Microbubbles to make biofuel plants more economic

Sheffield, UK – A University of Sheffield researcher has won national recognition for the development of a ’microbubble device’ that promises to make the production of biofuels much more energy efficient.

Professor William Zimmerman, from the department of chemical and process engineering at the University has been awarded the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation for the work in adapting a unique bioreactor for use in the production of alternative renewable fuels.

Biofuels manufacture often requires vast amounts of power, making it uneconomic. This new method consumes much less energy, using a special air-lift loop bioreactor that creates microbubbles using 18% less energy consumption than existing methods.

The miniature gas bubbles, which are less than 50 microns diameter in water, can transfer materials in a bioreactor much more rapidly than larger bubbles produced by conventional bubble generation techniques. They also consume much less energy.

The research team believes that its adaption of the bioreactor and creation of microbubbles has the potential to revolutionise the energy-efficient production of biofuels.

The approach is currently being tested with researchers from Suprafilt in Rochdale on industrial stack gases. The team are also currently testing the application of the device with local water company Yorkshire Water.

The researchers are using the components of the bioreactor that produce microbubbles to give a better performance in the treatment of wastewater. They are predicting they can reduce the current electricity costs for this process by at least a third.

The Brian Mercer Award provides funding of up to £250,000 for researchers to develop and already proven concept of prototype into a near-market product which can be commercially exploited.

The Sheffield team have previously won the Moulton Medal from the Institution of Chemical Engineers, and Best Poster Award at the 6th Annual bioProcessUK conference.