US EPA

1462028 

Book/Book Chapter 

BIOBUTANOL - PRODUCTION AND PURIFICATION METHODS 

Kaminski, W; Tomczak, E; Gorak, A 

2010 

Proceedings of ECOpole 

4 

2 

409-411 

WOS:000287890700029 

The prospect of depletion of natural resources, petroleum
products and rising prices of raw materials tend to look for fuels from renewable energy sources
and biofuels. The focus so far has been on bioethanol due to the availability of raw materials
for its production and well-developed methods for isolation and purification. Butyl alcohol -
biobutanol can be regarded as a potential biofuel. Biobutanol is a very attractive energy source
because - as opposed to the bioethanol - is non-hygroscopic, does not cause corrosion and has a
higher calorific value. Production of butanol may be made by a fermentation process called ABE
(from acetone, butanol, ethanol), carried Out mostly by the bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum.
The basic problem of wider use of biobutanol lies in its production with sufficient efficiency
and this in turn is limited by separation of butanol from fermentation broth. The distillation
process is not applicable. The classical extraction requires the use of a flammable or toxic
liquid. For separation and purification of biobutanol it is proposed to apply ionic liquids. Use
of ionic liquids for the extraction of butanol (to remove from the fermentation environment) can
be achieved either through direct application of the liquid in the bioreactor and separation of
butanol on the outside of bioreactor or through directing fermentation broth outside the
bioreactor and separation of butanol in the membrane contractor. 

biobutanol; renewable energy sources; ionic liquids