15 October 2010

Biofuel production device scoops third innovation award

A researcher from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering has scooped a prestigious national award for leading a team of scientists who have created an innovative device which will make the production of alternative biofuels more energy efficient.


Professor William Zimmerman, from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield, has been awarded the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation after leading a team which has adapted a unique bioreactor for use in the production of alternative renewable fuels, to replace fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel.

The Brian Mercer Award for Innovation provides funding of up to £250,000 for researchers to develop and already proven concept of prototype into a near-market product which can be commercially exploited. The awards, which was established in 2001 by a generous bequest from the late Brian Mercer OBE FRS, was presented to Dr Zimmerman on 14 October at the Royal Society. The team have previously won the Moulton Medal from the Institution of Chemical Engineers, and Best Poster Award at the 6th Annual bioProcessUK conference.

The manufacture of biofuels currently requires vast amounts of power and when the process uses too much energy, it is uneconomic. This new method consumes much less energy and could prove to be vital to the economic, green production of alternative fuels.

The team have devised an air-lift loop bioreactor which creates microbubbles using 18% less energy consumption than existing methods. Microbubbles are miniature gas bubbles of less than 50 microns diameter in water. They are able to transfer materials in a bioreactor much more rapidly than larger bubbles produced by conventional bubble generation techniques and they consume much less energy. The team´s unique adaption of the bioreactor and creation of microbubbles has the potential to revolutionise the energy-efficient production of biofuels.

The approach is currently being tested with researchers from Suprafilt in Rochdale on industrial stack gases. The team are also currently testing the application of the device with local water company Yorkshire Water. They are using the components of the bioreactor that produce microbubbles to give a better performance in the treatment of wastewater. They are predicting they can reduce the current electricity costs for this process by at least a third.

Professor William Zimmerman, from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield, said: "We are delighted to have identified over forty potential applications for the energy efficient microbubble generation system, the most promising of which is more rapid growth of algal biomass for biofuel production. I liken it to creating a five star hotel for the algae - regular meals, sun bathing, and waste removal, but at bargain prices!

"As the invention is becoming better known, researchers and engineers from all over the globe are proposing innovations where bubbles have never been used before, to save energy and increase production rates. We all know that to build a sustainable future, we must dramatically reduce energy use, but it is reassuring to know that there are ways of increasing production at the same time. The Royal Society's recognition of our work should help us disseminate to many more potential endusers in chemicals production and bioprocessing."