By Scott Weybright, WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences

RICHLAND, Wash. – A research group led by Washington State University Tri-Cities scientists has found a way to turn daily plastic waste products into jet fuel.

In a new paper published in the journal , WSU’s Hanwu Lei and colleagues melted plastic waste at high temperature with activated carbon, a processed carbon with increased surface area, to produce jet fuel.

“Waste plastic is a huge problem worldwide,” said Lei, an associate professor in . “This is a very good, and relatively simple, way to recycle these plastics.”

How it works

In the experiment, Lei and colleagues tested low-density polyethylene and mixed a variety of waste plastic products, like water bottles, milk bottles, and plastic bags, and ground them down to around three millimeters, or about the size of a grain of rice.

The plastic granules were then placed on top of activated carbon in a tube reactor at a high temperature, ranging from 430 degree Celsius to 571 degrees Celsius. That’s 806 to 1,060 degrees Fahrenheit. The carbon is a catalyst, or a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being consumed by the reaction.

“Plastic is hard to break down,” Lei said. “You have to add a catalyst to help break the chemical bonds. There is a lot of hydrogen in plastics, which is a key component in fuel.”

Once the carbon catalyst has done its work, it can be separated out and re-used on the next batch of waste plastic conversion. The catalyst can also be regenerated after losing its activity.

After testing several different catalysts at different temperatures, the best result they had produced a mixture of 85 percent jet fuel and 15 percent diesel fuel.

Environmental impact

According to the , landfills in the U.S. received 26 million tons of plastic in 2015, the most recent year statistics are available. China has recently stopped accepting plastic recycling from the U.S. and Canada. Conservative estimates by scientists say that at least 4.8 million tons of plastic enters the ocean each year worldwide.

Not only would this new process reduce that waste, very little of what is produced is wasted.

“We can recover almost 100 percent of the energy from the plastic we tested,” Lei said. “The fuel is very good quality, and the byproduct gasses produced are high quality and useful as well.”

He also said the method for this process is easily scalable. It could work at a large facility or even on farms, where farmers could turn plastic waste into diesel.

“You have to separate the resulting product to get jet fuel,” Lei said. “If you don’t separate it, then it’s all diesel fuel.”

This work was funded by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2014-38502-22598, 2016-67021-24533, 2018-67009-27904 from the , .

Washington State University Tri-Cities is the home of the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory, a state-of-the-art research facility operated in partnership with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The facility establishes the Tri-Cities as a center for world-class bio-based product research and development.

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

Bin Yang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering at Washington State University Tri-Cities, has been selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Chair Award — the most prestigious appointment in the Fulbright Scholar Program.

Fulbright currently awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Of those, 40 are selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Chair Award.  marks the first professor in WSU history to be selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Energy and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources Award.

Beginning in August, he will serve for six months through the Fulbright program at , while on sabbatical leave from WSU. While in Finland, he will teach and conduct research. In addition, he will continue to manage his research team at WSU.

His research at Aalto University will focus on the development of novel lignin-based compounds that do not resemble an existing petroleum-derived compound in structure. Lignin is a material comprised in the cell wall of plants and is one of the largest waste products in the bioproducts industry because it is so hard to break down and process. Yang, however, aims to use the material to create a range of bioproducts.

Yang said he is elated to expand his research and to communicate the scientific achievements of WSU’s Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory (BSEL) in the bioproducts sector, learn more about bioproducts research achievements and processes in Europe, as well as learn about the Finland’s educational structure, which is a world leader.

“I’m excited about the dialogue between our two universities and two countries,” he said. “I believe this outcome will allow me to work with professors and students at Aalto University in order to apply my expertise in bioproducts and biofuels technologies. I am grateful that both Aalto University and WSU are willing and able to accommodate this desire so graciously, and I believe it will work to everyone’s best interests.”

Juming Tang, chair of the biological systems engineering department at WSU, said Yang is an outstanding contributor for the graduate program of biological systems engineering, which is ranked 14^th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

“Fulbright support will further increase the visibility of our department, BSEL and WSU,” Tang said.

As a Fulbright chair, Yang will address two key challenges:

• Developing breakthroughs in science and technologies for production of high-value bioproducts from biomass.
• Fostering next-generation leaders on the opportunities, challenges and benefits of biofuels and bioproducts.

