SusChEM: Waste Valorization through Hydrothermal Catalytic Conversion of Carboxylic Acids/Esters to Hydrocarbon Fuels

1438218PI：Strathmann，Timothy J.SusChEM：通过水热催化将羧酸/酯转化为碳氢燃料的废物价态人口增长和经济发展刺激了对新能源和化学前体的需求增加，同时产生了越来越多的废物。与此同时，越来越多的人同意，废物应该被视为宝贵的可再生资源，而不是经济负担。目前的废水处理操作是能源密集型的，美国约3%的电能用于废水处理，尽管废水中含有(1)具有数倍于处理所需能量的有机材料，以及(2)可用作来源的营养物质，可用作培养数倍以上的有机生物量的来源(例如，通过藻类培养)。从生物精炼概念的角度来看，单个流程的价值最大化，废水处理提供了生产能源和有价值的化学品的机会，同时满足处理目标。环境工程师处于独特的地位，可以在对废物流进行评估、开发满足环境质量目标的新技术、同时回收和生产能源、平台化学原料和养分方面发挥核心作用。该项目的总体目标是推进水热催化技术，将废弃的羧酸/酯原料转化为碳氢燃料。开发对废物流进行评估的经济技术具有改变废物处理做法的巨大潜力。改进水中生物质衍生有机物的转化技术也将对新兴的木质纤维素和藻类生物精炼行业产生更广泛的影响，在这些行业，原料脱水/干燥是经济可行性的一个主要障碍。该项目将有助于培训至少两名研究生，并将作为招聘和指导人数不足的少数族裔本科生研究人员的工具。此外，项目参与者将为I指导的高中女生环境工程和可持续发展夏令营做出贡献。拟议的工作支持更大规模的合作努力，目标是开发整合的生物-催化途径，这些途径可能对市政、农业和工业废物的有价化产生变革，包括拟议的纤维素生物精炼厂预计产生的大量有机废物。原料在水中的转换是理想的，因为它不需要成本和能源高昂的脱水/干燥步骤。这项研究将是第一批专注于开发能够持续活性地脱氧废羧酸/酯和原位生产氢气以满足工艺需要的催化剂之一。拟议的工作还将提高对催化剂失活机制的理解，并确定维持催化剂活性的预防和再生策略。会议概述了一系列任务，包括检查具有不同低成本初级和次级金属组合的催化剂，并比较它们的双重功能(酸/酯脱氧和原位制氢)。最有希望的催化剂配方将得到广泛的表征，它们的活性、寿命和失活机理将在固定床反应器中以模型化合物和废物衍生原料S为原料在连续流动条件下进行详细研究。实验结果将作为技术经济和生命周期分析的输入，以评估价化潜力和环境可持续性。

1438218PI: Strathmann, Timothy J.SusChEM: Waste Valorization through Hydrothermal Catalytic Conversion of Carboxylic Acids/Esters to Hydrocarbon FuelsPopulation growth and economic development are spurring increases in demand for new sources of energy and chemical precursors while simultaneously producing growing quantities of waste. Concurrently, there is growing agreement that waste streams should be viewed as valuable renewable resources rather than economic burdens. Current wastewater treatment operations are energy intensive, and ~3 % of electrical energy in the U.S. is used for wastewater treatment despite the fact that wastewater contains (1) organic materials possessing several times the energy needed for treatment, and (2) nutrients that can be used as a source to cultivate many times more organic biomass (e.g., through algae cultivation). When viewed in a biorefinery concept where the value of individual process streams is maximized, wastewater treatment provides an opportunity to produce energy and valuable chemicals while meeting treatment goals. Environmental engineers are uniquely positioned to play a central role in valorizing waste streams, developing new technologies that meet environmental quality goals while simultaneously recovering and producing energy, platform chemical feed stocks, and nutrients. The overall objective of the project is to advance hydrothermal catalytic technologies for converting waste-derived carboxylic acid/ester feed-stocks to hydrocarbon fuels. Development of economical technologies for valorizing waste streams has significant potential to transform waste treatment practices. Improved technologies for conversion of biomass-derived organics in water would also have broader impacts for the nascent lignocellulosic and algal biorefining industries, where feedstock dewatering/drying is a major hurdle to economic viability. This project will contribute to the training of at least two graduate students and will be used as a vehicle for recruiting and mentoring underrepresented minority undergraduate researchers. In addition, project participants will contribute to an environmental engineering and sustainability camp for high school girls that the I directs, at the University.The proposed work supports larger collaborative efforts targeting development of integrated biological-catalytic pathways that are potentially transformative for valorization of municipal, agricultural, and industrial waste streams, including large quantities of organic wastes expected from proposed cellulosic biorefineries. Conversion of feedstocks in water is ideal because it eliminates the need for cost- and energy-prohibitive dewatering/drying steps. This study will be one of the first to focus on developing catalysts capable of sustained activity for both deoxygenation of waste-derived carboxylic acids/esters and in situ production of hydrogen to meet process needs. Proposed work will also improve understanding of the mechanisms responsible for catalyst deactivation and identify preventative and regeneration strategies for sustaining catalyst activity. A series of tasks were outlined to include examine catalysts with different combinations of lower-cost primary and secondary metals and to be compared for their dual functionality (acid/ester deoxygenation and in situ hydrogen generation). The most promising catalyst formulations will be extensively characterized, and their activity, longevity and deactivation mechanisms will be studied in detail under continuous-flow conditions in a packed bed reactor with both model compounds and waste-derived feedstock?s. Experimental results will be used as input for techno-economic and life cycle analyses to evaluate valorization potential and environmental sustainability.