Tiny Microreactor Rethinks Biodiesel Production for Farms and Nation

[jpak]

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=44203

February 28, 2006

Corvallis, Oregon. Chemical engineering researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) have reportedly developed a tiny chemical reactor for manufacturing biodiesel that could enable farmers to produce a cleaner-burning diesel substitute on their farms using seed crops they grow on their own land in less time than current processes.

"By stacking many of these microreactors in parallel, a device the size of a small suitcase could produce enough biodiesel to power several farms, or produce hundreds of thousands of gallons per year." -- Goran Jovanovic, the Oregon State University professor who developed the biodiesel microreactor

"If we're successful with this, nobody will ever make biodiesel any other way," said Goran Jovanovic, the OSU professor who developed the biodiesel microreactor. The microreactor developed at OSU eliminates the mixing, the standing time for separation and potentially the need for a dissolved catalyst. The new unit, which is said to be efficient, fast and portable, dispenses with what is often a tedious and costly process to make biodiesel.

But more importantly, Jovanovic says, the microreactor, which is about half the size of a thick credit card, could help farmers reduce their dependence on mass-produced petroleum as well as reduce the need to distribute fuel via truck, tanker or pipeline.

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[sui generis]

1. but it says they need vegetable oil and alcohol

so for every gallon of diesel in output you need to either locally produce vegetable oil and alcohol or else have it trucked in.

Glad they're working on it, but it seems like it won't necessarily net to less than the cost of driving out to a diesel station.

Now if they had a device for turning republicans into low grade biodiesel, THAT would be something.

[Redstone]

2. Good point. I wonder what's the energy required to convert some of a corn

crop into corn oil, and distill the rest into alcohol, in whatever proportions are needed, in relation to the engery contained in the resulting biodiesel?

And where does THAT energy come from?

Redstone

[NMDemDist2]

5. in the old days the farmers all used one mill to grind the grain

they'll only need one press to process the oil out of the corn (or soybeans or whatever)

I think that's real do-able! I'm sending this to my wheat/lentil farming FIL

[eppur_se_muova]

3. I doubt if they'd produce it on their own farms. Probably at a local ...

processor makes more sense.

That way, they get some economy of scale, and processing is handled by full-time specialists, but no need to ship fuel across the country and around the world as required by overcentralization. Maybe no more than partway across the county would do it.

[Dead_Parrot]

4. Now that is interesting...

The only slight problem, is you (presumably) need to refine the oil and brew up the ethanol beforehand. But this approach shows promise for distributed production, which can only be a good thing.

Now if they can produce a similar sized sugar+water=ethanol widget, we'd be laughing...