A research team has developed a backpack-sized machine capable of continuously making biodiesel, a breakthrough for the deployability and efficiency of biofuel manufacturing technology.
Led by Chiang Ya-yu (蔣雅郁), an associate professor in National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Department of Mechanical Engineering, the research was conducted in collaboration with National Chung Hsing University and Kasetsart University in Bangkok.
Biodiesel is produced by chemically converting lipids — such as vegetable oil, waste cooking oil or animal fat — using alcohol and a catalyst, Chiang said.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
Once the raw biodiesel is produced, it is purified by washing in water to remove impurities or residual substances, she said.
Conventional biofuel manufacturing methods take a long time, consume a lot of water and require large machines, with the separation process of the high-viscosity product and wastewater being the greatest obstacles to miniaturization, Chiang said.
Yang Cheng-you (楊承祐), a doctoral candidate of mechanical engineering at NTU, said the team invented a helical liquid-liquid extraction device that, in conjunction with a Corning microreactor, can continuously separate biofuel.
The biodiesel yield of the creation is 91.14 percent, performance that approximates that of a biodiesel plant, Yang said.
The acidity of the fuel produced by the team’s device is 0.268 milligrams (mg) of potassium hydroxide per gram of fuel, lower than the (0.5mg/g) stipulated by the national “Biodiesel — Fatty acid methyl esters” CNS15072 standard, he said.
Life cycle assessment of the team’s device showed that it is highly effective in reducing the carbon footprint of the process and reduces water use by 35 percent compared with conventional technologies, the team said.
The portability of the device offers a significant advantage, as large, immobile biodiesel plants are vulnerable to supply chain disruptions during natural disasters and armed conflicts, it said.
It could be used for community power generation or as an emergency backup for medical facilities, allowing anyone to convert cooking oil into biodiesel, which can power a generator, Chiang said.
The team’s study, “An innovative microreactor approach for sustainable biodiesel production: process design, continuous purification and comparative LCA” was published by the monthly peer-reviewed Green Chemistry journal in November last year.
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