EFRI HyBi: Algal Oils to 'Drop-in' Replacements for Petroleum-derived Transportation Fuels

PPI名称：William Roberts机构：北卡罗来纳州立大学建议编号：0937721EFRI：EFRI HYBI：海藻油用于替代石油衍生运输燃料该奖项由2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法第111-5号)资助，北卡罗来纳州立大学？S EFRI HYBI将开发一种独特的多步骤催化过程的技术可行性和可扩展性，将各种脂肪/油/脂转化为化学和物理上与石油相似的替代运输燃料，从而极大地减少基础设施的复杂性。藻油是生产生物燃料的理想原料，提供非常高的生产密度，并能够利用边际水(城市垃圾、咸水等)和重复使用燃煤发电厂排放的二氧化碳。然而，与高效利用藻类相关的一些技术挑战-S作为原料的先天优势。该团队将利用工程学和生物学教师紧密结合的协同方法：a)使用合成生物学方法对海洋微藻物种(Dunaliella)进行遗传改变，以生产最理想的饲料，并优化生产以转化为运输燃料；b)开发从藻类中提取这些脂肪和脂肪酸的创新和变革性方法；c)优化脱羧基催化剂；以及d)优化整个生物精炼过程，包括最大限度地提高热效率和副产品和副产品的利用率。将非食品、可再生原料转化为运输部门高质量碳氢化合物生物燃料的新技术将扩大科学发现，并为生物学家和工程师进一步探索潜在的替代燃料创造框架、协同作用和动力。基因增强和环境控制将被用于最大限度地生产最有益的脂类，包括增强脂肪酸合成的合成生物学方法。探索创新和非常有效的脂肪提取方法，包括变革性地连续提取产生的脂肪酸，将改变藻类作为生物燃料原料的科学发展。我们建议的生物燃料工艺的主要优势是其原料灵活性、产量灵活性/控制以及非常有限的氢气需求。生物炼油厂结构的优化和有效利用副产品(甘油)的多种策略的研究将促进替代燃料行业的知识，创造更有效的机制来开发副产品(营养食品、动物饲料等)。更广泛的影响碳氢生物燃料的前景与所有现有的基础设施完全兼容，再加上充分认识到藻类作为生物燃料原料的潜力，通过减少运输部门提供巨大的经济和环境影响？S说。创新和变革性的使能技术将使藻类油能够以经济上可行的过程转化为高价值的运输燃料，这将通过开发高效、高产的替代能源为国家带来显著的环境和经济利益。化学、机械和生物/农业工程师、生物学家、分子和合成生物学家以及微生物学家之间的这种跨学科研究为本科生、研究生和博士后学者提供了独特的培训机会，使他们成为各学科之间的桥梁，成为为子孙后代开发可再生能源的新一代科学家和工程师。

AbstractPI Name: William RobertsInstitution: North Carolina State UniversityProposal Number: 0937721EFRI: EFRI HyBi: Algal Oils to 'Drop-in' Replacements forPetroleum-derived Transportation FuelsThis award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)NC State?s EFRI HyBi will develop the technical feasibility and demonstrate scalability of a unique, multi-step catalytic process to convert a wide range of fats/oils/lipids into replacement transportation fuels that are chemically and physically similar to their petroleum counterparts, thus dramatically reducing infrastructure complications. Algal oils are an ideal feedstock for biofuels production, offering very high production density and the ability to use marginal water (municipal waste, brackish water, etc) and reuse CO2 emitted from coal-fired power plants. However, there are a number of technical challenges associated with efficiently exploiting algae?s inherent advantages as a feedstock. Using a tightly coupled synergistic approach employing both engineering and biology faculty, the team will: a) use a synthetic biology approach to genetically alter a marine microalgae species (Dunaliella) to produce the most desirable feed stocks and optimize the production for conversion to transportation fuels, b) develop innovative and transformative approaches to extracting these lipids and fatty acids from the algae, c) optimize the decarboxylation catalyst, and d) optimize the entire biorefinery process including maximizing thermal efficiency and utilization of co-products and by-products. Intellectual Merit New technologies to transform non-food, renewable feedstock into high quality hydrocarbon biofuels for the transportation sector will broaden scientific discovery and create the framework, synergy and momentum for biologists and engineers to further explore potential alternative fuels. Genetic enhancement and environmental controls will be used to maximize the production of the most beneficial lipids, including synthetic biology approaches to enhance fatty acid synthesis. Exploration of innovative and very efficient means for lipid extraction, including transformative continuous extraction of produced fatty acids, will transform the scientific development of algae as a biofuels feedstock. Key advantages of our proposed biofuels process are its feedstock flexibility, output flexibility/control, and very limited hydrogen requirement. Biorefinery architecture optimization and investigation of multiple strategies to use byproducts (glycerol) efficiently will advance knowledge in the alternative fuels industry, creating more efficient mechanisms to exploit co-products (nutraceuticals, animal feed, etc). Broader Impacts The prospect of hydrocarbon biofuels that are fully compatible with all existing infrastructure, coupled with the fully realized potential of algae as a biofuels feedstock, offers tremendous economic and environmental impact by reducing the transportation sector?s reliance on fossil fuels. Innovative and transformative enabling technologies that will permit the conversion of algal oils into high-value transportation fuels in an economically viable process will bring significant environmental and economic benefits to the nation through the development of an efficient, high-yield alternative energy source. This interdisciplinary research between chemical, mechanical, and bio/agricultural engineers, phycologists, molecular and synthetic biologists, and microbiologists provides unique training opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral scholars to bridge disciplines and become the new generation of scientists and engineers to develop renewable energy for future generations.