Commercial development of bio-combustible fuels from hydrothermal liquefaction of waste using solar collectors

Current methods to improve the viability of microalgae based biofuel production depend on improved microalgae strains, biorefinery concepts and identification of higher value applications such as cosmetics and nutraceuticals. Despite such efforts, the energy inputs into the microalgae conversion process remain high. The technical approach presented is to design, deploy and field test an integrated set-up of Concentrated Solar Power and Hydrothermal Liquefaction systems to produce bio-oil and evaluate the production and conversion processes. Phycofeeds’ approach is to integrate CSP and HTL technologies into the conversion process to improve the energy efficiency and the economic case for scaling microalgae based biofuel production. Further sustainability enhancements are achieved by integrating wastewater feedstock and market integration of output by-products for the aquaculture feed industry. This paper presents the microalgae harvesting and HTL bio-oil formation analysis procedures on a pre-pilot field scale. Solar concentrating captors are described and theoretical values obtained prior to experimental work that will be carried out in India

The design and modification of a parabolic trough system for the hydrothermal liquefaction of waste

We describe the design of a small-scale parabolic trough with a high-pressure absorber bundle to convert microalgae into bio-oil. The “proof-of-concept” system uses an existing Global CSP solar captor, with its reflectance enhanced by the addition of Skyfuel® ReflecTech Plus polymer film and has its original receiver tube replaced by a novel high-pressure multi-tube absorber and reactor. Initial results obtained at Kota University in Rajasthan, India demonstrated that temperatures up to 320°C are possible, and a bio-oil, similar to palm oil, was extracted from the reactor

Mathematical Formalism to Study Energy Distribution Pattern in Solar Hot Boxes for Global Solar Radiation

ABSTRACT: The paper presents a mathematical formalism for studying energy distribution in solar hot boxes for global solar radiation. Formalism has been developed as a general case for a flat plate tilted collector with off-south orientation considering a number of parameters. It has been applied to a hot box solar cooker kept horizontally in nontracked south facing mode. The wall height and the wall inclination have been incorporated in the development of the mathematical model along with a number of parameters such as tilt of the collector, transmissivity-absorptivity, aperture area, base plate area, hour angle, angle of incidence, solar and surface azimuth angle, solar insolation etc. for the estimation of rate of heat absorbed by the collector considering the global solar radiation. This formalism may prove to be a simple and an efficient tool in the design and development of improved solar hot box cookers with better efficiency and cost-effectiveness