Long answer:It is easy to make biodiesel. The original process is called transesterification or alcoholysis, and was developed during World War II. A quick search on the Internet will find plans for making your own refinery. One design relies on a hot water heater. The chemicals needed are quite toxic, and include lye and methanol. The byproduct is wastewater. In larger reactors, sodium hydroxide is the catalyst and is added to pure base oils. It then needs to be neutralized with either hydrochloric or sulfuric acid. This is the old-fashioned way to make biodiesel-messy and inefficient. One big pitfall with the old method is that it is very finicky. It only wants virgin oil because waste oils give the reactor problems.
In the summer of 2006, an undergraduate at Augsburg College named Brian Krohn asked for a research grant. Like all great discoverers, he started with questions, not answers. For example, what kind of catalyst can be used to refine waste bio-oils? Like many of the readers out there, money was short so he started with materials that were cheap and available. Finally, the results of this scientific endeavor produced a new catalyst. Zirconia, a material he got for free, is on the verge of changing our world and making the air sweet again.
Large-scale production is currently underway and progressing at an incredible rate. Tundra was broken in Isanti, Minnesota, and a facility will be up and running very soon. This oil plant does not even need to apply for an environmental permit because it does not pollute. The generators that heat the 6-foot by 6-inch reactor to temperatures between 572 and 752 degrees F are run on, you guessed it, bio-oils. The pressure that the fluid is run at is 2,500 psi.
A separation Weir-the top...
A separation Weir-the top layer is methanol and the bottom layer is biodiesel.
This novel way of producing bio-oils is now coined the Mcygan process (a combination of the names of the scientists who are officially credited with making the discovery. They include Clayton McNeff Ph.D., Professor Arlin Gyberg, and Bingwen Yan, Ph.D.).
What is the best feedstock?Short Answer: Algae
Long Answer:Feedstock is raw oil before the glycerin or sugar is removed. Unless we want larger-scale food shortages, we shouldn't rely only on our dinner to make energy. To every rule there is the exception, and different locations might find it easier to produce different feedstock for oil production. Finding a good balance between algae and all other oil-producing crops is key.
Consider this fact: According to Yusuf Chisti's research paper entitled "Bio-oils From Microalgae," in order to produce half the energy the U.S. gets from petroleum, 24% of the available land for cultivation would need to be reserved for bio-oil crops. On the other hand, only 1-3% of the land available for cultivation would need to be set aside for algae growth.
In 1870, Standard Oil was...
In 1870, Standard Oil was formed, and the whales rejoiced.
Algae can be grown in giant reactors out in the desert, so no arable land is needed or required. The algae broth can have oil content that is as high as 80% by dry weight. In addition to all this, it grows incredbly fast. All that is needed is sunlight, nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, silicon, water,and temperatures ranging from 68 to 86 degrees F.
There is an infinite amount of potential with algae. In order to get all of its benefits, scientists are also tweaking its genetics.
We all have seen algae float and rest on the top of the water in both lakes and ponds. Today, scientists are trying to make algae grow throughout a pond or lake to consume it, and in their case, throughout the reactor. Doing this will help to create and develop more algae per square inch of land.
At the University of Minnesota Duluth, researchers like Adam Olson are trying to trick algae into making hydrogen-known as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Hydrogen could then run in a diesel engine as a boost similar to propane or compressed natural gas. Another application for algae is capturing CO2 spewing from coal-burning electric plants.