promotum

1 Butanol as Fuel – View From the Field NREL March 11, 2010 Sam Nejame Promotum 2 Agenda • What is Butanol? • Brief History • ABE Process • Today’s Butanol From Petroleum • The Future of Butanol Fuels • Questions 3 What is Butanol? • Family of 4 Carbon Alcohols • Most common forms are normal butanol (n-buoh) and iso-butanol (i-buoh) • n-buoh primarily used to make butyl acrylates for coatings and adhesives • Both n-buoh and iso-buoh have good fuel properties Butanol Physical & Fuel Properties 4 Physical Property i-butanol n-butanol Ethanol         !"#$% &!   '$ ()*$#+,- ./ 0/ / 12' 103.5 87 112 3145100 F)⁰ 1 5.0 4.3 18-22 Promotum, Gevo 5 Summary Comparison Butanol to Ethanol Fuel • Higher energy content • Less hydrophilic • More compatible w/oil infrastructure • More compatible w/installed base of autos • Reduces blend vapor pressure • Less corrosive • Iso-butanol works well with gasoline • n-butanol works well with diesel 6 Butanol a Brief History • Acetone, Butanol, Ethanol (ABE) Process • First Industrial Fermentation Commercialized (1918) • Clostridium acetobutylicum bacteria • Acetone for Cordite • Later butanol for butyl paint & coatings (1930’s) • RAF planes flew on butanol during WWII • Petroleum based production becomes cheaper (1950s) 7 ABE Fermentation Reaction Kinetics Ramey & Yang 8 • Toxicity to the organism • Low product concentrations • Low yield Problems w/Traditional ABE Process 9 Butanol Production From Petroleum (1950s-Present) • Production of Butanol by oxo Alcohol Process • Players & Market Share • US & Global Manufacturing Capacity • Price history of butanol, ethanol, gasoline 10 Butanol Production From the oxo Process Metex • Global market for nbuoh is 3.8 M mtons/Yr • Global iso-buoh is ~ 0.4 M mtons/Yr [...]... Evangelow Gorden Cheng Jay Kouba Hans Blachek Adam Schubert Ron Bray Chemical Strategies ChemaLogic Tetra Vitae University of Illinois-Urbana Butamax SRI Consulting 22 Thank You Sam Nejame Promotum 617.576.9084 Sam @Promotum. com Twitter.com/renewables 23 ... MM gpy new capacity "Well known bacteria“ Clostridium 18 Bio-Butanol Projecting the 3rd Wave Green Biologics 19 Bio Iso-Butanol Fuel Commercialization Forecast -$6bn chemicals - Promotum 20 Thoughts on Butanol Adoption 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pricing/Economics have to work Markets for butanol, petroleum and sugar feedstocks change daily Avoid Food v Fuel Round II Butanol is a better alcohol, . 1 Butanol as Fuel – View From the Field NREL March 11, 2010 Sam Nejame Promotum 2 Agenda • What is Butanol? • Brief History • ABE Process • Today’s Butanol From. '$ ()*$#+,- ./ 0/ / 12' 103.5 87 112 3145100 F)⁰ 1 5.0 4.3 18-22 Promotum, Gevo 5 Summary Comparison Butanol to Ethanol Fuel • Higher energy content • Less hydrophilic • . '!+*! !3+:A B!+ '#3# !7 ''5 !3+:AM !+$3:A 330.'' 5&5 19 Green Biologics Bio-Butanol Projecting the 3 rd Wave 20 Promotum Bio Iso-Butanol Fuel Commercialization Forecast $6bn chemicals