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Fermentation of Syngas to Ethanol
Fermentation of syngas to ethanol has been carried out successfully in research trials for various biomass feedstocks.
The steps for getting ethanol from fermenting syngas are:
Step 1: Conversion - Convert the syngas mixture into ethanol using organisms such as Clostridium ljungdahlii
Step 2: Distillation — Separate ethanol from water
Step 1: Conversion - Convert the syngas mixture into ethanol using organisms such as Clostridium ljungdahlii
Fermentation occurs when bacteria metabolise a material into another one. In this case the cleaned syngas can be anaerobically converted into ethanol.
Biological production of fuel from syngas offers several advantages over catalytic techniques:
- Biological conversion occurs under mild temperatures and pressures, whereas catalytic reactors are operated at high temperatures and pressures.
- The reaction specificity of enzymes is typically higher than that of inorganic catalysts.
- Most biological catalysts are tolerant to sulphur gases, reducing the cost of gas cleanup prior to the conversion step.
- Biological conversion does not require a set CO/H2 ratio.
In the actual fermentation process, the syngas flows through a cleaning and cooling system and is subsequently directed to a bioreactor. The gas is bubbled through the bioreactor where microorganisms (acetogens) convert the gas into ethanol and other value-added products. The mixture is further processed to separate and recover these products.
Step 2: Distillation — Separate ethanol from water
Distillation involves taking the fermented ethanol and water mixture and adding heat to separate them. Since ethanol evaporates faster than water, the ethanol rises through a tube, collects and condenses into another container. The water is left behind.
Related Links:
- Ethanol as Biofuels
- What are feedstocks?
- Properties of Feedstocks for ethanol production
- Yield of Biomass for Various Feedstocks
- Feedstocks used by Various Companies
- Why Cellulosic Ethanol?
- Cellulosic Ethanol Production
- Cellulosic Ethanol Production Value Chain
- Ethanol production methods
- Latest Discoveries and Breakthroughs
- R & D Roadmap in Cellulosic Ethanol
- Future projections
- Companies Involved in Producing Cellulosic Ethanol
- Investments & Funding
- Challenges & Barriers in the commercialization process
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