Source: UNIV OF IDAHO submitted to NRP
DEVELOPING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY ADVANCED BIOFUEL PRODUCTION MODEL FROM BIOMASS USING ELECTROMAGNETIC EXCITATION OF CATALYTIC NANOWIRE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1009342
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2016
Project End Date
Jun 30, 2021
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIV OF IDAHO
875 PERIMETER DRIVE
MOSCOW,ID 83844-9803
Performing Department
Biological Engineering
Non Technical Summary
The Energy Independence and Security Act (Eisa, 2007) passed by one hundred tenth congress of the United States of America have mandated the increased production and use of biofuels for energy independence. EISA also recognized that the biofuel thus developed should be environmentally friendly. Therefore, EISA has categorized biofuel according to its potential in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A renewable fuel, other than ethanol derived from cornstarch, that has lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions at least 50 percent less than baseline lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions is defined as advanced biofuel. EISA mandates to use 36 billion gallons of biofuel by year 2022. Out of 36 billion gallons, 21 billion gallons must be advanced biofuel.University of Idaho, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering has established its reputation in biodiesel research area. Biodiesel is the only advanced biofuel commercially available today in United States. Because of the collaborative efforts of many organizations, the biodiesel production has been commercialized and production has reached 1.36 billion gallons in 2013(EIA, 2015). US EPA has mandates 1.28 billion gallon of biodiesel in 2013, and ramping up to 1.9 billion gallon in 2017(EPA, 2015). Despite Congress's mandate and economic incentives to produce advanced biofuel, the volume of total advanced biofuel is lagging way behind the target, especially in cellulosic ethanol.Higher feedstock cost, credit crunch and reduced fuel price have severely affected the biofuel industry to keep up with the predicted volume. A biofuel industry, which is integrated with other co-products and operated at optimum level, has a best chance to survive economically in a long run. Surviving the current industry and meanwhile developing new and improved methods to produce larger amount of biofuel more efficiently are the two keys of biofuel industry success.The research proposed herein will lead to fundamental advances in the field of advanced biofuel production issues in Idaho and the nation, including:Development of an energy, environment and economic lifecycle analysis system for an integrated biofuel production systems.Use nano technology and electrostatic excitation to produce liquid transportation fuel from syngas.It is important to do this research at this time, as the state and nation address this energy issue. University of Idaho will play a key role towards providing the research leadership needed today.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
51174102020100%
Goals / Objectives
Research and develop a biochemical modeling for making biofuel from syngas using nanotechnology and electromagnetic excitation which is more robust to impurities and produces cleaner fuel.Conduct environment impact assessment syngas and biochar production system in relation to use of agricultural and forest biomass.
Project Methods
Syngas typically contains 20-24% H2 and 20-70% CO. Syngas is produced from pyrolysis of biomass or steam reformation of natural gas. Huge amount of available syngas can replace enormous amount of liquid transportation fuel used today (Subramani and Gangwal, 2008). In normal condition, when CO and H2 are enclosed inside a chamber, they will not react because each molecule is relatively stable and the intermolecular distance is much higher than the bond length. This is evident from the fact that CO and H2 in syngas do not react on its own. The average intermolecular distance between CO and H2 is about 33 Å. For a reaction to occur, CO and H2 molecules must be closer in the range of one Å.When CO and H2 molecules in syngas are reacted, two of the several possible chemical pathways are shown below. Between these two possible reaction pathways, the reaction given by equation 2 is more likely to occur as it leaves the products with lower total internal energy. Therefore, the primary product of the reaction will be ethanol and water rather than methanol. The negative ΔH indicates that the reactions are exothermic.CO + 2H2--> CH3OH DH = -181 kJ (1)2CO + 4H2--> CH3CH2OH + H2O DH = -256.3 kJ (2)For the above reaction to take place, the reactant molecules must be closer and bonds must be weakened. To bring the molecules together, the reaction will be carried out at 30-50 atmospheres. Thirty atmospheres will reduce intermolecular distance to 1.1 Å, which is near the bond length of CO molecule, and 50 atmospheres will reduce the distance to 0.64 Å, which is the bond length of H2 molecule. Weakening of the bond will be achieved through application of frequency-modulated electrostatic field on a catalytic nanomaterial.The reaction that produces ethanol will likely take place in two steps, with intermediate molecule H2C-OH.2CO + 3H2--> 2H2C-OH (3)2H2C-OH + H2--> CH3CH2OH + H2O (4)The final product of this reaction is methanol and water. Methanol can be used as fuel or can be used in making biodiesel or further processed to make ethanol.

