Shockwave, LLC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase II: 10a

Description

This SBIR Project will address the problem of inconsistent feedstock handling of lignocellulosic feedstocks from ambient conditions into a controlled reactor environment, a primary barrier to continuous operation of lignocellulosic biomass conversion systems. Shockwave, LLC (Shockwave) will use its patented corn fractionation technology to segregate corn fiber, a lignocellulosic feedstock, for laboratory and pilot-scale conversion testing of raw corn fiber to cellulosic biofuel. Shockwave concluded in Phase I that corn fiber was the most promising candidate of the cellulosic feedstocks that were tested. Shockwave aims to test the conversion of raw corn fiber produced from Shockwave’s system with a leading developer of corn fiber conversion technologies. Shockwave conducted pilot scale trials of switchgrass, corn stover, and corn grain as well as a commercial scale trial of corn grain to measure moisture reduction, particle size reduction, energy usage and throughput. Shockwave then analyzed data to determine commercial feasibility of each feedstock. Shockwave will collect and analyze data to determine commercial feasibility of using Shockwave’s front end corn grain fractionation technology to harvest corn grain fiber to be used as lignocellulosic feedstock for cellulosic biofuel conversion at existing biorefineries. Fiber produced from Shockwave’s system will be evaluated with a leading developer of corn fiber conversion technologies in laboratory and pilot-scale conversion tests to determine potential yields of cellulosic sugars and biofuels. The proposed project will help advance efforts to enable cellulosic biofuel production technologies by producing a reliable source of lignocellulosic feedstock from a readily available feedstock.