It took awhile to get to past the press release information about GM’s investment in Coskata. All the hype buried the technology, and understandably so as the proposition of $1 ethanol is interesting. Under all that is the technology. Lets see what is going on.

Coskata Three Step Process

Whatever is chosen to be used for a feedstock, its heated in a pyrolysis method to drive off syngas. This is the chemical part of the process. Pyrolysis is a method of cooking without oxygen forcing the feedstock to come apart from the heat. What comes out is syngas, pretty basic stuff, some carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. From that you can make many things like methane or natural gas, which doubles the energy content. The method is old tech and common, first used in a large way to gasify coal for lighting prior to electrification. There are oxygen and nitrogen gases to deal with in the syngas, it’s a rich product.

The second Coskata step is the biological one of using bacteria microorganisms instead of yeasts. The microorganisms are licensed from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. Coskata spent its first year selecting for the organism’s genetics to get better production levels. The result is the method that drives the syngas to the next innovation.

Bioreactor Coskata Design

While others have tried to use similar organisms in aqueous cultures, Coskata sets up a holding tube filled with tubular fibers that the organisms can cling to and grow upon. The syngas is sent into the tubular fibers where is diffuses out to feed the organisms. Inside the holding tube, water flows with the additional nutrients like vitamins and amino acids and carries away the ethanol production. The ethanol and syngas do not come in contact.

The next step is the water/ethanol separation. Usually in distillation the energy to heat up the whole of the water, ethanol and the biomatter is a large part of the cost to produce ethanol. It works because the biomatter and water will stay behind as the solution warms the ethanol evaporates off at a lower temperature. In the Coskata system the biomatter is missing, only the nutrients, water and ethanol make up the solution. This allows the choice for separation to be vapor permeation. Vapor permeation is close to being a filter system where the water exits through hydrophilic membranes leaving the ethanol behind. The biomatter isn’t there to clog everything up, the products are ethanol and water to be recycled back through the holding tube.

Coskata is still in the hunt for better microorganisms. The current bacteria of choice is a Clostridium. Coskata has spent some of its invested capital on an automated screening system to identify better strains of Clostridium. Next is the genetic manipulation of the best Clostridium species.

This year will see the start of construction of a pilot plant rated for 40,000 gallons of ethanol per year. The company expects that will scale up to 1 million gallon annual rated facilities.

It all looks good and sounds good. But.

The pyrolysis unit offers syngas and other useful products. The CO, CO2, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen are useful for making things across the board from fertilizer to gasoline. That puts the risk for Coskata in the question of how much ethanol do consumers want? At an offering cost of $1 per gallon its pretty attractive, and yet as of today the numbers from the University of Massachusetts’ chemical paths in the “Roadmap of Developing Biomass to Fuels” might bring synthetic gasoline down as low as $0.30 per gallon at wholesale. The gasoline products offer at least a third more energy per gallon.

The technology developments from pyrolysis products has just begun, too. While the battle for recycling CO2 is just getting under way, the Coskata guys might be sharp to be looking into other forms of bugs for production processes. Butanol comes closer to gasoline than ethanol. The CO2 may be worth feeding to algae for oil.

The design of the holding tube filled with tubular fibers that diffuses the syngas to microorganisms is a huge innovation. While everyone is fascinated by the press release claims, overlooking the vast potential of pyrolysis products feeding something through Coskata’s brilliant innovation should not be overlooked. Coskata likely has a “tip of the iceberg” identified in the ethanol drive. When you look closely and think about it, there are many ways to make many products from Coskata’s work.

Today is seems that Coskata has a lead with biological processes leading the chemical processes. That’s not accurate though. Back in December, we looked at DKRW who is using syngas to make methanol and then on to gasoline. Using the Mobil oil technology in use for about 20 years now, DWRW is producing now with coal as the base feedstock. Prying at them hasn’t gotten any values for a gallon to compare, but they’re sure to be watching Coskata closely.

The battle is just staking out areas of influence in both the economic zone and political zone. While the political zone will have influence and make for lots of noise, the economics will in the end decide the dominate processes that bring the CO2 back to us to be reused again as fuel.

Either way, or both ways, $2.00+ wholesale gasoline is going to be in serious trouble.

My, things are getting exciting!


Comments

5 Comments so far

  1. Saving Energy Dollars with a Chemical to Biological Fuel Process on March 11, 2008 6:31 AM

    […] BioDiesel Zone â?? BioDiesel, BioDiesel News, and BioDiesel Production Supplies wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt It took awhile to get to past the press release information about GM’s investment in Coskata. All the hype buried the technology, and understandably so as the proposition of $1 ethanol is interesting. Under all that is the technology. Lets see what is going on. Whatever is chosen to be used for a feedstock, its heated in a pyrolysis method to drive off syngas. This is the chemical part of the process. Pyrolysis is a method of cooking without oxygen forcing the feedstock to come apart from th […]

  2. Edward J.kozel on April 26, 2008 8:44 AM

    Coskata,process waste heat,could it be used to Dry Brown Coal,have millions of tons to Dry for use in power plant Fuel.Could be a money Making Venture.

  3. Dave on April 30, 2008 12:14 AM

    Interesting post. Would love to know what other has to say..

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    How to Save 70c per gallon on gas

  4. gasification on May 5, 2008 3:04 AM

    hi..I feel coal is potentially much cheaper per barrel than oil, it is capital intensive and requires that oil prices stay high to motivate investors to risk this capital.

  5. butanol filter on July 10, 2008 8:37 AM

    […] as the proposition of $1 ethanol is interesting. Under all that is the technology. Lets see what ishttps://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2008/03/11/saving-energy-dollars-with-a-chemi…Read “Re: E85 and Butanol” at General Motors (GM) Forum… through Nebraska and it hasn’t idled […]

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