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Published Online September 18, 2008
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1159210

Reports

Submitted on April 16, 2008
Accepted on September 5, 2008

Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Monofunctional Hydrocarbons and Targeted Liquid-Fuel Classes

Edward L. Kunkes 1, Dante A. Simonetti 1, Ryan M. West 1, Juan Carlos Serrano-Ruiz 1, Christian A. Gärtner 1, James A. Dumesic 1*

1 Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
James A. Dumesic , E-mail: dumesic{at}engr.wisc.edu

It is imperative to develop more efficient processes for conversion of biomass to liquid fuels, such that the cost of these fuels would be competitive with the cost of fuels derived from petroleum. We report a catalytic approach for the conversion of carbohydrates to specific classes of hydrocarbons for use as liquid transportation fuels, based on the integration of several flow reactors operated in a cascade mode, where the effluent from the one reactor is simply fed to the next reactor. This approach can be tuned for production of branched hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds in gasoline, or longer chain, less highly branched hydrocarbons in diesel and jet fuels. The liquid organic effluent from the first flow reactor contains mono-functional compounds, such as alcohols, ketones, carboxylic acids, and heterocycles, that can also be used to provide reactive intermediates for fine chemicals and polymers markets.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Cellulosic Biofuels--Got Gasoline?.
J. R. Regalbuto (2009)
Science 325, 822-824
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)