Special Report on Cellulosic Ethanol: in enzymatic hydrolysis, Raven Biofuels aims to produce ethanol, furfural with Gulf Opportunity Zone project

Enzymatic hydrolysis has beent he most popular route for cellulosic ethanol, in part because it is straightforward. An aggressive pre-treatment process with powerful chemicals that softens the cell walls, is followed by an enzyme-driven hydrolysis that comverts the softened cellulose into sugars. Conventional fermentation from sugar to ethanol typically follows.

One of the more atypical riffs off that formula has been the Raven Biofuels project in Missisippi. Raven has aimed at the Gulf Opportunity Zone, formed after Hurricane Katrina, for a wood waste ethanol plant. A unique twist is that the plant will produce 12 Mgy of furfural in addition to 21 Mgy of ethanol. Price Biostock is the partner, and lignin cake usable for fertilizer or feed is another product of the process.

So what is furfural. It’s a fuel – used as rocket fuel, actually. It has higher BTUs than ethanol yet contains more oxygen than gasoline, so it combusts better. Here’s a comparison table for ethanol, gasoline and furfural, from the Furfural blogsite.

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