2G Ethanol Technology –

Sustainable Options

Dr S. K. PURI

Chief General Manager, IOC, R&D Centre ,Faridabad

2nd EU-India Conference on Advanced Bio-fuels , Delhi

12-13th March 2019

Why 2G Ethanol Technology in India ?

• National Policy on Bio-fuels 2018 Targets – 20% Ethanol in Gasoline by 2030

– 10 MMT bio-ethanol required by 2030

• Indian Scenario

– 100 % 1G ethanol production : 3 billion lt in 2017-18

– 50-60% available for automotive grade

– Only 5-6% ethanol in gasoline on pan India basis at 1G peak

production

– Huge gap between supply & demand

–

2G Ethanol essentially required in India to achieve policy targets

• Ethanol from agriculture residue integrated with local production can address these issues!!!

Biomass Availability in India

Non-food & Non-fodder/ Surplus Lignocellulosic Biomass:

- Cotton Stalk

- Wheat Straw

- Rice Straw

- Sugar Cane

- Seven others !!

Annual availability ~683 MMT Annual surplus availability > 178.8 MMT Biomass biofuel potential ~ 50 Billion Lt/y Typically, lignocellulosic materials consist:

40 -60 % Cellulose 20 – 40 % Hemicelluloses 10 – 30 % Lignin

Source : TIFAC report 2018

Crop residues

Production Million tons

2018

Crop Production Surplus Cotton stalk 66.58 29.74

Rice straw 225.49 43.86

Wheat straw 145.49 25.1

Maize Stalk 27.9 6.05

Soybeans 27.8 9.95

castor 4.6 3.2

Sugarcane 119.17 41.56

Ground nut straw 12.9 3.9

Gram 26.51 8.72

Tur 9.17 1.76

Mustard/Rapeseed 17.1 5.2

Total 682.18 178.74

• Work started working in 2012 • 0.25 ton/day Pilot plant

established in 2013 • Process development completed • Enzyme recipe developed

indigenously • Imported Yeast • BDEP prepared for 10TPD Demo

Plant • 10 TPD Demo Plant planned at

Panipat with onsite enzyme production also

2G Ethanol Technology IOC,R&D Centre

Routes to 1G & 2G Ethanol

Indian scene US scene Future scene

1G ethanol route 2G ethanol route

1G ethanol 1G ethanol 2G ethanol

Why Pretreatment of Biomass?

• Biomass is inherited by nature to sustain biotic and a biotic stresses • Hence, recalcitrant biomass cell wall matrix • In order to make the cell wall amenable to enzymatic hydrolysis • The cell wall metrics need to be deconstruct. PRETREATMENT!!

Saccharification

C6 Sugar

ALCOHOL

Cellulose

Hemicellulose

Saccharification

C5 Sugar

Fractionation Multiple Options!!

Saccharification

C6 Sugar

Biomass Size-reduction

ALCOHOL

Lignin

Cellulose

Hemicellulose

Saccharification

C5 Sugar

And/or

Separately or co-fermentation

Lignocellulosic Biomass

Pre-Treatment Step

Saccharification

Fermentation

Separation/Purification Alcohol

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

Most Complex Step High in CAPEX >30%)

Requires complex enzymes High in OPEX 20-30%

Established for glucose New technology for pentose Innovations reqd for better Performance ( low opex)

TYP

ICA

L P

RO

CES

S O

UTL

INE

Major Challenging Areas in 2G ethanol technology

Lignin is removed along with hemicellulose

But requirement of alkali is very high and separation of hemicellulose is required

Hydrolyse hemicellulose, solid + liquid fractions

But Inhibitors are formed and loss of sugars

No or very low chemicals, most common form at commercial scale

But enzyme requirement is customized

Alkali PT

Dilute acid

Steam Explosion

Organosolv Organic solvent is recycled But require longer time & high reaction severity Solvent recovery issues

