ALTERNATIVES TO CONVENTIONAL SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF BIOMASS

IN VIEW OF THCURRENT WORLD SITUATION WITH REGARD TO THE AVAILABILITY AND PRICE INSTABILITY OF FOREIGN OIL, THERE IS AN URGENT NATIONAL NEED TO DEVELOP RENEWABLE DOMESTIC ENERGYSOURCES SUCH AS HYDROCARBON-PRODUCING CROPS (BIOMASS). HOWEVER, EFFICIENT AND COST-EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS EXTRACTION OF BOTH THE POLAR AND NON-POLAR CONSTITUTIENTS OF HYDROCARBON-PRODUCING CROPS NEED TO BE DEVELOPED BEFORE BIOMASS-DERIVED EXTRACTABLES BECOME ECONOMICALLY VIABLE AS SOURCES OF FUELS AND CHEMICAL FEEDSTOCKS. IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH, SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE EXTRACTION AND CERTAIN AZEOTROPIC SOLVENT SYSTEMS WILL BE COMPARED WITH TRADITIONAL SOLVENT EXTRACTIONMETHODS WITH REGARD TO EXTRACTION EFFICIENCY (YIELDS), CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF EXTRACTIVES, AND TECHNICAL (ECONOMIC) FEASIBILITY (AT THE LABORATORY SCALE) ON FOUR DIFFERENT SPECIES OF PLANTS. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ECONOMICAL EXTRACTION TECHNIQUE WHICH WILL PERMIT MULTIPLE-PRODUCT RECOVERY FROM HYDROCARBON-PRODUCING CROPS.