Progress 09/01/16 to 12/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural and forestry biomass industrial companies, biofuel and bioproducts related industries: Creative Energy Systems Inc., MS Sustainables, LLC., North America Green Pulp Inc., USS International Group, LLP., NC RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. Efforts: Trained an entry level scientist/post-doctoral researcher andone graduate student who work on this project will eventually join the workforce and contribute to the effort of utilizing biomass and developing renewable energy technology for the future energy needs. New experiential learning opportunities for involved student and post-doc in the project; Presentations and communications to bioenergy communities, such as Clean Technology Showcase at Washington Clean Technology Alliance, Northwest Biojet Forum/Workshop, and national conferences (see session of publication list in Product); Made communications and engagements with the biobased industrial companies. Connected industrial people and engaged with them through this research work to explore partnership and practical application. Companies include: MS Sustainables, LLC; USS International Group, LLP.; Creative Energy System Inc; NC RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., North America Green Pulp Inc. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training activities: PI trained an entry level scientist and one graduate student to design and conduct experiments, set up processes and protocols for the project, document and analyze the experiment results. PI coordinated the project team to make sure that every team member was assigned with different responsibilities and assisted them to achieve their research objectives independently. Professional development activities: PIs had monthly conference calls and active collaborations among each other, and PI and Co-PI research group had weekly meetings to make sure the good progress of the project. PI and the research team had updates presented at group meetings. Students developed collaboration skills and exchanged technical information cross group knowledge. PhD Student and Post-doc have participated and presented papers at American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) 2017 Annual International Meeting at Spokane, WA, Jul 16-19, 2017. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The PIs and the student and post-doc made oral presentations to showcase findings and present the study results. The research findings were communicated to the general public via international conferences, such as American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) 2017 Annual International Conference. The published journal papers and proceedings can be found in previous sessions in this progress report. We also disseminated our research results to communities by presenting to industrial communities. Our outreach dissemination efforts includes: 2017 Inaugural Clean Technology Showcase, Washington Clean Technology Alliance, June 26th 2017, Seattle, WA; Communications with MSS Sustainable LLC / USS International LLP / North America Green Pulp Inc. / Creative Energy Systems Inc.; 2017 Meeting of BioJet Forum/Workshop, at Richland, WA, June 06, 2017. We plan to seek Phase II investment for the technology. As we expect that the pre-commercial pilot-scale study is a necessary step prior to commercialization, we are looking for the investment for the pilot-scale facility and equipment, which was estimated over $1M cost. Once we secure this facility and equipment investment, we plan to apply for USDA Phase II grant to investigate the process performance. The Phase II research will further define the equipment cost at commercial scale, recycling of the H3PO4 water mixture, using AC as a catalyst to convert bio-oils for phenol in a scale-up process and determine the scale-up factors of the overall process. We will optimize the catalytic pyrolysis conditions to obtain high phenol content in a pilot scale process, and test catalyst performance and deactivation to evaluate the stability in a larger scale. The optimization of phenolic extraction and recovery will be performed together with the whole conversion process for a full scale economic analysis to determine and prove the feasibility of commercialization. