Using the tools of process design and technoeconomic evaluation, researchers like Christos Maravelias in the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison College of Engineering are helping GLBRC scientists systematically map out processes for converting cellulosic biomass to liquid transportation fuels. This approach helps researchers zero in on bottlenecks in their processes that may be driving up costs, sapping energy, or generating toxic byproducts.

In the case of converting biomass to the gasoline component butene, a project being conducted in James Dumesic’s lab at UW-Madison, Maravelias used process design and evaluation methods to identify a key bottleneck. With these tools, he was able to work together with the researchers to help accelerate the development of fuels and high-value chemicals from plant biomass.

“It turned out that a separation of an intermediate product was very costly, requiring a lot of heat and an expensive solvent,” he says. “We provided that feedback, and [the researchers] went back to the lab and developed an alternative strategy that requires a less expensive catalyst, as well as an easier and cheaper separation method. So, we started with a basic strategy, identified those bottlenecks and developed alternatives.”

While these analytical tools can be applied on a small scale to focus on specific conversion technologies, they can also be used to examine the viability of building a commercial biofuel production facility. Before a biofuel production process can make the transition from lab to industry, researchers must determine how much it would cost to set up a commercial facility and run it over time. An important step in these analyses is calculating the minimum selling price, or MSP, of a particular product. The MSP is the price at which a biofuel process can break even; thus, if the market price is higher than the minimum, a profit can be made.

“Many technologies are needed to make an integrated biofuel process, and once we put them all together, we can identify the ones that need improvement,” says Maravelias.

In the future, Maravelias hopes that GLBRC scientists will be able to perform their own analyses to help guide their research. One of his current projects involves developing a computer program that will allow researchers to identify and evaluate different ways to generate a desired product.

“We will provide a framework and a suite of tools, and the goal is to have a user-friendly interface so that someone without a background in optimization can go and plug in numbers,” says Maravelias.

To generate a given product (for example, biodiesel or ethanol), users of the program will be able to design a blueprint for a new process based on certain desired outcomes, which might include a low selling price, minimal environmental impacts, or reduced energy inputs.

“[The program] is going to address high level questions, like ‘I want to produce this product, how should I be doing it?’” says Maravelias. He says the goal of the program is to help users choose the basic building blocks for a successful strategy, such as which biofuel feedstock to work with or what conversion technologies to include. After these decisions have been implemented, experts like Maravelias can step in and conduct more in-depth analyses to evaluate and optimize the processes, bringing them closer to market-readiness.

“These methods really allow us to see the big picture, focus on the right problems, and address the most pressing challenges,” says Maravelias. “We are guiding research by answering questions like: what improvements would have the most significant impact, what would lower the price the most? Once these have been answered, then we do another evaluation and move on to the next challenge.”