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Johnson, D. K.

Publications and source records attributed to Johnson, D. K..

17 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Connecting Lignin-Degradation Pathway with Pre-Treatment Inhibitor Sensitivity of Cupriavidus necator

In order to produce lignocellulosic biofuels economically, the complete release of monomers from the plant cell wall components, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, through pre-treatment and hydrolysis (both enzymatic and chemical), and the efficient utilization of these monomers as carbon sources, is crucial. In addition, the identification and development of robust microbial biofuel production strains that can tolerate the toxic compounds generated during pre-treatment and hydrolysis is also essential. In this work, Cupriavidus necator was selected due to its capabilities for utilizing lignin monomers and producing polyhydroxylbutyrate (PHB), a bioplastic as well as an advanced biofuel intermediate. We characterized the growth kinetics of C. necator in pre-treated corn stover slurry as well as individually in the pre-sence of 11 potentially toxic compounds in the saccharified slurry. We found that C. necator was sensitive to the saccharified slurry produced from dilute acid pre-treated corn stover. Five out of 11 compounds within the slurry were characterized as toxic to C. necator, namely ammonium acetate, furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), benzoic acid, and p-coumaric acid. Aldehydes (e.g., furfural and HMF) were more toxic than the acetate and the lignin degradation products benzoic acid and p-coumaric acid; furfural was identified as the most toxic compound. Although toxic to C. necator at high concentration, ammonium acetate, benzoic acid, and p-coumaric acid could be utilized by C. necator with a stimulating effect on C. necator growth. Consequently, the lignin degradation pathway of C. necator was reconstructed based on genomic information and literature. The efficient conversion of intermediate catechol to downstream products of cis,cis-muconate or 2-hydroxymuconate-6-semialdehyde may help improve the robustness of C. necator to benzoic acid and p-coumaric acid as well as improve PHB productivity.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Biological Production of a Hydrocarbon Fuel Intermediate Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from a Process Relevant Lignocellulosic Derived Sugar (Poster)

PHAs are synthesized by many microorganisms to serve as intracellular carbon storage molecules. In some bacterial strains, PHB can account for up to 80% of cell mass. In addition to its application in the packaging sector, PHB also has great potential as an intermediate in the production of hydrocarbon fuels. PHB can be thermally depolymerized and decarboxylated to propene which can be upgraded to hydrocarbon fuels via commercial oligomerization technologies. Cupriavidus necator is the microorganism that has been most extensively studied and used for PHB production on an industrial scale; However the substrates used for producing PHB are mainly fructose, glucose, sucrose, fatty acids, glycerol, etc., which are expensive. In this study, we demonstrate production of PHB from a process relevant lignocellulosic derived sugar stream, i.e., saccharified slurry from pretreated corn stover. The strain was first investigated in shake flasks for its ability to utilize glucose, xylose and acetate. In addition, the strain was also grown on pretreated lignocellulose hydrolyzate slurry and evaluated in terms of cell growth, sugar utilization, PHB accumulation, etc. The mechanism of inhibition in the toxic hydrolysate generated by the pretreatment and saccharification process of biomass, was also studied.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Analysis of double stub tuner control stability in a many element phased array antenna with strong cross-coupling

Active stub tuning with a fast ferrite tuner (FFT) allows for the system to respond dynamically to changes in the plasma impedance such as during the L-H transition or edge localized modes (ELMs), and has greatly increased the effectiveness of fusion ion cyclotron range of frequency systems. A high power waveguide double-stub tuner is under development for use with the Alcator C-Mod lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system. Exact impedance matching with a double-stub is possible for a single radiating element under most load conditions, with the reflection coefficient reduced from Γ to Γ{sup 2} in the “forbidden region.” The relative phase shift between adjacent columns of a LHCD antenna is critical for control of the launched n{sub ∥} spectrum. Adding a double-stub tuning network will perturb the phase of the forward wave particularly if the unmatched reflection coefficient is high. This effect can be compensated by adjusting the phase of the low power microwave drive for each klystron amplifier. Cross-coupling of the reflected power between columns of the launcher must also be considered. The problem is simulated by cascading a scattering matrix for the plasma provided by a linear coupling model with the measured launcher scattering matrix and that of the FFTs. The solution is advanced in an iterative manner similar to the time-dependent behavior of the real system. System performance is presented under a range of edge density conditions from under-dense to over-dense and a range of launched n{sub ∥}.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Conversion of Biomass-Derived Furans into Hydrocarbon Fuels

