Kentucky Biodiesel plant close to start-up
http://news.cincinnati.com/art...nt+close+to+start-up
Friday, August 14, 2009
By Amanda Van Benschoten • avanbenschoten@nky.com

FALMOUTH - When Bluegrass BioDiesel opens at the end of the month, it will be the largest biodiesel fuel producer in Northern Kentucky and second-largest in the state.

The company plans to produce up to 14 million gallons of B100 grade biodiesel fuel annually at its 60,000-square-foot facility in the Commonwealth Commerce Center.

A third of the building has been retrofitted with the specialized equipment needed to turn animal fat, fish oil, vegetable oil and grease into fuel.

"We can handle pretty much any kind of animal, marine or vegetable oil, used or virgin," said general manager Richard Wojtkowski, a former research biochemist.

" The engineering that we have here is very unique . We've studied other biodiesel plants across the country, and learned from their mistakes," he said. "You're never going to see a biodiesel plant like this anywhere."

The process is almost entirely automated, from the time the fats and oils are dropped off until the fuel is picked up.

Inside giant tanks, the fats are broken apart and mixed with alcohol to create fuel.

The byproduct of that process, glycerol (or glycerin), is typically sold, but the new plant will refine it on-site. It's used to make soap and cosmetics, among other things.

Biodiesel is similar to diesel fuel, and it can be used in any vehicle or machine that uses diesel. But it's made of renewable resources and is better for the environment because it burns cleaner.

The plant also has the ability to produce blended fuel - biodiesel mixed with regular diesel - on-site.

All the products made at the plant will be sold wholesale. Wojtkowski said he plans to buy and sell with local businesses as much as possible, though he declined to provide specifics because contracts are still being finalized.

He said he doesn't believe the company will be in direct competition with Griffin Industries, whose Pendleton County biodiesel plant produces up to 2 million gallons annually.

"We have no desire to steal their customers," he said. "We have completely different markets. I do not perceive us as competitors."

Wojtkowski has three employees now and plans to hire about 13 more, chiefly from within Pendleton County.

Jack Wright, executive director of the Pendleton County Industrial Authority, said the company is a welcome addition to the community.

"It brings jobs - good-paying jobs - along with health benefits," he said. "They won't be employing a huge number of people at first, but I believe they'll grow from there."

Wojtkowski, whose background is in research and development, has big plans for the plant's future.

He plans to install two giant biodiesel-powered turbines in a field next door and sell the energy they produce.

He also plans to do on-site research about what he says could be the next frontier in alternative energy: algae.

Bluegrass BioDiesel first announced plans for the plant in 2007, which stalled when funding ran out while the building was being retrofitted.

The project was recently revived by a new group of investors. Wojtkowski declined to say how much was invested or how much the retrofit cost.

Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series powers ahead on biodiesel blends
http://www.biodieselmagazine.c....jsp?article_id=3675
The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup racing series had just passed the half way point at press time, when race organizers, drivers, and fans alike acclaimed this biodiesel-powered “green racing” series an utter success.

Volkswagen of America named Hyperfuels, a division of NBB member company Gulf Hydrocarbon Partners, as the Official Fuel Sponsor for the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup race series. The Volkswagen Motorsports team is using biodiesel blends to power the entire 2009 Jetta TDI Cup racing series, from the race cars running on Hyperfuels’ Syndiesel B5 biodiesel blend to the transport trucks and generators running on up to B20 blends . As a result, by the end of the season the overall carbon emissions produced by the series will be reduced by more than 40,000 pounds.

Clark Campbell, Motorsport Manager for Volkswagen of America Inc., said, “The Syndiesel B5 biodiesel blend has proven itself to be a powerful, high-performance fuel, and our drivers have responded favorably to it.” Many of those drivers, including the current championship points leader Timmy Megenbier, stated they are experiencing noticeably better torque, better fuel economy and better overall response from the Syndiesel B5 blend compared to the regular ultra low sulfur diesel fuel they ran on last season.

US Navy seeks biodiesel blend
http://www.biofuels-news.com/i...ews.php?item_id=1177
19 August 2009

NAVAIR has placed an order for the Defense Energy Support Center to purchase 40,000 gallons of renewable diesel
The fuels team of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the organisation responsible for certifying fuels suitable for use in US Navy ships and aircraft, is planning to test a biodiesel blend in the engine of an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft by Q2 2010.

At the same time, the team is seeking a biodiesel blend suitable for use as marine diesel. The tests are part of the US Navy’s drive to increase energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

NAVAIR has placed an order for the Defense Energy Support Center, which is responsible for sourcing the US Navy’s fuel, to purchase 40,000 gallons of renewable diesel from second-generation feedstocks such as camelina, jatropha and algae.

