Science at the Edge
Engineering Seminar

Robert C. Brown
Iowa State University

The current generation of biofuels is based on grain ethanol and biodiesel from soybeans or other high-oil content plants. However, it is unlikely that corn and oil seeds can provide more than a small fraction of world-wide demand for transportation fuels, displacing no more than about 15 billion gallons of gasoline in the United States . The new federal Renewable Fuel Standard is 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. Cellulosic biofuels is expected to make up much of the difference.

Much of the discussion about advanced biofuels centers around cellulosic ethanol, assumed to be produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose into monosaccharides that can be fermented into ethanol. In fact, a number of advanced biofuels are possible including hydrogen, butanol, methanol, mixed alcohols, esters, ethers, Fischer-Tropsch liquids using thermochemical processes. Accordingly, it may be too early to select the “advantaged molecule(s)” for use as advanced biofuels or the processes by which to produce these future fuels.

This presentation considers three thermochemical pathways to biofuels: gasification, fast pyrolysis, and hydrothermal processing and the advantages and disadvantages of each. In instances where relatively complete techno-economic data is available the various processes are compared in terms of optimal size, capital costs, and operating costs.

BIO: Dr. Robert C. Brown is Anson Marston Distinguished Professor and the Bergles Professor in Thermal Science at Iowa State University . Prof. Brown holds appointments in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. He is director of the Bioeconomy Institute and the Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies. His personal research interests are thermochemical processes for the conversion of biomass into heat, power, and fuels. Prof. Brown is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering.

For further information please contact Prof. Bruce Dale, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at bdale@egr.msu.edu

Persons with disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation. Please call the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at 355-5135 at least one day prior to the seminar; requests received after this date will be met when possible.