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Butanol as Fuel – View From the Field

Butanol as Fuel – View From the Field. NREL March 11, 2010 Sam Nejame Promotum. 1. Agenda . What is Butanol? Brief History ABE Process Today ’ s Butanol From Petroleum The Future of Butanol Fuels Questions. 2. What is Butanol?. Family of 4 Carbon Alcohols

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Butanol as Fuel – View From the Field

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  1. Butanol as Fuel – View From the Field NREL March 11, 2010 Sam Nejame Promotum 1

  2. Agenda • What is Butanol? • Brief History • ABE Process • Today’s Butanol From Petroleum • The Future of Butanol Fuels • Questions 2

  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 3

  4. Physical Property i-butanol n-butanol Ethanol Density at 20°C (g/cm³)‏ 0.802 0.810 0.794 Boiling Point at 1 atm (⁰C)‏ 108 118 78 Water Solubility at 20⁰C (g/100mL water)‏ 8.0 7.7 Miscible Net Heat of Combustion (BTU/gal)‏ 95,000 93,000 80,000 R+M/2 103.5 87 112 Blend RVP (psi at 100⁰F) 1 5.0 4.3 18-22 Butanol Physical & Fuel Properties Promotum, Gevo 4

  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 5

  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)‏ 6

  7. ABE Fermentation Reaction Kinetics Ramey & Yang 7

  8. Problems w/Traditional ABE Process • Toxicity to the organism • Low product concentrations • Low yield 8

  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 9

  10. Butanol Production From the oxo Process • Global market for nbuoh is 3.8 M mtons/Yr • Global iso-buoh is ~ 0.4 M mtons/Yr Metex 10

  11. Market Share of Leading n-Butanol Producers Metex 11

  12. Global Butanol Industry Capacity - Facility Cost Curve Butanol Cash Cost ($ / mton)‏ Cumulative Capacity (K mtons)‏ Source: Tetra Vitae, SRI; company analysis Assumptions: $70 oil, range of feedstock cost 12

  13. Domestic Butanol Production DOMESTIC DEMAND exports Butanol Cash Cost ($ / mt)‏ Cumulative Capacity (K mtons)‏ Source: Tetra Vitae, SRI; company analysis Assumptions: $70 Oil 13

  14. Chemical Strategies, Inc. 14

  15. The Future of Bio-Butanol Fuels • “Our goal is to build a supply chain from lignocellulose to butanol.” • Tony Hayward, CEO British Petroleum 15

  16. Summary Bio-Butanol Process Goals • Power & Price of Biotechnology Tools... systems biology, pathway engineering... • Over expression butanol • Suppression of other pathways • Organism tolerance • Improving yield • Increasing productivity (rate)‏ • Flexible feedstocks 16

  17. Company Bug Bug Strategy Molecule Fermentation Process Separation Strategy Development Status Gevo Yeast GMO UCLA Valine metabolism iso-buoh Semi batch vacuum flash in situ removal followed by distillation trains 2010 Operating pilot in St. Johns, MO. 2011 Commercial Cobalt Biofuels Clostridium Non GMO strain reduced etoh and acetone n-buoh for blending w/gasoline, diesel, jet Continuous modified ABE Fermentation vapor compression distillation 2010 pilot 10-35k gpy 2011 demo 2-5m gpy 2012 commercial Tetra Vitae Clostridium beijerinckii Non GMO selected for reduced etoh production n-buoh and acetone 2:1 Semi batch "AB" Fermentation Carbon dioxide stripping continuous in situ removal followed by distillation trains 2009 300 liter bench 2010 10,000 liter pilot Butyl Fuel Clostridiums Aceto & tyro GMO & mutant strain n-buoh Continuous two stage dual path anaerobic fermentation stripping following immobilized cell bioreactors Unknown Syngas Biofuels Energy Fermentation of Syngas GMO n-buoh Thermochemical catalyst NA Unknown Status Domestic Butanol Companies 17

  18. Company Bug Bug Strategy Molecule Fermentation Process Separation Strategy Development Status Butamax (DuPont/BP)‏ 1.Clostridium 2.E.Coli GMOs iso-buoh Semi batch continuous in situ removal followed by distillation trains 2010 Salt End Hull, UK 2013 Commercial Additional Feedstocks 2013+ Green Biologics (UK)‏ Clostridium. Mixed populations GMOs high tolerance (4%)‏ n-buoh Continuous fermentation In situ removal unknown. Building demo in India. Consulting w/Chinese firms Metex (FR)‏ "Well known bacteria“ GMOs n-buoh Unkown In situ removal unknown. Unknown Butalco (Switzerland)‏ Yeast GMOs unclear Unkown In situ removal unknown. Unknown China Clostridium Currently selected strain. Migrating to GMOs n-buoh Migrating from traditional ABE Fermentation. May include in situ removal 2010 100MM gpy traditional ABE. 201X migration beyond ABE. Plans to add 350 MM gpy new capacity. Status International Butanol Companies 18

  19. Bio-Butanol Projecting the 3rd Wave 19 Green Biologics

  20. Bio Iso-Butanol Fuel Commercialization Forecast ---$6bn chemicals------------------------------------------------- 20 Promotum

  21. 1 Pricing/Economics have to work Markets for butanol, petroleum and sugar feedstocks change daily. 2 Avoid Food v. Fuel Round II Butanol is a better alcohol, but for now corn is still the feedstock 3 Tax credits, biorefinery grants, loan guarantees Need to be extended to butanol. Government and private investment are necc. 4 Enlist/Co-exist w/current ethanol producers Infighting will slow production & adoption. Oil companies like BP (Butamax) may not be politically correct market driver. 5 Autos/Engine makers must approve May be catalytic converter issues. Manufacturer's warrantees essential. 6 Consumer education Higher energy content means a gallon isn't a gallon. Odor maybe a problem. 7 Technology improvements must continue Anything beyond ethanol is new territory at this scale Thoughts on Butanol Adoption 21

  22. Acknowledgements • Jim Evangelow Chemical Strategies • Gorden Cheng ChemaLogic • Jay Kouba Tetra Vitae • Hans Blachek University of Illinois-Urbana • Adam Schubert Butamax • Ron Bray SRI Consulting 22

  23. Thank You Sam Nejame Promotum 617.576.9084 Sam@Promotum.com Twitter.com/renewables 23

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