Chemical engineers boost petrochemical output from biomass by 40 percent

"We think that today we can be economically competitive with crude oil production," says research team leader George Huber, an associate professor of chemical engineering at UMass Amherst and one of the country's leading experts on catalytic pyrolysis.

Huber says his research team can take wood, grasses or other renewable biomass and create five of the six petrochemicals that serve as the building blocks for the chemical industry. They are benzene, toluene, and xylene, which are aromatics, and ethylene and propylene, which are olefins. Methanol is the only one of those six key petrochemicals not produced in that same single-step reaction.

"The ultimate significance of our research is that products of our green process can be used to make virtually all the petrochemical materials you can find. In addition, some of them can be blended into gasoline, diesel or jet fuel," says Huber.

The new process was outlined in a paper published in the Dec. 23, 2011 edition of the German Chemical Society's journal Angewandte Chemie. It was written by Huber, Wei Fan, assistant professor of chemical engineering, and graduate students Yu-Ting Cheng, Jungho Jae and Jian Shi.

"The whole name of the game is yield," says Huber. "The question is what amount of aromatics and olefins can be made from a given amount of biomass. Our paper demonstrates that with this new gallium-zeolite catalyst we can increase the yield of those products by 40 percent. This gets us much closer to the goal of catalytic fast pyrolysis being economically viable. And we can do it all in a renewable way."

The new production process has the potential to reduce or eliminate industry's reliance on fossil fuels to make industrial chemicals worth an estimated $400 billion annually, Huber says. The team's catalytic fast pyrolysis technology has been licensed to New York City's Anellotech, Inc., co-founded by Huber, which is scaling up the process to industrial size for introduction into the petrochemical industry.

In this single-step catalytic fast pyrolysis process, either wood, agricultural wastes, fast growing energy crops or other non-food biomass is fed into a fluidized-bed reactor, where this feedstock pyrolysizes, or decomposes due to heating, to form vapors. These biomass vapors then enter the team's new gallium-zeolite (Ga-ZSM-5) catalyst, inside the same reactor, which converts vapors into the aromatics and olefins. The economic advantages of the new process are that the reaction chemistry occurs in one single reactor, the process uses an inexpensive catalyst and that aromatics and olefins are produced that can be used easily in the existing petrochemical infrastructure.

Olefins and aromatics are the building blocks for a wide range of materials. Olefins are used in plastics, resins, fibers, elastomers, lubricants, synthetic rubber, gels and other industrial chemicals. Aromatics are used for making dyes, polyurethanes, plastics, synthetic fibers and more.

Provided by University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Outlook for an industry that touches 96 percent of all manufactured goods

C&EN points to positive developments for some chemical manufacturers, like Boeing ramping up production of its Dreamliner planes, a boon for makers of high-tech glues and carbon fiber. The article explains U.S. chemical firms will be more competitive globally due to low prices of natural gas and other raw materials and good opportunities for exports. Petrochemical producers are looking past 2012, according to the article, and several companies plan to build new manufacturing plants to take advantage of the growing supply of natural gas in the U.S.

At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry is facing the challenge of expiring patents on some of its most popular drugs, which will allow generic manufacturers to grab profits from big-name companies like AstraZeneca. The story also predicts slowing growth in Asia will hurt a number of chemical industries, especially makers of paint and other construction materials. For chemical makers, the article says, "2012 is likely to be a year to endure rather than enjoy."

More information: World Chemical Outlook - http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i2/World-Chemical-Outlook.html

Provided by American Chemical Society (news : web)

Tiny gold particles boost organic solar cell efficiency: Plasmonic technique helps enhance power conversion by up to 20 percent

 In the world of solar energy, organic photovoltaic solar cells have a wide range of potential applications, but they are still considered an upstart. While these carbon-based cells, which use organic polymers or small molecules as semiconductors, are much thinner and less expensive to produce than conventional solar cells made with inorganic silicon wafers, they still lag behind in their ability to efficiently convert sunlight into electricity.

Now, UCLA researchers and their colleagues from China and Japan have shown that by incorporating gold nanoparticles into these organic photovoltaics -- taking advantage of the plasmonic effect, by which metal helps to enhance the absorption of sunlight -- they can significantly improve the cells' power conversion.

