The Ethanol ProcessTaking Advantage of Ethanol Ethanol has great potential because it is a fuel that can come from almost any organic source that contains cellulose material. Landfills contain this material in the form of organics found in Municipal Solid Waste known as biomass. To minimize costly ethanol farming economies and also to increase recycling efforts, MSW biomass could be used to remedy the disparity between gasoline prices and ethanol production costs. For that reason, it is believed ethanol has the potential to usher in oil independence and create global security. Vinod Khosla said at the Clinton Global Initiative conference, “Whoever cracks the nut on cellulosic ethanol will be the next Google” to invest in, scoring the importance of a need for such a discovery (CNBC, Closing Bell, Sept. 27, 2007, 1 p.m.). Our proprietary process results in a high enough yield to be that nutcracker. Ethanol promotes environmental stewardship by producing 22% less emissions than gasoline. For Fuel Freedom does not stop there. Dr. Richard Alley proved the acceleration of glaciers is being triggered by something unnatural, leading to catastrophic climate change in around 25 to 40 years (National Geographic Channel, "Naked Science", 2002). Therefore, our goal is to remove pollutants from the air and water as we remove trash from the ground and thereby have the lynchpin to the total environmental solution. Our process uses organic material to hydrolyze the sugars from cellulose, rather than acid that can pollute eco-systems. Our process removes carbon dioxide from power plants and generates its own heat to control the fermentation process while growing additional bio-matter. We believe in the production of bio-fuels in an economically and environmentally sound manner. Background of Ethanol In ethanol production, preprocesses are necessary for the extraction of sugars from cellulose structures due to their exterior shell. Environmentally hazardous acids have historically provided a means of producing this extra step. This extra step can be an unwanted cost if the crop source also has to be watered and harvested prior to production. However, relatively inexpensive cropless organic materials exists in the form of mining the recycled garbage in enough abundance to fuel every vehicle in the nation. A process known as cellulosic ethanol can derive sugars from the cell tissue of plant stock using hydrolysis, as opposed to methods that extract sugar from the fruit or kernel. Hydrolysis involves accessing and separating the sugar in the cellulose of the plant using acid or enzymes. Enzymatic hydrolysis activities have not been successful until For Fuel Freedom’s discovery for the organic breakdown of biomass. Now, different organics will decay at different rates and thereby yield differing amounts of sugar. For example, newsprint and branches decay fastest at around 40%, glossy paper and green waste tend to rate in the low 30’s, cardboard 26%, and food scraps 8%, whereas other paper products like envelopes, letters, and ledgers typically have more cotton fiber than other paper products, and therefore a negligible decay rate but a greater percentage of glucose: 62%, 84%, 91% respectively ("The Effect of Lignin on Biodegradability", Tom Richard, Tables; For Fuel Freedom, "Industry Report"). For Fuel Freedom’s discovery consistently produces sufficient fermentable sugars for ethanol production. Biomass Basics Conservative estimates say the U.S. produces over 500 million tons of municipal solid organic waste annually in the form of wood, paper, and scraps ("Mash Making 101", pg. 16). Suitable cellulosic material from biomass fit into two categories: Organics [Construction Composites, Crop Residue, Food Scraps, Green Waste] and Woods: [Branches and Wood, Cardboard and Cardstock, Envelopes, Gloss and Polymers, Ledgers and Books, Letters and Stationary]. Organic biomass has 57.2% organics, 42.8% woods (CA CA Integrated Waste Management Board, www.ciwmb.ca.gov/profiles, Tables). Combined sources of organic and wood biomass includes approximately 25% lignin, 31% hemicellulose, and 44% cellulose, but the amount of lignin increases and cellulose decreases the older and dryer the material becomes, resulting in an average of 30% lignin and 39% cellulose ("Wood Technology", McGraw-Hill, Tables; "Effect of Lignin on Biodegradability", Tom Richard; CA Integrated Waste Management Board, www.ciwmb.ca.gov/profiles, Tables). Paper contains about 22.8% cotton fiber, depending on purpose, resulting in 57.7% average fermentable sugar (glucose) content, as compared with most other organics producing only 37% ("Effect of Lignin on Biodegradability", Tom Richard; Wikipedia.org, “Cotton Linters”). Together, they produce around 45.9% due to the size of their waste streams. Biomass has the potential of producing 10’s of billions of gallons of bio-fuel, without the present process enhancements, but even more if its lignin can be converted ("Mash Making 101", pg. 16). The reason the composition of plant cells change with time is the aging process conforms to more lignified molecules as plant geriatrics battle with higher alkalinity, resulting in stronger defense to microbes. Complex Sugars Sugar crops are normally complex sugars that need to be broken into glucose. Proteins that perform the