Commercially produced biodiesel is unsuitable for use at sea because the hydrophilic nature of esters can be dangerous in the presence of water. The blending of biodiesel into marine fuel is therefore illegal.

The fuel purchased will be blended with 50% petroleum diesel to add aromatic hydrocarbons, which are essential in military aircraft fuel because they lubricate the gaskets and seals . NAVAIR believes it is essential to find a drop-in replacement for the standard petroleum diesel: ‘The field won’t know the difference,’ says Rick Kamin, the leader of the fuels team.

The Navy plans to complete testing and certification of the most promising candidates by 2013. Actual usage in the fleet will then depend on industrial production capacity.

Someone needs to inform the NBB that biodiesel is illegal for marine use. They are still illegally promoting it for this use:

http://biodiesel.org/markets/mar/

Can't recall aromatic hydrocarbons having lubricating qualities. Also weird that they would say that the diesel was being added to the biodiesel, since the order is only for 40,000 gallons, and bd is usually considered as a lubricating additive to diesel, not the other way around.

Whoever wrote this article should have cruised these boards first for some basic info before hacking this thing together.

quote:

Originally posted by clean and green:
Can't recall aromatic hydrocarbons having lubricating qualities.

They do

Field Day unveils biomass crops, biodiesel production
http://www.wadenapj.com/event/article/id/15314/
Published August 26 2009
The Central Lakes Agricultural Center in Staples MN is at the forefront of alternative fuels production. The fact was made clear at the Aug. 13 Energy/Alternative Fuels Field Day focusing on energy crops.

The Central Lakes Agricultural Center in Staples is at the forefront of alternative fuels production. The fact was made clear at the Aug. 13 Energy/Alternative Fuels Field Day focusing on energy crops.

Bob Schafer, Central Lakes Ag Center director, coordinated a host of experts and tours at the 550-acre Ag Center northwest of town.

Of special interest was a 15-acre parcel featuring camelina, a low-input oilseed emerging as a biodiesel source grown on what is essentially wasteland. Ten inches of rainfall will bring a camelina crop to full yield maturity.

Likewise, on-farm biodsiesel production developed by Dr. Greg Mowry of the University of St. Thomas drew interest among guests from as far as North Dakota and the metropolitan Twin Cities area.

Paul Aakre of the University of Minnesota-Crookston demonstrated farm-scale oil extraction using the Komet press and canola.

Other energy crop plots viewed at the Ag Center: switchgrass, big bluestem, intermediate wheatgrass, prairie cordgrass, native prairie blend, miscanthus, survivor false indigo, and sweet sorghum.

Central Lakes College plans to burn biodiesel fuel from the Ag Center in its vehicles operated in the Diesel Technology and Heavy Equipment Operation and Maintenance programs at Staples.

Biofuel Pretenders
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=2243
Posted on Aug. 31, 2009

By Robert Rapier

Ed. note: This item originally ran in Robert Rapier's R-Squared Energy Blog.

Reality Begins to Sink In

There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this past week:

U.S. Biofuel Boom Running on Empty

A few pertinent excerpts:

The biofuels revolution that promised to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil is fizzling out.

Two-thirds of U.S. biodiesel production capacity now sits unused, reports the National Biodiesel Board.

Producers of next-generation biofuels -- those using nonfood renewable materials such as grasses, cornstalks and sugarcane stalks -- are finding it tough to attract investment and ramp up production to an industrial scale.

This all boils down to something I have said on many occasions: You can't mandate technology. Just because you mandate that 36 billion gallons of biofuel are to be produced by 2022 doesn't mean that it has a remote chance of happening. This is not a hard concept to understand, but it seems to have eluded our government for many years. The government would probably understand that they couldn't create colonies on the moon in 10 years via mandate. They know they can't cure cancer via mandate. But in the area of biofuels, they seem to feel like they can just conjure up vast amounts of hydrogen, cellulosic ethanol, or algal biodiesel.

Domestically produced biofuels were supposed to be an answer to reducing America's reliance on foreign oil. In 2007, Congress set targets for the U.S. to blend 36 billion gallons of biofuels a year into the U.S. fuel supply in 2022, from 11.1 billion gallons in 2009.

Cellulosic ethanol, derived from the inedible portions of plants, and other advanced fuels were expected to surpass corn ethanol to fill close to half of all biofuel mandates in that time.

But the industry is already falling behind the targets. The mandate to blend next-generation fuels, which kicks in next year, is unlikely to be met because of a lack of enough viable production.

