Chemical Upgrading of Biomass

Solvent-enabled nonenyzmatic sugar production from biomass for chemical and biological upgrading.

We recently reported a nonenzymatic biomass deconstruction process for producing carbohydrates using homogeneous mixtures of γ-valerolactone (GVL) and water as a solvent. A key step in this process is the separation of the GVL from the aqueous phase, enabling GVL recycling and the production of a concentrated aqueous carbohydrate solution. In this study, we demonstrate that phenolic solvents-se...

Effect of Torrefaction Process Parameters on Biomass Feedstock Upgrading

Biomass is a primary source of renewable carbon that can be utilized as a feedstock for biofuels or biochemicals production in order to achieve energy independence of energy importing countries. The low bulk density, high moisture content, degradation during the storage, and low energy density of raw lignocellulosic biomass are all significant challenges in supplying agricultural residues as a ...

Combining microbial production with chemical upgrading.

This review presents developments in the chemical processing of fermentation-derived compounds, focusing on ethanol, lactic acid, 2,3-butanediol and the acetone-butanol-ethanol mixture. We examine pathways from these products to biologically-derived drop-in fuels, polymers, as well as commodity chemicals, highlighting the role of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts in the development of gre...

Upgrading Biomass Pyrolysis Bio-oil to Renewable Fuels

Fermentable sugars by chemical hydrolysis of biomass.

Abundant plant biomass has the potential to become a sustainable source of fuels and chemicals. Realizing this potential requires the economical conversion of recalcitrant lignocellulose into useful intermediates, such as sugars. We report a high-yielding chemical process for the hydrolysis of biomass into monosaccharides. Adding water gradually to a chloride ionic liquid-containing catalytic a...