Cellulosic Fuel Production: One Step Closer to Standard Refining

by Ed Olson (Biorefining Magazine) The advanced renewable fuel standard (RFS2) requires aggressively increasing amounts of cellulosic biofuels to be included in the fuel pool each year, and it is likely that there will be a strong market demand from obligated parties for this type of fuel as blend requirements increase.
...The EERC in partnership with Mercurius Biofuels has shown in the laboratory that cellulosic biomass in an alcohol medium can be catalytically converted to levulinate esters instead (ethanolysis). These chemicals are also useful for fuels and chemical intermediates. However, a major advantage of forming levulinate esters, as opposed to levulinic acid, is that the ester form is much easier to extract using a simple condensation reaction.
...A major push will now be made to create a pilot-scale version of a biorefinery based on this technology. The biorefinery, in very simple terms, will run in a sustainable mode using common agricultural feedstocks such as wheat straw and corn stover. The process will include three steps: 1) ethanolysis, 2) condensation, and 3) hydrotreatment to stabilize the fuel products. Final products from this biorefinery will include advanced fuel additives in the form of cyclic ethers and hydrocarbons. This technology will ultimately be used to improve engine performance using a renewable product, both in gasoline and diesel engines.
...Calculations at this time show that this type of three-step biorefinery will have a lower cost than competing technologies. Capital costs will be lower because residence times are measured in minutes compared to hours or even days for fermentation-based technologies. Also, operating conditions are moderate compared to gasification or pyrolysis. READ MORE