BIOBUTANOL

Butanol may be used as a fuel in an internal combustion engine. Because its longer hydrocarbon chain causes it to be fairly non-polar, it is more similar to gasoline than it is to ethanol. Butanol has been demonstrated to work in some vehicles designed for use with gasoline without any modification. It can be produced from biomass (as "biobutanol") as well as fossil fuels (as "petrobutanol"); both biobutanol and petrobutanol have the same chemical properties.Butanol from biomass is called biobutanol . It can be used in unmodified gasoline engines . Butanol is a 4-carbon alcohol (butyl alcohol). Biobutanol is butanol produced from biomass feedstocks. Currently, butanol's primary use is as an industrial solvent in products such as lacquers and enamels.Like ethanol, biobutanol is a liquid alcohol fuel that can be used in today's gasoline-powered internal combustion engines. The properties of biobutanol make it highly amenable to blending with gasoline. It is also compatible with ethanol blending and can improve the blending of ethanol with gasoline. The energy content of biobutanol is 10 to 20 percent lower than that of gasoline.
Under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, biobutanol can be blended as an oxygenate with gasoline in concentrations up to 11.5 percent by volume (i.e., the EPA considers blends of 11.5% or less biobutanol with gasoline to be "substantially similar" to pure gasoline). Blends of 85 percent or more biobutanol with gasoline are required to qualify as an EPAct alternative fuel. Biobutanol proponents claim that today's vehicles can be fueled with high concentrations of biobutanol—up to 100%—with minor or no vehicle modifications, although testing of this claim has been limited.
Biobutanol Production :- The ability to produce butanol from biomass sources via fermentation has existed since the early 1900s. However, these older biobutanol processes are more expensive than today's petrochemical production processes. Today, butanol is produced almost entirely from petroleum.
Renewed interest in butanol as a sustainable vehicle fuel has led to the development of improved biobutanol production processes.
ButylFuel, LLC used a U.S. Department of Energy Small Business Technology Transfer grant to develop a process aimed at making biobutanol production economically competitive with petrochemical production processes. For details, see Production of Butyric Acid and Butanol from Biomass:ButylFuel is planning to market its biobutanol as a solvent first, and then market it as a fuel in the future.
The benefits of biobutanol are similar to the benefits of ethanol. It can be produced domestically from a variety of homegrown feedstocks while creating U.S. jobs. Greenhouse gas emissions are reduced because carbon dioxide captured when the feedstock crops are grown balances carbon dioxide released when biobutanol is burned. The following are additional potential benefits of biobutanol:
It is easily blended with gasoline for use in today's gasoline-powered vehicles. Under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations, biobutanol can be blended as an oxygenate with gasoline in concentrations up to 11.5 percent by volume. Biobutanol proponents claim that gasoline-powered vehicles can be fueled with biobutanol as an alternative fuel (blends of 85 percent or more biobutanol with gasoline) with minor or no vehicle modifications, although testing of this claim has been limited.
Its energy density is only 10 to 20% lower than gasoline's.
It is compatible with the current gasoline distribution infrastructure and would not require new or modified pipelines, blending facilities, storage tanks, or retail station pumps.
It is compatible with ethanol blending and can improve the blending of ethanol with gasoline.
It can be produced using existing ethanol production facilities with relatively minor modifications.