Most people don't realize that the Germans were the first to produce ethanol from cellulose. That happened in 1898. For our political leaders and many industry boosters, cellulosic ethanol is a recent discovery, and thus they expect big leaps in the technology in the next few years. These expectations completely ignore the fact that researchers have been hard at work on making cellulosic ethanol a reality for decades - with little success.

In President Bush's 2006 State of the Union address, he broadly expanded the mandate for ethanol. He voiced his strong support for cellulosic ethanol, and included billions of gallons in the Renewable Fuel Standard - as well as billions of dollars of financial support.

How quickly our politicians seem to have forgotten the 2003 State of the Union, in which Bush set forth his vision of the hydrogen economy:

"A simple chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen generates energy, which can be used to power a car producing only water, not exhaust fumes. With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen and pollution-free."

We spent some two billion dollars toward that goal. Once again, this ignored many technical and economic realities, and so in May 2009 the headlines read:

Hydrogen Car Goes Down Like the Hindenburg: DoE Kills the Program

The dream of hydrogen fuel cell cars has just been put back in the garage. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced yesterday that his department is cutting all funding for hydrogen car research, saying that it won’t be a feasible technology anytime soon. “We asked ourselves, ‘Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will covert to a hydrogen car economy?’ The answer, we felt, was ‘no,’” Chu said.

My prediction is that in the not too distant future we will start to see headlines like this for cellulosic ethanol. The troublesome barriers to commercialization are quite fundamental, and aren't likely to be resolved by government mandate. If enough money is thrown at it, cellulosic ethanol will of course be produced. But it can never be a scalable, economic reality.

Pretenders

Broadly speaking, in the world of next generation biofuels there are contenders, pretenders, and niches. Over the past decade, we have thrown a lot of money at pretenders and have little to show for it. There are many reasons for this, but fundamentally I believe it boils down to the fact that our political leaders can't sort the wheat from the chaff. If a proponent extols the benefits of hydrogen, cellulose, or algae - the politicians just don't know enough to ask the right critical questions. They listen - often to the very people who will benefit from more funding - and then they allocate money. Billions of dollars and little progress later, they or their successors may begin to realize that they have been misled and they start to dial the funding back.

Here is how I define a next generation Biofuel Pretender: A company or group that makes grandiose promises about the ability of a technology to displace large amounts of fossil fuel, despite facing significant (and often unrecognized) barriers to commercialization.

Here are some examples:

Hydrogen

The poster child for the pretenders. Proponents ignored practical realities in many different areas, including fuel cell vehicles that cost a million dollars, the fact that most hydrogen is produced from natural gas, the fact that the energy density of hydrogen is very low, and the fact that there are multiple issues with hydrogen storage and transport. Technical breakthroughs were being counted on to solve these challenges. After all, we put a man on the moon. Surely we could solve these challenges.

The real problem is that the potential for success falls rapidly as the number of needed breakthroughs pile up. Imagine for instance that the following - cost of production, cost effective storage, and cost effective transport - each have a 25% chance of achieving commercial viability in the next 20 years. The total chance for success of all three in that case falls to 1.5% - so this is overall probability of success. Thus, the vast majority of technologies that require multiple technical breakthroughs will fail to materialize commercially except perhaps over a much longer period of time.

Cellulosic Ethanol

As was the case with hydrogen, this one requires multiple technical breakthroughs before commercial (unsubsidized) viability can be achieved. I won't go through them all now, as I have covered them before. The fundamental reason that cellulosic ethanol won't scale up to displace large amounts of gasoline is that the energy efficiency of the process is so low. You have the sugars that make up cellulose locked up tightly in the biomass - which has a low energy density to start with. So you add energy to unlock the sugar and turn it into ethanol, and then you end up with ethanol in water. More energy inputs are required to get the ethanol out. Even if the energy can be supplied by the by-products of the process like lignin, the net BTUs of liquid fuel that you end up with are going to be low relative to what you started with.

For example, assume you start off with 10 BTUs of biomass. You expend energy to get it to the factory, to process it, and then to get the water out. You burn part of the biomass to fuel the process, and input some fossil fuel. You might net something like 3 BTUs of liquid fuel from the 10 BTUs of biomass you started with.

Don't confuse this with fossil fuel energy balance, though. If the external energy inputs in this example only amounted to 1 BTU of fossil fuel, one could claim a fossil fuel energy balance of 3/1. But that doesn't change the fact the final liquid fuel input is a small fraction of the starting BTUs in the biomass.

