First algae-derived diesel hits the pumps...

[kjclow]

Wish they would send some of that east, so I could try it.

 

[wxman]

The thing is, this algae fuel is supposed to be identical to diesel... not like how hippies say that biodiesel is "identical" to diesel, but molecularly identical. VW is working with them on this. I guess it is still caveat emptor, but I would feel safe with this... they are already being cautious by going with only B20, rather than B100, which shouldn't be a problem if their claims are true.

Just to be clear, the "SoladieselBD" that's being offered at the Propel stations is apparently FAME biodiesel (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/11/propel-20121113.html). "SoladieselRD" is hydrotreated algal oil that is a blend of diesel-range hydrocarbons and chemically identical to petroleum-derived diesel fuel.

 

[Softrockrenegade]

Pretty cool ! Seems like algae could be the future of bio diesel ! If it meets ASTM specs there shouldn't be a problem if you keep it under b5! I wish they had more literature on it .

 

[tditom]

One thing that's not clear to me- what ASTM spec does the Solazyme product being offered at Propel carry?

This thread originated when SoladieselRD was verified to meet ASTM D975. Propel will be carrying a B20 mixture of SoladieselBD, which Solazyme also claims meets ASTM specs, but doesn't specify if it meets D975 for D2 or D6751, or D7467? Anybody know?

If it does in fact meet D975 then it could be used in the CR tdi, but if not then I don't think its OK for use in the latest tdi engines.

 

[Ski in NC]

It's a new product and thus it will take some time to settle out what specs apply. Product or spec or both may need some tweaking.

Even future engines can be tweaked for a different type of regen heating if this stuff proves to get into lube oil.

The encouraging thing is there is some going to market... now.

Big question remains whether they can scale this up and get the cost down. Still very encouraging.

 

[tditom]

...
Big question remains whether they can scale this up and get the cost down. Still very encouraging.

Some good news on that front:

Solazyme Accelerates U.S. Commercialization for Renewable Oils Production with Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Agreement


Solazyme to use ADM’s existing Clinton, Iowa, manufacturing facility in capital-efficient expansion of up to 100,000 metric tons of renewable algal oil production

South San Francisco, Calif.- November 14, 2012 — Solazyme, Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM), a renewable oil and bioproducts company, and Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE: ADM), a leading global agricultural processor, announced today the signing of strategic collaboration, manufacturing and market development agreements in which Solazyme and ADM will produce Solazyme’s tailored algal oils in ADM’s advanced fermentation plant at Clinton, Iowa. These oils will be sold primarily to the industrial and nutritional markets in North America. Under the terms of the agreement, Solazyme will initially target the production of 20,000 metric tons of oil in 2014, with an aim to increase production to 100,000 metric tons in subsequent years.

“This agreement with ADM will further establish our commercial footprint in the U.S. for renewable oil production capacity at ADM’s Clinton, Iowa facility. This world-class facility and operating team are perfectly suited to run our tailored oil fermentation technology. Further, the location’s substantial renewable oil production capacity is in close proximity to our North American target customers,” said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO Solazyme. “ADM is also one of the largest marketers and suppliers of triglyceride oils with decades of experience and expertise in fats and oils. This collaboration offers a unique opportunity for Solazyme to access both capital-efficient manufacturing capacity and ADM’s unique research and application resources.”

ADM’s wet mill, which is adjacent to the fermentation plant, will initially provide dextrose for the fermentation; and steam and power will be delivered from ADM’s cogeneration facility that is partially fired with renewable biomass.

“This agreement with Solazyme allows us to profitably redeploy a world-class manufacturing asset that was previously used for PHA production and has been idle since January 2012,” said Mark Bemis, ADM senior vice president and president, Corn. “Solazyme has a portfolio of products for food and industrial applications that we think makes this collaboration an excellent option for this facility.”

Minor retrofitting and permitting for the Clinton fermentation plant will begin immediately. Commercial production is expected to begin in early 2014.

link

 

[Lightflyer1]

I wouldn't run more than 5% until VW says it approves. They make several kinds and if I were to try this I would be more comfortable with the RD version instead of the BD version.
http://solazyme.com/fuels

 

[tditom]

I wouldn't run more than 5% until VW says it approves. They make several kinds and if I were to try this I would be more comfortable with the RD version instead of the BD version.
http://solazyme.com/fuels

I agree. they are offering their SoladieselBD at Propel, which they claim meets ASTM specs, but they don't detail WHICH specs.

their SoladieselRD does meet ASTM D975 (the D2 spec), so that could be used without question in any diesel, but its not at all clear which spec the "BD" product meets.

