Breakthrough can reduce industrial use of fossil fuels by $400 billion/year

[Nothing Without Hope]

This discovery is being reported in the November 25 issue of Science, a well-respected, stringently peer-reviewed weekly journal.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101125202013.htm

A High-Yield Biomass Alternative to Petroleum for Industrial Chemicals

ScienceDaily (Nov. 25, 2010)

A team of University of Massachusetts Amherst chemical engineers report in November 25 issue of Science that they have developed a way to produce high-volume chemical feedstocks including benzene, toluene, xylenes and olefins from pyrolytic bio-oils, the cheapest liquid fuels available today derived from biomass. The new process could reduce or eliminate industry's reliance on fossil fuels to make industrial chemicals worth an estimated $400 billion annually.

Instead of buying petroleum by the barrel, chemical manufacturers will now be able to use relatively cheaper, widely available pyrolysis oils made from waste wood, agricultural waste and non-food energy crops to produce the same high-value materials for making everything from solvents and detergents to plastics and fibers.

As principal investigator George Huber, associate professor of chemical engineering at UMass Amherst, explains, "Thanks to this breakthrough, we can meet the need to make commodity chemical feedstocks entirely through processing pyrolysis oils. We are making the same molecules from biomass that are currently being produced from petroleum, with no infrastructure changes required."

He adds, "We think this technology will provide a big boost to the economy because pyrolysis oils are commercially available now. The major difference between our approach and the current method is the feedstock; our process uses a renewable feedstock, that is, plant biomass. Rather than purchasing petroleum to make these chemicals, we use pyrolysis oils made from non-food agricultural crops and woody biomass grown domestically. This will also provide United States farmers and landowners a large additional revenue stream."

(snip)

[KansasVoter]

1. Skeptical......I bet once a month I read a story like this.......

And very very seldom does it become commercial.

[Juche]

8. That is my thought

Every week another breakthrough in energy is reported, and year after year nothing major changes. There are changes over time, but they are more sublime and subtle.

[Jackpine Radical]

17. Those of us with a healthy streak of paranoia

sometimes suspect that certain findings are suppressed (like the legendary 100mpg Model T carburetor) by powers who have a financial interest in the old technologies.

But of course I'm not such a person.

[rucky]

2. Pyrolysis has been around for awhile

but the problem has been that on an upward scale, the energy input to create it was almost as much as the energy value of the fuel it produced. If they found a way to make this scalable (as China claims they also have), then this really is a breakthrough.

[truedelphi]

6. Time will tell. n/t

[rucky]

10. I'm skeptical, too.

There's a long string of investors & municipal governments who've been burned by the hype.

[XemaSab]

3. We'll see

n/t

[Subdivisions]

4. SWEET!

We no longer have to worry about oil depletion!!!

Party on, Garth!

[pscot]

5. Publication in Science

lends credibility. No?

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. IMO, it means that it's worth a careful evaluation

Some howlers have been published in Science - the reviewers, though considered experts in their fields, are sometimes wrong. But it's a top journal, yes. Shoddy work is generally weeded out and it's quite an accomplishment to publish there. I'm hoping that others replicate this new finding and that whatever patent coverage these scientists have in place won't squash further development.

[BadgerKid]

12. Agreed, IME. n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. If this proves out, it would also greatly benefit countries without oil n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

11. Wikipedia link for "pyrolysis oil"

One of my questions is, how would the new procedure, including any scrubbing steps, affect production of atmospheric CO and CO2? Older treatment of these oils still produced them in quantity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolysis_oil

[gristy]

13. ScienceDaily? Huh. What % of our fossil fuel consumption is $400B?

The article gives no clue. They do list a link to this article, though:

"Existing Biotechnology Could Save Energy And Cut Carbon Dioxide By 100 Percent"

Oh, my!! :freak:

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. ADDITIONAL INFO: Link to abstract of the Science article itself:

Definitely worth a read. I don't have a subscription to Science, so can't give you paragraphs from the text of the article. Maybe somebody else reading this post can.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6008/1222.abstract
Science 26 November 2010:
Vol. 330 no. 6008 pp. 1222-1227
DOI: 10.1126/science.1194218

Renewable Chemical Commodity Feedstocks from Integrated Catalytic Processing of Pyrolysis Oils

Tushar P. Vispute1, Huiyan Zhang1,2, Aimaro Sanna1,3, Rui Xiao2 and George W. Huber1

ABSTRACT

Fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass produces a renewable liquid fuel called pyrolysis oil that is the cheapest liquid fuel produced from biomass today. Here we show that pyrolysis oils can be converted into industrial commodity chemical feedstocks using an integrated catalytic approach that combines hydroprocessing with zeolite catalysis. The hydroprocessing increases the intrinsic hydrogen content of the pyrolysis oil, producing polyols and alcohols. The zeolite catalyst then converts these hydrogenated products into light olefins and aromatic hydrocarbons in a yield as much as three times higher than that produced with the pure pyrolysis oil. The yield of aromatic hydrocarbons and light olefins from the biomass conversion over zeolite is proportional to the intrinsic amount of hydrogen added to the biomass feedstock during hydroprocessing. The total product yield can be adjusted depending on market values of the chemical feedstocks and the relative prices of the hydrogen and biomass.

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. ADDITIONAL INFO: LINK to the Online Supplement to the Science article:

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2010/11/22/330.6008.1222.DC1/Vispute.SOM.pdf

It contains the Materials and Methods section of the paper as well as the figures and tables.

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. ADDITIONAL INFO: PRESS RELEASE from U Mass Amherst

To the moderators: This is a press release, so I am quoting all of it. Copyright laws do not apply.

http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/newsreleases/articles/116005.php

UMass Amherst Chemical Engineers Develop a High-Yield, Low-Cost Biomass Alternative to Petroleum for Industrial Chemicals

Nov. 26, 2010

Contact: Janet Lathrop
(office phone and email at the link)

AMHERST, Mass. - A team of University of Massachusetts Amherst chemical engineers report in today’s issue of Science that they have developed a way to produce high-volume chemical feedstocks including benzene, toluene, xylenes and olefins from pyrolytic bio-oils, the cheapest liquid fuels available today derived from biomass. The new process could reduce or eliminate industry’s reliance on fossil fuels to make industrial chemicals worth an estimated $400 billion annually.

Instead of buying petroleum by the barrel, chemical manufacturers will now be able to use relatively cheaper, widely available pyrolysis oils made from waste wood, agricultural waste and non-food energy crops to produce the same high-value materials for making everything from solvents and detergents to plastics and fibers.

As chemical engineer George Huber, the Armstrong Associate Professor at UMass Amherst, explains, "Thanks to this breakthrough, we can meet the need to make commodity chemical feedstocks entirely through processing pyrolysis oils. We are making the same molecules from biomass that are currently being produced from petroleum, with no infrastructure changes required."

He adds, "We think this technology will provide a big boost to the economy because pyrolysis oils are commercially available now. The major difference between our approach and the current method is the feedstock; our process uses a renewable feedstock, that is, plant biomass. Rather than purchasing petroleum to make these chemicals, we use pyrolysis oils made from non-food agricultural crops and woody biomass grown domestically. This will also provide United States farmers and landowners a large additional revenue stream."

In the past, these compounds were made in a low-yield process, the chemical engineer adds. "But here we show how to achieve three times higher yields of chemicals from pyrolysis oil than ever achieved before. We’ve essentially provided a roadmap for converting low-value pyrolysis oils into products with a higher value than transportation fuels."

In the paper, he and doctoral students Tushar Vispute, Aimaro Sanno and Huiyan Zhang show how to make olefins such as ethylene and propylene, the building blocks of many plastics and resins, plus aromatics such as benzene, toluene and xylenes found in dyes, plastics and polyurethane, from biomass-based pyrolysis oils. They use a two-step, integrated catalytic approach starting with a "tunable," variable-reaction hydrogenation stage followed by a second, zeolite catalytic step. The zeolite catalyst has the proper pore structure and active sites to convert biomass-based molecules into aromatic hydrocarbons and olefins.

