Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The transformation of agricultural waste to value added bioproducts for chemical, material, fuel and energy application creates an opportunity that fosters innovation, creates new jobs and increase competitiveness of Canada in global market. Canada, with more biomass resource per capita than any other country, offers a unique advantage to be a global leader in its development. This however requires continues innovation to be a frontrunner in the field. My proposed research is developed to meets above goals. The proposal is divided into two part: one to study the hydrothermal processing followed by activation for producing activated carbon fiber and another on syngas fermentation for producing bioplastics, each of which contribute towards bioproducts from agricultural and organic waste, thereby substituting petroleum based products and reducing greenhouse gas emission. For producing activated carbon fiber from agricultural waste, the focus will be on understanding the fundamental of hydrothermal and activation process. Some of the issues related to the proposed processes are: removal of inorganic content in biomass, designing system for different kind of feedstock, feeding feedstock into high-pressure reactor and energy integration for auto thermal operation. We will undertake an experimental and kinetic study of hydrothermal carbonization and activation process, examining the effect of temperature, pressure, residence time and medium. The kinetics would be then used to develop a novel continuous system. Further investigation into the continuous system will be done for optimization. The second part of the proposal focuses on utilizing the organic waste from the food processing industry for producing syngas and fermenting the syngas to produce bioplastics. Understanding the gasification of organic waste stream under super-critical gasification, effect of using calcium oxide for carbon dioxide capture and its effect on sorbent properties, developing system with efficient mass transfer between syngas and substrate during fermentation will be the focus of this study. Earlier work indicated that bacteria growth under fermentation condition and efficient mass transfer could be the bottlenecks. Experimental investigation would help to understand these phenomenons. Gas dispersion through hollow fiber membrane is proposed for efficient mass transfer. Besides mass transfer, cost of carbon source could effect the commercialization of the process. The use of waste stream as proposed in the research might address the cost issues. Each of the sub-projects will contribute to the training of highly qualified personnel.