Petrochemistry and Chemical Engineering

The global economic growth has led to high energy consumption, mainly from fossil fuels. The extensive use of fossil fuels has made impossible to treat the emitted carbon dioxide in a natural way. One of the ways to cope with this global problem is to close the carbon cycle in nature by the use of renewable biofuels and consumption the resulting carbon by photosynthesis. The use of ethanol produced from natural and renewable resources is a good alternative but its feasibility depends on the raw materials, their availability, price and environmental safety. Therefore, the so-called second generation raw materials (i.e. cellulose, food and agricultural waste) are currently tested. In the present work experimental data for the use of some waste (food waste, processed cereals) for fermentative ethanol production are presented. Some practical applications for ethanol production and ethanol dehydration process are demonstrated.