Huber, Vispute and colleagues discuss how to choose among three options including low- and high-temperature hydrogenation steps as well as the zeolite conversion for optimal results. Their findings indicate that "the olefin-to-aromatic ratio and the types of olefins and aromatics produced can be adjusted according to market demand." That is, using the new techniques, chemical producers can manage the carbon content from biomass they need, as well as hydrogen amounts. Huber and colleagues provide economic calculations for determining the optimal mix of hydrogen and pyrolytic oils, depending on market prices, to yield the highest-grade product at the lowest cost.

A pilot plant on the UMass Amherst campus is now producing these chemicals on a liter-quantity scale using this new method. The technology has been licensed to Anellotech Corp., co-founded by Huber and David Sudolsky of New York City. Anellotech is also developing UMass Amherst technology invented by the Huber research team to convert solid biomass directly into chemicals. Thus, pyrolysis oil represents a second renewable feedstock for Anellotech.

Sudolsky, Anellotech’s CEO, says, "There are several companies developing technology to produce pyrolysis oil from biomass. The problem has been that pyrolysis oils must be upgraded to be useable. But with the new UMass Amherst process, Anellotech can now convert these pyrolysis oils into valuable chemicals at higher efficiency and with very attractive economics. This is very exciting."

More Information: Huber pyrolysis plant

[Hawkeye-X]

18. Hemp would help too. BIG time.

Renewable energy...

Hawkeye-X

[Nothing Without Hope]

19. Yes, and they could use some kudzu in the US South as well

Yet another use for hemp. (And I add hemp protein to my smoothies and have paper containing hemp when I can.)

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. VIDEO of principal investigator from November 2008

Prof. George Huber talking about earlier his biofuels work - "green gasoline":

http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/video/clip.php?vid=261

The stated goal of the work cited in this thread is different: not BURNING fuel but using it as starting point for synthesis.

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. kick for visibility n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

22. My last kick for the night. Let's hope that this technology

or others that accomplish similar goals can help us out of dependence on oil for manufacturing.

[1776Forever]

23. K&R - This is great news and everyone should hope this works out! n/t

[upi402]

24. The Anellotech connection

http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/biotech/2010/11/26/umass-amherst-anellotech-pioneer-conversion-of-bio-oil-to-chemical-intermediates/

"... The Anellotech connection

Huber told the Digest: ” The process discussed in the Science paper is a process to convert pyrolysis oils using Anellotech’s technology. It is more of a proof of concept, but not that far away from commercial viability.” Regarding Anellotech’s progress, Huber reports: “Anellotech’s technology is definitely near commercial viability (after we scale it up). Next month we will start making liter quantities of products to deliver to different customers.”

The technology has been licensed to Anellotech Corp., co-founded by Huber and David Sudolsky of New York City. Anellotech is also developing UMass Amherst technology invented by the Huber research team to convert solid biomass directly into chemicals. Thus, pyrolysis oil represents a second renewable feedstock for Anellotech.
Sudolsky, Anellotech’s CEO, says, “There are several companies developing technology to produce pyrolysis oil from biomass. The problem has been that pyrolysis oils must be upgraded to be useable. But with the new UMass Amherst process, Anellotech can now convert these pyrolysis oils into valuable chemicals at higher efficiency and with very attractive economics. This is very exciting.” ..."

k/r

[Nothing Without Hope]

25. Thanks for this - let's hope this works out well and goes far n/t

[NickB79]

26. Non-food crops and woody biomass

The cynic in me says: We can clear-cut forests to fund our oil addiction.

Hooray!

[upi402]

27. "Swidjgrashhh" -Bush, our fearless leader!

Switchgrass, hemp, wood scrap, cow crap, and chickenshit.
All your biomass are belongs to us!

[Nothing Without Hope]

28. I don't think so. Other plant matter would be more efficient

even if there was no care about the environment and the forests.

[NickB79]

29. I don't know. Some of the highest oil contents suitable for pyrolysis are found in conifers

The idea of making biofuels via pyrolysis isn't new.

For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSifqTsde40