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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Re-directing mixed-feed deconstruction products to hybrid polyesters: Tolerance windows for commodity plastics reconstruction

Solvolysis is a promising strategy for mixed-feed polyester recycling, but little attention has been given to downstream product separations or the impact of using imperfectly separated monomer mixtures in recycled polymer reconstruction. Here, we challenge the traditional need for high-purity monomers in polycondensation synthesis of engineering thermoplastics. Monomer mixtures are derived from catalyzed methanolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT), with separation scenarios ranging from high (99:1) to low (90:10) purity. We focus on challenging-to-separate products like ethylene glycol and 1,4-butanediol and evaluate tolerance for comonomer incorporation in recycled hybrid polyesters: polybutylene-co-ethylene terephthalate (PBET) and polybutylene ethylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBEAT). Evaluations are made between “contaminant” monomer incorporation, and the resulting materials’ thermal properties, crystalline structure, tensile toughness, and rheology. Ultimately, we highlight that despite incorporation of contaminant monomer, high-performance hybrid polyesters of PET, PBT, and PBAT are obtained while reducing the strain of high-throughput separations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

A Catabolic Powerhouse for Biorefineries: Characterization and Engineering Erwinia spp. Strain LJJL01 to Produce Bioproducts

Nonmodel microbial hosts can efficiently biotransform unconventional organic feedstocks into advanced bioproducts, leveraging their superior metabolic capabilities and resilience to process-relevant physicochemical conditions. In this study, we domesticated Erwinia spp. strain. LJJL01 (Er LJJL01) as a potent microbial chassis to advance the emerging biorefinery strategy for the valorization of lignin-rich biomass and plastic, thereby enabling the circular economy. The strain exhibits remarkable chemical tolerance and can biofunnel various substrates, including sugars, acids, polyols, and aromatics, in minimal salt media to produce native fine chemicals such as acetoin, 2,3-butanediol, and lactic acid. As a proof of concept, engineering this strain with advanced genetic tools enables the production of tailored high-value chemicals, such as cis,cis-muconate from plastic-derived terephthalate and polyhydroxybutyrate from lignocellulosic hydrolysate. We established Er LJJL01 as a potent microbial chassis for the green synthesis of bioproducts from unconventional organic feedstocks.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Use of Renewable Alcohols in Autocatalytic Production of Aspen Organosolv Lignins

This study aimed to investigate the intrinsic efficiency of renewable alcohols, applied under autocatalytic conditions, for removing lignin from aspen and hot-water-extracted aspen while substantially preserving the lignin structure so as to facilitate various valorization strategies. Ethylene glycol (EG), propylene glycol (PG), 1,4-butanediol (BDO), ethanol (EtOH), and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) were evaluated based on their lignin solubilization ability, expressed as the relative energy difference (RED) following the principles of the Hansen solubility theory. The findings indicate that alcohols with a higher lignin solubilization potential lead to increased delignification, almost 90%, and produce a lignin with a higher content of β-O-4 bonds, up to 68% of those found in aspen milled wood lignin, thereby indicating their potential for valorization through depolymerization. However, these alcohols also produce lignin with a higher content of β-β and β-5 bonds, resulting in a higher molecular weight and polydispersity, due to readily occurring homolytic reactions. Hot-water extraction (HWE) conducted prior to alcohol treatment reduced the delignification efficiency and resulted in a lignin with a lower β-O-4 bond content. The lignins produced in these experiments exhibited a superior UV-A absorption capacity compared with synthetic benzophenone, as well as a greater radical quenching ability than synthetic butylated hydroxytoluene, indicating their potential for use in the protection of polymers against degradation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Mechanisms and Energetics of CO 2 Chemisorption in Choline-Based Eutectic Solvents

