OriginOil finishes first phase of algae commercialization model

By Lisa Gibson

Los Angeles-based OriginOil Inc. has finished phase one of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. DOE’s Idaho National laboratory. The goal of the three-step agreement is to develop a process model for the commercial production of algae for biofuels.

Phase one focused on developing a comprehensive mass-energy balance of OriginOil’s proprietary algae production process, which includes a Helix Bio Reactor and live or single-step extraction, according to the company. For phase one, INL researchers provided core data on the projected efficiency and recovery values for the various steps in the algae-growing process, including lipid and biomass production, according to OriginOil. “We didn’t have to reinvent the wheel,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “It made it much faster.”

The phase also included evaluation of costs and profit margins and helped the company establish a productivity model, which Eckelberry recently presented at the National Algae Association’s Quarterly Forum in Houston.

The overall goal is to produce algae through a high-speed, cost-effective industrial process to make green crude a substitute for petroleum so the world has a new oil that doesn’t perpetuate global warming, according to the presentation. OriginOil’s proprietary process addresses issues standing in the way of commercial algae production, such as carbon dioxide and nutrient delivery, light delivery, land use, extraction efficiency and harvesting rates, according to the company. The presentation also addresses factors important for algae productivity and evaluates elements of baseline production, wastewater co-location and value-add markets.

The economics of algae are complex and challenging, Riggs concluded in his presentation. Current profitability requires the pursuit of high-value coproducts and co-location with beneficial site hosts. Pursuit of fuel will require continued process optimization at all stages, strong preferences such as subsidies and carbon policy, and petroleum price increases. “With careful planning, algae can be profitable today,” the presentation emphasizes.

Now, INL and OriginOil are negotiating the scope and terms of phases two and three. Phase one was about modeling, Eckelberry said, two will be focused on validation of the technology and three will be field testing. “The next step is really to validate our technology,” Eckelberry said. “We know the system works. Now, we need to validate it with more scale.” The deliverables for additional phases will include biological and chemical feedstock evaluation required for the systems integration design and scale-up demonstration, according to OriginOil. A timeline for remaining phases of the project, funded primarily by the DOE, have not been specifically discussed, Eckelberry said. The presentation, including a schematic of OriginOil’s process, is available on the company’s Web site at www.originoil.com through a link on the latest press release.

Source: www.biomassmagazine.com

Bluegrass BioDiesel nears completion

By Susanne Retka Schill

Bluegrass BioDiesel LLC is halfway through the commissioning process, with all interior systems having been checked out and systems being tested outside as contractors complete their work. Full startup of the 14 MMgy multifeedstock plant is anticipated by the end of August at at Falmouth, Ky.

General Manager Rich Wojtkowski described a number of features used in the plant to reduce the capital investment such as using stainless steel only where required, substituting lower cost carbon steel. Flexible hoses will give the ability to reroute product streams. Gravity separation will be used, eliminating the cost of centrifuges. While using standard acid pretreatment and base transesterification, the plant is capable of handling 2 to 22 percent free fatty acids with three stages where water can be removed. “Our objective is to produce a very pure product that we can market as B100 ultra, removing all impurities,” Wojtkowski said. The plant also includes a methanol recovery and glycerin purification. “We will push for BQ9000 certification,” he added. “I have experience with ISO certification, so I know the policies and quality control that has to be in place.”

Bluegrass Biodiesel plans to offer B90 or B99 blends as well as B100 to its regional customers. “Some want a blended product, which they can blend further,” Wojtkowski said. “We handle the government issues, the filings, etcetera.”

“The fact that they’ll be cranking up at the end of the month is welcome news,” said Jack Wright, executive director of the Pendleton County Industrial Authority. He began working with the developers over five years ago when the project was first proposed. Retrofitting of a building began in 2007 although construction was halted after about a year when the project ran out of funds. Refinancing took a year to arrange with work beginning again in January.

J.E. Johnson Inc., Midland, Mich., is the general contractor and Versakon Biofuels LLC provided the plant design for the Falmouth plant. The two companies are among the eight investors in the plant.

Source: www.biodieselmagazine.com

Biodiesel developed from used animal fats, vegetable oils

By Helen Flores

Researchers from the Aklan State University have developed diesel additives from used animal fats and vegetable oils, the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) said.

