Petroleum Feedstocks and Processes Quiz

Alternative Feedstocks/Renewable Energy

• The lecture was given by Dr. Waseem Abu Oun on November 25, 20XX.
• The lecture covered topics related to alternative feedstocks and renewable energy.
• A raw material/feedstock should be renewable instead of depleting, whenever technically and economically practical.
• Renewable or Depleting resources are a matter of time. A resource is renewable if it can be replenished in a relevant amount of time.

Topics Covered

• Energy consumption and feedstock consumption.
• Petroleum.
• Renewable feedstocks (including biomass, carbohydrates, lipids, oils, terpenes, proteins).
• Renewable feedstocks as a source of energy (first, second, and third generation).
• The advantages and drawbacks of biofuels.

Renewable vs. Depleting Feedstocks

• A feedstock is a raw material used in a process (industrial or fuel).
• Whether a feedstock is renewable or depleting depends on its replenishment time.
• Fossil fuels are depleting because they cannot be replenished from vegetation within a practical time frame.

Energy Consumption: Data and Projections

• A graph shows increasing world energy consumption since 1990.
• Projections predict energy consumption will reach 770 quadrillion British Thermal Units (BTU) by 2035.
• Key data shows global energy consumption trends.
• Oil, coal, and natural gas remain predominant energy sources, though renewable energy use is increasing.
• The graph shows energy consumption trends from 1970-2010 including oil, coal, natural gas, hydro, nuclear, and other renewable resources.

Energy Feedstock Sources

• Fossil fuels account for the majority of world energy consumption.
• Renewables, such as biomass, are increasingly important.
• Total World Energy Consumption data for 2013 was reported.

What are the Most Common Feedstocks Today?

• The most common feedstocks today are petroleum based.

What is Petroleum Used For?

• Petroleum is a source of many products, as detailed in a "Petroleum Tree" diagram.
• The diagram displays branched product types derived from crude oil.

How is Petroleum Generated and Used?

• Biomaterials (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids) are precursors to highly functionalized molecules.
• Petroleum products (hydrocarbons - highly reduced state) involve extraction, processing, separation, and oxidation.
• Functionalized compounds (olefins, alkylchlorides) are further functionalized and used for different applications.
• High-yield (100%) and 100% atom economy reactions are desired.

Three Major Categories of Reaction Processes

• Addition reactions involve combining two or more feedstocks.
• Substitution reactions involve replacing a group within a feedstock molecule.
• Elimination reactions involve removing a group from a molecule.
• Reactions commonly use reagents.
• Byproducts are often considered wastes post process.

How are Petroleum Products Made?

• Separation via fractionation columns is a key process in petroleum product creation.
• Oxidation and addition of chemicals are also used.
• Various products with different boiling points are formed from petroleum based on the fractionation column separation method.

What Can Be Made From One Barrel of Oil?

• A single barrel of crude oil can yield numerous products, including fuels, plastics, lubricants, and chemicals.

What are the Main Industries for Lignocellulose?

• The main industries for lignocellulose are the paper industry and the bioethanol industry.

Lignin: A Source of Platform Chemicals

• Lignin is a potential resource for renewable chemicals like phenol.
• Selective breakdown of lignin yields valuable platform chemicals.

Depolymerization Strategy for Lignin Valorization

• Depolymerization strategies (using catalysts and hydrogen addition) allows for lignin breakdown producing phenols.

Example: Penicillin Production Using Fermentation

• Penicillin is a significant antibiotic produced via fermentation of microorganisms.
• Penicillin production depends on fermentation using specific microorganisms with the correct nutrients, appropriate conditions, temperature, and oxygen.

Requirements for a Successful Fermentation Process

• Correct nutrients, sterile conditions, correct temperature, oxygen, pH.

Top 10 Chemical Targets from Bio-feedstocks

• A list of targeted chemicals (platform) derived from bio-feedstocks, like succinic acid, 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, and others.

Why Use Renewable Feedstocks?

• Economic: Petroleum prices fluctuate, while renewable resources have decreasing costs.
• Scientific: Improving quality, modern plant breeding, genetic manipulation in catalysis.
• Environmental: Using waste streams, biological compatibility.

Some Potential Challenges of Using Renewable Feedstocks

• Feedstock cultivation, competition, land use.
• Nutritional needs, diseases, initial investment.
• Post-harvest processing, extraction and purification, product standardization, complexity.
• Product storage, packing and distribution.
• New methodologies for alternative feedstocks.

What About Energy from Renewable Resources

• Biofuels are a possible alternative to existing fuel sources.
• The environmental consequences of producing biofuels depend on the methods used.

Environmental Issues

• Bioenergy can reduce greenhouse gases, increase agrobiodiversity and soil carbon, and reduce erosion, but it can also cause green house gas generation, loss of biodiversities, land-use changes, water use, and increased use of agrochemicals.

Types of Biofuels

• First generation: Uses grains for ethanol production (food versus fuel).
• Second generation: Uses agricultural wastes (lignocellulosics, oils) for ethanol and biodiesel, including grasses.
• Third generation: Algae.

First Generation Corn-Based Ethanol Production

• The process starts by mechanically crushing corn.
• Sugar is extracted for fermentation into ethanol.
• Ethanol is purified. This process is highly dependent on corn supply.

Ethanol Demand and Corn Prices

• High demand for ethanol increases demand for corn.
• Increases variability of corn and associated commodity prices.

Second Generation Biofuels: Cellulosic Feedstocks

• Feedstocks such as switchgrass, wheat straw, hybrid poplar, and corn stalks.

Second Generation Biofuels: Oils and Biodiesel

• Biodiesel is made using vegetable oils and fats through a reaction process that uses methanol.

Comparing Environmental Impact: Biofuels vs Fossil Fuels

• Comparative analysis of energy production and environmental impacts (fertilizer and pesticide use) for different types of biofuels.
• Comparisons in the form of data analysis charts were presented for biodiesel production in different forms of fuel by type (corn ethanol, soybean biodiesel).

Advantages of Biodiesel

• Reduces other pollutants, hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides, methane, particulate matter, and hazardous waste
• 35-96% reduction in specific pollutants compared to conventional diesel processing.
• Requires additional processing and has a generally lower energy return compared to conventional diesel processing.

Steps Required to Produce Biofuel from Soybeans

• Steps displayed visually, outlining the processes involved from bean harvest, processing, to biodiesel production.
• Illustrations depicting chemical production steps were presented.

Third Generation Biofuels: Algae Feedstocks

• Algae as a feedstock with characteristics like high oil yield, no sulfur, non-toxic, and highly biodegradable.

What is Algae?

• Algae is a diverse group of organisms, often photosynthetic, existing in both unicellular or multicellular forms.

Producing Biofuel from Algae

• Algae requires sunlight, carbon dioxide, water for production.

Algae: Pros and Cons

• Pros: versatility, speed, high yield potential, CO2 reduction.
• Cons: energy intensive, competitive disadvantage against fossil fuels now, funding needed, technology not ready

Production

• Making all biomass components available for biofuel (including co-products).
• Improving the efficiency of biomass to biofuel conversion (faster, cheaper, sustainably).

Biofuels as an Alternative

• Biofuels aren't a complete replacement for fossil fuels but may be part of a sustainable energy solution.
• Magnitude of advantage depends on production method and environmental impacts.

Additional Information on Chemical Targets and Processes

• Detailed chemical formulae and diagrams were presented on some specific key industrial chemical processes and targets.