Understanding the influences of proton sharing and hydrogen transfer in amine and hydroxyl functionalized eutectic solvents is important for tuning CO 2 binding as they relate to the chemisorption capacity and energetics of solvent regeneration in carbon capture. In this study, we examine how the CO 2 binding mechanism and energetics vary in eutectic solvents composed of choline-based hydrogen-bond acceptors (HBAs) with amine and hydroxyl moieties and ethylene glycol (EG), propylene glycol (PG), 1,2-butanediol (BD), and monoethanolamine (MEA)-type hydrogen-bond donors (HBDs), through absorption–desorption experiments and spectral analysis, supported with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. While the HBD-CO 2 complex is the major and the thermodynamically more favored product of absorption in all of the examined eutectic solvents, this complexation is only possible proceeding a proton transfer from HBD to the HBA in diol-based systems (EG, PG, BD). The interplay between HBA-CO 2 and HBD-CO 2 speciation is governed by the HBD concentration, basicity, and steric effects, with increased HBD-CO 2 interactions in the presence of smaller HBDs (size: BD > PG > EG). On the other hand, in MEA-based systems, CO 2 readily binds to the amine followed by a proton transfer from the amine to the HBA as confirmed by DFT calculations. In this way, the MEA-CO 2 chemisorption capacities exceeded that of the conventional amine (up to 0.93 mol of CO 2 per mol of MEA versus 0.5). Furthermore, the increase in CO 2 capacities and enhanced binding in eutectics including MEA or the more basic HBAs also resulted in regeneration temperatures of 70 to 60 °C with calculated reaction energies of −82 to −57 kJ/mol, compared to 50 °C for others with weaker binding, following CO 2 absorption at 25 °C.

absorption↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cell Extracts from Bacteria and Yeast Retain Metabolic Activity after Extended Storage and Repeated Thawing

Cell-free synthetic biology enables rapid prototyping of biological parts and synthesis of proteins or metabolites in the absence of cell growth constraints. Cell-free systems are frequently made from crude cell extracts, where composition and activity can vary significantly based on source strain, preparation and processing, reagents, and other considerations. This variability can cause extracts to be treated as black boxes for which empirical observations guide practical laboratory practices, including a hesitance to use dated or previously thawed extracts. To better understand the robustness of cell extracts over time, we assessed the activity of cell-free metabolism during storage. As a model, we studied conversion of glucose to 2,3-butanediol. We found that cell extracts from Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae subjected to an 18-month storage period and repeated freeze-thaw cycles retain consistent metabolic activity. Here this work gives users of cell-free systems a better understanding of the impacts of storage on extract behavior.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Valorization of bamboo biomass using combinatorial pretreatments

Current studies concerning liquid hot water pretreatment (LHWP) usually focus on cellulose saccharification or hemicellulose conversion, while the appropriate extraction and utilization of LHWP-induced lignin have not been addressed. To valorize whole biomass, here, in this study, a series of LHWP-based combinatorial pretreatments are proposed using advanced solvent systems. The first LHWP stage removed 73.74% of xylan at the optimized pretreatment severity (~4.0), at the same time preserving almost all the cellulose and lignin. As a result, 9.04 g L –1 xylo-oligosaccharides (XOSs) were obtained in the prehydrolyzate, representing 63.31% of the degraded xylan. The LHWP also caused the migration and partial degradation of the lignin which benefits the delignification in the second stage of pretreatment utilizing NaOH, deep eutectic solvent (DES) and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) under relatively mild conditions. The proposed combinatorial pretreatment significantly enhanced glucan conversion. The physiochemical structural properties of the untreated and pretreated substrates were investigated with XRD, FTIR, GPC, SEM, and Simons’ staining to understand the mechanisms of different combinatorial pretreatments for overcoming biomass recalcitrance and facilitating integrated biomass valorization. Finally, the physical and chemical properties of the regenerated lignins were analyzed. The results revealed that lignins from LHWP–NaOH pretreatment preserved most of the native β-O-4 structure (37.1%). Thus it could be used as an ideal method for the catalytic production of aromatic monomers. On the other hand, LHWP–DES pretreatment generated lignins with low molecular weight and high phenolic OH content, which is promising for synthesizing resins and antioxidants. In conclusion, the proposed combinatorial pretreatment established a reliable sequential pretreatment methodology for maximizing the output of bamboo biomass and may fit into different biorefinery configurations for various value-added products.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Feedstock/pretreatment screening for bioconversion of sugar and lignin streams via deacetylated disc-refining

