membrane separation technology

• After the bacterial fermentation to ethanol, the ethanol must be separated out of the solution mixture and converted into a fuel-grade ethanol at 99+% purity.
• As syngas fermentation leads to lower ethanol concentrations than corn fermentations, the energy and cost to separate the ethanol from water is proportionally higher. To reduce this differential, Coskata has exclusively licensed membrane separation technology to reduce the energy requirements by over 50%.
• The vapor permeation process is amenable to separating ethanol from biofermentation broth because of the very low solids content of the broth relative to other fermentation processes.

http://www.coskata.com/ProcessSeparations.asp

GM, Coskata partnership builds on OSU biofuels research

The Oklahoma State University Biofuels Team’s ability to think small – microscopic, actually – stands to provide great dividends for consumers, a renewable energy company and one of the nation’s foremost automakers.

Biology based renewable energy company Coskata Inc. and automotive giant General Motors announced their cooperative plans to reduce fossil fuel consumption this past weekend, thanks in part to Coskata’s “next generation ethanol” process based on research and technology developed by the OSU Biofuels Team and licensed exclusively to Coskata.

“Coskata’s unique three-step conversion process addresses many of the constraints lodged against current renewable energy options, including environmental, transportation and land-use concerns,” said Wes Bolsen, chief marketing officer and vice president of business development for Coskata.

In the three-step process, carbon-based materials are converted into synthesis gas using well-established gasification technologies. After the chemical bonds are broken using gasification, microorganisms licensed to Coskata as part of the OSU Biofuels research convert the resulting syngas into ethanol by consuming carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the gas stream. Once the gas-to-liquid conversion process has occurred, the resulting ethanol is recovered from the solution using “vapor permeation technology.”

“The Coskata process has the potential to yield more than 100 gallons of ethanol per dry ton of carbonaceous feedstock, reducing production costs to less than $1 per gallon,” Bolsen said.

According to an independent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, Coskata’s process – using the OSU Biofuels Team microorganisms – can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 84 percent compared to conventional gasoline.

The process also has no back-end solid waste to dry and handle like enzymatic approaches to ethanol production and uses less than one gallon of fresh water per gallon of ethanol produced, according to Coskata.

Corn-based systems typically use three gallons to four gallons of fresh water per gallon of ethanol produced, and enzymatic approaches can use as much as seven gallons of fresh water per gallon of ethanol produced.

Development of the technology licensed to Coskata is the result of OSU’s longstanding commitment to biofuels development, said Robert E. Whitson, vice president, dean and director of the university’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

“DASNR scientists and engineers have been breeding improved feedstock with an eye toward biofuels development since the early 1990s. Our first cellulosic ethanol team was put together in 1998, and has been making great strides in technology development ever since,” Whitson said. “Biofuels has come into widespread public consciousness only recently, but we’ve been addressing renewable energy concerns for many years.”

The OSU Biofuels Team quickly became a multi-college, multi-institutional effort, with the current team encompassing scientists and engineers with DASNR; the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology; the University of Oklahoma and Brigham Young University.

“We in the division have long believed and promoted that an interdisciplinary outlook is the best way to develop solutions to the challenges facing society, and solving real-world issues is a vital part of the land-grant mission and the reason why OSU exists,” Whitson said.

Vinod Khosla and Advanced Technology Ventures, the leading renewable energy investors in the country, recognized the potential of the work being done by the OSU Biofuels Team and wanted to invest in the technology. The technology was exclusively licensed to Coskata Inc. for the production of biofuels.

The licensing agreement between OSU and Coskata includes the microorganisms used in syngas fermentation, with a companion research agreement for any aspects of the syngas fermentation technology that would aid them in production. Since providing the initial three strains of microorganisms in 2006, Coskata-funded research with the OSU Biofuels Team has provided two additional microorganisms for the company.

Bolsen likened it to “running the Kentucky Derby, with the OSU Biofuels Team helping to put horses in the race to reduce this country’s dependence on oil.”

“Our system is somewhat unique in that we’re not considering a single feedstock or competing with agricultural food, feed or fiber needs; we’re using the entire plant in underutilized biomass,” said Ray Huhnke, OSU Biofuels Team leader and agricultural engineer.

According to Coskata, the proprietary microorganisms do what syngas conversion from chemical catalysis cannot do, which is make a pure stream of ethanol at the lowest cost target in the industry.

In addition, the process is net energy positive, providing up to 7.7 units of ethanol energy per unit of fossil fuel input, compared to 1.3 units provided by corn ethanol and 0.8 units from gasoline, according to the Argonne National Laboratory.

