Conductive Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA on graphite felt electrode. A graphite felt electrode pulled from a bioelectrochemical reactor growing electrochemically-active bacteria, Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA. Fixation was performed with 2.5% gluteraldehyde and 2% paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer. Emily Davenport, Washington State University, 3rd – year Chemical Engineering, artistic category.
Emily Davenport, a WSU graduate student in chemical engineering, recently won two awards in the Inland Northwest Micrograph Contest for her micrographs for the research on electrochemically active biofilms. A biofilm is a group of microorganisms that have colonized a surface. These photos, taken through a scanning electron microscope, illustrate how biofilm structure and formation can facilitate the transfer of electrons and produce electricity. Davenport’s research focuses on the protective functions of a biofilm’s extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), a matrix of biomolecules produced by the biofilm. Davenport is especially interested in how EPS interacts with antibiotics used to treat infections. The Inland Northwest Micrograph Contest is an annual competition put on by the Materials Research Society of WSU.
Conductive Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA biofilm on graphite felt electrode. A graphite felt electrode pulled from a bioelectrochemical reactor growing electrochemically-active bacteria, Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA. This intersection of fibers shows G. sulfurreducens growing away from the electrode, illustrating its ability to transfer electrons over a great distance to the electrode. Fixation was performed with 2.5% gluteraldehyde and 2% paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer. Emily Davenport, Washington State University, 3rd year – Chemical Engineering, scientific category.
“Conversion of Microalgae to Jet Fuel: Process Design and Simulation” by Hui-Yuan Wang, David Bluck, and Bernard J. Van Wie was recently selected as the cover story for the June 2014 edition of Bioresource Technology.
Accompanied by over-population and further industrialization, energy shortages are becoming the biggest challenge that our hydrocarbon-driven society will face in the near future. The non-renewability of fossil fuels will be the main impediment for energy sustainability in human society. At the same time, use of fossil fuels leads to a net production of CO2, a greenhouse gas believed to be directly related to global warming. In contrast, biomass is a renewable resource and carbon neutral in principle. The utilization of biomass as an energy feedstock is one of the most promising ways to reduce the energy dependence on non-renewable fossil resources and at the same time reduce the overall carbon footprint.
In the paper, the researchers show the utility of PRO/II software for simulating biomass related processes and use a PRO/II simulation to demonstrate the feasibility of jet fuel production from microalgae. They also use a PRO/II case study to show optimal hydrotreating conditions for making Jet B fuel and show that recovering hydrogen from the byproduct reforming adds up to 15 percent of the product’s value.
This work was partially supported by Schneider Electric S.A. (formerly Invensys Ltd.), the makers of Pro/II, through a project entitled “Pro II Simulation Comparison with Pilot Plant or Plant Data for Biomass Conversion to Biofuels” and partially by the Washington State University Agricultural Research Center though Hatch Project #WPN00807 entitled “Fundamental and Applied Chemical and Biological Catalysts to Minimize Climate Change, Create a Sustainable Energy Future, and Provide a Safer Food Supply” through the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institutes for Food and Agriculture program.
The research of WSU professors Yong Wang and Junming Sun was featured in the April issue of ACS Catalysis.
by Kate Nelson
Junming SunYong Wang
PULLMAN, WA – Ethanol from garbage and other sources could replace fossil fuels in the manufacturing of plastics, rubber, and other chemicals if scientists can gain the needed knowledge of catalysis.
WSU Professors Yong Wang and Junming Sun are conducting research and have developed a one-step process for upgrading ethanol to isobutene, an important first step in turning bio-ethanol into other useful, petroleum-based products.
In an article which recently appeared in the journal ACS Catalysis, the researchers provided an overview of work to convert ethanol to valuable chemicals and identified future research directions, including one-step ethanol conversions. Wang is the Voiland Distinguished Professor in the Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering as well as associate director at the Institute for Integrated Catalysis at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Sun is a research professor at WSU.
Renewable fuel requirements are increasing the availability and decreasing the cost of ethanol, with the production in the United States expected to reach more than 30 billion gallons in 2017.
With only 15 to 16 billion gallons needed for fuel blending, the additional alcohol could be used to produce plastic water bottles, carpet backing, and thousands of other products. Wang and Sun’s study provided a detailed summary of the research, giving scientists a needed overview.
“We need to de-bottleneck the process, from lignocellulose to the end products,” said Wang.
In the article, the team reviewed the progress made on deconstructing ethanol to provide hydrogen for use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Ethanol is of interest because of its easy-to-use form, nontoxicity, and high hydrogen content. Highly stable and selective catalysts, based on cobalt and other earth-abundant metals, appear promising for hydrogen production. Yet, efficiency and deactivation issues remain.
The team also discussed the production of light olefins, which can be used for building alkenes, alkanes, and aromatics, which are longer chained or ring-structured hydrocarbons. For example, producing the light olefin using gamma aluminum oxide is a commercial success. However, the reaction requires high temperatures when water is present. Questions remain, including the formatting of key intermediates, which inhibit the effective conversion of ethanol.
“Olefins are exciting because they are a nice platform molecule that can be further converted to other chemicals,” said Wang. “Essentially, the potential is great, but if you look at the current status, a significant amount of research is needed before commercialization.”
The researchers are continuing to better understand the catalysts and the reaction mechanisms involved, including the influence of impurities introduced with the bioethanol. They are also looking at the coupling thermochemical conversions to biological processes that produce the ethanol.