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact During the course of this project, we found that biomass-based activated carbon selectively improved the production of deoxygenated compounds (such as simple phenols) during pyrolysis of biomass. The direct conversion of biomass pyrolysis volatiles in the presence of biomass-based activated carbon is a unique approach that makes it possible to selectively produce high value chemicals with low catalyst development cost. The project is transformative in the sense that it creates renewable carbon catalyst as a direct replacement of the non-renewable catalyst to achieve the same or better catalysis efficiencies for bio-oil upgrading. The development of this project will improve the current status of biomass-to-chemicals technologies, and enhance the energy security of the United States. Major activities completed / experiments conducted / data collected / results / key outcomes: Task 1. Develop high-performance biomass-derived carbon catalysts: The effects of acid to biomass mass ratio, microwave power, and reaction time on the activated carbon yields and the phenols yield during catalysis were studied using an L16 Taguchi design. The activated carbon yield varied from 30 to 44 wt %, which is comparable to that reported in the literature. The porous structures were evaluated by N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms. The surface chemistry of ACs was determined by FTIR spectroscopy and NH3-TPD experiments. The surface morphology was analyzed using SEM/EDX. The AC prepared under mild conditions exhibited a microporous structure with the low surface area (AC1). Whereas the AC prepared under severe conditions (AC16) showed a mesoporous structure with a much higher surface area (1333 m2/g). FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of phosphorous-containing functional groups (1150 cm-1 (-C-O-P), 1140 cm-1 (-P=O) and 1050 cm-1 (-P-O)), which may provide Bronsted acidic sites for deoxygenation reactions. The EDX surface analysis indicated that corn stover derived ACs prepared by phosphoric acid activation mainly contained C, O, and P, which further confirmed the incorporation of phosphorous into the carbonaceous structures of ACs. Task 2. Catalysis tests of phenols conversion from lignocelluloses biomass using microwave pyrolysis: Task 2.1 Catalytic performance of corn stover derived ACs: The effects of AC preparation parameters on the phenol content were studied. The phenol content showed an increasing trend towards the increase of phosphoric acid-to-biomass ratios. The bio-oil yield was ranged from 7 to 27 wt. % of raw biomass. The bio-oil derived from catalytic pyrolysis of Douglas fir sawdust over ACs was significantly simplified with few chemical compounds, and mainly comprised furan and phenol compounds. The results indicated a pathway of furan and furfural conversions to phenolics under catalysis of activated carbons. Task 2.2. Effects of catalyst loading method, catalytic temperature and catalyst loadings on phenol production: A central composite design (CCD) was used to study the effects of catalytic reaction temperature and the catalyst-to-biomass ratio on the catalytic pyrolysis process, for the in-situ and ex-situ processes. It was observed that the major chemical compounds in bio-oil were phenols, furfurals, and guaiacols, which added up to 70-99% of total peak area from in-situ catalytic pyrolysis. Similar to bio-oil obtained from in-situ upgrading, phenols, furfurals, and guaiacols were still the dominant chemical compounds that account for 57-89% of total peak area in bio-oils obtained from ex-situ upgrading. The phenols peak area from ex-situ catalytic upgrading ranged from 7.3 to 51%, which was much lower compared to that from in-situ catalytic upgrading. The difference in bio-oils obtained from in-situ and ex-situ catalytic upgrading indicated that in-situ catalytic upgrading was more suitable for selectively producing phenol-rich bio-oils. Task 2.3. Phenol separation: Phenolic compounds were separated from bio-oil samples using the alkaline extraction method. A certain amount of dichloromethane and 10% solution of sodium hydroxide was added to the bio-oil to separate the phenol from the bio-oil by reacting with phenol to form water-soluble sodium phenoxide (NaOH+C6H6O=NaOC6H5+H2O). The recovery efficiency was calculated from the volume of recovered phenolic compounds and volume of bio-oil input. We compared the bio-oil compositions before and after alkaline extraction. It can be seen that the phenolic compounds were concentrated by this method. The recovery efficiency was about 80% by this extraction method. Task 2.4. Catalyst recycling and regeneration: The lifetime and recyclability of the prepared AC catalyst were studied. The catalyst was reused 7 times via an ex-situ catalytic upgrading process at 450 °C and a catalyst-to-biomass ratio of 0.33. GC/MS chromatograms of bio-oil samples obtained with fresh and used AC catalyst were studied. It can be seen that the used catalyst loses its high product selectivity compared to the fresh AC. It was observed that the phenols concentration decreased significantly after three times of recycles. In contrast, the curves of furfurals and guaiacols showed an increasing trend towards recycling times until the fourth recycle, and then descended at the fifth recycle. These results indicated that the prepared AC catalyst can be reused for at least three times without any treatment for production of phenol-rich bio-oil, indicating good stability in terms of catalysis efficiency. Task 3. Estimate the techno-economic feasibility of converting forest biomass to phenols: The AC production process including sample pretreatment (acid soaking and drying), microwave-assisted