“OSU is proud to be part of a technology that will not compete with food for the production of ethanol,” said Stephen McKeever, OSU vice president for research and technology transfer. “Use of alternative feedstocks such as switchgrass and municipal solid waste will be of ultimate benefit to the consumer.”

http://osu.okstate.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=866&Itemid=90

GM, Coskata partnership builds on Oklahoma State University biofuels research

The Oklahoma State University Biofuels Teams ability to think small microscopic, actually stands to provide great dividends for consumers, a renewable energy company and one of the nations foremost automakers.

Biology based renewable energy company coskata Inc. and automotive giant General Motors announced their cooperative plans to reduce fossil fuel consumption this past weekend, thanks in part to coskatas next generation ethanol process based on research and technology developed by the OSU Biofuels Team and licensed exclusively to coskata.

Coskatas unique three-step conversion process addresses many of the constraints lodged against current renewable energy options, including environmental, transportation and land-use concerns, said Wes Bolsen, chief marketing officer and vice president of business development for coskata.

In the three-step process, carbon-based materials are converted into synthesis gas using well-established gasification technologies. After the chemical bonds are broken using gasification, microorganisms licensed to coskata as part of the OSU Biofuels research convert the resulting syngas into ethanol by consuming carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the gas stream. Once the gas-to-liquid conversion process has occurred, the resulting ethanol is recovered from the solution using vapor permeation technology.

The coskata process has the potential to yield more than 100 gallons of ethanol per dry ton of carbonaceous feedstock, reducing production costs to less than $1 per gallon, Bolsen said.

According to an independent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energys Argonne National Laboratory, coskatas process using the OSU Biofuels Team microorganisms can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 84 percent compared to conventional gasoline.

The process also has no back-end solid waste to dry and handle like enzymatic approaches to ethanol production and uses less

http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/GM--Coskata-partnership-builds-on-Oklahoma-State-University-biofuels-research-1928-1/

GM And Renewable Energy Company Coskata Partner On Biofuel Research

The Oklahoma State University Biofuels Team's ability to think small - microscopic, actually - stands to provide great dividends for consumers, a renewable energy company and one of the nation's foremost automakers. Biology based renewable energy company Coskata and automotive giant General Motors announced their cooperative plans to reduce fossil fuel consumption this past weekend, thanks in part to Coskata's "next generation ethanol" process based on research and technology developed by the OSU Biofuels Team and licensed exclusively to Coskata.

"Coskata's unique three-step conversion process addresses many of the constraints lodged against current renewable energy options, including environmental, transportation and land-use concerns," said Wes Bolsen, chief marketing officer and vice president of business development for Coskata.

In the three-step process, carbon-based materials are converted into synthesis gas using well-established gasification technologies. After the chemical bonds are broken using gasification, microorganisms licensed to Coskata as part of the OSU Biofuels research convert the resulting syngas into ethanol by consuming carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the gas stream. Once the gas-to-liquid conversion process has occurred, the resulting ethanol is recovered from the solution using "vapor permeation technology."

"The Coskata process has the potential to yield more than 100 gallons of ethanol per dry ton of carbonaceous feedstock, reducing production costs to less than $1 per gallon," Bolsen said.

According to an independent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, Coskata's process - using the OSU Biofuels Team microorganisms - can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 84 percent compared to conventional gasoline.

The process also has no back-end solid waste to dry and handle like enzymatic approaches to ethanol production and uses less than one gallon of fresh water per gallon of ethanol produced, according to Coskata.

Corn-based systems typically use three gallons to four gallons of fresh water per gallon of ethanol produced, and enzymatic approaches can use as much as seven gallons of fresh water per gallon of ethanol produced.

Development of the technology licensed to Coskata is the result of OSU's longstanding commitment to biofuels development, said Robert E. Whitson, vice president, dean and director of the university's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

"DASNR scientists and engineers have been breeding improved feedstock with an eye toward biofuels development since the early 1990s. Our first cellulosic ethanol team was put together in 1998, and has been making great strides in technology development ever since," Whitson said. "Biofuels has come into widespread public consciousness only recently, but we've been addressing renewable energy concerns for many years."

The OSU Biofuels Team quickly became a multi-college, multi-institutional effort, with the current team encompassing scientists and engineers with DASNR; the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology; the University of Oklahoma and Brigham Young University.

"We in the division have long believed and promoted that an interdisciplinary outlook is the best way to develop solutions to the challenges facing society, and solving real-world issues is a vital part of the land-grant mission and the reason why OSU exists," Whitson said.

Vinod Khosla and Advanced Technology Ventures, the leading renewable energy investors in the country, recognized the potential of the work being done by the OSU Biofuels Team and wanted to invest in the technology. The technology was exclusively licensed to Coskata Inc. for the production of biofuels.