Based on the study, used animal fats and vegetable oils from meat processing plants and food chains can be converted into biodiesel, which may be used in a standard combustion engine without modifications and may be blended with petroleum diesel to improve its quality.

These wastes, the researchers said, produce a clear liquid without unpleasant smell with the same properties as mineral fossil diesel oil.

ASU researchers said an engine fueled by a mixture of 80 percent petroleum diesel and 20 percent biodiesel has lesser smoke emissions and lower engine noise compared to that fueled by pure petroleum diesel.

The study also showed that petroleum diesel and biodiesel were similar in density, viscosity, pH, cloud point, and freezing point.

“Biodiesel does not only provide sustainable energy, but also ensures a sustainable environment because it is renewable or recyclable,” the researchers said.

Citing a previous study by the Department of Science and Technology, PCARRD said the biodiesel from vegetable oils and animal fats have been found to match, if not surpass, petroleum diesel in terms of engine performance and lifespan.

“Incidentally, the problem of disposing 2,000 kilograms of waste animal fats and oils produced by meat product manufacturers and food servers in Kalibo, Aklan and Boracay Island every month motivated the ASU researchers to conduct this study,” PCARRD said.

PCARRD said biodiesel is produced through “transesterification.” In this process, alcohol is used in the presence of a catalyst such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide to produce alcohol esters of animal fats with glycerin as byproduct.

PCARRD said it evaluated this study during the recent Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium Research and Development Symposium.

What are the advantages of using biodiesel?

You might have heard a lot about biodiesel. Biodiesel is diesel than can power up your car that is made from vegetable oils and other natural sources. It does not come from the regular crude oil that usually has to be imported from oil-producing countries.

Biodiesel can be considered a new technology, taking into account all the years consumers have had to settle for traditional diesel. Using biodiesel for your car has many advantages:

1. Biodiesel is not harmful to the environment. Unlike its counterpart, a car using biodiesel produces fewer emissions. If a vehicle uses traditional diesel, the vehicle emits black, stinky smoke. With biodiesel, the smoke becomes very clean indeed.

2. Biodiesel may not require an engine modification. Some cars can take advantage of biodiesel without the need to undergo engine alterations. Some mix 20% biodiesel with regular diesel. Doing so enables the car to benefit from the good points of biodiesel without the hassle.

3. Biodiesel is cheap. You can even make biodiesel in your backyard. If your engine can work with biodiesel fuel alone, then you really need not go to the gas station to buy fuel. You can just manufacture some for your own personal use.

4. Biodiesel can make the vehicle perform better. It is noted that biodiesel has a cetane number of over 100. Cetane number is used to measure the quality of the fuel’s ignition. If your fuel has a high cetane number, you can be sure that what you get is a very easy cold starting coupled with a low idle noise.

5. Biodiesel can make your car last longer. Because of the clarity and the purity of biodiesel, you can be sure it will not have too many impurities to harm your car. It is actually more lubrication. A car’s power output is unaffected by this type of diesel.

6. Biodiesel reduces the environmental effect of a waste product. Because biodiesel is made out of waste products itself, it does not contribute to nature’s garbage at all. Biodiesel can be made out of used cooking oils and lards. So instead of throwing these substances away, the ability to turn them into biodiesel becomes more than welcome.

7. Biodiesel is energy efficient. If the production of biodiesel is compared with the production of the regular type, producing the latter consumes more energy. Biodiesel does not need to be drilled, transported, or refined like petroleum diesel. Producing biodiesel is easier and is less time consuming.

8. Biodiesel is produced locally. A locally produced fuel will be more cost efficient. There is no need to pay tariffs or similar taxes to the countries from which oil and petroleum diesel are sourced. Every country has the ability to produce biodiesel.

Biodiesel is surely a viable fuel alternative. Moreover, it is also a sustainable fuel. Using biodiesel not only helps maintain our environment, it also helps in keeping the people around us healthy.

The production of biodiesel all over the world is now being looked upon favorably. In Europe, many biodiesel stations have been set up already. There is also a move to convert or make cars compatible with biodiesel fuel in the near future.

