PNNL

Abstract

While biomass conversion to energy products has been the primary focus of most development efforts over the past 30 years, process development for chemical products is an area of increasing effort more recently. Although the fuels market is likely to allow the largest impact for renewable resources in the world economy, chemical products can also be more than just niche market applications. However, the specific chemical processing required for refined chemical products requires improved chemical handling methods for separations and purifications, as well as improved catalyst systems. Development of these unit operations has lagged behind the process research focused on the finished products. This paper will describe some of the critical processing issues that need to be addressed to allow biomass feedstocks to make a real impact in the chemicals market. The paper will also describe some of the process research which has been performed or is now underway in our laboratory and others'. Areas to be discussed include biomass component separation, catalyst development for aqueous processing, and trace component effects in catalytic processing of biomass feedstocks.