Targeted strategies improve efficacy of enzymes to convert biomass to biofuelsXiao ZhangBiofuels are produced from plant-derived biomass through the breakdown of the plant cell wall, which contains sugars that can be used for energy. A considerable amount of effort has been directed to developing effective enzymes for degrading the cell wall, but the development of more efficient and cost-effective enzymes for biomass-to-biofuel conversion has been limited for several reasons. For one, it is not well understood how enzymes interact with biomass substrates, which have highly complex and heterogeneous physical and chemical properties. Moreover, there is a lack of adequate biomass model substrates for evaluating the efficacy of different enzymes.
To address this problem, researchers from Washington State University, in collaboration with scientists from EMSL, have developed a set of biomass reference substrates with controlled physical and chemical properties which can be used to identify specific deficiencies of cellulase enzymes in breaking down carbohydrate polymers. In a new study, the researchers used these reference substrates to test the effectiveness of three commercially available enzyme mixtures—Novozymes Cellic® Ctec2, Dupont Accellerase® 1500, and DSM Cytolase CL—using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and an atomic force microscope at EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE national scientific user facility.
Professor Haluk Beyenal with his water-powered Christmas tree
by Alyssa Patrick
PULLMAN, WA – A small Christmas tree on the Washington State University campus is drawing some extra attention, and it’s not because it’s covered in Cougar paraphernalia.
A professor set up the decoration to draw more interest to chemical engineering.
Now that the semester is over, it’s pretty quiet on the Washington State University Campus. But the Christmas spirit is stirring here in the chemical engineering department.
“Just the lights, attract the people, attract the students. Give them a spark,” said WSU Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering Haluk Beyenal.
This tinsel tree isn’t very large or bright. But its lights are powered by a bucket of dirty water, and it helps Associate Professor Haluk Beyenal teach students about the transfer of electrons.
“When I start to talk about electron transfer, they got bored,” said Beyenal. “So I start with this microbial fuel cells and then talk about this Christmas tree, how it’s lit up.”
So here’s how it works. The microbial fuel cell is in this bucket of dirty water. The wires connect it to a circuit, which powers the lights.”
“Microbial fuel cell, it’s a device which converts chemical energy to electricity,” said Beyenal.
Beyenal said the fuel cells use bacteria in the dirt to constantly create a small amount of electricity, and that electricity can be stored to create a higher voltage less often.
“It depends how much power you want,” said Beyenal. “If you need less power, you can transfer it very often, if you need really high power, you can transfer it every one hour, maybe once in a day.”
He said devices like this could be used to monitor environmental conditions in bodies of water over long periods of time, without the hassle of having to change a battery.
“Everyone talks about global warming,” said Beyenal. “Ya, we are suspicious it is happening, but do we have enough data? In the past, we did not, and now we are developing tools to monitor environment.”
These microbial fuel cells have a long list of real-world applications, but Beyenal said they’re also useful for getting more students on campus interested in science.
“If we train them on new subjects and attract them to a science, it’s a good success,” said Beyenal. “It’s a success for us.”
This is the second year that the microbial fuel cell Christmas tree has been on display in the chemical engineering department, and they say they hope to put up a larger one next year.
Four students in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering will have the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research, thanks to support from the DeVlieg Foundation and the Weyerhaeuser Company.
As part of the scholarship awards, the students will work with faculty mentors throughout the year and will then present their work at conferences and/or at WSU’s Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) in April. The students received support to conduct research in the area of alternative fuels and renewable energy.
Weyerhaeuser is a partner in the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA) and is supporting research related to biomass conversion to useable fuel. Using a variety of feedstocks from construction waste to forest residues, NARA is working to create a sustainable industry in aviation biofuels and co-products. The DeVlieg Foundation awards also support undergraduate research in renewable energy.
The award winners include the following:
DeVlieg Foundation:
Junior Zoey Henson will work with Professor Grant Norton, dean of the Honors College. Using a novel experimental method, she will assess the success of catalytic reactions within a solid oxide fuel cell. The researchers hope the new technique leads to more successful reactions, a better fuel cell, and, eventually, better clean energy alternatives.
Jake Gray, senior, is working with Professor Su Ha on methods for improving a catalytic reaction without increasing reactor temperatures. In particular, Gray will be looking at the effects of applying an electric field to a nickel catalyst during the reformation of methane, an important process which produces approximately 95 percent of the world’s hydrogen. In practical applications, this electrical field could be supplied using renewable energy sources. Because process heating and cooling are extremely energy-expensive, replacing this requirement with a cheaper, cleaner alternative will remove hurdles facing the sustainability of hydrogen fuel cells.
Weyerhaeuser:
Junior Felix Nwanne will work with Professor Xiao Zhang at WSU Tri Cities. Nwanne is working with Zhang on research relating to biomass conversion to useable fuel and energy resources, including bio-energy and bio-products.
Gunnar Hoff, a senior, is working with Professor Su Ha to try new techniques to improve the power density of an enzymatic biofuel cell that uses glucose as a fuel source. Future energy supplies will depend on the design of green, sustainable, and efficient systems for the conversion of clean and cheap energy sources. Enzymatic biofuel cells represent one approach to clean energy production. Instead of expensive metal catalysts, biofuel cells can use renewable enzymes as the catalysts.
Courtney Herring working in the labOne of the Voiland School’s graduate students received a top poster award at the recent American Association for Aerosol Research annual conference held last week in Portland, Oregon.
Courtney Herring, a graduate student in the Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, is investigating the chemical composition of diesel and gasoline exhaust mixtures. Herring conducted a series of experiments at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in New Mexico, running engines under a variety of conditions to see how the chemical composition of the exhaust changed. Led by Timothy VanReken, in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the researchers are studying the link between health concerns and specific chemicals in the exhaust. In particular, the researchers are measuring what engine conditions might contribute to or worsen the formation of cancer-causing compounds. Researchers at WSU are involved in the project because of their ability to accurately measure gas and the particle phase of the exhaust. The work is part of a large project funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
