Novel Method for Conversion of Biomass to Fuel

Ethanol is a versatile chemical with many industrial uses, but most ethanol is used as a fuel or fuel additive. Ethanol is produced primarily by fermentation of grains, but if it could instead be made from the syngas produced thermochemically from biomass gasification, a valuable fuel could potentially be made using a wide variety of cellulosic feedstocks. In Phase I, TDA will prepare and test a novel catalytic process for the conversion of syngas to ethanol. Mainly due to its projected use as an oxygenate in gasoline, ethanol demand is projected to grow by as much as 10% per year until 2012. Currently, as much as 83% of the ethanol in the U.S. is produced by fermentation processes of corn. As a result, food prices spiked in 2008, in part driven by the fact that farmers were growing corn for ethanol production instead of for food crops. As an alternative, intensive R&D efforts are underway to develop biochemical methods to convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol, but technologies are not yet mature. Conversion of syngas produced from gasification of cellulosic biomass to high value ethanol would be an advantage for both the fuels and chemical industries. TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) has identified a novel catalyst for converting syngas to ethanol. In Phase I, TDA will synthesize and test new catalysts using our automated reactor equipment to determine the combination of catalyst formulation and operating conditions that give the best selectivity for converting syngas to ethanol. In Phase II, we will optimize the catalyst formulation further and test the best catalyst in a bench-scale reactor. We will then work with our commercialization partner to test our process at the pilot plant scale. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: This project will develop a new route to ethanol from a cheap, abundant (domestic supply), cellulosic feedstock that will help meet the rapidly growing demand for fuel ethanol.