Think fuel biobutanol
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This document provides an introduction to biobutanol, including its production from renewable resources like corn by fermentation. It discusses biobutanol applications such as a solvent, plasticizer, chemical intermediate, and as a gasoline additive. The document outlines reasons biobutanol was not pursued earlier, including lower yields and higher costs compared to ethanol production. It summarizes a reported breakthrough in biobutanol yields of 2.5 gallons per bushel of corn by Environmental Energy, Inc. using a two-stage fermentation process with different Clostridium strains. The document concludes with open questions remaining around the future commercial viability and competitiveness of biobutanol production.
Think fuel biobutanol
- 1. Introduction to Biobutanol • Some literature on butanol by biochemical or ethanol conversion route is discussed briefly
- 2. o Butanol is a flammable alcohol that can be made from fossil fuels like petroleum. o Also, by a bioprocess from renewable sources such as corn grain or stalks, cobs, or other agro-wastes. o In the petroleum industry, butanol has been reserved mainly for the solvent and cosmetics markets, which tend to bring higher prices, rather than the motor fuel market. o The term biobutanol refers to butanol made from renewable resources such as grain or cornstalks by fermentation process. 2
- 3. n-Butanol Applications o Solvent –for paints, coatings, varnishes o Plasticizers –to improve how a plastic material processes o Coatings –as a solvent for a variety of applications, o Chemical intermediate or raw material –for other chemicals and plastics, o Textiles –as a swelling agent from coated fabric o Cosmetics –makeup, nail care products, shaving products o Drugs and antibiotics, hormones, and vitamins o Gasoline (as an additive) and brake fluid (formulation component) 3
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- 5. o Butanol can be used to power your car. o It is safer than gasoline, will give you better mileage o It will increase the amount of energy derived from biomass in comparison to ethanol—by 24–42%. o We could mitigate CO2 emissions quickly by doing something that is applicable to every gasoline-consuming car already on the road. 5
- 6. Reasons for not going for fuel butanol earlier: o The A B E fermentation process yields only 1.3 gallons of butanol/bushel of corn, whereas yeast fermentation produces 2.52 gallons of ethanol/bushel of corn. • Its low final concentration (0.6%) compares poorly with that of ethanol from yeast fermentation (10–15%); the 1–2% alcohol concentration in the A B E- fermentation combination is sufficient to kill the fermenting bacteria. • Butanol’s boiling point (117°C) is higher even than that of water. At the 1–2% final batch concentration, there is a lot of water to boil off, which is expensive.. 6
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- 26. Production breakthrough reported • Environmental Energy, Inc.(EEI), an Ohio company led by David E. Ramey, reported on its website www.butanol.com a breakthrough _yields of 2.5 gallons of butanol per bushel of corn.”. • It has developed a process which makes ―fermentation-derived butanol more economically viable and competitive with current petrochemical processes and with the production of ethanol.‖ 26
- 27. ButylFuel™. David E. Ramey: ―How could butanol yield be increased and production costs decreased?‖ I solved 3 major problems with the ABE process by: • increasing the yield of butanol from 1.3 gallons/bushel of corn to 2.5 (thus making it similar to that of ethanol by yeast fermentation); • overcoming the problem of the low final concentration of 1–2% by developing a recovery process that removes the solvents continuously and precludes accumulation to a level lethal to the microbe; and • solving the expensive recovery problem associated with the high boiling point by sparging carbon dioxide (produced by the fermentation) through the broth, stripping the butanol and then letting a gravity process increase the concentration before removing the remaining water. 27
- 28. ButylFuel™. In his butanol production method, Ramey takes the approach of using two types of microbes in two separate process steps. The first pass optimizes the production of hydrogen and butyric acid, while the second pass converts this acid into butanol. Each step utilizes a different Clostridium strain. The article reported that other processes had also tried the use of multiple bacteria strains, but within the same slurry, making Ramey’s separation approach unique. 28
- 29. The patent EEI holds is U.S. No. 5,753,474: ―Continuous Two Stage, Dual Path Anaerobic Fermentation of Butanol and Other Organic Solvents Using Two Different Strains of Bacteria.‖ Some of the EEI work has been done through a U.S. Department of Energy research grant, a collaboration between Ramey and Shang- Tian Yang, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Ohio State University. 29
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- 34. New Catalysts to Convert Ethanol to Butanol Fuels Submitted by admin on April 23, 2013 by Chris Hanson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Researchers from U.K.’s University of Bristol reported the development of new catalysts that are able to convert ethanol to butanol at the national meeting and exposition of the American Chemical Society. 34
- 35. Duncan Wass, professor at the University of Bristol …and his group said the new catalysts are similar to those used in modern petrochemical technology, potentially allowing existing ethanol producers to avoid high retrofitting costs while allowing for the production of both ethanol and butanol. Unlike current technology, Wass said the new catalysts are more selective and yield 95 percent butanol out of the total products from each batch in laboratory-scale tests. 35
- 36. Physical Property Density at 20°C (g/cm³) i-butanol n-butanol Ethanol 0.802 0.810 0.794 108 118 78 Boiling Point at 1 atm (⁰C) Water Solubility at 20⁰C (g/100mL water) Net Heat of Combustion (BTU/gal) 8.0 7.7 Miscible 95,000 93,000 80,000 R+M/2 103.5 87 112 5.0 4.3 18-22 Blend RVP (psi at 100⁰F) 1 Biobutanol Projecting the 3rd Wave 36
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- 43. Company Bug Bug Strategy Molecule Fermentation Separation Process Strategy Gevo GMO UCLA Valine metabolism iso-buoh Yeast Semi batch vacuum flash in situ 2010 Operating pilot in removal followed by St. Johns, MO. 2011 distillation trains Commercial Cobalt Biofuels Clostridium Non GMO strain n-buoh for reduced etoh blending and acetone w/gasoline, diesel, jet Continuous modified vapor compression ABE Fermentation distillation Tetra Vitae Clostridium beijerinckii Non GMO selected for reduced etoh production Semi batch "AB" Fermentation Butyl Fuel Clostridiums Aceto GMO & mutant n-buoh & tyro strain Syngas Biofuels Fermentation of Energy Syngas GMO n-buoh and acetone 2:1 n-buoh Development Status 2010 pilot 10-35k gpy 2011 demo 2-5m gpy 2012 commercial Carbon dioxide 2009 300 liter bench stripping continuous 2010 10,000 liter pilot in situ removal followed by distillation trains Continuous two stage stripping following dual path anaerobic immobilized cell fermentation bioreactors Unknown Thermochemical catalyst Unknown NA Status Butanol Companies 43
- 44. Many unknowns remain for the future of butanol. Certainly the work of BP and DuPont and of Environmental Energy, Inc. - and any others who enter the butanol efforts - will be observed with interest. Will butanol production reach a cost effective level? Will it reach commercial scale viability? If these milestones are achieved, does it compete with or complement ethanol? At this point, it’s more questions than answers on the butanol front. THANK YOU 44