Cellulosic fuel ethanol plant begins production
Designer bugs convert synthesis gas to ethanol without use of food-based feedstocks.
Peter Welander -- Control Engineering, 10/20/2009
 The new facility demonstrates scalability to 100 million gallon plants. |
Coskata Inc., has started production of fuel ethanol at its new semi-commercial plant in Madison, PA. This facility is designed to demonstrate the company's new flex-ethanol process, that is able to manufacture ethanol from virtually any cellulose-based feedstock, ranging from sustainable energy crops to construction waste.
"We are proud that we have successfully scaled our technology to this significant level," says Bill Roe, president and CEO of Coskata. "This facility is demonstrating that our efficient, affordable, and flexible conversion technology is ready for commercialization. The next step is to build full-scale facilities and begin licensing our technology to project developers, project financiers, and strategic partners."
Coskata's facility will be producing ethanol from numerous feedstocks, including wood biomass, agricultural waste, sustainable energy crops, and construction waste. This flexible approach is enabled by Westinghouse Plasma
 The new plant uses proprietary microorganisms to create ethanol. |
Corporation (WPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Alter NRG, and their plasma gasification technology. The process uses a three-step conversion that centers around designer microorganisms:
1. Gasification: Heat breaks chemical bonds in the feedstock and completely converts organic matter into synthesis gas (syngas), primarily a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide. The syngas passes through a scrubber to remove particulates, providing recoverable energy in the cooling process.
2. Fermentation: The syngas is sent to a proprietary bioreactor where patented microorganisms consume both carbon monoxide and hydrogen, simultaneously. As the syngas passes through the bioreactor, the microorganisms consume it as food and create ethanol. Ethanol and water then exit the bioreactor.
3. Separation: Ethanol is separated from the water using traditional distillation or membrane permeation. Water is recycled back into the bioreactor, contributing to the process' conservation advantages. The final result is fuel-grade ethanol.
Coskata's technology, as demonstrated through Project Lighthouse, will be able to reduce greenhouse gasses by as much as 96% over conventional gasoline, while using less than half the water that it takes to get a gallon of gasoline. In addition, the company's ethanol is as much as seven-times as energy positive as the fossil fuel used in the process, addressing many inefficiency concerns related to traditional grain-based approaches.
The specific biological fermentation technology used in the process is ethanol-specific and enzyme independent, contributing to high energy conversion rates and ethanol yields. Coskata says the process requires no additional chemicals or pre-treatments, which streamlines operational costs and should allow it to compete directly with conventional gasoline without long-term government subsidies.
"The integrated biorefinery - utilizing Westinghouse Plasma Gasification on the front end and Coskata's syngas-to-biofuels conversion process on the back end - serves as an excellent example of two companies working together to deliver a viable process to the biofuel market," said Mark Montemurro, president and CEO of Alter NRG. "We're excited to be delivering the feedstock flexibility to Coskata's efficient and affordable process."
The facility is a demonstration of minimum-scale engineering, which means it is the smallest size that will still allow the company to scale directly to 50 and 100 million gallon per year facilities. A portion of the fuel produced at the new facility will be provided to General Motors for use at its Milford Proving Grounds to advance flex-fuel engine technology.
--Peter Welander, process industries editor.
-
This is good to see. Considering that the bacteria that make this work were only discovered and tweaked about 3-4 years ago its moving right along. I didn't catch if they were using a molecular sleeve instead of distillation but when they combine the two this becomes a very cost effective renewable fuel made from garbage and lawn clippings. Have seen the same thing with the claims about using food stock etc and old fermenting and distillation process. This is a few years improved on that. We've been working on ethanol fuel cells for the past 5 years because we saw this and a few other things coming.
Dave - 2009-2-11 14:30:14 CST -
@Come on Ethanol:
Ya right the usa is the greatest country in the world. Only problem is according to the WHO we are number 37 in the world for health care. We have the highest infant mortality rate of all western industrial nations. Keep repeating your own propaganda you might eventually believe it yourself but you won't convince anyone else except the Joe Six packs out there.
Paul Mannstein - 2009-27-10 15:53:03 CDT -
Hey Chip, relax fella', the first paragraph clearly states that this plant is designed to "demonstrate" the process. I do agree with you in that I would much rather have my tax bailout money go to the ethanol producers as a subsidy, than to GM, the banks and insurance companies. We have approximately 3 years to wait...
Richard
Richard Haney - 2009-27-10 12:29:19 CDT -
I am all for Coskata suceeding in making Cellulosic Ethanol, but your headline is misleading. They did not beging plant production. They opened another demo plant. Its time for Coskata to put up or shut up. Same thing with Verenium. The Cowardly Obamanistas need to step up to the plate and begin offering a $1 - $2 credit for each gallon of E85; that way people will buy more Flex Fuel vehicles and they will begin using E85. Its a win-win situation for everybody. The greens are happy because we use more Ethanol. The red, white and blue patriots are happy becuase we use less oil from the middle East. Maybe the Sugarcane people from my state of Louisiana will get off their duffs and start producing Clean Sugarcane based Ethanol.
Chip Daigle - 2009-21-10 21:05:03 CDT -
Come on! Let's dial in on this and make it happen. I'm tired of reading the nay sayers comments based on old techniques and statistics. This technology is very exciting.
I don't care what anyone says, this is the best country in the world. Don't agree? Take your a** and your conspiracy theories somewhere else. USA, USA, USA...
Come on Ethanol - 2009-20-10 21:32:17 CDT
Now's the time to buy an ethanol plant
04/09/2009Sweetening Ethanol, Sugar Mix
08/31/2008Whither ethanol?
02/09/2010
View All Webcasts
