05-25-2006, 01:38 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanol
Butanol is a higher alcohol with a 4 carbon atom structure and a general formula of C4H10O. There are 4 different isomeric structures for butanol (refer to box).
These butanol isomers, due to their different structures, have somewhat different melting and boiling points. All are moderately miscible in water, less so than ethanol, and more so than the higher (longer carbon chain) alcohols. Like most alcohols, butanol is poisonous.
Uses
Butanol sees use as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical and textile processes, as a paint thinner, as well as a component of hydraulic and brake fluids. It is also used as a base for perfumes, but on its own has a highly alcoholic aroma.
Butanol may also be used as a direct fuel in any standard internal combustion engine engineered for gasoline usage (such as a modern automobile). Butanol is reported to yield 36,000 kJ/kg (15,500 BTU/lb) when burned. This can be expressed volumetrically as 29,200 kJ/l (104,800 BTU/US gal). This means that switching a petrol engine over to butanol only results in a fuel consumption penalty of 10% without engine modification. But as butanol's octane rating is 25% higher than petrol's, increasing the compression accordingly could make 25% more power and >10% more mileage than petrol.
Production
Butanol can be produced by fermentation of biomass with the bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum, also known as the Weizmann organism, as it was Chaim Weizmann who first used this bacteria for the production of acetone from starch to make TNT in 1916. The butanol was a side effect of this fermentation (twice as much butanol was produced). The process also creates a recoverable amount of H2.
Most butanol consumed in the United States is currently produced commercially by derivative from fossil fuels. However, a recent advance in fermentation techniques may change the feedstock of butanol in America from petrochemical to biomass in the coming years. David Ramey of Ohio and his company, Environmental Energy, inc. have developed a two stage fermentation process.
In this process, biomass feedstock is first fed to the bacteria Clostridium tyrobutyricum, where a large percentage is converted into butyric acid and hydrogen. In the second process, the butyric acid is fed to the bacteria Clostridium acetobutylicum, where it is converted into butanol. Ramey has claimed a 42% butanol yield from this process.
Comparitively, in Ramey's process, a bushel of corn (maize) produces 2.5 US gallons (370 l/Mg), as opposed to 1.3 US gallons per bushel (190 l/Mg)in a traditional fermitive process. At 2.5 US gallons per bushel, Ramey's anaerobic fermentation process produces a comparable volume of butanol as compared to the same volume of ethanol produced from a bushel of corn in the traditional fermentative process.
...
I mention this on another forum an someone mentioned this
"FWIW, Butanol has a RON of 113 and MON of 94, so it would score 103.5 on the USA AKI method of "octane" listing. That's "only" about 19% higher than 87 octane, and 11% higher than 93 octane, but still, that's a big improvement. I'd love to see the stuff catch on too"
pretty cool ehh?
Butanol is a higher alcohol with a 4 carbon atom structure and a general formula of C4H10O. There are 4 different isomeric structures for butanol (refer to box).
These butanol isomers, due to their different structures, have somewhat different melting and boiling points. All are moderately miscible in water, less so than ethanol, and more so than the higher (longer carbon chain) alcohols. Like most alcohols, butanol is poisonous.
Uses
Butanol sees use as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical and textile processes, as a paint thinner, as well as a component of hydraulic and brake fluids. It is also used as a base for perfumes, but on its own has a highly alcoholic aroma.
Butanol may also be used as a direct fuel in any standard internal combustion engine engineered for gasoline usage (such as a modern automobile). Butanol is reported to yield 36,000 kJ/kg (15,500 BTU/lb) when burned. This can be expressed volumetrically as 29,200 kJ/l (104,800 BTU/US gal). This means that switching a petrol engine over to butanol only results in a fuel consumption penalty of 10% without engine modification. But as butanol's octane rating is 25% higher than petrol's, increasing the compression accordingly could make 25% more power and >10% more mileage than petrol.
Production
Butanol can be produced by fermentation of biomass with the bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum, also known as the Weizmann organism, as it was Chaim Weizmann who first used this bacteria for the production of acetone from starch to make TNT in 1916. The butanol was a side effect of this fermentation (twice as much butanol was produced). The process also creates a recoverable amount of H2.
Most butanol consumed in the United States is currently produced commercially by derivative from fossil fuels. However, a recent advance in fermentation techniques may change the feedstock of butanol in America from petrochemical to biomass in the coming years. David Ramey of Ohio and his company, Environmental Energy, inc. have developed a two stage fermentation process.
In this process, biomass feedstock is first fed to the bacteria Clostridium tyrobutyricum, where a large percentage is converted into butyric acid and hydrogen. In the second process, the butyric acid is fed to the bacteria Clostridium acetobutylicum, where it is converted into butanol. Ramey has claimed a 42% butanol yield from this process.
Comparitively, in Ramey's process, a bushel of corn (maize) produces 2.5 US gallons (370 l/Mg), as opposed to 1.3 US gallons per bushel (190 l/Mg)in a traditional fermitive process. At 2.5 US gallons per bushel, Ramey's anaerobic fermentation process produces a comparable volume of butanol as compared to the same volume of ethanol produced from a bushel of corn in the traditional fermentative process.
...
I mention this on another forum an someone mentioned this
"FWIW, Butanol has a RON of 113 and MON of 94, so it would score 103.5 on the USA AKI method of "octane" listing. That's "only" about 19% higher than 87 octane, and 11% higher than 93 octane, but still, that's a big improvement. I'd love to see the stuff catch on too"
pretty cool ehh?
