A research team led by assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Paul Dauenhauer, has found out “mini-cellulose” molecule, a small molecule that performs like cellulose when converted to biofuel.
A study on this molecule discloses the complex chemical reactions taking place in prairie grasses and wood while converting them into biofuel. The small molecule, á-cyclodextrin, overcomes one of the major obstacles in high-temperature biofuels processes like gasification or pyrolysis. Till now, the chemical reactions that occur during conversion of wood to vapor products are not known. The existing technology do not allow the use of computer simulations to find the chemical reactions, as the molecules in wood are big in size and the reactions are very complex.
The new technical discovery has opened up the opportunity to use computer simulations for biomass research. The team has estimated that the simulation of chemical reactions in actual cellulose would take approximately 10,000 years, while the simulation of reactions with ‘mini-cellulose’ takes just a month.
With the use of faster computer models, researchers can follow the entire wood conversion process. The chemicals reactions comprise formation of molecules called furans that are essential for biofuel production. The research findings will support in designing advanced biofuel reactors. The new “mini-cellulose” discovery has been enabled by thin-film pyrolysis, an innovative experimental technique developed to study high-temperature biomass chemistry.