In a paper recently published in ACS Nano, the team of researchers, led by Yang Yang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and director of the Nano Renewable Energy Center at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute, demonstrate how they sandwiched a layer of gold nanoparticles between two light-absorbing subcells in a tandem polymer solar cell in order to harvest a greater fraction of the solar spectrum.

They found that by employing the interconnecting gold-nanoparticle layer, they were able to enhance power conversion by as much as 20 percent. The gold nanoparticles create a strong electromagnetic field inside the thin organic photovoltaic layers by a plasmonic effect, which concentrates light so that much more of it can be absorbed by the subcells.

The team is the first to report a plasmonic-enhanced polymer tandem solar cell, having overcome the difficulties involved in incorporating metal nanostructures into the overall device structure.

"We have successfully demonstrated a highly efficient plasmonic polymer tandem solar cell by simply incorporating gold nanoparticles layer between two subcells," Yang said. "The plasmonic effect happening in the middle of the interconnecting layer can enhance both the top and bottom subcells simultaneously -- a 'sweet spot' -- leading to an improvement in the power conversion efficiency of the tandem solar cell from 5.22 percent to 6.24 percent. The enhancement ratio is as high as 20 percent."

The research team included Xing Wang Zhang from the Key Lab of Semiconductor Materials Science at the Institute of Semiconductors at Beijing's Chinese Academy of Science and Ziruo Hong from the Graduate School of Science and Engineering at Japan's Yamagata University.

Experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that the enhancement effect was attained from local near-field enhancement of the gold nanoparticles. The results show that the plasmonic effect has great potential for the future development of polymer solar cells. The team's proposed interlayer structures as an open platform can be applied to various polymer materials, opening up opportunities for highly efficient, multi-stacked tandem solar cells.

The research was financially supported by grants from the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation.

The team also included Jun Yang, Jingbi You, Chun-Chao Chen, and Wan-Ching Hsu of the UCLA Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the California NanoSystems Institute.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations ) from materials provided by University of California - Los Angeles. The original article was written by Jennifer Marcus.

Journal Reference:

Jun Yang, Jingbi You, Chun-Chao Chen, Wan-Ching Hsu, Hai-ren Tan, Xing Wang Zhang, Ziruo Hong, Yang Yang. Plasmonic Polymer Tandem Solar Cell. ACS Nano, 2011; 110718133857056 DOI: 10.1021/nn202144b

Evonik has reduced its specific energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by sixteen percent compared to 2004

Evonik Industries has significantly improved its CO2 efficiency. The Group has been able to reduce its specific energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in chemical production by sixteen percent; compared to the previous year, the improvement in 2010 was a full three percent. This is highlighted in the company’s 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report, which was recently presented in Brussels. This success means that Evonik has moved another step closer to its self-imposed goal of reducing the specific energy-related greenhouse gases of its chemical activities to twenty percent below the level of 2004 by 2014.

60 percent of CO2 emissions in 2010 were energy-related and 40 percent related to chemical processes. Absolute emissions of greenhouse gases increased to 9.14 million metric tons CO2 equivalents in 2010, a rise of 11 percent over the previous year (2009: 8.23). At the same time, specific emissions, i.e. emissions relative to output, declined by 3 percent. Accordingly, Evonik has successfully detached its production growth from rising emissions. “Our significantly increased energy efficiency is making an important contribution to climate protection" says Klaus Engel, the Chairman of the Evonik Executive Board.

With the global economy regaining momentum, the Group returned to operating its chemical production facilities at full capacity in 2010, in many cases with optimized efficiency. A number of efficiency enhancement measures contributed to the reduction of specific greenhouse gas emissions.  These included the start-up of a new cogeneration power plant in Antwerp (Belgium) and a more efficient installation for thermal incineration of exhaust gases from the production of the feed additive methionine. In addition, Evonik initiated selective energy-saving programs at its site in Rheinfelden (Germany). During the 2010 financial year, Evonik invested a total of 36 million Euro in environmental protection for its chemical business activities.

