| AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Plasma Processing for Biomedical Applications Focus Topic | Monday Sessions |
| Session PB+BI+PS-MoA |
| Session: | Plasma Agriculture & Processing of Biomaterials |
| Presenter: | Elijah Thimsen, Washington University in St. Louis |
| Authors: | Y. Gao, Washington University in St. Louis N.B. Uner, Washington University in St. Louis J. Meyer, Washington University in St. Louis M. Foston, Washington University in St. Louis E. Thimsen, Washington University in St. Louis |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Low temperature plasmas (LTP) are recently being used for processes involving complicated heterogeneous chemistry. Due to their unique non-equilibrium environment and the abundance of reactive radicals, LTPs are expected to bring selectivities and reactivities that are difficult to obtain in systems governed by local thermal equilibrium. In this study, we utilize low temperature plasmas for converting biomass into more valuable chemicals.
Biomass is an abundant and renewable source of carbon. It is recently reported that biomass can be supplied and processed at a scale large enough that is comparable to petroleum [1]. Current research efforts are focused on upgrading biomass into hydrocarbons and valuable aromatic compounds. One common method is to pyrolyze biomass into oils at high pressure. However, the product distribution usually turns out to be very broad, therefore the yields of the desired components are often low. Another common method is to gasify the biomass into syngas, a mixture of CO and H2. Both pyrolysis and gasification are indirect routes of converting biomass into valuable chemicals. Complicated additional steps are usually required, as in the case of hydrodeoxygenation of pyrolysis oil or production of various paraffins/olefins via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis from biomass-derived syngas. Furthermore, a common drawback for both pyrolysis and gasification methods is the deactivation of catalysts due to coke formation.
In this study, we demonstrate a single-step process without catalysts that generates oxygen-free hydrocarbons with high yield. We will report low temperature plasma conversion of lignocellulosic biomass in a gram-scale radio frequency reactor. Preliminary work shows that the plasma rapidly converts solid feedstock into primarily small chain hydrocarbons. Effects of process parameters such as plasma power, plasma gas composition, operating pressure and biomass feedstock will be presented, along with a techno-economic analysis of the process.
[1] U.S. Department of Energy, “2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy,” Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Volume 1, 2016.