SBIR Phase I: Selective Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of Wood Biomass to Market Driven High Value Phenolic Chemicals

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The broader impact/ commercial potential of this project is the development of a catalytic process for the selective production of high value specialty chemicals from lignin. 70 million tons lignin waste, generated by paper and pulp industries and biorefineries annually. While lignin is a rich source of aromatic building block chemicals that can lessen our dependence on petroleum, its selective deconstruction into aromatic chemicals without affecting the value of carbohydrate is a big challenge. The proposed technology provides a unique solution to this challenge in which lignin constituent of wood biomass and municipal wood chips is selectively converted into two high value specialty phenolic compounds in one-step with the simultaneous production of reactive cellulose and xylose. The markets for the lignin derived phenols and their secondary products (isoeugenol, vanillin, dimethoxylphenol) are over $1.1 billion dollars per year of available market. Currently these chemicals are manufactured from high cost clove-oil and petroleum feedstock. If techno-economic analysis for large scale production is favorable, this one-step technology will greatly benefit the paper and pulp industries and biorefineries by generating value from lignin. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will evaluate and establish the commercial feasibility and economic viability of this unique technology by demonstrating a more accurate economic analysis, process design and separation methods, and validating the products specifications for the target application. The current biorefinery processes make full use of the carbohydrate fractions of wood for the production of cellulosic ethanol and fermentable sugars. However, because of lack of effective technology for breaking the recalcitrant lignin, this fraction accounting for an average 25-30 wt% of the plant mass is largely underutilized. This one-step catalytic technology adds unique value by producing high value chemicals, increasing the overall carbon efficiency, while simultaneously delignifying biomass without the need for excess water.