Final Reports

Preparation of Pretreated Biomass

Ahring, B., Biswas, R., Teller, P., Srinivas, K., Fry, J. & Kroeger, M. (2016). Preparation of pretreated biomass. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes the development of the wet-explosion pretreatment technology on Douglas-fir forest residuals.

Production of Jet Fuel using Biochemcat

Ahring, B., Srinivas, K., Garrett, B. & Murali, N. (2016). Production of jet fuel using biochemcat. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes efforts to adapt the BioChemCat technology to convert lignocellulosic biomass into volatile fatty acids.

Mild Bisulfite Pretreatment of Forest Residuals

Anderson, D. & Gao, J. (2015). Mild bisulfite pretreatment of forest residuals. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

NARA researchers evaluate the effect of wood chip size, chemical loads, reaction time and temperature on simple sugar yield from the Mild Bisulfite pretreatment procedure.

Sustainable Biomass Supply from Forest Health and Fire Hazard Reduction Treatments

Bailey, J., Boston, K., Cole, E., Vogler, K., Morici, K. & Johnston, J. (2016). Sustainable biomass supply from forest health and fire hazard reduction treatments. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report focuses on the translation of potential silvicultural treatments implemented at various levels across the dry-forest landscapes of the interior West to meet feedstock needs for potential biomass processing locations and sizes.

Phase and Gate Analysis Administration

Beltz, L. (2016). Phase and gate administration. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

Management and Decision Support Tools were developed and utilized for the NARA project to ensure the project stayed on track to meet deliverables.

Informing and Engaging Stakeholders

Berg, E., Brooks, R., Burke, C., Englund, K., Gaffney, M., Hougham, R.J., Kern, M…. & Yadama, V. (2017). Informing and engaging stakeholders. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes NARA’s outreach activities used to enhance bioenergy literacy and build supply chain coalitions and regional alliances.

Timber Products Output (TPO): Forest Inventory, Timber Harvest, Mill and Logging Residue-Essential Feedstock Information Needed to Characterize the NARA Supply Chain

Berg, E., Morgan, T. & Simmons, E. (2016). Timber products output (TPO): forest inventory, timber harvest, mill and logging residue-essential feedstock information needed to characterize the NARA supply chain. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA)

This report provides timber harvest, mill residue, logging residue, and other forest industry information provided by BBER for the NARA project.

Local and Regional Wildlife Impacts of Biomass Removals

Betts, M., Rivers, J. & Root, H. (2017). Local and regional wildlife impacts of biomass removals. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This work reviews the potential impact of silvicultural regimes, proposed to reduce fire hazard and improve forest health, on vertebrate abundance.

Feedstock Analysis for Poplar Plantations within the Western Montana Corridor

Bourque, A, Stanton, B., Turland, J. & Shuren, R. (2014). Feedstock analysis for poplar plantations within the Western Montana Corridor. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

GreenWood Resources examines the opportunity for poplar biomass plantations to supplement the supply of biomass originating as logging and thinning residues from coniferous stands in western Montana.

Aspen Modeling of the NARA Conversion Processes

Chen, S., Spink, T. & Gao, A. (2016). Aspen modeling of the NARA conversion processes. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

Process flow diagrams and a mass and energy balance were developed for the NARA biorefinery to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of a biochemical process for the conversion of softwood residual into iso-paraffinic kerosene (IPK) product for use as a drop-in jet fuel substitute.

Feedstock Supply Chain Analysis

Englund, K., Azadfar, M., Schneider, G., Chetan, L. & Samaniego, R.P. (2016). Feedstock supply chain analysis. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report provides a comprehensive summary of wood waste available in construction and demolition solid waste stream networked through local material recycling facilities. In addition, physical and chemical analyses are reported for varied wood samples collected from material recycling facilities.

Conversion of Lignin to High Value, Large Market Products

Fish, D., Dallmeyer, I., Fox, C., Eatherton, R., Cline, S., Casayuran, C., Garcia-Perez, M., Suliman, W. & Haynes, S. (2016). Conversion of lignin to high value, large market products. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

In this report, lignin, derived from the wood-to-biojet conversion process developed by NARA, is fully characterized and used to develop activated carbon products of commercial use.