Biodiesel can surely change the way vehicles are manufactured and used. It is surely the best substitute right now, and everyone should consider ways to take advantage of the benefits of biodiesel.

MicroCglycerin for denitrification

Environmental Operating Solutions Inc. has introduced MicroCgylcerin microcgylcerin as a non-hazardous, environmentally-sustainable alternative to methanol for denitrification apps at municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities. The trademarked microcglycerin is derived from crude glycerin, a natural co-product of the nation’s growing biodiesel industry.

As monitoring of the nation’s surface water quality intensifies, wastewater treatment facilities in the cohesive states are growingly anticipated to upgrade their plants for intensified nitrogen removal, eos explained in its product release announcement. In numerous cases, this requires facilities to add an external carbon source as an electron donor. Historically, methanol has been utilized as an option, nonetheless, methanol fluctuates widely in cost, is flammable, has poisonous properties, requires expensive storage and feed strategies, and is derived from non-renewable natural gas. Furthermore, 90 percent of the methanol utilized in the USA is imported.

Biodiesel blend performs as well as ULSD

Those worried about a performance drop-off going from standard diesel fuel to the more environmentally friendly B20 biodiesel blend can ease their minds.

A new Purdue University study shows that there is almost no statistical performance difference in semitrailer trucks using B20, a 20-percent blend of biodiesel, and No. 2 ultra-low sulfur diesel, the current standard.

"In terms of performance, reliability and maintenance costs, it was basically a wash," said John Lumkes, the assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering who led the study. "The only differences are environmental and economic."

The study, which compared two 10-vehicle truck fleets using the ultra-low sulfur fuel and B20, was released in the journal Applied Engineering in Agriculture. Trucks used for comparisons in the yearlong study had the same engines, similar miles already on them at the start and drove nearly the same number of miles over the year.

The only statistical difference related to the B20 was that it lowered the oil viscosity between maintenance intervals in engines slightly more than the ultra-low sulfur diesel. But even so, Lumkes said the oil still had sufficient viscosity so as not to damage engine parts.

"They were still within the range of what is acceptable before you need an oil change," he said.

The study followed each fleet's idle time percentage, average speed, engine load percentage and engine speed. Each pair of trucks had close to the same statistics in each category.

At the end of the study, each fleet of 10 trucks had driven more than 1.5 million miles. Differences in performance based on fuel economy, fuel test results, engine oil analysis, and service and maintenance costs were considered minute. B20 cost about 13 cents more per gallon during that time than the ultra-low sulfur diesel.

Lumkes said his study could ease concern about the effect biodiesel has on engine durability. He said some engine manufacturers are wary about extending warranties to those who use biodiesel because not enough has been known about how the biodiesel affects engine wear.

"This shows that there is no observable difference in performance of engines using biodiesel versus the more common commercial fuel," Lumkes said.

Lumkes added that the quality of the B20 also is an important factor. All the fuel sampled during the study exceeded the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission standards.

The Indiana Soybean Alliance provided funding for the research, and a private company that provided the trucks also provided funding.

SOURCE: PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Market found for portable biodiesel processors

By Nicholas Zeman

While industrial size plants have gotten built without opening—signaling the struggles of the commercial biodiesel industry—there’s a company known as Springboard Biodiesel in Chico, Calif., that’s flourishing. Its business model, based on the sales of portable biodiesel processing units capable of producing only 36,000 gallons per year, is experiencing accelerated growth. “There is market out there for serving the small-scale biodiesel producers that aren’t going to sell the fuel, but process it for their own uses,” said Matt Roberts of Springboard.

Proprietary fluid separation technology marketed as the Induced Coalescent Separator (INCOSEP) can help home brewers dramatically speed up the process of local refining, therefore, increasing production capacity. “This type of equipment has no precedent— that we know of in our industry,” Roberts said.

The portable biodiesel processors are made of 304 stainless steel and all industrial-grade components. It allows customers to make ASTM grade biodiesel very cheaply—for less than $1 per gallon. Ninety-nine percent of its users make biodiesel from recycled vegetable oil, according to Springboard. “We’ve sold a large number of our machines to small businesses, universities, municipalities and co-operatives in the United States,” Roberts said.

