We refuel straw Biobutanol the next biofuel

Biobutanol is a 2nd generation biofuel. These biofuels do not compete with food production, because waste or lignocellulose is used as feedstock for production. The aim of this research work is to replace the 1st generation biofuels, which are strongly competing with food production. Regional biomass is intended as

substrate for biobutanol production and decreases dependency on fossil fuels. Utilisation of existing biomass, such as whey or wheat bran, in improves the the

ecological

balance

process.

Biodiversity is maintained and there is no competition with food production and water usage.
f.l. Msc. Antonia Rom, Bernadette Dannerer, Prof. Anton Friedl

The expected value of biobutanol is very high. Butanol can replace existing biofuels and the chemical itself has a market value over $ 5 billion[1].

Having advantages over ethanol, commercially produced biobutanol could capture the market of biofuels. Butanol can be mixed with gasoline, diesel, and kerosene in higher concentrations than ethanol. Scientists in the USA have already operated gasoline engines on pure butanol without modification of the engine[1]. Additionally the higher heating value of butanol (90% of gasoline) leads to higher fuel efficiency compared to ethanol (60% of gasoline). Because of its more hydrophobic nature, no corrosion arises and this makes it possible to reuse existing pipelines and tanks.

Fermentative production of butanol is a well-known process, discovered in 1861 by Louis Pasteur. In the early 20th century industrial ABE fermentation (Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol) started. After some years the emerging petro industry replaced the fermentative production of butanol due to its expensive production based on raw materials. During the oil crisis in the seventies scientists started the discussion about renewable energy sources. Back then more efficient ethanol fermentation was considered desirable, but since that time research has focused on the economic and competitive production of biofuels.

Experimental set-up (see figure 1) Red arrows Green arrows Blue arrows Feed stream Membrane Sweep gas The fermentation broth is pumped in a closed circuit. The mixture is separated due to their differential volatility. Removal of butanol with carrier gas stream

The centrepiece in butanol production is the fermentation. Biomass is converted by different species of the microorganism clostridia into an aqueous solution containing acetone, ethanol and butanol in the ratio of 3:1:6. Distillation is a common process to separate butanol from the fermentation broth. Due to the low butanol concentration present in the broth, a simple distillation step results in highly uneconomical energy consumption. With a membrane separation step the butanol concentration in the aqueous solution can be raised to a desired range before entering the distillation section of the process. With this two-step separation process, a low overall energy consumption and with that an optimised efficiency can be reached.

In this series of experiments the influence of the sweep gas stream on selectivity and transmembrane flux at different concentrations was examined. The transmembrane flux is defined as the quantity of solution passing the membrane. The ability of the membrane to differentiate between the components of a solution is called selectivity. By decreasing concentration and measuring weight loss in the feed, data to calculate transmembrane flux and selectivity is provided. The results are pictured in figure 2, where an increase of the sweep gas volume flow rate results in higher fluxes. The calculated selectivity can be seen as constant, because it roughly changed throughout the experiments.

Figure 1 Experimental set-up of membrane distillation

Figure 2

Selectivity and transmembrane flux over sweep gas stream

Butanol is a promising replacement for fossil fuels and a substitute for common raw materials, but there is still a need for scientific research. Biofuels have the ability to decrease the dependence on oil but they can only replace fossil fuels to some extent. Compared to photovoltaic systems, butanol provides advantages in energy storage and transfer.

Up to now generating biobutanol is not yet competitive from an economic point of view. Fermentation, product recovery and purification processes offer big potential to optimise the overall process. Projects focusing on micro-organisms with increased substrate conversion and on membrane separation processes are carried out in Austria at the company Profactor and the Technical University of Vienna. Recent research showed a reduction in costs by up to 50%. The existing potential of biobutanol caught the industrys interest. Not only companies in the USA (greenbiologics ltd) are working on the production
[2]

but potential was

also revealed in Europe. In 2009 the enterprises BP and DuPont started a company in 2009, Butamax Advanced Biofuels. Within the framework of this joint venture, a pilot plant is to start the production of biobutanol in Great Britain[3].

The authors want to thank the FFG and the project partner, the company Profactor, for advancing the project 831.095, within which this internship was carried out. We also want to thank Dr. Gruber-Schmidt for showing us the biogas plant in Margarethen am Moos. Many thanks also to Ms. Kalchbrenner, the OeAD and the BMWF for the campaign Rio+20 Young People Take Stock offering this exceptional opportunity.

Bernadette Dannerer

Antonia Rom

Anton Friedl

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

www.Biobutanol.com. Zugriff am 22.8.2012 www.butanol.com. Zugriff am 17.8.2012. www.butamax.com. Zugriff am 21.8.2012. Friedl A. et. al. 1991. Continuous ACEton-Butnaol-Ethanol Fermentation using immobilized cells of Clostridium acetobuylicum in a bed reactor and integration with product removal by pervaporation. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 38: 518-527. Qureshi N. et al. 1992. Application of Continuous Substrate Feeding to the ABE Fermentation: Relief of Product Inhibition Using Extraction, Perstraction, Stripping,and Pervaporation. Biotechnol. Prog. 8: 382-390. Vane L.M. 2008. Separation technologies for the recovery and dehydration of alcohols from fermentation broths. Biofuels. Biopr. Bioref. 2: 553588. Rey L. et.al. 2010. Fahrt ins Grne, Kurzfassung der Studie Future Perspectives of 2nd Generation Biofuels. Bern. Braun R. et.al. 2009. Biotreibstoffe - Chancen und Grenzen. Schweizerische Akademie der Technischen Wissenschaften. Zrich. Wagemann K. et. al. 2012. Roadmap Bioraffinerien. Bundesministerium fr Ernhrung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz (BMELV). Berlin. Jauschnegg H. et.al. 2012 Wrme Strom Treibstoffe Bioenergie 2020. sterreichischer Biomasse-Verband. Wien.