Ethanol and methane production from biomass and phenols extraction from bio-oils using supercritical fluids

由于近年来过度使用化石燃料资源所引起的环境问题，世界范围内越来越多地关注使用可再生资源如生物质来生产替代燃料和化学品。因此，为了缓解气候变化问题，需要将生物质转化为有价值的液体燃料和化学品的高效和环境友好型技术。该研究的主要目标是开发一种利用生物质（农业废弃物、森林废弃物和城市有机废弃物）生产高附加值化学品或使用超临界技术生产燃料气体的综合工艺。超临界流体萃取技术是一种新兴的生物化学品萃取技术，它具有传统溶剂萃取技术所不能比拟的优点。废弃生物质将利用超临界水处理转化为可发酵糖，其中反应工艺参数将被优化以获得更高的可发酵糖产品选择性。这些糖将进一步转化为生物乙醇使用各种酶。生物质还将通过在超临界水中催化气化生物质转化为燃料气体，如H2，CO和CH4。生物油不仅是一种很有前途的替代燃料，而且是许多化学品的替代品。本工作的另一个目标领域是用超临界二氧化碳从生物油中提取生物酚组分，然后用沸石将剩余的生物油转化为生物化学品，如苯、甲苯和二甲苯（BTX）。这些生物酚和苯系物是石油酚和苯系物的最有前途的替代品，在树脂、复合木材和层压板工业以及化学工业中有着巨大的市场。总的来说，本研究的目标是开发集成的环境友好的技术，利用生物质作为燃料和化学品。

Due to the recent environmental problems caused by excessive use of fossil fuel resources, increased attentionhas been given world wide on use of renewable resources such as biomass for the production of alternativefuels and chemicals. Therefore, the efficient and environmentally friendly technologies that can convertbiomass to valuable liquid fuels and chemicals are needed for mitigation of climate change problems. Themajor goal of the proposed research is to develop an integrated process for complete utilization of Canadianbiomass (agricultural waste, forest residue and municipal organic wastes) for the production of either valueadded chemicals or fuel gas using supercritical technology. Supercritical fluid extraction emerges as a newtechnology for the extraction of various biochemicals, which have advantages over traditional solventextraction process by eliminating the polluting organic solvents. Waste biomass will be converted tofermentable sugars using supercritical water treatment where the reaction process parameters will be optimizedfor higher product fermentable sugars selectivity. These sugars will be further converted to bio-ethanol usingvarious enzymes. Biomass will be also converted to fuel gases such as H2, CO and CH4 by catalyticgasification of biomass in supercritical water. Bio-oil is not only the promising alternative fuel but also thesource of many chemicals. Another targeted area of present work is the extraction of biophenolic fraction frombio-oil using supercritical carbon dioxide and then the convertion of the remaining biooils to biochemicals suchas benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) using zeolites. These biophenols and BTX are most promisingalternatives to petro-derived phenols and BTX which find huge market in resin, composite wood and laminateindustry, and chemical industry. Overall the target of the present research is to develop the integratedenvironmentally friendly technologies for the utilization of biomass for fuels and chemicals.