Life Cycle Analysis of Residual Woody Biomass-Based Biofuel

Ganguly, I., Pierobon, F., Nwaneshiudu, I.C., Eastin, I., Bowers, T.C., Chen, C., Sifford, C., Huisenga, M. & Johnston, G. (2016). Life cycle analysis of residual woody biomass-based biofuel. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes the environmental implications of feedstock recovery, production, and utilization of residual woody biomass based biojet fuel.

Clean Sugar and Lignin Pretreatment Technology

Gao, J. & Neogi, A. (2015). Clean sugar and lignin pretreatment technology. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA)

NARA researchers evaluate the use of wood milling as a pretreatment step for sugar hydrolysate production from Douglas-fir forest residuals.

Screen and Identify Suitable Plant feedstocks for Large Scale Pretreatments to Produce High Yield Sugar and High Quality Lignin

Geleynse, S. & Zhang, X. (2015). Screen and Identify Suitable Plant feedstocks for Large Scale Pretreatments to Produce High Yield Sugar and High Quality Lignin. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes the amount of biomass recalcitrance variation among different Douglas-fir families.

Micronized Wood Pretreatment for the Production of Bio-Glycols

Gene, B., Shen, J., & Snelling, P. (2017). Micronized Wood Pretreatment for the Production of Bio-Glycols. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

Soil Carbon Analysis

Harrison, R., Norton, M., Himes, A., Knight, E., Vance, J.B., Footen, P., James, J….Zhang, Y. (2016). Soil carbon analysis. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report assesses the carbon and nitrogen concentrations and stump density in thinned or harvested Douglas-fir plantation forests.

Effects of Varying Forest Floor and Slash Retention on Soil Nutrient and Carbon Pools in a Regenerating Douglas-fir Tree Farm: NARA-Soils

Hatten, J. & Gallo, A. (2016). Effects of varying forest floor and slash retention on soil nutrient and carbon pools in a regenerating Douglas-fir tree farm: NARA-soils. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report provides soil temperature, moisture, and respiration data for two years after biomass harvesting, OM removal, and compaction treatments that bracketed the range of reality likely present in a biomass harvesting system.

The results suggest that residual surface biomass may not play as strong of a role in affecting the long-term soil productivity as widely believed and that we need to understand the role that residual roots play in supporting long-term soil productivity.

Production of Lignocellulosic Isobutanol by Fermentation and Conversion to Biojet

Hawkins, A.C. & Ley, J. (2016). Production of lignocellulosic isobutanol by fermentation and conversion to biojet. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes the fermentation and process technology developed by Gevo and used to convert forest residuals into biojet fuel.

NARA Education

Hollenhorst, S., Eitel, K., Hendrickson, D., Hougham, J.R., Laninga, T., Haselbach, L., Schwartz, D., James, L. & Pressley, S. (2017). NARA education. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes NARA’s education efforts used to enhance bioenergy literacy and develop a future workforce to participate in developing bioenergy services and technology.

Long-Term Soil Productivity

Holub, S., Johnson, G., Meehan, N. & Meade, R. (2016). Long-term soil productivity. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA)

This report describes the initial work to develop the NARA Long-Term Soil Productivity site located on Springfield, OR.

Developing High Biofuel Costal, Douglas-fir Feedstocks by Genetic Selection

Jayawickrama, K., Howe, G., Ye, T., Trappe, M., Kling, J., Kolpak, S., Zhang, X … & Bell, C. (2017). Developing high biofuel costal, Douglas-fir feedstocks by genetic selection. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes the development of a state-of-the-science genotyping array based on SNP technology for marker-based selection of phenotypes conducive to production of biofuels from woody residuals.

Phenomics Analysis

Kirchhoff, H., Hoehner, R., Wood, M., Zia, A., Lewis, N. & Herman, B. (2017). Phenomics analysis. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes Poplar and Douglas-fir screening for lignin content and drought stress using recently developed high-throughput optical screening based on non-invasive image technology (Phenomics).

