Algenol's Direct to Ethanol Process
Southwest Process Technology Conference
2011
3rd AIChE Regional Process Technology Conference
2011 Regional Process Technology Conference
Chemical Process Technology
Friday, October 7, 2011 - 12:00am to 12:25am
Algenol's Direct to Ethanol process has been demonstrated to be technically feasible with large scale photobioreactors, but in order to assess economic viability and environmental impact, the entire system must be analyzed. Integrating technoeconomic and lifecycle analyses with the design of upstream, downstream and photobioreactor components, and evaluating a range of rational alternatives/uncertainties, represent essential steps in making the transition from the lab to commercial production. This talk will describe the key questions as they pertain to analysis of highly distributed systems such as Algenol's, and highlight the major modeling and analysis challenges.