COLLEGE STATION, Texas Nov. 7, 2008 – A process developed by researchers at Texas A&M University that could result in more affordable gasoline is a step closer to reality now that a large-scale demonstration facility has been built to test the new technology.
The Advanced Biofuels Research Facility, which is located in Bryan, Texas, was today formally dedicated with a ceremony attended by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who lauded the potential of the facility and the technology known as the MixAlco process.
“I want Texas to be the epicenter of alternative fuel development in the world, not just in the United States,” Gov. Perry said. “This project and what Terrabon is doing is very much in line with that.
“What’s good for America is right here on this piece of property – becoming independent in our energy production.”
The MixAlco process, developed by Professor Mark T. Holtzapple and Research Engineer Cesar B. Granda, both in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M, is capable of producing renewable gasoline from biomass – any feedstock including, trees, grass, manure, sewage sludge, garbage, agricultural residues and energy crops.
It does this by converting the biomass into mixed alcohols that can be blended into gasoline. Using additional steps, the alcohols can be converted into gasoline that is nearly identical to that which is derived from crude oil, Holtzapple explained.
Holtzapple said the new process should serve as significant step in helping relieve the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, which accounts for 73 percent of the oil used by the nation.
“Mark, I want to say thank you for loving your country enough to spend the time that you have in the development of this technology, Gov. Perry said. “If everything goes as planned here at Terrabon, we’re going to be making a difference in the world.”
For more than three years, testing has been underway at a smaller pilot plant in College Station. The pilot plant can process up to 100 pounds per day of biomass feedstocks, such as paper wastes and even chicken manure. The tests, Holtzapple said, have been so successful that the process is now ready to be validated at a larger scale.
The new demonstration plant, which was formally named “Energy Independence I,” will test the commercial feasibility of the technology, using sorghum as the primary feedstock for the conversion process.
The demonstration plant will have a loading capacity of 400 tons of biomass, which equates to a digestion rate of five tons per day, Holtzapple said. Plans call for the process to run in 80-day cycles. The plant has the potential to produce about 300 gallons of gasoline per day, he said.
In the process, biomass feedstock is treated with lime and then fermented using microorganisms in soil to form organic salts. Water is then removed by a process similar to that used to desalinate sea water, and the mixture is heated to form ketones – which are commonly used solvents, such as nail polish remover.
“All of this is kind of modeled after a cow,” Holtzapple explained. “The way a cow works is that it eats grass. The grass is dirty, and the rumen of the cow – that first stomach – acts as fermentor, converting that grass into vinegar.
“What we are doing is essentially scaling up a cow.”
Later at an oil refinery, Holtzapple explained, hydrogen is added to the ketones to form mixed alcohols, which are then combined with existing gasoline before being transported. Unlike ethanol, which cannot be transported through pipelines because of its tendency to absorb water, mixed alcohol can be transported via existing pipelines to gas stations throughout the country, he noted.
A key aspect of the MixAlco process that differentiates it from more costly alternatives is its ability to rely on naturally occurring soil organisms to digest the biomass, Holtzapple said. This means that the MixAlco process doesn’t require the often costly sterile environments needed by other methods that utilize genetically engineered organisms, he explained.
In addition, the alcohol-based fuels produced from the crops used by the MixAlco process are more productive in terms of net energy per acre than the well-publicized method that involves utilizing corn to produce ethanol, Holtzapple said. This means less land is required to grow feedstocks. Per acre, farmers can grow two to 10 times more energy crops than if they were growing corn, he said.
Just as important, Holtzapple said, this process is environmentally friendly. The combustion of biofuels is clean-burning and doesn’t contribute to global warming because no net carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, he explained. Any carbon dioxide that is released is recycled through photosynthesis, unlike what occurs during combustion of fossil fuels.
What’s more, there is less potential to damage ground water because less waste is being stored in landfills. In addition, the energy crops that the process uses require less fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides than do traditional crops such as corn, Holtzapple added.
“It’s thanks to the innovation by these researchers at Texas A&M that we’re going to be able to be turning this non-food biomass into fuel,” Gov. Perry said. “This facility represents the future.”
The MixAlco technology is licensed to Terrabon, LLC. Terrabon was organized in 1995 to commercialize three technologies that share the same suite of patented intellectual property developed at Texas A&M.
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Contact: Mark T. Holtzapple at (979) 845–9708 or via email: m-holtzapple@tamu.edu or Ryan A. Garcia, (979) 845-9237 or via email: ryan.garcia99@tamu.edu
