CBE Seminar - George Huber

Professor and Harvey D. Spangler Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

All dates for this event occur in the past.

130 CBEC
130 CBEC
151 W Woodruff Ave
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

The Quest for Economic Technologies for the Production of Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals

Abstract

The focus of the Huber research group is to develop new catalytic pathways for conversion of biomass into fuels and chemicals.  We will begin the presentation by discussing some of the challenges that have occurred as several of these technologies have attempted to reach commercial scale.  We will then discuss approaches in the Huber research group to convert biomass into different fuels including catalytic fast pyrolysis and supercritical methanol dehydration and hydrodeoxygenation (SCM-DHDO)  of biomass.  Catalytic fast pyrolysis involves the direct conversion of solid biomass into gasoline range aromatics in a fluidized bed reactor.  This technology has been licensed to Anellotech who has built and operated a fully integrated demonstration facility in Silsbee Texas.  SCM-DHDO involves the direct conversion of solid biomass into gasoline range aromatics in a single catalytic reactor using a copper based catalyst.  The alcohols can be converted into diesel and jet fuel by other catalytic technologies.

We will conclude our discussion by talking about approaches to convert biomass into high value oxygenated α,ω-diol.  We will describe a multi-step catalytic approach for conversion of cellulose into 1,6-hexanediol and hemicellulose into 1,5 pentanediol as well as other oxygenated commodity chemicals.  Cellulose is first converted into levoglucosenone (LGO) in the condensed phase with dilute acid  sing a polar, aprotic solvent.  The LGO is then hydrogenated into dihydrolevoglucosenone, levoglucosanol, tetrahydrofuran-dimethanol (THFDM).   The THFDM then undergoes selective C-O-C hydrogenolysis to produce 1,6-hexanediol using a bifunctional (Pt-WOx/TiO2) catalyst with > 90% selectivity to 1,6 hexanediol. Tetrol and 1,2,6 hexanetriol can also be selectively produced with this system.  The hemicellulose is converted into furfural which then undergoes a four step process to produce 1,5 pentanediol.  These biobased molecules provide material scientists with new starting renewable monomers they can use to create new materials.

Bio

George Willis Huber is the Richard Antoine Professor of Chemical Engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison.  His research focus is on developing new catalytic processes for the production of renewable liquid fuels and chemicals.  He has won several awards including the AICHE Colburn award,  2015-17 Thomson Reuters “highly cited researcher” and has been named one of the top 100 people in Bioenergy by Biofuels Digest.  He is co-founder of Anellotech (www.anellotech.com) and Pyran. George did a post-doctoral stay with Avelino Corma at the Technical Chemical Institute at the Polytechnical University of Valencia, Spain (UPV-CSIC).  He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison (2005).  He obtained his B.S. (1999) and M.S.(2000) degrees in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University.

 

 

 

Category: Seminar