New Processing Technologies for Biomass Production

Katie Huston for TEI

Scientists and engineers around the globe are searching for solutions to global warming and dependence on foreign oil and rising fuel prices. George Huber, assistant professor of Chemical Engineering, says part of the solution to replacing petroleum oil is cellulosic biomass. “Everything we use petroleum for, we’ll be using biomass for in the future,” he says.

Biomass includes trees, grass, forest products – simply put, it’s anything that grows. Of the three types of biomass feedstocks that can be used to produce fuel – starches and sugarcane (in the U.S., generally ethanol made from corn), vegetable oils, and cellulosic biomass – the benefits of cellulosic biomass are manifold. It’s inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and available in abundance. However, it’s not yet in the fuel supply, because of a lack of low-cost processing technologies.

Huber, who specializes in catalysis, is developing highly efficient, inexpensive and integrative methods to process biomass. He works with professors Curt Connor and Phil Westmoreland in Chemical Engineering and Scott Auerbach in Chemistry, as well as graduate students Torren Carlson and Tushar Vispute.

“I don’t think there’s any field that’s better suited than chemical engineering to make a large impact in terms of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels,” he says.

He recently applied for a patent for one of his technologies, a catalytic process which would shorten processing time dramatically. Turning cellulosic biomass into ethanol uses reactors that can be several stories high and takes five to ten days to complete.

Huber’s technologies would turn biomass into green gasoline in 2-60 seconds in plants only a fraction of the size. Smaller reactors would be inexpensive, and could be built closer to the biomass supply to save shipping costs – an important consideration, since biomass is low-density and costs more to ship than petroleum or coal.
Another of his research projects aims to convert bio-oil, the biomass equivalent of crude oil, into gasoline, diesel fuel and home heating oil. It’s in the preliminary stages, Huber says, but it has great cost-saving potential.

In addition to saving money, Huber says, biomass is abundant and grows more quickly than other crops. “They don’t require as much fertilizer input, they have a lot less water usage, they can grow even on marginal land,” he says. According to some estimates, the U.S. could sustainably produce 1.3 billion dry tons of biomass per year, leaving enough biomass for feed and food export demands.

Biomass also emits far less carbon dioxide than other fuel sources, even approaching carbon neutrality, because the plants consume CO2 while growing, Huber says.

A major criticism of ethanol fuels is that the refinery process calls for enormous amounts of water. If implemented on a large scale, ethanol production could endanger the water supply. The only water needed for Huber’s biomass conversion processes, however, is the amount of water it takes to grow the crops.
“It just needs to be done in a sustainable way, and a lot of it goes back to your agriculture and forestry practices,” he says – it’s a matter of choosing crops that call for less water.

The technology could also help developing nations with warm climates, where biomass can grow more rapidly than in the U.S., and it’s significantly cheaper than crude oil.

Huber’s work has not gone unnoticed. Since he arrived on campus in 2006, he has been awarded over $2 million in federal grants, including a Career Award from the National Science Foundation in 2007, the highest award the NSF bestows upon young faculty members. Huber was also named a John and Elizabeth Armstrong Professor, an honor awarded for three years to a faculty member near the start or his or her career who “has demonstrated substantial achievement and great promise.”

Huber’s work is also making waves in the energy industry. Three startup companies are commercializing the biofuel technology he helped develop, and he works as a consultant on biofuels for Conoco-Phillips; United Technologies, a jet engine manufacturer in Hartford, Conn.; Catchbio, a center in Holland dedicated to conversion of plant biomass; and KiOR, a start-up company aiming to develop and commercialize new biomass-related technology.

Huber estimates that it will take at least five years for biomass fuel to enter the energy supply, and to get there will require a large capital investment.

“There’s a tremendous amount of commercial, academic and governmental interest,” he says. “It correlates very well with the price of oil. In the last five years the price of gasoline has gone up by over 120 percent.”
He believes that moving away from petroleum oil towards biomass is the ultimate goal. “Over the last 80 years, we’ve figured out how to efficiently refine our petroleum, and over the next 15, 20 years we’re going to move toward a more sustainable society,” he says. “It’s an exciting time to be working in this field.”