Jan
20
Seawater Fed Bio Jet Fuel Research Underway
January 20, 2010 | 9 Comments
UOP LLC, a Honeywell owned company, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Boeing and Etihad Airways announced Monday an agreement to establish a research institute in Abu Dhabi dedicated to pioneering sustainable energy solutions. The project is being called the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Project (SBRP). SBRP will use integrated saltwater agricultural systems (ISAS) to support the development and commercialization of biofuel sources for aviation and the co-products. The research project will combine the arid and salt-rich environment of Abu Dhabi with innovative and promising saltwater farming practices. The Masdar Institute will host the SBRP and provide laboratory and demonstration facilities both within and outside of Masdar City.
The research will focus on ISAS, which is a highly efficient system for producing liquid and solid biofuels, capturing and holding carbon from the atmosphere, enlarging habitats to increase biodiversity, and simultaneously releasing fresh water for higher value uses such as drinking water. ISAS is also said to have the potential to reduce the impacts of sea level rise on coastal communities. More valuable is the closed-loop system converts aquaculture effluent into an affordable, nutrient-rich fertilizer for the plant species used in the research.
The integrated approach uses saltwater to create an aquaculture-based farming system in parallel with the growth of the mangrove forests and Salicornia, a plant that thrives in salty water. Dr. Carl Hodges of Global Seawater Inc., who has been engaged as special advisor to the project, has pioneered the technology. Global Seawater, Inc. is a for-profit company based on seawater agriculture and aquaculture technologies transferred from the Seawater Foundation (who are into all sorts of leading edge research ideas). The foundation’s projects include Seawater Farms Bahia Kino and its pilot integrated seawater farm project along the desert coast of the Sea of Cortez in Sonora, Mexico. Integrated seawater farms utilize seawater and coastal deserts to grow halophyte crops for biodiesel, biomass, carbon credits and food.
Integrated Saltwater Agricultural System in Eritrea. Click image for more info.
Halophytes can be productive sources of biomass energy; for example, Salicornia seed is 32% oil by mass. Halophytes thrive in arid land and can be irrigated with seawater, making them suitable for biofuel development. UOP has been working with Global Seawater using Salicornia and mangroves. With improved plant science and agronomy, early testing results indicate that halophytes have the potential to deliver very high yields per unit of land.
Salicornia Virginica. Click image for the largest view.
The integrated approach uses saltwater to create an aquaculture-based farming system in parallel with the growth of the Salicornia and mangrove forests. These biomass sources can be sustainable harvested and used to generate clean energy, aviation biofuels and other products. The closed-loop system forms aquaculture effluent into a symbiotic nutrient-rich fertilizer for both plant species.
The aquaculture process works, it’s the processing out the fuels that’s still in the future. The research does not seem directed to choosing a process path. There are a few contenders for processing the biomass and that must be another phase or not on the partner’s agenda or UOP has it sewn up already.
Last year Boeing and UOP commissioned a study on the sustainability of a leading family of saltwater-based plant (halophytes) candidates for renewable jet fuel. The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology led the study, which examined the overall potential for sustainable, large-scale production of biofuels made from salicornia and saltwater mangroves. The results were quite encouraging. That’s the seed of the new partnership.
The results sought are to evaluate aquaculture management and practices, land use and energy requirements and identify any potential adverse ecological or social impacts associated with using halophytes for energy development, specifically for aviation biofuel development.
Boeing believes sustainable biofuel development is a key component of aviation’s strategy for lowering carbon emissions. The potential plant sources being considered are only ones that don’t distort the global food chain, compete with fresh water resources or lead to unintended land use change. To verify data gathered during the analysis, the halophyte study will be peer-reviewed by third parties and measured against practices and principles developed by the Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels. The results are expected to be available in late 2010.
UOP is noted from the joint venture Envergent Technologies LLC with Ensyn Corp. to offer pyrolysis technology that converts waste biomass into renewable heat, power and green transportation fuels. UOP is already offering refining technologies for the conversion of natural oils and wastes to green transportation fuels. Today its best known as a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, process plants, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries.
Abu Dhabi is one of the lesser petroleum producing Middle Eastern states with a strong motivation to keep up or better still, get ahead economically. Investment, education and gathering financial resources have served the country well. It really isn’t a surprise to see this state moving to the front in biofuel research. Organizing a research project in this theme is just logical and speaks well of this Arabian Peninsula country’s leadership.
Several bio jet experiments have taken place over the past year. Last June Boeing and a team from across the aviation industry released high-level elements of a study showing that sustainable biofuels analyzed in a series of test flights performed favorably in comparison to petroleum-based fuel. According to the study, Evaluation of Bio-Derived Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (Bio-SPK) (a pdf file), a series of laboratory, ground and flight tests conducted between 2006 and 2009 indicated the Bio-SPK test fuels performed as well as or better than typical petroleum-based Jet A.
The testing included several commercial airplane engine types using blends of up to 50% petroleum-based Jet A and Jet A-1 fuel and 50% sustainable biofuels. The aviation industry and Boeing in particular realize that strict reliance on petroleum fuels isn’t going to help keep the peaks and valleys out of fuel prices. But diversifying the fuel resources sure will.
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Excellent news, using sea water in the desert won’t harm food production, fresh water will be produced and we need all the biofuel we can get! Here’s a good link regarding jet fuel shortages and solutions:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/3018604/aviation_after_peak_oil_is_there_a.html?cat=15