Recent publications have shown the benefits of deacetylation disc-refining (DDR) as a pretreatment process to deconstruct biomass into sugars and lignin residues. Major advantages of DDR pretreatment over steam and dilute acid pretreatment are the removal of acetyl and lignin during deacetylation. DDR does not generate hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural which are commonly produced from steam and dilute acid pretreatments. Acetate, lignin, HMF, and furfural are known inhibitors during enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. Another advantage of deacetylation is the production of lignin-rich black liquor, which can be upgraded to other bioproducts. Furthermore, due to the lack of sugar degradation during deacetylation, DDR has significantly less sugar loss than other pretreatment methods. Previous studies for DDR have primarily focused on corn stover, but lacked the investigative studies of other feedstocks. This study was designed to screen various DDR process conditions at pilot scale using three different feedstocks, including corn stover, poplar, and switchgrass. The impact of the pretreatment conditions was evaluated by testing hydrolysates for bioconversion to 2,3-butanediol. Pretreatment of biomass by DDR showed high-conversion-yields and 2,3-BDO fermentation production yields. Techno-economic analysis (TEA) of the pretreatment for biomass to sugar was also developed based on NREL’s Aspen Model. This study shows that the cellulose and hemicellulose in poplar was more recalcitrant than herbaceous feedstocks which ultimately drove up the sugar cost. Switchgrass was also more recalcitrant than corn stover but less than poplar.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels and Products: 2019 State of Technology and Future Research

The purpose of this report is to benchmark the latest experimental developments across a number of potential bioconversion pathways as quantified by modeled minimum fuel selling prices (MFSPs), as a measure of current status relative to those final targets. For this state of technology, TEA models were run for two separate biological conversion pathways to fuels, based on available data for integrated biomass deconstruction and hydrolysate processing; namely carboxylic acids (primarily butyric acid) and diols (2,3-butanediol [BDO]), reflecting NREL’s recently-published 2018 biochemical design report focused on those two pathways. The models were run across three scenarios for lignin utilization, namely combustion, conversion to coproducts based on “base case” performance with biomass hydrolysate, and conversion to coproducts based on “high” performance demonstrated with model lignin monomer components.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels and Products: 2020 State of Technology and Future Research

The annual State of Technology (SOT) assessment is an essential activity for biochemical platform research. It allows the impact of research progress to be quantified in terms of economic improvements in the overall cellulosic biofuel production process for a particular conversion pathway. As such, initial benchmarks can be established for currently demonstrated performance and progress can be tracked towards out-year goals to ultimately demonstrate cost-competitive cellulosic biofuel technology. The purpose of this report is to benchmark the latest experimental developments across a number of potential bioconversion pathways as quantified by modeled minimum fuel selling prices (MFSPs), as a measure of current status relative to those final targets. For this state of technology, TEA models were run for two separate biological conversion pathways to fuels, based on available data for integrated biomass deconstruction and hydrolysate processing; namely carboxylic acids (primarily butyric acid) and diols (2,3-butanediol [BDO]), reflecting NREL's recently-published 2018 biochemical design report focused on those two pathways. The models were run across three scenarios for lignin utilization, namely combustion, conversion to coproducts based on "base case" performance with biomass hydrolysate, and conversion to coproducts based on "high" performance demonstrated with model lignin monomer components. Relative to prior 2019 benchmarks, the 2020 SOT achieved further MFSP reductions of approximately $1/gallon gasoline equivalent, primarily attributed to improvements in pretreatment that led to both cost reductions and yield improvements.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Techno-Economic Assessment for the Production of Hydrocarbon Fuels via Catalytic Upgrading of Furans

