Laboratory-Scale Biomass Containers

Achieve Transportation Density and Lignin Pre-Treatment Processes

Nicholas A. Pohlman, Ph.D.
NIU Professor of Mechanical Engineering

NIU Engineering Professor Nicholas Pohlman, along with Thomas Canam, Ph.D., a professor of biology at Eastern Illinois University, received an IIN seed grant to research transportation density and pre-treatment processes to make biomass viable for the commercial marketplace. They are working in collaboration with long-time industrial partner Paul Wever at Chip Energy to test near-term commercial viability of the research.

Biomass – organic material from plants and animals – can serve as fuel for transportation and electricity generation. It has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and offer sustainable economic opportunities for rural Illinois. However, this widely available natural resource is currently under-utilized.

For biomass to be viable in the commercial energy market, two main factors need to be addressed. First, transportation efficiency of these low-density materials must be improved. Second, passive chemical conversion processes must be developed to effectively break down lignin material (the structural support tissues of plants), even when there are long storage intervals between harvest and end-user conversion.

The current overabundance of 20-foot shipping containers might serve as the answer to both challenges.

This research aims to test whether biomass can be effectively stored, pretreated through passive chemical conversion, and transported in standard 20-foot shipping containers. Professor Pohlman and his team will test these questions by using ¼-scale models to simulate the limited-oxygen environment within a shipping container. They’ll pre-treat the biomass using white-rot fungus and will test the ratio of biomass to fluidized fungi and the effects of different spraying methods on a variety of different biomass materials. They’ll then monitor the stored biomass over time using geological coring technology in order to determine the most effective pre-treatment methods. The container will be loaded in Goodfield, Illinois and then will be monitored by Dr. Canam and his team at Eastern Illinois University.

This ¼-scale study will bridge the gap between benchtop proof-of-concept bioconversion and full-scale demonstration of the effectiveness of standard 20-foot shipping containers. If pre-treatment and shipping can be conducted efficiently within standard shipping containers, then a viable commercial biomass market is within reach.