Yang has served as a faculty member at WSU since 2009. He has dedicated most of his career to the development of renewable energy technologies, with particular emphasis on production of biofuels and bioproducts from cellulosic biomass feedstocks and other sustainable resources. His major research interests include:

• Understanding fundamental mechanisms of bioprocessing technologies for advanced biofuels.
• Advancing cutting-edge technologies and facilitating the commercialization process.
• Improving knowledge of emerging technologies to meet near- and long-term needs worldwide.

He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and has five patents. He is a recipient of the DARPA Young Faculty Award of 2011. He also serves as an advisory editor board member for many leading biorefinery journals.

Yang’s research has been supported by the:

• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (U.S. Department of Defense).
• U.S. Department of Energy.
• National Science Foundation.
• Sun Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
• Seattle-based Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation.

He has a joint appointment with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He also serves as a faculty senator and an entrepreneurial faculty ambassador at ���سԹ�.

Students earn top honors at regional, state, international science competitions

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – High school students in the Tri-Cities have seen success not only at the state level in science fairs, but also at national and international competitions after collaborating with researchers at Washington State University Tri-Cities for their research projects.

The goal of the partnerships, the professors said, is not only to provide students with exposure to a variety of science and engineering projects that can stand to have large impacts, but additionally so that more students will receive exposure to hands-on opportunities in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. With this experience, the students can witness what is possible through those career paths, they said.

“I think a lot of the time, students may not even know that some of these areas are an option for a career,” said Aftab Ahamed, a lab manager at the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory at ���سԹ�. “Through these partnerships, these students not only see success in the sciences at the state, national and international level, they’re learning the ins and outs of what being a scientist, an engineer, a researcher looks like at a high level.”

Increasing opportunity in the sciences

In the last several years, ���سԹ� researchers and professors have partnered with a variety of Tri-Cities high school students that have competed in the Mid-Columbia Regional Science Fair and moved on to the Washington State Science Fair, Expo Sciences Asia and even the Genius Olympiad International Science Fair, each where students have earned top honors. These students have worked with professors on projects ranging from the development of biofuels and biogases, to developing and refining bioproducts to solve global challenges, to the refinement of toxic plastics to safe biodegradeable plastics and more.

Ahamed said he has worked with 11 students, including his own two children, at ���سԹ�. One of his students studied how he could use endophytic fungi to produce biofuels. Another student studied how to turn wine pumice, or the organic materials left over after a grape harvest, to produce bio-based jet fuel. Others worked on biogas production from agricultural waste materials and in converting toxic plastics to plastics that could be degraded safely and naturally using bacteria.

Bin Yang, a professor at ���سԹ� in BSEL, and then doctoral student Libing Zhang, have mentored several students. One completed a project pertaining to converting lignin, which is the main material comprised in the cell walls of plants, into biofuel. The other student’s project focused on creating a supercapacitor, which stores large amounts of energy similar to a high-performing battery. Earlier this year, Zhangyang XU, a doctoral student from Dr. Yangs’s lab, also mentored a student from Hanford High School in the sciences.

As an avid fishing family, Ahamed’s children, Afrah Aftab and Areeb Aftab, both from Hanford High School, were interested in seeing why the fish count

would fluctuate in the Columbia. It had been documented that there were toxic carcinogens stemming from industrious practices that would flow into water sources, which would cause embryological dysfunction and tumors in water wildlife. While scientists have developed a method using an enzyme called laccase to reduce those carcinogens in the water during the wastewater treatment process, the enzyme is quite unstable and typically only survives the process for 30 minutes. The students found a way to make it more stable, allowing the enzyme to survive for up to two days and also be reused in the process as part of their collaborative project with ���سԹ�.

Afrah and Areeb Aftab’s work in the ���سԹ� BSEL facility earned both first place at the Washington State Science Fair, as well as gold and silver, respectively, at the Genius Olympiad International Science Fair this year in Oswego, New York.

And also this past academic year, Kevin Yang, a Hanford High School student who was also mentored by Ahamed, earned first place at the Washington State Science Fair for his work in converting toxic plastics into degradable plastics using a soil bacteria through experimentation and genome-scale metabolic modeling.

Increased interest, potential for STEM

“It’s been a wonderful thing working with high school kids to get them interested in science early,” Ahamed said. “These partnerships are showing to be really fruitful and I am pleased to see all of these kids are doing very well. The high schools are talking about how WSU is a very good place to go. And we are seeing more and more students take interest in the STEM fields.”

Bob Lewis, a ���سԹ� associate professor of computer science who has judged the Mid-Columbia Science Fair for most of the past 10 years, said there is a need for scientists and engineers to become engaged with students before they reach the competition level, which is why these types of partnerships are so valuable.

