Breaking cellulose down, new school.One of the wraps on cellulosic ethanol is that at the end of the day, the energy--including water, enzymes and time-you put into the plant is more than what you get out of it. Michigan State University Michigan State University, at East Lansing; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1855. It opened in 1857 as Michigan Agricultural College, the first state agricultural college. scientists say the problem isn't the plant, it's the process. So they've developed an ammonia-based solution they say is 75% more efficient in breaking down cellulosic material, or waste materials like cover stover stover stalks of maize plants from which mature corn cobs have been harvested as grain, or grain sorghum plants from which heads have also been removed. The stover is usually fed by turning the cattle into the field and is subject to fungal infection, sometimes causing mycotoxicosis. or grasses, than traditional means using enzymes. Their ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX AFEX Associated Foreign Exchange AFEX Advanced Furnace for microgravity Experiment with X-ray radiography ) solution extracts the fermentable fermentable, adj the ability to undergo a chemical reaction in the presence of an enzyme that results in the creation of either acid or alcohol; in the oral cavity, the ability to create acid in plaque. sugars for ethanol in a single step rather than the three steps ordinarily used. "Washing, detoxifying and adding nutrients back into the pretreated cellulose are three separate steps," says Bruce Dale, MSU-professor of chemical engineering and materials science. "Each step is expensive and adds to the cost of the biofuel bi·o·fuel n. Fuel such as methane produced from renewable resources, especially plant biomass and treated municipal and industrial wastes. bi . Breaking down cellulose into fermentable sugars cost effectively has been a major issue slowing cellulosic ethanol production."-SA [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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