consortium for biomass refining based on leading pretreatment technologies

Consortium for Biomass Refining Based on Leading Pretreatment Technologies

Charles E. Wyman, Dartmouth College/University of CaliforniaBruce E. Dale, Michigan State University

Richard T. Elander, National Renewable Energy LaboratoryMark T. Holtzapple, Texas A&M University

Michael R. Ladisch, Purdue UniversityY. Y. Lee, Auburn University

Mohammed Moniruzzaman, Genencor InternationalJohn N. Saddler, University of British Columbia

International Symposium on Alcohol FuelsSan Diego, CaliforniaSeptember 26, 2005

Biomass Refining CAFI

Topics Covered• Need for new transportation fuels• Overview of cellulosic biomass• Conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol• Importance of pretreatment• Biomass Refining Consortium on Applied

Fundamentals and Innovation - CAFI• Structure of recently completed USDA IFAFS

Project• Structure of in progress DOE OBP Project


Where is a New Energy Source Needed in United States?

• U.S. energy production and demand are nearly balanced for all but one energy source: petroleum

• We use far more petroleum than we produce – >60% imported

• Petroleum is the largest energy source in U.S. supplying ~38.5%


Why Are Transportation Fuels Important Targets?

• About 2/3 of petroleum goes to transportation

• Transportation is almost totally dependent on petroleum (~96.4% in 2000)

• The largest amount of carbon dioxide comes from transportation, ~32.8%


Ethanol Production in Brazil and the United States

0

4

8

12

16

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Year

Eth

anol

pro

duce

d, b

illio

n L/

yr

0

1

2

3

4

Eth

anol

pro

duce

d, b

illio

n ga

ls/y

r

United States

Brazil

from cane sugar

from starch crops (e.g., corn)


Focus: Cellulosic Biomass - Abundant, Inexpensive

• Existing resources– Agricultural wastes

• Sugar cane bagasse• Corn stover and fiber

– Forestry wastes• Sawdust

– Municipal wastes• Waste paper• Yard waste

– Industrial waste• Pulp/paper sludge

• Future resources– Dedicated crops

• Herbaceous• Woody

• Not sugar or starch crops such as used for making ethanol in Brazil and the U.S. respectively


Louisiana Rice Hulls Pile


Florida Sugarcane Bagasse


Energy Crops

Switchgrassharvested annually or biannually

Willow coppiceharvested at age 3 or 4

Hybrid Poplar harvested at age5 to 10

Courtesy of L. Wright, ORNLBiomass Refining CAFI

Billion Ton Supply of Cellulosic Biomass

• DOE and USDA recently estimated 1.3 billion tons of cellulosic biomass could be available

• Includes 368 million dry tons from forests and 998 million dry tons from agriculture


Cost of Cellulosic Biomass vs Petroleum

020406080

100120140160180

5 10 15 20 25

Cost of oil, $/barrel

Cos

t of

bio

mas

s, $

/ton Weight only

Energy content


Challenge: How Do You Put Low Cost Biomass in Your Car?


Cellulosic Biomass Composition

Cellulose 45%Hemicellulose 30%Lignin 15%Other 10%

Herbaceous Energy Crops

Cellulose 43%Hemicellulose 27%Lignin 17%Other 13%

Agricultural Residues

Municipal Solid Waste

Ash 15%Lignin 10%Hemicellulose 9%Other carbohydrates 9%Protein 3%Other 9%

Cellulose 45%

Cellulose 45%Hemicellulose 25%Lignin 22%Extractives 5%Ash 3%

Woody Crops


Breakdown hemicellulose to

sugars

Make enzymes, breakdown cellulose

to glucose, and ferment all sugars

Enzymatic Conversion of Cellulosic Biomass to Ethanol

Biological steps:Cellulase production

HydrolysisFermentation

Feedstock Production

Pretreatment

Ethanol recovery

Residue processing

UtilitiesFuel ethanol

Process effluents

Exportedelectricity

Process boundaries

Lignin, etc

Process Heat, Electricity


Benefits of Cellulosic Ethanol

• Environmental– Little if any greenhouse gas emissions – Solid waste disposal– Can improve air quality– Low impact biomass crops

