SBIR Phase II: Cost- and Energy-Efficient Conversion of Cellulosic Biomass to Bio-Fuel Feedstock of Consistent and Preferred Geometry

SBIR二期项目将开发并商业化一种新型节能长寿命切割装置，用于将纤维素生物质切割成生物燃料原料，同时实现各种生物燃料应用所需的降低比能、显着延长换刀间隔和可控制的细屑。这项创新包括采用先进的金属切割技术来取代传统的削片刀。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将来自于创造技术，使用廉价和容易获得的当地原料生产生物燃料，降低酶水解上游原料加工的成本。能源独立和可持续性以及环境问题强烈促使将生物质纳入国家和全球能源组合，使其多样化。纤维素生物燃料的应用有望增长，但面临着技术和经济方面的挑战，其中一个挑战涉及到对更细的原料颗粒的需求，以及更细的切碎能量和刀磨损带来的低效率。

This SBIR Phase II project will develop and commercialize a new energy efficient long-lifed cutting attachment for chipping cellulosic biomass into bio-fuel feedstock while achieving reduced specific energy, significantly longer knife-change intervals, and controllably-fine chips needed by various bio-fuel applications. The innovation involves an adaptation of advanced metal-cutting technology to replace traditional chipper knives.The broader impact/commercial potential of the project will derive from creating technology to use inexpensive and readily accessible local feedstock for the production of bio-fuels, reducing the cost of feedstock processing upstream of enzymatic hydrolysis. Energy independence and sustainability along with environmental issues strongly motivate the inclusion of biomass to diversify the national and global energy portfolios. Cellulosic bio-fuels applications are poised to grow, but exhibit technical and economic challenges, one of which relates to the need for finer feedstock particles and the inefficiencies of increased chipping energy and knife wear that come with finer chipping.