https://www.crazyengineers.com/news/researchers-succeed-in-significantly-lowering-oil-extraction-costs-by-applying-pef-on-micro-algae.95840/
[images in on-line article]
Researchers succeed in significantly lowering oil extraction costs by
applying PEF on micro algae
By Debasmita Banerjee in 'Other Engineering Trades', Sunday at 6:11 PM.
A new but highly blooming field of green energy is harnessed by
extracting biofuels from microalgae. Being an alternative to the liquid
fossil fuels, this is making its own share of support as it has quite a
few advantages over conventional fossil fuels. A research in Kumamoto
university further strengthens its significance as it was able to
document some interesting results.
The published report informs that the biodiesel extracted from
microalgae releases a similar amount of CO2 compared to liquid
petroleum, however, a recent method was capable of removing CO2 derived
from the process via photosynthesis. This indirectly means that the CO2
generated from this process is not contributing by increasing the number
of greenhouse gases. Another point to be noted, that microalgae convert
a significantly higher percentage of their biomass to usable oil
compared to a smaller land mass than terrestrial crops.
Although a number of advantages are associated with biodiesel, it is way
too costlier than normal diesel. Recently, a research group from Japan
has tried to reduce the cost of biodiesel production with a unique
approach by applying pulsed electric fields (PEF) to extract
hydrocarbons from microalgae. Now, these mili or microsecond PEF can
weaken cell walls which increase permeability authorizing an extraction
of elements inside the cell.
Going further, a team from Kumamoto University used nanosecond PEF on
the microalgae matrix that uses less energy than the micro or
milliseconds PEFs even at high voltages. Plus, the method is less
destructive and cheaper compared to the conventional oil extraction
technique. Several tests confirming nsPEF application on the microalgae
Botryococcus braunii (Bb) results in the practical measurement of the
optimal electric field, energy, and pulse repetition frequency for
hydrocarbon extraction. Going into the details, it was found that by
doubling the energy the extraction rate was increased by 10%. Also, the
pulse frequency has no connection with extraction percentage.
Professor Hamid Hosseini of the Institute of Pulsed Power Science at
Kumamoto University implied that the research method doesn't destroy the
microalgae used for extraction and even after the extraction, they are
able to reconstruct their colony. With the scope of growing further, the
project highlights today's development corresponding to the green energy
usage. The complete research has been published inthe journal,
Biotechnology for Biofuels.
