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218亿加元，在160个社区，加拿大人完全依靠林业就业。不断变化的贸易条件和市场对该行业的活力提出了挑战。然而，通过将当今的纸浆米尔斯厂转变为创新的生物精炼厂，有可能生产价值数百万美元的新产品，同时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物如猪燃料中去除半纤维素（一种支链无定形多糖），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二醇。生产这些优质的生物化学品需要有效的水解工艺，这些工艺是从对木材的深入了解以及高度稳定的催化剂中开发出来的，这些催化剂可以在水解副产物存在的情况下选择性地转化糖。我的计划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。我最近对生物质分馏，建模和催化的研究贡献给了我一个独特而有利的框架，用于完成生物质分馏和化学催化转化的拟议研究。我的工作特点是对生物精炼和战略多学科合作的生物，化学和工程方面的深刻理解。拟议的研究根据三个以HQP为中心的目标组织：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，第一原理建模和基本化学工程原理，如传质。实验工作将采用独特的基础设施（例如固定床流通反应器）和先进的表征技术（尺寸排阻色谱的二维校准），这些技术来自我的实验室和UBC共享设施，如应用催化研究核心设施和UBC纸浆和造纸中心。除了技术技能外，在该计划期间接受培训的9名HQP还将培养领导力和沟通能力，并为工业和学术生涯做好准备，对公平，多样性和包容性表示赞赏。从拟议的工作中获得的新知识将使我和其他研究人员能够在生物质育种，生物质分馏，催化剂配方和反应器设计等领域取得未来的突破。最终，由此产生的生物精炼工艺将为加拿大林业创造新的收入和就业机会，并有助于加拿大建立低碳经济的努力。

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.