“Many of the projects could have been substantially improved and could have led to a greater understanding and appreciation of science if a scientist had spent just a few minutes of consultation with the student early on, with periodic progress reviews as time goes on,” he said of some of the projects he judged at the competitions.

It is that same reason, Ahamed said, that he hopes to grow opportunities in the WSU BSEL facility for high school students, which may lead to paths for them to attend WSU into the future and hopefully inspire in them an interest in science and related fields

Many students who have worked with ���سԹ� professors for their science projects are now studying at WSU, Ivy League institutions and other prestigious universities, and all plan to or are pursuing a career in the sciences.

The students said they are also excited to have the hands-on opportunity to work in university labs.

“People will ask me, ‘Wow, how did you achieve this?’” Afrah Aftab said of her research opportunities at WSU as a high school student. “Many students don’t have these resources or get these opportunities at the high school level. We’re really luckily to live here and have WSU as a resource.”

They’re piloting drones over Washington vineyards, turning wood waste into jet fuel, and deploying thermal cameras to breed crops that resist drought. Their ideas launch businesses, transform agriculture and help feed a growing planet.

That’s why U.S. News and World Report recognized the WSU Biological Systems Engineering (BSE) program, ranking it 14th in the nation for graduate student programs in biological and agricultural engineering.

“This ranking reflects the outstanding quality of our faculty and graduate students,” said Juming Tang, department chair and regent’s professor in BSE. “They’re using technology to solve local and global problems in agriculture, food, fuel and the environment.”

Students develop new technology for crop sensors and precision irrigation; advanced robotics to grow, manage and harvest fresh produce; safer food processing technologies; bio-jet fuels; and many other innovations, all supported by state commodity groups, the Washington state and U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Departments of Defense and Energy, and the National Science Foundation, among others.

“While our students are doing cutting-edge research, they’re also building success skills like management and teamwork,” said Shyam Sablani, associate professor and graduate program leader for BSE, who advises dozens of students in the WSU Food Engineering Club. “Taking part in professional societies, industrial internships and student clubs, our graduates gain skills that power their careers.”

 

“My degree is helping me become a better teacher, advance in my field, and help Northwest apple growers, our environment, and the economy,” said Rajeev Sinha, a doctoral student in ag automation and former university educator from Bihar, India.

At WSU Prosser, Sinha works with apple growers to test new high-efficiency spraying technology, keeping orchard employees and the environment safe from harmful pesticides. Outside of the lab and classroom, he is an officer in several student clubs and a top player on the WSU Prosser cricket team. Every activity enriches his student experience.

“Students are our partners and our champions,” Tang said. “I’m proud of the work that BSE students and faculty have done to earn us a top national program. We’ll continue to transform agricultural and food systems for the benefit of the environment and consumer.”

Washington State University Tri-Cities is home to the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory and to world-class faculty that complete research both at ���سԹ� and the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (WSU Prosser IAREC).

• Contact: Juming Tang, Department Chair, Regents Professor, Biological Systems Engineering, (509) 335-2140, jtang@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – A method of converting a biofuel waste product into a usable and valuable commodity has been discovered by researchers at Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Converting algae to biofuels is a two-step process. The first, developed by , applies high pressure and high temperature to algae to create bio oil. The second converts that bio oil into biofuel, which can replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

It’s that first step, called hydrothermal liquefaction, that produces waste — approximately 25 to 40 percent of carbon and 80 percent of nutrients from the algae are left behind in wastewater streams.

Bionatural gas and fertilizer

The wastewater is generally hard to process because it contains a variety of different chemicals in small concentrations, said Birgitte K. Ahring, professor at ���سԹ�’ Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory. But Ahring and her team have found that adapting anaerobic microbes — microbes that live without oxygen — to break down the remaining residue is a viable option. Through this process, the material becomes degradable and gets transformed into a bionatural gas without the use of harsh chemicals. The solid material that remains can also be applied as a fertilizer or recycled back into the hydrothermal liquefaction process for further use.

The results of the team’s research are published this month in . The team also consists of:

• Keerthi Srinivas, WSU postdoctoral research associate
• Sebastian Fernandez, WSU research assistant
• Andrew Schmidt, of PNNL’s chemical and biological processes development group
• Marie Swita, of PNNL’s chemical and biological processes development group

Don’t waste waste

“It has always been my mantra that we shouldn’t waste waste,” Ahring said. “We had an idea that we could turn this waste product into something useful, such as a fertilizer. Our findings revealed that we could use this waste product as something much more.”