EDIT: Glad to see the two threads combined here

 

[tditom]

...
The big production is to be developed jointly with Bunge, in Brazil. I guess I should not be surprised, its way cheaper to build and operate the plant there because the labor is cheaper and the analogs of OSHA and EPA down there are not as powerful. Its a bummer that a big plant will not be in the US both for reasons of jobs and the pump cost of the product...

A clarification to this- the Bunge project is evidently only for food production and not biofuel.

http://solazyme.com/media/2012-11-14-0

 

[romad]

Jeez, Bay area only...Propel has outlets clear up here in WA state but I guess they want to keep it close to home. It would have been nice to be able to try it out. Just waiting...

They also skip over Northern California, only coming to the top of Central California at Sacramento. Doesn't make sense to drive 150 miles to fuel up.

 

[tditom]

One thing that's not clear to me- what ASTM spec does the Solazyme product being offered at Propel carry?

This thread originated when SoladieselRD was verified to meet ASTM D975. Propel will be carrying a B20 mixture of SoladieselBD, which Solazyme also claims meets ASTM specs, but doesn't specify if it meets D975 for D2 or D6751, or D7467? Anybody know?

If it does in fact meet D975 then it could be used in the CR tdi, but if not then I don't think its OK for use in the latest tdi engines.

I've emailed Propel and left a voicemail with Solazyme regarding which ASTM spec the SoladieselBD carries.

 

[romad]

I've been filling up with Propel B5 at one of the stations that is now selling the algae B20. I'd like to try B20 but it's seemingly impossible to get a definitive answer regarding the safety of using anything higher than B5 in the CR engines.

Couldn't you run it at a 1 gal B20 for every 3 or 4 gallons D2 ratio?

 

[tditom]

Here's the response I got back from Solazyme. If anyone in the SF area is interested in getting a hold of Stephanie from Solazyme, please pm me and I'll give you her email. I do not feel comfortable posting it here without her permission. I suggested to her that they look into the vendor area of tdiclub...
[/COLOR][/I]

Could you PM me this contact info? Thanks.

 

[tditom]

I've been filling up with Propel B5 at one of the stations that is now selling the algae B20. I'd like to try B20 but it's seemingly impossible to get a definitive answer regarding the safety of using anything higher than B5 in the CR engines.

Propel is offering Algae derived BD at some locations now. They claim, "SoladieselBD meets or exceeds ASTM quality specifications and has shown performance enhancements including cold temperature operating performance."
Would you run it in your in warranty TDI?
http://propelfuels.com/newsletters/algae-biodiesel-launch/algae-biodiesel-launch.html

One thing that's not clear to me- what ASTM spec does the Solazyme product being offered at Propel carry?
This thread originated when SoladieselRD was verified to meet ASTM D975. Propel will be carrying a B20 mixture of SoladieselBD, which Solazyme also claims meets ASTM specs, but doesn't specify if it meets D975 for D2 or D6751, or D7467? Anybody know?
If it does in fact meet D975 then it could be used in the CR tdi, but if not then I don't think its OK for use in the latest tdi engines.

I just heard back from Solazyme. The SoladieselBD product meets ASTM D6751. If you want to keep your new car in warranty then you will limit yourself to B5 with this fuel.

 

[williamgd2]

How about?

AFAIK, there is no such thing as "too high cetane". The ECU can always just adjust injection timing window to achieve desired/suitable Start-of-Combustion time. But then again, anything over CN 60 is "wasted". The gain in combustion quality from CN 40--> CN 50 is maybe 10X what you get from going from CN 50 --> CN 60. In other words, a diminishing returns (logarithmic or asymptotic) curve is in play.

Additives to bring down cetane levels?That would be a twist.

 

[Lightflyer1]

It says Soladiesel RD has a cetane rating over 74. Wasted? Wonder what its lubricity rating is?

 

[TDIMeister]

AFAIK, there is no such thing as "too high cetane". The ECU can always just adjust injection timing window to achieve desired/suitable Start-of-Combustion time. But then again, anything over CN 60 is "wasted". The gain in combustion quality from CN 40--> CN 50 is maybe 10X what you get from going from CN 50 --> CN 60. In other words, a diminishing returns (logarithmic or asymptotic) curve is in play.

