SEP: Sustainable Forest-Based Biofuel Pathways to Hydrocarbon Transportation Fuels: Biomass Production, Torrefaction, Pyrolysis, Catalytic Upgrading, and Combustion

SEP：碳氢化合物运输燃料的可持续森林生物燃料途径：生物质生产、烘焙、热解、催化升级和燃烧

• 批准号: 1230803
• 负责人: David Shonnard
• 金额: $ 180万
• 依托单位: Michigan Technological University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1230803&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SEP; Sustainable; Forest; Based; Biofuel

The NSF Sustainable Energy pathways (SEP) Program, under the umbrella of the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) initiative, will support the research program of Prof. David Shonnard and co-workers at Michigan Technological University. Drop-in, renewable replacements for petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels is a national strategic goal for energy security. The four-year Wood to Wheels (W2W) SEP project will achieve this goal by conducting transformative, multidisciplinary, comprehensive, and integrated research in the area of forest-based infrastructure-compatible liquid biofuel for vehicular transportation. Hypothesis-driven research is to be organized into three main thrusts plus a cross-cutting thrust integration activity; 1) Sustainable Forest Systems, 2) Two-Stage Torrefaction/Pyrolysis-Based Conversion Processes, 3) Energy Utilization of Advanced Biofuels, and 4) Integrated Sustainability Assessment and Decision Making. The Sustainable Forest Systems research thrust will feature research in forest productivity modeling, ecosystem nutrition and productivity, and genomics-guided feedstock (poplar) improvement. The Conversion Processes thrust will investigate a novel two-stage torrefaction and pyrolysis based processing strategy to prepare an improved bio-oil for multi-functional catalytic upgrading to a hydrocarbon green diesel fuel product. The Energy Utilization thrust will incorporate a surrogate fuels approach to determine the relationship between fuel component classes and combustion characteristics, and to provide feedback to the Conversion thrust team on targets for optimal GD composition. The Sustainability Assessment thrust will produce decision support tools including indicator sets, perform process simulation and optimization, technoeconomic analyses, life cycle assessments, greenhouse gas analyses, and energy balances.The goal of this project is to achieve scientific and engineering breakthroughs for production of an infrastructure-compatible green diesel (GD) with system-wide benefits; such as clean combustion in engines (low particulates and NOx), reduced life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuel, low cost per gallon, rural job creation, increased energy independence, high productivity per acre of forest biomass, plant genotypes with favorable composition for conversion, and engines optimized to use the prescribed component makeup of the GD. Researchers, including 11 faculty, 7 PhD students, and one postdoc from Forestry, Social Sciences, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, will develop new knowledge about complex coupled natural/industrial/societal systems. This SEP project will create a diverse highly skilled biofuels workforce with the technical research experiences and broad sustainability education needed to support a renewable transportation fuels industry. The research team will interact with local communities to gain information on what they believe to be important measures of sustainability in their communities. Through this interaction, these communities will receive education on biofuel production technologies and what sustainability means, how it can be measured, and whether trade-offs among goals are necessary to institute sustainable biofuel systems in their area. The team will implement a W2W SEP diversity plan to: (1) recruit women, under-represented minorities, and persons with disabilities as graduate students, and (2) implement integrated practices that enable the academic and professional success of the SEP students and postdoc. Results from the Sustainability Assessments research thrust will be fed back to the other thrust teams in order to guide research and overcome sustainability challenges that arise at key processing stages along the life cycle.The project will contribute to the development of biomass-based biofuel production in the US in order to displace nearly all imported petroleum, to support domestic jobs, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Project deliverables will help establish a new forest-based biofuels industry featuring high productivity forest energy crops, sustainable forest management practices, catalysts and process technologies, innovations in engine systems, sustainable decision-making databases, and analysis methods/software tools.

NSF 可持续能源途径 (SEP) 计划隶属于 NSF 科学、工程和可持续发展教育 (SEES) 计划，将支持 David Shonnard 教授及其同事在密歇根理工大学的研究计划。以石油为基础的液体运输燃料的直接、可再生替代品是能源安全的国家战略目标。为期四年的“从木材到车轮（W2W）SEP”项目将通过在用于车辆运输的与森林基础设施兼容的液体生物燃料领域进行变革性、多学科、全面和综合的研究来实现这一目标。假设驱动的研究将被组织成三个主要主旨加上一个跨领域的主旨整合活动； 1) 可持续森林系统，2) 基于两阶段烘焙/热解的转化过程，3) 先进生物燃料的能源利用，以及 4) 综合可持续性评估和决策。可持续森林系统的研究重点将包括森林生产力模型、生态系统营养和生产力以及基因组学指导的原料（杨树）改良方面的研究。转化工艺重点将研究一种新型的基于两阶段烘焙和热解的加工策略，以制备改进的生物油，用于多功能催化升级为碳氢化合物绿色柴油产品。能源利用推力将采用替代燃料方法来确定燃料成分类别和燃烧特性之间的关系，并向转换推力团队提供有关最佳 GD 成分目标的反馈。 可持续性评估重点将产生决策支持工具，包括指标集、执行过程模拟和优化、技术经济分析、生命周期评估、温室气体分析和能源平衡。该项目的目标是在生产与基础设施兼容的绿色柴油（GD），具有全系统效益；例如发动机的清洁燃烧（低颗粒物和氮氧化物）、与化石燃料相比，生命周期温室气体排放量减少、每加仑成本低、创造农村就业机会、提高能源独立性、每英亩森林生物质的高生产率、具有有利的植物基因型用于转换的成分，以及优化的发动机以使用 GD 的规定部件构成。研究人员，包括来自林业、社会科学、化学工程、机械工程的 11 名教师、7 名博士生和 1 名博士后，将开发有关复杂耦合的自然/工业/社会系统的新知识。该 SEP 项目将打造一支多元化、高技能的生物燃料劳动力队伍，拥有支持可再生运输燃料行业所需的技术研究经验和广泛的可持续发展教育。研究团队将与当地社区互动，以获取他们认为是社区可持续发展的重要措施的信息。通过这种互动，这些社区将接受有关生物燃料生产技术、可持续性意味着什么、如何衡量可持续性以及在其地区建立可持续生物燃料系统是否有必要在目标之间进行权衡的教育。该团队将实施 W2W SEP 多样性计划，以：(1) 招募女性、代表性不足的少数族裔和残疾人作为研究生，以及 (2) 实施综合实践，使 SEP 学生和博士后能够在学术和职业上取得成功。 可持续性评估研究重点的结果将反馈给其他重点团队，以指导研究并克服生命周期关键加工阶段出现的可持续性挑战。该项目将有助于发展基于生物质的生物燃料生产。美国为了取代几乎所有进口石油、支持国内就业并减少温室气体排放。项目成果将有助于建立一个新的以森林为基础的生物燃料产业，以高产森林能源作物、可持续森林管理实践、催化剂和工艺技术、发动机系统创新、可持续决策数据库和分析方法/软件工具为特色。