activation, product rinsing and acid recovery, and final drying. Based on our experimental data, the AC yield was 41 g of 100 dry g of corn stover. The net value of the activated carbon catalyst in this research is about $245 per 1 metric ton basis, deducting the feedstock, water, chemical, natural gas and electricity costs. If the syngas generated from this system is used to dry the moisture, an estimated $20 can be saved. The market price of phenols and the process performance will be determined during the Phase II of this research, while AC is a commodity selling for about $2,000/MT. The Phase II research will further define the equipment cost, recycling of the H3PO4 water mixture, using AC as a catalyst to convert bio-oils for phenol and scale-up factors of the overall process. Substantial energy savings can be expected using microwave heating at a larger scale, from which the energy consumption is about 0.58~0.65 kWh/kg biomass. We anticipate to significantly reduce the energy cost, especially electricity cost at a pilot scale or larger scale of the process. Change in Knowledge: Improved the understanding of microscopic structure of biomass-derived activated carbon, and their roles in high-value chemicals production from biomass; Increased the understanding of physical and chemical properties of biomass-derived carbon catalysts and the tuning of these properties for catalyst design; Change in Action: A new way to produce bio-phenols and chemicals from lignocellulose biomass and the key step for production of renewable fuels and high-value chemicals using biomass-derived carbon catalysts. Change in Condition: The successful implementation of the project has significant positive impact on rural economic, environment and society in the United States by leveraging a feedstock that is currently considered as an agroforestry waste. In addition, a significant number of jobs focused on the production of high-value chemicals and bioproducts will be created. Pyrolysis oil cannot replace crude oil due to adverse attributes such as high oxygen content, acidity and instability. These attributes can be mitigated with the catalysis effect of bio-based AC catalyst, thus advancing the development of pyrolysis technologies.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Z. Yang, H. Lei*, K. Qian, Y. Zhang, E. Villota. 2018. Renewable bio-phenols from in-situ and ex-situ catalytic pyrolysis of Douglas fir pellet over biobased activated carbons. Sustainable Energy & Fuels. doi: 10.1039/C7SE00607A. In press.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Z. Yang, H. Lei*, Y. Zhang, K. Qian, E. Villota, M. Qian, G. Yadavalli, H. Sun. 2018. Production of Renewable Phenol from Catalytic Pyrolysis of Douglas Fir Sawdust over Biomass-derived Activated Carbons. Applied Energy. Under review.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Z. Yang, H. Lei*, Y. Zhang, E. Villota, G. Yadavalli, M. Qian, L. Zhu. 2017. Enhanced Production of Phenols-rich Bio-oil from Biomass via Catalysis over Biochar-derived Activated Carbon, 2017 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Spokane, WA, Jul 16-19, 2017
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural and forestry biomass industrial companies, biofuel related industries: Creative Energy Systems Inc., Renewable Energy Group Inc. Changes/Problems:No changes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Dr. Lei trained an entry level scientist and a graduate student to design and conduct experiments, set up processes and protocols for the project, document and analyze the experiment results. Dr. Lei coordinated the project team to make sure that every team member was assigned with different responsibilities and assisted them to achieve their research objectives independently. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During this reporting period, we found that the AC had different effects on bio-oils in Py-GC/MS run from previously observed results using microwave-assisted pyrolysis. We suspected that reactor design might have an impact on the pyrolysis products. In the next reporting period, we plan to discover the role of AC in pyrolysis. Detailed objectives are listed as follows: 1. Finish the preparation of ACs according to the experiment design. 2. Test all the ACs prepared in objective 1 using microwave pyrolyzer under catalyst bed mode and mixing mode. 3. Characterizations of the ACs (both fresh and spent), including BET surface area, FTIR, Raman spectrum and SEM.