Researchers at the University of Sheffield have received an international award developing an innovative device, which will make the production of alternative biofuels more energy efficient. The team devised an air-lift loop bioreactor that creates microbubbles using 18% less energy. These tiny gas bubbles that are less than 50 microns in diameter are capable of transferring materials in the bioreactor much faster than the larger bubbles produced by conventional bubble generation techniques.
The team is presently busy testing their process with researchers from Suprafilt on industrial stack gasses. The process is also being tested on wastewater treatment where they expect the process to reduce the energy consumed in the treatment process by a third. The scientist hope that Moulton Medal from the Institution of Chemical Engineers will draw more industry attention to the work, mainly in commodity chemicals production for gas dissolution and stripping, where energy savings could enhance profitability. The project has also benn submitted as a poster to the 6th Annual bioProcessUK conference, where it picked up the Best Poster Award.
Via: DailyTech