I just hope that this doesn’t get supressed and/or dismissed before it has a chance to prove itself. We need technology like this.
A tiny chemical reactor that can convert vegetable oil directly into biodiesel could help farmers turn some of their crops into homegrown fuel to operate agricultural equipment instead of relying on costly imported oil.
The device – about the size of a credit card – pumps vegetable oil and alcohol through tiny parallel channels, each smaller than a human hair, to convert the oil into biodiesel almost instantly. By comparison, it takes more than a day to produce biodiesel with current technology.
I am a firm believer that technology will save us, if we let it.
As much as I dump on the AP for being lame and cowardly, they still seem to leave their science writers alone. Useful article. Even more useful technology!
Man, I hope something like this pans out.
But why scale it so small? If it has to be that small you’ll never get the throughput to make it any more economical than conventional methods of refining.
If it doesn’t have to be that small why build the prototype in micro size?
Refineries are big for a reason. They need to produce a lot of product.
Thanks to the interent. . . it is now everyone’s job to ensure this doesn’t fade away or get squashed before it can grow.
As far as why is it so small?
I would have to believe that this device is still in its production phase so large scale hasn’t been developed yet. If this machine is designed for farmers to make use of their own products; the size given here is probably more than enough if it is able to be run non-stop for production.
I like the look of this.
I just want to know where all the farm land will come from for all of these “bio fuels”. Will we still use fertalizer made from oil to grow these plants? Will the machines that harvest these fields run on “bio fuel”?
I am glad to see that research continues in these middle solution energy sources. I will be even more glad when research begins on final solution energy sources.
Off subject but… Mail men spend most of their time driving on city roads while making frequent stops. Where is the push to outfit them with hybrid vehicles? Maybe the reduced fuel consumption will keep stamp rates from climbing near future.
“I am a firm believer that technology will save us, if we let it”
Dvorak, sir, I can’t see how such a device, ingenious though it may be, will save us in an environmental sense in any way but the short term. Surely if practicable, such a device would increase our dependence on oil, our production of greenhouse gas, and the risk of global warming.
It will be swept under the table, Squashed…
Didn’t take long for someone to rain on the parade with te Global Warming boogeyman. Some of these folks won’t be happy until we’re all back to living in caves.
re #9.
Can you repost in english that makes sense?
#7, Dvorak didn’t post this.
No matter how many times it is said, some people here are too dumb to realize that there are other people who contribute to this blog; and their names are clearly listed right next to the time stamp of the post.
#6…joey…..where will all the farm land come from?……have you EVER been to farm country? Do you think that all the produce you buy in the grocery is produced on 20 acreas in Los Angelus?….jesus.
oh…and try reading the article again….it says….the farmers can use *some* of their crops to make their own fuel to run agricultural machines. Geez….suppose they could be talking about HARVESTERS?????
This is great….has huge potential. I wonder how much produce you need to make fuel…..could a home garden produce enough to help run the family car? Plus, I can’t wait to have deep discussions on blogs about big oil, big goverment, and big broccoli.
# 11. Mike, this blog is called ‘Dvorak Uncensored’, don’t call people dumb for assuming the blog is authored or approved by Dvorak himself.
# 9. This is laughable for two reasons. 1: You seem to believe we only crawled out of a cave because petrolium came along. Well sure it helped humankind in many, many ways over the last century and I’m glad about that. But there are plenty of new and exciting technologies being developped which could take its place, which are only stymied by a lack of funding and pressure against them from big businesses (think petrol companies). 2: ‘The Global Warming boogeyman’ is real, check out this BBC News article: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4660938.stm
If you’re still confused about all the big words involved, why not read the childrens guide to global warming found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/world/global_warming/newsid_1575000/1575441.stm
Joey wrote:
“Will we still use fertalizer made from oil to grow these plants? Will the machines that harvest these fields run on “bio fuel”?
I live in Iowa, we don’t use fertilizer made from oil. We use manure from the hog and chicken farms. Also most all of the tractors use diesel, most farmers are already burning bio-diesel now.
The technology looks like something to watch, hopefully it will pan out…
Joshua — though John and I have different satellite systems, we both watch RFDTV. They showed an episode of American Heartland [I think PBS does it, too] with an organic farmer who powers her 30-year-old diesel Mercedes with the oil processed from about 20 acres of mustard.
