Bio-butanol from food wastes – fermentative production, use as biofuel an the influence on the emissions

摘要

Due to rising prices of fossil energy sources renewable energy sources and biofuels gain in importance.Butanol as fuel or blending component has some advantages compared to ethanol. For example a lowervapour pressure and higher energy density. The production of butanol in a microbial fermentation was firstreported by Pasteur in 1861. Wastes from the food industry can be excellent substrates for fermentative fuelproduction. Whey is an excellent substrate for ABE fermentation because of its high lactose content.Worldwide the accruing whey amount is about 160 million Mg per year. 12 solvent producing strains ofclostridia were chosen and tested about their ability to produce a high concentration of butanol.Rapeseed oil-butanol blends in different compositions were tested in a single-cylinder diesel engine to theiremission/combustion characteristics compared to pure rapeseed oil at different load levels. A higher nbutanolcontent increases carbon monoxide-, total hydrocarbons- and acrolein-emissions at all load levels.NOx-emissions values are on a lower level running the engine on lower part load.