What is Cellulose Ethanol?

Cellulose ethanol is a complex material consisting of cellulose (30-50%), hemicellulose (20-40%), and lignin (15-30%).

Sugar in cellulosic biomass exists in the form of cellulose and hemicellulose. Hexose in cellulose, like glucose in corn starch, can be fermented to ethanol using traditional yeast. The sugars contained in hemicellulose are mainly five-carbon sugars. Traditional yeasts cannot economically convert them into ethanol, and the exact composition of each plant is different. Cellulose is found in almost all plant life and is the most abundant molecule on the planet. Conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol has always been a huge challenge for scientists. Harsh conditions such as acid and high temperature have been used to try to break down and hydrolyze cellulose molecules into a single sugar. ^[1]

With the gradual depletion of petroleum resources and the deteriorating environment, vigorously promoting the use of renewable energy technologies has become an important part of energy development strategies in many countries to reduce dependence on fossil energy and greenhouse gas emissions.

Cellulose ethanol technology is a high-end clean energy technology, because it can be used to replace traditional food ethanol technology, and the use of cellulosic bio-materials widely available on the planet to produce clean ethanol fuel has high expectations. . ^[2]

As one of the leaders in cellulosic ethanol research and development, the M & G (Gruppo Mossi and Ghisolfi) Group has, in the past few years, collected and transported biomass raw materials, selected and grown energy crops, pretreated, hydrolyzed or hydrolyzed The major technical links of cellulosic ethanol production, such as mixed sugar fermentation, have undergone extensive and in-depth research, and great progress has been made. A proprietary integrated cellulosic ethanol production technology, PROESATM, has been developed, and the construction of a European year Industrialized demonstration plant producing 40,000 tons of cellulose-based ethanol. Compared with other existing and developing processes, M & G technology's unique pretreatment process and enzymatic hydrolysis process can significantly reduce investment and production costs, and can be used for agricultural waste, forestry waste, and sugar waste. As well as a variety of biomass materials from a wide range of sources such as energy crops, there are no restrictions on the application area, and they have very good economic and regional adaptability.

The M & G Group's 40,000 tons / year cellulose ethanol industrial demonstration project is located in CRESCENTINO, a city in northern Italy. It will use local agricultural waste (wheat straw, straw, etc.) and energy crops as raw materials. The project is currently progressing smoothly and is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2011. The entire plant was designed and constructed by Contex CHEMTEX Global Engineering Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the M & G Group. After the installation is completed, the entire industrial chain from raw material supply, production to product application will be demonstrated, and preparations will be made to further expand the technology to an annual output of 150,000 to 200,000 tons.

M & G's PROESATM cellulosic ethanol technology is being transferred to the world by Contex CHEMTEX.

Cellulose ethanol technology will be a game changer, because the technology does not need to add any chemicals during the pre-processing stage, so users choose this design and its investment and operating costs will be lower than other technologies.