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"I am from the south of Chile, a forestry region. I grew up surrounded by hills full of green and trees so when I came to Maine I felt very much at home. There are many connections between my original town and Maine: the forest industry, the beauty and the real interest to make the forest a sustainable source of employment, forest products, energy, recreation and wildlife habitat. I am sure this time in Maine will be an invaluable family, social, research and life experience." |
My Research
Wood is composed of cellulose (fibers), lignin and hemicellulose. All these are natural polymers made of basic units called monomers which are forming long chains. I want to study how I can remove/dissolve hemicelluloses mainly from wood using a high temperature extraction process with water, in the same way we make tea with hot water and tea leaves. Once we have these hemicelluloses dissolved in the water (the extract) it is possible to use them to make ethanol by fermentation. However, before that we have to break down hemicelluloses (short polymer chains) into monomers by using a hydrolytic process with acid.
In Other Words
The goal of my research is to study the removal of hemicelluloses from wood strands, before they are used in producing structural boards. Then the extracted hemicelluloses can be used as a raw material for the production of such valuable by-products as biopolymers and chemicals such as acetic acid and ethanol. Monomeric hemicellulose sugars are required as feed in the fermentation step to produce ethanol. Therefore I will also investigate acid hydrolysis of the oligomeric hemicelluloses at high temperatures (up to 160ºC) but at much lower concentrations than normally used.
Contact Information
5737 Jenness Hall, Room 302
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469
E-mail: rjara@umche.maine.edu
