Hydrothermal upgrading of non-food corn-oil into high value alternative fuels

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In this NSERC CRD project we will work with Aduro Energy and Greenfield Specialty Alcohols on examining how to produce high quality fuels from corn-oil waste produced during ethanol production. Preliminary work at Western University has shown that decarboxylation chemistry of several model compounds of free fatty acids can be easily controlled by tuning the experimental conditions in sub/supercritical water to help drive the decarboxylation chemistry. Water at near supercritical conditions both helps to solubilize the biomass feed while helping drive the decarboxylation chemistry to very high yields and forming upgraded fuel. This project will focus on upgrading corn oil produced as a byproduct of EtOH production into green diesel and jet fuel. This approach can help increase the revenue of ethanol producers around the world by converting their low value byproduct corn oil into high value alternative fuels. Students from Western will optimize the catalyst structure and reaction engineering process parameters, examining the decarboxylation kinetics and reaction mechanism. Feedstocks provided from four GFSA alcohol production sites will be examined on how their chemical structure and variability influences the catalytic process and catalyst deactivation. At the end of this project we will have optimized the catalyst structure and process dynamics. In addition, we will help our supporting company's demonstrate this approach at their Chatham, Ont facility who in parallel will translate our results in a new demonstration faciltity. This project will help eliminate a current waste problem while providing a new cleantech solution and value chain for the Canadian economy.