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GASOHOL AND ITS FEASIBILITY IN PAKISTAN

Group Members : Sardar Farooq Amir Sameer Abdul Rehman

2004163 2004904

Abstract:
The number of automobiles in the world has been growing fast and today requires one quarter of the global petroleum consumption. This problem requires adequate solutions, one of which Brazil has achieved with the Sugarcane Ethanol Program. This project presents the feasibility of this program in Pakistan and includes the design and specifications of a gasohol producing plant and the processes and sequences that are employed to build that specific design. The capacity of production is discussed later on. The quality point of view and the intended price of the product are also considered.

Introduction:
One of the most striking characteristics of the 20th century was the emergence of the automobile for personal transportation. There are today in the world 700 million of these vehicles in circulation, the great majority of them with Otto cycle engines running on gasoline. Automobiles are today an integral part of our way of living. They shaped the whole transportation system of mankind and represent a very significant fraction of the GDP of many countries. As developing countries grow and develop, the number of automobiles in the world will grow. The number of such vehicles per capita is approaching 1 in industrialized countries but is much smaller in todays developing countries and thus likely to grow significantly. In Pakistan there are only 20 automobiles per 1000 people compared to 700 per 1000 people in the United States. The gasoline necessary to feed these automobiles is roughly 65,577 barrels of crude oil equivalent per day, unfortunately, petroleum is found in relatively few regions of the world. Exports and imports of this commodity are a most important item in international trade and many countries are critically dependent on petroleum imports. This is the case for various developing countries.

The Brazilian program:


Brazil was in that category in the 1970s and was for that reason critically affected by the oil crisis of 1973. At that time, the cost of oil imports in hard currency represented approximately a full half of all exports (roughly US$ 4 billion at historical value, equivalent to US$ 12 billion in 2005). The increase of petroleum prices therefore exerted considerable strain on the Brazilian economy at that time. To face that situation the Brazilian Government embarked an ambitious program of producing large quantities of ethanol from sugarcane (PROALCOHOL) as a substitute for gasoline. Conditions in Brazil are very favourable for the production of ethanol. Sugarcane has been an important crop since the 18th century and Brazil was the worlds third largest sugar producer (five million tones of raw sugar equivalent) in 1975. During the 1970s oil crisis, sugar was experiencing a long period of low prices in the international market, so the decision to divert some of the sugarcane to ethanol production was very reasonable, considering also that the technology needed has been available for decades. The 3

PROALCOHOL was launched by the Government by compulsorily using 10% anhydrous ethanol as an additive to gasoline not requiring changes in the motors. Multinational automobile industries based in Brazil have introduced all the necessary engine and vehicle modifications for ethanol use. Gasohol vehicles running with up to 10% ethanol (in volume basis) require almost no changes, but more modifications are required for a larger share of ethanol in the fuel blend. With minor adaptations developed by the car manufacturers, all gasoline vehicles run with blends ranging between 20% and 26% of ethanol. After 20 years, these manufacturers have developed a flexible fuel technology. A remarkable characteristic of the program is that all the automobile manufacturers agreed to produce automobiles with converted motors. Essential for that was the availability of an infrastructure for ethanol pumps in most of the service stations around the country. More recently, economies of scale and competition led to a reduction in production costs. They were due mainly to a significant increase in agricultural yield, which is a function of soil quality, weather conditions and agricultural practices, and is also strongly influenced by agricultural management. Productivity gains and cost reductions were also achieved as a result of the introduction of operation research techniques in agricultural management and the use of satellite images for species identification in cultivated areas. Similar decision-making tools have been applied in relation to harvesting, planting and application rates for herbicides and fertilizers.

Also, this cost reduction was highly influenced by the use of sugarcane bagasse (a byproduct of sugarcane crushing) for energy production, avoiding the use of any fossil fuel in the industrial project.

Replication of the program:


The experience with ethanol in Brazil could be replicated in other developing countries such as Pakistan, because many of these countries already have sugarcane plantations and could gradually start to produce alcohol fuel both for domestic supply and, later on, for export. The table lists the main producers of sugarcane in the world, showing that Pakistan is the fifth largest producer of sugarcane.

Blending Alcohol and Gasoline:


Mixing alcohol with gasoline produces gasohol. Advantages of fuel blends are that alcohol tends to increase the octane rating, which is particularly important in unleaded fuel, and reduce carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from the engine. Gasohol has been suggested widely as a substitute for gasoline and for combustion in internal-combustion engines. Typically, gasohol comprises a mixture of anhydrous alcohol and gasoline, with the alcohol present in an amount sufficient to be soluble in the gasoline. In the production of gasohol, substantially anhydrous alcohol is required for admixture with the gasoline, because of the very low water tolerance of the resulting gasohol mixture. This water tolerance often is in the range of approximately 0.2 to 0.5 weight percent of water. Higher amounts of water typically provide for unstable gasohol mixtures and lead to complete or partial separation of the water from the gasoline, the water being soluble in the methanol or ethanol, but insoluble in the gasoline, whether the gasoline is composed of highly aromatic or aliphatic components or a combination thereof. It would be most desirable to provide for the direct preparation of a gasohol from a fermentation broth and without the use of large amounts of thermal energy, as required in distillation.

The push to develop a domestic fuel ethanol industry in Pakistan is relatively new and a direct consequence of the Pakistani ethanol industrys loss of tax-free status in the EU in 2005. With a sudden surplus of ethanol, the sugar industry has been furiously lobbying the government to adopt a mandatory ethanol blend in gasoline to boost ethanol consumption. While the government appears receptive to the idea, it has thus far adopted a careful and incremental approach, due to opposition from the oil industry.