The licensing agreement between OSU and Coskata includes the microorganisms used in syngas fermentation, with a companion research agreement for any aspects of the syngas fermentation technology that would aid them in production. Since providing the initial three strains of microorganisms in 2006, Coskata-funded research with the OSU Biofuels Team has provided two additional microorganisms for the company.

Bolsen likened it to "running the Kentucky Derby, with the OSU Biofuels Team helping to put horses in the race to reduce this country's dependence on oil."

"Our system is somewhat unique in that we're not considering a single feedstock or competing with agricultural food, feed or fiber needs; we're using the entire plant in underutilized biomass," said Ray Huhnke, OSU Biofuels Team leader and agricultural engineer.

According to Coskata, the proprietary microorganisms do what syngas conversion from chemical catalysis cannot do, which is make a pure stream of ethanol at the lowest cost target in the industry.

In addition, the process is net energy positive, providing up to 7.7 units of ethanol energy per unit of fossil fuel input, compared to 1.3 units provided by corn ethanol and 0.8 units from gasoline, according to the Argonne National Laboratory.

"OSU is proud to be part of a technology that will not compete with food for the production of ethanol," said Stephen McKeever, OSU vice president for research and technology transfer. "Use of alternative feedstocks such as switchgrass and municipal solid waste will be of ultimate benefit to the consumer."

"OSU is proud to be part of a technology that will not compete with food for the production of ethanol," said Stephen McKeever, OSU vice president for research and technology transfer. "Use of alternative feedstocks such as switchgrass and municipal solid waste will be of ultimate benefit to the consumer."

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/GM_And_Renewable_Energy_Company_Coskata_Partner_On_Biofuel_Research_999.html

Ethanol from Garbage and Old Tires

A versatile new process for making biofuels could slash their cost.

Ethanol Factory: Coskata vice president Richard Tobey (above) stands before bales of hay, a feedstock that his company’s new technology can efficiently convert into ethanol. He’s holding the centerpiece of that technology, a bioreactor. Credit: Thomas Chadwick

Multimedia • William Roe, Coskata's president and CEO, and Vinod Khosla, one of the company's main investors, describe the benefits of its technology. • View the process for making biofuels.

As he leads a tour of the labs at Coskata, a startup based in Warrenville, IL, Richard Tobey, the company's vice president of research and development, pauses in front of a pair of clear plastic tubes packed with bundles of white fibers. The tubes are the core of a bioreactor, which is itself the heart of a new tech­nology that Coskata claims can make etha­nol out of wood chips, household garbage, grass, and old tires--indeed, just about any organic material. The bioreactor, Tobey explains, allows the company to combine thermochemical and biological approaches to synthesizing ethanol. Taking advantage of both, he says, makes Coskata's process cheaper and more versatile than either the technologies widely used today to make ethanol from corn or the experimental processes designed to work with sources other than corn.

Tobey's tour begins at the far end of the laboratory in two small rooms full of pipes, throbbing pumps, and pressurized tanks--all used to process synthesis gas (also known as syngas), a mixture of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen. This is the thermo­chemical part of Coskata's process: in a well-known technique called gasi­­fication, a series of chemical reactions carried out at high temperatures can produce syngas from almost any organic material. Ordi­narily, chemical catalysts are then used to convert the syngas into a mixture of alcohols that includes ethanol. But making such a mixture is intrinsically inefficient: the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen that go into the other alcohols could, in principle, have gone into ethanol instead. So this is where Coskata turns from chemistry to biology, using microbes to convert the syngas to ethanol more efficiently.

Down the hall from the syngas-­processing equipment, Tobey shows off the petri dishes, flasks, and sealed hoods used to develop species of bacteria that eat syngas. The bioreactors sit at the far end of the room. Inside the bioreactors' tubes, syngas is fed directly to the bacteria, which produce a steady stream of ethanol.

Coskata's technology could be a big deal. Today, almost all ethanol made in the United States comes from corn grain; because cultivating corn requires a lot of land, water, and energy, corn-derived ethanol does little to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and can actually cause other environmental damage, such as water pollution. Alternative etha­nol sources, such as switchgrass, wood chips, and municipal waste, would require far fewer resources. But so far, technology for processing such materials has proved very expensive. That's why Coskata's low-cost technique has caught the attention of major investors, including General Motors, which earlier this year announced a partnership with the startup to help deploy its technology on the commercial scale worldwide.

Sipping Ethanol
Combining thermochemical and biological approaches in a hybrid system can make ethanol processing cheaper by increasing yields and allowing the use of inexpensive feedstocks. But Coskata's process has another advantage, too: it's fast. Though others have also developed syngas-fed bioreactors, Tobey says, they have been too slow. That's because the bacteria are suspended in an aqueous culture, and syngas doesn't dissolve easily in water. Coskata's new bioreactor, however, delivers the syngas to the bacteria directly.

