(7er) Making Renewables Chemicals and Biofuels Economical: Toward Complete Utilization of Lignocellulosic Biomass

My research has focused on the production of biofuels and renewable chemicals. I believe that renewable energy sources are key for future development. My PhD research focused on the production of biodiesel. The goal was to replace homogenous catalysts (NaOH) by more sustainable heterogeneous catalysts. During this period, I was able to learn and become familiarized with the basic and fundamental tools utilized in the catalysis field (catalyst preparation and characterization). This work provided me with the background necessary for my next stage as a Postdoctoral researcher at UW-Madison under the supervision of Prof. Dumesic.

During my stay in Prof. Dumesic’s group my research goal was to develop new processes to convert lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels and renewables chemicals. In my first year, I focused on the conversion of gamma-valerolactone (GVL), a biomass derived building block, into butene and high molecular weight olefins to be used as biofuel. We developed an integrated system to combine 3 reactions and two separation steps. Achieving that level of process integration was critical for the success of the project that was published in Science. This was the beginning of a journey working with GVL.

In the next years, I discovered that GVL can not only be used as platform molecule to produce high value chemicals and biofuels, but it also can be used as a solvent to process lignocellulosic biomass. In collaboration with other PhD students, within and outside the group, we demonstrated that GVL can be used as a solvent to produce key intermediates in biomass conversion, such as fermentable sugars, furfural, HMF and levulinic acid. We were able to show that dehydration and hydrolysis reactions are 30 and 100 times faster in GVL than in water leading to significant advantages, such as being able to carry out typical dehydration and hydrolysis reaction at much milder conditions than in water which significantly increases the yields obtained. These works were published in high impact journals (Science, Energy and Environmental Science, Angewandte Chemie International Edition and Green Chemistry). The success of the work led to the publication of 5 patents that were licensed by the start-up company, Glucan Biorenewables LLC, which hired me to commercialize the technology. In the past 4 years, I have divided my research efforts between my work at UW-Madison with Prof. Dumesic and my activities at Glucan Biorenewables LLC as Director of R&D. Working for a company gave me a new perspective for my research. Not only do we need to understand the fundamentals of the processes and provide innovative solutions, but these solutions need to make sense economically. When working with lignocellulosic biomass, it was obvious that better economics were necessary to move the technology from the lab to commercial scale. With that in mind, I started working towards the complete utilization of lignocellulosic biomass. The aim was to simultaneously obtain value from the three main fractions in biomass: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. By taking advantage of previous work performed using GVL as solvent, I designed a new process to fractionate lignocellulosic biomass. In the first step the hemicellulose and the lignin are dissolved in the GVL solvent at mild conditions. This step provides a high purity cellulose stream that can be used to produce high quality fibers and clothes. In a second step, the lignin is precipitated from the GVL solution. Because of the mild conditions used in the first step, the lignin retains its native β-O-4 linkages and it is more reactive than other lignins. A collaboration with the University of Tennessee demonstrated that because of its purity and reactivity this lignin could be used to produce battery anodes and carbon foams. After removal of the lignin, the hemicellulose solution can be concentrated and converted into furfural at excellent yields (95%) within the GVL solvent. Taking advantage of the furfural-water azeotrope (98 °C), furfural can be easily removed from the GVL solvent. The process converts more than 80% of the carbon present in the lignocellulosic biomass into high value products, obtaining revenues over $500 per metric ton of dry biomass and demonstrating that a biorefinery could be competitive with a petroleum refinery. The work was recently published in Science Advances.

Selected publications (total 46):