Capacity:
Pakistan is a net exporter of ethanol. There are currently 21 ethanol plants in Pakistan, of which 14 were operational at the end of 2005.18 In 2004/2005, the country had an ethanol capacity of 400,000 metric tons. Local consumption of ethanol accounted for just 2,000 metric tons, with 80,000 tons going to export markets,19 half to the European Union. The largest ethanol plant, with a daily capacity of 165,000 liters, is run by Al-Abbas Sugar Mills, which exports 95% of its output. The next largest ethanol plant, with a daily capacity of 160,000 liters, is run by Shakarganj Mills Limited, which exports 90% of its total production. Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Limited in District Mirpurkhas, Sindh The plant will start production with a capacity of 175,000 liters of gasohol per day and will affect a population of 1,600,000 spread over an area of 3000 sq. km.

Cost Analysis:
In Pakistan the petrol prices are soaring at around 54 rupees per liter. Ethanol ranges at about Rs. 15-20 per liter and gasoline is Rs. 19 per liter according to OGDC. Gasohol on the other hand averages at about 45 Rs. per liter. The reduction in cost per liter of fuel will result in lesser import of oil consequently improving the GDP of the country. 6

Procedures involving Gasohol Production:

The first stage in ethanol production is to grow a crop such as sugar cane. The sugar cane of cut down and undergoes fermentation and distillation.

Crushed sugar cane in placed in fermentation tanks. Bacteria in the tanks acts on the sugar cane and in time produce a crude form of ethanol. This is then passed on to the distillation stills where it is refined to a pure form.

The impure/crude ethanol is heated in a still until it vaporises and rises into the neck where it cools and condenses back to pure liquid ethanol. The impurities are left behind in the still. The ethanol trickles down the condensing tube into a barrel, ready for distribution.

A process for the direct preparation of gasohol from a low-content alcohol-containing solution from a fermentation broth:

1. Mixing in a liquid-liquid extraction process a fermentation broth containing a methanol- or ethanol-water solution, the broth containing up to about 12% by volume of the methanol or ethanol, a gasoline composition and a small amount of up to about 30%, based on the alcohol content of the water-alcohol solution, of a solvent for the methanol or ethanol and miscible in the gasoline; 2. Removing from the extraction process an essentially alcohol-free water; 3. Removing a gasohol composition containing water of saturation, which composition contains from up to about 15% by volume of combined alcohol; 4. Removing at least some of the water of saturation from the gasohol composition; and 5. Recovering a substantially anhydrous gasohol.

Environmental effects:
However, the ethanol program was not perfect and brought a host of environmental and social problems of its own. Sugarcane fields were traditionally burned just before harvest, in order to remove the leaves, kill any snakes and fertilize the fields with ash. The smoke produced each season produces the same amount of carbon polution as the sugarcane would have produced if it was left in the feild to rot, which is relatively little. However, the smoke greatly impacts the sugarcane-growing parts of the country, turning the sky gray and air hazardess throughout the harvesting season. As winds carry the smoke into nearby towns, air pollution goes critical and respiratory problems soar. Thus, the air pollution which was removed from big cities was merely transferred to the rural areas (and multiplied). This practice has been decreasing of late, due to pressure from the public and health authorities. In Brazil, a recent law has been created in order to ban the burning of sugarcane fields, and machines will replace human labor as the means of harvesting cane. This not only solves the problem of pollution from burning fields, but new machines also have a higher productivity than people. Many nations have produced alcohol fuel with limited destruction to the environment. Advancements in fertilizers and natural pesticides have all but eliminated the need to burn fields, however chemical pollution from runoff may turn out to be just as harmful to the enviornment as the smoke. To ensure long-term viability for Brazils ethanol fuel industry, growers must be focused on sustainability rather than short-term productivity.

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Social implications:
Since sugarcane only requires hand labor at harvest time, this shift also created a large population of destitute migrant workers who can only find temporary employment as cane cutters (at about US$3 to 5 per day) for one or two months every year. This huge social problem has contributed to political unrest and violence in rural areas, which are now plagued by recurrent farm invasions, vandalism, armed confrontations, and assassinations. Some question the viabiliy of biofuels like ethanol as total replacements for gasoline/crude oil. One concern is that sugarcane cultivation will displace other crops, thus causing food shortages. The cultivation of sugarcane for energy production is only likely to increase as fossil fuels become increasingly scarce and more expensive.

Disadvantages:
The primary disadvantage of mixing methyl and ethyl alcohol with gasoline is that under certain conditions these alcohols may separate from the gasoline. An engine adjusted to burn gasoline efficiently will produce less power from alcohol should it separate from the gasoline. Separation is caused by the polar nature of the alcohol molecules and their tendency to absorb water, also a polar substance. Methyl alcohol is the most likely to separate, butyl alcohol the least likely. The tendency for separation increases as the temperature decreases, the quantity of water absorbed increases, and the quality of the gasoline decreases.

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Conclusion:
The verdict is still out on whether Pakistans transport industry will embrace ethanol. Pakistan is also seeking other means to reduce its dependence on imported oil by promoting the use of natural gas vehicles. In May 2006, the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan announced that the country had become one of the only three countries(the other two being Brazil and Argentina) to possess more than one million natural gas vehicles, it shows that Pakistan is capable of the strong commitment needed for an alternative energy program.

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References:
United States Patent 4251231, http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4251231.html International Energy Agency 2003 Energy Statistics Of Non-OECD Countries, 2000-2001-II.9 USDA 2002 The energy balance of corn ethanol: an update, US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Office of Energy, Available at http://www.usda.gov/oce/reports/ energy/aer-814.pdf

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