Bioetahnol from waste wood: energy from toxic waste
Cellulosic ethanol has long been billed as the transition fuel for the transport sector. However, the high cost of extracting fermentable sugars from woody biomass coupled with capital intensive investment requirements has left second-generation biorefining behind in the sustainable energy transition. One of the key challenges in biorefining is the initial separation or deconstruction of lignocellulosic feedstock into separate components. Ionic liquids offer unique advantages in this area, due to their unusual properties. However, there are serious concerns about the economic viability of their use due to their very high cost.
We have overcome this by redesigning the IL based deconstruction process to use low-cost, acidic ILs for lignin dissolution rather than cellulose dissolution, yielding filterable cellulose and a dissolved lignin for precipitation or conversion to high-value chemicals. We have found that processability of the cellulose is high and lignin recoveries near quantitative. We use a range of ‘protic’ ILs, the family typically used in IL industrial processes, because their simple acid-base chemistry results in a simple and cheap synthesis, with a cost similar to common organic solvents. Our process has now been optimised for pretreatment of highly contaminated wood, further extending our process toward commercial use.
Biography:
Professor Jason Hallett received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He joined Imperial College, first with a Marshall-Sherfield Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainable Chemistry and in 2014 was appointed a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, before promotion to Reader in 2016 and Professor in 2018. He has authored over 150 articles and holds 10 patents. He performs research involving the solution behaviour of ionic liquids and the use of ionic liquids in the production of lignocellulosic biofuels, sustainable chemical feedstocks, vaccine manufacturing and waste recycling (particularly for metal-contaminated solid materials).
About Energy Futures Lab
Energy Futures Lab is one of seven Global Institutes at Imperial College London. The institute was established to address global energy challenges by identifying and leading new opportunities to serve industry, government and society at large through high quality research, evidence and advocacy for positive change. The institute aims to promote energy innovation and advance systemic solutions for a sustainable energy future by bringing together the science, engineering and policy expertise at Imperial and fostering collaboration with a wide variety of external partners.