Biobutanol
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(Redirected from Butanol)
Bioenergy > Biofuels > Liquid biofuels > Alcohols > Biobutanol
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| Energy density: | 29.2 MJ/L1 |
|---|---|
| Air-fuel ratio: | 11.21 |
| Specific energy: | 3.2MJ/KG air1 |
| Heat of Vaporization: | 0.43 MJ/kg1 |
| Research Octane Number (RON): | 961 |
| Motor Octane Number (MON): | 781 |
| Pump Octane Number (PON): | ??? |
| Feedstocks: | Temperate: corn, sorghum, sugar beets Tropical: sugar cane, sweet potatos, coconut, cassava, milo Second-generation: cellulose, miscanthus, prairie grass, switchgrass |
Butanol (C4H10O) or butyl alcohol is an alcohol that can be used as a solvent or fuel. Biobutanol refers to butanol that has been produced from biomass. Biobutanol is produced by a microbial fermentation, similar to ethanol and can be made from the same range of sugar, starch or cellulosic feedstocks. Biobutanol production is currently more expensive than ethanol so it has not been commercialized on a large scale. However, biobutanol has several advantages over ethanol and is currently the focus of substantial research and development.
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Advantages/Disadvantages
- Due to its low vapor pressure it can be easily blended with gasoline1.
- It contains nearly as much energy as gasoline (ethanol only contains 66% as much)1.
- Because it separates less easily in the presence of water it is better adapted to be used in the present distribution system than ethanol.1
- Because it is less corrosive, it is also expected to be more suitable for use in existing oil pipelines.1
- It can be used in existing vehicles in higher blends than ethanol.1
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Biobutanol Production
- Production of butanol by fermentation utilizes bacteria, typically of the genus Clostridium. In addition to butanol, these organisms also produce acetone and ethanol, so the process is often referred to as the "ABE fermentation". The process was first practiced on an industrial scale in Britain during World War I, in order to produce acetone which was vital for the production of military ammunition. Prior to the war, the acetone had been supplied from Germany. Although the advent of cheap petroleum and the development of the petrochemical industry later rendered fermentatio obsolete, the process continued in countries such as China and South Africa into the 1980's, with butanol being the primary product. In recent years, higher oil prices and environmental concerns have led to a renewed interest in fermentation processes. Many research groups are attempting to increase the butanol yield of the process to improve the economics.
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Companies
- Butyl Fuel LLC(formerly Environmental Energy Inc) - has developed and patented a process which makes fermentation derived butanol more economically viable and competitive with current petrochemical processes and the production of ethanol.
- ChemLac Inc. (subsidiary of EEI) dramatically improves cost efficiencies to produce biobutanol by utilizing whey lactose, a by-product of cheese manufacturing as the process feedstock.
- Dupont and BP have announced a partnership to produce commercial biobutanol for the British market for 2007.
- Green Biologics - UK based company that is developing low-cost ways of producing biobutanol.
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Publications
- Effects of Butyrate Uptake and Long-term Stability of a Fibrous Bed Bioreactor on Continuous ABE Fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum by Wei-Cho Huang, David E. Ramey, Shang-Tian Yang, Environmental Energy inc.
- Production of Butyric Acid and Butanol from Biomass by David Ramey and Shang-Tian Yang; for USDOE, 2004.
- The Economics of Acetone-Butanol Fermentation: Theoretical and Market Considerations, J.R. Gapes, J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol. 2000 Jan;2(1):27-32
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News
- Biofuel center at Napier University focusing on biobutanol, 31 January 2008, GreencarCongress. Researchers hope to use biobutanol as a second generation biofuel.
- Biofuels Entreprenuer seeking £80 million for Biobutanol plant in Ireland 11 February 2007 from Greencarcongress.com. "John Nichols, the co-founder and former chief executive of UK-based Biofuels Corporation, is trying to raise up to £80 million (US$156 million) to design and to build a biobutanol plant in Ireland, which would use local sugar beets as the feedstock."
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References
1BP/Dupont Biobutanol Fact Sheet
| Liquid biofuels | edit | |
| Oils & fats: Biodiesel | Pure plant oil (PPO)/Straight vegetable oil (SVO) | Renewable diesel Oil feedstocks: Animal fat, oil palm, rapeseed, soybeans, etc. Alcohols: Bio-ethanol | Biobutanol - Alcohol feedstocks: cellulosic, sugarcane, corn, sugarbeets, etc. Biomass-to-Liquids (BTL): Pyrolysis oil | Methanol | Dimethyl ether (DME) - Biomass feedstocks Other: ETBE | biokerosene | ||