function of a biocatalyst for specific tasks at certain temperatures for a particular pH acidity are called enzymes. Fungus are commonly parasitical in nature, having the enzymes that digest plant composition, accessing its starches and dextrins and converting them to food in the form of glucose ("Mash Making 101", pg. 2). Biotechnology studies determined enzymes alone were not powerful enough agents to breakdown lignin in a profitable timeframe (or at all). The sugar must be extracted from starch indirectly by a conversion or other preprocess. Starch is a complex sugar, made of multiple links of glucose monomers ("Wood Technology", McGraw-Hilll, Fig. of Wood Cells). Alpha-type enzymes fragment the links that hold the complex sugar branches together, simplifying the carbohydrate structure into what are called “dextrins” ("Mash Making 101", pg.15). This process can get expensive, as temperature and time have an inverse relationship when seeking cellulose degradation. Without a process for growth, penetration, digestion, and increase in biomass, ethanol from this alone would not be economical. Cellulose Understandably, for yeast to digest sugars deep in the cell tissue, the cellulose must be broken down. Hydrolysis treatment then, breaks up the structure of cellulose. However, the interior of the plant cell wall, the exoskeleton in most solid waste organics, varies in makeup. This variation depends on the plant and its age. This variation is the relationship created by cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Cellulose strands are held together by certain molecules in the sugars and are surrounded by the hemicellulose and encased by lignin. These form microfibrils, the tiny reeds that make the cell wall ("Wood Technology", McGraw-Hilll, Fig. of Wood Cells). Acid Preprocess One important factor in finding the solution to access sugars that ferment has been identifying what processes are capable of eating away at the exteriors of cellulose. Chemical acid has been the preferred method of breaking down cellulose. Most cellulosic tissue breakdown has been traditionally achieved by some combination of heat, water, and acid. For the level of heat required alone to breakdown outer tissue, 400° F, the cellulose and its sugars end up destroyed because the breaking down of cellulose occurs at lower heat. So, acid hydrolysis is used. Acid hydrolysis is the process of mixing acid with the biomass in an starchy mix, so that exposed tissue will break apart. Different types of hydrolysis may reduce the time needed for enzymatic breakdown. Normally, a caustic solution of 1% would treat the biomass at 140° F for three hours ("Mash Making 101", pg.19). When alkalinity levels contain too much acid, powdered limestone or ammonium hydroxide will neutralize it ("Mash Making 101", pg.13). Cellulosic material, once it has a pH imbalance, can be recovered with filtration and shocked with hydrochloric acid to restore alkalinity. Since For Fuel Freedom does not use acid, the pH level is not extreme. Whatever the method, alkalinity must be stabilized following hydrolysis for later fermentation. Challenges Acid processes are both economically and environmentally challenging, leaving the invention of an organic option preferred. Acid poses a threat to water and livestock. If ammonium hydroxide (ammonia) is used, its composition is regarded as a hazardous material and lung toxin (Wikipedia.org, “ammonia”). If the acid is neutralized by limestone, by-products will be gypsum wallboard, limiting profits to U.S. construction cycles. An environmental solution would break down the exoskeleton and lignin without destroying the sugars in order to maximize ethanol production. This makes the activity more economical in coastal cities where extreme costs are associated with environmental clean-up. Ethanol Distilling Click Here For Sample Schematic The major components of our process are: degradation of exoskeleton, capture of carbon dioxide, conversion of cellulose to cellobiose, use of separated sugars, recycling of undigested cellulose, and reuse of remaining pulp. Grinding For grinding, the biomass must be chopped or ground into a course constituency as known in the art. The more refined the biomass, the more surface area will come in contact with the yeast culture in the fermentation process and thereby making digestion more effective. The faster the rate of fermentation, and more profitable the production of ethanol. However, degradation can reduce ethanol production, so less abrasive means of breakdown are used after grinding. Otherwise, the size of the fragmented material can be between half a centimeter and 2 inches, as long as the material can be suspended with sufficient water to be pumped and filtered. Hydrolysis Hydrolysis is the pre-boil process of mashing where the biomass is suspended in a watery solution and heated, to allow the glucose molecules to expand and gel. Hydrolysis of the slurry softens the lignin, so the breakdown process can prevail. This complex process includes consideration for the type of installation, relative operating conditions, and maximum capacity. Variables to factor in calculations are: tonnage of biomass, rate the biomass will be introduced into the slurry, heated at what temperature for how long, when and how to stop activity, and