Patent Pending: New Biofuel Developed at (University of Georgia)

[jpak]

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=48588

A team of University of Georgia (UGA) researchers has developed a new biofuel derived from wood chips. Unlike previous fuels derived from wood, the new and still unnamed fuel can be blended with biodiesel and petroleum diesel to power conventional engines.

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The researchers have developed a new chemical process, which they are working to patent, that inexpensively treats the oil so that it can be used in unmodified diesel engines or blended with biodiesel and petroleum diesel.

Here's how the process works: Wood chips and pellets -- roughly a quarter inch in diameter and six-tenths of an inch long -- are heated in the absence of oxygen at a high temperature, a process known as pyrolysis. Up to a third of the dry weight of the wood becomes charcoal, while the rest becomes a gas.

Most of this gas is condensed into a liquid bio-oil and chemically treated. When the process is complete, about 34 percent of the bio-oil (or 15 to 17 percent of the dry weight of the wood) can be used to power engines. The researchers are currently working to improve the process to derive even more oil from the wood.

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How 'bout them Dawgs

:evilgrin:

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. Original Press Release and Article

http://www.uga.edu/news/artman/publish/070518_Biofuel.shtml


The detailed article can be found here:
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/enfuem/asap/abs/ef060533e.html