Production of Premium Bio-Chemicals from the Canadian Forest

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The forestry industry contributes $21.8 billion to Canada's GDP per year and in 160 communities, Canadians rely solely on forestry for employment. Changing trade conditions and markets have challenged the industry's vitality. However, there is potential to produce new products worth millions while displacing fossil fuels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by transforming today's pulp mills into innovative biorefineries. One transformative pathway is the removal of hemicellulose, a branched amorphous polysaccharide, from pulp mill wastes such as hog fuel, followed by conversion of the sugars to polyols, for use as low-calorie sweeteners, and glycols, for use as plastic precursors, through catalytic hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis. Producing these premium bio-chemicals requires effective hydrolysis processes developed from in-depth understanding of wood as well as highly stable catalysts that selectively transform sugars in the presence of hydrolysis by-products. The long-term vision of my program is to deliver these process technologies through detailed understanding of biomass conversion. My recent research contributions to biomass fractionation, modeling, and catalysis give me a unique and advantageous framework for completing the proposed research on biomass fractionation and chemocatalytic conversion. My work is characterized by deep understanding of the biological, chemical and engineering aspects of biorefining and strategic multidisciplinary collaborations. The proposed research is organized according to three HQP-centric objectives: 1) determine the influence of hemicellulose structure and wood porosity on hydrolysis, 2) develop hybrid machine learning models of hemicellulose hydrolysis, and 3) determine the influence of all hydrolysate components on HH catalyst activity, selectivity, and stability. Each near-term project includes experimental work with model systems and Canadian wood species, first-principle modeling, and fundamental chemical engineering principles such as mass transfer. Experimental work will apply unique infrastructure (e.g. fixed-bed flowthrough reactor) and advanced characterization techniques (2D calibration of size exclusion chromatography) from my lab and shared UBC facilities such as the Applied Catalysis Research core facility and UBC Pulp and Paper Centre. In addition to technical skills, the 9 HQP trained during the program, will develop leadership and communication skills and an appreciation for equity, diversity and inclusiveness in preparation for industrial and academic careers. The new knowledge from the proposed work will enable myself and other researchers to make future breakthroughs in fields such as biomass breeding, biomass fractionation, catalyst formulation, and reactor design. Ultimately, the resulting biorefinery processes will create new revenue and employment opportunities for Canada's forestry industry and contribute to Canada's efforts to establish a low-carbon economy.