• The Problem of Extracting Oil from Algae

  Filed under biocatalysis
  May 1
  I will be interested to see if this claim actually proves to have substance behind it. OriginOil, a California-based algae biofuels company, reports that it has patented techbnolyg that solves the previously difficult problem of extracting oil from algae economically. he company said that its patent-pending process does not require chemicals or significant capital expenditure for heavy machinery, and no initial dewatering is required. According to the company, its technology combines electromagnetism and pH modification to break down cell walls, releasing algal oil within the cells. The oil rises to the top for skimming and refining, while the remaining biomass settles to the bottom for further processing as fuel and other valuable products. The technology will be showcased next week at the National Algae Association meeting in Houston.

  Tagged as: algae, biofuels
  
  1 Comment

One Response to “The Problem of Extracting Oil from Algae”

1. 

   stafforddocwilliamson said on May 27th, 2009 at 12:26 am

   As you probably already know from the video (time condensed) on OriginOil.com the process does work, although not exactly as you described here. The basis of the process is Ultrasonic cavitation disrupting the algae cell membranes. They describe (somewhere, though I don’t remember exactly where) using a “low voltage” electrical charge that also helps separate oil and water and algae “husks” (as Sapphire CEO Cynthia Warner calls them).
   There process is “patent pending” I understand but the patent may never be granted since the basic technique of ultrasonic (or some kind of cavitation) to disrupt cells has been around for several years, pioneers in part by a Canadian company called BioCo and marketed by their equipment manufacturer (without BioCo’s consent, I understand) Heilscher. The electric charge to separate has long been used in the waste water industry, although not “low voltage” as described by OriginOil’s CEO Riggs Eckelberry (and old friend from when we both worked for the same software company in the early 1990′s). That MAY have been a “typo” or a technology to English mistranslation when they meant “low power” and someone wrote “low voltage”.
   They also mention a “catalyst” though they don’t say what the catalyst is. However it looks like some kind of flocculant,which may be a “proprietary” blend of something like the name brand flocculant “Floccin” which itself comes in at least a dozen different formulae.
   The sewage treatment is done with HVLA (High Voltage, Low Amperage) current which is the process we use in our separation process design, along with cavitational cell disruption and flocculant.

   Nice website, David. Really well done.

   Sincerely
   Stafford “Doc” Williamson
   President
   DaoChi Energy of Arizona

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