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact In the first quarter of this project, we found that biomass-based activated carbon selectively improved the production of deoxygenated compounds (such as simple phenols and aromatic hydrocarbons) during pyrolysis of biomass. The direct conversion of biomass pyrolysis volatiles in presence of biomass-based activated carbon, which can be sourced from any thermal conversion (e.g. pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal conversion) of biomass, is a unique approach that makes it possible to selectively produce bio-oils rich in phenols and aromatics with low catalyst development cost. In addition, environmental and economic benefits of this technology are expected to be better than traditional bio-oil upgrading processes due to the utilization of biomass-based activated carbon catalyst, which is renewable and inexpensive. The project is transformative in the sense that it creates renewable carbon catalyst as a direct replacement of the non-renewable catalyst to achieve same or better catalysis efficiencies for bio-oil upgrading. The development of this project will improve the current status of biomass-to-chemicals technologies, and enhance the energy security of the United States. Task1. Develop high performance biomass derived carbon catalysts In this reporting period, we prepared activated carbon catalysts using Douglas Fir (DF) pellets and corn stover (CS). The biomass feedstock was initially impregnated with phosphoric acid and then subjected to microwave-assisted pyrolysis for carbonization. The effects of acid to biomass mass ratio (x1) and pyrolysis temperature (x2) on the activated carbon yields, their physiochemical properties and the phenols yield during catalysis were studied using a central composite design (CCD). The starting biomass mass was fixed at 60 grams, and the amount of phosphoric acid was varied from 30 to 180 grams. At lower mixing ratios (e.g. 0.5 and 1), extra deionized water was added to ensure that the biomass contacted with the phosphoric acid properly. At lower acid to biomass ratio (e.g. 0.5 and 1), the color of the samples was light, especially in the case of 0.5, where the color was the same as the virgin sample, indicating that extent of carbonization was not high. In addition, the pellets were completely disintegrated into particles under lower acid to biomass ratios. When higher acid to biomass ratios were applied, the color of samples turned black, suggesting a high extent of carbonization. Interesting, the pellets were covered by a dark sticky slurry but not disintegrated significantly. The surface functional groups of DF pellet derived carbon catalyst (acid to biomass ratio=1.5, carbonization at 450 °C) and four commercial ACs (8X30, GAC, GCN, and GRAN) were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy (Shimadzu, Ge Crystal; software: IR Solution). It can be seen that the IR pattern of DF pellet derived carbon resembles that of commercial ACs. Peaks were observed at 1030, 1580, 1715 and 2850 cm-1, which corresponds to the stretching of ether, C=C double bond, C=O and C-H groups. From the analysis of surface functional groups, it can be postulated that DF pellet derived AC should have similar behavior to commercial AC during catalysis. Task2. Catalysis tests of phenols conversion from lignocelluloses biomass using packed bed catalysis Catalytic performance of ACs in phenols conversion from lignocellulose biomass was investigated using a Pyrolysis-GC/MS system. Of all three biomass components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin), lignin is the major contributor to phenol compounds. Therefore, a commercial alkali lignin was used as the biomass feedstock in this study. The sample tube (1 mm I.D., 1 in length) is packed with approximately 0.5 mg of alkali lignin in the middle and two catalyst layers on both ends of the lignin. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out at a fixed heating rate of 1000 °C/s, and the pyrolysis products were analyzed by an online GC-MS. Non-catalytic pyrolysis products of lignin were phenols, oxygenated phenols (e.g. anisole and guaiacol), and vanillin. DF pellet AC and GRAN were the only ACs that catalyzed the formation of aromatic hydrocarbons from oxygenated phenols. The compounds from other ACs were the same as that from non-catalytic pyrolysis but with lower peak area, indicating poor catalytic performance. GRAN yielded the lowest amount of oxygenated phenols while yielding the highest phenols and aromatic hydrocarbons, suggesting that GRAN showed the best catalytic performance among all the ACs.As the temperature increased from 450 to 550 °C, the yield of aromatic hydrocarbons doubled, and then dropped as the temperature further increased to 650 °C. The aromatic hydrocarbon yield increased steadily as the temperature increased from 650 to 850 °C. The phenols yield increased as the temperature increased from 450 to 650 °C, but no significant changes were observed when temperature further increased. The effects of AC to lignin ratio on the pyrolysis products were also investigated. It was observed that higher AC to lignin ratios led to higher yield of aromatic hydrocarbons. The optimum AC to lignin ratio for aromatic hydrocarbon production is 8. However, increasing AC to lignin ratio did not have significant impact on phenols yield. Task3. Estimate the techno-economic feasibility of converting forest biomass to phenols Change in Knowledge: Improved the understanding of microscopic structure of biomass-derived activated carbon, and their roles in high-value chemicals