AN OVERVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY & GREEN CHEMICAL PRODUCTION R&D AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

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1 AN OVERVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY & GREEN CHEMICAL PRODUCTION R&D AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA Mark E. Zappi, PhD, PE Dean of Engineering Chevron Professor of Chemical Engineering Director of the Energy Institute & the Bioprocess Research Laboratory University of Louisiana

2 Institutional Goals university of louisiana Keep Louisiana the Energy State through the development of alternative energy systems Utilize Louisiana feedstocks to produce domestic energy Assist in assembling a state-wide R&D stakeholder team Serve as a key expert pool for state agencies & industry Position UL as a global leader in energy R&D Keep it real economics do matter

3 Key UL R&D Assets Primary Participating UL R&D Entities: Cleco Alternative Energy Center (under construction) Energy Institute Bioprocessing Research Laboratory Solar Energy Research Laboratory Center for Ecology and Environmental Technology Over 30 faculty directly involved from three colleges Approximately $10M of R&D expenditures over last 5 years Currently, 20+ projects on-going Processes under investigation includes: Renewable diesel, ethanol, biogas, biodiesel, solar thermal, photovoltaics, wave point generation, gasification, torrefaction, algae culturing, lipid extraction, H2 catalysis, geothermal, etc.

4 NEWEST R&D ASSET The CLECO Alternative Energy Center (Crowley, LA) 5-Acres of land within an industrial Park Future Algae Growth Beds Collaborative R&D facility (Cleco & UL) Planned Pilot Test Bed Labs Biomass Storage & Pilot Areas Serves as Tech R&D Center targeting commercialization of promising power, fuels, and chemicals production processes Current income stream is $750K per year 4 full time staff (3 research engineers) Gensets & Flair Main Research Building Houses Gasifier, Torrefaction, & Biofuels R&D Activities Numerous students employed at site State of the art R&D assets

5 Main R&D Building Under Construction (Houses Labs, Pilot Area, & Staff Offices)

6 Analytical Laboratory Being Outfitted at Cleco Facility

7 Indoor Pilot Area at Cleco (under construction)

8 GenSet and Flair at Cleco

9 SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEM Sold and Installed by 3M Gossamer Inc. Wide Aperture Design First Deep Southern US Installation Temperatures up to 430 C Same units to be installed at UL by 10/2012 at the Cleco Alternative Energy Center

10 OUR PHILOSOPHY- KEY TO BIOREFINERY SUCCESS INTER-TWINNING OF ENERGY AND PRODUCT PRODUCTION

11 PRESENTATION FORMAT

12 HIGHLIGHTED THERMAL CONVERSION PROCESS R&D

13 Power Production Biomass Feed Thermally Convert into Synthesis Gas within the Gasifier Syngas Gas Storage Fuels & Chemicals Production THE BIOMASS FED GASIFIER PROCESS Taking Biomass to Power, Fuels, & Chemicals

14 3 ton per day Gasifier Being Installed at Cleco Facility

15 H to CO to CO2 Ratios at Various Bed Temperatures 25 Concentration (v/v, %) Temperature (F) (Data via Dr. Guillory of UL Mechanical ENGR & Russo, Cleco)

16 TORREFACTION (CHARRING) of Combustible Biomass Increase the Energy Density and Storage Stability of Biomass Laboratory Studies and Complementary Pilot Systems Operations (Partnership with Cleco and Louisiana Biomass Resources)

17 torrefaction r&d Torrefaction Pilot Unit at UL UL Torrefaction Research Laboratory

18 90 85 Solid Yield Energy Yield WGHT Delta Percentage, % Btu/lb Temperature, Deg. C (Data from Prashanth & Guillory UL Mechanical ENGR & Russo, Cleco)

19 BIOFUELS AND PRODUCTS FROM OIL-BEARING CULTURED AND WASTE-SOURCED MICROORGANISMS

20 Comparison of Oil Production from Various Crops 55 gal per acre of Soybeans 100 gal per acre of Sunflower 150 gal per acre of Rapeseed 200 gal per acre of Jatropha 650 gal per acre of Palm 850 gal per acre of Chinese Tallow >1,000 gal per acre using microbes

21 Lipids from Various Feedstocks Comparing various lipid sources for biodiesel and green diesel Algae production costs fall in the $4 $5/gal range Sewage sludge appears to be an attractive option for green diesel (Drs. Dufreche, Zappi, and Bajpai, UL Chemical ENGR)

