Britney Blanchard Advisor: Dr. Junkun Ma ET 494 Final Presentation.

BIOMASS ETHANOL

PRODUCTIONBritney Blanchard

Advisor: Dr. Junkun Ma

ET 494 Final Presentation

PROJECT OVERVIEW Main Goal: To produce ethanol from biomass in

the most efficient and cost effective way. Build and test a small prototype of the large

scale biomass ethanol production plant that Southeastern wants to build on campus

Research the individual processes and their components to find the best combination to produce ethanol that is efficient and cost effective

Compile a materials list and build the prototype Perform experiments and collect data to

determine the best route.

Pretreatment: Breaks Cellulose into Sugar

Fermentation: Turns Sugars to Ethanol Distillation: Separates Ethanol from

Mixture

BLOCK DIAGRAM

PRETREATMENT EXPERIMENT EXAMPLES

FERMENTATION EXPERIMENT EXAMPLES

MATERIALS

Chemicals: Sulfuric Acid Tryptone Sodium Chloride Yeast Extract Potassium Hydroxide Safety Equipment: Lab Coat Safety Goggles Acid Resistant Gloves Oven Gloves

Equipment: 1000mL Beaker Graduated Beaker Set Graduated Cylinder

Set Thermometer Glass Stir Rods 1000mL Distillation Kit Hot Plate Hot Plate Stirrer Magnetic Stir Bar (3)Lab Scoop Glass trough Glass Fiber Filter Digital Scale Electric Autoclave Deionize Water Filter

PROBLEM Material ordered Some damaged

DILUTING THE SULFURIC ACID

PRETREATMENT

PRETREATMENT

FERMENTATION

DISTILLATION

PURE ETHANOL

DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS FOR LARGE SCALE PLANT:Pretreatment: Mixture needs to be surrounded with heat when

heating by using an oven or oven-like device To make diluted sulfuric acid, be sure to add the

acid to the water Add as much grass as possible to the diluted

acid, but be sure that all the grass is submergedFermentation: Autoclave the mixture to assure it is sterilizedDistillation: Setup needs to have a short path to assure the

condensed liquid will travel to a separate container

SPRING 2012 TIMELINE/DELIVERABLES 9-10 weeks: Multiple trial experiments

performed, data collected, and improvements made to produce optimal process

3 weeks: Compile list of design specifications for the large scale production plant

Now that the route runs smoothly, variables intend to check:

Time Temperature Chemical Concentrations

QUESTIONS?