SBIR Phase I: Novel Separation Technology for a Game-Changing Cellulosic Sugar Biorefinery

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种新的方法，用于从离子液体中分离溶质，包括可发酵糖。离子液体是木质生物质的唯一已知溶剂，并且已经显示出支持纤维素分解为可发酵糖，产率超过90%。然而，基于离子液体的生物精炼工艺的商业化受到缺乏用于从离子液体中分离可发酵糖并具有离子液体的高回收率的技术的阻碍。本项目将利用离子液体和水的独特物理性质实现糖与离子液体的分离，糖产品中损失的离子液体不到1%，该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力跨越几个战略重要行业，包括燃料，化工，塑料和其他材料。这些行业的大多数当前和待定的可再生路线依赖于可发酵糖作为原料。然而，糖目前只能从玉米、甘蔗和其他与我们的粮食供应竞争的作物中获得，这推高了价格，特别影响到低收入社会。相反，本项目将开发一种具有成本效益的生物精炼工艺，从非食品植物材料中生产糖。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a novel means for isolating solutes including fermentable sugars from ionic liquids. Ionic liquids are the only known solvent for woody biomass and have been shown to support the breakdown of cellulose to fermentable sugars with yields exceeding 90%. However, commercialization of an ionic liquid-based biorefinery process has been impeded by the lack of a technology for separating fermentable sugars from ionic liquid with high recovery of the ionic liquid. The present project will use unique physical properties of ionic liquids and water to effect separation of sugars from ionic liquids with less than 1% of the ionic liquid being lost in the sugar product.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project spans several strategically important industries including fuels, chemicals, plastics and other materials. Most current and pending renewable routes to these industries rely on fermentable sugars as a feedstock. However, sugars are presently only available from corn, sugarcane and other crops that compete with our food supply, driving up prices particularly affecting lower income societies. Instead, the present project will develop the pathway to a cost effective biorefinery process that produces sugars from non-food plant material.