Utilization of selected biorenewable resources: solubilization of lignocellulosics and conjugation of soybean oil
- Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
In recent years, concern has risen over the use of fossil fuels due to their contribution to global warming, and to our dependence on imports of petroleum from nations that could pose a threat to national security. As a result, it has become increasingly important to develop technologies to replace fossil fuel based products with biorenewable alternatives. In this thesis nearly quantitative solubilization of lignocellulosic materials using phosphite esters has been realized, and is presented as a potential pretreatment for production of fermentable sugars for use in manufacturing commodity chemicals, specifically ethanol. Water solubilization of lignocellulosics using phosphite esters will enhance digestibility by disrupting the lignocellulose structure, changing cellulose morphology, and cleaving some glycosidic bonds. In a second project, soybean oil, which contains un-conjugated polyunsaturated fatty acid esters, is isomerized into oil containing conjugated polyunsaturates. The process is carried out under photochemical conditions using iodine as a catalyst in a hexanes solution to achieve 99% conjugation. The resulting conjugated soybean oil is demonstrated to have enhanced drying properties for use in alkyd resins.
- Research Organization:
- Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11358
- OSTI ID:
- 1342576
- Report Number(s):
- IS-T-3180
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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