production from biomass; Increased the understanding of physical and chemical properties of biomass-derived carbon catalysts and the tuning of these properties for catalyst design; Change in Action: A new way to produce bio-phenols and chemicals from lignocellulose biomass and the key step for production of renewable fuels and high-value chemicals using biomass-derived carbon catalysts. Change in Condition: The successful implementation of the project has significant positive impact on rural economic, environment and society in the United States by leveraging a feedstock that is currently considered as an agroforestry waste. In addition, a significant number of jobs focused on the production of high-value chemicals and bioproducts will be created. Pyrolysis oil cannot replace crude oil due to adverse attributes such as high oxygen content, acidity and instability. These attributes can be mitigated with the catalysis effect of bio-based AC catalyst, thus advancing the development of pyrolysis technologies.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
1. Zixu Yang, Hanwu Lei, et al., Microwave-assisted Pyrolysis of Biomass in Presence of Biomass-derived Activated Carbon to Selectively Produce Biophenols. 2017, Applied Energy. (In preparation)
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
2. Zixu Yang, Hanwu Lei, et al., The Role of Activated Carbon in Microwave-assisted Pyrolysis of Biomass to Produce Phenol-rich Bio-oil. 2017, Bioresource Technology. (In preparation)
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Progress 09/01/16 to 02/28/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural and forestry biomass industrial companies, biofuel related industries: Creative Energy Systems Inc., Renewable Energy Group Inc. Changes/Problems:No changes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Dr. Lei trained an entry level scientist and a graduate student to design and conduct experiments, set up processes and protocols for the project, document and analyze the experiment results. Dr. Lei coordinated the project team to make sure that every team member was assigned with different responsibilities and assisted them to achieve their research objectives independently. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During this reporting period, we found that the AC had different effects on bio-oils in Py-GC/MS run from previously observed results using microwave-assisted pyrolysis. We suspected that reactor design might have an impact on the pyrolysis products. In the next reporting period, we plan to discover the role of AC in pyrolysis. Detailed objectives are listed as follows: 1. Finish the preparation of ACs according to the experiment design. 2. Test all the ACs prepared in objective 1 using microwave pyrolyzer under catalyst bed mode and mixing mode. 3. Characterizations of the ACs (both fresh and spent), including BET surface area, FTIR, Raman spectrum and SEM.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact In the first quarter of this project, we found that biomass-based activated carbon selectively improved the production of deoxygenated compounds (such as simple phenols and aromatic hydrocarbons) during pyrolysis of biomass. The direct conversion of biomass pyrolysis volatiles in presence of biomass-based activated carbon, which can be sourced from any thermal conversion (e.g. pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal conversion) of biomass, is a unique approach that makes it possible to selectively produce bio-oils rich in phenols and aromatics with low catalyst development cost. In addition, environmental and economic benefits of this technology are expected to be better than traditional bio-oil upgrading processes due to the utilization of biomass-based activated carbon catalyst, which is renewable and inexpensive. The project is transformative in the sense that it creates renewable carbon catalyst as a direct replacement of the non-renewable catalyst to achieve same or better catalysis efficiencies for bio-oil upgrading. The development of this project will improve the current status of biomass-to-chemicals technologies, and enhance the energy security of the United States. Task1. Develop high performance biomass derived carbon catalysts In this reporting period, we prepared activated carbon catalysts using Douglas Fir (DF) pellets and corn stover (CS). The biomass feedstock was initially impregnated with phosphoric acid and then subjected to microwave-assisted pyrolysis for carbonization. The effects of acid to biomass mass ratio (x1) and pyrolysis temperature (x2) on the activated carbon yields, their physiochemical properties and the phenols yield during catalysis were studied using a central composite design (CCD). The starting biomass mass was fixed at 60 grams, and the amount of phosphoric acid was varied from 30 to 180 grams. At lower mixing ratios (e.g. 0.5 and 1), extra deionized water was added to ensure that the biomass contacted with the phosphoric acid properly. At lower acid to biomass ratio (e.g. 0.5 