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Exercise 9

The document outlines Exercise 9 for the PHYS-C6370 course, focusing on the production of ethanol from sucrose and barley starch. It includes calculations for ethanol yield, energy content, energy return on investment, and the impact of barley straw on energy recovery. Students are required to submit their answers by November 20, 2017.

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81 views2 pages

Exercise 9

The document outlines Exercise 9 for the PHYS-C6370 course, focusing on the production of ethanol from sucrose and barley starch. It includes calculations for ethanol yield, energy content, energy return on investment, and the impact of barley straw on energy recovery. Students are required to submit their answers by November 20, 2017.

Uploaded by

anhtri.journal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PHYS-C6370 Fundamentals of New Energy Sources (Fall 2017)

Exercise 9

Submit your answers by Monday 20.11.2017 at 14:15 via MyCourses. Address questions to
[email protected]

1. Demonstration
Ethanol (EtOH) can be used as a transportation biofuel with a lower heating value (LHV) of 26.8
MJ/kg. It can be produced for example from sugar beet or sugarcane through fermenting.
Fermentation of sucrose into ethanol: C12H22O11 + H2O → 4 CH3CH2OH + 4 CO2
a. How much ethanol can be produced from a ton of sucrose? What is the energy content of such
an amount of ethanol? Calculate the amount of water required and carbon dioxide formed.
b. Calculate the energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) of ethanol production assuming
that the energy input required for cultivation, processing, storage and distribution is in total
7.2 MJ/(kg EtOH) such as in Brazil where bio-ethanol is produced out of sugarcane.
2. Home Assignment
Production of ethanol (EtOH) from barley starch takes place through the following reactions:
Hydrolysis of starch into maltose: (C6H10O5) n + H2O → (C6H10O5) n-2 + C12H22O11
Fermentation of maltose into ethanol: C12H22O11 + H2O → 4 C2H5OH + 4 CO2
a. If one third of the current 2,100,000 tons per year barley crops in Finland were dedicated for
ethanol fuel production, which portion of our present 2200 million liter (1630 million kg)
yearly gasoline consumption would the amount of ethanol thus available correspond to? Con-
sider in your calculations that the average starch content of barley is about 62 wt.-%, and that
lower heating values (LHV) for 95E gasoline and ethanol are 42.2 MJ/kg and 26.8 MJ/kg
respectively.
b. For every 1 kg of barley it is possible to collect 300 grams of barley straw with an LHV of
13.6 MJ/kg. Harvesting and transportation of straw takes up 0.4 MJ/kg of energy. How much
energy/(kg EtOH) can be recovered by burning the straw of barley used for ethanol production
in a combined heat and power plant with a total plant efficiency of 75 %?
c. It has been estimated that the total energy consumption associated with barley ethanol pro-
duction in Finland consists of cultivation (10.4 MJ/(kg EtOH)), processing (14.7 MJ/(kg
EtOH)), and storage and distribution (0.7 MJ/(kg EtOH)). Calculate the energy returned on
energy invested (EROEI) of bio-ethanol produced from barley taking into account the energy
obtained from straw. Based on the EROEI, is bio-ethanol production energy-efficient in our
conditions?
d. Recalculate the EROEI assuming that leftover barley mash from ethanol production can be
used to replace soy-based fodder imported from USA. Approximately 1.7 tons of fodder can
be obtained as a side-product of one ton ethanol. Barley mash fodder contains 78 % of the
nutrient content as compared to soy-based fodder. Cultivation and transport of one kg of soy-
based fodder consumes approximately 5.2 MJ of energy. You can assume that there is no
difference in energy consumption whether processing barley mash or soy into a kilogram of
fodder.

barley

starch straw

mash ethanol

fodder fuel heat

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