WSU Researchers Creating Catalyst to Improve Jet Biofuel Production

by Maegan Murray (Washington State University-Tri-Cities) Efforts to create an environmentally friendly catalyst that will lower the cost and increase the efficiency in producing bio-based jet fuels has netted Washington State University researchers a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

WSU Tri-Cities associate professor Hanwu Lei and his research team aim to develop the catalyst — a substance that increases the rate of chemical reactions and lowers the energy needed to perform the reaction — from forestry and agricultural waste products.

This is the second major research grant that Lei, an associate professor of biological systems engineering with the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory, has received from the USDA and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The first grant for $494,000 was awarded in August 2015 to develop a different type of biomass-derived catalysts. Once developed, these catalysts will be used to increase the energy output and performance of biofuels. These catalysts will produce aromatic hydrocarbons, which are high-energy organic compounds that largely are responsible for the octane number, or performance rating, of a fuel. READ MORE