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

1438218 PI：斯特拉斯曼，蒂莫西J.SusChEM：通过水热催化将羧酸/酯转化为烃类燃料的废物价值化人口增长和经济发展正在刺激对新能源和化学前体的需求增加，同时产生越来越多的废物。与此同时，越来越多的人同意，废物流应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量密集型的，并且在美国约3%的电能用于废水处理，尽管废水包含以下事实：（1）具有处理所需能量的数倍的有机材料，以及（2）可用作培养数倍有机生物质（例如，通过藻类培养）。在生物精炼概念中，单个工艺流的价值最大化，废水处理提供了一个机会，在满足处理目标的同时生产能源和有价值的化学品。环境工程师处于独特的地位，在废物流的价值评估中发挥核心作用，开发满足环境质量目标的新技术，同时回收和生产能源，平台化学原料和营养物质。该项目的总体目标是推进水热催化技术，将废物衍生的羧酸/酯原料转化为碳氢燃料。 开发经济的废物流稳定化技术具有改变废物处理做法的巨大潜力。生物质衍生有机物在水中转化的改进技术也将对新生的木质纤维素和藻类生物精炼工业产生更广泛的影响，其中原料脱水/干燥是经济可行性的主要障碍。该项目将有助于培训至少两名研究生，并将用于招聘和指导代表性不足的少数民族本科研究人员。此外，项目参与者将有助于环境工程和可持续性营的高中女生，我指导，在大学。拟议的工作支持更大的合作努力，旨在开发综合生物催化途径，这是潜在的变革，为稳定的城市，农业和工业废物流，包括预期来自所提出的纤维素生物精炼厂的大量有机废物。原料在水中的转化是理想的，因为它消除了对成本和能量抑制的脱水/干燥步骤的需要。这项研究将是第一个专注于开发催化剂，能够持续的活性，为脱氧的废物衍生的羧酸/酯和原位生产氢气，以满足工艺需求。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。概述了一系列任务，包括检查催化剂与低成本的初级和次级金属的不同组合，并比较其双重功能（酸/酯脱氧和原位制氢）。最有前途的催化剂配方将被广泛的特点，和他们的活动，寿命和失活机制将详细研究在连续流动条件下，在填充床反应器与模型化合物和废物衍生的原料？S.实验结果将被用作技术经济和生命周期分析的投入，以评价稳定价格的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.