As conservationists bring awareness to the depletion of fossil fuels and traditional energy sources, a search for an alternative fuel source has begun. The Mississippi State University Sustainable Research Center hosts a variety of projects for the search.
Rafael Hernandez, associate professor in the Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, said the center was started in 2006 with a grant from the Department of Energy. Within the center, there are many researchers working on biofuels.
One project, he said, takes a type of biomass and converts it into a synthetic gas, called SynGas.
“[The process] involves taking biomass and heating that biomass very quickly under pressure,” Hernandez said. “Vapors coming from [the reaction] are condensed, and you get an oil similiar to a petroleum mixture.”
Fei Yu, associate professor within the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, works on this particular area of research. He said his project focuses on trying to break down biomass at a temperature greater than 800 °C (1,–472 °F). The biomass used includes pine wood chips, energy grass and municipal solid wastes.
He said when SynGas is compared to petroleum, it is less efficient but is renewable. The process can produce 60 cubic meters of SynGas in one hour.
“We have all the equipment,” he said. “All we need is to develop a new catalyst.”
He said the catalyst must be able to tolerate high concentrations of carbon dioxide.
Another area of this project he said he is working on is converting the SynGas to a usable form, such as hydrocarbons. This process currently takes three steps, but if the process could be completed in only two, it would have a higher yield and higher conversion rate.
The next phase is to construct a pilot-scale simulation aimed at producing one gallon of hydrocarbons per day for the next four semesters.
Hernandez said another area of research in the center is converting waste water treatment facilities to oil for biofuels production. It uses a micro-organism to treat water by feeding on the waste and producing an oil that can be extracted.
“The idea is to create the waste water of the next decade that will be capable of cleaning in addition to produce biofuel,” he said.
Todd French, a assistant professor in the department of chemical engineering, said the biofuel is chemically identical to petroleum but can only be used for diesel production.
“We simply take trees, grasses, shrimp shells, paper, most industrial waste waters and brewery waters and feed them to the bugs,” he said.
Seven billion gallons of this fuel can be made per year, which would displace 10 percent of the petroleum based diesel, he said.
“We aren’t getting off petroleum,” French said. “We won’t see that happen [in our lifetime], but what we are doing is stretching the life it is used over.”
He said when this fuel is compared to ethanol it has many points in its favor. The energy density of ethanol is about 60 percent of gas, but the biofuel is 85 percent. Ethanol introduces carbons into the atmosphere, but this biofuel is a natural process of conversion from sugar to fat.
French said another positive with this type of bio-oil production can be made in the same facilities as water treatment plants, and the water supply would be the municipal water waste.
He said ethanol has pros because of its high octane rating, a measurement of how efficiently it burns. This allows lesser quality gas to be brought to a usable level. However, it cannot be transported through pipelines and is not fully compatible with most cars.
Hernandez said the research is planning on being integrated into the commercial sector.
“As we establish pilot facilities here at MSU, we will get much more industrial collaboration,” he said.
Gregg Harper, Mississippi’s third congressional district representative, spoke at the town hall meeting on energy on Sept.27 about the research happening at MSU and said this should be a matter of national security.
“We’re all conservationists,” he said. “Everyone wants clean air and clean water.”
MSU President Mark Keenum also spoke and said he is very proud of MSU for leading the way for this unique area of research.
“We can move not only our state but also our nation forward,” he said.
Harper said there are things people can do in the energy field to help energy resources.
“Biomass is an area where the Southeast U.S. can be a player,” he said.