Progress 07/01/16 to 06/30/21

Outputs
Target Audience:There are three primary portals to reach the target audience for my research. The BiodieselEducation.org website to the general audience; Journal, book chapter, and conference paper publications to the scientific community; and workshop and podcast interviews to the stakeholders. By far the website has been the most effective way to reach a general audience. In the year 2021, the BiodieselEducation.org site was visited by 7810 users. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Graduate student education. 2. Undergraduate student research and internship opportunity. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. Conference presentation and paper publications. 2. Industry outreach. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the final report. The work will continue but this would be part of new Hatch funding.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. The theoretical work for biochemical modeling for making biofuel from syngas using nanotechnology and electromagnetic excitation is complete. 2. Building equipment and instrumentation to get the preliminary data will be a significant undertaking that will need broader collaboration and funding. 3. Use of biochar from wood waste was explored. A graduate student is working towards quantifying the environmental, and economic benefits of selectively applying biochar in the Palouse hills.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Dunkel C. E., D.S. Shrestha, and G. Moller. 2016. Environmental Assessment of Phosphorus Recovery from Municipal Waste Water using N-E-W Tech" System.ASABE Paper No. 162460532. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Moller G., Baker M., Dunkel. C., Shreshta, D., and Strawn D. 2016. N-E-W Tech": Resource recovery in a novel functionalized biochar, catalytic oxidation, reactive filtration water treatment for n/p removal/recovery and pathogen/priority substance destruction. 10th European Waste Water Management Conference, 11  12 October 2016, Manchester, UK.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hossain, Z., R. Akter, A. Jackson, D.S. Shrestha. 2016. Future direction of Biosensors. Journal of Nanomedicine Research. 3(2):0050
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Dangol N., D. S. Shrestha, J. Duffield. 2017. Life-cycle energy, GHG and cost comparison of camelina-based biodiesel and biojet fuel. Biofuels. DOI: 10.1080/17597269.2017.1369632. pp 1-9.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Staab, B.D., Shrestha D.S., Duffield, J.A. 2017. Biofuel impact on food prices index and land use change. ASABE Paper No. 1700835. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Dunkel C., Shrestha D., Beyerlein S. 2017. Feasibility and Economic Analysis for Creating a Viable Cogeneration Design for the Campus Wood-Fired Boiler. ASABE Paper No. 171201. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Stuhlman, S., Dunkel C., Leathers, R., Kumar, K, Shrestha, D., Beyerlein, S., and Sung C. 2017. Ignition Delay Times and Derived Cetane Numbers of Canola, Corn, and Soy Derived Biodiesel. WSSCI 2017 Fall Meeting-Laramie, WY
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Shrestha, D. S., B. D. Staab, J. A. Duffield. Biofuel impact on food prices index and land use change. Biomass and Bioenergy. Under Review
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dunkel C. E., D. S. Shrestha, G. Moller. Environmental assessment of phosphorus recovery from municipal waste water using N-E-W Tech" system. Transactions of the ASABE. Under Review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Williams, M., S. Sater, C. Burkhalter, S. Schoonen, J. Miller, D. Shrestha, M. R. Brumley and N. R. Schiele (2020). "Lowcost, open-source, variable speed and incline treadmill for studying impacts of neonatal locomotion." HardwareX 7: e00097.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: He. B, Shrestha, D. 2020. Chapter 6: Production of biodiesel from oilseeds: canola/oilseed rape: in Achieving carbon negative bioenergy systems from plant materials (Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: OKeeffe, A. L., D. Shrestha, E. Brooks, and R. Heinse. 2020. Modeling Palouse hills to quantify moisture redistribution from the selective non-uniform application of biochar. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: 3. Sater, S. H., A. M. Sass, A. Seiner, G. C. Natividad, D. Shrestha, A. Q. Fu, J. N. Oshinski, C. R. Ethier and B. A. Martin (2021). "MRI-based quantification of ophthalmic changes in healthy volunteers during acute 15 degrees head-down tilt as an analogue to microgravity." Journal of the Royal Society Interface 18(177).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Shrestha, D. 2020. Real time shapes analysis using computationally light weight random point method on low-cost single board computer. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
  • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: https://www.transportenergystrategies.com/2020/07/10/dev-shrestha-real-world-data-shows-no-food-insecurity-or-iluc-from-biofuels/
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Marchus, C. R. N., J. A. Knudson, A. E. Morrison, I. K. Strawn, A. J. Hartman, D. Shrestha, N. M. Pancheri, I. Glasgow and N. R. Schiele (Accepted). "Low-cost, open-source cell culture chamber for regulating physiologic oxygen levels." HardwareX 11:p. e00253 Expected Publication: 2022/04/01.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Hanson, B., D. S. Shrestha and C. Dunkel. 2021. "Effect of feedstock, impurities, and rancidity on likelihood of spontaneous combustion of oil and biodiesel." Biofuels: 1-8.


Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:There are three primary portals to reach the target audience for my research. The BiodieselEducation.org website to the general audience; Journal, book chapter, and conference paper publications to the scientific community; and workshop and podcast interviews to the stakeholders. By far the website has been the most effective way to reach a general audience. In the year 2020, the BiodieselEducation.org site was visited by 11,000 users with 60% visits from within the United States. Changes/Problems:1. Major hurdle in developing instrumentation due to collaborators leaving the university. 2. Project too ambitious to complete within 5 years. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Graduate student education. 2. Undergraduate student research and internship opportunity. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. Conference presentation and paper publications. 2. Industry outreach. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Submit instrumentation grant for relevant funding agencies.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. The theoretical work forbiochemical modeling for making biofuel from syngas using nanotechnology and electromagnetic excitation is complete. 2. Building equipment and instrumentation to get the preliminary data will be a significant undertaking that will need broader collaboration and funding. 3. Use of biochar from wood waste was explored. A graduate student is working towards quantifying the environmental, and economic benefits of selectively applying biochar in the Palouse hills.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Williams, M., S. Sater, C. Burkhalter, S. Schoonen, J. Miller, D. Shrestha, M. R. Brumley and N. R. Schiele (2020). "Low-cost, open-source, variable speed and incline treadmill for studying impacts of neonatal locomotion." HardwareX 7: e00097.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: He. B, Shrestha, D. 2020. Chapter 6: Production of biodiesel from oilseeds: canola/oilseed rape: in Achieving carbon negative bioenergy systems from plant materials (Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: OKeeffe, A. L., D. Shrestha, E. Brooks, and R. Heinse. 2020. Modeling Palouse hills to quantify moisture redistribution from the selective non-uniform application of biochar. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Shrestha, D. 2020. Real time shapes analysis using computationally light weight random point method on low-cost single board computer. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
  • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: https://www.transportenergystrategies.com/2020/07/10/dev-shrestha-real-world-data-shows-no-food-insecurity-or-iluc-from-biofuels/


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Oil crop producers, researchers, policy makers, biofuel users, biofuel producers and general public Changes/Problems:Lack of instrument to generate preliminary results. Tanslating from theory to practice needs custom instrumentaton which will require substantial funding. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through Website: https://biodieseleducation.org What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Apply more external grants to develop a biochemical modeling for making biofuel from syngas using nanotechnology and electromagnetic excitation which is more robust to impurities and produces cleaner fuel

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. One graduate student is working on the project to quantify the benefits of selectively applying biochar in the Palose hills. The research involves engineering modeling and experimentation of moisture re-distribution within the filed when different types of biochar is applied at parious rate and soil at the hill top where the production is lowest.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Shrestha, D. S., B. D. Staab, and J. A. Duffield. 2019. Biofuel impact on food prices index and land use change. Biomass and Bioenergy 124:43-53.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: He. B, Shrestha, D. 2020. Chapter 6: Production of biodiesel from oilseeds: canola/oilseed rape: in Achieving carbon negative bioenergy systems from plant materials (Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science).
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Joe Thompson. 2019. Biodiesel blend level determination. 2019. Technote. Availabe at: https://biodieseleducation.org/Literature/TechNotes/TN38_Biodiesel_Blend_Detection.pdf


Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Scientific community interested in Agricultural, Energy, and Environmentalsectors through journal publications,Conference presentations, and other Technical publications. National audience through BiodieselEducation.org website. University students through integrated seminar course: Building our energy and Environmental policy. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Several Technotes were published about various aspects of current biofuel issues in BiodieselEducation.org website Participated in local and regional outreach effort such as Moscow Farmers' market, Boise Farmers' market and various campus events ISEM 301 (Spring 2018): Building our Energy Policy (1 Credit, 50% Responsibility. This course was taught as an HONORS class. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?National Website, BiodieselEducation.org National Biodiesel Education Meeting NBB Sustainability Workshop What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue refining the syngas to biofuel model and submit at least one proposal for producing artifical biofuel.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A high voltage circuit board with nanowire attachment is being designed for testing. Additional modeling work is being done to further design and develop the process. A student capstone design team was funded todesign and develop a retrofit fora waste wood boiler in lumber to produced biochar in addition to combined heat and power. Studied and submitted a journal paper that critically analyze food vs. fuel and indirect land use change debate surrounding biofuel

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Shrestha, D. S., B. D. Staab, J. A. Duffield. Biofuel impact on food prices index and land use change. Biomass and Bioenergy. Under Review
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dunkel C. E., D. S. Shrestha, G. Moller. Environmental assessment of phosphorus recovery from municipal waste water using N-E-W Tech⿢ system. Transactions of the ASABE. Under Review.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: He, B., D.S. Shrestha. 2018. Chapter 13 Production of Biodiesel from Oilseeds: Canola/ Rapeseed. in Achieving carbon-negative bioenergy systems from plant materials. Editor: Dr. Chris Saffron, Michigan State University. Under review


Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Scientific community interested in energy sector through journal publication and conference presentation. National audience through BiodieselEducation.org website. University students through integrated seminar course: Building our energy policy. Changes/Problems:The fabrication of microscale reactor has been a challenge. However, I am working with other researchers to acquire a 3D printer that would be able to print the needed reactor. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training of graduate student about artificially producing Biofuel. that includes theory, and modeling and some fabrication. Undergraduate teaching and providing an opportunity to work in the research lab. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Journal publication Conference papers Oral presentation Website What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue the research.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A graduate student is workingin design and modeling of the reactor. Collaborating with other researchers to raise funding for 3D printer capable of printing the micro-sized reactors

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Dangol N., D. S. Shrestha, J. Duffield. 2017. Life-cycle energy, GHG and cost comparison of camelina-based biodiesel and biojet fuel. Biofuels. DOI: 10.1080/17597269.2017.1369632. pp 1-9.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Staab, B.D., Shrestha D.S., Duffield, J.A. 2017. Biofuel impact on food prices index and land use change. ASABE Paper No. 1700835. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Dunkel C., Shrestha D., Beyerlein S. 2017. Feasibility and Economic Analysis for Creating a Viable Cogeneration Design for the Campus Wood-Fired Boiler. ASABE Paper No. 171201. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2017 Citation: Stuhlman, S., Dunkel C., Leathers, R., Kumar, K, Shrestha, D., Beyerlein, S., and Sung C. 2017. Ignition Delay Times and Derived Cetane Numbers of Canola, Corn, and Soy Derived Biodiesel. WSSCI 2017 Fall Meeting-Laramie, WY


Progress 07/01/16 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:General public Policymakers Biofuel produces Regionalmedium sized industries Conference attendees Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? National Biodiesel Board Meeting and Expo Jan 25-28, 2016 Tampa, FL Industrial Assessment Center Directors' meeting May 23-24 New Orleans, LA ASABE annual international meeting July 17-20 Orlando, FL Sustainability and ILUC workshop Sep 21-22 St. Louis, MO USDA grant review panel for Ag. Engineering Oct 24-26 On-Line How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through Scientific Papers Web site Tech notes Seminars Classroom teachig Instructional videos What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Advise graduate student Develop instrumentaion Apply for research funding

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Recruited one Ph.D. student to work on the synthesis of biofuel from syngas Recruited one Masters student to work on the food vs fuel analysis of biofuel. Submitted 11 proposals Taught courses related to energy efficiency and prepared for energy policy course.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Dunkel C. E., D.S. Shrestha, and G. Moller. 2016. Environmental Assessment of Phosphorus Recovery from Municipal Waste Water using N-E-W Tech" System.ASABE Paper No. 162460532. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Moller G., Baker M., Dunkel. C., Shreshta, D., and Strawn D. 2016. N-E-W Tech": Resource recovery in a novel functionalized biochar, catalytic oxidation, reactive filtration water treatment for n/p removal/recovery and pathogen/priority substance destruction. 10th European Waste Water Management Conference, 11  12 October 2016, Manchester, UK.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hossain, Z., R. Akter, A. Jackson, D.S. Shrestha. 2016. Future direction of Biosensors. Journal of Nanomedicine Research. 3(2):0050