Butanol is compatible with gasoline. It uses the same air/fuel mixture and has the same energy content. It can be mixed with gasoline in any ratio in unmodified engines. Butanol can be produced at an estimated cost of 85 cents per gallon, and is a direct replacement for gasoline.
About
Butanol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanol) is a higher alcohol with a 4 carbon atom structure and a general formula of C4H10O. It is used as an industrial solvent for chemical and textile processes, as a paint thinner, and as a component of hydraulic and brake fluids.
Advantages
1. Higher energy content than ethanol.
2. Not as corrosive as ethanol.
3. Uses the same air/fuel ratio as gasoline. Ethanol does not.
4. Can be shipped through existing fuel pipelines where ethanol must be transported via rail, barge or truck.
5. Can replace gasoline any percentage up to 100%. Ethanol can only be used up to 85%.
6. Gives better mileage than ethanol. (http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/apr2006/bw20060427_493909.htm?chan=autos_autos%20indexpage_insight)
7. Safer to handle than ethanol.
Production
Most commercial Butanol is produced petrochemically. Butanol can also be produced by fermentation of biomass with the bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_acetobutylicum ), which produces a low yield. David Ramey of Ohio and his company, Environmental Energy, Inc. have developed a two stage fermentation process.
In this process, biomass feedstock is first fed to the bacteria Clostridium tyrobutyricum, where a large percentage is converted into butyric acid and hydrogen. In the second process, the butyric acid is fed to the bacteria Clostridium acetobutylicum, where it is converted into butanol. Ramey has claimed a 42% butanol yield from this process.
* Environmental Energy Inc ( http://www.butanol.com/ ) - has developed and patented a process which makes fermentation derived butanol more economically viable and competitive with current petrochemical processes and the production of ethanol. This economic improvement was developed under a federal DOE/STTR grant from the Department of Energy through the Small Business program. Using corn feedstock the production cost is estimated at $1.20 per gallon.
o ChemLac Inc. ( http://www.butanol.com/page2.html ) (subsidiary of EEI) dramatically improves cost efficiencies to produce biobutanol by eliminating the corn feedstock accounting for 40% of the production cost of corn based alcohol fuels. By utilizing whey lactose, a by-product of cheese manufacturing as the process feedstock, ChemLac Inc. eliminates the raw input material cost, reducing the production cost to $0.85 per gallon.
* Butanol Replaces Gasoline...gallon per gallon ( http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-e.G_2Pk1aac3c_mKoM0Zy5E-?cq=1 ) - No Gas, no engine modifications, no pollution. David Ramey drove an unmodified ’92 Buick in a 10,000 mile coast to coast Demonstration Run using Butanol, a fuel alcohol, instead of gasoline. He proved that there is an alcohol made from corn that replaces gasoline right now. The ’92 Buick Park Avenue got 24 miles per gallon with no modifications. EPA Test results in 10 states showed that Butanol reduced Hydrocarbons emissions by 95%, Carbon Monoxide to 0.0%, and Oxides of Nitrogen by 37%. Ramey says “With the rising cost of gas, the public wants something today that will stabilize the price of fuel and replace gasoline in their cars. Folks across the nation were absolutely amazed by how simple it was to change the fuel to Butanol!”