“This technology (INCOSEP-Pro) is capable of inducing secondary fluids to ‘coalesce’ out of the raw biodiesel,” Roberts said. “It can rapidly separate glycerol and water from the fuel.”

The BioPro 190 biodiesel processor, Springboard’s flagship product, is capable of producing a 50 gallon batch of ASTM quality biodiesel every 48 hours. “With INCOSEP-Pro installed on the equipment, however, we can reduce that time to 21 hours,” Roberts said. Also, if existing users purchased a BioPro processor before the start of 2007, they can have their machines retrofitted to incorporate Springboard’s new technology.

Springboard also offers a dry wash system for biodiesel processing. The dual resin tower design, the SpringPro 76, helps double the capacity of “any biodiesel processor,” the company stated and can purify 480 gallons per day. “This is a dry wash column that uses resins to clean and polish the biodiesel,” Roberts said. “Water is a commodity that is becoming more and m ore scarce, especially in California.”

Source:www.biodieselmagazine.com

Make your own backyard biodiesel.

This one is a great guide on how to make your own backyard biodiesel.

The video shows us how easy it is to make a small batch that will work in any diesel engine. No special equipment needed -- you can even use an old juice bottle to serve as the "reactor" vessel--and on such a small scale, you can quickly refine your technique and perform further experiments.

Watch and enjoy. But be careful on this guide, no one really commented if these would work on your engine. You should better check the magazine where it is published. I have not tried this myself.

Lubricant additive addresses fuel dilution issues with biodiesel blends

By Ron Kotrba

For those concerned about using a B20 blend in late-model diesels that employ post-injection for controlling emissions, Chevron Oronite Company LLC developed a unique engine oil additive to help combat serious engine wear associated with methyl ester dilution in the engine oil crankcase.

Some OEMs use post-injection in their strategies to “regenerate” or burn off soot accumulated in diesel particulate filters (DPF). Injecting fuel late in the combustion cycle does not combust the fuel but vaporizes it as the fuel is carried downstream through the exhaust to create an exothermic reaction, which burns off the collected soot in the DPF. This periodic soot burn-off is called regeneration. OEMs have a choice to utilize post-injection or fuel injection downstream of the engine, as in the exhaust system directly, but it is more cost-effective to use post-injection because there is no additional hardware needed to perform regeneration.

Fuel dilution has always been an issue with diesels, but never more so than with post-injection. Petrol diesel dilutes engine oil too, but it volatilizes off and eventually is released through the breather system. For biodiesel, however, the story is significantly different.

Biodiesel has a higher and narrower boiling range than petroleum diesel, and its physical properties lead to larger droplet sizes exiting the fuel injectors. This means that, while the petrol portion of the blend vaporizes and follows its destination to the exhaust stream as the piston is at the bottom of the cylinder, the methyl ester fraction—with its higher, narrower boiling range and larger droplet size—remains in liquid form collecting along the exposed surface area of the cylinder wall, and as the piston rises, much of the biodiesel bypasses the rings to enter the crankcase. Once in there, the biodiesel does not volatilize off like mineral diesel does. With the heat of the crankcase, there is concern about oxidation of the oil/biodiesel mix and engine wear resulting from the organic acids.

“In the case of biodiesel, once it gets in the crankcase and as it starts to degrade, it forms organic acids and starts to polymerize,” said Gary Parsons, global OEM and industry liaison manager for Chevron Oronite. “The organic acids can aggressively attack certain metals, particularly lead in the lead bearings. And then as it polymerizes and oxidizes, it can lead to increased deposits in the engine—in particular, deposits on the pistons.”

The engine oil additive Chevron Oronite developed is designed to counter the effect of the acids, so they don’t aggressively attack the metal; and also to prevent oxidation and formation of deposits.