run-off filtration of by-product that varies with method used. Stopping the process The temperature in acid hydrolysis is higher and resulting pH is lower, so the acid must be neutralized and its pH restored prior to fermentation, in addition to using glucoamylase or other enzyme as claimed to convert the remaining dextrins. At a pH below 7, certain biotechnologies do not ferment. pH can be corrected with a combination of heat plus either limestone, ammonium hydroxide, and alkalinity can be increased with citrus lime. Increasing the pH will also cause a chemical reaction that accelerates lignification. Agitation is used to stop remaining activity and to sort out plastics and metal shards. Liquefaction Before the ethanol sugars can be separated from those that do not ferment, the mash is heated and a small amount of glucoamylase enzyme is added after alkalinity is adjusted. This process, called liquefaction, aids in the conversion of glucose using a set of enzymes that breakdown cellulosic complexes called cellulases. For one method to convert the remaining dextrins, the cellulosic mash must be cooked at 140° F for four hours in 1% cellulase, but only if no sugar separation process used. However, the amount of enzymes needed is less and temperature of the heat is more when employing a preferred process for separating non-fermenting sugars. For liquefaction then, the mash is heated to the same temperature as in a steam cooker: 176-212° F (80-100° C) for about an hour and a half. Boiling will then stop the enzymatic growth. Sugar Separation Xylitol and similar sugars are siphoned off primarily because they prevent fermentation but can be salvaged for by-products using a chromatography apparatus, by either osmosis, preservative, or resin, preferably DOWEX-like Strong Base Anion Resin. This is based on Einstein’s discovery of Capillary Action, how the properties of molecule structures in liquid will tend to bind to certain surfaces. This filtration occurs before the glucoses in the mash to cool down to 90° F for fermentation. Cooling Transition At this point, the cellulosic matter is ready for fermentation. After boiling to kill the proteins and introduce a chemical base to expose the remaining starches, the enzyme is reintroduced. For Mash Cooling, the temperature is set to 118.4-154.4° F (48-68° C) for half an hour. The mash is then cooled down to 90° F, and Beta enzymes eat away to breakdown recently exposed sugars in the sections remaining. Fermentation Fermentation of any sort is strictly regulated by the Alcohol Tabacco and Firearm federal government agency and requires special permits to operate any equipment. Fermentation is a process that can utilize either batch or continuous flow automation depending on system needs, in this case continuous is preferred. Fermentation occurs best when the cellulose is placed in a slurry tank and carefully agitated. Following about 10 minutes of agitation, oxygen-starved yeast then stops multiplying and starts feeding on the glucose to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide ("Mash Making 101", pg.15-16). The bacteria is removed by vacuum or filtration. At intervals, samples are extracted to determine tolerance. Determining when ethanol production reaches its tolerance tends to vary with production quality and sugar content. Fermentation stage includes cellulase with the yeast, so that the substance can be infested by the yeast. The yeast then proceeds to produce ethanol while consuming the cellobiose. Yeast cultures produce sufficient quantity to reuse in subsequent fermentation cycles. Undigested cellulose is removed by filtering when the cellulose-liquid is drained. Afterwards, the yeast will tend to coagulate in the slurry and can be harvested. Nutrients Yeast requires nutrients to grow. In the fermentation process, an aqueous mineral medium containing an assortment of minerals and electrolytes, plus an iron-oxide inhibitor: including calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur, as well as trace quantities of elements such as copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc, and preferably contains vitamins such as biotin and thiamine. The fermentation concentrate should have just sufficient nutrients for both yeast and enzymes to grow in life-generating conditions. Fibrous cellulosic material gets exposed in this broth will produce at least a significant amount of ethanol. When the tolerance of the bacteria reaches ethanol equilibrium (about 6-10%), pressure valves release the ethanol at such temperature in vapor form. Operating Temperature A low temperature should be maintained during the fermentation to not destroy the yeast. For example, 82-90° F (27.2-31.6° C) for 24-60 hours, or 36-40 hours with flash fermentation processes. While fermentation is taking place over the course of two ½ to four days, other processes can be running. The flow of materials and the flow which the other processes occur is vital to the economics of a Super-cellulosic™ hybrid ethanol and bio-diesel refinery, and For Fuel Freedom’s proprietary and patented system is engineered for maximum efficiency. Distilling Distillation of any sort is strictly regulated by the Alcohol Tabacco and Firearm federal government agency and requires special permits to operate any equipment. When fermentation is carried out at atmospheric pressure, the contents of the fermentor are then treated to separate and recover its ethanol component through distilling off the ethanol. Distillation keeps the temperature between 173-212° F (75-100° C) for about 1 hour. Remains from distillation are separated out through filtration using molecular sieves, and the pulp is typically discarded or used as a by-product, however, the undigested portions can be recycled using For Fuel Freedom’s proprietary and patented system so the entire operation in effect reprocesses the otherwise unusable tissue into ethanol. |
