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Microalgae to butanol conversion

  Faculty of Engineering - Department of Chemical Engineering,

  Thomas A. Adams II (tadams@mcmaster.ca), Jay J. Liu (j.jay.ryu@gmail.com), Boris Brigljevic (unknown@unknown.kr), Chineduo Okoli (okolico@mcmaster.ca)

  Status
Complete
  Start Date
January, 2015
  Countries
Canada, Korea (South)

Our team at McMaster has been developing novel Thermochemical processes for producing biobutanol from biomass... traditionally with Canadian feedstock such as wood and switchgrass. Our Korean partners were interested in using similar ideas from Korean macroalgae (seaweed), and so worked with us to modify our process to use their feedstock. We designed, simulated, and analyzed the environmental and economic properties of the system.

Impact

One paper and a conference presentation. We computed the cost of biobutanol from this route between $1.97and $3.33/L depending on the market conditions and production options, with varying benefits to CO2 reduction. However, because seaweed is a valuable nutrient, and because these prices are high compared to using Canadian feedstocks, we recommended that Korea use their seaweed for food instead of energy.

Student Experience

My PhD student on this process got to work regularly with our Korean visitor directly and remotely with other collaborators in Korea. Since his project was largely Canadian focused originally, this opportuntity allowed him to compare the technology ideas from very different application perspectives (Korea vs. Canada)

Countries
Canada, Korea (South)
Impact
Research
Institutional Partner(s)
Pukyong National University
Community Partner(s)
Industry Partner(s)
Key Outcomes
Publications
Sponsorship
Foreign
Sponsorship Details
A professor from South Korea visited us for his sabbatical year, paid out of his own grants, and we also worked with one of his students in Korea remotely.
MOU
No

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