 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
(06/12/07) Scientists at Leeds University are making biodiesel even more eco-friendly by changing one of its unwelcome byproducts into high quality hydrogen. Alternative fuel Biodiesel is a clean-burning alternative fuel, produced from renewable resources, such as rapeseed or wheat. It contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a renewable biodiesel blend that could be an alternative to fossil fuels like oil and coal. But for each molecule of biodiesel produced, another of low-value crude glycerol is generated, and disposing of this glycerol presents a growing economic and environmental problem. Dealing with the waste product Researchers at Leeds have shown how the byproduct can be converted to produce a hydrogen-rich gas. What Dr Valerie Dupont and her co-investigators in the University's Faculty of Engineering have done is mix glycerol with steam at a controlled temperature and pressure, separating the waste product into hydrogen, water and carbon dioxide, with no residues. A special absorbent material filters out the carbon dioxide, which leaves a much purer product. Hydrogen development programmes Hydrogen is viewed as a future clean replacement for hydrocarbon-based transport fuels, and most countries currently reliant on these fuels are investing heavily in hydrogen development programmes. World consumption is 50 million tonnes per year, growing at about 10 per cent per annum. Virtually all hydrogen is made from natural gas, giving rise to quantities of carbon dioxide emissions. Some experts think that as oil becomes more expensive, hydrogen may eventually replace it as a transport fuel. As of 2005, the economic value of hydrogen produced worldwide was about $125 million a year.
Dr Dupont says that hydrogen has been identified as a key future fuel for low carbon energy systems such as power generation in fuel cells and as a transport fuel. She argues that current production methods are expensive and unsustainable, "using either increasingly scarce fossil fuel sources such as natural gas, or other less efficient methods such as water electrolysis". She believes the process can easily be scaled-up for industrial production, and, as the race towards the hydrogen economy accelerates, "could potentially be an economically important, sustainable - and environmentally friendly - way of meeting the growing demand for hydrogen". Commercial collaboration The current research is funded by a £270,000 grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's. In addition the University is collaborating with two companies on the project: Johnson Mathey, a specialist chemicals company and D1Oils, a UK-based producer of biodiesel. Related links |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
You & Me ~ About Britain ~ News ~ Interaction ~ Sports ~ Things To Do ~ Bizarre Bits ~ Gallery ~ Home ~ Top |
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
