Sustainable Biofuels Production from Drought-tolerant Bioenergy Crops in Marginal Environment

项目编号：1337017机构：内华达大学标题：边际环境下耐旱生物能源作物的可持续生物燃料生产木质纤维素生物燃料的可持续生产依赖于充足的生物质原料供应。生长在干旱边缘土地上的耐旱生物能源作物，如龙舌兰和Opuntia，储存了大量的水和碳水化合物，具有巨大的潜力作为专用生物燃料原料，因为它们不与粮食生产竞争，并且最大限度地减少了水和肥料资源的使用。然而，缺乏高效用水和具有成本效益的生物精炼工艺阻碍了生物燃料生产设施在覆盖世界40%以上的广大干旱和半干旱地区的部署。美国陆地表面。该项目将开发一条综合途径，将干旱土地上的植物转化为水利用效率高的先进生物燃料。关键步骤是催化水相部分氧化（APPO），这是一种新型的、环境友好的生物质解构工艺，可以以水和稀薄空气作为反应介质，金属氧化物作为无毒催化剂，选择性地合成有价值的羧酸。APPO也是一个水正过程，因为它利用湿生物质作为原料，保留储存在原料生物质中的水，并在生物质加工过程中产生额外的水。APPO再生水可为生物能源作物的种植补充水资源。此外，APPO产品（如乙酰丙酸）可以很容易地升级为主要由碳氢化合物组成的一次性运输燃料成分。简而言之，APPO是一种非常有前途的、具有高性价比的生物质解构工艺，具有很高的水利用效率，对于在美国和世界各地广阔的干旱和半干旱地区商业化生产先进生物燃料至关重要。本提案的目标是探索控制APPO过程中生物质分解的潜在物理和化学机制，并通过在生物能源作物转化和种植之间循环利用水来证明综合生物燃料生产过程中的水可持续性。为了实现这一目标，pi将通过深入的实验和理论研究来调查APPO过程的基本原理，并建立一个生命周期分析（LCA）模型来评估水的使用。该项目的成果将指导设计高效和坚固的APPO催化剂，用于具有成本效益的先进生物燃料生产，并将预测商业生物精炼厂在内华达州和整个美国西部等缺水地区的可行性。该项目将把化学工程、农业、环境和生物燃料的研究与教育和推广工作结合起来，以展示科学和工程的重要性。该提案的结果将通过内华达州可再生能源联盟（NVREC）向广大受众传播。最新的研究成果将展示给校园内的团体以及联合国大学生物燃料/生物质期刊俱乐部的当地社区。研究成果也将及时纳入目前的研究生和本科水平的课程。本科生和研究生将在该项目下接受培训。指导。外联活动将包括在联合国开发计划署主办的年度农业实地日期间，以选定的当地高中学生和一般公众为对象进行口头和海报介绍。

PI: Lin, HongfeiProposal Number: 1337017Institution: University of Nevada RenoTitle: Sustainable Biofuels Production from Drought-tolerant Bioenergy Crops in Marginal EnvironmentSustainable production of lignocellulosic biofuels relies upon the sufficient supply of biomass feedstocks. Drought-tolerant bioenergy crops growing on arid, marginal lands, such as Agave and Opuntia, which store large amounts of water and carbohydrates, have enormous potential as dedicated biofuel feedstocks because they do not compete with food production and minimize the use of water and fertilizer resources. However, the lack of water-use efficient and cost-effective bio-refining processes hinders the deployment of biofuel production facilities in vast arid and semi-arid areas that cover more than 40% of the world?s land surface.This project will develop an integrated pathway to convert arid land plants into advanced biofuels with high water-use efficiency. The key step is the catalytic aqueous phase partial oxidation (APPO), a novel, environmentally benign biomass deconstruction process that can selectively synthesize valued carboxylic acids using water and lean air as the reaction media and metal oxides as non-toxic catalysts. APPO is also a water-positive process because it utilizes wet biomass as the feedstock, retaining water stored in raw biomass, and produces extra water during the processing of biomass. The reclaimed water from the APPO process can supplement water resources for cultivating bioenergy crops. Moreover, the APPO products (e.g., levulinic acid) can be upgraded readily into drop-in transportation fuel components consisting of mainly hydrocarbons. In short, APPO is a highly promising, cost-effective biomass deconstruction process with high water-use efficiency, which is critical for commercial production of advanced biofuels in vast arid and semi-arid lands in the United States and around the world.The goal of this proposal is to explore the underlying physical and chemical mechanisms that control the biomass deconstruction in the APPO process and to demonstrate the water sustainability in the integrated biofuel production process by recycling water between the conversion and cultivation of the bioenergy crops. To fulfill this goal, the PIs will investigate the fundamentals of the APPO process by in-depth experimental and theoretical studies and build a life cycle analysis (LCA) model to evaluate water usage. The outcomes of this project will guide the design of highly efficient and robust APPO catalysts for cost-effective production of advanced biofuels, and will predict the feasibility of commercial biorefineries in water-limited locations such as Nevada and the entire western United States.This project will integrate research on chemical engineering, agriculture, environment, and biofuels with educational and outreach efforts to demonstrate the importance of science and engineering. The results from this proposal will be disseminated across a wide audience through the Nevada Renewable Energy Consortium (NVREC). The newest research outcomes will be presented to groups across campus as well as the local community in the Biofuels/Biomass Journal Club at UNR. The research results will also be incorporated into the current graduate and undergraduate level courses in a timely manner. Undergraduate and graduate students will be trained on this project under the PIs? close mentoring. The outreach activities will include oral and poster presentations targeted at students from selected local high schools and the general public during the annual Ag Field Day hosted by UNR.