[Diy_efi] Is E85 worth it? - Seams filling up again ?

[Bernd Felsche]

On Friday 08 September 2006 13:27, Bobby Yates Emory wrote:
> Berend,

Who? :-)

> On 9/7/06, Bernd Felsche <bernie at innovative.iinet.net.au> wrote:
> > On Thursday 07 September 2006 18:28, Mike wrote:
> > > At 06:15 PM 9/7/06, you wrote:
> > > >Most of us dont live underground in oily caverns.

> > > There seems to be more anecdotal evidence these (early) caverns
> > > are slowly filling up with more oil, not just from the seams
> > > bleeding out due to the removal of the primary oil by reduction in
> > > pressure but other factors.

> > It'd produce more oil to use algae in sunlight to produce oils for
> > production of biodiesels. The unesterfied oil is equivalent to
> > vegetable oils as a fuel. If the engine is built to burn such oils,
> > then no further processing is required.

> > Esterfication produces a biodiesel, suitable for use in common
> > diesel engines.

> > One "feed stock" for the process is flue gas from coal-/oil-fired
> > power station, bubbled through ponds of selected algae.

> Many people have suggested using flue gas, but it is not
> necessary.  (It will increase growth, but is not required.)

The general reason for setting up such a facility is to process the
CO2 from a power station. aka Carbon (bio)sequestration.

If you operate a diesel-fired power station, you should be able to
produce 25% or more of your own fuel after adapting the generator to
run on a blend of raw lipids and diesel. Makes a big difference for
isolated settlements where fuel costs are higher.

Integration with waste-water treatment provides an overall
improvement in both cycles.

> > The biodiesel yield from the aquaculture is about 7 times higher
> > per unit area than for agricultural stocks such as soya beans.

> The projections based on lab results are many times higher - even
> better yields.

The practical results indicate what can/could be done in practice.
If one claims attainable results instead of ideal ones, then it's
more likely that the technology will spread.

Don't promise anything you can't guarrantee to deliver in a
practical situation and the operators won't be disappointed.

> > The CO2 sequestration cycle by algae is a matter of days; not
> > even months.  Roughly 80% of the CO2 is typically captured by
> > the algae.

> > The other feed stock is brack water from sewage treatment.

> I'm confused - I thought brackish meant between seawater and
> freshwater.  Partially treated sewage would be vile, but not
> salty.  Or, did I miss something?   Some people have suggested
> doing a methane digestion on the sewage (animal or human) in order
> to kill pathogens.

"Brack water" is in this case used generically (aka "carelessly" :-)).

The water doesn't need to be purified and certainly in the case of
some algae, MUST contain organic material to feed the culture.

Salt water is easier to get than "fresh" water.

> > One complication is that the algae require sunlight to convert
> > the CO2; so flue gas emitted overnight needs to be stored until
> > there is enough light for the algae to start metabolising.

> Greenfuels reported some mitigation even in darkness, so it might
> not be necessary to store overnight.

Conversion rates reduce with most algae when there is no sunlight.
Getting the algae to sunlight is the reason for agitation.

> > Optimised control of the process would require some sort of
> > storage and reservoir of CO2 anyway.

> > Some types of algae will "burst" and lose their lipids (oils)
> > when starved of CO2; which you don't want to happen until you're
> > ready to harvest.

> Are any of these species heavy producers of oil?

See the FAO report (URL below) lists a number of algae with superior
lipid content.

If open ponds are to be used, which is the lowest-cost option, then
one would choose algae that are local to the region to minimise the
problem of contamination.

It makes sense to survey a site for endemic algae and to analyse
them for lipid content and suitability for aquaculture.

> > More resilient types of algae require more intensive processing,
> > mechanical or chemical, in order to harvest the lipids within
> > their cell wall.

> We assume we will have to do something to break the cell wall.

Starving some types of algae causes the cells to automatically
burst. This is in NASA reports, IIRC.

> A group of us are trying to understand all the steps in this
> process and develop an open-source process for growing oil from
> algae.  You are invited to join us:

> "http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/oil_from_algae/join

Arggggggggggggggggggggggg.... too many groups.

> > Lots of research done in the past.
> > e.g.    http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7241e/w7241e0h.htm

-- 
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