With the new legislature that has been signed by President Bush declaring that the US will concentrate on producing more biofuel and subsequently wishes to become self reliant in the future, the scope for biofuel is now immense. In his address to the media, President also told that research was on towards making cheaper biodiesel, unlike in the past, when biodiesel was mainly made only from Corn and other more expensive raw material. It seems that researchers are already backing up Bush’s claims with some substantial progress in this regards.
Chemical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have investigated supercritical methanol as a method of converting chicken fat into biodiesel fuel. The latest method of making biodiesel involves the conversion of fatty acids in to biofuel using ‘supercrictical Methanol’. Fatty acids that are being used for this process are easily and cheaply available as by product of wood-pulping process. This new process already promises heaper biodiesel at a good 90% yield.
Under the guidance of professor of chemical engineering, Babcock, Brent Schulte, a chemical-engineering graduate student in the university’s College of Engineering, subjected low-grade chicken fat, donated by Tyson Foods, and tall oil fatty acids, provided by Georgia Pacific, to a chemical process known as supercritical methanol treatment. By using this process at the right physical conditions he has produced biodiesel at an amazing efficiency of 90%. While the research is still on to enhance the process and the details are just filtering their way in to public view.
The process is a step further in making biofuel cheap and making sure that it reaches out to more people. Biodiesel is seen widely as the future fuel of automobile industry, if not already. It has zero-carbon emissions and also helps reduce emissions of other suspended particles such as sulphur. The project is another example of on going progress in the field of biofuel and one only hopes that it progress a lot further, a lot more quickly.
Via: Science Daily
