United States Department of Transportation
i
The Production of Butanol Fuel From Renewable Systems Using a Membrane Assisted Fermentation System, MBTC DOT-3018
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2011-03-10
[PDF-787.16 KB]
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Alternative Title:Production of Butanol Fuel From Renewable Systems Using a Membrane Assisted Fermentation System, MBTC DOT-3018
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Abstract:The U.S. presently imports over 60% of the crude oil that is used to generate most of the 180 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel that are annually consumed in this country. It is estimated that in the U.S., there are at least 500 million dry tons of biomass available annually. This biomass is in the form of forest residues, mill residues, dedicated energy crops, urban wood waste, and agricultural residues. Our research investigates the use of another feedstock, algae, as a new raw material for transportation fuel. Algae grown in a native algal raceway system removes pollutants from the water as well as making biofuels. Our specific research aim was to transform native algae strains, grown to clean contaminated water, into butanol (1-butyl alcohol). The algae used were from sources inside of Arkansas and New York City. The first process step was drying the algae. It was found that enough water could be removed in 2-3 days by air drying in a greenhouse to make algae dry enough for subsequent processing. The next processing step was to hydrolyze the algae and extract carbohydrates for ultimate butanol production. We found that at a temperature of 110 C, a short time (30 minutes or less) combined with a high acid concentration (as high as 30 g/L) was optimal for maximum carbohydrate production. The next processing step was to ferment carbohydrates into butanol using clostridium spp. We first attempted to use a C. beijenerckii but found it was unsuitable for growth with algae. We found, however, that C. sacchroperbutylacetonicum was suitable for growth and was able to produce butanol from algae. We also found that the butanol could be separated efficiently using a 2-step distillation with phase separation. A PhD student, Tom Potts, used this grant to help start his doctoral work. During the project period, he was selected as the winner of the annual Jack Buffington Poster competition. We are in the process of preparing a publication covering this work and will submit the paper by the end of March. Additionally, we are leveraging this work to help support projects from the DOE and the Department of Environmental Protection of the City of New York.
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