Air Quality Impact Assessment of and Aviation Biofuel Supply Chain in the Northwestern United States.

Lamb, B. & Ravi, V. (2017). Air quality impact assessment of and aviation biofuel supply chain in the Northwestern United States. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report outlines specific health and visibility impacts of smoke from prescribed fires and the air quality impacts of a forest residue-based biofuel supply chain in the Pacific Northwest.

Informed Stakeholder Assessment

Laninga, T. & Moroney, J. (2016). Informed stakeholder assessment. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

To address social sustainability, a large scale social assessment of informed stakeholders in the NARA region was conducted using a mixed methods survey to gain understanding of stakeholders’ knowledge, levels of support, and perceived benefits and drawbacks of using woody biomass to produce liquid biofuels.

Biomass Modeling and Assessment

Latta, G., Adams, D., Clark, J., Crandall, M. & Ocho, I.G. (2016). Biomass modeling and assessment. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes two models: the NARA Biomass model (NBM) and the Land Use and Resource model.

Sustainable Feedstock Production

Maguire, D., Mainwaring, D., Hann, D., Bluhm, A. & Coons, K. (2016). Sustainable Feedstock Production. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA)

This report provides improved allometric biomass equations for intensively managed stands and nutrient analyses of the biomass components included in these equations. This work will enable a more accurate estimation of the quantity of biomass and nutrients removed under any level of harvest intensity.

Feedstock Sourcing: NARA Years 1-3

Marrs, G., Mulderig, B., Davio, D. & Burt, M. (2015). Feedstock sourcing: NARA Years 1-3. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

Weyerhaeuser staff evaluates the cost and quality of softwood forest residual feedstock in the Pacific Northwest used to produce bio-jet fuel and co-products

Feedstock Sourcing Years 4 and 5

Marrs, G., Mulderig, B., Davio, D. & Burt, M. (2016). Feedstock sourcing years 4 and 5. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

The report characterizes the varied forest residual feedstock samples assessed during the NARA project and explores economic sensitivity to key characteristics (size, moisture, chemical composition)

Process Design and Economics for Biochemical Conversion of Softwood Lignocellulosic Biomass to Isoparaffinic Kerosene and Lignin Co-Product

Marrs, G., Spink, T. & Gao, A. (2016). Process design and economics for biochemical conversion of softwood lignocellulosic biomass to isoparaffinic kerosene and lignin co-product. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance, (NARA).

A techno-economic analysis is provided for the conversion of softwood forest residuals into bio-jet fuel and co-products.

Environmental Assessment of Biorefinery Co-Products

Pelton, R., Chen, L. & Smith, T. (2016). Environmental assessment of biorefinery co-products. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report identifies the drivers for bio-product environmental performance and criteria for environmental preferability.

Environmental Impact Analysis to Support Biofuel Development in the Pacific Northwest – Water Resources Component

Petrie, J., Wickham, R., Madsen, K., Davis, A., Barber, M., Smith, C.T. & Hasan, M. (2017). Environmental impact analysis to support biofuel development in the Pacific Northwest – water resources component. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance.

This report assesses the impact of woody biomass harvesting on stream channels and soil microbial communities.

Formulations for Coproduct Lignin-Based Plastics

Sarkanen, S., Chen, Y-r. & Wang, Y-Y. (2016). Formulations for coproduct lignin-based plastics. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA)

This report describes the creation of polymeric blends containing lignosulfonates derived from NARA lignin and provides a techno-economic assessment for their use as an alternative source of engineering plastics.

Community Economic Impact of Hypothetical NARA Woody Biomass Jet Fuel Refineries in the Pacific Northwest

Sasatani, D. & Eastin, I. (2017). Community economic impact of hypothetical NARA woody biomass jet fuel refineries in the Pacific Northwest. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This study used regional input-output analysis (I/O) to measure the economic impacts of the introduction of the biorefinery facilities in the Pacific Northwest that convert woody biomass into biojet fuel and co-products.