This is analogous to the situation with oil shale, which is why I have compared the two. There may in fact be a trillion or more barrels of oil shale locked up in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. But if the extraction of those barrels required a trillion barrels worth of energy inputs and lots of water - then that oil shale might as well be on the moon. That means that a trillion barrels isn't really a trillion barrels in the case of oil shale, and a billion tons of biomass is much smaller than it seems when talking about cellulosic ethanol.

So despite the claims from the EPA that the "Renewable Fuel Standard program will increase the volume of renewable fuel required to be blended into gasoline from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons by 2022" - that is not going to happen unless the government is willing to throw massive amounts of money at an inefficient process.

Algal Biofuel

Like many, I was initially enchanted by the possibility of weaning the world away from fossil fuels by using fuel made from algae. Proponents wrote articles suggesting that we could do just that, provided the necessary investments are made.

Sadly, the story is much more complex than that. The U.S. DOE funded a study for many years into the potential of algae to produce fuel. (For an overview of where things stand from John Benemann, one of the men who co-authored the close-out report of that study, see Algal Biodiesel: Fact or Fiction?) The problem is again one of needing to surmount multiple technical hurdles, and the close-out report states that reality. Again, I won't go into those details, as that has been covered before.

While it is a fact that you can produce fuel from algae, the challenges are such that John has written that you can't even buy algal biofuel for $100/gallon. He said that if you want to separate the reality from the hype, just try to secure a contract with someone to supply you with algal fuel.

First Generation Biodiesel

This story is primarily about 2nd generation fuels, and as such I won't get into corn ethanol issues. But I will say a bit about biodiesel. As indicated in the Wall Street Journal story, conventional biodiesel producers are in trouble. Briefly, a conventional biodiesel producer is someone who takes vegetable oils or animal fats and uses methanol (almost all of which is fossil-fuel derived) and converts that into an oxygenated compound (called a mono-alkyl ester). This compound has been defined as 'biodiesel', and can be used - subject to certain limitations - in a diesel engine.

Again, the problems are fundamental. It takes a lot of effort (energy, cost) to produce most of the oils that are used as raw materials, and then you have to react with methanol - which usually contains a lot of embodied fossil fuel energy. Up til now, the first generation biodiesel producers have benefited from a high level of protectionism (to the extent of punishing the more efficient 2nd generation producers). But even with the protectionism and the subsidies, producers are still struggling to survive.

Miscellaneous

There are a number of miscellaneous pretenders that we probably don't need to discuss in depth, such as various free energy schemes or water as a fuel. If you think you might be dealing with a pretender, one caution flag is when their promoters are from backgrounds that have nothing to do with energy. For instance, the person who founded the dot.com that ultimately morphs into an energy company is almost certainly a pretender who is chasing investment funds.

Summary

To summarize, the biofuel pretenders fall into several broad categories. The big ones are:

* Hydrogen

* Most would-be cellulosic ethanol producers

* Most would-be algal biofuel producers

* Most first generation biodiesel producers

This isn't to say that none of these will work in any circumstances. I will get into that when I talk about niches. But I will say that I am confident that none of these are scalable solutions to our fossil fuel dependence. The problem is that political leaders have been, or are still convinced that there is great potential for some of these and we waste billions of dollars chasing fantasies. This is a great distraction, causing a loss of precious time and public goodwill as taxpayer money is squandered chasing schemes that ultimately will not pan out.

quote:

U.S. Biofuel Boom Running on Empty

The powers that be (mostly in the CFR) will not allow petroleum to lose market share as a fuel. How else could they justify spending billions each month on neverending wars and occupation in the middle east? How else can they transfer the wealth of the middle class to the military-industrial complex and promote world socialism?

Biodiesel adds value to soybean prices
http://www.feedstuffs.com/ME2/...483AAA8A2A016B6FA103
(9/9/2009)

A new study funded by the United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff found that U.S. soybean farmers received an additional $2.5 billion in net returns over the last four years due to the biodiesel industry’s demand for soybean oil. This demand added up to 25 cents in support for the per-bushel price of soybeans. Centrec Consulting Group, LLC, conducted the study with funding from USB’s Domestic Marketing program.

Because the price of petroleum diesel has such a large influence on the price of biodiesel and soybean oil, the study asserts that the biodiesel industry has essentially created a new floor for soybean oil prices.

Additionally, the study found that higher demand for soybean oil led to an increased supply of soybean meal, resulting in meal prices dropping by $19 to $45 per ton.

“Any lowering of the price of inputs for the animal agriculture industry is a plus,” Bainbridge said. “The swine and dairy industries have had a tough time lately. This is a benefit for them. Every little bit helps in the poultry and livestock industries as far as decreasing their costs. And this demonstrates how biodiesel demand can have a positive impact on this important aspect of our food supply.”

