UNS: RUI: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Intermediates in Hydrocarbon Fuel Oil Produced from Brown Grease: Important Information for Scale Up to Commercial Production.

UNS：RUI：棕色油脂生产的碳氢燃料油中的反应、机制和中间体：扩大商业生产规模的重要信息。

• 批准号: 1507069
• 负责人: Lawrence Pratt
• 金额: $ 23.94万
• 依托单位: CUNY Medgar Evers College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1507069&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: UNS; RUI; Reactions; Mechanisms; Intermediates

PI: Lawrence M. PrattProposal Number: 1507069Brown grease is a semi-solid mixture of fats, oils, and greases that collect in the sewage system and sewage treatment plants, and which must be collected and removed to prevent blockages, overflows, and damage to equipment. The volume of this waste, somewhere between one and two billion gallons per year, is sufficient to consider its recycling into liquid transportation fuel as opposed to incinerating it, which produces greenhouse gases. This goal of this project is develop a process to convert brown grease into a fuel similar to kerosene using a process called low-temperature pyrolysis, where the brown grease is heated up in absence of air. The research suggests that trace metals such as iron that are present in brown grease may promote the reaction process, and so the research plan will focus on determining which reaction steps in the overall process are catalyzed by these metals. The proposed research will be carried out by a team of undergraduate students at the Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (CUNY), which is a minority serving institution. Benefits of this research include increasing the supply of non-fossil fuels, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, elimination of brown grease disposal problems, and training of underrepresented minority students in chemistry, energy, and environmental science. This project also has international collaborators from Malaysia and Vietnam that are interested in using the new technology to solve similar waste steam problems in their respective countries.Unlike triglycerides extracted from vegetable oils, brown grease is predominantly free fatty acids, and so cannot undergo the homogeneous transesterification to biodiesel. The overall goal of the proposed research is to develop a fundamental understanding of the reaction mechanisms for the low-temperature pyrolysis of brown grease to linear hydrocarbons. It is hypothesized that the reaction scheme proceeds by a two-step process were fatty acids in the waste stream are decarboxylated to ketone intermediates and then deoxygenated to hydrocarbons. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that soluble iron or copper present in the waste matrix catalyzes some of these reactions. The research plan has three objectives. The first objective is to elucidate the major reaction pathways from brown grease and model mixtures of the waste matrix to hydrocarbon products. The second objective is to determine how the principal metals found in brown grease catalyze these reactions. The third objective is to develop a continuous reaction process and assess the energy return on energy invested for sustainable energy concepts based on recovery and conversion of brown grease to fuel. The experimental approach will employ gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis to characterize the reaction system. Computational quantum chemistry will also be used to elucidate the reaction mechanisms and to help determine whether some compounds observed in the reaction mixture are byproducts or intermediates. Although the research focuses on brown grease, the research outcomes have potential to develop new routes and fundamental understanding for the chemical conversion of free fatty acids to fuel. The proposed research will be carried out by a team of undergraduate students at the Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (CUNY), which is a minority serving institution.

PI：Lawrence M. Pratt提案编号：1507069棕色油脂是一种脂肪、油和油脂的半固体混合物，会在污水系统和污水处理厂中聚集，必须将其收集并清除，以防止堵塞、溢出和损坏设备。 这些废物的数量，每年在10亿至20亿加仑之间，足以考虑将其回收为液体运输燃料，而不是焚烧它，产生温室气体。 该项目的目标是开发一种将棕色油脂转化为类似于煤油的燃料的过程，该过程称为低温热解，其中棕色油脂在没有空气的情况下加热。研究表明，棕色油脂中存在的微量金属（如铁）可能会促进反应过程，因此研究计划将重点确定整个过程中哪些反应步骤是由这些金属催化的。拟议中的研究将由纽约（CUNY）的Medgar Evers学院的一组本科生进行，该学院是一所少数民族服务机构。 这项研究的好处包括增加非化石燃料的供应，减少温室气体排放，消除棕色油脂处理问题，以及在化学，能源和环境科学方面培训代表性不足的少数民族学生。 该项目也有来自马来西亚和越南的国际合作者，他们有兴趣使用新技术来解决各自国家的类似废蒸汽问题。与从植物油中提取的甘油三酯不同，棕色油脂主要是游离脂肪酸，因此无法进行均相酯交换生成生物柴油。 拟议的研究的总体目标是发展的棕色油脂的低温热解为线性碳氢化合物的反应机理的基本理解。 假设反应方案通过两步法进行，即废物流中的脂肪酸脱羧成酮中间体，然后脱氧成烃。 此外，假设废物基质中存在的可溶性铁或铜催化这些反应中的一些。 研究计划有三个目标。 第一个目标是阐明棕色油脂和模型混合物的废物基质的烃类产品的主要反应途径。 第二个目标是确定棕色油脂中发现的主要金属如何催化这些反应。第三个目标是开发一个连续反应过程，并评估基于棕色油脂回收和转化为燃料的可持续能源概念的能源投资的能源回报。 实验方法将采用气相色谱-质谱法（GC-MS），差示扫描量热法（DSC）和热重分析来表征反应体系。 计算量子化学也将用于阐明反应机制，并帮助确定反应混合物中观察到的一些化合物是副产物还是中间体。 虽然这项研究的重点是棕色油脂，但研究成果有可能为游离脂肪酸化学转化为燃料开发新的途径和基本认识。 拟议中的研究将由纽约（CUNY）的Medgar Evers学院的一组本科生进行，该学院是一所少数民族服务机构。