This technical report documents the techno-economic analysis (TEA) implications of a biochemical/catalytic pathway for the production of long-chain hydrocarbon fuels in support to the multi-lab Catalytic Upgrading of Biochemical Intermediates (CUBI) project within the Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium (ChemCatBio). Two distinct conceptual biorefineries centered around the process encompassing sugar dehydration to furans, aldol condensation between furans and a ketone (methyl ethyl ketone [MEK]), and a final step of hydrotreating to obtain hydrocarbons in the C 14 -C 16 range are considered: an integrated plant that simultaneously produces both furans (furfural and HMF) and ketone (MEK via 2,3-butanediol [BDO]) from sugars and a dedicated facility focused on producing furans from corn stover hydrolysate and procuring the ketone externally. In either plant, the main coproducts are adipic acid (derived from lignin) and sodium sulfate. The results from the assessment are quite comparable to those reported in previous design case focused on biological conversion of sugars to fermentation intermediates with subsequent catalytic upgrading of those intermediates to hydrocarbon fuels, thus presenting another viable alternative pathway to achieve similar fuel cost targets through purely catalytic upgrading of sugars. Since this study considers long-term performance targets for the full pathway dedicated to sugar upgrading to fuels, the critical remaining research points needed to achieve future cost goals are also discussed. Finally, this report presents a single-point sensitivity analysis around selected parameters to identify the major cost drivers of the biorefineries and provides a qualitative discussion on additional opportunities for cost reduction within the proposed concepts, namely through adding value to furans, to coproducts that may be obtained following BDO dehydration, and to lignin through alternative pathways.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels and Products (2021 State of Technology and Future Research)

The annual State of Technology (SOT) assessment is an essential activity for biochemical platform research. It allows the impact of research progress to be quantified in terms of economic improvements in the overall cellulosic biofuel production process for a particular conversion pathway. As such, initial benchmarks can be established for currently demonstrated performance and progress can be tracked towards out-year goals to ultimately demonstrate cost-competitive cellulosic biofuel technology. The purpose of this report is to benchmark the latest experimental developments across a number of potential bioconversion pathways as quantified by modeled minimum fuel selling prices (MFSPs), as a measure of current status relative to those final targets. For this state of technology, TEA models were run for two separate biological conversion pathways to fuels, based on available data for integrated biomass deconstruction and hydrolysate processing; namely carboxylic acids (primarily butyric acid) and diols (2,3-butanediol [BDO]), reflecting NREL's recently-published 2018 biochemical design report focused on those two pathways. The models were run across three scenarios for lignin utilization, namely combustion, conversion to coproducts based on "base case" performance with biomass hydrolysate, and conversion to coproducts based on "high" performance demonstrated with model lignin monomer components. A key improvement reflected in the 2021 SOT is centered around making use of the latest lignin conversion data, which over the past year focused primarily on production of ß-ketoadipate (BKA) as a more optimal molecule compared to the closely-related adipic acid coproduct of prior recent focus, both in terms of superior product properties and biology, as well as reduced processing complexity (reducing two steps for sequential production of muconate followed by hydrogenation to adipic acid down to a single step for direct production of BKA). This update translated to a roughly 17% increase in mass yield of final coproduct output at a nearly four-fold increase in fermentation productivity on lignin monomers relative to prior 2020 SOT benchmarks for muconic/adipic acid production.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels and Products: 2022 State of Technology and Future Research

The annual State of Technology (SOT) assessment is a key activity for biochemical platform research. It allows the impact of research progress (both directly achieved in-house at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory [NREL] and indirectly extrapolated from available public data) to be quantified in terms of economic improvements in the overall cellulosic biofuel production process for a particular conversion pathway. As such, initial benchmarks can be established for currently demonstrated performance and progress can be tracked toward out-year goals to ultimately demonstrate cost-competitive biofuel technology. Building upon efforts to progress NREL's biochemical platform R&D work toward ultimate 2030 goals to demonstrate less than $2.50/gallon gasoline equivalent (GGE) fuel selling prices, experimental and techno-economic analysis (TEA) activities have primarily focused on "advanced" biochemical processing strategies to fuels and coproducts, guided by TEA modeling to highlight key barriers and priorities toward achieving this goal across a number of potential bioconversion pathways. The purpose of the present effort is to benchmark the latest experimental developments for these pathways as quantified by modeled minimum fuel selling prices (MFSPs), as a measure of current status relative to those final targets. For this SOT, TEA models were run for two separate biological conversion pathways to fuels, based on available data for integrated biomass deconstruction and hydrolysate processing; namely carboxylic acids (primarily butyric acid) and diols (2,3-butanediol [BDO]), reflecting NREL's recently published 2018 biochemical design report focused on those two pathways. The models were run across two scenarios for lignin utilization, namely combustion and conversion to value-added coproducts.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Algal Biomass Conversion to Fuels via Combined Algae Processing (CAP): 2022 State of Technology and Future Research

