Production of Butyric Acid and Butanol from Biomass

Ramey, David E. ; Yang, Shang-Tian

Environmental Energy Inc.

关键词: Butyric Acid;    Whey Butanol;    Farm;    Corn;    Biomass;   

DOI  :  10.2172/843183
RP-ID  :  DOE-ER86106
RP-ID  :  FG02-00ER86106
RP-ID  :  843183

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Environmental Energy Inc has shown that BUTANOL REPLACES GASOLINE - 100 pct and has no pollution problems, and further proved it is possible to produce 2.5 gallons of butanol per bushel corn at a production cost of less than $1.00 per gallon. There are 25 pct more Btu-s available and an additional 17 pct more from hydrogen given off, from the same corn when making butanol instead of ethanol that is 42 pct more Btu-s more energy out than it takes to make - that is the plow to tire equation is positive for butanol. Butanol is far safer to handle than gasoline or ethanol. Butanol when substituted for gasoline gives better gas mileage and does not pollute as attested to in 10 states. Butanol should now receive the same recognition as a fuel alcohol in U.S. legislation as ethanol. There are many benefits to this technology in that Butanol replaces gasoline gallon for gallon as demonstrated in a 10,000 miles trip across the United States July-August 2005. No modifications at all were made to a 1992 Buick Park Avenue; essentially your family car can go down the road on Butanol today with no modifications, Butanol replaces gasoline. It is that simple. Since Butanol replaces gasoline more Butanol needs to be made. There are many small farms across America which can grow energy crops and they can easily apply this technology. There is also an abundance of plant biomass present as low-value agricultural commodities or processing wastes requiring proper disposal to avoid pollution problems. One example is in the corn refinery industry with 10 million metric tons of corn byproducts that pose significant environmental problems. Whey lactose presents another waste management problem, 123,000 metric tons US, which can now be turned into automobile fuel. The fibrous bed bioreactor - FBB - with cells immobilized in the fibrous matrix packed in the reactor has been successfully used for several organic acid fermentations, including butyric and propionic acids with greatly increased reactor productivity, final product concentration, and product yield. Other advantages of the FBB include efficient and continuous operation without requiring repeated inoculation, elimination of cell lag phase, good long-term stability, self cleaning and easier downstream processing. The excellent reactor performance of the FBB can be attributed to the high viable cell density maintained in the bioreactor as a result of the unique cell immobilization mechanism within the porous fibrous matrix Since Butanol replaces gasoline in any car today - right now, its manufacturing from biomass is the focus of EEI and in the long term production of our transportation fuel from biomass will stabilize the cost of our fuel - the underpinning of all commerce. As a Strategic Chemical Butanol has a ready market as an industrial solvent used primarily as paint thinner which sells for twice the price of gasoline and is one entry point for the Company into an established market. However, butanol has demonstrated it is an excellent replacement for gasoline-gallon for gallon. The EEI process has made the economics of producing butanol from biomass for both uses very compelling. With the current costs for gasoline at $3.00 per gallon various size farmstead turn-key Butanol BioRefineries are proposed for 50-1,000 acre farms, to produce butanol as a fuel locally and sold locally. All butanol supplies worldwide are currently being produced from petroleum for $1.50 per gallon and selling for $3.80 wholesale. With the increasing price of gasoline it becomes feasible to manufacture and sell Butanol as a clean-safe replacement for gasoline. Grown locally - sold locally at gas prices. A 500 acre farm at 120 bushels corn per acre would make $150,000 at $2.50 per bushel for its corn, when turned into 150,000 gallons Butanol per year at 2.5 gallons per bushel the gross income would be $430,000. Butanol-s advantage is the fact that no other agricultural product made can be put directly into your gas tank without modifying your car. The farmer making and selling locally has no overhead for shipping, distribution, or the other aspects of selling butanol as an industrial solvent. There is a difference between selling to the industrial market or the neighbors of about 23 pct. Fuel grade is easier to make than solvent grade yielding another percent. There is a lot to be said for the farmer enabled to add value to his crop while reducing our consumption of foreign oil. But the unseen advantage of spreading the production of our fuel throughout the Bio-Belt of the Nation is that it increases Homeland Security. Environmental Energy Inc is commercializing its patented technology to produce Butanol as a direct replacement for gasoline by manufacturing and selling Turn-Key Butanol producing bioreactor platforms to the farming community.