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

PI：Lawrence M.PrattProposal编号：1507069棕色润滑脂是收集在污水系统和污水处理厂中的脂肪、油和润滑脂的半固体混合物，必须收集和清除，以防止堵塞、溢出和损坏设备。这些废物的体积，每年大约在10到20亿加仑之间，足以考虑将其回收用于液体运输燃料，而不是焚烧它，因为焚烧会产生温室气体。这个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工艺，使用一种名为低温热解的工艺，即在没有空气的情况下将棕色油脂加热。研究表明，棕色润滑脂中存在的铁等微量金属可能会促进反应过程，因此研究计划将侧重于确定整个过程中的哪些反应步骤是由这些金属催化的。这项拟议的研究将由纽约城市大学(CUNY)梅德加·埃弗斯学院的一组本科生进行，该学院是一所为少数族裔服务的机构。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，以及培训未被充分代表的少数族裔学生学习化学、能源和环境科学。该项目还有来自马来西亚和越南的国际合作者，他们有兴趣使用这项新技术来解决各自国家类似的废气问题。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，因此不能进行均相酯交换为生物柴油。拟议研究的总体目标是对棕色润滑脂低温热解为直链碳氢化合物的反应机理有一个基本的了解。假设反应过程分两步进行，废气中的脂肪酸被脱羧为酮中间体，然后脱氧为碳氢化合物。此外，假设废物基质中存在的可溶性铁或铜催化其中一些反应。该研究计划有三个目标。第一个目标是阐明从棕色润滑脂和废基质的模型混合物到碳氢化合物产品的主要反应途径。第二个目标是确定棕色润滑脂中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的反应过程，并评估在棕脂回收和转化为燃料的基础上为可持续能源概念投资的能源回报。实验方法将采用气相色谱-质谱法(GC-MS)、差示扫描量热法(DSC)和热重分析法来表征反应体系。还将使用计算量子化学来阐明反应机理，并帮助确定在反应混合物中观察到的一些化合物是副产品还是中间体。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转化为燃料的化学转化开发新的途径和基础理解。这项拟议的研究将由纽约城市大学(CUNY)梅德加·埃弗斯学院的一组本科生进行，该学院是一所为少数族裔服务的机构。

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.