Alcohol from Cellulose

Azarniouch, M.K. and Thompson, K.M., "Alcohol from Cellulose-Production Technology", presented at "Alcohols as Alternative Fuels for Ontario" Symposium, Toronto, Ontario (19 Nov. 1976). Gaden, E.L., "Biotechnology - An Old Solution to a New Problem", Chem. Eng. Div. Award Lecture, Amer. Soc. Eng. Ed. National Meeting (June 1974). 

Azarniouch, M.K. and Thompson, K.M., Alcohols from Cellulose -Production Technology, presented at Symposium Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering and Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Toronto, 1976. 

Gauss, W. F., et al., Manufacture of Alcohol from Cellulosic Materials... 

FIGURE 3 Production of ethyl alcohol from cellulose (wood)... 

Freer, S. N., Skory, C. D., and Bothast, R. J. 1998. Production of fuel alcohol from cellulosic biomass. In Pandalai, S. G. (Ed.), Recent Research Developments in Microbiology (pp. 201-210), Trivandrum Research Signpost. 

Although not yet a commercial process, cellulase enzymes play a major role in the production of fuel alcohol from cellulose. 

Manufacture of Alcohol from Cellulose-Containing Material. ... 

It must be pointed out that the paths (1) and (2) have been with us for several thousand years and do not need any explanation other than to cmisider such cost saving systems as continuous fermentation and production. The fuel (alcohol) from cellulose is still in the experimental stage or rather the economizing stage. However recent studies have shown that the exposure of complex cellulose to... 

About half of the wodd production comes from methanol carbonylation and about one-third from acetaldehyde oxidation. Another tenth of the wodd capacity can be attributed to butane—naphtha Hquid-phase oxidation. Appreciable quantities of acetic acid are recovered from reactions involving peracetic acid. Precise statistics on acetic acid production are compHcated by recycling of acid from cellulose acetate and poly(vinyl alcohol) production. Acetic acid that is by-product from peracetic acid [79-21-0] is normally designated as virgin acid, yet acid from hydrolysis of cellulose acetate or poly(vinyl acetate) is designated recycle acid. Indeterrninate quantities of acetic acid are coproduced with acetic anhydride from coal-based carbon monoxide and unknown amounts are bartered or exchanged between corporations as a device to lessen transport costs. 

Alcohols and glycerols are nitrated by esterification ia a mixture of concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids. This reaction is of importance ia the production of nitroglycerin from glycerol and nitrocellulose from cellulose. 

It may also be mentioned that a number of commercial polymers are produced by chemical modification of other polymers, either natural or synthetic. Examples are cellulose acetate from the naturally occurring polymer cellulose, poly(vinyl alcohol) from polyfvinyl acetate) and chlorosulphonated polyethylene (Hypalon) from polyethylene. 

Although most ethanol is now produced from corn, research has been done on producing this type of alcohol fuel from cellulosic biomass products including energy crops, forest and agricultural residues, and MSW, which would provide much cheaper feedstocks. The process of chemically converting these cellulosic biomass feedstocks is more involved and until this process can be simplified the price of ethanol will remain high. 

The hydroxyl radicals may abstract hydrogen from the substrate (which initiates grafting) (16) or add to a vinyl monomer (which gives homopolymer). The decomposition rate of persulfate ions is enhanced by the presence of a low-molecular weight alcohol. A high-molecular weight alcohol like cellulose can react in the same way. 

Nonwovens are widely utilized as separators for several types of batteries. Lightweight, wet laid nonwovens made from cellulose, poly (vinyl alcohol), and other fibers have achieved considerable success as separators for popular primary alkaline cells of various sizes. The key nonwoven attributes include consistently uniform basis weight, thickness, porosity and resistance to degradation by electrolytes. Nonwovens are also successfully employed as separators in NiCd s. 

Advances in knowledge of the chemistry of fermentation processes will aid the exploitation of biomass energy, e.g. a more concentrated fermentation process for the production of sugar from cellulose is required if alcohol from Canada s very extensive forests is to compete with other sources of liquid fuel. 

The sodium alcoholate of cellulose prepared from a sodium alkoxide is probably similar to, if not identical with, that prepared from sodium hydroxide. Monomethylation of the alcoholate prepared with either sodium methoxide or sodium l-butoxide140 occurs preferentially at the hydroxyl groups on C-2 and C-6. Very little methylation occurs at the hydroxyl group on C-3. 

As Figure 5.12 shows, Toray s PEC-1000 crosslinked furfuryl alcohol membrane has by far the best sodium chloride rejection combined with good fluxes. This explains the sustained interest in this membrane despite its extreme sensitivity to dissolved chlorine and oxygen in the feed water. Hollow fine fiber membranes made from cellulose triacetate by Toyobo or aromatic polyamides by Permasep (Du Pont) are also comfortably in the one-stage seawater desalination performance range, but the water fluxes of these membranes are low. However, because large-surface-area, hollow fine fiber reverse osmosis modules can be... 

The membrane used depends on the nature of the organics. Poly(vinyl alcohol) and cellulose acetate [14] have been used to separate alcohols from ethers. Polyurethane-polyimide block copolymers have been used for aromatic/aliphatic separations [17]... 

Ethylene glycol (EG) may be obtained from cellulose by many ways, for instance, by the catalytic conversion over carbide catalysts [71], It is the simplest linear polyol available and often serves as a model for more complex substrates. Many reports are therefore available on the telomerization of EG. The possible telomer products are shown in Scheme 14, the linear mono-telomer typically being the desired compound. The mono-telomer can be used, after saturation of the double bonds, as a plasticizer alcohol in polyvinylchloride production, whereas application in cosmetics and surfactants has also been indicated [72]. Early examples include the work of Dzhemilev et al., who first reported on the telomerization of butadiene with EG in 1980, yielding a mixture of the mono- and di-telomers and butadiene dimers using a palladium catalyst activated by AlEt3 [73]. Kaneda also reported the use of EG in... 

Thus, Heuser took up the alcoholates of cellulose, its esters, its ethers, and the oxidations of cellulose which led to carbonyl groups and to carboxyl groups. But he also had an important chapter on the hydrolysis and the acetolysis of cellulose, on its decomposition by heat, and its degradation by bacteria. His final chapter, on the constitution of cellulose, was largely historical in nature, and, viewed from present-day knowledge, it was, perhaps, less successful than were some of the others. But the entire little volume was conceived from a logical viewpoint—one that was very welcome to those of us who had tried to cope with some of the older literature. The book was relatively brief and very clearly written. 

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