Nanorefinery

Personnel

Key Scientific Personnel:
Igor Slowing

Overview

This research project aims to develop a nanoparticle technology for efficient and economical extraction methods for harvesting suitable chemical compounds, such as triglycerides, neutral lipids, and fatty acids, from microalgae for biodiesel production and single-step conversion to biodiesel.  Our proposal involves the use of nanoparticles to perform the following two stages, with superior efficiency in terms of yield, simplicity of processing and energy consumption.

1. Simple, selective and efficient extraction of fatty acids by recyclable mesoporous nanoparticles possessing large surface areas and volumes and adjustable pore size.
2. One step conversion of the extracted fatty acids into biodiesel by reusable, highly reactive nanoparticle based catalyst (Catilin method).

This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy under grant Grant No. DE-FG26-0NT08854 through the Ames Laboratory. The Ames Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences by Iowa State University under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358.

Publications