Two summaries of the checkoff-funded study, “Soybeans & Biodiesel: Key Price Relationships,” and “Economic Impacts of Biodiesel Production on the Soybean Sector,” can be viewed on the soybean checkoff Web site at www.unitedsoybean.org.

Railroad in Iowa testing biodiesel
http://www.omaha.com/article/2...911/NEWS01/709119948

Published Friday September 11, 2009

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A test under way at the Cedar Rapids-based Iowa Interstate Railroad could lead to more use of biodiesel by railroads.

Iowa Interstate began testing biodiesel blended fuel in one locomotive in the railroad’s Council Bluffs yard in June. The test is being conducted in cooperation with the Renewable Energy Group, a biodiesel producer and marketer in Newton, Iowa.

The test started with a blend of 5 percent biodiesel. The biodiesel component will progressively increase to 20 percent to try to determine the optimal mixture for locomotives. The test is expected to take about eight months.

“Our company has been looking at biodiesel as an alternative to diesel fuel for some time,” said Dennis Miller, president and CEO of Iowa Interstate.

The locomotive being used in the test is an older one that is part of a “slug” unit used mainly to switch cars in a yard. It operates virtually around the clock.

The engine’s performance is being analyzed to determine the effects of biodiesel fuel on horsepower, fuel economy and engine wear. The tests will continue into the winter to determine how biodiesel affects the locomotive’s performance in cold weather.

Miller said the trial could open the door for more than 600 railroads to add biodiesel as a fuel source. In addition to being a renewable fuel, biodiesel produces less harmful emissions than conventional fuel.

Major manufacturers of large diesel locomotive engines don’t currently approve of biodiesel because of a lack of data showing its effect on the engines. So the testing could provide important information.

Separately, Miller announced that Iowa Interstate Railroad has purchased two additional General Electric Evolution Series locomotives.

The railroad bought 12 General Electric Evolution Series locomotives in 2008. They are 18 percent more fuel-efficient than the railroad’s older locomotives.

Miller said the new locomotives have lowered maintenance costs and boosted efficiency.

Ditches Providing Land for Biodiesel Feedstock
http://domesticfuel.com/2009/0...biodiesel-feedstock/
by John Davis – September 16th, 2009

A couple of years ago, I told you about how the Utah Department of Transportation was planting safflower, camelina, canola and perennial flax in a safety strip along Interstate 15 and then crushing the seeds to make biodiesel (see my post from May 9, 2007).

The “Freeways-to-Fuel” project, sponsored by the Utah Department of Transportation, the National Biodiesel Board and others, has expanded to a roadside simulation lab at the Utah Botanical Center and beyond… as chronicled in this NBB release:

“This project signals a breakthrough in how America may capitalize on millions of acres of idle lands along roadsides as well as at military bases, airports and local municipalities,” said NBB CEO Joe Jobe.

Safflower, canola and soybeans are examples of the oilseed crops that can be grown and harvested to simultaneously produce vegetable oil for biodiesel, as well protein for humans and livestock. The Freeways-to-Fuel initiative also offers a way for governments to save money. It reduces costs for mowing and otherwise maintaining the lands.

Dallas Hanks, a research scientist with Utah State University, has calculated arid regions, like Utah, spend approximately $300 per mile to maintain roadside lands. Areas with more rainfall would spend more.

“Biodiesel is the most diverse fuel on the planet, and we are pleased to have supported the Freeways-to-Fuel program, which can expand that reach even more,” said Jobe. “This initiative can also complement urban farming projects offering fruits and vegetables alongside oilseed crops.”

The project is expanding to 200 acres of Salt Lake City and County land near the airport that will become a future wastewater treatment plant. Right now, it’s just a vacant lot that even caught fire last month. Officials now think it will prove to be good ground to grow a fuel that will burn in our gas tanks.

The Freeways-to-Fuel project in Utah also has academic partners across the nation as well as corporate supporters like New Holland Agriculture.

Rocket Science Meets Biodiesel
http://www.biodieselmagazine.c..._id=3722&q=&page=all
In collaboration with the U.S. Navy and Biodiesel Industries, Aerojet—a company that helped put man on the moon—has turned its sights toward biodiesel.
By By Susanne Retka Schill

As any home-brewer knows, making biodiesel isn’t rocket science. But when rocket science and biodiesel production commingle, new heights in automation and control are achieved. A collaborative effort between U.S. Navy environmental engineers and Biodiesel Industries Inc. was expanded a year ago to include aerospace and defense contractor Aerojet Inc. The same space-age sensing and automation technology that sent men to the moon decades ago is helping propel modular, remote biodiesel production to new heights.

