Production of Premium Bio-Chemicals from the Canadian Forest

林业每年为加拿大的国内生产总值贡献218亿美元，在160个社区，加拿大人完全依赖林业就业。不断变化的贸易条件和市场挑战了该行业的活力。然而，有潜力生产价值数百万美元的新产品，同时通过将今天的纸浆厂转变为创新的生物精炼厂，取代化石燃料并减少温室气体排放。一种转化途径是从纸浆厂废料（如生猪燃料）中去除半纤维素（一种分支无定形多糖），然后通过催化氢化和氢解将糖转化为用作低热量甜味剂的多元醇和用作塑料前体的乙二醇。生产这些优质的生物化学物质需要有效的水解过程，这需要深入了解木材，以及在水解副产物存在下选择性转化糖的高度稳定的催化剂。我的项目的长期愿景是通过对生物质转化的详细了解来提供这些工艺技术。我最近在生物质分馏、建模和催化方面的研究贡献，为我完成生物质分馏和化学催化转化的拟议研究提供了一个独特而有利的框架。我的工作特点是对生物精炼和战略性多学科合作的生物、化学和工程方面有深刻的理解。本研究以三个以hqp为中心的目标为基础：1)确定半纤维素结构和木材孔隙率对水解的影响；2)开发半纤维素水解的混合机器学习模型；3)确定所有水解产物组分对HH催化剂活性、选择性和稳定性的影响。每个近期项目包括模型系统和加拿大木材品种的实验工作，第一性原理建模，以及基本的化学工程原理，如传质。实验工作将使用我的实验室独特的基础设施（例如固定床流式反应器）和先进的表征技术（2D尺寸排除色谱校准），以及共享的UBC设施，如应用催化研究核心设施和UBC纸浆和造纸中心。除了技术技能，在项目期间培训的9名HQP将培养领导能力和沟通技巧，以及对公平、多样性和包容性的欣赏，为工业和学术事业做准备。从这项工作中获得的新知识将使我和其他研究人员能够在诸如生物质育种、生物质分馏、催化剂配方和反应器设计等领域取得突破。最终，由此产生的生物炼制过程将为加拿大林业创造新的收入和就业机会，并为加拿大建立低碳经济做出贡献。

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.