Conversion of Cellulosic Biomass into Renewable Gasoline, Aviation Biofuels and Bio-based Chemicals - towards the Development of 5-HMF-Platform Biorefinery

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Cellulosic biomass is abundant and inexpensive, and is generated at large quantities in the agricultural and forestry sectors as residues (cornstalks, wheat straw, sawdust, bark, etc.). Glucose is the main building block of cellulosic biomass, and it can be readily and inexpensively produced from cellulosic biomass via acid or enzymatic hydrolysis. Glucose can be converted into 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural (5-HMF) via catalytic de-hydration. 5-HMF is considered by the U.S. Department of Energy to be among the "top 10 list of bio-based chemicals" in terms of the market potential as it is a versatile intermediate platform precursor for the syntheses of a wide range of biofuels and bio-based chemicals. Compared with other bio-platform chemicals, such as bio-ethanol and levulinic acid, 5-HMF is particularly promising in terms of carbon utilization efficiency as it retains all six carbon-atoms of glucose. The long-term goal of this research program is to develop novel 5-HMF-platform biorefinery for conversion of cellulosic biomass into renewable fuels and chemicals. As short-term objectives, my research efforts in the next five years will be centered on developing novel continuous processes and heterogeneous catalysts for conversion of glucose into biofuels (renewable gasoline and aviation biofuels) and bio-based chemicals, specifically (1) to develop highly efficient continuous processes and heterogeneous catalysts to convert glucose to 5-HMF; (2) to produce renewable gasoline and aviation biofuels from 5-HMF in a continuous reactor; (3) to transform 5-HMF into 2,5-dihydroxymethyl furan and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and produce biopolymers. **In this project, a novel continuous process using heterogeneous catalysts will be developed and used for cost-effective conversion of glucose to 5-HMF. 5-HMF will be further catalytically converted to 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) and 2,5-dimethyltetrahydrofuran (DMTF). DMF and DMTF can be renewable gasoline with a much higher energy content than5-HMF. With the continuous process and heterogeneous catalysts, 5-HMF will also be converted to 2,5-dihydroxymethyl furan and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) for production of biopolymers such as bio-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by replacing terephthalic acid with FDCA. Furthermore, as an aromatic aldehyde compound, 5-HMF will be transformed to a coupled product - C12 furoin via self-benzoin condensation and then to C12 hydrocarbons as a potential aviation biofuel by hydrogenation. The glucose-to-5-HMF processes reported so far in the literature are mostly lab-scale batch systems with homogeneous catalysts. In order to produce 5-HMF more economically on a large scale, developing continuous processes and highly active heterogeneous catalysts (to ease catalyst recycling) is the key. The success of this NSERC DG research program could enhance Canada's economic sustainability in a long term, by creating additional profit streams to the Canadian forest and agricultural sectors and offering renewable chemicals/materials to the Canadian chemical industries. Moreover, this program is expected to train more than 10 highly qualified personnel in a broad area of biorefinery - an area of great significance to Canada's bioeconomy development.