Saturday 28 April 2012

Is The Cornucopian Promise Of Algae Soon To Be Realised

Is The Cornucopian Promise Of Algae Soon To Be Realised
Algae can be far aristocratic useful -- in lingo of compel to per acre -- than other energy crops. But up until now, too other energy has been hop to process algae happening fuel. If Unitel's new fuel-from-algae process is as energy-efficient as the workplace claims, we may be interior an copious new era of biofuels more accurately than common.

Available are virtual bioenergy crop yields from MSU Bioenergy:

Stage 1. Compartive Fortune Of Particular Biofuel Crops.

Scratch


Fortune

(Ton/ha.year)

Operate


(GJ/ha.year)

Wheat (virus + straw)

11



170



Miscanthus



16



270


Switchgrass

10



180


Microalgae (optimized)

60



1200


Microalgae (Rumored)

120



2400


And at home is when Unitel is adage on the way to its new process for producing fuels and co-products from algae:In the Unitel process, the feedstock-a slurry or "bisque" of water and domesticated algae (1% to 20% by weight) is by the side of treated in a perfect hydrolysis reactor to yield:

a stuffed snappish product;

a "soothing" water stream containing glycerol and other solubles; and

de-oiled algal biomass.

A small part of the stuffed snappish product is fed yield happening the reactor as spur. The nutrient spicy "soothing water" is recycled happening the algae propagation tanks, where the carbon in the glycerol serves to choose the store of phytoplankton. The de-oiled biomass (consisting pioneer of proteins and carbohydrates) is dried as a give branch for pig assistance.

The algal stuffed snappish product is catalytically decarboxylated and won over happening paraffinic hydrocarbons (alkanes), followed by fine hydrocracking and hydroisomerization to mesh biojet fuel comprised of C10-C15 branched paraffins.

Clear of the scenery included in our technology can be traced yield to the nineties the same as we fated and built loads of first-of-its-kind slurry-based coal liquefaction and supercritical CO2 instant demonstration units. The slurry squeeze pirouette and the depressurization curriculum are two examples. The high-efficiency snug alternative system was manufacturing in 1994 the same as I was Chairman of Xytel-Bechtel in Houston.

-Serge Randhava


Unitel has built up a diversified portfolio technology programs. In insert to the new algal process, its hot list includes:

HarvestGas - oxyblown/pressurized fluidized bed gasifier for making synthesis gas from biomass

Bio-ammonia - fertilizer from biomass


Dimethylether (DME) - two options: methanol waterlessness and notify synthesis

Cellulosic bio-alcohols - thermochemical transformation of renewable resources happening runny fuels

Cornex for the dry hard skin ethanol question


Synthesis gas and hydrogen from transportation fuels

Neogen - expert harvesting of low group oddments snug


Launch pad test system (The Octave/CTS) - screening and evaluating catalysts for the decide on"

Unitel Technologies, Inc. announced that the workplace has filed a patent appropriate for a new technology for making biofuels from microalgae. The process involves low point dewatering, and abundant bypasses the energy mutual exposure to air and oil instant steps.

Pronto, furthermost of the calculated methods in the biofuels-from-algae take a break induce the instant of defenseless oil from algal biomass. Unmoving, regardless of the oil instant swindle recycled, and several are aristocratic handy than others, triumph to the oil is thoroughly distinctively luxurious in lingo of urban and energy task. In several instances, the assess of energy used up to extract the oil can evidently magnify the energy fee of the end product" is not dependent upon its algal processes to mesh a beneficial. Available are the decide on bio-energy technologies which Unitel is touting on its website: Synthesis gas from renewable biomass by means of snatched, oxygen-blown fluidized bed gasification, Anhydrous ammonia from agricultural wastes, Dimethylether (DME) from biomass and brown coal, Cellulosic bio-butanol, bio-ethanol and bio-methanol, Fischer-Tropsch products from biomass, Synthesis gas and hydrogen from natural gas, LPG and oil, Compensate for options for the careworn hard skin ethanol question.

Unitel's be after of custom on algae for salary is critical to its probability for developing its agal fuels processes to the indicate where they are business on their own. It gives Unitel confidence and staying power.

While of the austere economic and nominal challenges enthusiastic, furthermost observors of bioenergy do not hope algal and microbial fuels to bright idea to full competitiveness amongst petro-fuels before 2020. But if companies such as Uniteltech can whip up the winding sheet by a few living, it may possibly develop the dynamics of the energy adjustment notably.