Sugarcane ethanol is an alcohol-based fuel produced by
the fermentation of sugarcane juice and molasses. The industrial production of ethanol from
sugar cane involves fermenting the sugar cane under the required conditions and
the distilling the ethanol produced in fermentation from the water it is
dissolved in.
To obtain sugarcane, it must be grown and harvested. Afterwards, the sugarcane undergoes a process called crushing, which produces sucrose juice (liquid) and bagasse. Bagasse is a waste product and is not needed in the production of ethanol from sugarcane. Next, sucrose is extracted from the sucrose juice which is about 25% sucrose. The extraction of sucrose produces sucrose molasse. This substances contains amounts of bacteria, which can ruin the production of ethanol. To deal with this problem, an acid is added to the sucrose molasse in order to kill any bacteria that may be present.
After the bacteria is killed, the sucrose molasse is sent to the fermentation chamber. The yeast is then added to the mash, which is responsible for breaking down the sugars. Enzymes (biological catalysts) in the mixture first convert any starch or sucrose into glucose and/or fructose, then other enzymes convert glucose or fructose into ethanol and carbon dioxide.The carbon dioxide can be removed as the industry is only interested in keeping the ethanol as its end product.
This finally produces ethanol, however only 10-15% ethanol as the other 86-90% is water. To remove most of the water, the mixture undergoes distillation. This converts the original 10-14% ethanol to approximately 95% ethanol and 5% water.
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| Industrial Production of Ethanol from Sugarcane. |
Notice that the diagram states that to reach 100% ethanol, it must undergo the process of dehydration. However, by adding a concentrated solution of sulfuric acid (H2SO4), this produces water and ethylene. The diagram is not 100% correct as it also does not state that sucrose is changed into glucose and/or fructose in order to be changed into ethanol, however it does outline most of the processes clearly and correctly.
At the concentration of 95% ethanol and 5% water, water and ethanol form what is known as an azeotrope. This is a mixture in which the azeotrope distills off before the desired liquid (ethanol). Ethanol boils at approximately 78.3°C and water boils at 100°C, however the azeotrope of ethanol and water boils off at approximately 78.15°C. Due to this, pure ethanol cannot really be extracted by distilling it as the azeotrope has a lower boiling point, and this is why a dehydrated salt must be used (CaO).
The use of ethanol as an alternative fuel and the success of current usage .
As a result of the limited amount of petroleum available, there is a need for an alternative fuel source. Burning petroleum gasoline is a waste of a very valuable resource (oil) which is running short. We have been extracting oil and other fossil fuels from the earth at an ever increasing rate but the earth no longer has any means of creating more and it is
beginning to run short. The other problem with burning
oil is pollution in the form of CO2. This gas is a serious greenhouse gas and
our emissions are causing global warming which will have serious social and
economic effects which future generations will have to suffer.
Ethanol can be added to petrol in mixtures up to about 10-20% and burnt in car engines without any modifications needed, and with only a slight loss of engine performance. To use pure ethanol in care engines, modifications would be required. Ethanol acts as an "extender", as it conserves petrol and helps to reduce Greenhouse emissions. Ethanol has a lower energy content than gasoline. That means that about one-third more ethanol is required to travel the same distance as on gasoline. But other ethanol fuel characteristics, including a high octane rating, result in increased engine efficiency and performance.
Ethanol is named as a renewable source as its components are available from growing plants, such as cornfields. Fossil fuels cannot grow and therefore will eventually run out which is why ethanol is such a big alternative fuel as it is renewable.
Ethanol has a few current uses that are beneficial to the modern day and can be used without technology that requires massive amounts of energy. Ethanol can be used in motor vehicles in any concentration up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. This sort of blend is called “E85” and many auto manufacturers have designed vehicles to operate on the E85 blend. These vehicles are referred to as Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV’s).These vehicles can reach this concentration as a small microprocessor is used to detect what fuel blend is being used and automatically adjusts the engine to run properly. Ethanol-powered vehicles are used in countries that produce crops suitable for ethanol production. For example, in Brazil more than 4 million ethanol vehicles run on ethanol produced from sugar cane.
