The researchers, led by James Dumesic, professor of chemical and biological engineering, published their results today (May 19, 2017) in the journal Science Advances.
Their new process tripled the fraction of biomass converted to high-value products to nearly 80 percent, also tripling the expected rate of return for an investment in the technology from roughly 10 percent (for one end product) to 30 percent.
"When a technology is new and risky, proving its economic feasibility and profit potential is critical for attracting investors," says David Martin Alonso, the study's first author and a researcher in chemical and biological engineering at UW-Madison. "That's why we are very excited about its 30-percent internal rate of return."
Alonso is also director of research and development at Glucan Biorenewables, a UW-Madison spinoff company co-founded in 2012 by biomass conversion technology pioneer Dumesic.
The magic key for turning all three components—cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin—of lignocellulosic (non-edible) biomass into distinct high-value products is gamma valerolactone (GVL), a solvent that is derived from plant material and has several highly appealing properties.
"GVL is very effective at fractionating the biomass," Alonso says. "But it is also much more stable than other solvents, allowing us to reuse 99 percent of it in a closed-loop process. Until now, solvent loss had been a major bottleneck for making a renewable and carbon-efficient bio-refinery economically feasible."
It also explains why the new technology is so "green." It starts with renewable biomass, has a very high solvent-recycling rate, needs miniscule amounts of acid, and uses all three fractions of biomass, minimizing waste. And the list of GVL's advantages goes on.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-05-triple-boosting-renewable-fuel-favor.html#jCp
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