One of the most studied chemical transformations of carbohydrates is their thermocatalytic dehydration to form furans. Cellulose-derived glucose is thereby converted into 5-hydroxymethylfurfuraldehyde (5-HMF), while the hemicellulose-derived pentoses (e.g., xylose, arabinose) form furfuraldehyde. Our objective is to identify new pathways to convert furfuryl alcohol into a mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbons that can be used as drop-in fuels for diesel (C10-20) and jet fuel (C9-16) blends. Furfuryl alcohol is produced commercially through hydrogenation of furfuraldehyde that is derived from hemicellulose-derived pentoses via acid-catalyzed dehydration. The steps that we are currently pursuing to convert furfuryl alcohol into hydrocarbons are 1) oligomerization of furfuryl alcohol to form dimers (C10) and trimers (C15), and 2) hydrotreatment of the dimers and trimers to produce a mixture of linear hydrocarbons with carbon chain lengths in the range of diesel and jet fuels. This presentation will discuss our progress in the development of this pathway.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Conversion of Pentose-Derived Furans into Hydrocarbon Fuels

We are interested in the conversion of biomass-derived hemicellulose into hydrocarbon molecules that can be used in the formulation of 'drop-in' fuels such as gasoline (C5-12), diesel (C10-20) and jet fuel (C9-16). Our focus lies on the use of furfuryl alcohol as a starting material since that is already produced commercially from hemicellulose-derived pentoses. The steps required to convert the latter into hydrocarbons are 1) oligomerization of furfuryl alcohol to form dimers (C10) and trimers (C15), and 2) hydrotreatment of the dimers and trimers to produce a mixture of linear hydrocarbons with carbon chain lengths in the range of diesel and jet fuels. However, furfuryl alcohol readily polymerizes to form resins in the presence of an acid catalyst, and the exothermic oligomerization must be carried out under reaction control. This presentation will discuss our progress in the development of this sugar-to-hydrocarbon pathway.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS1995

Optical techniques for shock visualization and detection

While the classical methods of shadowgraph and schlieren do yield a shadow in the neighborhood of a shock, they often suffer from low power densities and the need for relatively long distances. Scanning methods may help in solving these problems. The paper describes various scanning techniques, presents experimental data obtained by mechanical scanning, and identifies conditions at which the data were taken.

Adamovsky, G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Boundary Conditions for Unsteady Compressible Flows

This paper explores solutions to the spherically symmetric Euler equations. Motivated by the work of Hagstrom and Hariharan and Geer and Pope, we modeled the effect of a pulsating sphere in a compressible medium. The literature available on this suggests that an accurate numerical solution requires artificial boundary conditions which simulate the propagation of nonlinear waves in open domains. Until recently, the boundary conditions available were in general linear and based on nonreflection. Exceptions to this are the nonlinear nonreflective conditions of Thompson, and the nonlinear reflective conditions of Hagstrom and Hariharan. The former are based on the rate of change of the incoming characteristics; the latter rely on asymptotic analysis and the method of characteristics and account for the coupling of incoming and outgoing characteristics. Furthermore, Hagstrom and Hariharan have shown that, in a test situation in which the flow would reach a steady state over a long time, Thompson's method could lead to an incorrect steady state. The current study considers periodic flows and includes all possible types and techniques of boundary conditions. The technique recommended by Hagstrom and Hariharan proved superior to all others considered and matched the results of asymptotic methods that are valid for low subsonic Mach numbers.

Hariharan, S. I.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A Theory and Experiments for Detecting Shock Locations

In this paper we present a simplified one-dimensional theory for predicting locations of normal shocks in a converging diverging nozzle. The theory assumes that the flow is quasi one-dimensional and the flow is accelerated in the throat area. Optical aspects of the model consider propagation of electromagnetic fields transverse to the shock front. The theory consists of an inverse problem in which from the measured intensity it reconstructs an index of refraction profile for the shock. From this profile and the Dale-Gladstone relation, the density in the flow field is determined, thus determining the shock location. Experiments show agreement with the theory. In particular the location is determined within 10 percent of accuracy. Both the theoretical as well as the experimental results are presented to validate the procedures in this work.

Hariharan, S. I.↗