1. D. M. Alonso et al., “Increasing the revenue from lignocellulosic biomass: Maximizing feedstock utilization,” Sci. Adv., vol. 3, no. 5, p. e1603301, May 2017.
2. J. Q. Bond, D. M. Alonso, D. Wang, R. M. West, J. A. Dumesic, "Integrated Catalytic Conversion of gamma-Valerolactone to Liquid Alkenes for Transportation Fuels", Science, 2010, 327, 1110-1114.
3. J.S Luterbacher, Jacqueline M Rand, D. M. Alonso, J. Han, J T.Youngquist, C.T Maravelias, B.F. Pfleger, J.A Dumesic, “Nonenzymatic Sugar Production from Biomass Using Biomass-Derived γ-Valerolactone,” Science 2014, 343, 6168, 277-280
4. D. M. Alonso, J. Q. Bond, J. A. Dumesic, "Catalytic conversion of biomass to biofuels", Green Chemistry, 2010, 12, 1493-1513.
5. D. M. Alonso, S.G. Wettstein, J.A. Dumesic Bimetallic catalysts for upgrading od biomass to fuels and chemicals, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 8075-8098
6. D. M. Alonso, S. G. Wettstein, J.A. Dumesic "Gamma-Valerolactone, a sustainable platform molecule derived from lignocellulosic biomass." Green Chemistry. 2013, 15, 584-595
7. D. M. Alonso, S. G. Wettstein, M. A. Mellmer, E. I. Gurbuz and J. A. Dumesic, “Integrated conversion of hemicellulose and cellulose from lignocellulosic biomass” Energy & Environmental Science, 2013, 6 (1), 76-80
8. D. M. Alonso, S.G. Wettstein, J.Q. Bond, T.W. Root, J.A. Dumesic, “Production of biofuels from cellulose and corn stover using alkylphenol solvents,” ChemSusChem, 2011, 8, 1078-1081
9. M.A Mellmer, C. Sener, J.M.R. Gallo, J. S. Luterbacher, D. M. Alonso, J.A. Dumesic" Solvent Effects in Acid-Catalyzed Biomass Conversion Reactions" Angewandte Chemie International Edition 53 (44), 11872-11875
10. M. L. Granados, M. D. Z. Poves, D. M Alonso., R. Mariscal, F. C. Galisteo, R. Moreno-Tost, J. Santamaria, J. L. G. Fierro, "Biodiesel from sunflower oil by using activated calcium oxide", Applied Catalysis B-Environmental 2007, 73, 317-326.

Funding: Obtaining funding from Government agencies has been part of my activities over the last few years. This responsibility will also be critical as a Faculty. NSF and DOE are the main funding agencies I will target to fund my research. By my previous interactions with these agencies I have realized that collaboration with other professors and other Universities will be critical to obtain funding for pioneering projects. I would also like to engage companies in research projects. Funding with companies will not only provide addition money for the research, but also a valuable interaction between the students and the companies so they are better prepared for their future work.

Successful proposals:

1. DE-FOA-0001619 DOE STTR: High Purity Cellulose for Low-Cost Nanocellulose and Biofuel Production (ref. 0000230723). Department of Energy. June 2017-January 2018. $150.000. Principal Investigator
2. NSF Phase II: SBIR Phase II: Catalytic Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass into Furfural and Dissolving Pulp using Green Solvents (ref. 1632394). National Science Fundation (USA). September 2016-August 2018. $750.000. Principal Investigator
3. NSF Phase IB: SBIR Phase I: Catalytic Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass into Glucose using Green Solvents (ref. 1602713). National Science Fundation (USA). January 2016-July 2016. $30.000. Principal Investigator
4. NSF Phase I: SBIR Phase I: Catalytic Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass into Glucose using Green Solvents (ref. 1519869). National Science Fundation (USA). July 2015-December 2015. $150.000. Principal Investigator
5. NSF Phase IB: Green Solvent-Enabled Synthesis of Biobased Furans (ref. 1406606) National Science Fundation (USA). January 2014-June 2014. $29.999. Principal Investigator
6. NSF Phase I: Green Solvent-Enabled Synthesis of Biobased Furans (ref. 1315356). National Science Fundation (USA). July 2013-December 2013. $150.000. Principal Investigator

Teaching Interests:

My main goal as a professor will be to provide undergraduate and graduate students with the tools necessary to become successful engineers prepared for future challenges. To achieve that goal, I will provide them with a combination of fundamental and practical skills, which they will use to solve problems individually and in teams during their courses. Example of courses I would enjoy teaching are: mass and energy balances, reactor design and kinetics. I also consider it important to provide the students with knowledge about renewable energies and renewable products as it will be critical for a more sustainable future for the chemical engineering field. In this sense, my experience in biomass conversion can be critical to start new projects or courses.