10. CHEMICAL REACTIONS AND SEPARATION PROCESSES FOR BIOREFINERY APPLICATIONS

 

Research is needed to address energy intensive chemical reactions and separation processes that will contribute to the success of the bio-refinery as a viable commercial alternative to the production of fuels and chemicals.  As envisioned in the United States, bio-refineries will be an important source for the production of fuels and commodity chemicals on a large scale, primarily with feedstocks derived from cellulosic starting materials.  Most of the commodity chemicals used in a biorefinery will be oxygenates, produced via both thermochemical and biocatalytic (enzymes) processes.  Grant applications submitted in response to this topic must show how the proposed approach will contribute to an energy-efficient biorefinery and that the costs of processing will be comparable to processes that use petroleum or natural gas feedstocks. 

 

Grant applications are sought only in the following subtopics.

 

 

a. New Chemical Catalysts and Biocatalysts—Grant applications are sought to develop new catalysts to promote energy savings in a biorefinery for the chemical and allied process industries.  Grant applications may address either heterogeneous or homogeneous catalysts, and any energy intensive chemical processes, including oxidations, reductions, substitutions, and isomerizations.  Of particular interest is the development of new chemical catalysts that derive their properties from the special characteristics of nano-scale materials, or from nano-scale functionality imparted to a material.  Also of interest is the development of catalysts for use with new feedstock materials.  Because a wealth of R&D has been conducted on new catalytic materials, especially involving nano-scale materials with new catalytic properties, grant applications should include a review of the pertinent patent and scientific literature.

 

Questions – contact Charles Russomanno (Charles.Russomanno@ee.doe.gov)

 

 

b. Process Intensification—Grant applications are sought to develop process intensification methodology for common chemical processes and bioprocesses used in a biorefinery, leading to lower process energy requirements or savings in feedstocks.  For example, microchannel reactor technology can reduce the dilution volume needed for many chemical processes, thus reducing the energy requirements of separations.  Microchannel reactor technology also can be used in the application of chemical catalysis with enhanced selectivity.  For bioprocesses, process intensification methodology may reduce the water requirements, which would further reduce the energy requirements.  Grant applications should include a review of pertinent scientific and patent literature. 

 

Questions – contact Charles Russomanno (Charles.Russomanno@ee.doe.gov)

 

 

c. Alternative Reaction Media—Grant applications are sought to develop new reaction media for both chemical processes and bio-processes used in a biorefinery, leading to reductions in the energy requirements of processing.  For example, the use of ionic liquids as reaction media may reduce the energy requirements of chemical processing by eliminating distillation steps – instead, separations could be accomplished by complexification or other means.  For bio-processing, reaction media other than water may reduce energy requirements compared to water-based processes.  Grant applications should address the potential energy savings in the biorefinery for the manufacture of commodity chemicals.

 

Questions – contact Charles Russomanno (Charles.Russomanno@ee.doe.gov)

 

 

d. Separation Processes to Reduce or Eliminate Distillations—Grant applications are sought for new separation processes to reduce or eliminate distillation in the manufacture of commodity chemicals, using typical feedstocks or bio-based feedstocks, in a biorefinery.  Approaches may include the development of new membrane process technology, absorption, and alternative methods such as complexification.  Of particular interest are separation technologies that could be applicable to the manufacture of more than one commodity chemical product.  Grant applications should:  (1) demonstrate how the proposed separation technology will save energy over that used for distillation; and (2) provide a review of the pertinent scientific and patent literature, in order to ensure that there is no duplication of current or previous R&D.

 

Questions – contact Charles Russomanno (Charles.Russomanno@ee.doe.gov)

 

 

References:

 

1        Biomass Program, U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Website.  (URL:  http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/)

 

2        Office of the Biomass Program – Technical Plan Summary, U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.  (Full text available at:  http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pdfs/mytpsummary_040804.pdf)

 

3        Biomass Information Resources, U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Webpage.  (URL:  http://search.nrel.gov/query.html?st=11&charset=utf-8&ws=0&style=eere&col=eren&qc=eren&qp=url%3Awww1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/&qt=plan)

 

4        Vision2020 Focus Area:  Ionic Liquids, Vision2020 Chemical Industry Technical Partnership Webpage.  (URL:  http://www.chemicalvision2020.org/ionic_liquids.html)

 

5        Vision2020 Focus Area:  Advanced Separations, Vision2020 Chemical Industry Technical Partnership Webpage.  (URL:  http://www.chemicalvision2020.org/separations.html)

 

6        Vision2020 Thrust: Biomass to Energy from Forestry and/or Farming, Vision2020 Chemical Industry Technical Partnership Webpage.  (URL:  http://www.chemicalvision2020.org/biomass.html)

 

7        Area of Interest 2 – Process Intensification, National Energy Technology Laboratory Funding Opportunity Announcement.  (URL:  http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=8726&mode=VIEW.  Scroll down to text under “Description” heading.)

 

8        Vision2020:  Reaction Engineering Roadmap, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2001.  (Full text available at:  http://www.chemicalvision2020.org/pdfs/reaction_roadmap.pdf)

 

9        New Biocatalysts:  Essential Tools for a Sustainable 21st Century Chemical Industry, Roadmap resulting from workshop of the same name, held November 16-18, 1999 in Palo Alto California, 2001.  (Full text available at:  http://www.chemicalvision2020.org/pdfs/biocatalysis.pdf)