1. Large-scale ethanol fermentation through pipeline delivery of biomass.
- Author
-
Kumar A, Cameron JB, and Flynn PC
- Subjects
- Bioreactors microbiology, Canada, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Biomass, Bioreactors economics, Ethanol economics, Ethanol metabolism, Transportation economics, Transportation methods, Wood, Zea mays economics, Zea mays metabolism
- Abstract
Issues of traffic congestion and community acceptance limit the size of biomass-processing plants based on truck delivery to about 2 million (M) dry t/yr or less. In this study, the cost of ethanol from an ethanol fermentation plant processing 2 M dry t/yr of corn stover supplied by truck is compared with that of larger plants in the range of 4-38 M dry t/yr supplied by a combination of trucks plus pipelines. For corn stover, a biomass source with a low yield per gross hectare, the cost of ethanol from larger plants is always higher. For wood chips from the boreal forest, a biomass source with a relatively high yield per gross hectare, a plant processing 14-38 M dry t/yr produces ethanol at a 13% reduction in cost compared with a plant producing 2 M dry t/yr supplied by truck. Processing of value-added products, such as chemicals from lignin, would be enabled by larger-scale plants.
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
- View/download PDF