CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1

LITERATURE REVIEW

Malaysia, being one of the largest producer of worldwide oil palm has made a move in research and development of biodiesel production from oil palm. Much focus has been made into biodiesel since it is a clean-burning diesel. Biodiesel as a fuel gives cleaner burning and has less sulphur content thus reducing emission. Because of its origin from renewable sources, it is more likely that it competes with the already depleting petroleum sources in the future (Hayyan et. al 2010). National Biofuel Policy which was released on 21st March 2006) has highlighted five strategic approaches which include: I. II. III. IV. V. Use of biofuel for transport Use of biofuel for industry Development of home grown biofuel technology Production of biofuel for export Biofuel for cleaner environment

(Source: Puah & Choo 2008) According to Biodiesel Magazine on an article published on 25th July 2013, 113 000 tonnes of biodiesel has been consumed in central Malaysia. Malaysian Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities was also quoted as saying that the biodiesel program has contributed to a 44 percent increase in palm biodiesel production, from 173,220 tons (52 million gallons) in 2011 to 249,213 tons (75 million gallons) in 2012. However, as the production of palm oil increases, so does production of the principle co-product, crude glycerol. The effective utilization of

crude glycerol will contribute to the viability of biodiesel (Yang et. al 2012). Biodiesel production generates about 10% (w/w) glycerol as the main byproduct. In other words, every gallon of biodiesel produced generates approximately 1.05 pounds of glycerol. This indicates a 30-million-gallon-per-year plant will generate about 11,500 tonnes of 99.9 percent pure glycerin. It was projected that the world biodiesel market would reach 37 billion gallons by 2016, which implied that approximately 4 billion gallons of crude glycerol would be produced. Too much surplus of crude glycerol from biodiesel production will impact the refined glycerol market (Anand & Saxena 2011). The scenario of glycerol accumulation due to the ever expanding biodiesel industry has left Malaysia in excess of this by-product of the biodiesel industry. Utilization of glycerol into liquid fuel has been a field which has been expanding due to its potential as an alternative to fuel. Further sections of this report will discuss on glycerol conversion into liquid fuel as well as the design of the plant.

1.2

LIQUID FUEL

Production of liquid fuel for the transportation sector is of importance for continued vitality of our industrialized society because this sector requires fuel that burn cleanly and that have high energy density for efficient storage at ambient temperature, criteria that are currently best fulfilled by petroleum, a non-renewable resource in diminishing supply (Chaudhary 2011). Butanol and ethanol production from glycerol has been much studied and more research has done. The comparison of these two alternative fuels is as shown in Table 1.1.

Ethanol

Butanol

1.3 1.4

USAGE OF BIOETHANOL SELECTION OF MICROORGANISM

Microorganism has been the backbone of ethanol production. A comparison of microorganism responsible for ethanol production is summarised in Table.. Microbes Pachysolen tannophilus (CBS4044) E.coli Yield 0.56 By-product Not applicable Reference (Xiaoying et. Al 2012)

Kluyvera cryocrescens Enterobacter aerogenes Engineered E.coli SY04

0.5 for ethanol and 0.26 for hydrogen 0.8

Hydrogen

(Linde 2008)

Not applicable

(Choi et al. 2011)

0.75

Not applicable

( Lee et al. 2012)

0.95

Formate, traces of (Yazdani & Gonzalez hydrogen 2008)

From the reading of journals done, engineered strain of E.coli was found to produce the highest yield and was chosen to be the microbe responsible for ethanol production in our designed plant. Realising the importance and safety of proper disposal of E.coli after being used, the following section discusses on the disposal of this microbe.

1.4.1

Method of Disposing E.coli Escherichia coli is susceptible to many disinfectants, including:

Sodium hypochlorite 1% available chlorine. Concentrated hypochlorite is 10-12% available chlorine, so a 10% (v/v) dilution is an appropriate in-use concentration. 70% (v/v) ethanol, (also 70% (v/v) isopropanol) and Peroxy compounds such as 1% (w/v) Virkon and peracetic acid.

Escherichia coli is also destroyed by heat:

Moist heat (autoclave): 121 C must be attained for at least 15 min, this may mean an autoclave cycle of 50 minutes for waste materials. Dry heat: 160-170 C for at least 1 hour.

Good read on risk assessment but I dunt know where to include

https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/http:/www.dur.ac.uk/resources/biological.scie nces/local/staff/safety/Ecoli%20Disposal.pdf

1.5

PATHWAY OF ETHANOL PRODUCTION

1.6 1.7

RAW MATERIALS SITE OF LOCATION

Reference for part 1.1 Reference: http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/9239/malaysia-expands-biodieselprogram-looks-beyond-5-percent-blend Another reference saved in reference folder in dropbox http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/content/5/1/13

Anand P, Saxena RK: A comparative study of solvent-assisted pretreatment of biodiesel derived crude glycerol on growth and 1,3-propanediol production fromCitrobacter freundi. New Biotechnol 2011, 00:1-7.

http://www.unescap.org/esd/Energy-Security-and-WaterResources/energy/dialogue/biofuels/benefit_challenges/presentations/Presentations%20on %20Sep%2024/Puah%20Chiew%20Wei,Malaysia.pdf

Reference 1.2
http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=6239

Reference for part 1.4

http://www.csm.bio.dtu.dk/CSM%20Phonebook/Employees.aspx?lg=showcommon&id=2a9 1028c-ba05-4930-a72e-be02f031bc70

http://www.google.com/patents/WO2013038435A1?cl=en http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21212944 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00449-011-0607-y#page-1

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18840539