Evaluation of Technologies for the Pre-Treatment and Enzymatic Breakdown of Lignocellulosic Feedstocks for the Manufacture of 2,5 Furandicarboxylic Acid

Lignocellulosic biomass is a unique, renewable resource suitable for large-scale, sustainable production of low-cost liquid fuels and chemical products capable of replacing much of the fossil fuel industry in the coming decade. This lignocellulose has a complex internal structure and has a natural and inherit recalcitrance, making it very difficult to separate into its different components and releasing the valuable sugars important to this chemical and fuel production. Various pre-treatment methods have been carefully studied to separate the lignocellulose into cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin components. This pretreatment allows for effective enzymatic deconstruction for the separation of various sugars at high yields, allowing for biofuel and bioproduct development. This pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysishas been expensive and has historically involved the use of toxic solvents and chemicals. This Phase I research has been designed to evaluate various pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis methods to optimize process conditions and allow for the economical generation of fermentable sugars for the production of biofuels and xylose sugars for the production of biobased chemicals. This project will allow for the generation of an affordable feedstock for the production of 2,5 furandicarboxylic acid, a highly valued chemical building block for the drop-in replacement of terephthalic acid in the production of polyethylenefuranoate, a non-fossil-fuel based plastic. This would allow for the high-volume production of “plant based” bottles and plastics. The generation of additional value-added products from existing biorefineries allows for the rapid advancement of biomass-based fuel development by off-setting the costs associated with enzymatic hydrolysis and pre-treatment options. The DOE Billion-Ton Report projects that the U.S. has the potential to produce 1 billion tons of non-food biomass annually by the year 2040. This represents a tremendous source of increased biofuel and bioproducts production, replacing a significant volume of fuels and chemicals currently produced from petroleum. This shift to biofuels and bioproduct development can create overall cost efficiencies to the biorefinery model. The development of this affordable technologies would provide higher energy security, lower greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate climate impacts, produce less toxic chemicals and biproducts, create an influx of jobs into more rural areas and improve the overall U.S. trade balance.