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The title of this article will be HYDROTHERMAL LIQUEFACTION and is connected to the algae fuel article

Algae Hydrothermal liquefaction is a way to gather a usable material from standard algae for the creation of bio-fuel. Algae and microalgae produced bio-fuel requires algae with a high lipid content. Most natural algae focus on structural growth rather than producing lipids. Traditional bio-fuel requires oil gathered from algae with lipid contents. Conversely, hydrothermal liquefaction uses a high temperature heating process with the algae in solution to create bio-fuel from otherwise unusable algae, such as the large blooms in China. This is comparable to a process known as thermal depolymerization and also similar to the process in which fossil fuels were made millions of years ago under the earth’s crust. A major difference is that algae cannot grow in environment suitable for an event like hydrothermal liquefaction to occur.

History
Research into hydrothermal processing of algae to produce bio-fuels has been ongoing since 1987 when Shell International Research received a patent for a “process for producing hydrocarbon-containing liquids from biomass.” [3]

Process
Hydrothermal liquefaction is a method of taking naturally occurring algae (that does not have an unusually high lipid count) and creating a more usable product for biofuel production.

Hydrothermal liquefaction occurs at high temperature and pressures, over 300°C and 2 -12 bar, in an unstirred batch reactor with or without the presence of a catalyst. Variables can be manipulated in this process to change results; they include temperature, pH, catalyst presence, solution concentration, pressure, and time and algae species.

The process occurs with a solution of the algae, water, and sometimes a catalyst contained into a reactor. The reactor is heated to a temperature above 300°C. Once reaching the temperature the mixture is cooled back to room temperature. Because of the unique thermal properties of water during this several reactions occur to produce a product. This product is not a bio-fuel, but a crude form of bio-fuel that can be refined to remove unwanted components and be used as a feedstock for other biofuel creation.

Four main components come out of the process: Water, unusable solid residue, a gaseous mixture, and the aqueous high molecular weight crude material. This material can then be processed further to make it useable. Depending on variables of the process, the crude’s properties can differ greatly. For example, organic catalysts tend to cause the crude product to have better flow properties. Formic acid, and organic acid, as a catalyst causes there to be minimal amount of nitrogen in the crude material, a favorable characteristic. This is favorable because the amount of nitrogen in the product material directly relates to amount of additional processing needed for use. The gaseous mixture can contain a number of different materials. These materials include, but are not limited to, oxygen gas, nitrogen gas, hydrogen gas, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water vapor.

As of 2011, this process still prefers algae with a higher lipid content, as they tend to react better in solution. These algae species produce more manageable crude material by placing unwanted items in the other three products of the process: water, gas, solid residue.

Specific Research
The Energy and Resources Research Institute at the University of Leeds located in Leeds, England, posted in the science journal Fuel’s 2010 issue revealed varying results for hydrothermal reactions of several algae species under different conditions. An experiment was developed in order to further understand the possibility of the hydrothermal liquefaction process.

The experiment tested two algae under two different temperatures and used 4 different solvents. Two organic acids were used as solvents as well as two containing alkali metals. The experiment yielded varying products depending on the conditions and produced 10-20% crude product yield for each condition. The study concluded that in the presence of organic acids, hydrothermal liquefaction produces more crude material. The study states that the catalyst is the variable which directs the nitrogen in the algae to the phase of product. The study also concluded that the nitrogen content of the crude material, roughly 6%, is too high to be used as a fuel, regardless of catalyst, and must me further refined. [1]

Other than this one study, the research into hydrothermal liquefaction is continuing. Recent research has been published also from the University of Leeds [4] and at Fudan University in Shanghai, China [5].

Economic Issues
Link to Main Article: Investment and Economic Viability

The research of hydrothermal processing of algae for bio-fuel use was started in the late 1970s, but most research has taken place within the last 10 years. Much of this research is on a very small scale. This is because the economic feasibility of the technology. Petroleum, coal, and natural gas still remain much more economically feasible than more “green” fuel technology such as electricity, algae and other biofuels [2]. Still the U.S. and many other nations still plan to make changes to lower their constantly increasing dependence on petroleum products over the next twenty years in order to start to decrease this dependence.

According to the US’s 2010 International Energy Outlook [2], biofuel production is still and will continue to be dwarfed by conventional liquid fuel production over the next twenty years. Steps are being made to decrease use of conventional liquid fuel by many countries, especially in the transportation industry. Japan enacted a program from 2009 to 2010 to provide 100,000 yen to any person trading in their vehicle for a car which received ratings at least 15% higher than the 2010 emission standards and 150,000 yen to any person trading in a vehicle over 13 years old[2]. In addition to Japan, Australia and many European nations have already or plan to provide millions of dollars in incentive programs for people trading in their old cars for cars which greatly exceed emission standards[2].

As natural reserves of petroleum continue to deplete, many processes, such as hydrothermal liquefaction of algae will become more and more finically feasible and the research in such programs will prove to contain growing value in the future.