On May 25, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion held an academic lecture at conference room 907. Dr. Yuan Zhenhong (group leader of Biomass Energy and Biochemical conversion laboratory) and Dr. Wang Tiejun (group leader of biomass-based chemical production technologies) were invited to give a wonderful lecture with topics of “Biomass-to-ethanol fuel technology” and “production of substitute fuels and chemical from biomass”, respectively.

　  Dr. Yuan’s lecture consists of four parts: concept section` technology section` development section and progress of the laboratory. Firstly, Dr. Yuan gave an outline of the global energy situation, and then demonstrated the significance of the development and utilization of biomass on economy` environment and politics, continuously, it was educed that the development and utilization of biomass energy is the secure backing for the state energy sources. In technology section, the whole process flow of fuel ethanol production from biomass was introduced in detail, which mainly includes principles of hydrolysis in dilute and concentrated acid ` process` reactors` existing technical problems and affecting factors. Additionally, separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) technology` simultaneous saccharification and cofermentation (SSCF) technology and relative technical obstacles need to be overcome were emphasized as well. More than that, detail illustration about pretreatment technology was also given by Dr. Yuan. In development section, Dr. Yuan introduced the progress of the application of fuel ethanol at home and abroad, through which the participants got comprehensive understanding for the technology of fuel ethanol production from biomass. Finally, Dr. Yuan outlined the research ideas of the laboratory, and proposed the key point for the future research work.  

In Dr. Wang’s lecture, production pathways of liquid fuels from biomass and fossil were firstly introduced. Following that, synthesis fuel system was also brief explained. Then the research on direct synthesis of DEM from biomass synthesis gas was highlighted.To improve the quality of biomass-derived syngas which has shortages of CO2-rich` low H2/CO ration and high tar content, Dr. Wang gave an introduction to the principle of catalytic cracking of biomass tar and reforming of raw fuel gas over NiO-MgO solid solution catalyst. Moreover, Dr. Wang briefly illustrated the technology of producing H2` C5-C6 and long-chain alkane via aquous phrase reforming of biomass. Finally, the platform of 100-ton scale direct synthesis of DEM from biomass was presented, which demonstrated the great potential for converting biomass to high-quality DEM.