Cooler and cleaner: Parallel detergent and biofuel production via tandem aquaculture and catalysis

Current methods for the production of biofuels face myriad of barriers to widespread use as gasoline substitutes. Challenges in manufacturing, in particular those associated with delignification during biomass processing, increase production costs. Traditional biofuel feedstocks including agricultural wastes and perennial grasses are problematic, both in terms of availability and in terms of the challenges associated with production. Modern agricultural practices support the use of most of the agricultural waste materials, rendering them unavailable as bioenergy feedstock. Infrastructure and fertilization costs for cultivation of native grasses or dedicated energy crops for biofuels decrease the profitability and limit the carbon emission savings from the process. Providing solutions to improve profitability and overcome feedstock limitations is critical to the development of sustainable and affordable biofuels. Manufacture of surfactants, high-performing commodity chemicals used in the $12 billion U.S. cleaning products industry, is also energy intensive and inefficient, producing molecules primarily from petrochemical feedstocks with limited function and high energy cost. Commercially available biorenewable surfactants are primarily sourced from imported feedstocks such as palm and coconut oils, which increase production costs while posing as detriment to biomass availability and carbon emission savings. A new class of biorenewable surfactants known as oleofuran sulfonate surfactants outperform commercial petroleum-derived surfactants, particularly in challenging conditions such as hard water. The unique chemical properties of oleofuran surfactants allow for their use in more concentrated product formulations, reducing costs, water waste, and carbon emissions related to product packaging and transportation. While oleofuran surfactant production from agricultural waste is now an established technology, the limitations on this biomass source are the same as with biofuels; a more elegant solution for biomass sourcing is desired to facilitate oleofuran surfactant production at commercial scale. In this project, the dual challenges of profitability and supply chain constraints currently facing biofuel production are addressed by introducing a new method for co-production of high-performing biorenewable surfactants with biofuels. We propose preparing oleofurans for production of biorenewable oleofuran surfactants from fatty alcohols and furfural sourced from algae, using a catalytic pathway that yields a molar equivalent of methylfuran, a biofuel precursor, for every equivalent of oleofuran produced. Sourcing biomass from algae via aquaculture instead of agricultural waste or dedicated energy crops reduces the land requirements to provide improved carbon economy, while also removing the challenging delignification process acting as a barrier to traditional biofuel production. This strategy alleviates pain points in biomass sourcing for both surfactant and biofuel products and provides high-value commodity surfactants to offset the cost of biofuel production.