Lignin waste, which the pulp industry annually generates ~60 Megatonnes of, is one of the major sources of organic waste. Instead of traditional burning treatment, upcycling lignin waste to fuel chemicals can be an economically valuable and carbon-negative process.
This project will upcycle lignin into bio-based aviation fuel (BAF) with a proposed novel electrified pulse heating approach, which will be enabled by the team’s unique programmable heating and quenching process (PHQ) to precisely break down lignin’s complex structure into jet fuel without the need of any metallic catalysts. In contrast to the traditional burning treatment of lignin to generate heat, upcycling lignin to jet fuel will diminish the need for fossil fuels.
Moreover, this work will improve the conversion efficiency of lignin waste into BAF to over 70% via the PHQ method, far surpassing conventional lignin upgrading methods that often result in undesired waste.
