New conversion process allows for biofuel to become more economical

Jun 5, 2012 14:49 GMT  ·  By

A few years ago, professor Rakesh Agrawal, presently employed as a chemical engineer at the Purdue University in Indiana, US, succeeded in designing a new process for creating eco-fuels from biomass.

The latest news regarding this issue are that professor Agrawal's H2Bioil method is quite ready to step outside laboratory doors and go full-scale.

For those unfamiliar with this topic, the H2Bioul process consists of having biomass rapidly heated up (goal temperatures are around 500 degrees Celsius), all of this in the presence of pressurized hydrogen.

The gases emitted during this operation are then passed over catalysts, with oxygen and carbon molecules finding themselves separated in this second stage.

Once this is achieved, the end-resulting carbon molecules have significant energy contents, and therefore can be used in ways similar to gasoline ones.

The decision to implement this new technique in the biofuel industry is driven by the following considerations: the procedure seems to be highly efficient, especially from a financial standpoint.

Thus, official reports indicate that, by using the H2Bioil method, a given quantity of biomass can be entirely transformed intro biofuel while at the same time keeping costs down to a minimum.

However, as purdue.edu informs us, in order for H2Bioil process to give biomass plants the best results for their money, the pressurized hydrogen used when implementing the method needs to come from crude oil.

As well as this, the switchgrass, corn stover or miscanthu,s that makes up the biomass needs to be processed using natural gas or coal.

As Rakesh Agrawal explains, using hydrogen coming from other energy sources, such as nuclear, wind or solar would downplay the advantages currently posed by the H2Bioil.

Should the prices for the crude oil used to obtain the hydrogen needed for this process be kept down to a solid $100 (around €80) per barrel, and should federal carbon taxes also be implemented, the use of biofuels throughout the world is sure to shoot up.