Low-Energy Rotary Shear for Sub-millimeter Particle Production

Inexpensive biofuels are essential to the national economic and environmental stability of the United States. Pathways are well established to ferment sugars derived from biomass into fuels and bioproducts. However, there is a massive gap between the physical form of raw cellulosic biomass and the form of the feedstock required for biofuels conversion. Low energy mechanical size reduction to sub-millimeter particles is essential for economic conversion. This project will develop a low energy rotary shear comminution method to make sub-millimeter particles that increase the available surface area per volume ratio optimized for use in biochemical conversion platforms. The technologies resulting from this project can immediately be implemented in current biofuel conversion facilities as well as future second generation conversion facilities. This technology will likely reduce the comminution energy by 50% or more as well as remove the need for capital and operationally expensive dryers in the comminution process, resulting in dramatic biofuels production cost reduction.