The MixAlco process is a biorefinery that uses the carboxylate platform to process any biodegradable biomass (e.g., municipal solid waste, sewage sludge, manure, agricultural residues, energy crops).  It employs the following steps:

1.       Pretreatment: To enhance digestibility, the biomass is treated with lime and oxygen. 

2.       Fermentation: The lime-treated biomass is fed to a mixed culture of acid-forming microorganisms derived from a saline environment.  The acids are neutralized with either calcium carbonate or ammonium bicarbonate, thus forming the corresponding carboxylate salts. 

3.       Dewatering: Using vapor-compression evaporation, the carboxylate salts are concentrated.

4.       Chemical Conversion: The carboxylate salts – which are the key intermediates in the carboxylate platform – are chemically converted to a variety of products. 

The products include chemicals (e.g., ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, ethers, aldehydes, primary alcohols, secondary alcohols, aromatics, cyclic, olefins) and fuels (gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel). 

The advantages of the MixAlco process follow:

·      No sterility required in the fermentation

·      No genetically modified organisms

·      No enzyme costs

·      Wide variety of feedstocks can be employed

·      Wide variety of fuel and chemical products

·      High energy density in fuels

·      Low capital cost

·      Low product cost

The presentation will describe both pilot and demonstration plants.