Historically, in the context of acids, the lubricant additive business has largely been focused on formulations that help combat sulfuric acid damage. Before many of the recent sulfur limitations on diesel fuel went into effect, sulfur content in diesel fuel ranged from unlimited to 5,000 ppm to 500 ppm; but now, on road ultra low sulfur diesel only contains 15 ppm sulfur maximum. “Much of the historical effort had been in neutralizing sulfuric acids, and now much of the sulfur issues have gone away,” Parsons said. “But now we’re talking about putting this organic material in the oil, which forms organic acids, so part of what we’ve done is we’ve tailored our formulation to address those organic acids in order to prevent oxidation of the fatty acid methyl ester in the oil. That’s why it’s called for special research and development in that area—because it’s different than what’s been done historically. “

The product, which is commercially available and marketed under the Oronite Lubricating Oil Additive, or OLOA, trademark, has been receiving global attention since its commercial debut last year. “People are starting to see that there’s going to be more biodiesel in the market, and more exposure and potential risk, so we’re seeing more and more interest because of that,” Parsons said. “Until now, the use of biodiesel has largely been driven by economics or people who just want to do good things for the environment—not by mandates.”

Rethink biofuel, says Nobel laureate

By TJ Burgonio

MANILA, Philippines -- A Nobel laureate has cautioned the government against rushing into biofuel development because there’s little energy to be gained from it.

Dr. Hartmut Michel, the 1998 Nobel Prize winner for chemistry, who was in Manila last week for a talk, said investing in biofuel development was “counterproductive.”

“When you calculate how much of the sun’s energy is stored in the plants, it’s below one percent,” he said at a forum at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Wednesday.

“When you convert into biofuel, you add fertilizer, and then harvest the plants. There’s not real energy gained in biofuel,” said Michel, 59, whose prize-winning research with two other chemists dealt with the process of photosynthesis.

Biofuel is made from alternative sources, such as crops, plant fiber, trees, poultry litter, animal waste and the biodegradable component of solid waste.

Biofuels include bioethanol, biodiesel and fuels from biomass. Bioethanol is a light alcohol produced by fermenting starch or sugar from sugarcane, corn, cassava or nipa. Biodiesel is fuel extracted from plant oils like jatropha, palm, soy, rapeseed and coconut.

Biofuels Act

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law the Biofuels Act in January last year, which mandates a minimum 1-percent biodiesel blend and 5-percent bioethanol blend in all diesel and gasoline fuels.

The government is implementing an alternative fuels program to reduce the country’s dependence on imported oil, and provide cheaper, more environment-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels.

It is encouraging the massive cultivation of jatropha, a shrub that produces golf-ball-size fruit that contain oil.

Land Bank of the Philippines has signed an agreement to provide Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative Fuels Corp. with P5 billion to finance the jatropha development program.

The corporation is looking at some 1.2 million hectares as its main hub for jatropha production in Mindanao.

Burning forests

Michel further pointed out that producing biofuel would sometimes entail clearing a forest, a process that destroys biodiversity and emits more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

“When you burn the forest, you produce too much carbon dioxide, which you can’t save in the next several hundred years,” he said at the Nobel Forum on Wednesday, where he and three other Nobel awardees were the guests.

Burning destroys many natural compounds in forests, according to the scientist. He said these natural compounds could be remedy for new kinds of cancer.

“We should not put money in biofuel development. It’s counterproductive,” he said.

Top climate victim

Michel said the Philippines is vulnerable to a rise in sea level and stronger storms as an offshoot of global warming.

“The Philippines has every reason to do everything to reduce the use of fossil energy,” he said.

The Philippines, which was battered by storms in 1996 that killed more than 1,000 people, and suffered losses worth billions of dollars, was named by the environment group Germanwatch as the world’s top climate victim that year.

Tap wind power

Michel suggested that the government tap renewable energy sources to generate power.

“The islands are rich in wind power. You should invest in wind to generate electricity,” he said.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly to Michel, Dr. Johann Deisenhofer and Dr. Robert Huber for the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction center.

They were the first “to succeed in unraveling the full details of how a membrane-bound protein is built up, revealing the structure of the molecule, atom by atom,” the academy said.

Taiwanese Yuan T. Lee, one of the three 1986 Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry, said biofuel production might not be the “right solution” for countries with small land areas.

“It’s important to realize that in Europe, like Taiwan, biofuel may not make sense. If we use land to develop biofuel, it’s not the right solution,” he said at the open forum.

“In the long run, biofuel will not be the solution,” he said.

Others fear that using arable land for biofuels can cause food shortages.