The thin fibers packed into the bioreactor serve two functions. First, they act as scaffolding: the bacteria grow in biofilms on the outside of the fibers. Second, they serve as a delivery mechanism for the syngas. Even though each fiber is not much bigger than a human hair, Tobey says, it acts like a tiny plastic straw. The researchers pump syngas down the bores of the hollow fibers, and it diffuses through the fiber walls to reach the bacteria. Water flows around the outside of the fibers, delivering vitamins and amino acids to the bacteria and carrying away the ethanol the bacteria produce. But the water and the syngas, Tobey says, never meet

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/20199/

High-Def Camcorders Go Small and Light

Newest models use flash memory, have high still-image resolutions.

Camcorders don't usually cause much buzz at CES. This year was different, because the products on show could finally capture the imagination of long-wary consumers.

Over the years, camcorders have been of only modest interest to most consumers, due to the devices' bulk and weight. It also hasn't helped that most decent still cameras can take short video clips.

Such resistance could fade now. Sony, for example, debuted two small high-definition camcorders: the HDR-SR12 ($1400), which includes a 120GB hard drive, and the HDR-SR11 ($1200), which has a 60GB hard drive. Both can take 10-megapixel photos--more than enough resolution for you to use the camcorder as your still camera. And, of course, both can record in high definition at 1920 by 1080. Both models will be available in March.

In addition, the two camcorders have another great feature in face-detection technology that automatically identifies up to eight faces and corrects focus, exposure, and color controls for both video and still photos.

Flash Memory Takes Center Stage

Faster operation and the use of flash-memory cards have allowed the major camcorder companies to reduce the size of their products to unheard-of dimensions for high-performance consumer camcorders.

Samsung's SC-HMX20C records video and stills to 8GB of built-in flash memory, instead of to a hard drive or DVD. As a result, the camcorder is smaller than a soda can and weighs only 10.9 ounces. The SC-HMX20C will take removable SDHC/MMC+ cards if you want extra storage.

Flash memory also means that the SC-HMX20C will start up a lot faster than competitors that use other media. Samsung says it will start in under 3 seconds, a claim the company verified on the show floor. Though the SC-HMX20C isn't in the same league as Sony's models on the still-photo front, it can take 8-megapixel stills, which is very good. Pricing is expected to be between $1000 and $1100, and the camcorder should be available in May.

Flash memory, specifically SD Card memory, allowed Panasonic to slim its HDC-SD9 down to a mere 0.606 pounds, or about 9.7 ounces. The HDC-SD9's heavier and bulkier relative, the HDC-HS9, is a hybrid model that can record either to SD (or SDHC) media or to its built-in 60GB hard disk.

Both camcorders have face-detection technology and offer Panasonic's Intelligent Shooting Guide, which will detect when shooting conditions are poor and then show tips on the LCD to help the user correct the error before recording the content.

The two models will be available in March with manufacturer-suggested retail prices of $800 for the HDC-SD9 and $1100 for the HDC-SH9.

nnovations From Canon, Sanyo

Canon, too, has taken the flash-memory route, using what the company calls Dual Flash Memory in its new top consumer camcorder, the Vixia HF10.

Dual Flash Memory allows the user to record to the camcorder's internal flash drive even if they don't have a spare SDHC memory card. This particular model has 16GB of internal flash, the largest capacity seen at CES. A second, lower-end version, the HF100, features an SDHC memory-card slot only.

Also included in the two camcorders are a newly designed Canon 12x HD video lens and a Canon 3.3-megapixel Full HD CMOS image sensor.

Both are expected to be available in April. Prices were not announced.

If weight is a concern for you, Sanyo's new Xacti HD1000 could be what you're seeking in a camcorder.

It weighs just 9.5 ounces and has a total volume of only 16.6 cubic inches, which the company says makes it the world's smallest and lightest digital camcorder capable of Full HD recording (1920 horizontal and 1080 vertical pixels).

How do they do it? If you've been following along, you already know: with an 8GB SDHC memory card.

A Word From a Memory Maker

The majority of the camcorders that drew the most attention at CES were able to shrink because of the use of flash memory, either built in or taking the form of removable SD media. But not just any SD media.

For most of these high-def camcorders to work properly, they must use SDHC cards, which operate more quickly than a standard SD memory card does. SanDisk, a leading SD Card seller, recommends SDHC, which can handle data transfers of up to 40 mbps. The 4GB version retails for $80, while the 8GB version retails for $140.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141238-page,2-c,ces/article.html#