Project number
25069
Organization
UA Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Offering
ENGR498-F2024-S2025
Ethanol is a renewable energy source commonly used as a fuel and fuel additive in cars. Currently, ethanol is not produced or used on a large enough scale to challenge fossil fuels’ dominance. This is largely due to its technically challenging and inefficient production process, which results in lower energy density, higher production cost and limited availability.
The team identified a method of converting agricultural waste into bioethanol that improves efficiency and sustainability. The goal was to find a solution that simultaneously addresses the harmful emissions produced by fossil fuel consumption and the wasteful disposal of agricultural byproducts.
The proposed process serves as an outlet for 82,500 metric tons of corn waste annually sourced from farms in southeastern Nebraska. The stover – leftover inedible material – undergoes pretreatment, where a rolling disc mill physically breaks it down, then a steam explosion further breaks down lignin. The cellulose and hemicellulose contained in the treated stover are then hydrolyzed into glucose and xylose. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or baker’s yeast, then ferments this mixture to produce ethanol in an aqueous solution. Finally, this solution passes through a series of distillation columns and a molecular sieve. The final product is fuel-grade ethanol.
The team identified a method of converting agricultural waste into bioethanol that improves efficiency and sustainability. The goal was to find a solution that simultaneously addresses the harmful emissions produced by fossil fuel consumption and the wasteful disposal of agricultural byproducts.
The proposed process serves as an outlet for 82,500 metric tons of corn waste annually sourced from farms in southeastern Nebraska. The stover – leftover inedible material – undergoes pretreatment, where a rolling disc mill physically breaks it down, then a steam explosion further breaks down lignin. The cellulose and hemicellulose contained in the treated stover are then hydrolyzed into glucose and xylose. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or baker’s yeast, then ferments this mixture to produce ethanol in an aqueous solution. Finally, this solution passes through a series of distillation columns and a molecular sieve. The final product is fuel-grade ethanol.