• Economic– Abundant, inexpensive, domestic feedstock– Low cost potential without subsidies– Agricultural and manufacturing employment

• Energy– Secure resource available for most countries


0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

Time

Bioe

than

ol co

st, $/

gallo

nSignificant Progress in Enzyme

Based Technology for Cellulosic Ethanol

CornEtOH Price

Based on historic estimates by NREL

1980 Now

Key to Advances To Date in Cellulosic Ethanol Technology

• Overcoming the recalcitrance of cellulosics– Improved pretreatment to increase yields from

hemicellulose and cellulose– Improved cellulase enzymes to increase rates from

cellulose, reduce enzyme use– Integrated systems to improve rates, yields,

concentrations of ethanol (SSF)

• Overcoming the diversity of sugars – Recombinant organisms ferment all five sugars to

ethanol at high yields


Biological Conversion of Cellulosics

PretreatmentProductrecovery

CelluloseHydrolysis and Sugar

Fermentation

Cellulosicbiomass

Prep

ared

biom

ass

Ferm

enta

tion

bro

th

EthanolCellulaseProduction

Cellulaseenzyme Organism

OrganismChemicals Lignin, ash, etcfor boiler, chemicals


Cellulosic Biomass Pretreatment Needs

• High cellulose accessibility to enzymes • High sugar yields from hemicellulose• Low capital cost – low pressure, inexpensive

materials of construction• Low energy cost• Low degradation• Low cost and/or recoverable chemicals


Cellulosic Biomass Pretreatment Needs

• High cellulose accessibility to enzymes • High sugar yields from hemicellulose• Low capital cost – low pressure, inexpensive

materials of construction• Low energy cost• Low degradation• Low cost and/or recoverable chemicals• A large number of pretreatment technologies

have been studied, but only a few show promise


Biomass Refining Consortium for Applied Fundamentals and Innovation (CAFI)

• Organized in late 1999• Included top researchers in biomass hydrolysis from

Auburn, Dartmouth, Michigan State, Purdue, NREL, Texas A&M, UBC, U. Sherbrooke

Mission: Develop information and a fundamental understanding

of biomass hydrolysis that will facilitate commercialization,

Accelerate the development of next generation technologies that dramatically reduce the cost of sugars from cellulosic biomass

Train future engineers, scientists, and managers.


CAFI USDA IFAFS Project Overview• Multi-institutional effort funded by USDA Initiative for Future

Agriculture and Food Systems Program for $1.2 million to develop comparative information on cellulosic biomass pretreatment by leading pretreatment options with common source of cellulosic biomass (corn stover) and identical analytical methods– Aqueous ammonia recycle pretreatment - YY Lee, Auburn University– Water only and dilute acid hydrolysis by co-current and flowthrough

systems - Charles Wyman, Dartmouth College– Ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX) - Bruce Dale, Michigan State University– Controlled pH pretreatment - Mike Ladisch, Purdue University– Lime pretreatment - Mark Holtzapple, Texas A&M University– Logistical support and economic analysis - Rick Elander/Tim Eggeman,

NREL through DOE Biomass Program funding• Completed in 2004


Feedstock: Corn Stover• NREL supplied corn stover to all project participants

(source: BioMass AgriProducts, Harlan IA)• Stover washed and dried in small commercial operation,

knife milled to pass ¼ inch round screen

Glucan 36.1 %

Xylan 21.4 %

Arabinan 3.5 %

Mannan 1.8 %

Galactan 2.5 %

Lignin 17.2 %

Protein 4.0 %

Acetyl 3.2 %

Ash 7.1 %

Uronic Acid 3.6 %

Non-structural Sugars 1.2 %


USDA IFAFS Project Tasks

• Apply leading pretreatment technologies to prepare biomass for conversion to products

