Bioethanol Technology
By
Dr Sammer Fatima
What is Bioethanol
Bioethanol is an alcohol made
by fermentation, mostly
from carbohydrates produced
in sugar or starch crops such
as corn or sugarcane. Cellulosic biomass,
derived from non-food sources such as trees
and grasses, is also being developed as
a feedstock for ethanol production
The principle fuel used as a petrol substitute is bioethanol
Bioethanol fuel is mainly produced by the sugar or cellulose
fermentation process
Ethanol is a high octane fuel and has replaced
lead as an octane enhancer in petrol
Bioethanol is an alternative to gasoline for flexifuel
vehicles
Bioethanol Production
Wheat/Grains/Corn/Sugar-cane can be used to
produce ethanol. (Basically, any plants that composed
largely of sugars)
Bioethanol is mainly produced in three ways.
Sugar Ethanol
Starch Sugar Ethanol
cellulose and hemicellulose Ethanol
Bioethanol Production
Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis
~77% of sulfuric acid is added to the dried biomass
to a 10% moisture content.
Acid to be added in the ratio of 1/25 acid : 1
biomass under 50°C.
Dilute the acid to ~30% with water and reheat the
mixture at 100°C for an hour.
Gel will be produced and pressed to discharge the
acid sugar mixture.
Separate the acid & sugar mixture by using a
chromatographic column .
Bioethanol Production
Dilute Acid Hydrolysis
oldest, simplest yet efficient method
hydrolyse the bio-mass to sucrose
hemi-cellulose undergo hydrolysis with the
addition of 7% of sulfuric acid under the
temperature 190°C.
to generate the more resistant cellulose
portion, 4% of sulfuric acid is added at the
temperature of 215°C
Bioethanol Production
Wet milling process
corn kernel is soaked in warm water
proteins broken down
starch present in the corn is released
(thus, softening the kernel for the milling process)
microorganisms, fibre and starch products are
produced.
In the distillation process, ethanol is produced.
Bioethanol Production
Dry milling process
Clean and break down the corn kernel
into fine particles
Sugar solution is produced when the
powder mixture (corn germ/starch and
fibre) is broken down into sucrose by
dilute acid or enzymes.
Yeast is added to ferment the cooled
mixture into ethanol.
Bioethanol Production
Sugar fermentation
Hydrolysis process breaks down the
biomass cellulosic portion into sugar
solutions which will then be fermented
into ethanol.
Yeast is added and heated to the solution.
Invertase acts as a catalyst and convert
the sucrose sugars into glucose and
fructose. (both C6H12O6).
Bioethanol Production
Fractional Distillation Process
After the sugar fermentation process, the ethanol
still does contain a significant quantity of water
which have to be removed.
In the distillation process, both the water and
ethanol mixture are boiled.
Ethanol has a lower boiling point than water,
therefore ethanol will be converted into the
vapour state first condensed and separated
from water.
Feed stocks (Raw material required
for industrial process)
Sugar is required to produce ethanol by
fermentation.
Plant materials (grain, stems and leaves) are
composed mainly of sugars
almost any plants can serve as feedstock for
ethanol manufacture
Choice of raw material depends on several
factors
ease of processing of the various plants available
prevailing conditions of climate Crops used in Bioethanol production
Brazil sugar cane
landscape and soil composition USA corn
India sugar cane
sugar content
Europe wheat and barley
Feedstocks
R&Dactivities on using lignocellulosic
(woody materials) as feedstock
Lignocellulosicbiomass is more abundant and
less expensive than food crops
higher net energy balance
accrueup to 90% in greenhouse gas savings,
much higher than the first generation of biofuel
However, more difficult to convert to sugars
due to their relatively inaccessible molecular
structure
Direct conversion of sugar to ethanol
• This is usually done using molasses.
• Molasses is a thick dark syrup produced by boiling down juice from
sugarcane; specially during sugar refining.
• As molasses is a by product, ethanol production from molasses is
not done in a large scale around the world.
The main reaction involved is fermentation
yeast
C6H12O6 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2
sugar (e.g.:-glucose) ethanol carbon dioxide
Bioethanol Properties
Colourless and clear liquid
Used to substitute petrol fuel for road
transport vehicles
One of the widely used alternative
automotive fuel in the world (Brazil & U.S.A are
the largest ethanol producers)
Much more environmentally friendly
Lower toxicity level
Fuel Properties Energy content
Bioethanol has much lower
Fuel Properties Gasoline Bioethanol energy content than gasoline
Molecular weight 111 46
about two-third of the energy
[kg/kmol]
Density [kg/l] at 15⁰C 0.75 0.80-0.82 content of gasoline on a volume
Oxygen content [wt-%] 34.8 base
Lower Calorific Value 41.3 26.4
[MJ/kg] at 15ºC
Lower Calorific Value 31 21.2
[MJ/l] at 15ºC
Octane number (RON) 97 109
Octane number (MON) 86 92
Cetane number 8 11
Stoichiometric air/fuel 14.7 9.0
ratio [kg air/kg fuel]
Boiling temperature 30-190 78
[ºC]
Reid Vapour Pressure 75 16.5
[kPa] at 15ºC
Application
transport fuel to replace gasoline
fuel for power generation by thermal
combustion
fuel for fuel cells by thermochemical
reaction
fuel in cogeneration systems
feedstock in the chemicals industry
Application
Blending of ethanol with a small proportion
of a volatile fuel such as gasoline -> more
cost effective
Various mixture of bioethanol with gasoline
or diesel fuels
E5G to E26G (5-26% ethanol, 95-74% gasoline)
E85G (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline)
E15D (15% ethanol, 85% diesel)
E95D (95% ethanol, 5% water, with ignition
improver)
Advantages
Exhaust gases of ethanol are much cleaner
it burns more cleanly as a result of more complete combustion
Greenhouse gases reduce
ethanol-blended fuels such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline)
reduce up to 37.1% of GHGs
Positive energy balance, depending on the type of raw stock
output of energy during the production is more than the input
Any plant can be use for production of bioethanol
it only has to contain sugar and starch
Carbon neutral
the CO2 released in the bioethanol production process is the same
amount as the one the crops previously absorbed during
photosynthesis
Advantages
Decrease in ozone formation
The emissions produced by burning ethanol are less reactive with sunlight than those
produced by burning gasoline, which results in a lower potential for forming ozone
Renewable energy resource
result of conversion of the sun's energy into usable energy
Photosynthesis -> feedstocks grow -> processed into ethanol
Energy security
esp. Countries that do not have access to crude oil resources
grow crops for energy use and gain some economic freedom
Reduces the amount of high-octane additives
Fuel spills are more easily biodegraded or diluted to non toxic
concentrations