Home | Corporation | Community | Revitalize & Restore
How Ethanol Mills Work | Ethanol Market Share | Video: Trash to Fuel
Understanding Recent News | Press Release| Contact Us
The Renewable Fuels Association, Vinod Khosla, T. Boone Pickens, and the Virgin Group have not typically focused on solutions that involves alternative fuel production that successfully accounts for resource sustainability, production capability, and energy equivalent economics simultaneously. For Fuel Freedom, Inc. has mastered all of these dilemmas, in such areas such as hybrid ethanol and bio-diesel distilleries, scrubbing carbon dioxide, desalinization and moisture capture, manure and waste services, subsoil irrigation, double-cropping methods, ag products and services, drought services for growers suffering drought conditions. For Fuel Freedom, Inc. makes fuel from compost, forestry, manure, paper, trash, wastewater, and food waste to name a few. For Fuel Freedom, Inc. scrubs CO2 from coal-fired power plants to grow algae. For Fuel Freedom, Inc. has Desalinized & Subsoil Irrigation water capabilities, as well as working in concert with Wind and Solar Power. We are also Drought Condition and Double-cropping Method consultants. According to National Geographic magazine, Dr. Richard Alley at a global initiative conference, has determined the Kyoto treaty may not be enough because the ice sheets and Earth's geological record show that the rate of global warming across various solar cycles has never taken less than several thousand years, yet our current trend is drastic changes within 100 years, making man's influence highly suspect and green ecology political will may be too little too late to stem greenhouse gas emissions that may cause the next hurricane katrina. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined the fossil-fuel energy expended, and by extension the fuel efficiency standard, methane cloud poisoned well-water and rain water effluents the recycling efforts or renewable energy plus soil contaminates and toxic plume for waste reduction the water plume in water pollution and alt fuel or bio fuel of the cellulose ethanol for most epa classification because in water treatment or economical and environmental and aerobic digestion of the desalinization equipment to ca drought or fruit grower for most sorghum crop and forest understory of the food waste or waste hauling using Stephen L. Rush's patented process licensed from Wise Landfill Recycling of the alternative energy to jet fuel and alternative fuel or fuel industry to bio-fuel producer of the cellulosic ethanol industry for most cellulosic ethanol technology or corn ethanol industry using ethanol fuel because in fuel technology of the game changing bio-fuel or gasohol fuel and nuclear waste bioremediation for most silver bullet solution to solar energy or petroleum consumption of the petroleum-based energy and light vehicle using flex-fuel cars or electricity grid because in transportation fuel of the vehicle fuel for most flex-fuel vehicle or petroleum-based fuel to petrodiesel fuel and petroleum gas and lubricants of the biomass feedstock or bio-fuel process to renewable energy and renewable fuels association because in clean air act or dept of energy of the environmental protection agency using greenhouse gas emissions for most global initiative conference or material recycling facility to municipal solid waste of the organic waste material using waste collection center or waste management board and mining landfills because in recycling diversion rate of the waste reduction or recycling material to recycling effort and wastewater sludge for most poisoned well-water or rain water effluent of the soil contaminate using toxic plume to landfill waste or green waste because in wood chips of the grass clippings and old newspaper or tree branch to corrugated cardboard for most household trash of the leaves and branches or green ecology using american energy dilemma and barrels of oil because in bio-fuel infrastructure or corn ethanol boondoggle of the dairy prices to beef prices and energy legislation or energy produced for most foreign oil of the fossil fuel economy to fuel supply assumptions or gas prices using gas stations because in gasoline prices of the oil barrel production or oil independence strategy to oil refineries and oil supply crisis for most reducing foreign dependence or vehicle fuel demand of the fossil-fuel energy expended to food prices using oil prices or gas demand because in economically and environmentally sound of the oil crisis and oil independence or local economies to oil independent capable for most energy expended of the fossil fuel or cattle feed and algae ponds using hybrid ethanol