and 1), the color of the samples was light, especially in the case of 0.5, where the color was the same as the virgin sample, indicating that extent of carbonization was not high. In addition, the pellets were completely disintegrated into particles under lower acid to biomass ratios. When higher acid to biomass ratios were applied, the color of samples turned black, suggesting a high extent of carbonization. Interesting, the pellets were covered by a dark sticky slurry but not disintegrated significantly. The surface functional groups of DF pellet derived carbon catalyst (acid to biomass ratio=1.5, carbonization at 450 °C) and four commercial ACs (8X30, GAC, GCN, and GRAN) were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy (Shimadzu, Ge Crystal; software: IR Solution). It can be seen that the IR pattern of DF pellet derived carbon resembles that of commercial ACs. Peaks were observed at 1030, 1580, 1715 and 2850 cm-1, which corresponds to the stretching of ether, C=C double bond, C=O and C-H groups. From the analysis of surface functional groups, it can be postulated that DF pellet derived AC should have similar behavior to commercial AC during catalysis. Task2. Catalysis tests of phenols conversion from lignocelluloses biomass using packed bed catalysis Catalytic performance of ACs in phenols conversion from lignocellulose biomass was investigated using a Pyrolysis-GC/MS system. Of all three biomass components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin), lignin is the major contributor to phenol compounds. Therefore, a commercial alkali lignin was used as the biomass feedstock in this study. The sample tube (1 mm I.D., 1 in length) is packed with approximately 0.5 mg of alkali lignin in the middle and two catalyst layers on both ends of the lignin. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out at a fixed heating rate of 1000 °C/s, and the pyrolysis products were analyzed by an online GC-MS. Non-catalytic pyrolysis products of lignin were phenols, oxygenated phenols (e.g. anisole and guaiacol), and vanillin. DF pellet AC and GRAN were the only ACs that catalyzed the formation of aromatic hydrocarbons from oxygenated phenols. The compounds from other ACs were the same as that from non-catalytic pyrolysis but with lower peak area, indicating poor catalytic performance. GRAN yielded the lowest amount of oxygenated phenols while yielding the highest phenols and aromatic hydrocarbons, suggesting that GRAN showed the best catalytic performance among all the ACs.As the temperature increased from 450 to 550 °C, the yield of aromatic hydrocarbons doubled, and then dropped as the temperature further increased to 650 °C. The aromatic hydrocarbon yield increased steadily as the temperature increased from 650 to 850 °C. The phenols yield increased as the temperature increased from 450 to 650 °C, but no significant changes were observed when temperature further increased. The effects of AC to lignin ratio on the pyrolysis products were also investigated. It was observed that higher AC to lignin ratios led to higher yield of aromatic hydrocarbons. The optimum AC to lignin ratio for aromatic hydrocarbon production is 8. However, increasing AC to lignin ratio did not have significant impact on phenols yield. Task3. Estimate the techno-economic feasibility of converting forest biomass to phenols Change in Knowledge: Improved the understanding of microscopic structure of biomass-derived activated carbon, and their roles in high-value chemicals production from biomass; Increased the understanding of physical and chemical properties of biomass-derived carbon catalysts and the tuning of these properties for catalyst design; Change in Action: A new way to produce bio-phenols and chemicals from lignocellulose biomass and the key step for production of renewable fuels and high-value chemicals using biomass-derived carbon catalysts. Change in Condition: The successful implementation of the project has significant positive impact on rural economic, environment and society in the United States by leveraging a feedstock that is currently considered as an agroforestry waste. In addition, a significant number of jobs focused on the production of high-value chemicals and bioproducts will be created. Pyrolysis oil cannot replace crude oil due to adverse attributes such as high oxygen content, acidity and instability. These attributes can be mitigated with the catalysis effect of bio-based AC catalyst, thus advancing the development of pyrolysis technologies.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
1. Zixu Yang, Hanwu Lei, et al., Microwave-assisted Pyrolysis of Biomass in Presence of Biomass-derived Activated Carbon to Selectively Produce Biophenols. 2017, Applied Energy. (In preparation)
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
2. Zixu Yang, Hanwu Lei, et al., The Role of Activated Carbon in Microwave-assisted Pyrolysis of Biomass to Produce Phenol-rich Bio-oil. 2017, Bioresource Technology. (In preparation)
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