Production of ethanol from refinery waste gases. Phase 3. Engineering development. Annual report, April 1, 1995--May 15, 1996

Refineries discharge large volumes of H2, CO, and CO 2 from cracking, coking, and hydrotreating operations. This R&D program seeks to develop, demonstrate, and commercialize a biological process for converting these waste gases into ethanol for blending with gasoline. A 200,000 BPD refinery could produce up to 38 million gallons ethanol per year. The program is being conducted in 3 phases: II, technology development; III, engineering development; and IV, demonstration. Phase I, exploratory development, has been completed. The research effort has yielded two strains (Isolates O-52 and C-01) which are to be used in the pilot studies to produce ethanol from CO, CO2, and H2 in petroleum waste gas. Results from single continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) laboratory tests have shown that 20-25 g/L ethanol can be produced with < 5 g/L acetic acid byproduct. Laboratory studies with two CSTRs in series have yielded ethanol concentrations of 30-35 g/L with 2-4 g/L acetic acid byproduct. Water recycle from distillation back to the fermenter shows that filtration of the water before distillation eliminates the recycle of toxic materials back to the fermenter. Product recovery in the process will use direct distillation to the azeotrope, followed by adsorption to produce neat ethanol. This is less energy intensive than e.g. solvent extraction, azeotropic distillation, or pervaporation. Economic projections are quite attractive; the economics are refinery stream dependent and thus vary depending on refinery location and operation