Fermentation alcohol: better to convert to fuel

Journal Article · Sun Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982 · Hydrocarbon Process.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6322500

Maiorella, P L

In the conversion of farm products to liquid fuel by fermentation, large energy savings are possible if distillation to anhydrous alcohol for gasohol blending is replaced by gasoline production with a Mobil zeolite catalyst. Simple fermentation yields a roughly 10 wt% alcohol beer product. Conventional distillation to produce anhydrous alcohol requires 32.6 M Btu/gal of ethanol. Even the most efficient steam reuse methods require at least 21 M Btu/gal. Thus, distillation energy requirements are a major fraction (28 to 43 percent) of the energy content (75.6 M Btu/ gal) of the final alcohol product. Use of the fermentation beer in a gasoline production process would be far more energy efficient, using only 11.1 M Btu/gal of alcohol processed. Also, a more desirable liquid fuel would be produced. Distillation savings more than offset conversion costs, but a small portion of the alcohol feed is converted to lower value LPG gas, and gasoline price must be incremented correspondingly. The upgrading of ethanol to gasoline results in a 10% increase in cost per Btu for the liquid fuel. It must be decided if this increase is justified by downstream savings in using the superior fuel and by the large production energy savings.

• Research Organization: University of California, Berkeley, CA
• OSTI ID: 6322500
• Journal Information: Hydrocarbon Process.; (United States), Journal Name: Hydrocarbon Process.; (United States) Vol. 61:8; ISSN HYPRA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
090122 -- Hydrocarbon Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
090222 -- Alcohol Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
140504* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Biomass Production & Conversion-- (-1989)
ALCOHOLS
BIOCONVERSION
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
DISTILLATION
ETHANOL
FERMENTATION
FUELS
GASOHOL
GASOLINE
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
LIQUID FUELS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SYNTHESIS