New conversion process turns biomass 'waste' into lucrative chemical products
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q4/new-conversion-process-turns-biomass-waste-into-lucrative-chemical-products.html[font face=Serif][font size=5]New conversion process turns biomass 'waste' into lucrative chemical products[/font]
December 17, 2014
[font size=3]WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. A new catalytic process is able to convert what was once considered biomass waste into lucrative chemical products that can be used in fragrances, flavorings or to create high-octane fuel for racecars and jets.
A team of researchers from Purdue University's Center for Direct Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels, or
C3Bio, has developed a process that uses a chemical catalyst and heat to spur reactions that convert lignin into valuable chemical commodities. Lignin is a tough and highly complex molecule that gives the plant cell wall its rigid structure.
[link:
http://www.chem.purdue.edu/abu-omar|
Mahdi Abu-Omar], the R.B. Wetherill Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Chemical Engineering and associate director of C3Bio, led the team.
"We are able to take lignin - which most biorefineries consider waste to be burned for its heat - and turn it into high-value molecules that have applications in fragrance, flavoring and high-octane jet fuels," Abu-Omar said. "We can do this while simultaneously producing from the biomass lignin-free cellulose, which is the basis of ethanol and other liquid fuels. We do all of this in a one-step process."
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C4GC01911C