The ultimate ethanol: Technoeconomic evaluation of ethanol manufacture, comparing yeast vs Zymomonas bacterium fermentations. [Zymomonas mobilis:a5; Saccharomyces cerevisiae:a6]

If ethanol could be produced at a low enough price to serve as the precursor to ethylene and butadiene, it and its derivatives could account for 159 billion lb, or 50% of the US production of 316 billion lb of synthetic organic chemicals, presently valued at $$113 billion. This use would consume 3.4 billion bu of corn, or {approximately}40% of the corn crop. This study evaluates advance process engineering and genetic engineering techniques that could generate savings and reduce production costs. The most rewarding development strategy appears to be to demonstrate at pilot scale the use of immobilized Zymomonas mobilis bacteria in a fluidized-bed bioreactor operating in a continuous mode over an extended period of time. Throughput should be adjusted to control product concentration at {approximately}100 g/L (i.e., as close to the threshold of inhibition as possible). There appears to be no inherent design limitation to effect the engineering improvements required in the advanced process operation. The above scenario assumes that the presently available, product-inhibited organisms would be used. In a longer-term, more difficult research effort, it might be possible to reduce or eliminate product inhibition. As a result, price would be reduced further to $$1.75 for the Zymomonas system or $1.85 for the yeast fermentation. It is recommended that the engineering proveout of the advanced process be continued at a pilot scale and that a laboratory program aimed at reducing product inhibition and/or increasing specific productivity be initiated. 49 refs., 11 figs., 19 tabs.