• Characterize resulting fluid and solid streams• Close material and energy balances for each

pretreatment process • Determine cellulose digestibility and liquid

fraction fermentability• Compare performance of pretreatment

technologies on corn stover


Presentations and Publications of CAFI Results

• Team presentations at – 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers,

Austin, Texas, November 11 – 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers,

San Francisco, California, November 20 – 25th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals,

Breckenridge, Colorado, May 7, 2003 – 2002 Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers,

Indianapolis, Indiana, November 4 – 24th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Gatlinburg,

Tennessee, April 28, 2002 • Mosier N, Wyman CE, Dale B, Elander R, Lee YY, Holtzapple M,

Ladisc1 M. 2005. “Features of Promising Technologies for Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass,” BioResource Technology 96(6): 673-686

• Special December issue of Bioresource Technology reports USDA IFAFS findings in several papers including joint papers to introduce project and summarize results


DOE Office of the Biomass Program Project: April 2004 Start

• Funded by DOE Office of the Biomass Program for $1.88 million through a joint competitive solicitation with USDA

• Using identical analytical methods and feedstock sources to develop comparative data for corn stover and poplar

• Determining more depth information on– Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose in solids– Conditioning and fermentation of pretreatment hydrolyzate liquids– Predictive models

• Added University of British Columbia to team through funding from Natural Resources Canada to– Capitalize on their expertise with xylanases for better

hemicellulose utilization– Evaluate sulfur dioxide pretreatment along with those previously

examined: dilute acid, controlled pH, AFEX, ARP, lime• Augmented by Genencor to supply enzymes


DOE OBP Project Tasks


• Corn stover and poplar pretreated by leading technologies to improve cellulose accessibility to enzymes

• Conditioning methods developed as needed to maximize fermentation yields by a recombinant yeast, the cause of inhibition determined, and fermentations modeled

• Cellulose and hemicellulose in pretreated biomass enzymatically hydrolyzed, as appropriate, and models developed to understand the relationship between pretreated biomass features, advanced enzyme characteristics, and enzymatic digestion results

• Capital and operating costs estimated for each integrated pretreatment, hydrolysis, and fermentation system and used to direct research

CAFI Project Advisory Board Serve as extension agents for technology transfer

Provide feedback on approach and resultsMeet with team every 6 months

Quang Nguyen, Abengoa Bioenergy

Mat Peabody, Applied CarboChemicals

Gary Welch, AventinereiGreg Luli, BC InternationalParis Tsobanakis, CargillRobert Wooley, Cargill DowJames Hettenhaus, CEAKevin Gray, DiversaPaul Roessler, DowSusan M. Hennessey, DuPontMichael Knauf, Genencor

Don Johnson, GPC (Retired)Dale Monceaux, Katzen EngineersKendall Pye, LignolMark Stowers, MBIRichard Glass, National Corn

Growers AssociationBill Cruickshank, Natural

Resources CanadaJoel Cherry, NovozymesRon Reinsfelder, Shell Carl Miller, SyngentaCarmela Bailey, USDADon Riemenschneider, USDA


ISAF XV Overviews of CAFI Research

• Pretreatment – Bruce Dale, Michigan State• Enzymatic hydrolysis – Charles Wyman,

Dartmouth/University of California• Logistics and economics – Richard Elander,

NREL• Focus on results from recently completed

USDA-funded project with some new results from the DOE-funded project


Acknowledgments US Department of Agriculture Initiative for

Future Agricultural and Food Systems Program, Contract 00-52104-9663

US Department of Energy Office of the Biomass Program, Contract DE-FG36-04GO14017

Natural Resources Canada


Insanity is doing what you always have always been

doing and expecting different results


Questions?


consortium for biomass refining based on leading pretreatment technologies

Documents