| Project Owner... |
Earth Energy Renewables
|
| Project name |
former Terrabon Energy Independence I
|
| Status |
operational
|
| Startup |
2009
|
| Country |
United States
|
| Street |
Mumford Road
|
| City |
Bryan
|
| ZIP |
77807
|
| State |
Texas
|
| Type |
TRL 6-7 Demonstration
|
| Technology |
Fermentation
|
| Raw Material |
lignocellulosics
|
| Input 1 |
municipal solid waste, sewage sludge, manure, agricultural residues and non-edible energy crops (5 t/d)
|
| Output 1 |
mixed alcohols (120 t/y
)
|
| Total Investment |
USD 3,000,000
|
| Partners |
Waste Management; Valero Energy
|
| Technology Brief |
The MixAlco® technology converts biomass to biofuel using carboxylic acid fermentation followed by conventional chemistry that processes the resulting carboxylic salts into valuable chemicals that can be further refined through separate, well-established processes in the chemical industry to produce renewable biofuels. The technology uses conventional non-sterile, anaerobic digestion with standard processing equipment, resulting in competitive capital and operating costs. Depending on the lignin content, the biomass can be pretreated before being fed to a mixed culture of acid-forming microorganisms derived from a saline environment. An organic acid broth is created, which is then converted to its corresponding organic salt with a buffer used to manage pH at the optimal biological conditions. The carboxylate salts are filtered, dewatered, concentrated, and then thermally converted to ketones. During ketonization, the salts decompose into mixed ketone vapors and carbonates. Conventional chemical process technology is used to convert the residual purified ketones into secondary alcohols through hydrogenation. The hydrogenated alcohols then undergo oligomerization and further conversion and purification to produce a drop-in fuel (conventional gasoline, diesel, and/or jet fuel).
|
Last Update: 2020-01-08 15:44:59
