Jet Fuel from Animal Fats & Algae Oil via Centia Process
NC State Professor of Engineering Bill Roberts says “What we’re trying to do is make a fuel that looks just like the petroleum derived fuel we’re trying to replace.”
Roberts and his colleagues are working on a multi-step catalytic process that mimics petroleum on the molecular level. It’s called Centia.It starts with fat. Just like in petroleum refineries, heat, pressure, and chemicals can break down the hydrocarbon molecules in fats – transforming them into right kind of molecules to power jet engines. Professor Roberts explains the three-step process.
There’s a shiny stainless steel cylinder in Roberts’ lab. It’s called a stirred autoclave.This reactor can get up 930 degrees and weighs nearly 700 pounds. Deep inside, the fats are broken down and transformed into fuel.
“In this reactor we’’l be able to do all three steps. So we put it our reactants, we bring it up to temperature, we stir it, let it react, let it cool down, then drain the products and see what we get,” Roberts says.
The Centia process can be used to produce jet fuel, bio-gasoline, or heating fuel depending on which chemicals are added. And because the fats are rearranged on the molecular level, this biofuel doesn’t require new pipelines, storage facilities, or even new engines.
All of this research requires money, but Roberts believes that once additional funding is found, Centia biofuel could be ready to power jet airplanes in as little as 24 months.
Diversified Energy Corporation, an Arizona-based company that specializes in renewable energy projects, has licensed The Centia process from North Carolina State University.
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