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Upscaling continuous biodiesel production from vegetable oil.
In 2003, the Carbon Trust awarded funding of £75,000 to Cambridge University to support a project with the clear objective of constructing and operating a 20 litres/hour (l/h) Continuous Laboratory Reactor (CLR) based on oscillatory flow technology.
Summary
When the Carbon Trust awarded Applied Research grant funding to the University of Cambridge in 2003, the aim of the research project was to collect the technical information needed to scale up biodiesel production and form the basis for modular biodiesel units that could be sold or leased to small scale UK producers of fresh and used vegetable oils. Three years on, the team has built and optimised a prototype reactor, developed a technology transfer package to allow the building of a demonstration unit and confirmed that the biodiesel produced from clean cooking oil is proven to meet European biofuel standards.
Project details
Biodiesel is a sustainable transport fuel manufactured when fresh or used vegetable oil is reacted with methanol in the presence of a catalyst (usually sodium hydroxide). Biodiesel's great advantage over other alternative fuels is that it can be used immediately, as it can be distributed using exactly the same infrastructure and equipment as petrodiesel and necessitates no modification to the vehicle. Compared to petrodiesel, biodiesel creates up to a 70% reduction in lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions and has additional air quality improvement benefits.
At the outset of this project, most UK production was conducted in batches. However, if biodiesel is to fulfil its potential as a viable low carbon fuel that can be used by UK business and industry, it will be necessary to move to continuous production at a much larger scale. This will also deliver great efficiencies owing to reduced capital and running costs.
In order to support this aim, in 2003, the Carbon Trust awarded funding of £75,000 to Cambridge University to support a project with the clear objective of constructing and operating a 20 litres/hour (l/h) Continuous Laboratory Reactor (CLR) based on oscillatory flow technology. The Reactor would be used to test the optimum reactor and separation conditions together with scaling data for designing a future demonstration biodiesel unit, a basis for modular commercial units. Once the reactor prototype was complete, the team was able to identify numerous process improvements to deliver biodiesel production at scale.
They have also created a technology transfer package, including all the necessary engineering drawings, which can be shared with commercial third parties to help them build a demonstration unit. It was also essential to make sure that the biodiesel produced from clean cooking oil during trials was of a sufficient quality and one of the key technical achievements was proving that it meets European Biofuel standards.
"Carbon Trust funding was essential to get this project started and with firm adherence to milestones drove the project on a well mannered path," commented David Carter from the University of Cambridge. "Once the project was complete, we were able to press ahead quickly with commercialisation."
Any applied research project supported by the Carbon Trust needs to be able to demonstrate commercial potential and viability as well as technical expertise. Industrial collaboration is beneficial, and in this project it resulted in Cambridge University developing a relationship with KP Biofuels, a company with the potential to commercialise the technology and make it more widely available. To date, a licence to exploit the technology has been agreed with KP Biofuels, which has enabled the project team to start repaying their grant through funds raised as part of this licensing deal. KP Biofuels is currently seeking funds to build a 250 l/hour demonstration plant within the next 12 months. The team at Cambridge University will continue to investigate improvements to the process, with the aim of licensing any further enhancements independently of the plant design. The Carbon Trust is tracking this work with interest and will remain in close contact with the project team in Cambridge as part of its overall role in supporting the development of viable low carbon solutions such as biodiesel.
For more information and all contact details, please visit our website at www.carbontrust.co.uk/appliedresearch
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