“We want to be successful as a supplier of competitive products and technologies that also make a contribution to sustainability. At the same time, we want to be a responsible, reliable and fair partner for our customers, employees and society and meet the demands made by our shareholders,” noted CEO Klaus Engel.

Evonik invested some €338 million in research and development in 2010. The Group pursued about 500 different projects, of which approximately 100 focused on resource efficiency.

The Corporate Responsibility (CR) efforts of Evonik provide answers for challenges of the future, such as resource efficiency. Says Christine Anders, Head of CR at Evonik: “Corporate Responsibility is an integral part of our business and we plan to keep fine-tuning our CR strategy in 2011.” With its three dimensions of Business, Employees, and Processes, the CR strategy is a fixed component of the corporate strategy, providing support and new impulses.  In 2010, the Group identified important sustainability topics as part of so-called materiality analyses and intensified its dialog with stakeholders.

The Evonik Corporate Responsibility Report 2010 for the first time met the requirements for the highest application level A+ of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). GRI is the internationally recognized standard for comprehensive sustainability reporting and confirmed the A+ reporting level for Evonik. Large parts of the report underwent a business audit by an auditing firm.

 

PepsiCo unveils 100 percent plant-based bottle

Remember the Cola Wars? Get ready for the Bottle Wars. PepsiCo Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a bottle made entirely of plant material, which it says bests the technology of competitor Coca-Cola and reduces its potential carbon footprint.

The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business.

The new bottle looks, feels and protects the drink inside exactly the same as its current bottles, Papalia said. “It’s indistinguishable.”

PepsiCo says it is the world’s first bottle of a common type of plastic called PET made entirely of plant-based materials. Coca-Cola Co. currently produces a bottle using 30 per cent plant-based materials and recently estimated it would be several years before it has a 100 per cent plant bottle that’s commercially viable.

“We’ve cracked the code,” said Rocco Papalia, senior vice-president of advanced research of PepsiCo.

The discovery potentially changes the industry standard for plastic packaging. Traditional plastic, called PET, is used in beverage bottles, food pouches, coatings and other common products.

The plastic is the go-to because it’s lightweight and shatter-resistant, its safety is well-researched and it doesn’t affect flavours. It is not biodegradable or compostable. But it is fully recyclable, a characteristic both companies maintain in their new creations.

Traditional PET plastic is made using fossil fuels, like petroleum, a limited resource that’s rising in price. By using plant material instead, companies reduce their environmental impact. Pepsi says the new plastic will cost about the same as traditional plastic.

The company, based in Purchase, N.Y., said it has had dozens of people working on the process for years. While PepsiCo wouldn’t specify the cost to research and design the new bottle, Papalia said it is in the millions of dollars.

It’s one of several steps PepsiCo has taken recently to reduce its environmental impact. The company created a fully compostable bag for its SunChips line. It cut the amount of plastic in its Aqua-Fina bottle in 2009. And its Naked Juice line is in the midst of switching to a bottle made entirely of recycled plastic bottles.

PepsiCo says of its 19 biggest brands, those that generate more than $1 billion (dollar figures U.S.) in revenue, 11 are beverage brands that use PET. The company says the packaging will cost roughly the same as it does today.

PepsiCo plans to test the product in 2012 in a few hundred thousand bottles. Once the company is sure it can successfully produce the bottle at that scale, it will begin converting all its products.

?2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

New material provides 25 percent greater thermoelectric conversion efficiency

February 15, 2011

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Thermoelectric materials and technology have powered spacecraft for decades. But, thanks to advances in efficiency discovered at the Ames Laboratory, thermoelectric materials may have new, broader ?green? energy applications. Credit: U.S. Dept. of Energy's Ames Laboratory

Automobiles, military vehicles, even large-scale power generating facilities may someday operate far more efficiently thanks to a new alloy developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. A team of researchers at the Lab that is jointly funded by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, achieved a 25 percent improvement in the ability of a key material to convert heat into electrical energy.

