Engineer Gets NSF CAREER Grant to Study Biofuel Process

(University of Massachusetts-Amherst NewsWise) Paul J. Dauenhauer, a chemical engineer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has received a five-year, $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s CAREER program to conduct basic research on the chemical reactions that create biofuel from organic matter such as wood.

The funding will allow Dauenhauer and his research team to study in great detail the complex chemical reactions that take place when an ultra-thin sheet of cellulose is quickly heated to 500 degrees Celsius inside a biofuel reactor. Dauenhauer says scientists know that cellulose, the basic component of wood and other non-food plants, breaks down in a rapid and complex series of reactions that last about 1/10th of a second under these conditions. And they know some of those reactions are very efficient at producing bio-oil and other useful chemicals.

What we don’t know, he says, is exactly when, or under what conditions in this complex chemical breakdown, the most biofuel is created.

...He also notes that this type of specific knowledge of the chemical reactions is known for fossil fuels, and that is why the oil and chemical industries can produce different fuels on an industrial scale.

Dauenhauer says, “This technique will be used to measure the rates of formation of key products such as anhydrosugars, pyrans, furans, and light oxygenates and will allow for a much clearer understanding of the mechanisms of cellulose pyrolysis. We hope to set the foundations for molecular-scale understanding of biomass pyrolysis, leading to development of optimized reactors with improved economic potential that can lead to progress towards energy independence.” READ MORE