Iowa State University researchers have developed a novel technique dubbed as fast pyrolysis to produce inexpensive sugars from biomass such as wood chips and corn stalks.
Iowa State researchers have developed thermochemical technologies that efficiently produce sugars from biomass. Lead researcher Robert C. Brown calls the sugars “pyrolytic molasses.” Credit: Naomi Friend/Iowa State's Bioeconomy Institute photo
In the fast pyrolysis technique, the biomass is quickly heated in the absence of oxygen to generate gas or liquid products. Robert C. Brown, one of the researchers, dubbed the product as ‘pyrolytic molasses’. These sugars can be utilized for the production of biofuels. The scientists hope that pyrolysis of lignocelluslosic biomass is the cheapest method to make biorenewable chemicals and biofuels.
The researchers have presented their thermochemical technologies and outcomes at tcbiomass2011, the International Conference on Thermochemical Conversion Science, conducted from 28 to 30 September 2011 in Chicago. Brown has delivered a presentation about the novel technique, which involves a simple pretreatment prior to pyrolysis, to produce huge quantities of sugar from biomass, and the economical recovery of these sugars from the pyrolysis products.
The key processes of the novel method are a pretreatment process, which eliminates the interference of naturally occurring alkali with the discharge of sugars by neutralizing it, thus augmenting the output of sugar from the biomass by fast pyrolysis; the rapid transportation of sugar from the hot reaction zone to avoid its burning; and recovery of sugar from the heavy-end of bio-oil; and recovery of sugar from the heavy-end products of bio-oil utilizing a simple water-washing method.
ConocoPhillips Biofuels Program, an eight-year biofuels research program worth $22.5 million launched by ConocoPhillips in 2007 at Iowa State University supported the research work.