Lecture – 32_Biofuels and

Biotechnology

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Grand challenges in bioenergy and biofuel research: engineering and technology development,
environmental impact, and sustainability , Frontiers in Energy research Chung 2013

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• Biomass includes a wide range of fuels such as wood,
agricultural crops, forest & agricultural residue, black liquor from
pulp industries & peat

• Biomass stored chemical energy, originally derived from energy

in sunlight

• Most biomass is living or dead plants, which use process of

photosynthesis to convert CO2 from air & water into
carbohydrates, which are source of chemical energy
What are bio fuels?

• Biofuels are source of energy just like fossil fuels but these are derived from
biomass

• Major bio-fuels are bio-ethanol and biodiesel

• Bio-ethanol was first used as an oxygen-containing additive for gasoline and

later also as a primary transportation fuel
Biomass conversion process

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Bio ethanol – most wider one
• Bio ethanol is produced from food crops, with about 75%
being produced from sugar crops,
• including sugarcane, sugar beet, and molasses; the remainder is mainly
produced from corn

• Process followed is fermentation of sugars using

microorganisms such as yeast

• Chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts,

or other microorganisms, typically converting sugar to
acids, gases, and/or alcohol is called as Fermentation

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Fermentation process

• Requirements include:
• Fermenter/ Reactor
• All necessary for reaction to occur (such as supply of
oxygen, sterilization, agitator, etc)

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Fermenters

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Fermenters

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Biodiesel: Bio fuel
• Biodiesel is a mixture of methyl or ethyl esters of fatty
acids (FAMEs and FAEEs).

• One of the route for production of biodiesel is:

• produced by catalytic trans esterification of vegetable oils with
low molecular weight alcohols such as methanol or ethanol

• preferred (homogeneous) catalysts are sodium hydroxide

(NaOH) and sodium methoxide (NaOCH3)

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Block diagram for biodiesel
production

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 Hydro deoxygenation
1. An alternative to transesterification is the catalytic hydro
deoxygenation (HDO) of vegetable oils by UOP/Eni Ecofining
process

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
 Hydrodeoxygenation
1. An alternative to transesterification is the catalytic
hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of vegetable oils by UOP/Eni
Ecofining process

2. Primary product is a diesel fraction consisting of branched

alkanes, referred to as green diesel or renewable diesel
3. Molecular structure of green diesel molecules is
indistinguishable from that of conventional oil-derived diesel
molecules

4. Co products include propane and naphtha, while carbon

oxides and water are formed as by-products

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Bio-based chemicals
• Bio-based industry could be envisioned based on a
small number of building blocks, so-called platform
molecules, derived from biomass components

• These molecules have multiple functional groups

and possess the potential to be transformed into
numerous commercially relevant value-added
chemicals

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Bio-based platform molecules

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Ethanol…

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Glycerol…

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Bio-based chemicals
• Growing production of biodiesel by transesterification of vegetable
oils with methanol or ethanol has led to the surplus production of
glycerol

• This observation has stimulated an immense research effort into

possible (new) uses

• Glycerol is an intermediate in the synthesis of a large number of

compounds used in industry

• Glycerol can be converted to synthesis gas by reforming

• Because the process operates at relatively low
temperature, reaction 7.2 is the most important reaction

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Bio-based chemicals
• Glycerol can be converted to synthesis gas by reforming

• This reaction takes place in the liquid phase and is termed “aqueous
phase reforming”
• Aqueous-phase reforming (APR) produces hydrogen from
biomass-derived oxygenated compounds such as glycerol and
sugars
• Advantages as compared to steam reforming of ethanol
• Firstly, the higher reactivity of glycerol allows the reforming process to
be carried out at milder temperatures (typically 470–550 K)
• Unwanted reactions are kinetically restrained under these conditions
• Process is more versatile and reaction conditions and catalysts can be
selected to transform concentrated aqueous solutions of glycerol into
either syngas or hydrogen-enriched streams by coupling the reforming
process with water–gas shift processes

