Scientists and students at the University of Wisconsin-Superior are steeped in a project that could uncover biofuels that flow in the cold.
Research underway on campus aims to develop a high-quality bio-JP8 jet fuel at a minimum cost. Scientists are analyzing plants from northern Wisconsin and the region to determine whether properties that enable plants to survive the area’s winter temperatures make them suitable for use in cold-tolerant biofuels.
American Science and Technology Corp. is working with UWS on the $5 million research and development project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.
In general, American Science and Technology has been working with the Army Research Lab for many years to identify future needs, said Ali Manesh, president of the Chicago-based corporation. He said one of the things identified was the need for jet fuels – the fuel of choice for the Army regardless of transportation mode.
“We started to look into the potential of replacing foreign oil with some domestic, renewable product that we would be able to use to develop jet fuel – JP8 they call it,” Manesh said. Because of limited talent within the company, he said, they started to look for a university that could offer the expertise needed for the project.
UWS fit the bill because of its experience with research and development, and strong biology and chemistry programs, Manesh said.
Scientists at the university are working to identify plants that offer a high yield of oil that could be converted to biofuels. Specifically, the goal is to identify local crops that can overcome one of the biggest disadvantages of biofuels – the temperature at which it begins to solidify.
The point at which biodiesel begins to gel varies widely, depending on the source, with some beginning to crystallize at minus 23 degrees Celsius to temperatures as warm as 0 degrees Celsius, said Jim Lane, a UWS chemistry professor studying ways to use enzymes to convert vegetable oil to fuel.
The range is minus 9 degrees to 32 degrees above zero on a Fahrenheit scale.
“There are several problems with the current biofuels … in the market,” said Nader Enayati, AST biofuel project manager. “One of the biggest problems with biodiesel that is currently being used in the market is the gelling point. At low temperature, biodiesel freezes. And that’s not good. Just imagine that when the airplane is flying at 30,000 feet above the ground, the temperature is minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit. There’s no way this kind of fuel can be used.”
One aspect of the work underway at the university is to determine if scientists can change the properties of the biomaterial to make the fuel more resilient in cold temperatures, Enayati said. The other is to identify plants that may have properties naturally that hold up better to the cold and produce a better quality fuel, he said.
Since January, UWS faculty and students in the biology and chemistry departments have been working to identify plants and processes that would improve cold temperature properties of renewable fuels.
“It’s a great opportunity for the student because it’s research with a very clear application,” Lane said. “Our students who have been working on this have gotten to work with a wide variety of new instrumentation ... they’re getting a lot of important, hands-on experience.”
But it’s a project that could reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, too.
“We’re working on isolating oils from some seed samples that grow in our region, and converting those to biodiesel and looking at their cold temperature properties,” Lane said. So far, a couple species of pine, cuphea and milkweed have been identified; others are being considered.
Lane said cultivation of crops, fuel oxidation, carbon content and energy output are factors that need to be considered, making milkweed the most promising fuel so far.
By focusing on the drawbacks of biodiesel and solving those problems it could make use of biofuels more desirable in the future, Lane said. After all, they have some distinct advantages beyond reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.
Biofuels typically have lower sulfur content so when they’re burned, they produce less sulfur dioxide, Lane said. The more biodiesel you can mix with petro-diesel, the better, he said.
American Science and Technology will use that research and develop manufacturing processes to make biofuels more affordable, Manesh said.
“Our goal is first to define the technology; second to make the technology transferable; third, to transfer the technology from university laboratories to the shop floor,” Manesh said. “Hopefully, a year from now, those technologies can surface from UWS’ laboratories to the shop floor.”
Manesh said the research project is being conducted for the Department of Defense, but the work being done has broader applications and the processes being developed to reduce the cost of JP8 can also be applied to developing biodiesel fuel for other uses.
“Currently biodiesel fuel is very expensive to produce and is more expensive than the petrochemical fuel,” Manesh said. “Our goal is to try to reduce that cost so we’ll be able to compete.”
© 2009 Forum Communications Co.
