A team at the Catalysis Institute at Cardiff University is hoping to make biofuel production more efficient and sustainable by recycling the leftovers from the process.
Currently, biofuel production uses methanol, which is combined with fats and oils. The process generates glycerol as a waste product, but the material is too full of impurities for cost effective reuse. This is where researchers spotted an opportunity to increase the yield, using a simple catalysis to recycle glycerol into methanol that can be used to produce more biodiesel.
They added water to glycerol as a source of hydrogen and used MgO (magnesium oxide) and CeO2 (cerium oxide) as catalysts. They experimented with different temperatures, catalysis periods and chemical combinations to test their idea. They say the results they achieved point the way to a new catalytic route from aqueous glycerol to methanol, with the potential to increase yield by an estimated 10 percent.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday September 23 2015, @12:10AM
I have another biofuel-related story in the submissions list, better settle it soon.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 23 2015, @07:56AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 23 2015, @11:28AM
I doesn't have to be anywhere near parity to be better than what we have, and to be economically favourable.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Covalent on Wednesday September 23 2015, @03:37PM
My master's thesis was in biofuels, and one of the major problems is catalysis. Biofuels can be a major part of the climate change / expensive foreign oil solution, but only if making them is energetically positive. The more fuel you can extract, the better. What's more, all of the catalysts and reagents mentioned here are nontoxic, abundant, and inexpensive.
This is a very exciting development!
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday September 23 2015, @09:12PM
After he sold his stake in Webcom, the world's first web hosting service, my dear friend Thomas Leavitt proceeded to blow it all on hats. His one last memory of his days of wealth was his tiny, fast red convertible.
Then a biodesiel station opened not far from his Santa Cruz home. Now he drives a small station wagon.
A while back I puzzled over the news of the very first translatlantic biodesiel passenger jet flight. It was just a test carrying only the crew but no passengers.
When you fuel a jet with jet fuel - JP-4 kerosene or some such - at least you know what you're pumping into the turbojets. That's a little harder to do with the grease off of egg mcmuffins.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]