Biobutanol as fuel

Biobutanol is a an alcoholic (bio)fuel that can be used as a direct gasoline substitute in unmodified internal combustion engines.

Butanol is far less corrosive than ethanol and can be shipped and distributed through existing pipelines and filling stations. Butanol solves the safety problems associated with the infrastructure of the hydrogen supply. Reformed butanol has four more hydrogen atoms than ethanol, resulting in a higher energy output and is used as a fuel cell fuel. Butanol is an industrial commodity, with a 370 million gallons per year market with a selling price of $3.75 per gallon.

Butanol is a pure alcohol with an energy content similar to that of gasoline.
It does not have to be stored in high pressure vessels like natural gas, and can be but does not have to be blended (10 to 100 percent) with any fossil fuel.
Butanol can be transported through existing pipelines for distribution.
Butanol can help solve the hydrogen distribution infrastructure problems faced with fuel cell development.
can be blended with petrodiesel and with vegetable oils (where it also reduces the gel temperature point and the viscosity) to produce biodiesel. Consequently, butanol is a very versatile fuel and fuel extender in both gasoline and diesel engines.

Biobutanol is superior to ethanol in its lower vapor pressure and increased water contamination tolerance.^{[verification needed]} ^{[verification needed]}

What Is Biobutanol?[edit | edit source]

Biobutanol, like ethanol, is part of the bioalcohol group of fuels. However, it differs in its molecular structure, allowing it to be blended with gasoline at higher concentrations without requiring engine modifications. This property gives biobutanol a key advantage over ethanol, which can corrode engines at higher blends and often requires infrastructure upgrades.

Biobutanol is typically produced by fermenting biomass using specific bacterial strains, most commonly Clostridium acetobutylicum. The process, known as acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation, yields biobutanol, acetone, and ethanol as co-products, making the entire process more economically viable.

Production[edit | edit source]

Biobutanol can be produced using the A.B.E. process which uses the bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum. It can also be made using Ralstonia eutropha H16. This process requires the use of a electro-bioreactor and the input of carbon dioxide and electricity.^[1]^[2]

Biobutanol is produced from sugar beets, corn, sorghum, wheat, sugar cane, and cassava. It can be used as is or blended with gasoline and ethanol. Biobutanol is produced from sugar beets, corn, sorghum, wheat, sugar cane, and cassava.

The production of biobutanol is good for farmers because it supports the production of agriculture feedstocks that are used in biofuel production.

Benefits of Biobutanol as Fuel[edit | edit source]

One of the key benefits of biobutanol is its higher energy content compared to other biofuels, such as ethanol. Biobutanol’s energy content is about 85-90% of that of gasoline, whereas ethanol has approximately 70%. This means vehicles running on biobutanol blends can travel further on the same amount of fuel.

Projects[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

Page data
Authors	Rasmus, KVDP
License	CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language	English (en)
Translations	Ukrainian, Chinese
Related	2 subpages, 4 pages link here
Aliases	Butanol fuel
Impact	216 page views (more)
Created	June 3, 2012 by Rasmus
Last modified	October 14, 2024 by StandardWikitext bot
Cite as	Rasmus, KVDP (2012–2024). "Biobutanol as fuel". Appropedia. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
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[1] Biobutanol production from CO²

[2] ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biobutanol#Technologies

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