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The pilot plant is based on research led by Yuanhui Zhang, an
agricultural and biological engineer at the U of I. Zhang and
colleagues developed a system using thermochemical conversion, or
TCC, to transform organic compounds, like swine manure, in a heated
and pressurized enclosure to produce oil and gas. "The process we
developed is different from most conventional TCC processes," said
Zhang. "There is no need for the addition of a catalyst, and our
process does not require pre-drying of the manure."
The initial stage of Zhang's research led to the development of a
batch TCC reactor.
"With a batch reactor, you 'cook' one batch, empty it, then cook
another batch, empty it," said Zhang. "Now we have a continuous
reactor, which means continuous pumping of feedstock and continuous
output. The development of a continuous reactor brings the
technology one step closer to a TCC pilot plant."
Members of the U of I manure-to-oil
research team hold samples of the crude oil produced from the
continuous reactor, pictured in background. Members include (left to
right) Yuanhui Zhang and Ted Funk, agricultural engineers at the
University of Illinois, and Kim Ocfemia, graduate research
assistant. Zhang's team has achieved as high as 70 percent conversion from
swine manure volatile solids to oil. At that conversion efficiency,
the manure excreted by one pig during the production cycle could
produce up to 21 gallons of crude oil and add a $10 profit per pig.
In the 100-million-hogs-per-year U.S. industry alone, that adds up
to a billion dollars.
The Illinois Pork Producers Association has helped fund the
project, and its executive director, Jim Kaitschuk, said: "We're
very supportive of this research. We see a number of advantages to
producing crude oil from swine manure, which includes adding value
to manure products."
Now, steps are being taken to build a pilot plant that will help
determine if the TCC process can live up to those numbers. Worldwide
BioEnergy is leading this effort in close cooperation with the U of
I research team.
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 Les Christianson, an agricultural and biological engineer at U of
I and the industry liaison for Zhang's team, is optimistic about the
potential for the manure-to-oil process.
"We believe that this can be economically feasible on a
commercial scale," he said. "The first plant won't be the final
design, but it will help us figure out what the right design is.
Every technology goes through a learning curve, where you improve
quality and reduce costs."
According to Christianson: "U of I has given an exclusive,
primary license to WWBE to commercialize the technology. We want to
maintain research pre-eminence that will help make it successful.
Worldwide BioEnergy will lead the effort to produce it."
In the meantime, Zhang's team has expanded his research to
determine if other types of livestock manure, and even human waste,
can be used as feedstock for the TCC process.
Innoventor Engineering Inc. and BioCrude have been sublicensed by
WWBE to construct and operate the first commercial-sized systems for
swine waste and human waste.
"Billions of dollars are spent on waste transportation and
treatment, and regulations continue to become more stringent and
cost-intensive to satisfy our desire for a clean environment," said
Zhang. "Meanwhile, we have a growing need for biofuels that would
reduce our dependence on foreign oil and the world's finite supply
of crude petroleum.
"It is vitally important that we develop innovative solutions
that can address both those problems," he concluded.
[News release from the
University of Illinois College
of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences]
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