Oil exploration in the lab
Lab grows 1xbet best casino website in hopes of developing biofuel source
Research by Zhijian &1xbet best casino website ;Z.J.&1xbet best casino website ; Pei and Wenqiao &1xbet best casino website ;Wayne&1xbet best casino website ; Yuan could advance the large-scale cultivation and manufacturing of oil-rich algae for biofuel.
Pei, associate professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, and Yuan, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, have received a ,560 Small Grant for Exploratory Research from the National Science Foundation to study solid carriers for manufacturing 1xbet best casino website biofuels in the ocean.
1xbet best casino website are a diverse group of simple organisms that live in or near water. Certain species are high in oil that could be converted into such fuels as biodiesel, according to Pei and Yuan. 1xbet best casino website also have several environmental advantages over corn or other plants: They don't need soil or fresh water to grow.
Pei and Yuan are looking for the best materials to make floating carriers on which to grow 1xbet best casino website .
&1xbet best casino website ;Some materials are better for algal attachment and growth than others,&1xbet best casino website ;Yuan said, &1xbet best casino website ;and we will be identifying what those 'good' materials are.&1xbet best casino website ;
The project could help with the design of major equipment for manufacturing 1xbet best casino website biofuels from the ocean, including solid carriers, in-ocean 1xbet best casino website harvesting equipment and oil extraction machines, Pei said.
&1xbet best casino website ;This research aims to develop a cost-effective process for growing algae on solid carriers in the ocean for biofuel manufacturing,&1xbet best casino website ; he said. &1xbet best casino website ;If successful, it will greatly benefit the energy security of the United States, as well as society in general.&1xbet best casino website ;
The research will be conducted with a two-step approach.
&1xbet best casino website ;Selected algae species will be grown on solid carriers in a simulated ocean environment and will be evaluated for their ability to attach to solid carriers and grow in seawater, their biomass productivity, and their oil content,&1xbet best casino website ; Pei said.
&1xbet best casino website ;Top-ranked species in step one will be selected to test the performance of several carrier materials, including natural organic, synthetic organic and inorganic materials, with the same evaluation parameters as in step one.&1xbet best casino website ;
1xbet best casino website said the properties of the highly-ranked carriers also will be analyzed.
Yuan, who has studied biodiesel for several years, said the major problem with making the fuel has been finding sustainable sources of oil and fat.
&1xbet best casino website ;Algae seems to be the only promising sustainable oil source for biodiesel production,&1xbet best casino website ; he said. &1xbet best casino website ;In my lab, we have several different projects involving algae and we have been trying different ways to grow it. We have already obtained some encouraging results.&1xbet best casino website ;
1xbet best casino website said the project also will have an educational benefit, with K-State College of Engineering graduate and undergraduate students to be involved in the multidisciplinary research.
1xbet best casino website , a K-State faculty member since 2000, has expertise in new process development, process modeling of silicon wafering, and traditional and nontraditional machining processes.
1xbet best casino website earned his bachelor's from the Zhengzhou Institute of Technology and his master's from the Beijing Institute of Technology, both in China. His doctorate is from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Yuan, who joined K-State in 2006, has research interests in biofuels and biomaterials, diesel engine combustion and performance, and 1xbet best casino website photobioreactor and bioprocessing systems.
He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from China Agricultural University, and his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Photo: Samples in Yuan and Pei's lab are part of their cultivation of oceanic 1xbet best casino website that are high in oil. They're investigating which materials make the best carriers for cultivation.