Biomass as a Source of Chemical Feedstocks: An Economic Evaluation

Abstract

It is suggested that the raw materials and technology exist for basing a major fraction of the U.S. chemical industry on four fermentation products, used in the proper portions: ethanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, and 2,3-butanediol. The primary route for introduction of these materials is dehydration of the alcohols and diols to olefins, which would cause little disruption of the existing industry downstream from the olefins. The proposed substitution has the advantages that it would provide a smooth transition toward renewable feedstocks, while decreasing dependence on fossil sources of organic material and use of toxic materials. However, to make these materials attractive as feedstocks or intermediates in chemical production, their current prices must be substantially reduced. Even with the optimum mix, their largeseale utilization will only occur at about 20 to 40 percent of their estimated chemical prices.

The Renewable Chemicals Industry

“…[8] Herein, it is argued that the optimal use of abundant bio-A C H T U N G T R E N N U N G resources could well serve as a renewable feedstock for the chemical industry. [9] From a chemical perspective, renewable feedstocks, being highly functionalized molecules, are very different from fossil feedstocks which are generally unfunctionalized. Therefore, a huge challenge for chemists today is to provide the chemical industry with a new set of tools to convert renewables into useful chemicals in an economically viable fashion.…”

Catalytic Transformation of Ethanol over Microporous Vanadium Silicate Molecular Sieves with MEL Structure (VS-2)

“…Selective oxidation of ethanol to value-added chemicals has deserved recently an increasing technological interest in connection with the utilization of biomass as a chemical source (1). Although silver-based catalysts are commercially used, a number of metal oxides have been tested for this reaction in order to find a substitute for this commercial catalyst (2).…”

Production of 2,3‐butanediol from D‐xylose by Klebsiella oxytoca ATCC 8724

“…The dehydration of 2,3-butanediol yields the industrial solvent methyl ethyl k e t~n e .~ Further dehydration produces 1,3-butadiene, which is the building block of synthetic r~b b e r .~ Dimerization of butadiene by the Diels-Alder reaction produces styrene, an important aromatic intermediate. 6 Styrene and butadiene are both important building blocks in an extensive polymers industry. In addition, a wide variety of other chemicals may be readily prepared from 2,3-b~tanediol.~ It is possible to visualize a scheme whereby most intermediate compounds used in the chemical industry are derived from fermentation products obtained from renewable r e s o~r c e s .~~~-~ Butanediol is produced from carbohydrates by the bacterium Klebsiella oxytoca (formerly Klebisella pneumoniae or Aerobacter aerogenes).…”