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Revisiting -

1. Are bio based technologies being discussed as

chemical engineering processes?
2. What is the composition of biomass?
3. What are biomass conversion based processes?
4. What are biofuels?
5. Steps of synthesis for biodiesel production
6. Aqueous phase reforming
7. Transesterification reactions
8. Bio refinery concept

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All this lead to another new concept; Bio-refinery concept
• Objective of a bio refinery is to replace conventional fossil fuels
(crude oil, coal, and natural gas) and fossil-fuel products (mainly
gasoline, diesel, and syngas) with biofuels produced by biomass
upgrading

• Most important energy products that can be produced in bio

refineries include:

1. Gaseous biofuels (biogas, syngas, hydrogen, bio methane),

2. Liquid biofuels for transportation (bioethanol, biodiesel, Fischer–

Tropsch fuels, bio-oil), and

3. Solid biofuels (pellets, lignin, charcoal)

 Biotechnology
• Biotechnology now encompasses an array of sub disciplines,
such as microbiology, biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics.

• It has become possible to describe life processes now in great

depth at cellular and molecular level

• Just like chemical engineering, bioengineering includes kinetics,

transport phenomena, reactor design, and unit operations; it is
not surprising that chemical engineers contribute significantly to
the field

• It is frequently stated that biotechnology has a large potential for

the future.

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• However, a lot of progress has been made and already
today the life sciences affect over 30% of the global
economic turnover, mainly in the sectors of environment,
healthcare, food and energy, and agriculture and forestry.

• Biotechnology has enabled breakthroughs in the

manufacture of new pharmaceuticals and the development
of gene therapies for treatment of previously incurable
diseases.

• Biotechnology is also very important in solving

environmental problems, such as in wastewater treatment

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• Subsequently, underlying disciplines such as
transport phenomena, interface chemistry, and
chemical reaction engineering were emphasized

• More recently, integration has become more central,

as reflected in the acknowledgment of areas such as
chemical reaction engineering and process
integration.

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• In pure batch operation, the reactor is loaded with the
medium and inoculated with the microorganism.

• During fermentation the components of the medium

(carbon source, nutrients, vitamins, etc.) are consumed,
while the biomass grows and/or a product is formed.

• One of the main disadvantages of batch reactors is the

fact that loading, sterilizing, unloading, and cleaning of
the reactor results in non-productive time

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• Indeed, the classical batch system has been replaced to a
large extent, not with continuous but with fed-batch
operation

• Fed-batch operation is a combination of batch and

continuous operation

• In fed-batch operation, after the start-up of the batch

fermentation, substrate and possibly other components are
fed continuously or stepwise

• Fed-batch operation offers the possibility of better process

control
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• Fed-batch system has been developed further over the last
two decades
• For example, in repeated-fed batch systems periodic withdrawal
of 10–60% of the medium volume is applied

• Another more sophisticated fed-batch strategy is the cell-

retention system: the cells are retained in the reactor, while
liquid that contains products or compounds that are toxic to
the cells is continuously removed
• This is achieved by recycling part of the reactor contents
through a membrane that separates the cells from the
liquid

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Reactor types

• Fermentation reactors are nearly always multiphase

systems comprising a gas phase containing oxygen
and/or nitrogen, one or more liquid phases, and a solid
phase, including the microorganisms

• Based on the way of contacting the microorganisms with

the substrate (and air in the case of aerobic reactors), a
distinction can be made between reactors where the
microorganisms are mobile and reactors where they are
at a fixed position

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Bubble Column Reactor and
Air Lift Reactor
• Principle of both the bubble column reactor and the air lift reactor
is that mixing takes place solely by the dispersion of pressurized
air into the reactor

• Bubble column is the simplest reactor type and has long been
used in the chemical industry, because of its low investment and
operating costs, as well as its simple mechanical construction

• It is characterized by a large height-to-diameter ratio.

