I-Corps: Environmentally-Acceptable BioLubricants

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种使能技术，用于生产具有成本竞争力的生物清洗剂基础油，使用100%可再生碳来生产性能更好的生物清洗剂基础油，以满足客户对可持续产品日益增长的压力。生产的环保产品在工业机械、商业和消费汽车、润滑脂、个人护理产品、涡轮机、变压器、航空发动机和机械、船舶、水电生产机械等领域的全球市场和应用总额超过600亿美元。这项技术和产品的成功商业化将带来多重社会效益和商业效益。首先，以分子模拟建模为指导的设计者生物洗涤剂将带来高效耐用产品的市场转型。其次，该技术将通过利用国家丰富的碳中性原料，为新的和更绿色的产品创新带来原料灵活性；从而解决环境生态系统问题。第三，它将通过利用这些地区可用的原料和资源来改善农村经济。第四，教育效益是我们拟议工作的一个组成部分，因为它将提供培训技术人员和早期职业研究人员的机会。这个i-Corps项目将收集客户的反馈，并建立这项正在申请专利的技术的商业可行性，该技术用于生产具有定制的分子结构和可调规格的生物润滑剂基础油，该技术具有节能和原子经济性。初步规格、技术经济分析和客户反馈表明，该产品具有成本竞争力，适合当前的高性能应用。产品的可生物降解性和可调规格将为市场提供显著的竞争优势。我们将通过拟议的i-Corps National计划收集更多客户的反馈，以获得更多对产品的市场洞察。特别是，我们将(1)评估市场差距和客户对下一代产品的需求，(2)验证市场进入战略，(3)分析产品的竞争和竞争优势，(4)分析和验证价值主张及其是否符合市场需求，(5)分析竞争对手产品的市场价格。这项市场研究的结果将极大地推动我们的产品和技术的商业化。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of an enabling technology for the cost-competitive production of biolubricant base-oils with better performance using 100% renewable carbon to meet growing customer pressure for sustainable products. The produced environmentally-acceptable products have a total over $60 billion global market and applications in industrial machinery, commercial and consumer automotives, grease, personal care products, turbines, transformers, aviation engines and machinery, marine vessels, hydropower production machinery, and others. Successful commercialization of this technology and products will bring multiple societal and commercial benefits. First, the designer biolubricants, guided by molecular simulation modeling, will bring market transformation for efficient and durable products. Second, the technology will bring feedstock flexibility for new and "greener" products innovation by utilizing the nation's abundant carbon neutral feedstocks; thus, addressing environmental eco-system concerns. Third, it will improve rural economies by utilizing the feedstocks and resources that are available in those areas. Fourth, educational benefits are an integral element of our proposed work, as it will provide opportunities to train technicians and early career researchers.This I-Corps project will gather customers' feedback and establish the commercial feasibility of this patent-pending technology on energy-efficient and atom-economic production of biolubricant base-oils with tailored molecular architectures and tunable specifications. Initial specifications, techno-economic analysis, and customer's feedback suggest that the products are cost-competitive and suitable for current high performance applications. Bio-degradability, and tunable specifications of the products will offer significant competitive advantages to the market. We will gather more customers' feedback through the proposed I-Corps National program to gain more market insight for products. Especially, we will (1) evaluate market gaps and customers' desire for next generation products, (2) validate the market entry strategy, (3) analyze competitions and competitive advantages for our products, (4) analyze and validate value-propositions and their fit to the market need, and (5) analyze the market price of competitors' products. The outcome of this market research will significantly advance the commercialization of our products and technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.