Fuel flow rate (gasoline equivalent) under different engine loads for DMF, ethanol, and gasoline at 1500 rpm and λ = 1.0. Credit: ACS, Zhong et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers from The University of Birmingham (UK) and specialty chemicals company Innospec recently performed a series of experiments in a single-cylinder... Read more →

A team at the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) has developed a one-step process for converting hexose from a wide range of biomass-derived carbohydrates, cellulose and even raw lignocellulose (e.g., corn stover) into 2,5-dimethyltetrahydrofuran (DMTHF) in good yields and under mild conditions in water. A paper on the work by... Read more →

Yields of bio-based chemicals from a variety of feedstocks, including untreated corn stover. Conditions are optimized for the conversion of carbohydrates into HMF (1 step) and DMF (2 steps). Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a two-step, low-temperature, non-enzymic pathway from lignocellulosic biomass... Read more →

Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a two-stage process for converting biomass-derived sugar into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), a liquid transportation fuel with 40% greater energy density than ethanol. The work by Professor James Dumesic and his research team, reported in the 21 June issue of the journal Nature, leverages... Read more →