Aquaflow wild algae converted to key jet fuel component
It looks like there is another world’s first in the realm of algae biofuel. Today, New Zealand’s very own Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation announced that it has successfully created a key jet fuel component from a wild strain of algae. Here is the complete press release:
BLENHEIM, NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand-based Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation says the world’s first test flight using wild-algae based jet fuel may be nearer than many pundits think.
The company announced today that its wild algae has been successfully refined to produce the world’s first sample of synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) converted from compounds derived from Aquaflow’s wild algae. SPK, when blended with petroleum-based kerosene, can be used to power commercial and military aircraft.
“This is a major breakthrough and confirms that wild and naturally occurring algae and its components can produce quality, sustainable aviation fuel,” says Aquaflow director, Nick Gerritsen.
Gerritsen says the sample meets Jet A-1 specifications and, when blended with petroleum-based Jet A-1, could be used by commercial aircraft. The algae was converted using technology from United States-based UOP LLC, a Honeywell company. UOP utilized its proprietary hydroprocessing technology to convert the sample to SPK and confirmed that the sample meets the critical specifications for SPK including density, flash point and freeze point.
The wild algae sample also yielded a sample of diesel fuel.
“We are a company focused upon developing the sustainable production of green crude, similar to that which could be expected from mineral crude oil, and combining that with waste treatment and clean water production,” comments Gerritsen.
Gerritsen says this announcement is a significant milestone for the aviation industry and supports the identification of algae-based fuels solutions by Boeing and leading airlines.
Wild algae grows in wastewater and is continuously harvested, one of the great benefits of algae over other land based crops, and it doesn’t compete with food crops or agricultural land.
Aquaflow sources its wild algae from the local oxidation ponds in Marlborough on New Zealand’s South Island – essentially recycling a waste product.
Why is this important? Well for one it shows that algae, even in its natural (or wild) state can be processed to produce aviation fuel. That means that years of R&D might not be needed to search for a specific strain of algae to use or years of trying to genetically modify algae to produce the needed chemicals.
With this discovery, algae based biofuels could be a lot closer than many people think.
To see more on algae based biofuels, go here.
Here are some pictures, first is a picture of the sample fuels that they produced and the second is of a pond in Marlborough where the algae is grown.
