Biomedical Engineering Bionanosystems Research at Louisiana Tech University

Abstract

The nature of this project is to equip and support research in nanoengineered systems for biomedical, bioenvironmental, and bioenergy applications. Funds provided by the Department of Energy (DoE) under this Congressional Directive were used to support two ongoing research projects at Louisiana Tech University in biomedical, bioenvironmental, and bioenergy applications. Two major projects (Enzyme Immobilization for Large Scale Reactors to Reduce Cellulosic Ethanol Costs, and Nanocatalysts for Coal and Biomass Conversion to Diesel Fuel) and to fund three to five additional seed projects were funded using the project budget. The project funds also allowed the purchase and repair of sophisticated research equipment that will support continued research in these areas for many years to come. Project funds also supported faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students, contributing to the development of a technically sophisticated work force in the region and the State. Descriptions of the technical accomplishments for each funded project are provided. Biofuels are an important part of the solution for sustainable transportation fuel and energy production for the future. Unfortunately, the country's appetite for fuel cannot be satisfied with traditional sugar crops such as sugar cane or corn. Emerging technologies are allowing cellulosic biomass (wood, grass, stalks, etc.) tomore » also be converted into ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol does not compete with food production and it has the potential to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 86% versus current fossil fuels (current techniques for corn ethanol only reduce greenhouse gases by 19%). Because of these advantages, the federal government has made cellulosic ethanol a high priority. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) requires a minimum production of at least 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol by 2022. Indeed, the Obama administration has signaled an ambitious commitment of achieving 2 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol by 2013. Louisiana is well positioned to become a national contributor in cellulosic ethanol, with an excellent growing season, a strong pulp/paper industry, and one of the nation's first cellulosic ethanol demonstration plants. Dr. Palmer in Chemical Engineering at Louisiana Tech University is collaborating with Drs. Lvov and Snow in Chemistry and Dr. Hegab in Mechanical Engineering to capitalize on these advantages by applying nanotechnology to improve the cellulosic ethanol processes. In many of these processes, expensive enzymes are used to convert the cellulose to sugars. The nanotechnology processes developed at Louisiana Tech University can immobilize these enzymes and therefore significantly reduce the overall costs of the process. Estimates of savings range from approximately $32 million at each cellulosic ethanol plant, to $7.5 billion total if the 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol is achieved. This process has the advantage of being easy to apply in a large-scale commercial environment and can immobilize a wide variety or mixture of enzymes for production. Two primary objectives with any immobilization technique are to demonstrate reusability and catalytic activity (both reuse of the immobilized enzyme and reuse of the polymer substrate). The scale-up of the layering-by-layering process has been a focus this past year as some interesting challenges in the surface chemistry have become evident. Catalytic activity of cellulase is highly dependent upon how the feed material is pretreated to enhance digestion. Therefore, efforts this year have been performed this year to characterize our process on a few of the more prevalent pretreatment methods.« less