and bio-diesel because in ethanol and biodiesel or bio-diesel and bio-oil of the algae strain to anaerobic digestion and ethanol and bio-diesel distillery or ethanol and bio-diesel refinery for most ethanol and biodiesel plant of the oil extraction to bio-diesel algae or algae bioreactor using carbon footprint because in carbon-negative process of the scrub carbon dioxide or emissions offset and carbon credit to carbon neutral for most oxy-fuel system or carbon capture of the carbon dioxide and carbon filtration using carbon tax credit or carbon sequestration to carbon capture technology of the power plant because in plant emissions or algae oil and carbon emissions for most carbon negative of the alpha enzymes or arabinose sugars to avicelase endoglucanase using beta glucosidase enzyme and breakdown starches or capillary action of the carbohydrate structure because in cellulolytic enzymes to cellulosic material or chromatographic separation for most complex sugars of the consuming cellobiose and einstein discovery or einsteinian craze using enzymatic process to galactose sugars of the glucoamylase enzyme or glucose monomers because in hydrolyzed hemicellulose and non-fermenting sugar for most plant fibers or separating sugars of the xylitol sugar to xylose sugars using plant biology or cell tissue and cellulose microfibrils of the alpha-type enzymes because in sugar separation technology or chromatographic filtration to acid hydrolysis for most additional biomass of the alcohol dehydrogenase or anaerobic cellulosome and anaerobic digesters using bacteria and fungi to big e or blend of organisms of the caustic solutions because in cellulosic pretreatment and cellulosic process or enzymatic hydrolysis for most ethanol pretreatment of the fuel biotechnology to fuel discovery or genetically modified microbes using hydrolysis treatment and lignified tissues of the lignin biodegradability or microbial life because in microbiological organisms to microscopic bugs for most mold spores or organic hydrolysis of the parasitical digestion and pre-treat starches using proprietary enzymes or symbiotic fungi to xylophagous insect of the xylophagous organism because in ethanol distillation or ethanol distilling for most water distillation and ethanol-tolerant yeast of the fermentation process or fermentation system to yeast strains using alternative fuel producer and alternative fuel production or alternative fuel technology of the department of energy because in ethanol mill for most ethanol plant or corn ethanol to cellulosic ethanol of the corn sugar and cornstarch ethanol or ethanol production using ethanol yield to grain alcohol of the sugar alcohol or ethanol yield because in algae production for most caustic solution to high-yield fermentation or xylitol-tolerant yeast of the cellulosic fermentation and cellulosic method using hydrolysis process or cellulosic processes to renewable fuel crops of the alternative fuel crops and energy crops or corn growers association for most non-consumables market because in ag products and services of the drought conditions or crop protection to double-cropping methods using subsoil irrigation and desalinization technology or cropless ethanol of the fertilizer alternative to chemical alternative for most farm equipment or animal manure services because in drought services of the distillers grain and corn prices or grain prices using corn growers to sugar beet of the brazilian sugarcane or corn kernel for most corn stalk and corn stover because in cotton branches or rice straw of the switchgrass yield to sorghum crop using forest understory or cotton compost for most food waste. For Fuel Freedom, Inc. uses a patented blend of organisms to convert organic waste and carbon dioxide into carbon-negative alternative fuels using our patented Hybrid Ethanol-Biodiesel technology, averting oil crisis & drought while improving local economies at oil independence capacity. crop protection or non-consumables market for cellulose crops the algae crops and carbon tax credits plus livestock supplyin anaerobic digesters or petroleum gas and lubricants and ethanol bio-diesel and bio-oil the farm equipment dealers for bio-diesel conversion kitsin fertilizer and chemical alternatives and desalinization and moisture capture plus ethanol and bio-diesel distilleries the manure and waste services or petroleum gas and lubricants and ethanol bio-diesel and bio-oil for fertilizer and chemical alternatives compost, branches, chaff, leaves, manure, reeds, rinds, stalk, stover, forestry, understory, wastewater, weeds. Whether one mistakenly refers to our company as "freedom fuel", "fuel freedom", "4 fuel freedom", "for fuel freedom", or "fuel freedom inc", For Fuel Freedom, Incorporated is an Ethanol, Bio-diesel, and Jet-grade Algae Oil producer and Energy Technology company. You might find a company with a similar name, but you won't find anyone else with carbon capture technologies that can take the DOE (Dept of Energy)'s clean air act intended for carbon sequestration and make carbon credits profit from carbon emissions offset to one's carbon buildup, because our carbon footprint is a carbon negative process, which is better than being carbon neutral. 
Copyright ©2007 Wise Landfill Recycling Mining, Inc. All Rights Reserved
© AMB Web Design LLC