PFI:AIR - TT: High yield production of furans from biomass hydrolysates using a hybrid enzyme- and chemo-catalytic technology

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This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on a transformative technology for converting biomass to platform chemicals (furans) that would replace petroleum-derived feedstocks for fuel and chemical production. These furans serve as building blocks for a variety of other chemicals and intermediates that are necessary in industry. A process that allows them to be economically produced from renewable resources (e.g. biomass) instead of petroleum-based technologies would result in reduced dependence on fossil fuels, reduced emission of greenhouse gases, and minimal environmental impact. The project will result in a proof-of-concept development, demonstration, and evaluation of an integrated hybrid enzyme-and chemo-catalytic technology for high-yield production of furans from biomass sugars. When compared to competing processes that rely on inefficient water-based reaction media, the technology has several distinct advantages. It provides a cohesive pathway to efficiently transfer biomass sugars into a non-aqueous reaction medium; produces the furan product in high yield; and isolates the furan for downstream processing, all with low energy input and recycling of process streams. This project addresses the following technology gaps as it translates from research discovery toward commercial application: (1) the design, construction, and testing of a scalable process configuration that allows transition from bench to larger scale; (2) the collection of metrics for the prolonged operation of the integrated process; (3) the assessment of the process economics and environmental impacts; and (4) the evaluation of the integrated process with diverse biomass feedstocks and their upstream pretreatment/saccharification methods. In addition, personnel involved in this project, namely undergraduate and graduate students, will receive entrepreneurship and innovation experiences through new interdisciplinary initiatives developed at The University of Toledo based on the Lean LaunchPad approach.