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，同时尽量减少对环境的影响。在该项目中，将探索生物炼制方法，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。类似于石油精炼，生物精炼可以最大限度地利用所有馏分，减少经济和环境障碍。除了燃料，其中一些组件还代表了高价值的非燃料产品，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、营养品）。从粗生物质中提取和转化脂质的选择性、高效和可持续技术的进步对于促进向生物基经济的过渡至关重要。该项目将开发分离和加工技术，这些技术具有稳健性，选择性和对不同生物质成分的耐受性，通过生物炼制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系统变量的提取，分馏和转化的最低限度处理的生物质，以生产燃料和其他增值的副产品，使用二氧化碳和甲醇的混合物进行有效的处理和分离。这项工作将模拟的基本系统特性的基础上，具有代表性的化合物的实验，反过来，该模型将被用来控制处理的真实的世界湿生物质样品。本课题的具体目标是：1）确定并模拟由甲醇、CO2、酯交换反应底物组成的体系的相行为（试剂、中间体和产物/副产物），以更好地理解脂肪酸甲酯转化和分馏的必要操作条件; 2）评估和优化CO2-甲醇中的非均相催化酯交换，用于模型脂质的选择性转化和特定甲酯级分的回收; 3）应用实验确定的参数和模型结果来优化真实的世界生物质原料的转化和分馏，所述生物质原料包括预提取的油、废物原料和湿藻类生物质; 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，以将该技术整合到生物精炼厂环境中。因此，这项合作研究的努力将提供有关系统基本原理的信息，以及该系统在有效实施时对经济和环境的更广泛影响。该项目从本质上为学生提供了高水平研究方面的学习机会，以及有关可持续发展的教育资源。在这个项目中建模的设计方法提供了一个生命周期思维的例子，减轻了意外后果的可能性。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，社区和全球范围内通过在线课程提供。本科研究人员将通过校园计划招募，这些计划支持来自科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）历史上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，将可持续性和绿色设计纳入核心化学工程课程。此外，短期课程将开发合作者之间的绿色工程和可持续设计的主题，使用这个项目作为一个例子平台与开发的材料，使电子访问。就幼儿园至12年级而言，该项目将用于扩大为代表性不足的人口服务的既有关系。努力范围将从6-8年级的“绿色”学校比赛，到与为期3周的校园住宿计划相关的早期高中学生的集中体验。一个新的课程，“能源和可持续性”将设计和实施，以加强科学原理，学生将在他们的9年级物理科学课，并准备他们的10年级生物和11年级化学课这些学生，同时引入绿色设计的概念。

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.