• Sparging air at the bottom of the reactor in most cases results in

sufficient mixing

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Surface reactors: Tray reactor

• Tray reactor is a classical surface reactor, in which the

microorganisms float on the substrate as a mycelium

• Substrate flows from the top to the bottom via overflow of

the liquid from one tray to another

• Application of this type of reactor is limited to cell

cultures that can form a coating that is sufficiently stable
to be reused

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Surface reactors: Trickle bed
reactors
• Trickle bed reactors (trickling filters) are frequently used in
the oil refining and chemical industries

• In trickle bed reactors, the microorganisms are attached

to the packing as a “biological film”

• Nutrient solution is evenly distributed through a feed device

and flows downward

• Flow of air is initiated by the fact that it is warmed by the

heat of fermentation and rises due to natural convection

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Surface reactors: Three-Phase
Fluidized Bed Reactor
• Use of fluidized bed reactors in biotechnology has increased
considerably in recent years

• They are mainly used with cells that are immobilized on

solid particles, for example, in wastewater treatment

• Fluidized bed reactors in biotechnology are operated with

one fluid phase (liquid, anaerobic) or two fluid phases (air
and liquid, aerobic)

• In addition to the general advantages of fluidized bed

reactors, such as the superior mass and heat transfer
characteristics and good mixing
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• In biotechnological applications a particular advantage
of this type of reactor is that it is suitable for cells that
are sensitive to shear stresses (animal and plant cells)

• Another advantage is that plugging of the reactor does

not occur as easily as in a fixed bed reactor

• Trickle bed reactors and fluidized bed reactors are

also referred to as biofilm reactors

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Oxygen Supply in Fermenters
• Oxygen supply to fermentation processes is often limited because of
its low solubility (approximately 7–8 g/m3)

• which depends on the type of substrate

• temperature
• oxygen partial pressure, and so on.

• Fast-growing microorganisms consume oxygen at a rate of between 2

and 6 g/m 3/s

• This explains why, even in batch processes, oxygen has to be fed

continuously

• In most aerobic fermentation processes; oxygen transfer from the

gas phase to the liquid phase is the limiting step
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• Oxygen transfer is enhanced by increasing
• the gas–liquid interfacial area, al, and/or the mass transfer
coefficient, kl, which are usually combined in one
parameter
• Main operation variables controlling this variable are the
intensity of mixing (power input) and the gas velocity

• Most fermentations are carried out in submerged reactors

• Surface reactors are used for applications that use slow-

growing organisms or for diluted feed (substrate) stream

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Oxygen Supply in Fermenters
• Characteristic design parameters for the major reactor types are
summarized in Table 13.1

• The most important design parameter of aerobic surface

reactors is the biofilm area per unit volume of reactor

• For high reactor capacities, oxygen transfer may become

limiting as a result of insufficient specific biofilm surface
area

• A typical value for the oxygen flux in surface reactors is 0.11–

0.14×10−3 g O2/(m2 biofilm·s)

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Sterilization
• The presence of contaminating microorganisms and the
changes upon infections in a bioprocess may have unfavorable
consequences,
• such as
• loss of productivity (the medium has to support the growth of
both the production organism and the contaminant), product
contamination (e.g., single-cell protein, bakers’ yeast),

• product degradation (antibiotic fermentations), and so on

• Sterilization practices for biotechnological media must
achieve maximum kill of contaminating microorganisms, with
minimum temperature damage to the components of the
medium

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• The most convenient method of sterilization is by heating to
a sufficiently high temperature to kill living organisms,

• maintaining that temperature long enough to achieve

sterility, and then cooling to culture temperature

• For materials liable to damage by heat sterilization,

• for example, some nutrient media, alternative methods
should be used, such as
• filtration, radiation, or treatment with a chemical
sterilization agent

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