CONTENTS

I. What is bioethanol?
II. Bioethanol Production
III. Feedstocks
IV. Fuel Properties
V. Application
VI. Advantages
VII. Disadvantages and Concerns
VIII.Ethanol Controversy
IX. Comparison of Bioethanol and Biodiesel
X. Case study [Brazil]
XI. Future development
 What is bioethanol?
 Colourless and clear liquid
 Used to substitute petrol fuel for road transport
vehicles
 One of the widely used alternative automotive fuel in
the world (Brazil & U.S.A are the largest ethanol producers)
 Much more environmentally friendly
 Lower toxicity level
 Bioethanol Production
• Wheat/Grains/Corn/Sugar-cane can be used to
produce ethanol. (Basically, any plants that composed
largely of sugars)
• Main method : Sugar fermentation
• 3 methods of hydrolysis :
(extraction of sugars out of bio-mass wastes)
– concentrated acid hydrolysis
– enzymatic hydrolysis
– dilute acid hydrolysis
 Bioethanol Production
• (1) Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis
– ~77% of sulfuric acid is added to the dried biomass
to a 10% moisture content.
– Acid to be added in the ratio of 1/25 acid :1
biomass under 50°C.
– Dilute the acid to ~30% with water and reheat the
mixture at100°C for an hour.
– Gel will be produced and pressed to discharge the
acid sugar mixture.
– Separate the acid & sugar mixture by using a
chromatographic column .
 Bioethanol Production
• (2) Enzymatic Hydrolysis (Not popular)
• (3) Dilute Acid Hydrolysis
– oldest, simplest yet efficient method
– hydrolyse the bio-mass to sucrose
– hemi-cellulose undergo hydrolysis with the
addition of 7% of sulfuric acid under the
temperature 190°C.
– to generate the more resistant cellulose
portion, 4% of sulfuric acid is added at the
temperature of 215°C
 Bioethanol Production
• Wet milling process
– corn kernel is soaked in warm water
– proteins broken down
– starch present in the corn is released
(thus, softening the kernel for the milling process)
– microorganisms, fibre and starch products are
produced.
– In the distillation process, ethanol is produced.
 Bioethanol Production
• Dry milling process
– Clean and break down the corn kernel into fine
particles
– Sugar solution is produced when the powder
mixture (corn germ/starch and fibre) is broken
down into sucrose by dilute acid or enzymes.
– Yeast is added to ferment the cooled mixture into
ethanol.
 Bioethanol Production
• Sugar fermentation
– Hydrolysis process breaks down the biomass
cellulosic portion into sugar solutions which will
then be fermented into ethanol.
– Yeast is added and heated to the solution.
– Invertase acts as a catalyst and convert the sucrose
sugars into glucose and fructose. (both C6H12O6).
 Bioethanol Production
Chemical reaction 1

 The fructose and glucose sugars react with zymase

to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide.
Chemical reaction 2

 Fermentation process requires 3 days to complete

and is carried out at a temperature of between
250°C and 300°C.
 Bioethanol Production
• Fractional Distillation Process
– After the sugar fermentation process, the ethanol
still does contain a significant quantity of water
which have to be removed.
– In the distillation process, both the water and
ethanol mixture are boiled.
– Ethanol has a lower boiling point than
water, therefore ethanol will be converted into the
vapour state first  condensed and separated from
water.
 Feedstocks
• Sugar is required to produce ethanol by
fermentation.
– Plant materials (grain, stems and leaves) are
composed mainly of sugars
– almost any plants can serve as feedstock for ethanol
manufacture

