Sunday, May 4, 2008
2-48

Bio-Alcohol production from Syngas

Sina Salim1, Sebastiaan Haemers1, Alwin Hoogendoorn2, Han Van Kasteren3, Rene Wijffels1, and Arjen Rinzema1. (1) Food & Bioprocess Engineering Group, Wageningen University, Bomenweg 2, Wageningen, 6703 HD, Netherlands, (2) Ingenia, van Thienenlaan 5a, Eindhoven, 5622 BA, Netherlands, (3) Telos, Warandelaan 2, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

Alcohol derived from lignocellulose in energy crops or organic wastes is one of many ways to use more solar energy and a durable alternative for car fuels derived from oil. Alcohols can be produced from plant materials or wastes either by enzymatic hydrolysis of (hemi)cellulose and fermentation of sugars by yeast or bacteria, or by gasification of (hemi)cellulose plus lignin and fermentation of the resulting syngas by bacteria. The main advantage of the syngas-route is that it allows conversion of non-biodegradable feedstock into alcohol, which may result in 1.5 times more product in case of wood-like materials. Furthermore, the bio-syngas-route is less sensitive to trace pollutants in the syngas compared to the chemical syngas-route (Fischer Tropsch) and is applicable on large as well as small scale. 

The aim of our work is to optimize the process of alcohol production from plant (waste) materials. The biosyngas-route has three main steps: the feedstock gasification to syngas, the syngas conversion into alcohol and recovery of the alcohol with a separation unit. Gasification and alcohol recovery are mature technologies, but syngas fermentation to alcohol is not. Published conversion efficiencies of syngas into alcohol, alcohol concentrations reached in the process and syngas conversion rates are all low. We study novel bioreactors that increase the gas-to-liquid mass-transfer rate by approximately a factor 10-50 (kla ~ 1 s-1) compared to previously described systems, while at the same time minimizing the power required for the absorption. The first design calculations and experimental results will be presented.



Web Page: www.bpe.wur.nl/UK/Research/Projects/Sustainable+bio-fuel.+Bio-Alcohol+production+from+Syngas+%28BIAS%29/

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