Optimal engineered algae composition for the integrated simultaneous production of bioethanol and biodiesel

The optimization of the composition of the algae for the simultaneous production of bioethanol and biodiesel is presented. We consider two alternative technologies for the biodiesel synthesis from algae oil, enzymatic or homogeneous alkali catalyzed that are coupled with bioethanol production from algae starch. In order to determine the optimal operating conditions, we not only couple the technologies, but simultaneously optimize the production of both biofuels and heat integrate them while optimizing the water consumption. Multi‐effect distillation is included to reduce the energy and cooling water consumption for ethanol dehydration. In both cases, the optimal algae composition results in 60% oil, 30% starch, and 10% protein. The best alternative for the production of biofuels corresponds to a production price of 0.35 $/gal, using enzymes, with energy and water consumption values (4.00 MJ/gal and 0.59 gal/gal). © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2872–2883, 2013     

Energy optimization of bioethanol production via hydrolysis of switchgrass

The optimal flowsheet for the production of bioethanol from switchgrass via hydrolysis is proposed in this work. A superstructure embedding a number of alternatives is proposed. Two technologies are considered for switchgrass pretreatment, dilute acid and ammonia fiber explosion so that the structure of the grass is broken down. Next, enzymatic hydrolysis follows any of the pretreatments to obtain fermentable sugars, mainly xylose and glucose. Ethanol is obtained by fermentation of the sugars. To obtain fuel quality, ethanol and water must be removed from the water–ethanol mixture. A number of dehydration technologies is considered including rectification, adsorption in corn grits, molecular sieves, and pervaporation. The problem is formulated as a mixed‐integer nonlinear programming (MINLP). The superstructure is optimized by decomposing the MINLP for each of the pretreatments. Then, multieffect columns and heat integration are used to reduce the energy consumption and cooling needs. Finally, an economic evaluation is performed. The optimal flowsheet consists of using dilute acid hydrolysis followed by molecular sieves as dehydration technology, which requires less energy and cooling and yielding a promising production price of 0.8 $/gal. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012     

Energy optimization of bioethanol production via gasification of switchgrass

In this article, we address the conceptual design of the bioethanol process from switchgrass via gasification. A superstructure is postulated for optimizing energy use that embeds direct or indirect gasification, followed by steam reforming or partial oxidation. Next, the gas composition is adjusted with membrane‐PSA or water gas shift. Membrane separation, absorption with ethanol‐amines and PSA are considered for the removal of sour gases. Finally, two synthetic paths are considered, high alcohols catalytic process with two possible distillation sequences, and syngas fermentation with distillation, corn grits, molecular sieves and pervaporation as alternative dehydration processes. The optimization of the superstructure is formulated as an mixed‐integer nonlinear programming problem using short‐cut models, and solved through a special decomposition scheme that is followed by heat integration. The optimal process consists of direct gasification followed by steam reforming, removal of the excess of hydrogen and catalytic synthesis, yielding a potential operating cost of $0.41/gal. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2011     

降低生物柴油生产成本的研究进展

综述了除政策因素外,降低生物柴油生产成本的5种方法:选择含油率高、再生周期短、适应贫瘠土地及不同气候条件的新型植物原料;研究新型固体催化剂;引入新工艺(超临界法和超声波法);使用比较简便的方法将废弃的甘油转化为高附加值的产品(环氧氯丙烷、1,3–丙二醇、丙酮醇等)以及适度生产规模等。     

中国微藻生物柴油产业的发展机遇和挑战

介绍了国内外研发微藻生物柴油的动态,预见用工业装置生产微藻生物柴油的技术近几年内将取得重大突破,微藻生物柴油产业将成为一个新兴的替代能源产业.我国微藻生物柴油产业化研究和国际水平基本同步,是一个全新的自主创新领域,提出应抓住微藻生物柴油产业的发展机遇.对工业化生产微藻生物柴油的光生物反应器设计技术、微藻培养控制系统、配...     

基于神经网络-遗传算法优化生物柴油制备工艺

根据生物柴油制备的实验数据,用人工神经网络(ANN)的反向传播(BP)算法建立了生物柴油转化率神经网络预测模型,提出了适宜的人工神经网络拓扑结构,讨论了BP算法中学习速率、动量系数及过拟合现象对网络的影响。实验数据检验表明,ANN方法能准确地关联生物柴油制备工艺条件与转化率的关系,转化率预测平均相对误差为1.917%,复相关系数R为0.9996;该神经网络预测模型用遗传算法优化,得到了最佳生物柴油制备条件。     

生物柴油制备方法的应用研究进展

生物柴油以其优良的环境友好性和可再生性引起广泛关注,但较高的生产成本是其商业化生产和应用的障碍之一。综述了生物柴油的化学转酯化法和以游离脂肪酶、固定化脂肪酶、全细胞为催化剂的生物转酯化法的工业研究进展,同时还指出了采用生物转酯化法制备生物柴油时面临的一些问题。     

