Microbubbles Provide New Boost for Biofuel Production

Algae/Other Aquatic Organisms/Seaweed, Farming/Growing, Feedstock, Infrastructure, R & D Focus, UK (United Kingdom)

January 27, 2012

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(EurekAlert) …Now, a team led by Professor Will Zimmerman in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Sheffield, believe they have solved the problem. They have developed an inexpensive way of producing microbubbles that can float algae particles to the surface of the water, making harvesting easier, and saving biofuel-producing companies time and money.

…The system developed by Professor Zimmerman’s team uses up to 1000 times less energy to produce the microbubbles and, in addition, the cost of installing the Sheffield microbubble system is predicted to be much less than existing flotation systems.

The next step in the project is to develop a pilot plant to test the system at an industrial scale. Professor Zimmerman is already working with Tata Steel at their site in Scunthorpe using CO2 from their flue-gas stacks and plans to continue this partnership to test the new system. READ MORE and MORE (Scientific American) and MORE (Biorefining Magazine) Abstract

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