Reduced Waste Process to Produce Biofuels with Enhanced Properties

"Renewable biofuels are gaining ever-increasing attention as alternatives to petroleum-based fuels for several reasons. Biofuels are advantageous from an economic and national security standpoint since they reduce the dependency on foreign oil imports and advantageous from an environmental standpoint since they are carbon neutral and reduce the net CO2 emissions. Lynntech proposes to develop an innovative process that converts virgin vegetable oil (or any plant oil) into biofuel with improved cold flow and pour point properties, improved ignition properties, reduced waste production, and fewer feedstocks. The novel process exposes the vegetable oil to a sequence of two proprietary treatments that result in a biofuel with enriched properties. No ethanol, methanol, or base (lye) is required and no glycerin/soap is produced. Preliminary results are extremely encouraging and demonstrate a >20°C reduction in pour point temperature and an increase of ~50°C in ignition temperature compared to commercially available biodiesel. The proposed development effort will optimize the plant oil treatment process, thoroughly characterize the resultant biofuel properties, and quantify the production costs. Phase II will scale-up and justify the production costs versus the enhanced biofuel price point."