Chris Saffron

Associate Professor Michigan State University

  • East Lansing MI

Christopher Saffron’s research investigates the use of thermochemical technologies for converting plant biomass into fuel.

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Biography

Christopher Saffron’s research program investigates the use of thermochemical, electrochemical, and catalytic technologies for converting plant biomass into liquid fuels, solid fuels, and higher value products. His students have developed electrocatalytic techniques for pyrolysis oil stabilization and upgrading to produce hydrocarbon fuels. Using electrocatalytic reduction, the energy upgrading of lignin-derived phenolics to form cyclohexanol and alkyl cyclohexanols is an active area of interest.

His group also examines the regional deployment of these deconstruction and conversion technologies in small-scale biomass upgrading depots to balance the competing forces of “economies of scale” and “economies of transportation.” Sustainability analyses, including life-cycle assessment and technoeconomic modeling, are performed to better design renewable energy systems and to inform public policy.

Saffron's research team works with numerous industrial partners, as well as state and federal agencies, to better understand the mechanisms controlling the productivity of these technologies, and to foster strategies that alleviate the risks associated with their eventual commercialization.

Industry Expertise

Education/Learning

Areas of Expertise

Biofuels

Education

Michigan State University

Ph.D.

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

2005

Michigan State University

B.S.

Chemical Engineering

1995

Event Appearances

Economics of Biochar Production and Use

2021 | Great Lakes Biochar Network  Webinar

Patents

Electrochemical reductive carboxylation of unsaturated organic substrates in ionically conductive mediums

US11851778

The disclosure relates to methods for electrochemical reductive carboxylation of an unsaturated organic substrate to form a dicarboxylic organic product. The unsaturated organic substrate is electrochemically reduced with a carbon dioxide reactant in an ionically conductive, water-immiscible reactant medium to form the dicarboxylic organic product. The dicarboxylic organic product is recovered in an aqueous product medium. Example dicarboxylic organic products include phthalic acid, naphthalenedicarboxylic acid, furan-2, 5-dicarboxylic acid, thiophene-2, 5-dicarboxylic acid, pyrrole-2, 5-dicarboxylic acid, adipic acid, suberic acid, sebacic acid, and 1, 12-dodecanedioic acid.

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Electrocatalytic synthesis of dihydrochalcones

US11773128

The disclosure relates to methods of forming a dihydrochalcone using electrocatalytic dehydrogenation. In particular, the disclosure relates to methods of forming a dihydrochalcone electrocatalytically hydrogenating (ECH) a reactant compound over a catalytic cathode in a reaction medium having a non-alkaline pH value, thereby forming a dihydrochalcone product; wherein the reactant compound has a structure according to Formula (I). The method can be used to prepare dihydrochalcone sweeteners, such as, for example, naringin dihydrochalcone and neohesperidin dihydrochalcone.

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Journal Articles

Chemical upcycling of high-density polyethylene into upcycled waxes as rheology modifiers and paper coating materials

Journal of Cleaner Production

2024

Chemical upcycling of plastic waste from landfills to value-added products offers both economic and environmental benefits. Reported here is a simple method to convert high-density polyethylene (HDPE) into upcycled waxes in a very high yield (up to 93%). This selectivity is achieved by reducing the degradation temperature of HDPE via the addition of an inexpensive and reusable sodium chloride. These upcycled waxes had performance comparable to those of commercial rheology modifiers. In addition, kraft paper coated with these upcycled waxes exhibited excellent water- and oil resistance. A preliminary revenue analysis showed that this innovation allows plastic-to-wax to conversion with a three-fold revenue benefit over traditional ways of producing pyrolysis waxes from plastics.

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Revolutionizing plastics chemical recycling with table salt

Advanced Sustainable Systems

2024

Chemical recycling enables plastics to be a part of the circular economy as it can cope with contaminated as well as mixed plastics waste. Herein, two important discoveries are reported. One innovation is the use of table salt (NaCl) to facilitate the low temperature pyrolysis of polyolefins comprised of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE), low‐density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE), and polypropylene (PP) at the ratio of (4:2:2:3), respectively, thus enabling the efficient recycling of these mixed plastics. For comparative analysis, two different Pt catalysts as well as a control are investigated. Compared to the control, the use of table salt at 10 wt.% increased both the oil and gas contents by 80% and enabled 100% conversion to gas and oil without producing any undesirable wax.

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Comparative Life Cycle Assessment and Technoeconomic Analysis of Biomass-Derived Shikimic Acid Production

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

2023

Shikimic acid (SA) is a critical starting material for production of the anti-influenza drug oseltamivir phosphate. In this study, microbial productions of SA from corn grain and corn stover are compared using life cycle assessment (LCA) and technoeconomic analysis (TEA). The life cycle impacts considered in the study include global warming potential, eutrophication potential, water usage, and land usage. Results of LCA depended on assumptions of allocation. As a waste product, stover contributed 15% more than grain to global warming, 86% less to eutrophication, 96% less to water usage, and 69% less to land usage. With allocation based on the economic value of the feedstocks, stover contributed 33% more than grain to global warming and had eutrophication, water usage, and land usage impacts that were over 2-fold higher than those of corn grain.

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