Comments on: Engineers – is it feasible to use solar energy to power a system that converts corn products to ethanol?

By: avengernipper

avengernipper — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:32:59 +0000

I would like to say yes but at this point I would have to say no. I worked at an ethanol pilot plant and anyone in the industry can tell you to break down starch in the corn you need what they call a jet cooker. This uses high pressure steam at appx 400-600F. There is no way in hell solar panels could heat water to this temperature effeciently and consistently. Plus a lot of ethanol plants run 24 hours a day and that right there pretty much shoots that plan in the ass. A good thought though. Ethanol will become more effecient once the enzyme industry catches up and can CHEAPLY use switchgrass as a fuel source.
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Years of experience

By: ganesh

ganesh — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:48:59 +0000

It is possible. But according to the second law of thermodynamics, the heat necessary to heat up the corn and make it to pop put cannot be sufficiently supplied by a solar heater. It needs the enthalpy to be more at a given time. However it is possible if you neglect the heat losses.
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By: quirkitty

quirkitty — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:17:59 +0000

Not yet financially feasible. You'll need a very large space & a lot of solar panels to produce Ethanol. Solar panels are expensive.
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By: sonofruby

sonofruby — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:03:59 +0000

Not feasible…
There is no guarantee for the solar energy to sustain continous power supply to produce even "break even production" of ethanol
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By: Smiley

Smiley — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:15:59 +0000

Yes, but the yield isn't as high when comparing the amount of energy required to extract the product to gasoline. At the same time it takes approx. 125% more ethanol to perform the same amount of work that gasoline can perform.
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By: deepak57

deepak57 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:45:59 +0000

If you want heat that is available from solar power i.e. solar cooker etc. If you want light then solar lights are available . By photo cells electric energy is available from solar system . Consult non conventional uses department .
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By: jjbeard926

jjbeard926 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:20:59 +0000

Solar power charging a battery system could produce enough energy to run an ethanol still for a reasonable production. The trick is you can't rely completely on solar power, on cloudy days you get less power from it, at night there is no power gain. So entirley on solar energy? Probably not. You'd have some days where you'd need to tap into the power grid.
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By: wmf936

wmf936 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:36:59 +0000

Yes.
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