"What happened here has not happened anywhere else," said Evgenii Levin, associate scientist at Ames Laboratory and co-principal investigator on the effort, speaking of the significant boost in efficiency documented by the research. Along with Levin, the Ames Lab-based team included: Bruce Cook, scientist and co-principal investigator; Joel Harringa, assistant scientist II; Sergey Bud'ko, scientist; and Klaus Schmidt-Rohr, faculty scientist. Also taking part in the research was Rama Venkatasubramanian, who is director of the Center for Solid State Energetics at RTI International, located in North Carolina.

So-called thermoelectric materials that convert heat into electricity have been known since the early 1800s. One well-established group of thermoelectric materials is composed of tellurium, antimony, germanium and silver, and thus is known by the acronym "TAGS." Thermoelectricity is based on the movement of charge carriers from their heated side to their cooler side, just as electrons travel along a wire.

The process, known as the Seebeck effect, was discovered in 1821 by Thomas Johann Seebeck, a physicist who lived in what is now Estonia. A related phenomenon observed in all thermoelectric materials is known as the Peltier effect, named after French physicist Jean-Charles Peltier, who discovered it in 1834. The Peltier effect can be utilized for solid-state heating or cooling with no moving parts.

In the nearly two centuries since the discovery of the Seebeck and Peltier effects, practical applications have been limited due to the low efficiency with which the materials performed either conversion. Significant work to improve that efficiency took place during the 1950s, when thermoelectric conversion was viewed as an ideal power source for deep-space probes, explained team member Cook. "Thermoelectric conversion was successfully used to power the Voyager, Pioneer, Galileo, Cassini, and Viking spacecrafts," he said.

Despite its use by NASA, the low efficiency of thermoelectric conversion still kept it from being harnessed for more down-to-earth applications – even as research around the world continued in earnest. "Occasionally, you would hear about a large increase in efficiency," Levin explained. But the claims did not hold up to closer scrutiny.

All that changed in 2010, when the Ames Laboratory researchers found that adding just one percent of the rare-earth elements cerium or ytterbium to a TAGS material was sufficient to boost its performance.

The results of the group's work appeared in the article, "Analysis of Ce- and Yb-Doped TAGS-85 Materials with Enhanced Thermoelectric Figure of Merit," published online in November 2010 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

The team has yet to understand exactly why such a small compositional change in the material is able to profoundly affect its properties. However, they theorize that doping the TAGS material with either of the two rare-earth elements could affect several possible mechanisms that influence thermoelectric properties.

Team member Schmidt-Rohr studied the materials using Ames Laboratory's solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy instruments. This enabled the researchers to verify that the one percent doping of cerium or ytterbium affected the structure of the thermoelectric material. In order to understand effect of magnetism of rare earths, team member Bud'ko studied magnetic properties of the materials. "Rare-earth elements modified the lattice," said Levin, referring to the crystal structure of the thermoelectric materials.

The group plans to test the material in order to better understand why the pronounced change took place and, hopefully, to boost its performance further.

The durable and relatively easy-to-produce material has innumerable applications, including recycling waste heat from industrial refineries or using auto exhaust heat to help recharge the battery in an electric car. "It's a very amazing area," Levin said, particularly since many years of prior research into TAGS materials enables researchers to understand their nature. Better understanding of the thermoelectric and their improvement can immediately result in applications at larger scale than now.

Additionally, the Ames Laboratory results – dependent as they were on doping TAGS with small amounts of cerium or ytterbium – provide yet more evidence of rare-earth elements' strategic importance. Cerium or ytterbium are members of a group of 15 lanthanides, deemed essential to just about every new technology from consumer electronics and cell phones to hybrid car batteries and generator motors in wind turbines. The Ames Laboratory has been a leader in rare-earth research going back to the closing days of World War II. Fears of shortages of rare-earth elements have caused these little-known materials to be a much-talked-about subject in the news lately.

More information: E.M. Levin, B.A. Cook, J.L. Harringa, S. L. Bud'ko, R. Venkatasubramanian, K. Schmidt-Rohr, "Analysis of Ce- and Yb-Doped TAGS-85 Materials with Enhanced Thermoelectric Figure of Merit," Advanced Functional Materials, 2010, in press. DOI:10.1002/adfm.201001307

Provided by Ames Laboratory (news : web)

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