Friday, September 26, 2008
2008 R&D 100 Winner
First-generation biofuels, including corn ethanol and biodiesel, are prevalent today but are only an interim solution because they use food crops for raw material. Next-generation biofuels, ones that use non-food biomass, are a more sustainable choice. Velocys-FT: Fischer Tropsch Fuels Using Velocys Microchannel Technology enables these next-generation biofuels to be produced more inexpensively at smaller-scale facilities, appropriate for biomass collection infrastructure. Developed by researchers at Velocys, Inc., Plain City, Ohio, jointly with researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash., and Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio, Velocys-FT is an advanced reactor process for the economical production of transportation fuels via Fischer Tropsch synthesis in microchannel reactor systems. Using the Velocys-FT technology, the reactor volume to produce a given amount of product is reduced by an order of magnitude or more by utilizing the enhanced heat and mass transfer capabilities of microchannel architecture. Other key benefits are small plant size and modularity, which lowers installation costs and enables synthetic fuel production from offshore natural gas reserves.
Technology
Biofuel process
Developers
Velocys, Inc.
Battelle
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