I believe rapeseed is much more efficient. And we certainly have no shortage of [what Americans prefer to call] canola oil. Especially since John won’t consume his share..
# 12. I said the device was ingenious because I believe that it is, I’m glad you put up a post about it I think it’s a potentially amazing technology. However, I brought a debate up concerning the environmental consequences of the device long term, which I believe will be destructive. I agree that technology can save us, or at least minimise the damage already done, but disagree that this particular technology is a potential positive contributor in this area long term. We need other energy generating technologies to take the place of petrolium based fuels.
#17. I live in the UK, and I have a friend who uses chip fat (from traditional ‘fish n chip’ shops) and gas to power his very old jaguar mk2. Compartively speaking, it has very low emissions, the only noticeable one being the smell of chips!
The big oil bogieman will swoop down in a black helicoper and destroy the prototype and kill the inventor.
Probably not that intense, but maybe some tiny unheard of company (big oil owned) will surface and claim some kind of patent infringment. The idea will be safety put away and it will be staus quo as usual.
I noticed at least one problem. This uses oil. Well, our farmers grow the corn and soy then sell the seeds to large commercial companies, ADM, Pioneer, among others, for processing. These guys are not equipped to process their seed into oil. What would it cost them to buy the equipment to extract the oil then convert the oil to diesel. Would it be worth it for the amount of fuel each individual farmer uses each year?
The large commercial agri-farms might be more successful at doing this economically. I have a hard time seeing the smaller farmers, less then 1000 acres, finding this economical. Maybe through some cooperative measures it might.
The leftovers from the oil processing is still very nutritious and is high in carbohydrates and protein This could be used as a base for alcohol. The alcohol could then be used along with the oil to produce the diesel fuel. Finally, the leftover “cake”, still high in protein, could be fed to cattle.
I’m sure smarted people then I will figure it out. Economically.
Time for a reality check:
A batch of vegetable oil and alcohol cooked in a 5,000 gallon reactor will produce about 5,000 gallons a day of biodiesel. Feeding vegetable oil and alcohol through two channels smaller that a human hair will produce what? Maybe a pint a day of biodiesel?
Bench scale experiments are a long ways from production runs. The engineering question is: What’s the cost/gallon for each process?
LOL, in my previous post, last line, that should be “I’m sure SMARTER people then I will figure it out.
Why are some of you so caught up on the size of the device? Do you know for sure why it is so small? If it can’t be made larger, then why not SIMPLY build MANY of them????? And so what if it doesn’t totally displace big oil? We can have lower fuel prices by reducing our consumption of oil from the world market by at least 25%. It worked last time!!! I found an old copy of US News & World report from 1980. EVERY car advertised boasted fuel consumption around 40mpg. None of them were expensive hybrids, either! Soon after the price of gas fell below $1.00/gallon. I remember in 1984 driving a “K” car that averaged 46mpg that could be filled for less than $9.
Maybe it’s time for Lee Iococa to save GM this time…
I have to agree with #24’s opening statement. Maybe it’s just my “computer geek background” showing how, when you can’t make something work faster, you can usually work in parallel. 😛
Eideard……that amount of acreage needed to pwer her equipment is more than the abverage peron has. But the reduction in the amount of oil imported daily would be cut nicely if any farmer with more than say 250 acres did the same as her.
If John would do his bit, who knows where we could go.
As to the size of the device…..it seems if you want to catch the publics eye these days, especially with tech devices, you want to show small size, for some reason the public is fascinated with small.
Large items catch mens eye quicker, so if you want people to notice what you are doing, going first with small and amazing or large and amazing will work, espcially to catch the attention of the media. The media are like young children, flashy, small or fast things catch their attention.
The only advantages this process claims over the current method for making biodiesel are residence time and the elimination of NaOH and HCl. So which process is cheaper? That is all that matters.
So, Smith, does your analysis of process design and engineering extend to the rest of your life?
Like, do you eat only the cheapest margarine instead of butter? Wear secondhand clothes? Drive a used car by choice? Make your own sheets from sackcloth?
I’ve been poor enough — a long time ago — to make exactly those decisions. I don’t miss them or recommend them. Sounds like you do.