Abstract
2,3-Butanediol (BDO) is a bio-derived building block available from biomass through biochemical methods in high titers (>120 g L−1) making it an attractive target for production and further upgrading to chemical products and fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel. A key challenge to enable the adoption of BDO as a precursor is the effective separation and isolation of this molecule from the fermentation broth. 2,3-Butanediol has a boiling point higher than that of water (177°C), and as a consequence, separation via distillation methods is an energy-intensive and therefore costly approach. We have improved the BDO separation through conversion to a 1,3-dioxolane directly in fermentation broth via reaction with bio-derived aldehydes catalyzed by a solid acid catalyst. The resulting dioxolane phase separates from the fermentation broth, allowing for easy decantation and isolation in >90% isolated yield. Isolated dioxolane can be used directly as a compression iginition fuel, trans-acetalized to recover high-purity BDO or used directly in a catalytic process as a BDO synthon to produce methyl ethyl ketone with aldehyde recovery in near quantitative yield.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1003-1011 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1 2023 |
Funding
This work was funded by the US Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. The specific organization overseeing this report is the Bioenergy Technology Office through ChemCatBio: Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium. Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by Triad National Security, LLC, for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the US Department of Energy under contract no. 89233218CNA000001. Funding to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was provided under contract no. DE‐AC05‐76RL01830. Funding to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory was provided under contract no. DE‐AC36‐08GO28308 with Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, the manager and operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Funding to Oak Ridge National Laboratory was provided under contract no. DE‐AC05‐00OR22725 with UT‐Battelle, LLC. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the US Government or any agency thereof. Neither the US Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.
Keywords
- 2,3-butanediol
- aviation fuel
- biomass
- dioxolane
- fermentation broth
- separations
- sustainable
- upgrading
