biofuel process

THE MAKING OF

BIOFUEL CLASSIFICATION

bioalcohol biodiesel

BIODIESELbiodiesel is most commonly made by chemically altering organic oil through the use of a catalyst and an alcohol. The chemical reaction that occurs through this process breaks down the oil molecules and replaces the glycerin portion of the molecule with an alcohol molecule. The glycerin falls to the bottom and is drained off. Residue then gives the privilege to utilize the organic fuel--- Biodiesel.

TRANSESTERIFICATION

the process of exchanging the organic group R″ of an ester with the organic group R of an ′ alcohol. These reactions are often catalyzed by the addition of an acid or base catalyst. The reaction can also be accomplished with the help of enzymes (biocatalysts) particularly lipases .

CATALYSTAcid/Base

BIOALCOHOL

bioethanol

Directly-fermented

cellulosic

A type of biofuel produced from lignocellulose, a structural material that comprises much of the mass of plants.

Lignocellulose is composed mainly of cellulose,hemicellulose and lignin. Corn stover,Panicumvirgatum (switchgrass), Miscanthus grass species, wood chips and the byproducts of lawn and tree maintenance are some of the more popular cellulosic materials for ethanol production.

LIGNOCELLULOSE STRUCTURE

The two ways of producing ethanol from cellulose are:

• Cellulolysis processes which consist of hydrolysis on pretreated lignocellulosic materials, using enzymes to break complex cellulose into simple sugars such as glucose, followed by fermentation and distillation.

•Gasification that transforms the lignocellulosic raw material into gaseous carbon monoxide and hydrogen. These gases can be converted to ethanol by fermentation or chemical catalysis.As is normal for pure ethanol production, these methods include distillation.

Rice husk and straw

SOURCES

Sugar cane bagasse Switch grass

DIRECTLY-FERMENTEDAlcohol fuels that are produced by

fermentation of sugars derived from wheat, corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, molasses and any sugar or starch that alcoholic beverages can be made from (like potato and fruit waste, etc.). The ethanol production methods used are enzyme  digestion (to release sugars from stored starches), fermentation of the sugars, distillation and drying.

GRAINS

CORN

SORGHUM

SOURCES

“Significant progress has been made in developing the new BIOFUEL Technologies needed but they remain to be proven at the commercial scale.”

CASSANDRA GISELLE GAAS