From Wastewater to Gasoline - Aqueous Biorefining of Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)-Enriched Biosolids

从废水到汽油 - 富含聚羟基丁酸酯 (PHB) 的生物固体的水相生物精炼

• 批准号: 1804513
• 负责人: Timothy Strathmann
• 金额: $ 33.04万
• 依托单位: Colorado School of Mines
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1804513&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Wastewater; Gasoline; Aqueous; Biorefining; Polyhydroxybutyrate

Increasing population and rising living standards are driving the demand for more clean water and inexpensive energy, materials, and food. At the same time, this demand produces growing volumes of solid and liquid wastes that public utilities must manage. Current approaches to wastewater treatment expend large amounts of energy to remove organic carbon, nutrients, and pathogens from the water. However, these same "waste" constituents can potentially be recovered as energy or other valuable products during the wastewater treatment process. Recent research demonstrates that wastewater treatment can be accomplished using microorganisms that funnel waste organic carbon into their cells to form polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) granules. The PHBs can then be separated from the resulting waste and converted to high-value products such as renewable gasoline, industrial chemicals, and bioplastics. Through integration of biological and catalytic technologies, the wastewater treatment processe can be reinvented as a "bio-refinery" that yields clean water as just one product of many. This re-invention of water infrastructure will also allow the diffusion of sustainable waste treatment and resource management concepts to a broader audience of students at all levels. Ultimately, such research and educational efforts are needed to support the Nation's shift towards more sustainable infrastructure.Motivated by developments in nascent biorefinery technologies, this project aims to realize and optimize the conversion of waste organic carbon streams to valuable industrial chemicals and gasoline-grade hydrocarbon fuels through the processing of PHB-enriched biomass. Experiments will be conducted to: (1) develop effective strategies for separating PHB from microbial biomass and promoting PHB depolymerization in an aqueous environment; (2) identify reaction conditions and catalysts for optimal dehydration and decarboxylation of the resultant PHB-derived monomers; and (3) demonstrate integrated conversion of waste organic carbon to gasoline-grade fuels and establish a techno-economic analysis (TEA) framework for the system. PHB separation from biomass and subsequent depolymerization will focus on aqueous-only strategies to minimize chemical inputs and byproduct wastes. Catalyst development will focus on low-cost solid acid catalysts (SACs) such as zeolites. The most promising catalysts will be evaluated in continuous flow reactors, and both preventative and regenerative strategies for maintaining catalyst activity will be tested. This research will support a path forward towards increased valorization of organic carbon-rich waste streams in municipal, agricultural, and industrial sectors, potentially flipping the energy balance and cost model for wastewater utilities. In addition, this project supports the career development of graduate and undergraduate student participants, and educational and outreach activities designed for K-12 students and teachers will support the diffusion of sustainable waste treatment and renewable energy production methods to a larger audience.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

人口的增长和生活水平的提高正在推动对更多清洁水和廉价能源、材料和食品的需求。与此同时，这种需求产生了越来越多的固体和液体废物，公共事业必须对其进行管理。目前的废水处理方法需要消耗大量能量来去除水中的有机碳、营养物和病原体。然而，这些相同的“废物”成分有可能在废水处理过程中作为能源或其他有价值的产品被回收。最近的研究表明，废水处理可以通过微生物将废弃有机碳注入其细胞中形成聚羟基丁酸酯（PHB）颗粒来完成。然后，PHB 可从产生的废物中分离出来，并转化为高价值产品，如可再生汽油、工业化学品和生物塑料。通过生物和催化技术的整合，废水处理过程可以被改造为“生物精炼厂”，产生的洁净水只是众多产品中的一种。水基础设施的重新发明也将使可持续废物处理和资源管理概念传播给更广泛的各级学生。最终，需要此类研究和教育工作来支持国家向更可持续的基础设施转变。在新兴生物炼制技术发展的推动下，该项目旨在实现和优化废弃有机碳流向有价值的工业化学品和汽油级碳氢化合物的转化通过加工富含 PHB 的生物质来生产燃料。实验将进行：（1）制定从微生物生物质中分离PHB并促进水环境中PHB解聚的有效策略； (2) 确定反应条件和催化剂，以实现所得 PHB 衍生单体的最佳脱水和脱羧作用； （3）展示废弃有机碳到汽油级燃料的综合转化，并为该系统建立技术经济分析（TEA）框架。 PHB 从生物质中的分离以及随后的解聚将集中于纯水策略，以最大限度地减少化学输入和副产品废物。催化剂开发将侧重于低成本固体酸催化剂（SAC），例如沸石。最有前途的催化剂将在连续流反应器中进行评估，并将测试用于维持催化剂活性的预防性和再生策略。这项研究将支持在市政、农业和工业部门提高富含有机碳废物流的价值，从而有可能改变废水公用事业的能源平衡和成本模型。此外，该项目支持研究生和本科生参与者的职业发展，为 K-12 学生和教师设计的教育和外展活动将支持向更多受众传播可持续废物处理和可再生能源生产方法。该奖项反映了通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，NSF 的法定使命被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Hydrothermal catalytic conversion of oleic acid to heptadecane over Ni/ZrO2

• DOI: 10.1016/j.hazadv.2023.100273
• 发表时间: 2023-03
• 期刊: Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances
• 作者: L. Cronmiller;James M. Crawford;Jing Zhang;Derek R. Vardon;T. Strathmann

Vapor-phase conversion of aqueous 3-hydroxybutyric acid and crotonic acid to propylene over solid acid catalysts

固体酸催化剂上水性 3-羟基丁酸和巴豆酸气相转化为丙烯

• DOI: 10.1039/d1cy01152a
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Catalysis Science & Technology
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Leow, Shijie;Koehler, Andrew J.;Cronmiller, Lauren E.;Huo, Xiangchen;Lahti, Gabriella D.;Li, Yalin;Hafenstine, Glenn R.;Vardon, Derek R.;Strathmann, Timothy J.
• 通讯作者: Strathmann, Timothy J.

Kinetics and Mechanism for Hydrothermal Conversion of Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) for Wastewater Valorization

聚羟基丁酸酯（PHB）水热转化废水增值的动力学和机理

• DOI: 10.1039/c9gc02507c
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Green chemistry
• 影响因子: 9.8
• 作者: Li, Y.;Strathmann, T.J.
• 通讯作者: Strathmann, T.J.