I personally think that in this day and age, ethanol is not the best alternative fuel and would not be very successful at this present time. Ethanol is renewable, however it is expensive, widely unavailable and requires a lot of land for ethanol production. I believe in the future, with technological advancements, ethanol will be a great alternative as a fuel.
There are quite a few advantages and disadvantages of the current use of ethanol as a fuel. The following table states some of the advantages and disadvantages of the current use of ethanol as a fuel.
In the future, technology will become more advanced and less energy would be needed for the distillation process. This will cause ethanol to become more widespread, as more of it is being made. However, this would require most people to change their engines to entirely new ones to be able to handle the pure ethanol as a fuel. A lot of land will still be needed for "ethanol farming", however as more is being extracted, the amount of land needed will decrease.
Assess the potential of ethanol to be used as an alternative fuel and the advantages and disadvantages of its use.
Ethanol has the potential to become an alternative fuel in the near future. Ethanol provides human society many advantages and will benefit communities greatly, however it does also provide us with some disadvantages too. A few of the advantages is that it undergoes complete combustion, it is a renewable resource, and can be mixed with petrol up to about 20% and used without any modifications to existing engines. A few disadvantages is that it is expensive, requires large amounts of land, and anything higher than approximately 20% ethanol blends would require engine modification or pure ethanol would require entirely new engines.
Firstly, ethanol undergoes complete combustion and is therefore better for the environment. The chemical equation of the complete combustion of ethanol is:
Ethanol can be added to petrol in mixtures up to about 10-20% and burnt in car engines without any modifications needed, and with only a slight loss of engine performance. To use pure ethanol in care engines, modifications would be required. Ethanol acts as an "extender", as it conserves petrol and helps to reduce Greenhouse emissions. Ethanol has a lower energy content than gasoline. That means that about one-third more ethanol is required to travel the same distance as on gasoline. But other ethanol fuel characteristics, including a high octane rating, result in increased engine efficiency and performance.
Ethanol is named as a renewable source as its components are available from growing plants, such as cornfields. Fossil fuels cannot grow and therefore will eventually run out which is why ethanol is such a big alternative fuel as it is renewable.
Ethanol has a few current uses that are beneficial to the modern day and can be used without technology that requires massive amounts of energy. Ethanol can be used in motor vehicles in any concentration up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. This sort of blend is called “E85” and many auto manufacturers have designed vehicles to operate on the E85 blend. These vehicles are referred to as Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV’s).These vehicles can reach this concentration as a small microprocessor is used to detect what fuel blend is being used and automatically adjusts the engine to run properly. Ethanol-powered vehicles are used in countries that produce crops suitable for ethanol production. For example, in Brazil more than 4 million ethanol vehicles run on ethanol produced from sugar cane.
I personally think that in this day and age, ethanol is not the best alternative fuel and would not be very successful at this present time. Ethanol is renewable, however it is expensive, widely unavailable and requires a lot of land for ethanol production. I believe in the future, with technological advancements, ethanol will be a great alternative as a fuel.
There are quite a few advantages and disadvantages of the current use of ethanol as a fuel. The following table states some of the advantages and disadvantages of the current use of ethanol as a fuel.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|
|
In the future, technology will become more advanced and less energy would be needed for the distillation process. This will cause ethanol to become more widespread, as more of it is being made. However, this would require most people to change their engines to entirely new ones to be able to handle the pure ethanol as a fuel. A lot of land will still be needed for "ethanol farming", however as more is being extracted, the amount of land needed will decrease.
Assess the potential of ethanol to be used as an alternative fuel and the advantages and disadvantages of its use.
Ethanol has the potential to become an alternative fuel in the near future. Ethanol provides human society many advantages and will benefit communities greatly, however it does also provide us with some disadvantages too. A few of the advantages is that it undergoes complete combustion, it is a renewable resource, and can be mixed with petrol up to about 20% and used without any modifications to existing engines. A few disadvantages is that it is expensive, requires large amounts of land, and anything higher than approximately 20% ethanol blends would require engine modification or pure ethanol would require entirely new engines.
Firstly, ethanol undergoes complete combustion and is therefore better for the environment. The chemical equation of the complete combustion of ethanol is:
C2H5OH + 3O2 → 2CO2
+ 3H2O
This shows that ethanol produces carbon dioxide and this represents a complete combustion. In contrast, petrol undergoes incomplete combustion. It produces carbon monoxide or just carbon (soot). These are more harmful to the environment and to our health, and is much more pollutant that carbon dioxide.
Another advantage, and a very important one, is that it is a renewable source. Corn fields can grow over and over and more ethanol can be produced which means it is renewable. Fossil fuels were made thousands of years ago and therefore will run out eventually.
A third advantage is it can be mixed with petrol up to about 20% and used without any modifications to existing engines. This means that there is no need to modify or buy any new engines to use ethanol as a fuel, even though it is only about 20% ethanol blend.
A disadvantage of ethanol as an alternative fuel is that it is expensive to obtain. To obtain fossil fuels, all is needed is a drill, which is not very expensive as opposed to fermenting and distilling which is needed to extract ethanol.
Ethanol also uses up great amounts of land for "ethanol farming". To completely replace petrol, up to 75% of agricultural land would have to be dedicated to growing crops to supply the ethanol industry. In the 1980's, Brazil attempted this however was an economic failure and disrupted a lot of their food production farming in order to make way for "ethanol farming".
A third disadvantage is that anything higher than approximately 20% ethanol blends would require engine modification. Also, if pure ethanol was to be used, entirely new engines must be made in order run on it. The cost of the change-over, to both manufacturers and car-owners is too high.
I personally think that ethanol will be a strong alternative fuel in the future when fossil fuels begin to become less abundant. However in modern society, the technology and conditions to have ethanol as a primary fuel is not advanced enough just yet.
Video (copy and paste link):
http://videos.huffingtonpost.com/alternative-fuel-ethanol-production-516992857
Bibliography:
- Smith, RS, 2010. Conquering Chemistry. 4th ed. HSC Course: Roland Smith.
- Keep It Simple Science (K.I.S.S.) 2005-2009, HSC Chemistry Topic 1 "Production of Materials", K.I.S.S., Port Macquarie, NSW.
- Industrial Production of Ethanol from Sugar Cane - EasyChem - The Ultimate Resource for HSC Chemistry: Syllabus-Based Dot-Point Study Notes/Summaries, Past Exam Papers, and More. 2014. Industrial Production of Ethanol from Sugar Cane - EasyChem - The Ultimate Resource for HSC Chemistry: Syllabus-Based Dot-Point Study Notes/Summaries, Past Exam Papers, and More. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.easychem.com.au/production-of-materials/renewable-ethanol/industrial-production-of-ethanol-from-sugar-cane. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Industrial production of ethanol from sugar cane. 2014. industrial production of ethanol from sugar cane. [ONLINE] Available at:http://community.boredofstudies.org/239/production-materials/94566/industrial-production-ethanol-sugar-cane.html. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Current Uses - Ethanol - Reports - Research Library - XRTLAB. 2014. Current Uses - Ethanol - Reports - Research Library - XRTLAB. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.extraordinaryroadtrip.org/research-library/technology/ethanol/current-uses.asp. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Ethanol as a Transportation Fuel. 2014. Ethanol as a Transportation Fuel. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/transportation/afvs/ethanol.html. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- 11. Ethanol as a fuel (HSC chemistry) - YouTube. 2014. 11. Ethanol as a fuel (HSC chemistry) - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlUNhiWKqZQ. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- 12. Advantages and disadvantages of ethanol as fuel (HSC chemistry) - YouTube. 2014. 12. Advantages and disadvantages of ethanol as fuel (HSC chemistry) - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTbZdZUD53s. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethanol as a Fuel - EasyChem - The Ultimate Resource for HSC Chemistry: Syllabus-Based Dot-Point Study Notes/Summaries, Past Exam Papers, and More. 2014. Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethanol as a Fuel - EasyChem - The Ultimate Resource for HSC Chemistry: Syllabus-Based Dot-Point Study Notes/Summaries, Past Exam Papers, and More. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.easychem.com.au/production-of-materials/renewable-ethanol/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ethanol-as-a-fuel. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Alternative Fuel: Ethanol Production (VIDEO) - Huffington Post. 2014.Alternative Fuel: Ethanol Production (VIDEO) - Huffington Post. [ONLINE] Available at: http://videos.huffingtonpost.com/alternative-fuel-ethanol-production-516992857. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
By: Mohamed Jabado
Ethanol also uses up great amounts of land for "ethanol farming". To completely replace petrol, up to 75% of agricultural land would have to be dedicated to growing crops to supply the ethanol industry. In the 1980's, Brazil attempted this however was an economic failure and disrupted a lot of their food production farming in order to make way for "ethanol farming".
