LOS ANGELES, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have developed a new biofuel
derived from wood chips that can be blended with biodiesel and petroleum diesel
to power conventional engines, according to research detailed in the online
edition of journal Energy and Fuels.
"The exciting thing about our method is that it is very easy to do," said
Tom Adams, a researcher from the University of Georgia.
"We expect to reduce the price of producing fuels from biomass dramatically
with this technique," he said.
Scientists have long been able to derive oil from wood, but they had been
unable to process it effectively or inexpensively for the conventional engines.
Researchers from the University of Georgia have developed a new chemical
process, which they are working to patent, that inexpensively treats the oil so
that it can be used in unmodified diesel engines or blended with biodiesel and
petroleum diesel.
Wood chips and pellets, roughly a quarter inch in diameter and six-tenths
of an inch long, are heated in the absence of oxygen at high temperature, a
process known as pyrolysis. Up to a third of the dry weight of the wood becomes
charcoal, while the rest becomes gas. Most of this kind of gas is condensed into
a liquid bio-oil and chemically treated. When the process is complete, about 34
percent of the bio-oil (or 15 to 17 percent of the dry weight of the wood) can
be used to power engines.
The researchers are currently working to derive even more oil from the
wood.
Adams said that the new biofuel offers environmental benefits because it is
nearly carbon neutral, meaning that it does not significantly increase
heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as long as new trees are planted
to replace the ones used to create the fuel.
Although the new biofuel has performed well, further tests are needed to
assess its long-term impact on engines, its emissions characteristics and the
best way to transport and store it, said Adams.
"It's going to take a while before this fuel is widely available," Adams
said.
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