Ethanol from simple reactors
So far put alternative methods of producing biofuels by sluggish. The young company Joule Unlimited in the U.S. state of Massachusetts wants to prove with multiple partners that genetically modified microorganisms can produce quite inexpensive "green" fuel. The procedure does require the microbes themselves only sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to produce ethanol, Technology Review reported in its online edition. Interest is already the car manufacturer Audi, who will help Joule, to test and develop the biofuel. But even without the involvement of Deutsche Joule has already collected 110 million U.S. dollars of investment funds.
In smaller systems, the start-up test has shown that the approach can work. The specially bred microorganisms live in a transparent container and will produce up to 12,000 liters of ethanol per hectare per year. This is a multiple of what other companies can afford to alternative biofuel process. Joule has changed his approach, however, has often: Instead of complex reactors now comparatively simple plastic tubes are used, which makes the process much cheaper.
Particularly important in the process, the transparent container, which is called Joule "solar converter". They grow the microorganisms. Originally, they were similar photovoltaic modules - they were flat, thin, rectangular, and a few meters wide. A canal system distributed water and carbon dioxide and collected the ethanol, the charges, the microorganisms. "We saw quickly that this design was not competitive," said David Berry from the Joule-investor and co-founder of Flagship Ventures. The solution was the removal of the concrete foundation, the metal frame and the module structure. Instead, now plastic tubes are used. They are a few meters wide and up to 50 meters long. "The new design is much bigger and we can install it directly on the floor. This reduces the costs tremendously," said Joule chief William Sims.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment