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Fast biofuel from algae

13.11.2012

Scientists at the University of Michigan may have made a breakthrough in algae-based biofuel technology. They have managed to create a process that turns an unprecedented 65% of algal mass into a so-called biocrude in one minute - a product similar to oil, usually obtained by rapid pyrolysis from wood. Biocrude can be used in modern refineries by first getting rid of the extra oxygen and nitrogen atoms that abound in living organisms.

The new process does not require waiting millions of years for natural raw materials to turn into oil. In a lab experiment, scientists filled a detachable steel tube with 1,5 ml of wet algae and placed the tube in sand heated to nearly 600 degrees Celsius. A small amount of algae turned into an oil-like product in just a minute.

Previously, scientists heated algae for a longer time: from 10 to 90 minutes. The best results with the conversion of half the volume of algae into biocrude were observed when heated for 10-40 minutes at a temperature of 300 degrees Celsius.

So far, scientists do not fully understand why short-term heating was more effective. Researchers believe that in fact the reactions that produce artificial oil are very fast and that when heated slowly, the process is simply slowed down by side reactions. Reducing the reaction time allows not only to increase the rate of production of artificial oil from algae, but also to reduce the size of the reactor, which will reduce the cost of the plant for the production of raw materials.

Modern commercial technologies for the production of fuel from dried algae are still very expensive, and as a result, the price of this fuel is more than $5,4 per 1 liter. The use of wet algae is cheaper because it does not require drying costs.

In addition, one of the advantages of the "wet" method is not only the extraction of oil from algae, but also the destruction of proteins and carbohydrates. That is, in just a minute, it is possible to achieve almost the highest possible efficiency and convert 90% of the chemical energy stored by algae into artificial oil.

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