Via 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), just two steps from Biomass into Biofuel
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have reportedly developed a two-step method to convert the cellulose in raw biomass into biofuel.
The first step in the process is the conversion of cellulose into the “platform” chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), from which a variety of valuable commodity chemicals can be made. While other groups have demonstrated some of the individual steps involved in converting biomass to HMF, starting with simple sugars, what this group did was show how to do the whole process in one step, starting with biomass itself. In the second step they converted HMF into the promising biofuel 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). The overall yield for this two-step biomass-to-biofuel process was 9% - 9 percent of the cellulose in the corn stover samples was ultimately converted into biofuel. According to the team, DMF is similar to gasoline and is compatible with the existing liquid transportation fuel infrastructure, having already been used as a gasoline additive.
The first step in the process is the conversion of cellulose into the “platform” chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), from which a variety of valuable commodity chemicals can be made. While other groups have demonstrated some of the individual steps involved in converting biomass to HMF, starting with simple sugars, what this group did was show how to do the whole process in one step, starting with biomass itself. In the second step they converted HMF into the promising biofuel 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). The overall yield for this two-step biomass-to-biofuel process was 9% - 9 percent of the cellulose in the corn stover samples was ultimately converted into biofuel. According to the team, DMF is similar to gasoline and is compatible with the existing liquid transportation fuel infrastructure, having already been used as a gasoline additive.
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