Faster Biodiesel Production
Faster Biodiesel Production
A new tiny reactor to boost Biodiesel production
biomass
A chemical engineering professor at Oregon State University (OSU) has developed a device which can be used to
make biodiesel almost instantly. The conventional manufacture of
biodiesel involves a catalyst like sodium hydroxide being dissolved in methanol and then mixed with vegetable oil. Because of the slow chemical reaction, the mixture has to be left for up to 24 hours while biodiesel and glycerin are formed.
This innovative chemical reactor (half the size of a thick credit card) is made up of 30
microreactor channels each thinner than a human hair. Methanol and vegetable oil are pumped down these parallel channels and come together to form biodiesel almost instantaneously without the need for any catalyst.
Banks of these mini reactors can be put together in order to scale up production. Jovanovic said "One microreactor makes a small amount [of biodiesel], but millions of them make a lot". A device the size of a small suitcase made up of many of these microreactors in parallel could produce sufficient biodiesel to power several farms.
Jovanovic claims that biodiesel production is 10 to 100 times faster with this new method compared to the classic method, and that the technology is ready from a science and engineering perspective.
Article Last Modified: 21:32, 20th Apr 2006
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