新型生物柴油技术研究进展

综述了生物柴油的特性及生产方法,介绍了酯交换法制备生物柴油的反应机理及生产工艺,对各种工艺的优缺点进行了剖析,指出了生物柴油技术发展现在面临的问题及研究方向。     

固体催化剂制备生物柴油研究进展

作为化石能源的替代品,生物柴油具有成本低、无污染和可再生等优点,是一种可再生的绿色能源。介绍了用于制备生物柴油的固体酸和固体碱催化剂的研究进展,固体催化剂催化效率高、催化剂不宜中毒且易与产品分离,并指出研制廉价和高效的催化剂仍是生物柴油领域的研究热点。     

非均相固体碱催化剂(CaO体系)用于生物柴油的制备

为解决生物柴油酯交换过程中的产物与催化剂分离问题,制备了负载型固体碱催化剂（CaO/SiO₂、CaO/Al₂O₃和CaO/MgO体系）,考察该系列催化剂在生物柴油制备中的不同反应特点,对制备的催化剂进行XRD表征,研究了反应条件对反应的影响。结果表明,CaO可以很好地分散在催化剂载体上,该体系催化剂是制备生物柴油的良好非均相催化剂。催化剂的最佳制备条件为：焙烧温度700 ℃,催化剂质量分数为原料油的1%,m（醇）∶m（油）＝18∶1,反应温度60～65 ℃,反应时间10 h。     

Marble slurry derived hydroxyapatite as heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production from soybean oil

In this study, utilization of waste marble slurry (MS) as an eco‐friendly and low‐cost heterogeneous catalyst is introduced for biodiesel production from soybean oil. Catalytic transesterification reaction was done to convert biodiesel from soybean oil using Marble slurry (MS) derived calcined marble slurry (CMS), and hydroxyapatite (HAP) as a heterogeneous catalyst. Marble slurry derived catalysts were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TGA with elemental analysis. Hammett indicator method and ion exchange method were also used to verify catalytic activities of the catalysts. The HAP provided the better biodiesel yield of 94 ± 1 % with the highest basicity (13.30 mmol/g) and basic strength than CMS under optimized reaction conditions: reaction temperature 65 °C; reaction time 3 h; methanol/oil molar ratio 9:1; and catalyst concentration 6 wt%. Reusability tests provide confirmation about the stability of the catalyst and slight fluctuations in catalytic activity and biodiesel yield when used up to five runs.

     

Transesterification for biodiesel production catalyzed by combined lipases: Optimization and kinetics

Preparation of biodiesel from waste cooking oil catalyzed by combined lipases in tert‐butanol medium was investigated. Several crucial parameters affecting biodiesel yield were optimized by response surface methodology, such as dosage of combined lipases of Novozym 435 and Lipozyme TLIM, weight ratio of Novozym 435 to Lipozyme TLIM, amount of tert‐butanol, reaction temperature, and molar ratio of oil to methanol. Under the optimized conditions, the highest biodiesel yield was up to 83.5% The proposed model on biodiesel yield had a satisfactory coefficient of R² (= 94.02%), and was experimentally verified. The combined lipases exhibited high‐operational stability. After 30 cycles (300 h) successively, the activity of combined lipases maintained 85% of its original activity. A reaction kinetic model was proposed to describe the system and deduced to be a pseudo‐first‐order reaction, and the calculated activation energy was 51.71 kJ/mol. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010     

Different process configurations for bioethanol production from pretreated olive pruning biomass

BACKGROUND: In Mediterranean countries, olive tree pruning provides a widely available renewable agricultural residue with, currently, no industrial application. This residue could provide feedstock for the bioethanol industry. In the present study, olive tree pruning biomass pretreated with both ‘liquid hot water’ and ‘dilute‐sulfuric acid’ was tested as a substrate for ethanol production. Three different process configurations, separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), simultaneous saccharification, fermentation and prehydrolysis (PSSF), and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), were compared at different water‐insoluble solids concentrations. RESULTS: High ethanol concentration of about 3.7% (v/v) was obtained by separate hydrolysis and fermentation or prehydrolysis and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of liquid hot water pretreated at 23% (w/w) substrate loading. CONCLUSION: The nature of the pretreated residue allows high substrate concentration (≥17% w/w) to be used in the enzymatic hydrolysis step. Substrate loading of 17% DM has been shown to provide a compromise between hydrolysis efficiency and glucose concentrations for the same enzyme/substrate ratio. Prehydrolysis prior to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation facilitated SSF performance at high substrate loading on liquid hot water pretreated olive pruning residue. This effect was not observed with dilute‐acid pretreated substrate. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

非均相法催化制备生物柴油的最新研究进展

非均相连续化工艺是生物柴油规模化工业生产的发展方向。多相催化剂的研制和新型工艺过程的开发一直是生物柴油领域的研究热点,也是实现生物柴油绿色、经济、高效生产的关键。分析了酯交换反应可能的反应机理,综述了国内外生物柴油非均相酸碱催化剂的最新研究进展,评述了多种固体酸碱催化剂在生物柴油的制备中优异的催化性能和存在的问题,介绍了多种新型多相生物柴油反应器及反应分离耦合工艺在生物柴油连续化制备中的应用,最后展望了生物柴油未来的发展前景,指出新型固体酸碱双功能催化剂与先进多相连续反应分离耦合工艺的开发将推动生物柴油领域不断发展。