ABSTRACT
The concerns relating to global warming, climate change, and increasing energy demands have led to significant research in the development of alternative energy to fossil-based sources worldwide. The prime focus has been on the emerging technologies to recover the chemical energy from plant-based biomass and other organic wastes in the form of liquid and gaseous biofuels. For realizing the tangible potential of bioenergy, there is an immediate need for breakthrough research in understanding the physicochemical properties of biomass, conversion technologies, and advanced engineering for larger scale biomass processing. This chapter is focused on biobutanol as an advanced next-generation biofuel. It is dedicated to advancing new developments and approaches in acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation with a special emphasis on the butanol recovery techniques. The recovery techniques vividly discussed here include distillation, adsorption, liquid–liquid extraction, pervaporation, perstraction, gas stripping, and supercritical fluid extraction. The mechanisms for each recovery technology have been thoroughly discussed along with their benefits and limitations. Butanol is a progressive biofuel with fuel properties fairly compatible with gasoline; hence, advancements in its recovery technologies can mostly aid in its cost-effective production from lignocellulosic biomass and other waste resources.
