Pyrolysis of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals at the US Department of Agriculture

A.A. Boateng, PhD

Sustainable Biofuels & Co-Products, ARS-USDA, Eastern Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor, PA, USA.  akwasi.boateng@ars.usda.gov

Local: Auditório da Did VI  Data: 02/12/2015   Horário: 14 h

Abstract

Although much of the US biofuels research effort had been devoted to corn ethanol since the 1980’s, by 2004 the food versus fuel arguments had spurred interest in alternatives. By 2007, about when the renewable fuels standards (RFS2) was established as part of US energy independence and security act (EISA), the national action plan was essentially based on ‘ethanol-only’, and the US was to meet the new renewable fuel standards solely with cellulosic ethanol. However it was soon realized that even with cellulosic ethanol, the mandates set by the RFS2 would not be forthcoming due to technical challenges including, among others, various recombinants that are needed for the pretreatment of various biomass resources, the recalcitrance of lignin, large economies of scale of biological processes and the 10% ethanol blend wall. There was limited room in the market for both grain and cellulosic ethanol, which necessitated the need for hydrocarbon biofuels. Dr. Boateng’s research on biofuel production from lignocellulosic feedstocks fulfills a key category for meeting the advanced fuel mandates in RFS2 by set for 2022.

In this presentation Dr. Boateng will provide an overview of the USDA pyrolysis research program from 2003 to date and highlight the technologies developed at ARS including the tail gas reactive pyrolysis process (TGRP). Owing to the possibilities afforded by TGRP, pyrolysis oil upgrading by simple separations processes including short-path distillation followed by mild hydrogenation over on-the-shelf noble metal catalysts has successfully been carried out by the group to produce green gasoline, jet and diesel range drop-in fuels and chemicals as well as bio-renewable calcined coke that has found applications as anodes in the electrolytic aluminum cells

About the presenter

Dr. Boateng is presently the Lead Scientist of the thermochemical biomass conversion program at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the principal research arm of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). He is located at the USDA’s Eastern Regional Research Center and functions within the Sustainable Biofuels and Coproducts Research Unit of this US research landmark. He leads the research on catalytic and non-catalytic pyrolysis for the production of fungible transportation fuels from agricultural residues and energy crops. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a senior member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He is the principal investigator of the $6.8M biomass research & initiative (BRDI) grant, for the study of distributed on-farm bioenergy, biofuels and biochemicals (FarmBio³) development and production via integrated catalytic thermolysis”; he has authored about 125 publications over 95 of which are peer-reviewed including 7 patents.