Each of these fractions is upgraded to fuels and/or co-products, including non-isocyanate polyurethanes from unsaturated lipids, fuels from saturated lipids, fuel precursor carboxylic acids from the hydrolysate, and conductive carbons from the solid residue. Techno-economic analysis of multiple CAP configurations suggests that some configurations have a viable pathway to algal biofuels at $2.50/gallon of gasoline equivalent.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Assessment of Plant and Microalgal Oil-Derived Nonisocyanate Polyurethane Products for Potential Commercialization

Green pathways for nonisocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) production have attracted increasing levels of interest. The reaction between 5-membered cyclic carbonate and polyamines is one of the most promising pathways to produce NIPU polymers. Though promising, major technical hurdles such as slow polymerization rate and poor performance hinder the commercialization of NIPU. In this paper, we screened several commercially available triglyceride oil feedstocks for NIPU products, focusing on polymerization kinetics and product performance for industrial application. The impact of carbonated group density on polymerization rate and mechanical strength was determined. We have demonstrated a remarkably higher reactivity of carbonated oil derived from feedstocks with polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). The NIPU derived from such feedstocks also showed improved performance for industrial application. Unlike traditional polyurethane foam production that uses isocyanate and water to generate CO2 as a blowing reagent, there is no gas formation in NIPU polymerization. We have demonstrated a practical and cost-effective approach to produce NIPU foam material using bicarbonate as a blowing reagent. Furthermore, we conducted the first-ever technoeconomic analysis (TEA), revealing that profitable commercial NIPU production can be achieved when operating at sufficient production capacities.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