Posted on 09/29/2011 10:33:09 AM PDT by Red Badger
Iowa State University's Robert C. Brown keeps a small vial of brown, sweet-smelling liquid on his office table.
"It looks like something you could pour on your pancakes," he said. "In many respects, it is similar to molasses."
Brown, in fact, calls it "pyrolytic molasses."
That's because it was produced by the fast pyrolysis of biomass such as corn stalks or wood chips. Fast pyrolysis involves quickly heating the biomass without oxygen to produce liquid or gas products.
"We think this is a new way to make inexpensive sugars from biomass," said Brown, an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering, the Gary and Donna Hoover Chair in Mechanical Engineering and the Iowa Farm Bureau Director of Iowa State's Bioeconomy Institute.
That's a big deal because those sugars can be further processed into biofuels. Brown and other Iowa State researchers believe pyrolysis of lignocelluslosic biomass has the potential to be the cheapest way to produce biofuels or biorenewable chemicals.
Brown and Iowa State researchers will present their ideas and findings during tcbiomass2011, the International Conference on Thermochemical Conversion Science in Chicago Sept. 28-30. On Thursday, Sept, 29, Brown will address the conference with a plenary talk describing how large amounts of sugars can be produced from biomass by a simple pretreatment before pyrolysis. He'll also explain how these sugars can be economically recovered from the products of pyrolysis.
A poster session following Brown's talk will highlight thermochemical technologies developed by 19 Iowa State research teams, including processes that:
increase the yield of sugar from fast pyrolysis of biomass with a pretreatment that neutralizes naturally occurring alkali that otherwise interferes with the release of sugars prevent burning of sugar released during pyrolysis by rapidly transporting it out of the hot reaction zone recover sugar from the heavy end of bio-oil that has been separated into various fractions separate sugars from the heavy fractions of bio-oil using a simple water-washing process.
In addition to Brown, key contributors to the pyrolysis research at Iowa State include Brent Shanks, the Mike and Jean Steffenson Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals based at Iowa State; Christopher Williams, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering; Zhiyou Wen, associate professor of food science and human nutrition; Laura Jarboe, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering; Xianglan Bai, adjunct assistant professor of aerospace engineering; Marjorie Rover and Sunitha Sadula, research scientists at the Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies; Dustin Dalluge, a graduate student in mechanical engineering; and Najeeb Kuzhiyil, a former doctoral student who is now working for GE Transportation in Erie, Penn.
Their work has been supported by the eight-year, $22.5 million ConocoPhillips Biofuels Program at Iowa State. The program was launched in April 2007.
Brown said Iowa State will – literally – take a bus load of students and researchers to the Chicago conference to present their work on thermochemical technologies, including production of sugars from biomass.
"The Department of Energy has been working for 35 years to get sugar out of biomass," Brown said. "Most of the focus has been on use of enzymes, which remains extremely expensive. What we've developed is a simpler method based on the heating of biomass."
Iowa State researchers have developed thermochemical technologies that efficiently produce sugars from biomass. Lead researcher Robert C. Brown calls the sugars “pyrolytic molasses.” Naomi Friend photo. Credit: Naomi Friend/Iowa State Bioeconomy Institute photo.
Biofool PING!.........
Biofool PING!.........
Grandpappy knew how to heat corn for his fuel ‘til them dang revenuers come and shut down his still.
Good times. Good. Times.
Yeah, but he couldn’t make sugar out of corn cobs and stalks...............
Sugar, Sugar
The Archies 1969
Sugar, ah honey honey
You are my candy girl
And you’ve got me wanting you.
Honey, ah sugar sugar
You are my candy girls
And you got me wanting you
I just can’t believe the lovliness of loving you,
(I just can’t believe it’s true)
I just can’t believe the one to love this feeling to
(I just can’t believe it’s true)
Sugar, ah honey hiney
you are my candy girl
and you got me wanting you
honey, ah sugar sugar
you are my candy girl
and you got me wanting you
When i kissed you girl I knew how sweet a kiss could be
(I know how sweet a kiss could be)
Like the summer sunshine pour you sweetness over me
(Pour your sweetness over me)
Pour a little sugar on it honey
Pour a little sugar on it Baby
I’m gonna make your life so sweet, yeah yeah yeah
pour a little sugar on it yeah
pour a little sugar on it honey
pour a little sugar on it baby
I’m gonna make your life so sweet, yeah yeah yeah
pour a little sugar on it honey
Ah sugar, ah honey honey
you are my candy girl
and you got me wanting you
Oh honey honey, sugar sugar..............
You are my candy girl
Oh good, something new to make Dr. Pepper taste like crap.
I do believe fuel cells can be configured to run using the hydrogen stored in sugar molecules rather than pure hydrogen gas. It solves all the problems of trying to have a highly pressurized tank of hydrogen on the vehicle.
There is still some CO2 given off from the fuel cell but we all know that was a bogus worry in the first place.
Might need an additive to keep that stuff from gumming up the inside of the fuel cell.
You mean the Dr. Pepper made with corn sweetener, or Dr. Pepper in general?...........
Think of the CO2 these guys will be responsible for producing!
“That’s a big deal because those sugars can be further processed into biofuels. Brown and other Iowa State researchers believe pyrolysis of lignocelluslosic biomass has the potential to be the cheapest way to produce biofuels or biorenewable chemicals.”
This would be a good way to make ethanol from waste without needing a ton of enzymes to first break down the cellulose.
Grandpappy fed the stalks to the chickens and the cobs, well, let’s just say Granny never bought toilet paper.
and you can drink it!...........Hooray ! CHEAP WHISKEY !......
“You mean the Dr. Pepper made with corn sweetener, or Dr. Pepper in general?...........”
I was referring to the high fructose corn syrup variety.
Luckily Dr. Pepper made with actual sugar can still be found in some places around here.
Just what we needed—parasitic molasses. Sounds like the Blob to me. Oozing through the countryside, sliming through every crack and crevice, gobbling up everything and everyone in sight.
Kind of like Obama’s socialism.
Except in January............
I drink Dr. Pepper as my drink of choice when eating fast food.
Sometimes it does taste funny..........
That's the cobs
“Yeah, but he couldn’t make sugar out of corn cobs and stalks...............”
So he returned those to the soil so as to increase the organic matter content, in order to grow a better corn crop the next year.
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