Separating Organic Material
into Value-Added Chemicals

A team of National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) researchers has created an innovative technology and process designed to effectively separate organic materials such as corn, wheat, oat hulls, and waste from cotton, and other lignocellulosic material, into pure streams of value-added chemicals such as lignin, cellulose and dissolved sugars (hemicellulose). These pure streams can be used to produce chemical products for a variety of industries such as pulp and paper, chemical, food, and packaging. Additional value is generated in that a variety of organic, clean (no net greenhouse gas) material feedstocks can be used.

This new technology incorporates an innovative strategy that overcomes previously difficult and costly chemical separation processes. NREL’s new method enables a variety of organic materials to be separated by a highly efficient, single-phase process that produces very pure chemical products such as, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin products. These separated materials can then be efficiently fermented to produce a variety of consumer products such as fuel ethanol, food additives, chemical building blocks, cement additives, and adhesives to name a few. The NREL technology and process adds value on several levels such as allowing the manufacturer flexibility in the feedstocks they use to the products they produce to the revenue streams created from the products.

Key markets for this technology include the biomass to ethanol industry as well as other applications including the production of a pure stream of cellulose, which can be converted into other products for the paper and pulp industry, chemical industry (breakdown the cellulose into sugars which can be transformed into value added products), and the packaging industry. The lignin can be used in cement additives, as well as adhesives. The hemicellulose fraction can be converted into sugars such as the sweetener xylitol. The market value for this technology is already at the multi-billion dollar mark and has the potential to continue to grow.

NREL’s technology can effectively separate organic materials into pure streams of value-added chemicals

NREL has secured a worldwide exclusive technology license between UTEK and Xethanol Corporation. NREL is very enthusiastic about this new licensing deal and is collaborating with Xethanol Corporation, as they develop and commercialize this new technology.