SBIR Phase II: Novel Antioxidants to Improve Thermo-Oxidative Stability of Biolubricants and Biodiesel

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目旨在基于Polnox专有的“双分子部分”（DT-mPM）技术，开发并商业化具有成本效益的高性能大分子抗氧化剂，用于可持续替代生物油。氧化稳定性是工业生物油的关键问题。这些从生物资源中提取的油与从化石燃料中提取的油相比，稳定性较差。特别是，从植物性多不饱和脂肪酸中提取的燃料和润滑油特别容易发生严重的氧化。在第一阶段已经证明，DT-mPM抗氧化剂在对抗这些生物油的降解方面明显比最先进的商业抗氧化剂更有效。目前，最先进的商业抗氧化剂不能满足植物源性生物油带来的挑战。目前的抗氧化剂是为了保护石油润滑剂而开发的，根本无法满足生物润滑剂的稳定性问题。本提案阐述了生物润滑油抗氧化剂产品开发的关键步骤；即(a)分子设计优化，(b)成本效益的工艺规模扩大，(c)制备磅级铅抗氧化剂，以及(d)产品储存稳定性。该项目更广泛的影响和商业潜力是，通过减少空气、土壤、水和生态系统的污染，在减少国家对外国石油的依赖和提供更清洁的环境方面发挥重要作用。增加使用生物润滑油带来的社会效益包括减少潜在的环境污染（例如，在使用或不当处理废润滑油期间造成的损失，工业使用期间的意外溢油，或近海钻探）以及减少对进口石油作为原材料的依赖。然而，由于油是从可再生替代能源中开发出来的，有一些固有的问题需要解决：(1)热氧化稳定性；(2)凝固点特性。通过开发和商业化新型高性能抗氧化剂来解决生物油的热氧化稳定性问题，这将使生物可降解和环保的高质量替代油的生产成为可能。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project proposes to develop and commercialize cost-effective high performance macromolecular antioxidants based on Polnox's proprietary "dual type moiety per molecule" (DT-mPM) technology for sustainable-alternate bio-oils. Oxidative stability presents a key issue for industrial bio-oils. These oils, which are derived from bio-resources, have inferior stability compared those derived from fossil fuels. In particular, fuels and lubricants derived from plant-based polyunsaturated fatty acids are especially prone to severe oxidation. It has been demonstrated in Phase I that the DT-mPM antioxidants are significantly more effective in combating degradation of these bio-oils vs. state-of-the-art commercial antioxidants. The current, state-of-the-art, commercial antioxidants do not meet the challenges posed by plant-derived bio-oils. Current antioxidants were developed to protect petroleum lubricants and are simply not capable of meeting the stability issues posed by bio-lubricants. This proposal addresses the key steps involved in the product development of antioxidants for bio-lubricants; namely, (a) molecular design optimization, (b) cost-effective process scale up, (c) preparation of pound scale of lead antioxidants identified in Phase I, and (d) product storage stability. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to play an important role in reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil and providing a cleaner environment by reducing the pollution of air, soil, water, and the eco-system. Societal benefits from the increased use of bio-lubricants include less potential for environmental pollution (e.g., from loss during use or improper disposal of waste lubricants, accidental oil spillage during industrial use, or off-shore drilling) as well as reduced dependence on imported petroleum as a raw material. However, as oils are developed from renewable alternate energy resources, there are some inherent issues to be addressed: (1) thermo-oxidative stability, and (2) pour-point properties. By addressing the thermo-oxidative stability problem of bio-oils through the development and commercialization of new high performance antioxidants, this will enable the production of higher quality alternate oils that are biodegradable and environmentally safe.