Pretreatment option: merits and demerits

IOC worked with dilute acid and steam explosion pre-treatment technologies

Dilute acid Pre-Treatment

Saccharification

Fermentation

Dehydration

BIOMASS

Size-reduction

ALCOHOL

Cell Mass + Lignin

- No separation of biomass components - High solid loading (>20% w/w) - Low acid concentration - Indigenous onsite enzyme and SSCF

SSCF Process optimized for Rice Straw, Wheat straw, Bagasse, corn stover etc

IOCL 2G TECHNOLOGY

Optimization of SSCF Process

1. Onsite indigenous 2G enzyme production

2. SSCF time -48-60 Hrs

3. Minimized use of enzyme & yeast

Enzyme cost and the ethanol yield optimized for max. benefits

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 5 10 15

Glu

can

co

nve

rsio

n (

%)

Enzyme cost

>70% conversion

Cellulose Hydrolysis: Multiple enzymes at work!!

3 Major enzyme requires in optimum ratio for hydrolysis

Fermentation Yeast

1. Saccharomyces cerevisiae don’t ferment C5

2. C6 fermenting yeast is not enough

3. Co-fermentation is essential for economics

4. No one in India have co-fermenting yeast

Difficult to achieve the same titer as in 1G ethanol

Sl. No Parameter IOC Process Competitors Advantages IOC process

1 Chemical cost Low Medium Lower OPEX

2 Enzymatic

Hydrolysis &

Fermentation

SSCF

~ 48 hrs

SHCF

>120 hrs

Lower CAPEX

3 Enzyme cost Low High Lower OPEX as indigenous

enzyme cost is half of

commercial enzyme cost

4 Ethanol titre 5% V/V 4% V/V More productivity

SSCF: Simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation SHCF: Separate hydrolysis and co-fermentation

OPEX Comparison with Similar

Indigenous Technology (acid based)

Lignin :2G Ethanol Process

Biomass

1000 Kg

Ethanol

240 -250L

CO2

200 kg

Residual Lignin

500 Kg

Extractives

112 Kg

Lignin

137 Kg

Cellulose

102 Kg

Silica

137

Complex Mixture

Cellulose (%) Hemi-cellulose (%) Lignin (%) Ash (%) Extractives (%) Total (%)

20.4 2.4 27.5 27.5 22.4 100

36.9 22.5 13.4 9.0 17.8 100

Economic Viability improvement : Technical lignin valorization

Lignin

• Polyhydroxy Alkanoic Acid (PHA) thru biotechnological interventions – Pseudomonas putida and

Rhodococcus opacus • Application as Bio-

plastic/biomedical

• Un-reacted Sugars to lactic acid

Lactic Acid Levulinic Acid Streptococcus thermophilus Application as Bio-plastic/biomedical

• Un-reacted Sugars to lactic acid

Lactic Acid Levulinic Acid Streptococcus thermophilus Application as Bio-plastic/biomedical

• Un-reacted Sugars to lactic acid

Lactic Acid

Levulinic Acid

Streptococcus thermophilus

Application as Bio-plastic/biomedical

Lignin to Vanillin

Upon oxidative de-polymerization converts into corresponding aldehyde

Possible performance materials!!

Lignin

SO3H

SO3H

Lignin

NH2

NH2

Lignin

OH

OH

Lignin

COOH

COOH

Lignin

(ETH)3 N+Cl/Br

(ETH)3 N+Cl/Br

Variables

Surface charge Positive/ Negative

Surface area

Particle size

Molecular weight

Polarity Hydrophilic/hydrophobic

Solubility Water/ Oil

• Numerous possibilities to explore as performance materials • Potential to replace all fossil based performance materials

Lignin

NO2

NO2

Summary

• IOCL has developed 2G ethanol technology integrated with indigenous enzyme production

• Demonstration of the technology planned in 10 TPD plant

• Indigenous cost effective enzyme developed and performance established

• Lignin valorization is necessary for better economics

• High 2G ethanol cost is an issue and need to be addressed

Thanks