Not in any Diesel engine that does not have direct closed-loop control of the combustion process (e.g. via cylinder pressure-sensing glow plugs) to the injection event. That covers everything prior to the `09+ NA Tier-2 TDI.

 

[nicklockard]

Dave, even the ALH's can control SOI by reading crank angle and comparing that against TPS; so indirectly they can control the injection timing window (EOI-SOI for a given IQ). If one fuel burns faster (high cetane) versus another, won't the ECU advance accordingly?

 

[TDIMeister]

All fine and good except you're starting from an incorrect premise/assumption - higher cetane does not mean faster combustion. It means a shorter ignition delay and therefore shorter premixed burn phase (and consequentially a larger proportion of the heat release taking place as a diffusion flame).

Also, the crank angle compensation does nothing to affect SOI but rather injection quantity.

 

[GaryTDI]

http://propelfuels.com/news_and_med...orlds_first_consumer_access_to_algae_based_f/

Awesome news!! I just wish they had stations on the East Coast. Maybe as word of this spreads it will come over here quickly enough.

 

[Jayg]

Wish they would send some of that east, so I could try it.

Agreed.

 

[wxman]

This isn't specifically about algae-derived biodiesel, but it's interesting from a general properties-of-biomass-derived-biodiesel perspective...

...Despite the vastly different feedstocks and processes used to produce these synthetic and renewable diesel fuels, the resulting products are composed of predominantly iso-paraffins and n-paraffins of various carbon numbers in the diesel boiling range. Thus, these fuels should have more similarities than differences regardless of feedstock or manufacturing process. In addition, such paraffins are already the most abundant bulk components of petroleum-derived diesel fuel, and thus are more suitable as “drop-in” blend components than oxygen-containing species. In this work we will focus on how the paraffinic compositions of these renewable and synthetic diesel fuels help explain their chemical and physical property trends....

Thomas G. Smagala, Earl Christensen, Krege M. Christison, Rachel E. Mohler, Erica Gjersing, and Robert L. McCormick, "Hydrocarbon Renewable and Synthetic Diesel Fuel Blendstocks: Composition and Properties." Energy & Fuels, http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/11/smagala-20121121.html

 

[XXX_er]

I know a researcher who worked on the bio diesel from algae thing so I asked him about it he said the feed stock is too expensive to be economicaly viable

 

[bhtooefr]

Keep in mind that Solazyme's process isn't using sunlight as a feedstock (which, AFAIK, is very VERY hard to get right, and the algal part of it is expensive). It's using plant matter as a feedstock, and no sunlight at all.

 

[romad]

I know a researcher who worked on the bio diesel from algae thing so I asked him about it he said the feed stock is too expensive to be economicaly viable

That's what they said about petroleum 150 years ago!

 

[wxman]

Study of biodiesel from algae, yeast and bacteria

Another study of (FAME) biodiesel from unconventional sources...

Biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester) derived from oleaginous microbes—microalgae, yeast, and bacteria—can effectively displace both petroleum diesel and biodiesel produced from plant oils, according to the findings of a new study by a team from Utah State University...

Bradley D. Wahlen, Michael R. Morgan, Alex T. McCurdy, Robert M. Willis, Michael D. Morgan, Daniel J. Dye, Bruce Bugbee, Byard D. Wood, and Lance C. Seefeldt, "Biodiesel from Microalgae, Yeast, and Bacteria: Engine Performance and Exhaust Emissions." Energy & Fuels, 2012, http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/11/wahlen-20121123.html

 

[TDI love]

Good useful link for Algae fuel.
www.OilGae.com

http://www.nationalalgaeassociation.com/

Also if you live in Houston, TX and want to start up a co-op in making algae-diesel please let me know.

 

[dwfdiesel]

I think I'll wait for the DIY kit to come out and then I can brew myself.

 

[powerfool]

Based off of some math that I did a few months ago, a 1 acre pond could produce enough algae to fuel me for a year (18k miles each year); that is given good conditions for algae growth.

 

[wxman]

More biofuels from algae feedstocks news...

Bioengineered Marine Algae Expands Environments Where Biofuels Can Be Produced