Collaborative Research: SusChem: Enabling the Biorefinery: Isolation, Fractionation, and Transformation of Bio-based Feedstocks into Fuels and Chemical Products

1437965(齐默尔曼)、1437595(贝克曼)和1437688(Soh)。生物质有潜力满足社会的许多能源和化学需求，取代对化石燃料的需求，同时将对环境的影响降至最低。在这个项目中，将探索一种生物精炼方法，以实现生物质作为燃料和有价值的副产品的可行和可持续利用。类似于对各种产品的石油精炼，生物精炼最大限度地利用了所有馏分，减少了经济和环境障碍。除了燃料，其中一些成分还代表了一系列价值更高的非燃料产品，如营养补充剂和生物塑料原料。根据化学结构和预期的最终用途(即燃料、精细化学品、保健品)，可生产的产品的价值存在数量级的差异。从粗生物质中提取和转化脂肪的选择性、高效和可持续技术的进展对于促进向生物经济的过渡至关重要。该项目将开发坚固耐用、选择性强、耐受不同生物质组成的分离和处理技术，通过生物精炼方法获得经济和环境效益。这项工作的总体目标是从根本上了解用于提取、分馏和转化最少加工的生物质以利用二氧化碳和甲醇混合物生产燃料和其他增值联产的系统变量，以便进行有效的加工和分离。这项工作将根据具有代表性的化合物的实验对基本系统性质进行建模，并反过来将该模型用于控制现实世界中湿生物质样品的处理。该项目的具体目标是：1)确定和模拟由甲醇、二氧化碳、转酯反应底物(试剂、中间体和产品/副产品)组成的体系的相行为，无论有没有水，以更好地了解脂肪酸甲酯转化和分级所需的操作条件；2)评估和优化CO2-甲醇中非均相催化的转酯反应，以选择性地转化模型脂和回收特定的甲酯组分；3)应用实验确定的参数和模型结果来优化实际生物质原料的转化和分级，包括预抽提油、废物原料和湿藻类生物量；4)进行工艺设计、生命周期评估和技术经济分析，为系统设计提供信息，以便将该技术整合到生物精炼环境中。因此，这项合作研究的努力将提供有关该系统的基本原理以及如果有效实施该系统的更广泛的经济和环境影响的信息。该项目本质上提供了学生在高水平研究方面的学习机会，以及关于可持续性的教育资源。本项目中建模的设计方法提供了生命周期思维的示例，以减少意外后果的可能性。研究生研究人员将有机会将实验结果转化为教育材料，在校园、社区以及全球范围内通过在线课程提供。本科生研究人员将通过校园项目招募，这些项目支持那些在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域历来代表性不足的群体的学生。该项目将用于本科工艺设计课程，将可持续发展和绿色设计纳入核心化学工程课程。此外，还将利用该项目作为范例平台，利用已开发的材料向公众开放，在合作者之间就绿色工程和可持续设计主题开发一个短期课程。在K-12方面，该项目将用于扩大已建立的关系，服务于任职人数不足的人群。这些努力将包括为6-8年级学生举办更环保的学校竞赛，以及为高中生提供与为期3周的校园实习相关的重点体验。将设计和实施一门新的课程--“能源与可持续发展”，以加强学生在9年级物理课堂上学到的科学原理，并在介绍绿色设计概念的同时，为这些学生的10年级生物和11年级化学课程做准备。

1437965 (Zimmerman), 1437595 (Beckman), and 1437688 (Soh). Biomass has potential to meet many of society's energy and chemical needs, replacing the need for fossil fuels, while minimizing environmental impact. In this project, a biorefinery approach will be explored to achieve viable and sustainable utilization of biomass for fuels and valuable co-products. Analogous to petroleum refining for a wide spectrum of products, biorefining maximizes utilization of all fractions, reducing economic and environmental barriers. In addition to fuel, some of the components also represent a palette of higher-value, non-fuel products such as nutritional supplements and feedstocks for bioplastics. There are orders of magnitude differences in the value of products that can be produced depending chemical structure and intended end-use (i.e., fuel, fine chemicals, nutraceuticals). Advances in selective, efficient, and sustainable technologies for the extraction and conversion of lipids from crude biomass are essential to enhance a transition to a biobased economy. This project will develop separation and processing techniques that are robust, selective, and tolerant of varying biomass compositions, to gain economic and environmental benefits through a biorefinery approach. The overall aim of this work is to fundamentally understand the system variables for extraction, fractionation and transformation of minimally processed biomass to produce fuel and other value-added co-products using a carbon dioxide and methanol mixture for efficient processing and separation. The work will model the fundamental system properties based on experiments with representative compounds and in turn the model will be used to control processing of real world wet biomass samples. The specific aims of the project are: 1) Ascertain and model the phase behavior of systems consisting of methanol, CO2, trans-esterification reaction substrates (reagents, intermediates, and products/byproducts), with or without water, to better understand the necessary operating conditions for conversion and fractionation of fatty acid methyl esters; 2) Evaluate and optimize heterogeneously catalyzed trans-esterification in CO2-methanol for selective conversion of model lipids and recovery of specific methyl ester fractions; 3) Apply experimentally determined parameters and model outcomes to optimize conversion and fractionation of real world biomass feedstocks including pre-extracted oils, waste feedstocks, and wet algal biomass; 4) Perform process design, life cycle assessment, and techno-economic analyses for informing system design to integrate this technology into a biorefinery setting. As such the efforts of this collaborative research will provide information on system fundamentals as well as the broader economic and environmental impacts of the system if implemented effectively. The project intrinsically provides student-learning opportunities in terms of high level research as well as educational resources regarding sustainability. The design approach modeled in this project provides an example of life cycle thinking mitigating the potential for unintended consequences. Graduate student researchers will have the opportunity to translate experimental results into educational materials, to be delivered on campus, in the community, and also globally via online curricula. Undergraduate researchers will be recruited through campus programs that support students from groups that are historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The project will be used in undergraduate process design courses, integrating sustainability and green design into the core chemical engineering curriculum. Further, a short-course will be developed between the collaborators in the topic of green engineering and sustainable design, using this project as an example platform with developed materials made publically accessible. In terms of K-12, the project will be used to expand on established relationships serving underrepresented populations. Efforts will range from "greener" school competitions for Grades 6-8, to a focused experience for early high school students associated with a 3-week program in residence on campus. A new course, "Energy and Sustainability" will be designed and implemented to reinforce scientific principles that students will have learned in their 9th grade physical science class and to prepare these students for their 10th grade biology and 11th grade chemistry classes while introducing concepts of green design.