A third disadvantage is that anything higher than approximately 20% ethanol blends would require engine modification. Also, if pure ethanol was to be used, entirely new engines must be made in order run on it. The cost of the change-over, to both manufacturers and car-owners is too high.
I personally think that ethanol will be a strong alternative fuel in the future when fossil fuels begin to become less abundant. However in modern society, the technology and conditions to have ethanol as a primary fuel is not advanced enough just yet.
Video (copy and paste link):
http://videos.huffingtonpost.com/alternative-fuel-ethanol-production-516992857
Bibliography:
- Smith, RS, 2010. Conquering Chemistry. 4th ed. HSC Course: Roland Smith.
- Keep It Simple Science (K.I.S.S.) 2005-2009, HSC Chemistry Topic 1 "Production of Materials", K.I.S.S., Port Macquarie, NSW.
- Industrial Production of Ethanol from Sugar Cane - EasyChem - The Ultimate Resource for HSC Chemistry: Syllabus-Based Dot-Point Study Notes/Summaries, Past Exam Papers, and More. 2014. Industrial Production of Ethanol from Sugar Cane - EasyChem - The Ultimate Resource for HSC Chemistry: Syllabus-Based Dot-Point Study Notes/Summaries, Past Exam Papers, and More. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.easychem.com.au/production-of-materials/renewable-ethanol/industrial-production-of-ethanol-from-sugar-cane. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Industrial production of ethanol from sugar cane. 2014. industrial production of ethanol from sugar cane. [ONLINE] Available at:http://community.boredofstudies.org/239/production-materials/94566/industrial-production-ethanol-sugar-cane.html. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Current Uses - Ethanol - Reports - Research Library - XRTLAB. 2014. Current Uses - Ethanol - Reports - Research Library - XRTLAB. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.extraordinaryroadtrip.org/research-library/technology/ethanol/current-uses.asp. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Ethanol as a Transportation Fuel. 2014. Ethanol as a Transportation Fuel. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/transportation/afvs/ethanol.html. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- 11. Ethanol as a fuel (HSC chemistry) - YouTube. 2014. 11. Ethanol as a fuel (HSC chemistry) - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlUNhiWKqZQ. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- 12. Advantages and disadvantages of ethanol as fuel (HSC chemistry) - YouTube. 2014. 12. Advantages and disadvantages of ethanol as fuel (HSC chemistry) - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTbZdZUD53s. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethanol as a Fuel - EasyChem - The Ultimate Resource for HSC Chemistry: Syllabus-Based Dot-Point Study Notes/Summaries, Past Exam Papers, and More. 2014. Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethanol as a Fuel - EasyChem - The Ultimate Resource for HSC Chemistry: Syllabus-Based Dot-Point Study Notes/Summaries, Past Exam Papers, and More. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.easychem.com.au/production-of-materials/renewable-ethanol/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ethanol-as-a-fuel. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
- Alternative Fuel: Ethanol Production (VIDEO) - Huffington Post. 2014.Alternative Fuel: Ethanol Production (VIDEO) - Huffington Post. [ONLINE] Available at: http://videos.huffingtonpost.com/alternative-fuel-ethanol-production-516992857. [Accessed 23 November 2014].
By: Mohamed Jabado
