Butanol can be made greener by the research of a Japanese institute, who developed an energy-saving biobutanol with a density of at least 80 percent. They derived their biobutanol from a 1 percent concentrated butanol and used a zeolitic separation membrane.
Being derived from biomass sources, biobutanol’s overall carbon emissions are zero, since the carbon dioxide it emits when burned is reabsorbed by the next biofuel crops. Unlike ethanol, which has a relatively smaller energy density (27 MJ/kg), biobutanol has 34 MJ/kg and has the same cost per calorific value. Moreover, biobutanol is easier to store and the tanks don’t have to have special designs. It doesn’t mix with water, like ethanol, which is a plus.
The biomass can be used more effectively, because the microorganisms that can produce biobutanol can use a sugar (named C5) which the ones involved in the production of ethanol can’t.
Even more, the energy required to collect butanol decreases by 50 to 70 percent because the researchers synthesized a silicalite separation membrane with a high alcohol permselectivity. They also could collect high density butanol from low-density butanol, which let increased productivity.
Liked it? Share onFacebook and Google +1:
| |  See it here! |  E-mail Updates |  |
| Also share story on: | Become our facebook fan |
Read next:
ORNL Researchers Find Way to Make Ethanol From Switchgrass Cheaper by Using Neutron ScatteringA research aimed to lower the cost of biomass conversion process has been conducted by the researchers from the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Georgia Tech. The study used small-angle neutron scattering to test the structural impact of an acid pretreatment of lignocellulose from switchgrass.
Algenol Mexico Factory to Produce Ethanol from Algae by 2009Algenol CEO Paul Woods said Thursday that the ethanol produced at the farm will cost $1 less than today’s gasoline, that is about $3/gallon.
Researchers Develop Method of Turning Sewage Sludge into EthanolAccording to the researchers this new method can reduce the amount of sludge processed by traditional treatment facilities and turn municipal solid waste into a green fuel.
Renewable Biomass Creates High Energy Fuels at Gasoline Prices“Cellulose is the biggest source of sugars on the planet. The difficulty is, it’s harder to get at that cellulose and get at those sugars than it is to get the sugars from corn kernels,” says Mike Cleary, director of the National Bioenergy Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Korean Scientists Find Quick and Easy Way to Produce Bio-PlasticsPetroleum stands at the base of every plastic we usually find on today’s market. Polymers are everywhere, and if petroleum resources are about to go scarce with time, it’s a good idea to replace it with other renewable and biodegradable material that we could use just as well as we use petroleum today.
#1 by larry hagedon on December 20, 2011 - 2:42 am
Butanol has long been known to be superior to ethanol for blending as an oxygenator and gasolne extender, but we could not produce it competitively, so ethanol got the nod. That is changeing.
Expect our ethanol distilleries to be converted to butanol and butanol to replace ethanol as the legally required oxygenator for gasoline.
This will take a few years to happen, but the process is already beginning, with both ethanol plant conversions and brand new butanol plants now under construction.