Glycerol-based isobutanol

About the project

In the pursuit of renewable fuels alternatives, several “drop-in” gasoline replacements are discussed. The most common one is ethanol, but in this list isobutanol is a good candidate. The fuel has excellent properties with respect to energy density, Reid vapour pressure and is covered by existing fuels standards.

In this application, the integration of a thermochemical isobutanol pathway into a traditional petrorefinery is investigated. The starting material for the process is a side-product from the first generation biofuels production such as ethanol and biodiesel production. By integrating the process into an existing production facility, the project estimates the savings with respect to energy and feedstock as well as the environmental impact of the process.

Photo: FreeImages.com/Luciano Tirabassi