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Final Report

Project #1: “Florida-EU Research Collaboration in Biomass Conversion to Biofuels”, Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence Faculty Research Award 2011 Project #2: “International Research Collaboration in Biomass Conversion to Biofuels”, CIBER Research Award

Principal Investigator: George Philippidis, Ph.D.

Applied Research Center Florida International University

In order to execute the two aforementioned biofuels projects, Dr. Philippidis travelled to Greece from June 20 until July 12, 2011 and cooperated with Prof. Basil Macris and a number of his colleagues, who have been involved for years in biofuels research at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). As outlined in the scope of work of the projects, the main objective was to exchange information about the current status of biofuels research at the two institutions (FIU and NTUA), identify common research interests, and seek means to collaborate in advancing the current status of the research. Both institutions are keenly interested in developing and commercializing the biochemical conversion of cellulosic biomass to biofuels, such as ethanol. The biochemical process is shown in Fig. 1 below:

Figure 1: Schematic of the biochemical conversion of biomass first to cellulosic sugars via enzymatic hydrolysis and subsequently to biofuels.

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The NTUA participants were:

• Dr. Basil Macris, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Chemical Engineering • Dr. Demetrios Kekos, Professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering • Dr. Pavlos Christakopoulos, Associate Professor, Dept. of Chemical

Engineering • Dr. Ioannis Dogaris, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Chemical Engineering

In addition to the discussions, on June 30 Dr. Philippidis presented a seminar at NTUA entitled “Advanced Biofuels: Fueling a Sustainable Economy”. The seminar was well attended by the collaborating faculty, their students, and additional staff of the University. A photograph, taken at the conclusion of the seminar, is included at the end of this report. Detailed discussions of each group’s biomass R&D were conducted, and Dr. Philippidis was offered tours of NTUA’s biofuels labs. The labs are well equipped with pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation capabilities, as well as with analytical equipment, such as liquid chromatographs. In the course of the visit, two specific projects of common interest were identified:

The research team of Dr. Christakopoulos, through collaborations with other European Institutions and a Danish company, has been developing a hydrothermal pretreatment of cellulosic biomass that reportedly results in high yields of glucose and xylose. The focus of the work in Athens has been on wheat straw and sweet sorghum, two feedstocks of interest to the Greek agriculture industry.

Project #1: Hydrothermal pretreatment of biomass

The group has published extensively in this area and has also developed courses offered to senior undergraduate students. The content of the courses was discussed during the visit, and a copy of a manual co-authored by Prof. Christakopoulos was offered to Dr. Philippidis for his review and comments. Sweet sorghum is also of interest to Florida farmers, as a means of producing sugar and fiber in the parts of the State, where the climate gets cold during wintertime and is therefore non-conducive to cultivation of sugarcane. Hence, this particular crop and biomass are of common interest to both FIU and NTUA. Moreover, Florida agroenergy companies are interested in biofuels production from sugarcane bagasse. Given the difficulties encountered in finding governmental R&D funding for transatlantic collaboration, it was agreed that opportunities in the private sector will be actively explored. More specifically, using his long-term collaboration with Florida Crystals Corporation (FCC), the leading cane sugar producer in the United States, Dr. Philippidis will explore with NTUA the potential benefits of the

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hydrothermal pretreatment for the conversion of bagasse and sweet sorghum fiber to cellulosic sugars. It should be noted that since 2007 Dr. Philippidis has been performing joint biomass and biofuels research with FCC, which has been funded by the State of Florida and the company. The culmination of this joint venture has been the design, commissioning, and operation of a pilot plant that successfully converts bagasse to sugars. The action plan is as follows:

• Dr. Philippidis will brief FCC about his discussions with NTUA regarding the applicability of hydrothermal treatment to various types of biomass.

• If FCC agrees, samples of Florida bagasse will be shipped to NTUA for testing under the supervision of Dr. Christakopoulos.

• The results of the pretreatment tests will be shared with FCC and will be compared to baseline data (already available).

• If the data look promising, discussions will be undertaken with the company for conducting funded research with the use of lab facilities in Athens and the pilot plant facility in Florida.

The research team of Dr. Kekkos has focused on the production of cellulase enzymes, which - when supplemented by commercial enzyme preparations - result in high biomass conversion yields, thus reportedly lowering the cost of conversion. This area of research is of particular interest to biofuels companies, as enzyme costs remain high and are one of the most significant cost factors in the production of biofuels commercially.

Project #2: Enzyme production and co-fermentation of biomass

Given the importance of enzymes, it was agreed to investigate the potential of NTUA’s enzyme preparations to help convert Florida bagasse (and fiber from sweet sorghum) to fermentable sugars cost-effectively. Hence, bagasse and other Florida feedstocks will be assessed for their susceptibility to NTUA’s cellulolytic enzymes. The action plan is as follows:

• Dr. Philippidis will brief FCC about his discussions regarding the potential of NTUA’s cellulase enzyme preparations to assist in the conversion of biomass to cellulosic sugars.

• If FCC agrees, samples of Florida bagasse will be shipped to NTUA for testing under the supervision of Dr. Kekos.

• The results of the enzymatic hydrolysis tests will be shared with FCC and will be compared to baseline data (already available).

• If the data look promising, discussions will be undertaken with the company for conducting funded research with the use of lab facilities in Athens and the pilot plant facility in Florida.

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Thanks to the provided funding by the European Commission (through the Miami-Florida EU Center of Excellence) and CIBER, it became possible for Dr. Philippidis to visit with the Dept. of Chemical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens and hold detailed discussions about common research interests in biomass conversion to biofuels. NTUA’s excellent bench scale experience combined with FIU’s pilot scale expertise and facilities can facilitate the testing and commercialization of advanced biofuels technologies. Dr. Philippidis will collaborate with his NTUA colleagues to complete a preliminary assessment, which – if promising – will form the basis for an R&D joint venture with potential funding from the sugar industry of the United States.

Conclusion

Dr. Philippidis would like to thank Mrs. Cristine Caly, Mrs. Sonia Verdu, Dr. Mary Ann Von Glinow, and Dr. Christos Koulamas for their support and encouragement in seeking means to strengthen US-European research collaboration in the high-priority area of biofuels.

Acknowledgment

Dr. Philippidis (first from the left in the 1st row) during his visit to NTUA with Dr. Macris (second from the left in the 2nd row), Dr. Kekkos (second from the left in the 1st row), Dr. Christakopoulos (fourth from the left in the 1st row), and their colleagues and students.