Nov 28 2007
Scientists at theUniversity of Leedsare turning low-grade sludge into high-value gas in a process which could make eco-friendly biodiesel even greener and more economical to produce.
Biodiesel – motor fuel derived from vegetable oil - is a renewable alternative to rapidly depleting fossil fuels. It is biodegradable and non-toxic, and production is on the up. But for each molecule of biodiesel produced, another of low-value crude glycerol is generated, and its disposal presents a growing economic and environmental problem.
现在，研究人员已经表明了如何将甘油转化为产生富氢气的气体。氢非常需要在化肥，化学植物和粮食生产中使用。
此外，氢本身被视为基于碳氢化合物的运输燃料的未来“干净”替代品，目前依赖这些燃料的大多数国家都在大量投资氢开发计划。瓦莱丽·杜邦（Valerie Dupont）博士及其在大学工程学院的共同投资者开发的新过程将甘油与蒸汽混合在受控的温度和压力下，将废物分离为氢，水和二氧化碳，没有残留物。一种特殊的吸收材料将二氧化碳过滤出来，它留下了更纯净的产品。
“氢已被确定为低碳能源系统（例如燃料电池发电和运输燃料）的关键未来燃料。当前的生产方法是昂贵且不可持续的，使用越来越稀缺的化石燃料来源，例如天然气，或其他效率较低的方法，例如水电解。”
“Our process is a clean, renewable alternative to conventional methods. It produces something with high value from a low grade by-product for which there are few economical upgrading mechanisms” says Dr Dupont. “In addition, it’s a near ‘carbon-neutral’ process, since the CO2 generated is not derived from the use of fossil fuels.”
杜邦博士认为，这一过程很容易扩展到工业生产，并且随着“氢经济”（1）加速的竞赛，可能是一种经济上重要，可持续性和环保的方式，可以满足日益增长的氢需求。
Dr Dupont’s research has been funded with a £270k grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under the Energy programme, and is in collaboration with Professors Yulong Ding and Mojtaba Ghadiri from the Institute of Particle Science and Engineering, and Professor Paul Williams from the Energy and Resources Research Institute at the University. Industrial collaborators are Johnson Matthey and D1-Oils.