• Choice of raw material depends on several

factors
– ease of processing of the various plants available
– prevailing conditions of climate
– landscape and soil composition Crops used in Bioethanol
– sugar content production
Brazil sugar cane
USA corn
Europe wheat and barley
 Feedstocks
• R&D activities on using lignocellulosic
(woody materials) as feedstock
– Lignocellulosic biomass is more abundant and
less expensive than food crops
– higher net energy balance
– accrue up to 90% in greenhouse gas
savings, much higher than the first generation of
biofuel
– However, more difficult to convert to sugars due
to their relatively inaccessible molecular
structure
 Fuel Properties
Fuel Properties Gasoline Bioethanol
Molecular weight 111 46 • Energy content
[kg/kmol]
Density [kg/l] at 15⁰C 0.75 0.80-0.82
– Bioethanol has much
Oxygen content [wt- 34.8 lower energy content
%]
Lower Calorific Value 41.3 26.4
than gasoline
[MJ/kg] at 15ºC – about two-third of
Lower Calorific Value 31 21.2
[MJ/l] at 15ºC the energy content
Octane number 97 109 of gasoline on a
(RON)
Octane number 86 92 volume base
(MON)
Cetane number 8 11
Stoichiometric 14.7 9.0
air/fuel ratio [kg air/kg
fuel]
Boiling temperature 30-190 78
[ºC]
Reid Vapour 75 16.5
Pressure [kPa] at
15ºC
 Fuel Properties
Fuel Properties Gasoline Bioethanol
Molecular weight 111 46 • Octane number
[kg/kmol]
– Octane number of ethanol
Density [kg/l] at 15⁰C 0.75 0.80-0.82
Oxygen content [wt- 34.8
is higher than petrol
%] – hence ethanol has better
Lower Calorific Value 41.3 26.4 antiknock characteristics
[MJ/kg] at 15ºC
Lower Calorific Value 31 21.2 – increases the fuel
[MJ/l] at 15ºC efficiency of the engine
Octane number 97 109
– oxygen content of ethanol
(RON)
Octane number 86 92 also leads to a higher
(MON) efficiency, which results in
Cetane number 8 11 a cleaner combustion
Stoichiometric 14.7 9.0
process at relatively low
air/fuel ratio [kg air/kg
fuel] temperatures
Boiling temperature 30-190 78
[ºC]
Reid Vapour 75 16.5
Pressure [kPa] at
15ºC
 Fuel Properties
Fuel Properties Gasoline Bioethanol
Molecular weight 111 46
• Reid vapour pressure
[kg/kmol] (measure for the volatility
Density [kg/l] at 15⁰C 0.75 0.80-0.82 of a fuel)
Oxygen content [wt- 34.8
%]
– Very low for
Lower Calorific Value 41.3 26.4 ethanol, indicates a slow
[MJ/kg] at 15ºC evaporation
Lower Calorific Value 31 21.2 – Adv: the concentration of
[MJ/l] at 15ºC evaporative emissions in
Octane number 97 109
the air remains relatively
(RON)
Octane number 86 92
low, reduces the risk of
(MON)
explosions
Cetane number 8 11 – Disadv: low vapour pressure
Stoichiometric 14.7 9.0 of ethanol -> Cold start
air/fuel ratio [kg air/kg difficulties
fuel]
Boiling temperature 30-190 78
– engines using ethanol
[ºC] cannot be started at temp <
Reid Vapour 75 16.5 20ºC w/o aids
Pressure [kPa] at
15ºC
 Application
• transport fuel to replace gasoline
• fuel for power generation by thermal combustion
• fuel for fuel cells by thermochemical reaction
• fuel in cogeneration systems
• feedstock in the chemicals industry
 Application
• Blending of ethanol with a small proportion of a
volatile fuel such as gasoline -> more cost effective
• Various mixture of bioethanol with gasoline or
diesel fuels
– E5G to E26G (5-26% ethanol, 95-74% gasoline)
– E85G (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline)
– E15D (15% ethanol, 85% diesel)
– E95D (95% ethanol, 5% water, with ignition improver)
 Advantages
• Exhaust gases of ethanol are much cleaner
– it burns more cleanly as a result of more complete
combustion
• Greenhouse gases reduce
– ethanol-blended fuels such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15%
gasoline) reduce up to 37.1% of GHGs
• Positive energy balance, depending on the type of raw
stock
– output of energy during the production is more than
the input
• Any plant can be use for production of bioethanol
– it only has to contain sugar and starch
• Carbon neutral
– the CO2 released in the bioethanol production process
is the same amount as the one the crops previously
absorbed during photosynthesis
 Advantages
• Decrease in ozone formation
– The emissions produced by burning ethanol are less reactive with
sunlight than those produced by burning gasoline, which results in a
lower potential for forming ozone