Feedstock Logistics

Sessions, J., Boston, K., Zamora-Cristales, R., Belart, F., Marrs, G. & Murphy, G. (2017). Feedstock logistics. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report is a series of five reports that cover the varied challenges and opportunities related to processing and transporting forest biomass to a biorefinery. Topics covered in this collection include 1) biomass recovery coefficients for OR, WA, ID, MT; 2) moisture management strategies and models; 3) collection and transport models for regional modeling; 4) chipping and grinding production to meet alternative feedstock specifications; and 5) new trailer designs to improve transport efficiency.

Biorefinery Value Chain Outputs

Smith, P., Chen, M. & Cline, S. (2016). Biorefinery Value Chain Outputs. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This study characterizes the structure of the US biofuels industry and US bio-based chemicals industry while also examining the cellulosic biofuel biorefineries regarding commercialization factors.

Refinery-to-Wing Stakeholder Assessment

Smith, P., Gaffney, M., Shi, W., Hoard, S., Ibarrola, I., Rijkhoff, S., Mueller, D., Sanders, C. & Rogachevsky, J. (2016). Refinery-to-wing stakeholder assessment. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report measures and ranks perceived drivers and barriers to an economically viable sustainable jet fuel industry in the PNW region through personal interviews with key aviation fuel supply chain stakeholders and eSurveys of airport managers conducted from June to September 2015.

Biofuels Policy

Smith, P., Fowler, L. & Dahmann, K. (2016). Biofuels policy. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report reviews how both federal and state governments have affected the biofuels industry in the United States and explores the demand for advanced biofuels from the US military and for commercial aviation.

BGP & Social Assets

Smith, P., Gaffney, M., Hoard, S., Rijkoff, S., Mueller, D., Martinkus, N., Lovrich, N., Shi, W., Venugpal, P. & Pierce, J. (2016). BGP and Social Assets. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

The authors developed a holistic approach to biorefinery supply chain analysis in terms of combining biogeophysical (BGP) assets with difficult to operationalize social assets to identify communities in the NARA region more likely to support aviation biofuel facilities.

Process Engineering Analysis of Alternatives in the Gevo Ethanol to Olefin Process

Wooley, R.J. (2017). Process Engineering Analysis of Alternatives in the Gevo Ethanol to Olefin Process. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes cases that were explored by process engineering to look at options for process simplification.

Production of 1,000 Gallons of Biojet in the NARA Consortium

Wooley, R., Zhu, J.Y., Gleisner, R., Hawkins, A., Starkey, P., Gao, J., Spink, T. … & Sessions, J. (2016). Production of 1,000 gallons of biojet in the NARA consortium. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report describes the steps and conditions used to produce 1000 gallons of Biojet fuel made from forest residuals.

Application Development of Lignin in Valuable Engineering Polymers via Mild Thermochemical and Mechanochemical Process

Zhang, J., Wolcott, M., Xin, J., Guo, X., Teng, X., Qin, J. & Li, M. (2016). Application development of lignin in valuable engineering polymers via mild thermochemical and mechanochemical process. NARA Final Reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

NARA researchers developed new technologies for the preparation of engineering polymers from NARA lignin and explore the application

Characterization and Potential Applications of Milled Wood Lignin Obtained from Sugar Depot Biorefinery Process

Zhang, X., Ma, R., Ling, K-T. & Wang, P. (2016). Characterization and potential applications of milled wood lignin obtained from sugar depot biorefinery process. NARA Final Reports. Pullman WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA).

This report aims at characterizing the structural properties of milled wood lignin and identifying its potential application.

SPORL Pretreatment of Douglas-fir Forest Residue for Precommercial Scale Productions of Sugar/ Biofuel

Zhu, J.Y., Gleisner, R., Gilles, W., Leu, S., Lou, H., Zhang, C., Lan, T. … & Yang, M. (2016). SPORL pretreatment of Douglas-fir forest residue for precommercial scale productions of sugar/ biofuel. NARA Final reports. Pullman, WA. Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA)

This report describes the development of pretreatment conditions used to develop 1000 gallons of Biojet fuel derived from forest residuals.