Russell Teall, the founder and CEO of Biodiesel Industries, is well known for his work in developing modular biodiesel systems. In 2003, the Santa Barbara, Calif.,-based company signed a cooperative research and development agreement with the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center at nearby Port Hueneme, Calif. Since then, one of Biodiesel Industries’ modular units has been in use on the naval base, converting waste vegetable oil collected from the mess halls to biodiesel, as ongoing research led to continued improvements of the system. “The navy is interested in modular, deployable, self sustainable systems that can be operated remotely,” Teall says.

It isn’t obvious how an aerospace company such as Aerojet, accustomed to designing propulsion systems to maneuver the space station, ended up working on biodiesel. “We thought it was a natural fit,” says Kathy Robinson, executive director of sustainability for Aerojet. “We have been an energy management and solutions provider for the Department of Defense and the civil aerospace sector for 50 years. We’re continually looking for what’s new with our customers in terms of emerging requirements.” She says DOD’s emphasis on distributed fuel production, for tactical and security reasons, has been apparent in the past few years. Robinson is responsible for finding areas where Aerojet’s systems engineering and thermal management systems can fit into the energy market, which led her to study a number of alternative fuel paths. Early on, she says, biodiesel was on her radar as a near-term, deployable solution to which Aerojet could provide service. “When I called the Navy, the country’s largest user of diesel fuel, they told me to contact Russ,” Robinson says.

Teall has been experimenting with every type of feedstock he could acquire for more than a decade, building a database of feedstock characteristics and process reaction results. A one-tenth scale commercial system with flexible configuration was set up at the naval facilities engineering center. It allowed for scaled up production and testing as the team developed a truly feedstock-flexible system producing ASTM quality biodiesel.

Teall says the project took a gigantic leap forward with Aerojet’s expertise in integrated system design, fluidic management and control systems development. In August, after only one year with Aerojet onboard, the team announced the successful demonstration of ARIES (automated, real-time, remote, integrated energy system). With a nameplate capacity of 3 MMgy, the modular unit was to go from the fabrication shop to an Aerojet facility for further testing in late August, before moving to the National Environmental Test Site at Naval Base Ventura County, in Port Hueneme, Calif., for additional validation and demonstration.

Real-time sensing is at the core of ARIES’ capabilities. The typical ASTM test for glycerin takes 35 to 40 minutes using a gas chromatograph. “That’s fine for quality control but not very good for process control,” Teall says. “The ability to assess in real time what’s going on in the reaction means you can shape the reaction kinetics to drive the reaction forward more quickly.” Knowing where the reaction is at any point facilitates automation and helps optimize the process. “Based on tens of thousands of reactions we’ve conducted over the years, there’s a library of intelligence that can be programmed in,” he explains. The data collected includes feedstock characteristics such as the oil profile, water, contaminants and other factors, along with resulting impact on the reaction.

The goal has been a system that is completely automated. “We characterize the feedstock that’s coming in for the day, dial in the appropriate recipe and start the programming with quality control stops along the way,” Robinson says. “There are stop points where the program will come up on the screen, saying, ‘Here’s what we are reading, do you want to proceed?’ While there are opportunities for the operator to interact with the system, it can go from start to finish automatically.” Teall initially found the automation challenging. “It takes some getting used to,” he says. “Having made biodiesel all these years at different plants across the world, there’s a lot of physical and human interface in most plants. The hardest thing for me was to sit there and watch the computer making biodiesel—I have this compulsion to get up and open and close valves.”

The remote sensing and automation ensure transesterification is complete, an important step in hitting ASTM specs. “The joy of ARIES is that it’s all real-time now,” Teall says. “At the end of a transesterification you don’t have to wait 30 or 40 minutes to get test results. That’s a huge savings of time, and you’re assuring ASTM compliance sequentially in-process,” verifying water and methanol removal, sulfur content and more. The traditional ASTM tests can be run at the end to verify results for a certificate of analysis. Teall is reluctant to put a number to the efficiency gain until the validation and demonstration data can be compared to existing systems. Preliminarily though, he says hours, not minutes, are shaved off the process.

Remote Operability
Coupling modern communications technology with real-time sensing and automation allows operators to be 100 feet, or 100 miles, away. For the Navy, that means a unit could be deployed anywhere in the world, with technical support coming from a central location. The centralized technical staff can monitor process data and do trends analysis. The plan is for all units to use the same standards of reference, so as problems are solved in one plant the lessons learned can be applied elsewhere. ”What we learn in Ventura can be applied in Afghanistan,” Teall says.

