(592a) Integrated Biochemical and Hydrothermal Processing of Corn Stover for Fuels and High Value Products

Biochemical processing involving alkaline/acidic pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover generate sugars as well as unhydrolyzed solids (UHS). Traditional fermentation route can be followed to convert sugars into alcohols whereas UHS can be treated with hydrothermal processing for high value products such as hydrochar and bio-oil. In this study, both catalytic and non-catalytic hydrothermal processing of preprocessed corn stover was performed for the production of fuels and high value products. Hydrochar obtained was selectively treated via thermal/catalytic route to convert into high surface area mesoporous graphitic carbon for charge storage application. In addition, hydrothermally derived hydrochar was converted into another high value product such as carbon nanofibers. Bio-oil was made into blend fuels using diesel and ethanol. ASPEN modeling was performed to scale-up the process at 1 tpd. A low-value stream generated in terms of the aqueous waste from the hydrothermal processing of UHS was enriched with lactic acid and phenol. Effect of high value products on fuel cost reduction was attempted. Results obtained on energy and mass balance, products yields and quality. and techno-economic analysis will be presented.