Energy Production

Projects concerning production and utilization of energy.

Go to Research Project Index for all Research Project Categories.

Utilization of Renewable Resources

Eventually more fuels, chemicals and materials will be produced from renewable plant materials. Our current work is focused on pretreatments to increase the conversion of lignocellulose to fermentable sugars. We collaborate with others on the development of microorganisms and engineering strategies to ferment complex mixtures of these sugars. A new project is to genetically engineer plants to express the cellulase (cellulose-hydrolyzing) enzymes in plant tissue and then to develop processing strategies so that these enzymes can retain their activity until they are released in the biorefinery. We are also working to develop optimal mixtures of hydrolytic enzymes to convert the complex carbohydrates in biomass to fermentable sugars.

Investigators (PI is linked): Bruce E. Dale
Categories: Energy Production, Biotechnology, Biobased Industrial Products, Sustainable Economy

Property Measurement and Prediction for Bio-derived Chemicals

Bio-derived chemicals and fuels typically have a significant oxygen content. Predictive models developed for petrochemicals often have difficulty accurately predicting properties. We are actively support collaborative efforts by providing estimations and measurements, including the use of molecular simulations.

Investigators (PI is linked): Carl T. Lira
Categories: Energy Production, Biobased Industrial Products, Sustainable Economy

Life Cycle Models of Biobased Product Systems

Over the next century, a much larger fraction of chemicals, materials and fuels will be produced from plant raw materials. These biobased industrial products offer the potential for a much more sustainable economy based on environmentally-superior products. In order to realize the full economic and environmental benefits of biobased products, we must carefully analyze and improve their life cycle performance. We are currently involved in life cycle studies involving "refining" of corn, soybeans and forage crops (alfalfa and switchgrass) to fuel ethanol and other products. Our goal is to identify portions of the overall agricultural production, biorefining and product use systems that have the greatest impact on environmental and economic performance so that these areas can be targeted for additional research and improvement.

Investigators (PI is linked): Bruce E. Dale
Categories: Biotechnology, Biobased Industrial Products, Sustainable Economy, Environmental Research, Energy Production

Processing and Characterization of Thermoelectric Materials

Semiconducting thermoelectric materials are of considerable interest in the conversion of waste heat to electric energy. This work consists of two separate projects (one supported by the Department of Energy and by the other by the Office of Naval Research). The Department of Energy (DOE) project is focused on waste heat recovery from internal combusion engines and involves collaboration with Cummins Diesel Engine, Inc. in Indiana as well as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) project involves shipboard applications of thermoelectric materials. In both projects, my group is involved with powder processing, powder characterization and hot pressing of thermoelectric materials. In addition, we characterize the elastic moduli, hardness and fracture properties of the thermoelectric materials.

Investigators (PI is linked): Eldon D. Case
Categories: Energy Production

Alkaline and Oxidative Pretreatments of Lignocellulose

The focus of this work is to investigate novel approaches for delignification and depolymerization of lignocellulose carbohydrates by alkaline oxygen pretreatments which, in contrast to acid pretreatments, specifically target delignification. The use of alkaline-oxidative conditions as a pretreatment presents unique opportunities for co-products and separations as well as challenges from a process integration viewpoint and is an additional feature of this research project.

Investigators (PI is linked): David Hodge
http://www.chems.msu.edu/groups/hodge/  Categories: Biomaterials, Energy Production, Biobased Industrial Products, Sustainable Economy

Nanostructured Bulk Thermoelectric Materials and Devices

Under support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), we are developing lead telluride based thermoelectric materials into devices for electrical power generation from waste heat sources. The team includes researchers from Michigan State University (Hogan, Case, Schock, Mahanti), Northwestern University (Kanatzidis), and the University of Michigan (Uher).

Investigators (PI is linked): Tim Hogan
Categories: Electronic Materials, Energy Production

Fractionation of Lignocellulosic Biomass Utilizing Alkaline Pretreatments

Hemicellulose and lignin biopolymers from alkaline pretreatment liquors have unique properties that allow for separations for the purposes of hydrolyzate detoxification, alkali recovery, or recovery of solubilized biopolymers. This goal of this project is to develop an effective integrated processing strategy involving alkaline lignocellulose fractionation. For this, a number of factors need to be considered in tandem which include understanding how changes in the alkaline pretreatment affect the properties of the biopolymers solubilized, how these properties affect the potential for recovery and separation, how the properties of the recovered component affects its capacity for use as a feedstock in other processes, and how the overall process is positioned in terms of yields, efficiency, and economics.

Investigators (PI is linked): David Hodge
http://www.chems.msu.edu/groups/hodge/  Categories: Separation Science, Energy Production, Biobased Industrial Products, Sustainable Economy

Mixed-feed Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

The need for high energy density, lightweight power sources for demanding portable electronic applications gives incentive to the search for novel fuel cell concepts and approaches that could reduce size, weight, and system complexity. Such power sources could find applications in variety of portable medical devices, computer hardware, and military equipment. We are developing a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) system design approach where the fuel (methanol) and air are mixed and fed simultaneously to both the anodes and the cathodes of the fuel cell stack. This approach leads to substantial size and weight reductions by eliminating the need for bipolar flow-field/separator plates and cell seals and by simplifying fluid manifolds. The key issues are the need for selective electrocatalyis at both the anode and cathode and efficient mixing and separation systems upstream and downstream of the fuel cell stack, respectively.

Investigators (PI is linked): Scott Calabrese Barton
Categories: Sustainable Economy, Energy Production, Rheology and Multiphase Flow, Nanomaterials

Fabrication of Large Diffractive Optical Element Solar Concentrator Panels by Extrusion

The low density of optically clear thermoplastics compared to inorganic glass makes them the materials of choice for making large area diffractive lenses with very low mass per unit area or areal density to be used as solar concentrators in space applications. Smaller optical components have been produced on a large scale by injection molding thermoplastic polymers; however optical elements in the present application will cover areas of up to 50 square meters. Hence the goal of this project is to achieve tight tolerances on thickness profiles over large areas of diffractive optical elements produced with an extrusion line from optical grade thermoplastic.

Investigators (PI is linked): Krishnamurthy Jayaraman
Categories: Structural Materials, Polymer Science and Engineering, Rheology and Multiphase Flow, Energy Production