The U.S. military market alone, with more than 5,000 bases worldwide, could provide a significant market for ARIES. “Policies from the Pentagon state we need to get all facilities energy independent,” Robinson says. The Navy has a directive on B20, although Teall says it’s exploring the capability of using B100 in tactical and non-tactical vehicles in times of emergency. “There’s obviously some challenges in doing that, cold flow being one of them,” Teall says. “But if you anticipate that need, the vehicles themselves can be properly configured to operate B100 in cold conditions. The military obviously has the ability to mandate something across its whole fleet, which will obviate the problems.”

The two companies see potential beyond military applications. By supplying its own power and designed to be self-sufficient, ARIES has the potential to be deployed in remote, rural regions. “We’ve done some work in India with the U.S. Agency for International Development,” Teall explains. “There are more than 20,000 villages that don’t have electricity. They’re not on the internet, they don’t have telephones. [We have] the ability to help provide electricity not only for the plant but for the surrounding areas.” Urban applications, such as remote monitoring of a biodiesel unit in a water treatment facility, also exist.

First, however, validation and demonstration must come, to give numbers to the efficiency gains. The immediate goal is to get final testing of the alpha unit completed for the Navy. Once completed, Teall says he’ll finish patent applications for particular process technologies being newly deployed in the unit, and finalize details on a feedstock solution to accompany ARIES.

While biodiesel is a well-known fuel today, Teall recognizes it’s not always been this way. “It’s gone from having a lot of hurdles such as getting DOE and EPA to recognize it, doing health effects testing, and getting ASTM standards in place,” he says. “Now we’re addressing feedstock issues. That’s part of what the AIRES system will enable us to do—to look at advanced biofuels both in terms of feedstocks and production technologies. We have a very keen interest in algal culture as well as jatropha and other inedible plants. ARIES is part of an integrated energy system—that’s the ultimate configuration. Feedstock production has to be vertically integrated, too.”

Given the excitement around algae, it’s not surprising that developers of a modular, portable biodiesel system designed for waste vegetable oils are looking towards second generation feedstocks. The race to deploy advanced biofuels has begun to take on the flavor of the space race. Teall remembers the initial meetings with Aerojet when they discussed the difficulties of designing a remote-controlled biodiesel processing system. “We put things on the moon,” was the response given to Teall from an Aerojet engineer. Teall says the major difference in developing ARIES is, “If a question arose in the control room they could step into the plant and check on it. When in space, the challenge is infinitely more complicated.”

Robinson says, “The people at Aerojet working on this are excited to be working in renewable energy. There’s a lot of national support. It’s almost like the last race to the moon in terms of support in Congress and everywhere we go.”

Susanne Retka Schill is assistant editor of Biodiesel Magazine. Reach her at sretkaschill@bbiinternational.com or (701) 738-4922.

quote:

Originally posted by clean and green:
Someone needs to inform the NBB that biodiesel is illegal for marine use. They are still illegally promoting it for this use:

http://biodiesel.org/markets/mar/

Can't recall aromatic hydrocarbons having lubricating qualities. Also weird that they would say that the diesel was being added to the biodiesel, since the order is only for 40,000 gallons, and bd is usually considered as a lubricating additive to diesel, not the other way around.

Whoever wrote this article should have cruised these boards first for some basic info before hacking this thing together.

Why is it illegal for marine use?

Biodiesel Brewer Goes into Spuds Plant
http://domesticfuel.com/2009/0...es-into-spuds-plant/

by John Davis – September 30th, 2009

BioFuelBoxThe waste vegetable oil at a potato processing facility is now becoming the green fuel biodiesel, thanks to some new technology from a California maker of biodiesel refining equipment.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that BioFuelBox Inc. has installed the first of a new biodiesel technology that has been operational since August at the potato plant in American Falls, Idaho:



San Jose, Calif.-based BioFuelBox came out of stealth mode earlier this year with the announcement that its patented and trademarked NovoStream process had successfully overcome a technical obstacle in removing sulfur from biodiesel made from low quality waste-based feedstocks. Reddy described NovoStream as a continuous flow, supercritical process using high heat and pressure to convert free fatty acids (FFA) and triglycerides to biodiesel in one pass with high yields. The process can handle up to 100 percent FFA, high contaminant levels as well as high moisture content. Pretreatment is limited to removing solids and excess water, according to Reddy. He added that the net energy ratio for the process is roughly twice that of standard biodiesel, in spite of the use of more energy for the heat and pressure used in the process. The company says the process yields 7 units of energy out for every 1 unit used, the primary energy savings coming from the minimal energy contribution from on site production and the waste feedstock itself.

