Corn for Hydrocarbons

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Add-on technology developed for corn ethanol plants

Rather than retrofitting a corn-ethanol plant to produce i-butanol, n-butanol or use other novel fermentation technologies, three companies are collaborating to turn a traditional ethanol plant into a true biorefinery producing multiple fuels and coproducts.

Luca Zullo, principal of VerdeNero LLC outlined a vision incorporating work that his company, JetE LLC and Gas Reaction Technologies Inc. have done towards expanding the ethanol industry past the limiting factor of the blend wall to produce ethanol and distillers grains as well as drop-in replacement fuels and chemicals.

...Two additional technologies could be added to an existing ethanol plant, one of which is commercially ready now and the second is development.

JetE, a St. Paul, Minn.-based company, converts low quality corn oil from the ethanol plant, as well as waste vegetable oils and fats when available, into drop-in paraffinic green diesel and green jet fuel. Zullo called it a simple process to make better biodiesel than biodiesel. “We are ready for commercial deployment,” he added.

Technology from Santa Barbara, Calif.-based GRT uses ethanol as the feedstock to produce hydrocarbon fuel.

...First, the JetE and GRT technologies can use waste heat from the ethanol plant. Water can also be recycled in the process. Finally, on average, the integrated biorefinery produces more energy per bushel of corn.

He also pointed out problems with retrofitting ethanol plants for i-butanol, n-butanol, alkanes and other novel fermentation technologies. It’s uncertain if these products will be accepted in the marketplace, he said. It’s more complex to produce these fuels for them to become a real drop-in fuel and their value and pricing is unclear at this time. In addition, these technologies are highly proprietary and costly. Although distillers grains are produced, it’s likely this source of revenue will be lost, Zullo said, due to the toxicity of the fuels produced and the use of genetically modified organisms. READ MORE and MORE (Biodiesel Magazine)