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Project:Algal biodiesel: Difference between revisions
From London Hackspace Wiki
added a strain supplier, and a photo of a PBR
(Updated UK's biodiesel commitment (they gave themselves 3 more years!)) |
(added a strain supplier, and a photo of a PBR) |
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[[File:pbr.jpg|200px|right|Production example]][[File:Testing_pbr.jpg|200px|right|Testing example]][[File:Bottle_pbr.jpg|200px|right|Recycled example]] | |||
Biodiesel production aims to use vegetal or animal oils as a renewable substitute for ordinary diesel. The UK is presently committed to deriving at least 5% of all transport diesel from biodiesel by 2013. It has powered jetflight and (when mixed with ordinary diesel) UK trains. It would be interesting to start probing the possibility of homebrew production. | Biodiesel production aims to use vegetal or animal oils as a renewable substitute for ordinary diesel. The UK is presently committed to deriving at least 5% of all transport diesel from biodiesel by 2013. It has powered jetflight and (when mixed with ordinary diesel) UK trains. It would be interesting to start probing the possibility of homebrew production. | ||
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=== Algal cultivation === | === Algal cultivation === | ||
Presumably aquatic algae (Hydrophilus) are the way forwards. Two alternatives: open pond or closed. There doesn't, for now, seem to be a problem with starting off in flasks (on a shaker table, for example) and then looking to move to slow-circulating streams through tubes wrapped around a light source (for example), and then seeing if we can scale up to south-facing rooftop raceways (wide, shallow circuits). Sources online suggest that culture density will increase to a point where light cannot penetrate more than 10cm. | Presumably aquatic algae (Hydrophilus) are the way forwards. Two alternatives: open pond or closed. There doesn't, for now, seem to be a problem with starting off in flasks (on a shaker table, for example) and then looking to move to slow-circulating streams through tubes wrapped around a light source (for example), and then seeing if we can scale up to south-facing rooftop raceways (wide, shallow circuits). Sources online suggest that culture density will increase to a point where light cannot penetrate more than 10cm. | ||
====Photobioreactor (PBR)==== | |||
See photos, right | |||
==== Conditions ==== | ==== Conditions ==== | ||
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=== Strain selection === | === Strain selection === | ||
Here's a table with different algae and their oil content: http://www.oilgae.com/algae/comp/comp.html | Here's a table with different algae and their oil content: http://www.oilgae.com/algae/comp/comp.html | ||
Here's a commercial source (US based; any domestic/EU based alternatives?) www.utex.org | |||
=== Harvesting === | === Harvesting === | ||
