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Microbubbles provide new boost for biofuel production
http://www.shef.ac.uk/mediacentre/2012/microbubbles-boost-biofuel-production.html[font face=Times, Serif]23 January 2012
[font size=5]Microbubbles provide new boost for biofuel production[/font]
[font size=4]A solution to the difficult issue of harvesting algae for use as a biofuel has been developed using microbubble technology pioneered at the University of Sheffield. The technique builds on previous research in which microbubbles were used to improve the way algae is cultivated.[/font]
[font size=3]Algae produce an oil which can be processed to create a useful biofuel. Biofuels, made from plant material, are considered an important alternative to fossil fuels and algae, in particular, has the potential to be a very efficient biofuel producer. Until now, however, there has been no cost-effective method of harvesting and removing the water from the algae for it to be processed effectively.
…
"It turned out, however, that algae biofuels still couldn´t be produced economically, because of the difficulty in harvesting and dewatering the algae. We had to develop a solution to this problem and once again, microbubbles provided a solution."
Microbubbles have been used for flotation before: water purification companies use the process to float out impurities, but it hasn´t been done in this context, partly because previous methods have been very expensive.
The system developed by Professor Zimmerman´s team uses up to 1000 times less energy to produce the microbubbles and, in addition, the cost of installing the Sheffield microbubble system is predicted to be much less than existing flotation systems.
…[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bit.24449[font size=5]Microbubbles provide new boost for biofuel production[/font]
[font size=4]A solution to the difficult issue of harvesting algae for use as a biofuel has been developed using microbubble technology pioneered at the University of Sheffield. The technique builds on previous research in which microbubbles were used to improve the way algae is cultivated.[/font]
[font size=3]Algae produce an oil which can be processed to create a useful biofuel. Biofuels, made from plant material, are considered an important alternative to fossil fuels and algae, in particular, has the potential to be a very efficient biofuel producer. Until now, however, there has been no cost-effective method of harvesting and removing the water from the algae for it to be processed effectively.
…
"It turned out, however, that algae biofuels still couldn´t be produced economically, because of the difficulty in harvesting and dewatering the algae. We had to develop a solution to this problem and once again, microbubbles provided a solution."
Microbubbles have been used for flotation before: water purification companies use the process to float out impurities, but it hasn´t been done in this context, partly because previous methods have been very expensive.
The system developed by Professor Zimmerman´s team uses up to 1000 times less energy to produce the microbubbles and, in addition, the cost of installing the Sheffield microbubble system is predicted to be much less than existing flotation systems.
…[/font][/font]