2008 Woodie Awards
Engineering students create new alternative fuel from wastepaper
By Lance Lauda
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: News
Chemical engineering seniors have answered the call for a new renewable fuel source with their senior project in which wastepaper is turned into ethanol, UTC officials said.
According to Jim Henry, professor of engineering, the UT Research Foundation is exploring the potential patentability of papernol, the product of the group's research.
Josh Oliver, a senior from Chicago, Ill., and member of the group that completed the project, said, "We obviously need new sources of ethanol.
"What we propose with our project is to take all kinds of waste papers within a city, so if you can put up a plant within a city, you are eliminating a harvesting cost, the fertilizing impact and transportation," Oliver said.
"It's economically feasible to produce papernol, and land and transportation isn't used to grow something like corn," he said.
According to members of the Papernol Design Group, wastepaper is a relatively inexpensive feedstock for ethanol production and is readily available in every metropolitan area of the United States.
This makes local production of ethanol from wastepaper one potentially efficient and renewable method for meeting growing energy standards, according to group members.
Jason Frizzell, a Chattanooga senior and member of the group, said there are three main steps to the papernol process.
The first step involves hydrolysis, in which diluted sulfuric acid is used to chemically extract the fermentable sugars from cellulose found in the wastepaper feedstock, Frizzell said.
The second step involves fermentation, in which microorganisms (usually a yeast) produce ethanol from the fermentable sugar solution, Frizzell said.
"Essentially, from that point on, it's like making beer," Frizzell said. "It's typical distillation to obtain a purified product."
The final step involves distillation, in which ethanol is extracted from the fermented ethanol and spent sugar solution, he said.
According to the group members, the use of ethanol as a liquid fuel has increased dramatically in the United States over the past decade.
According to Jim Henry, professor of engineering, the UT Research Foundation is exploring the potential patentability of papernol, the product of the group's research.
Josh Oliver, a senior from Chicago, Ill., and member of the group that completed the project, said, "We obviously need new sources of ethanol.
"What we propose with our project is to take all kinds of waste papers within a city, so if you can put up a plant within a city, you are eliminating a harvesting cost, the fertilizing impact and transportation," Oliver said.
"It's economically feasible to produce papernol, and land and transportation isn't used to grow something like corn," he said.
According to members of the Papernol Design Group, wastepaper is a relatively inexpensive feedstock for ethanol production and is readily available in every metropolitan area of the United States.
This makes local production of ethanol from wastepaper one potentially efficient and renewable method for meeting growing energy standards, according to group members.
Jason Frizzell, a Chattanooga senior and member of the group, said there are three main steps to the papernol process.
The first step involves hydrolysis, in which diluted sulfuric acid is used to chemically extract the fermentable sugars from cellulose found in the wastepaper feedstock, Frizzell said.
The second step involves fermentation, in which microorganisms (usually a yeast) produce ethanol from the fermentable sugar solution, Frizzell said.
"Essentially, from that point on, it's like making beer," Frizzell said. "It's typical distillation to obtain a purified product."
The final step involves distillation, in which ethanol is extracted from the fermented ethanol and spent sugar solution, he said.
According to the group members, the use of ethanol as a liquid fuel has increased dramatically in the United States over the past decade.
