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Biomass Pretreatment Group

Current biofuel research deals with process engineering trends for improving the efficiency of biofuel production. Pretreatment is currently one of the most expensive and energy intensive processing steps in the lignocellulosic biomass-to-fermentable sugars conversion process. Researchers in JBEI's Biomass Pretreatment group are exploring and developing novel technologies that effectively disrupt the lignin-carbohydrate complex within biomass and generate a product that is readily converted into monomeric sugars suitable for fermentation into advanced biofuels. The use of ionic liquids as biomass solvents shows great promise, and this team is focused on translating that promise into reality. This group is developing a fundamental understanding of the material and energy flows associated with the ionic liquid pretreatment process as well as new engineering approaches to processing biomass using these unique solvents. A detailed cellular level understanding of the ionic liquid pretreatment process is lacking due in part to complexity of the biomass composition and structure, as well as interference from traditional staining, embedding, and processing chemicals that have been traditionally used. This group is focused on utilizing advanced imaging and spectroscopy to understand the dynamic and complex behavior of biomass during pretreatment to identify the most recalcitrant linkages present and to develop pretreatment strategies to overcome these obstacles, and then develop engineering solutions that are scalable and cost-competitive.

 

Figure 1. Reaction scheme for recovering monomeric sugars from ionic liquids using a boronic acid extraction technique. (From JBEI paper: Brennan T.C., Blanch H.W., Simmons B.A., and Holmes B.M. Bioenergy Research (2010) 3:123-133)

 

Figure 2. Hyperspectral confocal fluorescence image taken of the swelling that occurs in the plant cell walls of switchgrass in the presence of ionic liquid. (From JBEI paper: Singh, S.; Simmons, B.A.; Vogel, K.P. Visualization of biomass solubilization and cellulose regeneration during ionic liquid pretreatment of switchgrass. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 104(1), 68-75, 2009)

Objectives

1. Develop a fundamental understanding of how ionic liquids disrupt the plant cell walls during pretreatment using advanced imaging and spectroscopy.
2. Utilize computational modeling to understand the fundamental interactions between ionic liquids and polysaccharides.
3. Compare the efficacy of different pretreatment methods.
4. Develop effective methods to recycle and reuse ionic liquids.