PFI-TT: Green Technology for the Cost-effective Production of Renewable Bio-products from Non-food Biomass.

这个PFI项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是具有成本效益的生产5-羟甲基糠醛（HMF）从农业残留物，如小麦和水稻秸秆，玉米秸秆和其他非粮食生物质项目。HMF是一种关键的、通用的和可再生的原料，可用于生产燃料和各种其他产品，如聚合物，包括聚酯、聚氨酯、聚酰胺和聚（乙烯-呋喃酸酯）；粘合剂，粘合剂，涂料和泡沫，其中一些市场规模在十亿磅/年范围内。全球HMF工业产量为30吨/年。它没有以任何工业规模生产，因为它还不是一种经济上可行的产品。拟议中的技术旨在改变这种状况。在这个项目中提出的催化过程将显著避免食物或燃料的困境。工艺中使用的溶剂绿色环保。该聚合固体酸催化剂无毒、可重复使用。该项目还将为新兴的生物炼制行业培训熟练工人。这项技术如果成功并商业化，将使阿肯色州在有效利用作物残留物方面受益。该项目涉及与少数民族和妇女拥有的工业伙伴密切合作，促进商业化。该项目旨在开发具有成本效益的HMF生产技术，利用范式转换催化膜反应器水解包括水稻和小麦秸秆在内的农业残留物，并直接将水解后的糖脱水成高收率和选择性的HMF。HMF将使用基于尺寸的定制膜同时从产品流中分离。成功的关键之一是优化聚合物固体酸催化剂，使其既能有效催化水解反应，又能有效催化脱水反应。通过改变接枝聚合物在底物上的链长和链密度，可以调节其催化活性。经过多次运行，发现催化剂及其活性是稳定的。这项绿色技术取代了目前用于生物质水解的高腐蚀性硫酸和昂贵的纤维素酶，并成为替代有毒金属氯的催化剂，用于葡萄糖脱水成HMF。成功的另一个关键是设计同时生产和分离HMF的催化膜反应器，从而提高工艺强度并显著降低成本。该项目的最终目标是在经济和环境友好的方式下，将木质纤维素生物质转化为高产率和高选择性的HMF。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this PFI project is to cost-effective production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from agricultural residues such as wheat and rice straws, cornstovers and other non-food biomass items. HMF is a critical, versatile and renewable immediate that can be used to produce fuels and a variety of other products such as polymers including polyesters, polyurethanes, polyamides and poly(ethylene-furanoate); binders, adhesives, coatings and foams, some of which have market size in the range of billion lb/yr. The worldwide HMF industrial production is 30 tons/year. It is not produced in any industrial scale because it is not yet an economic viable product. The proposed technology is designed to change that. The catalytic process proposed in this project will be significant avoiding the food-or-fuel dilemma. The solvent used in the process is green and environmental friendly. The polymeric solid acid catalyst is non-toxic and reusable. The project will also train skilled workers for the emerging biorefinary industry. The technology if successful and commercialized could benefit the state of Arkansas in effective utilization of crop residues. This project involves close collaboration with a minority and women-owned industrial partner for commercialization. The proposed project aims to develop cost effective production of HMF using a paradigm shift catalytic membrane reactor to hydrolyze agricultural residues including rice and wheat straws and directly dehydrate hydrolyzed sugars to HMF with high yield and selectivity. HMF will be simultaneously separated from the product stream using size-based customized membranes. One of the keys to success lies in optimizing the polymeric solid acid catalyst that is capable of catalyzing both hydrolysis and dehydration reactions efficiently. The catalytic activity is shown to be tunable by varying the chain length and chain density of the grafted polymers on substrates. The catalyst and its activity are found to be stable over repeated runs. This green technology replaces the currently used highly corrosive sulfuric acid and expensive cellulase enzymes for biomass hydrolysis, as well as becoming a promising catalyst to replace the toxic metal chloride for glucose dehydration to HMF. Another key to success is the design of a catalytic membrane reactor for simultaneous HMF production and separation leading to process intensification and significant cost reduction. The ultimate goal of this project is to convert lignocellulosic biomass to HMF with high yield and high selectivity in an economical and environmental friendly manner.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.