22 Impact of Phosphate on Green Diesel Yield (Data from Dr. Dufreche, UL Chemical ENGR) Fatty Acid Ethanol Phosphate Glycerol Fatty Acid Glycerol Fatty Acid Fatty Acid Fatty Acid Triglyceride (plants and animals) Phospholipid (bacteria) 80 Fractional Conversion Phosphorus Loading (µg P / mg ZSM-5)

23 GROWING HIGH-LIPID CONTENT MICROBES (Example 1: Yeast cultured from culled sweet potato crops) Fermentation of Yeast Final [Lipid] = 60% Starch-Fed Yeast (Contains ~50% Lipids) (Drs. Bajpai, Ram, Zappi, and Dufreche, UL Chem ENGR)

24 Cost Modeling of Yeast Lipids from Waste Starch Table 4 Stage wise medium cost analysis during high density cultivation with sweet potato starch waste as carbon source (1X g/l of starch, 2X ALL Double the concentration of all medium components) Medium Components YE 1X 2X- ALL 2X 3X 5X $/Gal $/Gal $/Gal $/Gal $/Gal $/Gal Sweet Potato Yeast Extract CaCl (NH4)2SO KH2PO Na2HPO4, MgSO4, 7 H2O FeSO ZnSO4, H2O Vitamins Trace elements Total Lipomyces Starkeyi cells (Drs. Bajpai, Ram, Zappi, and Dufreche, UL Chem ENGR)

25 PRODUCTION OF LIPID-BEARING ALGAE FROM SUGAR MILL WASTEWATERS ( % ) % W/W g Dry wt biomass * m -3 Ia (umol*s -1 m Time (hours) g Dry wt biomass/m-3 Ia (umol*s-1*m-2) Dry wt. biomass and lipid content (g m -3 ) % Lipids Biomass dry wt. g m-3 7% W/W 28% W/W (6.7%) (28.6%) 9% W/W ( 9. 4 % o C 31 o C 25 o C From Pond A1 A2 A3 Native (Dr. Benson, UL GeoSci)

26 Production of an Adhesive from Algal Cake (Data from Dr. Chirdon, UL Chemical ENGR)

27 Catalysis of Waste Glyercin into High Value Products (Drs. Dufreche, Zappi, and Bajpai, UL Chem ENGR) UL has partnered with a Gulf Coast company to optimize production of 1,2-monopropylene glycol from waste biodiesel glycerin. Propylene Glycol has a much higher market value than glycerin. Summary of Results: Copper-based catalyst is best Process ph control is critical Yields in excess of 80% is are likely

28 CONVERSION OF WASTE GLYCERIN INTO NEW PRODUCTS Enzyme Discovery via Supercomputer-Supported Visualization Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (UL Research Park) USING ADVANCED SUPERCOMPUTER, VISUALIZATION-BASED METHODS FOR GLYCERINE CONVERSION ENZYME DISCOVERY AND MODELING (Drs. Xu, Chemistry, and Bajpai, Chem ENGR)

29 PRODUCING GREEN DIESEL FROM TALL OIL Product Distribution of Crude vs. Refined Tall Oil Cracked Over ZSM-5 Catalyst 5 mg Catalyst at 400 C with 10% Hydrogen Feed SOURCE: Dr. Stephen Dufreche, UL CHEE Taking timber processing oil through refineries to truck fuel

30 Turbine Optimization Modeling Wave Generator Design Optimization HYDRO-DYNAMIC PRODUCTION OF POWER VIA MICRO-SYSTEMS (Drs. Kozman, Lee, and Lui, UL Mech ENGR)

31 Production of Biogas from Shrimp Processing Wastewaters via Digestion CH4 (1) CO2(1) CH4(2) CO2(2) Pilot Digester System Volume of gas (ml/ L Solution) Microcosm Test Systems Time (Days) (Drs. Zappi, Ram, and Bajpai, UL CHEE)

32 Artificial Human BioMaterials from Chitin and Chitosan Sources (Dr. Misra, Chemical ENGR)

33 Thanks for the Invitation and Great Meeting! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

34 CLEAN POWER AND ENERGY RESEARCH CONSORTIUM A Partnership for Clean, Reliable, Low-Cost Energy Solutions for the State & the Nation LSU, LSU AGCENTER, NICHOLLS STATE, SOUTHERN U, TULANE, UL, & UNO

35 THANK YOU & QUESTIONS?

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