Wired News: Teeny Reactor Pumps Out Biodiesel http://wired.com/news/wireservice/1,70702-0.html
1 of 2 4/20/2006 8:00 AM
Teeny Reactor Pumps Out Biodiesel
Associated Press 16:57 PM Apr, 19, 2006
PORTLAND, Oregon -- A tiny chemical reactor that can convert vegetable
oil directly into biodiesel could help farmers turn some of their crops into
homegrown fuel to operate agricultural equipment instead of relying on
costly imported oil.
"This is all about producing energy in such a way that it liberates people,"
said Goran Jovanovic, a chemical engineering
professor at Oregon State
University who developed the microreactor.
The device -- about the size of a credit card -- pumps vegetable oil and
alcohol through tiny parallel channels, each smaller than a human hair, to
convert the oil into biodiesel almost instantly.
By comparison, it takes more than a day to produce biodiesel with current
technology.
Conventional production involves dissolving a catalyst, such as sodium
hydroxide, in alcohol, then stirring it into vegetable oil in large vats for about
two hours. The mixture then has to sit for 12 to 24 hours while a slow
chemical reaction forms biodiesel along with glycerin, a byproduct.
The glycerin is separated and can be used to make other products, such as
soaps, but it still contains the chemical catalyst, which must be neutralized
and removed using hydrochloric acid, a long and costly process.
The microreactor under development by the university and the Oregon
Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute eliminates the mixing, the
standing time and maybe even the need for a catalyst.
"If we're successful with this, nobody will ever make biodiesel any other
way," Jovanovic said.
The device is small, but it can be stacked in banks to increase production
levels to the volume required for commercial use, he said.
Wired News: Teeny Reactor Pumps Out Biodiesel http://wired.com/news/wireservice/1,70702-0.html
2 of 2 4/20/2006 8:00 AM
Biodiesel production on the farm also could reduce distribution costs by
eliminating the need for tanker truck fuel delivery, part of the growing effort
to meet fuel demand locally -- instead of relying on distant refineries and
tanker transport.
"Distributed energy production means you can use local resources -- farmers
can produce all the energy they need from what they grow on their own
farms," Jovanovic said.
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