RAPID Funded Projects

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Autothermal pyrolysis of lignocellulose wastes to sugars and other biobased products

Deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars is among the major challenges in producing cellulosic biofuels and biobased products. Current pretreatment methods to liberate solid cellulose are expensive, accounting for as much as 30% of the cost of producing cellulosic biofuels. Most pretreatments do not completely fractionate cellulose and lignin, the latter of which interferes with enzymatic hydrolysis.

Investigators

Robert Brown
Professor

Partner Organizations

Iowa State University

Focus Areas

Date approved

April 01, 2017
Current TRL
6

Adsorptive Nitrogen Rejection from Natural Gas

Low permeability natural gas reservoirs are being developed across the world using fracturing technologies. The most common approach for fracturing uses water with friction-reducing agents and thickening polymers. However, this approach requires approximately 400 tanker trucks to bring millions of gallons of water to a wellhead and results in millions of gallons of contaminated water that must be treated before going back into the natural water cycle. A second approach to fracturing uses high-pressure gases such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide.

Investigators

Yang Luo
Sr R&D Director, Process Technology

Partner Organizations

Linde PLC Georgia Institute of Technology

Focus Areas

Date approved

April 01, 2017
Current TRL
6

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