(253d) Biological Upgrading of Methane for the Production of Chemicals and the Techno-Economic Analysis

The current crisis of global warming is primarily attributed to CO2 production from excessive use of fossil fuels during recent decades, and has increased demand for renewable biofuels tremendously. Lipids are drawing considerable attention in relation to the production potential of biodiesel on the basis of their nontoxic, sustainable, and energy efficient proprieties. However, the high cost of microbial lipid produced by oleaginous microorganisms mainly stems from the high cost of glucose, which is estimated to be about 80% of the total medium cost. Therefore, considerable efforts have been directed toward minimizing the carbon source cost and finding new alternative carbon sources. In this report, methane derived from biogas or natural gas was investigated for chemical production. After developing the culture modes and optimizing the culture conditions, both high titer and productivity were achieved in high cell density cultures of different microorganisms using various carbon sources.

In light of the relatively low price and the tremendous amount of methane and increasing demands of biochemicals and liquid transportation fuels, attention has begun to turn to novel biocatalyst for conversion of methane into bio-based products . A techno-economic analysis (TEA) was performed for an integrated process using fermentation process converting methane into chemicals such as lactic acid and isobutanol, which can be used as the pursuer for the production of chemicals and fuels. The entire process has been projected by using the Aspen plus software and the costs were calculated using modified excel spreadsheet. A sensitivity analysis was carried out based upon the identified key parameters, such as plant capacity, process technology (yields and rates), productivity, and raw material cost. This presentation also includes single-point sensitivity analyses and scenarios analyse results for several prospective cases. The presentation will also reveal that the major driving forces from operating cost and capital cost. The efforts of reducing the greenhouse emission from this process was estimated and compared with the traditional combustion of biogas and natural gas.