The 1 million-gallon-a-year, turnkey operation BioFuelBox modular unit can drop into any place that has a ready supply of biodiesel feedstock. Look for it to become a standard fixture at other places that have lots of grease or oil outputs, giving those places some high-quality biodiesel that they can either use themselves or sell to add value to their products.

quote:

Originally posted by fabricator:

Why is it illegal for marine use?

It's not. That's a misleading comment at best. Curious what basis cng had for saying that.

Also, interesting that supercritical appears to be finally hitting the commercial scene. I was wondering when that would happen. One little quibble: my process does better than 7:1 on energy balance, and it's WAY inefficient. Frankly, a good continuous supercritical process should be able to manage twice that.

quote:

Originally posted by john galt:
Biodiesel Brewer Goes into Spuds Plant
http://domesticfuel.com/2009/0...es-into-spuds-plant/

Oh my....I could say SOOOO much about this!
I've seen this plant. I've seen the BioFuel Box at the plant.
I've heard about all the problems they've had with it.

My question to them is "Did you finally get it to work?"
Last I heard they still were struggling with it to get it to stay on more than a few hours.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's cool & all, but if you talk to the folks at the American Falls Biodiesel plant, I bet you'd get a whole different story on it.

Also, it isn't a potato plant. Far from it.... gotta love Biodiesel Magazine.
The accuracy of their articles leaves so much to be desired.

Also, it's no small machine. This sucker takes up a huge bay inside the facility (probably about 40 feet long) and they've got massive machines sitting outside to support it.

Interesting to see that they finally are talking about it, but I think they have an awful lot of work left to do before it's truly ready for market.

-Graydon

Waste Biodiesel May Count Double Towards RTFO

http://www.worldenergy.net/pub...ow_news.php?nid=1329


10.09.09

The UK RFA is considering separating waste biodiesel and vegoil biodiesel by allowing TME and UCO to count double towards fulfilling RTFO requirements.

The move would allow oil companies to make the arbitrage between using TME and UCO in a greater proportion to reduce the volume of biodiesel required to meet their blending target, Mer-7 explains. The Netherlands is also considering a similar measure.

Biodiesel energy-balance numbers published in new benchmark study
http://www.biodieselmagazine.c....jsp?article_id=3813
By Nicholas Zeman

Posted October 20, 2009

Assessing the energy balance of soy biodiesel is a continuous effort. The University of Idaho and the USDA have been involved with the project for years—they’ve found that biodiesel’s numbers keep improving. “New data becomes available as the industry evolves,” says Jon Van Gerpen, biological and agricultural engineering department head at UI. “Ag-production practices and energy efficiencies are getting better and better all the time.”

The collaborative report concludes that biodiesel returns 4.5 units of energy for every unit of fossil energy required for its production. The National Biodiesel Board used the circumstance of the report’s publication to criticize the U.S. EPA’s proposed rule to implement RFS2. “EPA used 2005 baseline numbers for petroleum and biodiesel to project carbon impact 22 years in the future,” NBB stated. “That stacks the deck in favor of petroleum.”

New seed varieties and management practices have reduced the need for pesticides, tilling and fuel, and today’s biodiesel plants are more energy efficient. “The EPA should take this into account when considering biodiesel’s greenhouse gas reductions,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the NBB.

Some of the necessary data needed to perform this work are only processed every five years, so researchers can only study it as it becomes available or is published. “Energy efficiency data isn’t available year to year,” Gerpen told Biodiesel Magazine regarding the energy balance figure correlating with actual improvements in the field over the same period. “When we did our study in 2006, biodiesel had an energy balance around 3.9—it might have been better then but we didn’t have all of the data available to us.”

Biodiesel is also the source of “valuable coproducts” like glycerin, which have been overlooked in the plan to implement RFS2. “This [energy balance study] is one more piece of information that helps to quantify the environmental benefits of biodiesel,” Van Gerpen said.

Biodiesel conversion was the most intensive, accounting for about 60 percent of the total energy required in the life-cycle inventory. Soybean agriculture accounted for 18 percent of the total energy requirements, followed by soybean crushing, which required almost 15 percent of the total energy. The secondary inputs added were farm machinery, and building materials for a crushing plant and biodiesel refinery.

Jay Leno Builds a Turbine-Powered Biodiesel Supercar
http://www.popularmechanics.co...dom=yah_buzz&mag=pop

Wouldn't it be nice to be a millionaire