Bio jet fuel breakthrough?

Diversified Energy of Phoenix, Arizona announced today that it has licensed a new biofuel technology from North Carolina State University that looks promising for generating high performance fuels from renewable oils.

One of its first target markets: jet fuel, a challenging and complex fuel that has previously received little attention by the biofuels industry.

Researchers say the patent-pending process, termed Centia™ by Diversified and NC State, provides several advantages compared to other biofuel processes like biodiesel, ethanol and others.

They say their process delivers a more advanced and complex hydrocarbon fuel, suitable for demanding applications like military JP-8 jet fuel, or as a biodiesel additive for cold-weather operations. And it can apparently be made from any renewable lipid-based oil compound, such as soybean, canola, animal fats or algae.

"Feedstock supply is a big deal," said Jeff Hassannia, Vice President of Business Development for Diversified Energy, told the Cleantech Group today. "Other biofuel makers are beholden to feedstock availability and pricing. We can use even low quality oils."

The researchers at NC State, whose labs include their very own jet engine to test the results of their work, believe say they were the first to look carefully at creating biodiesel from low quality feedstocks.

"Animal fats aren't generally good for transesterification, because you get a lot of soap. But this process can use low quality high fatty acid content lipid sources," said Dr. William Roberts, NC State professor of aerospace engineering, to the Cleantech Group.

Roberts is head of the Centia process group at the university, a team originally formed to answer a call from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) last summer for new, renewable sources of JP-8. NC State has been involved in fuel research for ten years.

Early indications are that it could be possible to make jet fuel using Centia at relatively low cost.

"If the biggest component of fuel cost is dictated by the cost of the feedstock, you can get a considerable price advantage in your fuel if you're making it from inedible lard," Roberts said.

Another economic benefit of the Centia process is a reduction of up to 50% in the amount of external energy required, Diversified claimed.

"One of the outputs in the early phase is glycerol. We've developed a proprietary way to burn this glycerol safely," said Diversified's Hassannia. "We're able to create about half of the necessary heat required by the process. That turns into high efficiency when you do the end-to-end calculations."

As promising as the process sounds, it's still largely speculative. Fuel has not yet been created in volume. Both Diversified and the university say their next step is to produce larger quantities in the lab, and if successful, find a partner with a large plant.

Diversified Energy is a privately held alternative and renewable energy company focused on maturing innovative technologies. The company is involved in biofuels, gasification, and next-generation solar. The company was founded by W. David Thompson, who sold his company Spectrum Astro to General Dynamics and funded Diversified with as much as $10M of his own money.

The company is now looking at raising additional funds.

For more information about Diversified and NC State's Centia process, read their paper Centia technology for converting lipid or animal fat oil into high-value fuels.