Engineering

Saul Hancock

5 July, 04:05

A crude fermenter is set up in a shed in the backyard of a suburban house. Under anaerobic conditions with ammonia as the nitrogen source, about 0.45 g ethanol are formed per g glucose consumed. At steady state, the ethanol production rate averages 0.4 kg h21. The owner of this enterprise decides to reduce her electricity bill by using the heat released during the fermentation to warm water as an adjunct to the household hot water system. Cold water at 10C is fed into a jacket surrounding the fermenter at a rate of 2.5 litres h21. To what temperature is the water heated? Heat losses from the system are negligible. Use a biomass composition of CH1.75 O0.58 N0.18 plus 8% ash.