• Renewable energy resource

– result of conversion of the sun's energy into usable energy
– Photosynthesis -> feedstocks grow -> processed into ethanol

• Energy security
– esp. Countries that do not have access to crude oil resources
– grow crops for energy use and gain some economic freedom

• Reduces the amount of high-octane additives

• Fuel spills are more easily biodegraded or diluted
to non toxic concentrations
Disadvantages and Concerns
• Biodiversity
– A large amount of arable land is required to grow
crops, natural habitats would be destroyed
• Food vs. Fuel debate
– due to the lucrative prices of bioethanol some
farmers may sacrifice food crops for biofuel
production which will increase food prices around
the world
• Carbon emissions (controversial)
– During production of bioethanol, huge amount of
carbon dioxide is released
– Emission of GHGs from production of bioethanol is
comparable to the emissions of internal-
combustion engines
Disadvantages and Concerns
• Not as efficient as petroleum
– energy content of the petrol is much higher than bioethanol
– its energy content is 70% of that of petrol
• Engines made for working on Bioethanol cannot be
used for petrol or diesel
– Due to high octane number of bioethanol, they can be
burned in the engines with much higher compression ratio
• Used of phosphorous and nitrogen in the
production
– negative effect on the environment
• Cold start difficulties
– pure ethanol is difficult to vaporise
Disadvantages and Concerns
• Transportation
– ethanol is hygroscopic, it absorbs water from the air and thus
has high corrosion aggressiveness
– Can only be transported by auto transport or railroad
• Many older cars unequipped to handle even 10%
ethanol
• Negatively affect electric fuel pumps by increasing
internal wear and undesirable spark generation
Ethanol Controversy
Is it justifiable?
..to use agriculture land to grow energy crops instead of food crops
when there are so many starving people in the world. In the
developed countries that is not a problem, but in the developing
ones where we have a large number of people living below the
poverty this may lead to a crisis.
 Ethanol Controversy
• Is burning biofuel more environmentally friendly
than burning oil?
– Fact that producing biofuel is not a "green process“
– requires tractors and fertilisers and land
– With the increase in biofuel production, more forests will
be chopped down to make room for biofuel, ↑ CO2

• Better alternative suggested by scientists..

– steer away from biofuel and focus on reforestation and
maximising the efficiency of fossil fuels instead
 Comparison of Bioethanol and Biodiesel
Bioethanol Biodiesel
Process Dry-mill method: yeast, sugars and Transesterification: methyl esters and
starch are fermented. From starch, it is glycerin which are not good for engines,
fermented into sugar, afterwards it is are left behind.
fermented again into alcohol.
Environment Both reduce greenhouse gas emissions as biofuels are primarily derived from crops
al Benefit which absorb carbon dioxide.
Compatibility ethanol has to be blended with fossil fuel Able to run in any diesel generated
like gasoline, hence only compatible engines
with selected gasoline powered
automobiles.
Costs Cheaper More expensive
Gallons per 420 gallons of ethanol can be generated 60 gallons of biodiesel per acre
acre per acre soybeans
cost of soybean oil would significantly
increase if biodiesel production is
increased as well.
Energy provides 93% more net energy per produces only 25% more net energy.
gallon
Greenhouse- 12% less greenhouse gas emission than 41% less compared to conventional
gas the production and combustion of gasoline.
Emissions regular diesel
(GHG)