The annual State of Technology (SOT) assessment is an essential activity for platform research conducted under the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). It allows for the impact of research progress (both directly achieved in-house at NREL and furnished by partner organizations) to be quantified in terms of economic improvements in the overall biofuel production process for a particular biomass processing pathway, whether based on terrestrial or algal biomass feedstocks. As such, initial benchmarks can be established for currently demonstrated performance, and progress can be tracked toward out-year goals to ultimately demonstrate economically viable biofuel technologies. NREL's algae SOT benchmarking efforts focus both on front-end algal biomass production and separately on back-end conversion to fuels through NREL's "combined algae processing" (CAP) pathway. The production model is based on outdoor long-term cultivation data, enabled by comprehensive algal biomass production trials conducted under Development of Integrated Screening, Cultivar Optimization, and Verification Research (DISCOVR) consortium efforts and driven by data furnished by Arizona State University's (ASU's) Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI) test bed site. The CAP model is primarily based on experimental efforts conducted under NREL research and development projects, with some process parameters provided by partner organizations. Assumptions regarding the wet storage of algae use data provided by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), while parts of the polyurethane production process leverage BETO-funded research from collaborators at Algenesis and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). This report focuses on back-end conversion of algal biomass through the CAP pathway, highlighting the 2022 updates to minimum fuel selling price (MFSP). This update incorporates improvements to fermentation performance for two biological pathways through carboxylic acid and 2,3-butanediol (BDO) intermediates, as demonstrated through parallel research on the biochemical conversion of corn stover. Improvements are applied to the glucose fraction of the biomass only, while parameters regarding the conversion of the mannose fraction (not a significant component in corn stover) are maintained consistently with prior CAP SOTs. Additional parameters are also updated to reflect the most current understanding of each pathway, including an increase in the catalyst loading requirement in the ketonization step of the acids pathway and a decrease in the fermentation productivity in the BDO pathway. Additionally, the biomass feedstock costs (minimum biomass selling price [MBSP]), yields, and seasonal variability from the upstream cultivation SOT model were also incorporated into downstream Aspen Plus CAP models.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Feedstock/Pretreatment Screening for Bioconversion of Sugars and Lignin Residues

This project will conduct biomass deconstruction (pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification) on two representative biomass feedstocks and four different pretreatment processes, including three high temperature steam/chemical pretreatments and one low temperature chemical/mechanical pretreatment. A third biomass feedstock will undergo biomass deconstruction with three different pretreatment processes, including two high temperature chemical pretreatments and one low temperature chemical/mechanical pretreatment. Several pretreatment conditions will be performed in a screening study using NLR pilot-scale pretreatment equipment to generate a range of pretreated biomass substrates. A selected number of these substrates will be chosen for enzymatic saccharification evaluation, based on standard compositional analysis of the pretreated substrates as a primary indicator of pretreatment efficacy. Resulting enzymatic hydrolysis slurries will be analyzed to determine overall biomass sugar yields. Additional compositional analysis will be performed to determine oligomeric sugar composition and structure, to analyze structural characteristics of solids fractions on native, pretreated, and enzymatically saccharified biomass residues for one of the biomass feedstocks, corn stover. The enzymatically saccharified materials will undergo 2,3-butanediol fermentation in a shaker flask as bench scale. Using relevant process performance data collected in these various conversion steps, technoeconomic analysis activities will be performed to compare the economic potential of the various biomass feedstock and pretreatment processes and to identify key economic drivers and sustainability metrics.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Diol-enhanced natural deep eutectic solvents for efficient poplar pretreatment