The ability to convert a waste product into a usable commodity provides algal biorefineries with a solution to a large problem, Ahring said.

“After removing the solids, about 10 percent of the output is bio oil, with the remaining 90 percent being a waste byproduct,” Schmidt said. “The fact that we’ve developed an alternative method to recycle or treat the leftover material means it’s more economical to produce the bio oil, making the potential for commercial use of the process more likely.”

Sewage sludge and wastewater

Ahring said the team’s results were so promising that they are now partnering with PNNL on its conversion of sewage sludge to fuel using a similar strategy for the wastewater.

“Today, sewage sludge is found throughout the world,” Ahring said. “Creating a process to produce biofuels, bio-natural gas, and nutrients from this material would be of major importance. The current study has demonstrated that nothing should ever be regarded as a waste, but instead as a resource.”

Schmidt said PNNL’s partnership with WSU allowed each team to focus on different aspects of the biomass conversion.  The collaboration is further enhanced by the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory, a facility PNNL and WSU built together on the ���سԹ� campus nearly a decade ago.

“PNNL and WSU researchers interacted frequently on the project,” said Schmidt.   “While PNNL engineers focused on converting the algae to bio oil, the WSU team was able to delve deeply into fundamental research of wastewater conversion with microbes, which included taking advantage of unique analytical capabilities on the PNNL campus.”

A WSU alumnus himself, receiving both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from WSU, Schmidt said he’s excited to team on additional programs and projects aligned with goals to grow the collaboration between PNNL and WSU.

 

Contacts:

• Birgitte Ahring, WSU Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory, 509-372-7682, bka@tricity.wsu.edu
• Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� marketing and communication, 509-372-7333, Maegan.murray@tricity.wsu.edu

RICHLAND, Wash. – Researchers at Washington State University Tri-Cities have been awarded a National Science Foundation I-Corps grant to explore the market potential of their biojet fuel research.

Bin Yang, associate professor of biological systems engineering and principal investigator for the grant, and his team have spent several years developing a process for transforming lignin, a polymer that makes plants woody and rigid, and currently a waste product in the biofuels production process, into hydrocarbon molecules that can one-day be certified as jet fuel.

Yang said by leveraging research results from projects funded by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation and The Boeing Company, he and his team have successfully demonstrated a new, water-based process for deconstructing and recovering lignin from biomass and converting it into jet fuel-range hydrocarbons that may be certified as jet fuel in the near future. Yang currently holds a patent on the process.

“Our ultimate goal is to demonstrate a flexible catalytic process that selectively converts all the carbon in the lignin into jet fuel-range hydrocarbons at minimal cost,” he said.

Libing Zhang, a ���سԹ� postdoctoral research associate and the entrepreneurial lead of the project, said currently commercial airlines are facing pressure to reduce emissions, which is why they may have an interest in seeing a lignin-derived alternative fuel brought to market.

“The airlines see alternative jet fuel as a strategic need, helping guarantee smooth business operations and a long-term and sustainable jet fuel supply,” Zhang said. “Our conversion process can potentially reduce jet fuel cost to end users by using lignin waste from refineries and less expensive catalytic upgrading to jet fuel.”

Zhang said the NSF I-Corps program helps leading researchers develop a business platform for their research and technology that could one-day change the world, while not trying to “reinvent the wheel” by recreating processes and strategies that are already working well within the industry.

For the NSF I-Corps grant, Yang and his team are working under the mentorship of Terri L. Butler from the University of Washington for the business aspects of the project.

“The NSF I-Corps program encourages researchers to step out of the academic environment and listen to the needs of industry,” Butler said. “The researchers can then determine if their technology solves an important problem or if their research efforts should head in a different direction. This is the approach our team has taken as we work on possible business models for our biojet fuel technology while considering the needs of customer segments, key partners, cost structures and revenue streams.”

WSU is leading the nation in biofuel production. In November, Alaska Airlines made the first commercial flight using alternative jet fuel from forest residuals produced through WSU-led Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance. Read more .

WSU also has an NSF I-Corps site led by the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture that provides training and funding to find commercial applications of new business ideas and technologies. The free site program promotes entrepreneurism of faculty, student and staff by preparing participants for submission of a proposal to NSF to become an I-Corps team. Learn more .

 

News media contacts:
Bin Yang, ���سԹ� biological systems engineering, 509-372-7640, binyang@tricity.wsu.edu
Libing Zhang, ���سԹ� postdoctoral research associate, libing.zhang@wsu.edu
Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations, 509-372-7333, maegan.murray@tricity.wsu.edu