how algae fuel works

How Algae Fuel Works

Open Pond Growing The most natural

method for growing algae that will be used to produce algae fuel is open-pond growing

Open ponds are able to produce the greatest amount of algae in hot and sunny conditions

Pros: Most natural and least

invasive methodCons: Bad weather

conditions slow growth Contamination from

other living things in pond

It is hard to keep the water at the temperature it must be for the algae to grow

Vertical Growth A quicker and more

efficient method of producing algae is vertical growing

Algae are put in clear plastic bags to allow sunlight on both sides

Bags are put in tall piles and shielded from the rain

Pros: Faster and more efficient

than open-pond growth Algae won’t be

contaminatedCons: It is hard to keep the water

at the temperature it must be for the algae to grow

Closed-Tank Bioreactors For the fastest algae

production, big, round barrels can grow algae indoors in closed-tank bioreactors

The algae can be controlled into growing at the highest speed possible

It is able to be harvested every day

Pros: Large production of

algae, which means more oil for biodiesel

Good weather conditions for algae growth

Plants can be built near energy plants in order to capture extra CO2 that would have polluted the air

Fermentation A modification to

the closed-tank method of algae growth is called fermentation

The algae are grown in closed containers and supplied with sugar to eat, which speeds their growth

Pros: All weather and

environmental conditions can be kept the same

Algae can be grown anywhere in the world

Cons: There are problems

with finding enough sugar to use this process

Extracting Oil from Algae After producing the algae, a few

different methods can be used to extract the lipids (oils) from the algae

The product of this is Green Crude

Oil Press The easiest and most common process of

extracting oil from algae is the oil press This method can remove up to 75% of the

oil in the algae simply by pressing it This is the same technique an olive press

uses

Hexane Solvent Method The 2-step process that removes up to 95% of

oil from the algae is called the hexane solvent method

First, the oil press method is used Next, the remaining algae is combined with

methane, filtered and cleaned so that no chemical remains in the oil

Supercritical Fluids Method CO2 is used as the

supercritical fluid to remove up to 100% of the oil from algae in the supercritical fluids method

The CO2 is put under pressure and heated so that it is changed into a liquid, as well as a gas

The CO2 is then combined with the algae, making it entirely turn into oil

This is a less common method because there is extra labor and equipment need

Green Crude The Green Crude

produced from algae can be processed in a refinery the same way conventional oil is

It can be made into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, the main fuels needed in society

Transesterification Once the oil has been

taken out, it is treated with fatty acid chains in a method called transesterification

This process includes a catalyst (i.e. sodium hydroxide), which is combined with an alcohol (i.e. methanol)

This will produce a biodiesel mixed with a glycerol (algae biodiesel fuel)

Cars Running on Algae Fuel The final product in

the algae fuel process will be a Drop-in replacement fuel which is ASTM certified Gasoline, x26 Jet fuel

Turning Algae into Biodiesel

Why Algae? Source of crude oil. The regular crude

oil we use today was originally formed from algae that bloomed millions of years ago

Helps climate change. Absorbs about 13-14 kg of CO2 for every gallon of Green Crude grown

Easy to grow. Algae can grow rapidly, especially in salt water in the desert.

REVIEW of Algae to Biofuel ProcessAlgae (Green Crude) is grown from CO2 and

sunlight

Algae is harvested and the oil is removed

Algae is refined (transesterification) in the same way as conventional oil

Drop-in Gasoline, Jet Fuel, and Biodiesel is produced