Project-Biofuel
Direct Conversion of Sugars, Cellulose, and Cellulosic Biomass into Fuels
Principal Investigator: Associate Professor Mark Mascal; University of California, Davis
Term: November 2008- August 2009
R&D Funding Awarded: $70,952
Challenges
There is a national call-to-action to decrease American dependency on fossil fuels. Current biofuel solutions have not resolved key issues:
- Ethanol produces relatively low energy and the fermentation process releases CO2
- Oil-based biofuels use feedstocks that are also food sources and thus compete with the food chain
- Academic researchers focus on technology developments, leaving little time and limited interest in commercialization of the technology.
Solution
Associate Professor Mark Mascal of the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Davis created a biorefining process for converting waste carbohydrates (including corn stover, newspaper, wood, straw and chitin) into potential stand-alone automotive fuels, fuel additives or value-added chemicals [5-(ethoxymethyl)furfural (CMF), 5-methylfurfural, levulinate esters or levulinic acid].
This biorefining shows high energy output--up to 95%--and with the closed loop refining process, it has no waste stream--releasing no CO2--and it does not compete with the food chain for feedstock.
RESULTS:
Research & Development
- Order of magnitude reaction rate acceleration from 30 hours to 3 hours
- Technology Readiness Level - advanced from bottom of TRL4 to top of TRL4
- Use of extraction solvent usage reduced more than 20 fold
- Elimination of the use of an additive to breakdown cellulosic feedstock
- Improvement in CMF yield up to 90%
- Increased substrate loading to 10% weight-to-volume resulting in greater product output
- Potential of Chitin as raw material--research concluded that processing was possible but not practical
- M. Mascal and E.B. Nikitin, published two articles about this process in ChemSusChem
- Construction of a reactor failed when the reactor broke during production; a second scaled-up reactor of 22 liters was constructed
NIREC's Impact
- Feedstock cost analysis to narrow to the most cost-effect feedstock sources
- Examination and narrowing of prospective markets
- Introductory meetings with biofuel companies, a car manufacturer and a candy company
- National Science Foundation grant of $300k
- Received a 2009-2010 University of California Seed Funding Discovery Research Grant (amount not disclosed) to work with a biofuels company to investigate the possibility of coupling the biofuels company technology (hemicellulose to butanol fermentation) to the cellulose to CMF conversion process. The work involves the conversion of both raw and pre-treated feedstocks into CMF and the development of hemicellulose extraction methods.
- Discussed option/license negotiations toward a pilot implementation based on the developed process. Further information cannot be disclosed.
- Met with at least four prospective customer and prospective partner companies and supplied product samples. Further information cannot be disclosed.
- Met with a company to discuss a development plan involving the conversion of waste cellulose into various products using this technology, leading to a consulting arrangement.
"Our team has found it very helpful to have the input of an experienced entrepreneur as we develop our technology. We can stay focused on our research while getting business advice and support on the commercialization process. This has allowed us to move our business plan and presentation forward in a very short time."
Alan Fuchs, University of Nevada, Reno
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