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NDESs) are promising biomass pretreatment media, but their industrial application is often hindered by high viscosity. To address this limitation, diol-enhanced ternary DESs (TDESs) were prepared by incorporating 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BDO) or ethylene glycol (EG) into a choline chloride (ChCl) and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA) system. The applied TDESs maintained a liquid state at room temperature and had significantly reduced viscosity compared to the binary DES (BDES). In addition, the applied diols increased lignin solubility and suppressed lignin condensation by intercepting reactive carbocation intermediates. As a result, the recovered lignins from diol-induced TDES pretreatments showed better preservation of β-O-4 linkages and reduced condensation, improving their potential for downstream valorization. The diol-assisted DES systems showed a synergistic effect from the reduced viscosity, enhanced lignin solubility, and suppression of unwanted condensation, resulting in more effective biomass pretreatment performance, including the enhanced delignification and higher enzymatic digestibility compared to BDES. The 1,4-BDO-enhanced DES was also successfully applied to DHBA-enriched transgenic poplar, highlighting its potential for the processing of engineered biomass feedstocks.

3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid↗
DOE OSTI2021

Editorial: Cell Free Biocatalysis for the Production of Bioproducts

Biological approaches show promise for the sustainable and cost competitive production of commodity fuels and chemicals. A lot of efforts have been devoted to engineering microbial chassis to produce select fuels and chemicals. These approaches have had some level of success exemplified, of course, by the production of ethanol at high yield and titer but also recent successes with commodity chemicals such as 1,4-butanediol, 1,3-propanediol, and even to some extent with sustainable aviation fuel intermediates such as farnesene. However, many of these processes still suffer from low yields, usually below the standard needed to drive a sustainable and atom efficient bioeconomy. Additionally, for many other chemicals and fuel precursors, titers and yields are only a fraction of what they are for ethanol. Indeed, there exist many limiting factors associated with the use of microbial biocatalysts. Some of these factors include the diversion of carbon from products to sustain growth and biomass formation, the production of byproducts or regulatory mechanisms, the toxicity of end products or intermediates, and the difficulty of separating products from growth media.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS2002

The Development and Application of a Method to Quantify the Quality of Cryoprotectant Conditions Using Standard Area Detector X-Ray Images

An X-ray based method for determining cryoprotectant concentrations necessary to protect solutions from crystalline ice formation was developed. X-ray images from a CCD area detector were integrated as powder patterns and quantified by determining the standard deviation of the slope of the normalized intensity curve in the resolution range where ice rings are known to occur. The method was tested determining the concentrations of glycerol, PEG400, ethylene glycol and 1,2-propanediol necessary to form an amorphous glass at 1OOK with each of the 98 crystallization solutions of Crystal Screens I and II (Hampton Research, Laguna Hills, California, USA). For conditions that required glycerol concentrations of 35% or above cryoprotectant conditions using 2,3-butanediol were determined. The method proved to be remarkably accurate. The results build on the work of [Garman and Mitchell] and extend the number, of suitable starting conditions to alternative cryoprotectants. In particular, 1,2-propanediol has emerged as a particularly good additive for glass formation upon flash cooling.

McFerrin, Michael↗
DOE OSTI2021

BETO 2021 Peer Review - Catalytic Upgrading of Biochemical Intermediates (CUBI) 2.3.1.101-104

The Catalytic Upgrading of Biochemical Intermediates (CUBI) project is a multi-lab effort within ChemCatBio (CCB) that is focused on improving the catalytic upgrading of intermediates from biochemical deconstruction and/or biological conversion (i.e. fermentation) to fuels and chemical co-products. This is accomplished by developing catalysts with improved performance and durability, mitigating the impact of biogenically-derived inhibitors (including water), and evaluating intensified processes to reduce separations requirements and improve carbon utilization. Specific catalytic upgrading routes being developed are: 1) fermentation-derived 2,3-butanediol (BDO); 2) fermentation-derived carboxylic acids; and 3) lignocellulosic sugar-derived furfurals. These routes represent key technology pathways being investigated within BETO's biochemical conversion portfolio. By utilizing experimental and characterization capabilities and modeling tools across the 4 CUBI labs and collaborations with CCB Enabling Projects, the CUBI project is advancing catalytic upgrading process performance and robustness. Its impact is already well-established by several high-impact journal articles and patent publications, along with industrial engagement in related, competitively-awarded collaborations. The CUBI project will result in >25% MFSP cost reduction in the catalytic upgrading section of integrated biochemical conversion routes, as quantified by ongoing TEA modeling.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